#st christopher

11/21/2025

Happy (almost) Solemnity of Christ, King of the Universe!

st. christopher carrying the christ child // st. mary magadelene in a grotto

from a book of hours illuminated by simon bening, bruges, c. 1530-35 // size of the illuminations: 4.8 × 3.4 cm // (here's a cute video about this manuscript)

"Death Mask of Saint Christopher (Cynocephalus)", clay mask.

Did this piece for one of the final projects for my 3D design course! I was inspired by early Christian art that depicts St. Christopher with a dog's head.

Okay so an odd one but as the submitter explained, there's inexplicably depictions out there of St. Christopher (the patron saint of travelers) as a dog, which are known as "Reprobus" and it's believed this interpretation came about because of people mistaking the word "Canaanite" for "Canine", and thus depicting him as a dog-headed creature.

So there ya go, dog man St. Christopher!

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I’m gonna be real, idrk the intricacies of Catholicism, all ik is that the girl I’m talking to rn has a card of him in her wallet

haihai!!

Two tailed siren frescos in Italy

Tonight we’re looking at two tailed sirens in Italian church frescos. While sirens are more common in church paintings than mosaics, they’re far less common than Romanesque church sculpture. 

One disclaimer: some of these images I’ve found some good research about, while some I’ve found almost nothing. There’s also likely other siren frescos out there. Let’s take a look.

Our first siren is from St James Church, in Tyrol, Italy:

Two tailed siren, fresco, Saint James church, Kastelaz hill in Tramin an der Weinstraße, South Tyrol, Italy. About 1200 CE. Photo by Wolfgang Sauber on Wikipedia.

She’s holding her two tails, which are crossed underneath her in an unusual style. She also looks like her ribs are showing— likely a way for the artist to show the evils of giving in to temptation or lust. Sirens in church art often show this dichotomy: while parts of them would be pretty, like flowing hair, Romanesque church sirens were rarely conventionally attractive.

Here’s how the siren was described in 1870, shortly after the frescos were discovered: 

“The best preserved is a siren, who captivates the eye and excites the imagination with the serious beauty of her round face and graceful rhythm of movement. One sees the upright lower limbs with the fins of her tail arching into a mandorla, the wavy, flowing hair encircling the head like a halo, and one senses the magic of the temptress in the thoughtful gaze from her large, dark eyes.”

Gotthilf Dahlke, “Romanische Wandmalereien in Tirol,”  Page 140. German machine translated into English. Drawing from the book,  via Heidelberg University Library:

I think it’s also interesting to look at the siren in context, as she’s not alone in being the only hybrid monster in the church, she's with other mer-critters, archers, and possible webbed-footed Giants:

Pinkus, Assaf. ““Ein Rise Starc Unde Grôz”: Geographies and Temporalities of Salvation in St. Jakob in Kastelaz.” Word & Image, vol. 35, no. 4, 2019, pp. 347–66, 

It’s important to note the location of this church:

“The small church was located on one of the most important Alpine pilgrimage routes in south Tyrol west to Santiago de Compostela and enjoyed vibrant commercial activity. This route was also used by prominent local bishops leading crusades to the Holy Land, Cyprus, Constantinople, and Egypt..” (From Pinkus' article.)

One theory I’ve seen to how two tailed sirens became popular is traveling masons would see designs on other churches, and return to their home countries to recreate the same critters.

Our next two tailed siren is in a chapel in a castle:

Two tailed siren fresco, Sarriod de la Tour Castle, Tower Chapel, Aosta Valley, Italy. 13th century.

Like the previous siren, she seems to wear a belt, and holds her tails apart in the classic style. Her hair is braided, and there might be a necklace around her neck. I think it's also important to see her in context, as she's part of a pair of sirens in a niche by a window:

There’s also a possible two tailed wooden siren in the Hall of Heads:

I don’t have much info on this one, but she’s lovely:

Two tailed siren fresco, 13th century. Basilica of San Zeno, Verona, Italy. Sacristy niche. Data from: University of California, San Diego, ARTstor.

I like the detail on her scales, and her the way her brown hair flows down her back. Either her breasts have faded, or she could be a trans siren. There's a history of two tailed deities having ambiguous gender. Based on the border design, I’m thinking she’s in the crypt. I also spotted a possible two tailed siren elsewhere in the basilica:

Photo by Andrea Bertozzi via Wikipedia.

Our next sirens I couldn't find much information about:

Two tailed siren fresco, possible prosperity symbol. Santa Maria del Romitorio, Brindisi, Italy.

Via Brundarte’s blog.

This one I'm not even sure of the church name. Here she is:

Chiesa matrice di Noha (Galatina). Galatina has a number of churches, and I haven't figured out which one she's in yet.

Our final two tailed siren shows the change from showing sirens as symbols of the evils of lust, to looking rather conventionally pretty:

Two tailed siren fresco, late Gothic fresco, San Egidio church / St. Ägidius. Valdaora-Mitterolang, Italian Tyrol. Detail of a Saint Christoper fresco. Photo by Mattana via Wikipedia.

She’s crowned and wears a red dress, which I’ve seen a few sirens in Slovakian church frescos wear as well. The crown could be borrowed from heraldry, as sirens originally got their crowns as heraldic symbols. Her hair is loose and flows down her back. She's one of many two tailed sirens that appears alongside Saint Christopher. Here's the full fresco:

Photo by Mattana via Wikipedia.

I'm working on a longer post about two tailed sirens in Saint Christopher frescoes.

Sources

South Tyrol fresco:

Pinkus, Assaf. ““Ein Rise Starc Unde Grôz”: Geographies and Temporalities of Salvation in St. Jakob in Kastelaz.” Word & Image, vol. 35, no. 4, 2019, pp. 347–66, https://doi.org/10.1080/02666286.2019.1567168. 

Gotthilf Dahlke, “Romanische Wandmalereien in Tirol,” via Heidelberg University Library.

Siren in the church tower first seen in:

Scribner, Vaughn. Merpeople : A Human History. [Enhanced Credo edition], Reaktion Books Ltd, Credo Reference, 2020. Fig 5.

Gothic date for the last siren from:

St. Christopher of Lycia (or Lycea), my patron saint, celebrated on May 9th. This icon was gifted to me by my godfather.