Discover Romanesque: Peoples and Legends

The ‘Brancolino’

On the lintel of the right side door of the Pieve di S. Giorgio di Brancoli, a relief showing a character has been traditionally referred to as ‘Brancolino’. Being hard to date and decode in an exhaustive manner, it has always been rousing visitors’ curiosity, to the extent that a great deal of fancy interpretations have been suggested: a portrait of the artist (owing to an artist’s signature, ‘Raito’, which was also present until recently);  a local inhabitant; a pilgrimage route signal; an apotropaic figure. In this way, the different position of the character’s arms would symbolize the reception of he who has repented his sins (the character’s right hand pointing sidewards, thus indicating the church interior) and a halt sign for sins (left hand raised).