Andlau - Saints-Pierre-et-Paul

Richardis, wife of Charles III (aka "Charles the Fat") and so "Holy Roman Empress", founded the abbey in Andlau ca 880. Later she lived here (as the abbess). She was known for her piety and so she was canonised, when Pope Leo IX paid a visit to the abbey in 1049.

A close-up of the "Andlau-elephant" (seen on the pic before).

The elephant is carved pretty precise - and that is pretty strange.
This carvings in Andlau are dated 1130/1150, where did the carver obtain his obviously precise anatomical knowledge about the elephant?

There were only three elephants in Europe in the medieval days.

"Abul Abbas" (+810) owned by Charlemagne, - the "Cremona-elephant" owned by Frederik II in 1229 - and one owned by Louis IX in 1255 and given to Henry III later. This one died in London 1258.

May these carving be more than 100 years younger - and show either the "Cremona"- or the "Saint Louis"-elephant? I just do not know. Please compare this elephant to the many other medieval carvings and drawings I have collected here:

www.flickr.com/photos/martin-m-miles/galleries/7215762494...