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Galo De Barcelos | Sep 03, 2005
| Talk to me (1)
A x-pro'd macro view of an inch high rooster trinket. This rooster is commonplace in most Portuguese households and kitchens, as it means good luck (check 'legend' below). I used the macro function of the tunnelvision lens, and got close enuff for this image. kinda funky lookin', no?
The Legend
The Portuguese legend speaks of a peasant who left the northern town of Barcelos on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.
On the outskirts of Barcelos, a wealthy landowner accused him of stealing silver. He was brought to trial, convicted, and sentenced to death by hanging.
Before his execution, the peasant demanded to speak one last time to the judge who convicted him. The judge was about to dig in to a meal of roast rooster when the prisoner announced that, as a sign of his innocence, the rooster would jump off the plate and sing during the execution to testify his innocence.
Afterwards, as the prisoner was being executed, the rooster did in fact begin to crow. The judge ran to the Town Square to stop the execution and found that the noose had miraculously come undone. Some years later, he returned again to Barcelos and built a monument in praise of St. Tiago and the Holy Virgin.
The legend of the Barcelos rooster, while not literally believed by most people, is still important to Portuguese culture because of the set of values it represents. Using a very Portuguese theme (most Portuguese legends focus on peasant farmers), the story touches on justice, pride, fate, and even miracles- all aspects of life still held in high esteem in Portugal and by Portuguese descendants all over the world.
Photo Notes: Lomo LC-A, Tunnelvision Lens - Macro, Kodak Elitechome 100, Cross Processed.
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