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Old Mickey (Mickey Mouse Lookalike Figure In Old Church Fresco)

Pete Younger

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Ok, so joking apart, does anyone have any idea what this image could represent ? Mickey.

NOTE: The linked article doesn't include an image (maybe it's been deleted over the years).
See subsequent post below for the image.
 
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As the article says - a weasel, in all probability.
 
Those things on it's head look like horns to me - like those big curly goat horns.
Probably an image of the devil.
 
Well it aint mickey mouse - look at the body.
 
Pinklefish said:
Those things on it's head look like horns to me - like those big curly goat horns.
Probably an image of the devil.

That's more likely Pink, quite fitting for the Disney outfit.
 
Awwww! It'sa Topo Gigio!

It looks more like Topo Gigio to me.:)
 
They say it could have been a weasel, cos weasels were once believed to give birth through their ears! And these were the people who poo-pooed the idea meteors could exist...

The BBC story has a quote that some boffin thinks it may challenge Disney's copyright over the Mickey image... could this actually be true?!
 
I've looked at that image over and over again, and I'm becoming convinced that those "circles" which have been drawn over the ordinary weasel ears are meant to represent haloes or, with fertility in mind, female breasts.
The ordinary small ears are clearly visible.

Its also possible that there was some kind of St Christopher festival, in which people actually wore animal costumes, and that this fresco depicts the festival rather than the actual animals. If you imagine the animal costumes people wear today, as for example football team mascots, then the animal represented is recognisable but not really true to life. In fact just look at Mickey Mouse - when did you ever see a real mouse with ears like that?

It also seems suspect to me that this fresco has allegedly been around for 700 years and only now is the resemblance to Mickey Mouse being pointed out. Hmmm! :hmph:
 
Hee hee. It so does look like Micky Mouse too. :)
Looking at the picture another reason for the large ears came to mind. I know some cultures drew/sacrificed animals to gain their perceived particular abilities. Maybe this animal was drawn to give the artist, and/or those that looked upon it, hightened hearling emulating the animal? It would be useful in hunting no?
 
It also could be..

MIGHTY MOUSE!! on one of his time travel adventures!!:cool:
 
Originally posted by Evilsprout


The BBC story has a quote that some boffin thinks it may challenge Disney's copyright over the Mickey image... could this actually be true?!


Oh I really do hope so, wouldn't it be wonderful to think they'd have to pay more than 60 years compensation.:D
 
Evilsprout said:
The BBC story has a quote that some boffin thinks it may challenge Disney's copyright over the Mickey image... could this actually be true?!
No doubt they'll wriggle out of it by saying the fresco has only recently been renovated and therefore the mouse/weasel was unrecognisable when Mickey was born.
Let's just hope someone finds a similar representation elsewhere! ;)

Actually the article has got it wrong about the weasel legend. The belief was that the weasel conceived through its ears and gave birth through its mouth. See this item from a Church Bestiary.
That sounds a little more plausible as people may have seen weasels carrying their young in their mouths and assumed they were giving birth.;)
 
A few years ago, a French book was published in which the author identified images of Mickey all over the place, including in the gardens of Versailles. Can't find the title of the book right now, but I found a reference to it here.

As for the "mouse" in the picture, I can't tell if it's wearing clothes. If so, could the thing on it's head be one of those wide-brimmed medieval hats?
 
Definitely not a weasel - the head's the wrong shape.

It looks like a human in an animal mask, with a hood with ears attached.

Carole
 
Here's the fresco image that resembles Mickey Mouse.

bigmouse.jpg

SOURCE: BBC article on this find:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2481749.stm
 
What's the rest of the scene? this is like looking at ONE of the figures from "the last supper"
 
Does anyone else read the title and think: "You're so fine/ You're so fine, you're on my mind/ Old Mickey"?

Just me?

maximus otter
 
Definitely not a weasel - the head's the wrong shape.

It looks like a human in an animal mask, with a hood with ears attached.

Carole

Spookily, I was chatting with Carole on Facebook just now!
 
A photo of the complete fresco within which the "Mickey" figure appears can be found at:

http://www.sagen.at/fotos/showphoto.php/photo/34944/size/big/cat/

If you click on the photo you'll be given a much larger version.

The fresco depicts St. Christopher in the crucial episode leading to his conversion - i.e., carrying the Christ child across a river.

The "Mickey" figure appears in the lower right of the fresco, next to Christopher's left shin. In the context of the overall fresco, this Mickey figure is underwater.

The caption accompanying the photo states (via Google translation):

Christophorus on the south wall of the parish church of Malta, Carinthia.

Next to the saint's left shin is a remarkable mythical creature, which I placed in a frame in a close-up. The text of the Federal Monument Office reads:

'' The 7.5 m high fresco from around 1300 shows the representation of the giant with the baby Jesus on his shoulder. At the feet of Christophorus are various mythical creatures, of which the crowned female with the double fish tail and the mermaid blowing into a horn belong to the usual repertoire of medieval representations of Christ. Since one of the mythical animals bears an astonishing resemblance to Mickey Mouse, its depiction made a media journey around the world, without the imposing representation of Christ himself and the church with its excellent fresco furnishings and furnishings in the media hardly having met with such interest. ''

I'm unable to decide whether the "Mickey" figure is the same as "the crowned female with the double fish tail."
 
the concept of scale in that painting is wonky. My best guess is that "Mickey" is 12 feet tall or so. Also the underwater figures appear to be monsters that people need to be protected from?
 
I'm unable to decide whether the "Mickey" figure is the same as "the crowned female with the double fish tail."

Yes, it is I think. There is a tale curved under her to the left, and then to the right so the flukes are closer to her. And here are some headdresses. :) collected by the costumier Helianthus and found on Pinterest
1585172945919.png
 
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