GALICIA, SPAIN—The Guardian reports that art historian Jennifer Alexander of the University of Warwick found a male figure at the top of a pillar in Santiago de Compostela, a twelfth-century cathedral located in northwest Spain, while conducting a stone-by-stone survey of the structure. The carving, thought to be a self-portrait carved by a stonemason, was placed at the top of a 42-foot pillar in a dark corner, where only other stone masons would have been able to find it. “He’s got a nice little smile. He’s pleased with himself. He’s splendidly carved, with a strongly characterized face,” Alexander said. Such carvings are thought to have been left as a sort of signature, she explained. To read about medieval church graffiti, go to "Letter from England: Writing on the Church Wall."
