Portuguese Rooster

My newest piece, which was finished earlier this week, portrays a rooster perched atop a hill. The rooster itself is not an original design, but came from a picture I took in Provincetown, Massachusetts a few summers ago.

A large contingent of Portuguese sailors and their families settled in Provincetown in the early nineteenth century, and their cultural influence is still apparent in the village today. One such symbol of this heritage is a rooster painted on the pavement at the end of the public pier (as pictured below).


According to legend, the rooster became a symbol of good fortune when a poor man was saved from death for a crime he didn't commit. Because my feeble memory of the story would not do it justice, I did a quick online search and found the following at Nancy's Portugal Site http://home.online.no/~nancys/portugal/country/rooster.html:

The Rooster from Barcelos

The Rooster from Barcelos has become a national symbol. It symbolises "The winning of justice when you fight for it". The legend is many hundred years old and goes, as I know it, like this:

A young man was sentenced to be hanged for a crime he didn't commit. In this case, there was not enough doubt to do the accused any good.

Vainly, he swore his innocence. In desperation, he fell on his knees and prayed to his two favourite saints, the Virgin Mary and St. John. Thereafter, he made his last wish to meet his judge one more time. As customary, this wish was granted.

The judge received the young man in his own home and even served him a fried rooster. Once again, the man swore he did not commit this crime, and, probably inspired by his two favourite saints, he suddenly lifted his right hand's two swear fingers and exclaimed: "Honourable judge, by the Virgin Mary and the Holy John, I once again swear that I am innocent. If I lie, the rooster on that tray will stay where it is, but if I am telling the truth, it will rise and crow".
In the same instant, the rooster was in its earlier feathers, standing up and crowing so it was heard all over Barcelos. The young man was immediately released.