The Lady Chapel in Winchester Cathedral has some wonderful wall paintings, which represent miracles attributed to the Virgin Mary. I believe that most of them are drawn from the Cantigas de Santa Maria of Alfonso the Wise. Cantiga 13 is clearly illustrated by the leftmost frame of the lower section of the North Wall, just behind the altar rail.
Cantiga 13
Assi como Jesu-Cristo
Just as Jesus Christ
Esta é como Santa Maria guardou o ladron
que non morresse na forca, porque a saudava.
How Holy Mary saved a thief
who did not die on the gallows because he prayed to Her.
Assi como Jesu-Cristo, |
Just as Jesus Christ |
Previously in Cantiga 13: The thief Ebbo, though wicked, always remembered the Virgin in his prayers. One day he went out to steal and was caught by the magistrate. He was immediately sent to the gallows.
The Virgin, however, was mindful of him and made no delay. He was to be killed by strangulation, but the Virgin arrived and placed her hands underneath his feet, lifting him up so that he did not choke. He hung there for three days before the magistrate noticed that he was not dead. The magistrate told one of his men to adjust the rope so that Ebbo died quickly, but still the virgin protected him. |
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In a future episode: When everyone thinks Ebbo is dead, he speaks, "I did not die because the Virgin Mary protected me. See, even now she is holding me in her hands and the noose doesn't kill me." The magistrate gives praise to the Virgin and has Ebbo taken down, after which he becomes Her devoted servant for the rest of his life.