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The Catholic Church
of St. Michel de Nkimbo in
Libreville, Gabon is a simple
structure of brick, with a
roof of corrugated iron
supported by dozens
of wooden pillars
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An
artist named
Zephyrin Lendongo
spent ten years carving
biblical scenes into
the columns
:
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They
are carved on
all sides, and I learned
that they are numbered,
but I can’t find a good
source on the internet
that catalogs them
:
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There are thirteen
pillars featuring stories from
Hebrew texts, and eighteen pillars
featuring stories from the
New Testament
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I’ve collected
as many images of
individual carvings as
I could find, but I can’t
think of an artful way
to show them
.
In
the meantime,
here’s one long column
for you to scroll through
.
If I learn anything more
about the stories, I’ll
insert text about
them later
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This carving is known as
“The Risen Lord Meets
Mary Magdalene”
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I learned about it
by reading an article
published by ArtWay
.
Here’s a link to it
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A
Gabonese
Postage Stamp
commemorated
it in 1979
:
Gabon
Easter 1979
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Here are a
few more photos
showing the interior
of the church
.
There are
carved doors, with
faces carved above them
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Here is a
view of the interior,
with more carved
features
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…
and a view
of the worship
space
:
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One more,
the baptismal font
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The icon
for this article
is a detail from
pillar #28
:
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