Flag Bearer

At Rennes-le-Chateau in southern France the sun blazes into the conservatory of the seminary as the marble flag bearer gazes unblinking into its light.  

This small church in the Pais de Cathars has developed a strong association with the sacred feminine and can be seen as central to the debate that rages over the monumentally bad deal that women get in The Bible. I could not help but notice this small statue discarded and forgotten in a disused section of the priest's house.

Some time later another visitor, himself a priest, clearly identified the same symbolism I hint at in this painting. He smashed it with a hammer he had bought along for the purpose.