The Roads

The Joining of Heaven and Earth takes as its point of departure the twelfth century manuscript known as the Codex of Pope Calixtus and particularly the fifth book which is commonly called the Pilgrim's Guide.

The Guide describes four distinct routes to Compostela. They pass through France from different directions and having crossed the Pyrenees, join together at the bridge over the river Arga in Navarre. The Guide describes these roads in terms of the saintly shrines which pilgrims should visit on their way.

The Romanesque period was a time when the veneration of the relics of saints reached a particular pitch. They were preciously guarded by monks and people travelled in great numbers to visit the monasteries where they were kept. Relics were considered to be a conduit between the world of man and the celestial realm where the saints resided. They were quite literally a place where heaven and earth were joined. As such the saint could intercede on behalf of those who prayed before their bones. This intercession provided access to God. Miracles were expected and were said to occur in profusion. In the case of the great saints, there was the possibility of redemption in the afterlife.

The Guide describes twenty-nine shrines and Holy sites. The Joining of Heaven and Earth intends to present its visual material interactively via a map of the pilgrimage roads through France and Spain. It will feature approximately sixty sites which can be clicked on to open up a film sequence which presents that particular geographical location, whether it be a Romanesque church or the landscapes, bridges and roads to be found there.

As well as the places mentioned in the Guide, the map will feature other sites on the roads and their subsidiary routes, all of which existed in the twelfth century. Particular attention being paid to places and monuments which have some bearing on the pilgrimage, especially in terms of the iconography and symbolism of the sculpture.

The intention is that the material might be viewed in a variety of ways, either as individual short films or in a sequence organised around a theme, a style of sculpture or just simply in terms of geographical continuity.

With the aid of optional voice over commentary and supplementary texts the cumulative effect will be the formation of a picture of pilgrimage culture - a window onto a historico-cultural world.