View allAll Photos Tagged Colossal
It took close to 20 minutes before this Great Blue Heron was able to successfully swallow this enormous catfish.
Location: Morikami Japanese Gardens, Delray Beach, Florida, United States of America
I have to say this was a sunset for the ages. I'm so very grateful I was in the right place at the right time.
A colossal marble head of a deified Antonia Minor, daughter of Mark Antony and mother to the emperor Claudius. Made of Parian marble, it was once part of an acrolithic cult statue - which would have had a head, hands and feet of sculpted stone, but a body of wood or limestone, covered with garments of cloth or gilded bronze.
Some historians feel that may instead represent the empress Livia, wife of emperor Augustus.
It was probably discovered in Rome, and was known to be in the Ludovisi collection by the 1530s.
1st century CE.
Palazzo Altemps, Rome
A MASSIVE front pushed out the fog and low pressure we have been experiencing here in PDX over the last few weeks. It stampeded in and caused one hell of a windshear.
San Lorenzo Colossal Head 2, before 900 B.C.E. (Olmec), basalt, 2.69 x 1.83 x 1.05 m (Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City)
Revisiting the TOU/Five Star MC 28mm f/2.8 wide angle. Took it along during Magic Hour, following another Monsoon storm.
Like to see the pictures as Large as your screen? Than why not take the Slideshow : www.flickr.com/photos/reurinkjan/sets/72157622436074363/s...
The sacred glacial lake Yilhun Lhatso, on its shores bedecked with colossal carved mani stones, many of which are the work of a local stone carver named Trador.
footprintbooks.com/guidebooks/SouthAsia.cfm?ccs=76&cs...
Tibetan: ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པ་དྨེ་ཧཱུྃ། Om Mani Peme Hung or Om Mani Beh Meh Hung .
H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama's definition
"It is very good to recite the mantra Om mani padme hum, but while you are doing it, you should be thinking on its meaning, for the meaning of the six syllables is great and vast... The first, Om [...] symbolizes the practitioner's impure body, speech, and mind; it also symbolizes the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha "
"The path is indicated by the next four syllables. Mani, meaning jewel, symbolizes the factors of method: (the) altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassion, and love . "
"The two syllables, padme, meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom "
"Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final syllable hum, which indicates indivisibility "
"Thus the six syllables, om mani padme hum, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha[...]"
A colossal -- or at least, very large -- statue of Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahri. She is depicted as Osiris, or if you prefer, she is shown wrapped. It depends on what you think was more important -- association with Osiris, or enclosed in wrappings the way many powerful things are wrapped.
Deir el Bahri, Egypt.
Quartzite.
Thebes, Funerary Temple of Ay and Horemheb.
New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, Reigns of Tutankhamun, Ay, and Horemheb (1355 - 1315 BCE).
One of a pair, this colossal figure with features of a young man may have stood in Tutankhamun's mortuary temple. After his early death, Ay appropriated the statue and carved his name on the front belt. Horemheb, in turn, took it over for his use and reinscribed the belt with his name. The large amount of surviving paint provides a hint of its original vivid colors.
Colossal Boy: Gim Allon, member of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th century who can increase his size to many times the height of a human, with proportionate increases in strength and mass.
Colossus: Piotr Nikolaievitch Rasputin, a Russian mutant who is able to transform into a metallic form of "organic steel" and is the physically strongest member of the X-Men team.
If they had to fight, who would win?
#313 in the Duel 365 series.
Head of a colossal statue of Amenophis III
Egyptian Antiquities
The New Kingdom (circa 1550 to circa 1069 BC)
This head represents Amenophis III as the king of Upper Egypt. It belonged to one of the granite colossi erected by the king in his temple at Kom el-Hettan, whose entrance was flanked by the Colossi of Memnon. This temple, now in ruins, was once adorned with a great wealth of statuary.
Amenophis III as king of Upper Egypt
The king is represented wearing the crown of Upper Egypt, or "white crown" - a sort of miter with a bulbous top. The highly polished stone, huge almond eyes (designed to be seen from below), and thick-lipped mouth are all characteristic of monumental statuary from the reign of Amenophis III. The left side of this head literally melted away under the effect of the humid ground on which it lay for centuries after the fall of the stone giant.
The great courtyard of the temple of the royal cult at Kom el-Hettan was adorned with a row of statues of this kind - in pink granite, wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt (on the east side), and in quartzite, wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt (on the west side). They were all at least eight meters high. The temple of Amenophis III at Kom el-Hettan was indisputably one of the most extraordinary edifices ever built by the Egyptians, both as regards its size (about 560 meters from east to west) and the splendid statuary that was made for it. Many of the hundreds of statues of the lioness goddess Sekhmet that were commissioned by Amenophis III definitely came from here.
Unfortunately, the temple was constructed rather carelesssly, too quickly, and on humid ground. It is now almost totally ruined, the only remaining elements being the Colossi of Memnon (16 meters high), a monumental stele, and the bases of a few columns. However, the archaeological excavations currently being undertaken at the site by the German Institute in Cairo are unearthing precious evidence of its gigantic statuary.
Colossal bull head
Click here for close up
Carved in the court style typical of the Achaemenid Empire, this highly polished stone head originally belonged to one of two guardian bulls flanking the portico of the hundred-columned Throne Hall at Persepolis. The heads of the bulls projected in the round and the bodies were carved in relief on the sidewalls of the porch; the ears and horns had been added separately. The use of pairs of guardian figures such as these to protect important buildings was a common architectural feature in the ancient Near East.
The Robert and Deborah Aliber Persian Gallery
Oriental Institute - University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, USA
And the sunsets from Bandon continue..... There are several amazing compositions down here, enough to entertain & challenge you. It is almost overwhelming really. Spending over half of the day though allowed a lot of beach combing and pre-visualizing some of the best compositions to be had. You never know though what that amazing sun is going to do though, here it was pretty damn amazing. Thanks for checking this out. Enjoy!
Villahermosa, Parque-Museo La Venta, The Old Warrior, Monument 4
The Olmec colossal heads are at least seventeen monumental stone representations of human heads sculpted from large basalt boulders. The heads are a distinctive feature of the Olmec civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. All portray mature men with fleshy cheeks, flat noses, and slightly crossed eyes; their physical characteristics correspond to a type that is still common among the inhabitants of Tabasco and Veracruz. The backs of the monuments often are flat. The boulders were brought from the Sierra de los Tuxtlas mountains of Veracruz. Given that the extremely large slabs of stone used in their production were transported over large distances, requiring a great deal of human effort and resources, it is thought that the monuments represent portraits of powerful individual Olmec rulers. Each of the known examples has a distinctive headdress. The heads were variously arranged in lines or groups at major Olmec centres, but the method and logistics used to transport the stone to these sites remain unclear.
Dating the monuments remains difficult because of the movement of many from their original contexts prior to archaeological investigation. Most have been dated to the Early Preclassic period (1500–1000 BC) with some to the Middle Preclassic (1000–400 BC) period. The smallest weigh 6 tons, while the largest is variously estimated to weigh 40 to 50 tons, although it was abandoned and left unfinished close to the source of its stone.
The Olmec civilization developed in the lowlands of southeastern Mexico between 1500 and 400 BC. The Olmec heartland lies on the Gulf Coast of Mexico within the states of Veracruz and Tabasco, an area measuring approximately 275 kilometres east to west and extending about 100 kilometres inland from the coast. The Olmecs are regarded as the first civilization to develop in Mesoamerica.
The Olmecs were the first inhabitants of the Americas to construct monumental architecture and to settle in towns and cities. They were also the first people in the Americas to develop a sophisticated style of stone sculpture. In the first decade of the 21st century evidence emerged of Olmec writing, with the earliest examples of Olmec hieroglyphs dating to around 650 BC. Examples of script have been found on roller stamps and stone artefacts; the texts are short and have been partially deciphered based on their similarity to other Mesoamerican scripts. The evidence of complex society developing in the Olmec heartland has led to the Olmecs being regarded as the "Mother Culture" of Mesoamerica, although this concept remains controversial.
The seventeen confirmed examples of Olmec colossal heads are known from four sites within the Olmec heartland on the Gulf Coast of Mexico, namely San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, La Venta, Tres Zapotes, and La Cobata.
La Venta Monument 4 measures 2.26 metres high by 1.98 metres wide and 1.86 metres deep. It weighs 19.8 tons. It was found a few metres to the west of Monument 2 and has been moved to the Parque-Museo La Venta. As with the other heads in the group, its archaeological context has been radiocarbon dated to between 1000 and 600 BC. The headdress is elaborate and, although damaged, various details are still discernible. The base of the headdress is formed by three horizontal strips running over the forehead. One side is decorated with a double-disc motif that may have been repeated on the other; if so, damage to the right side has obliterated any trace of it. The top of the headdress is decorated with the clawed foot of a bird of prey. Either straps or plaits of hair descend on either side of the face, from the headdress to the base of the monument. Only one earspool survives; it is flat, in the form of a rounded square, and is decorated with a cross motif. The ears have been completely eroded away and the lips are damaged. The surviving features display a frown and creasing around the nose and cheeks. The head displays prominent teeth.
Colossal Con 2022
Credit goes to Fabulizcosplay, Fabuliz, thanks for her beautiful cosplays and her amazing poses for the photoshoot!
Build the ultimate castle adventure with the Colossal Heroica building set! Raise the drawbridge to keep the heroes at bay. Or, if you choose to play as one of the 4 heroes; defeat enemies, find keys, climb towers, send the rock pillar crashing down, extinguish fires in your path, and gain treasure and special abilities along the way. Will you be brave enough to fight the dragon and giant troll to save the kingdom? Choose your hero wisely as you play as the druid, the wizard, the ranger, or the barbarian. For 2 to 4 players.
The pictures really don’t do this justice, I wish you could see it in person. ;)
I’ve had this in mind for quite a while now and I think I’m the first to build a minifigure-scale Heroica game! Comments are appreciated!
Build the ultimate castle adventure with the Colossal Heroica building set! Raise the drawbridge to keep the heroes at bay. Or, if you choose to play as one of the 4 heroes; defeat enemies, find keys, climb towers, send the rock pillar crashing down, extinguish fires in your path, and gain treasure and special abilities along the way. Will you be brave enough to fight the dragon and giant troll to save the kingdom? Choose your hero wisely as you play as the druid, the wizard, the ranger, or the barbarian. For 2 to 4 players.
The pictures really don’t do this justice, I wish you could see it in person. ;)
I’ve had this in mind for quite a while now and I think I’m the first to build a minifigure-scale Heroica game! Comments are appreciated!
San Lorenzo Colossal Head 2, before 900 B.C.E. (Olmec), basalt, 2.69 x 1.83 x 1.05 m (Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City)
This larger than life statue, possibly discovered in the Baths of Caracalla, has been identified as the goddess Pomona, Roman goddess of fruits, gardens, and orchards. Renaissance restorers added the missing right hand and have her holding flowers (the other flowers in her himation are ancient). She has been made to look more like the goddess Flora, given the flowers in both her himation and her crown (the head may or may not be original to this statue), and is sometimes known as Flor Minor. It's almost certain that this statue was originally associated with Flora, who represented spring; Pomona represented autumn.
Roman, second half of the 2nd century CE.
Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (MANN inv. 5978)
After the king of the forest's secret hideout was discovered by the kings scouts (see my secret hideout entry for last years CCC), the fortress was attacked and the outlaws inprisoned in a nearby castle.
Now the rest of the outlaws try to free their king with the help of a spy among the castle's guards and a barrel of good wine...
Colossal portrait head of Hadrian.
AD 130 – 140
Thasian marble
From Athens, Agora
Athens, National Archaeological Museum – inv. 632
The head is turned slightly to the left and was intended for insertion into the torso of the statue. The figure might have worn a himation. This sculpture is a distinguished work of Greek artistic sense, created by a distinguished sculptor.
Quartzite.
Thebes, Funerary Temple of Ay and Horemheb.
New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, Reigns of Tutankhamun, Ay, and Horemheb (1355 - 1315 BCE).
One of a pair, this colossal figure with features of a young man may have stood in Tutankhamun's mortuary temple. After his early death, Ay appropriated the statue and carved his name on the front belt. Horemheb, in turn, took it over for his use and reinscribed the belt with his name. The large amount of surviving paint provides a hint of its original vivid colors.
Quartzite.
Thebes, Funerary Temple of Ay and Horemheb.
New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, Reigns of Tutankhamun, Ay, and Horemheb (1355 - 1315 BCE).
One of a pair, this colossal figure with features of a young man may have stood in Tutankhamun's mortuary temple. After his early death, Ay appropriated the statue and carved his name on the front belt. Horemheb, in turn, took it over for his use and reinscribed the belt with his name. The large amount of surviving paint provides a hint of its original vivid colors.