Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the village of the same name on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset. Built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates to the 11th century and commands a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham and Swanage. The first phase was one of the earliest castles in England to be built at least partly using stone when the majority were built with earth and timber. Corfe Castle underwent major structural changes in the 12th and 13th centuries.

 

In 1572, Corfe Castle left the Crown's control when Elizabeth I sold it to Sir Christopher Hatton. Sir John Bankes bought the castle in 1635, and was the owner during the English Civil War. His wife, Lady Mary Bankes, led the defence of the castle when it was twice besieged by Parliamentarian forces. The first siege, in 1643, was unsuccessful, but by 1645 Corfe was one of the last remaining royalist strongholds in southern England and fell to a siege ending in an assault. In March that year Corfe Castle was slighted on Parliament's orders. Owned by the National Trust, the castle is open to the public and in 2017 received around 247,000 visitors. It is protected as a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

 

Corfe Castle was built on a steep hill in a gap in a long line of chalk hills, created by two streams eroding the rock on either side. The name Corfe derives from the Old English ceorfan, meaning 'a cutting', referring to the gap. The construction of the medieval castle means that little is known about previous activity on the hill. However, there are postholes belonging to a Saxon hall on the site. The hall may be where the boy-king Edward the Martyr was assassinated in 978.

 

A castle was founded at Corfe on England's south coast soon after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. The royal forest of Purbeck, where William the Conqueror enjoyed hunting, was established in the area. Between 1066 and 1087, William established 36 such castles in England. Sitting as it does on a hill top, Corfe Castle is one of the classic images of a medieval castle. However, despite popular imagination, occupying the highest point in the landscape was not the typical position of a medieval castle. In England, a minority are located on hilltops, but most are in valleys; many were near important transport routes such as river crossings.

 

Unusually for castles built in the 11th century, Corfe was partially constructed from stone indicating it was of particularly high status. A stone wall was built around the hill top, creating an inner ward or enclosure. There were two further enclosures: one to the west, and one that extended south (the outer bailey); in contrast to the inner bailey, these were surrounded by palisades made from timber. At the time, the vast majority of castles in England were built using earth and timber, and it was not until the 12th century that many began to be rebuilt in stone. The Domesday Book records one castle in Dorset; the entry, which reads "Of the manor of Kingston the King has one hide on which he built Wareham castle", is thought to refer to Corfe rather than the timber castle at Wareham. There are 48 castles directly mentioned in the Domesday Book, although not all those in existence at the time were recorded. Assuming that Corfe is the castle in question, it is one of four the Domesday Book attributes to William the Conqueror; the survey explicitly mentions seven people as having built castles, of which William was the most prolific.

 

In the early 12th century, Henry I began the construction of a stone keep at Corfe. Progressing at a rate of 3 to 4 metres (10 to 13 ft) per year for the best part of a decade, the work was complete by 1105. The chalk of the hill Corfe Castle was built on was an unsuitable building material, and instead Purbeck limestone quarried a few miles away was used. By the reign of King Stephen (1135–1154) Corfe Castle was already a strong fortress with a keep and inner enclosure, both built in stone. In 1139, during the civil war of Stephen's reign, Corfe withstood a siege by the king. It is thought that he built a siege castle to facilitate the siege and that a series of earthworks about 290 metres (320 yd) south-southwest of Corfe Castle mark the site of the fortification.

 

During the reign of Henry II Corfe Castle was probably not significantly changed, and records from Richard I's reign indicate maintenance rather than significant new building work. In contrast, extensive construction of other towers, halls and walls occurred during the reigns of John and Henry III, both of whom kept Eleanor, rightful Duchess of Brittany who posed a potential threat to their crowns, in confinement at Corfe until 1222. It was probably during John's reign that the Gloriette in the inner bailey was built. The Pipe Rolls, records of royal expenditure, show that between 1201 and 1204 over £750 was spent at the castle, probably on rebuilding the defences of the west bailey with £275 spent on constructing the Gloriette. The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England noted the link between periods of unrest and building at Corfe. In the early years of his reign, John lost Normandy to the French, and further building work at Corfe coincided with the political disturbances later in his reign. At least £500 was spent between 1212 and 1214 and may have been focused on the defences of the outer bailey. R. Allen Brown noted that in John's reign "it would seem that though a fortress of the first order might cost more than £7,000, a medium castle of reasonable strength might be built for less than £2,000". The Pipe Rolls show that John spent over £17,000 on 95 castles during his reign spread; he spent over £500 at nine of them, of which Corfe was one. Additional records show that John spent over £1,400 at Corfe Castle.

 

One of the secondary roles of castles was to act as a storage facility, as demonstrated by Corfe Castle; in 1224 Henry III sent to Corfe for 15,000 crossbow bolts to be used in the siege of Bedford Castle. Following John's work, Henry III also spent over £1,000 on Corfe Castle, in particular the years 1235 and 1236 saw £362 spent on the keep. While construction was under-way, a camp to accommodate the workers was established outside the castle. Over time, this grew into a settlement in its own right and in 1247 was granted a market and fair by royal permission. It was Henry III who ordered in 1244 that Corfe's keep should be whitewashed. Four years previously, he also ordered that the keep of the Tower of London should be whitewashed, and it therefore became known as the White Tower.

 

In December 1460, during the Wars of the Roses Henry Beaufort and his army marched from the castle destined for the Battle of Wakefield. During the march the army split at Exeter so the cavalry could reach the north quicker, and on 16 December 1460 some of his men became embroiled in the Battle of Worksop, Nottinghamshire. Beaufort and the Lancastrians won the skirmish.

 

The castle remained a royal fortress until sold by Elizabeth I in 1572 to her Lord Chancellor, Sir Christopher Hatton. Ralph Treswell, Hatton's steward, drafted a series of plans of the castle; the documents are the oldest surviving survey of the castle.

 

The castle was bought by Sir John Bankes, Attorney General to Charles I, in 1635. The English Civil War broke out in 1642, and by 1643 most of Dorset was under Parliamentarian control. While Bankes was in Oxford with the king, his men held Corfe Castle in the royal cause. During this time his wife, Lady Mary Bankes, resided at the castle with their children. Parliamentarian forces planned to infiltrate the castle's garrison by joining a hunting party from the garrison on a May Day hunt; however they were unsuccessful. The Parliamentarians gave orders that anyone joining the garrison would have their house burned and that no supplies were to reach the castle. Initially defended by just five people, Lady Bankes was able to get food through and swell the garrison to 80. The Parliamentarian forces numbered between 500 and 600 and began a more thorough siege; it went on for six weeks until Lady Bankes was relieved by Royalist forces. During the siege the defenders suffered two casualties while there were at least 100 deaths among the besieging force.

 

The Parliamentarians were in the ascendency so that by 1645 Corfe Castle was one of a few remaining strongholds in southern England that remained under royal control. Consequently, it was besieged by a force under the command of a Colonel Bingham. One of the garrison's officers, Colonel Pitman, colluded with Bingham. Pitman proposed that he should go to Somerset and bring back a hundred men as reinforcements; however the troops he returned with were Parliamentarians in disguise. Once inside, they waited until the besieging force attacked before making a move, so that the defenders were attacked from without and within at the same time. Corfe Castle was captured and Lady Bankes and the garrison were allowed to leave. In March that year, Parliament voted to slight (demolish) the castle, giving it its present appearance. In the 17th century many castles in England were in a state of decline, but the war saw them pressed into use as fortresses one more time. Parliament ordered the slighting of many of these fortifications, but the solidity of their walls meant that complete demolition was often impracticable. A minority were repaired after the war, but most were left as ruins. Corfe Castle provided a ready supply of building material, and its stones were reused by the villagers.

 

After the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the Bankes family regained their properties. Rather than rebuild or replace the ruined castle they chose to build a new house at Kingston Lacy on their other Dorset estate near Wimborne Minster.

 

The first archaeological excavations were carried out in 1883. No further archaeological work was carried out on the site until the 1950s. Between 1986 and 1997 excavations were carried out, jointly funded by the National Trust and English Heritage. Corfe Castle is considered to be the inspiration for Enid Blyton's Kirrin Island, which had its own similar castle. It was used as a shooting location for the 1957 film Five on a Treasure Island (film) and the 1971 film Bedknobs and Broomsticks. The castle plays an important part in Keith Roberts' uchronia novel Pavane.

 

Upon his death, Henry John Ralph Bankes (1902–81) bequeathed the entire Bankes estate to the National Trust, including Corfe Castle, much of the village of Corfe, the family home at Kingston Lacy, and substantial property and land holdings elsewhere in the area.

 

In summer 2006, the dangerous condition of the keep caused it to be closed to visitors, who could only visit the walls and inner bailey. The National Trust undertook an extensive conservation project on the castle, and the keep was re-opened to visitors in 2008, and the work completed the following year. During the restoration work, an "appearance" door was found in the keep, designed for Henry I. The National Trust claims that this indicates that the castle would have been one of the most important in England at the time.

 

The castle is a Grade I listed building, and recognised as an internationally important structure. It is also a Scheduled Monument, a "nationally important" historic building and archaeological site which has been given protection against unauthorised change. The earthworks known as "The Rings", thought to be the remains of a 12th-century motte-and-bailey castle built during a siege of Corfe are also scheduled. In 2006, Corfe Castle was the National Trust's tenth most-visited historic house with 173,829 visitors. According to figures released by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, the number of visitors in 2010 had risen to nearly 190,000.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Corfe Castle ist die Ruine einer Burg im englischen Ort Corfe Castle in der Grafschaft Dorset. Die als Kulturdenkmal der Kategorie Grade I klassifizierte und als Scheduled Monument geschützte Ruine liegt in den Purbeck Hills auf der Isle of Purbeck sieben Kilometer südöstlich von Wareham und acht Kilometer westlich von Swanage. Es liegt etwa 12 km südwestlich der großen Städte Poole und Bournemouth.

 

Der Bezeichnung Corfe kommt aus dem Angelsächsischen und bezeichnet das Tal, in dem sich das Dorf und die Burgruine befindet. Corfe Castle bedeutet übersetzt also ungefähr Talburg oder Burg im Tal.

 

Unter Alfred dem Großen wurde Ende des 9. Jahrhunderts zum Schutz vor den Dänen in Corfe eine erste Befestigung angelegt. Der Legende nach wurde der englische König Eduard der Märtyrer am 18. März 978 in der Burg ermordet.

 

Nach der normannischen Eroberung Englands wurde um 1090 von den Normannen am Ort der alten Befestigungsanlage der Bau einer Burg aus dem lokalen Kalkstein begonnen. Unter Henry I. „Beauclerc“ entstand um 1105 der mächtige Keep. Zu Beginn des englischen Bürgerkriegs wurde die Burg, die von Baldwin de Redvers verteidigt wurde, 1139 erfolglos von König Stephan belagert. Unter König Johann Ohneland wurde die Burg weiter ausgebaut. Er hielt sich häufig in der Burg auf, außerdem nutzte er sie als Aufbewahrungsort für die Kronjuwelen und als Gefängnis. 1202 kam es zu einem Ausbruchsversuch von 25 französischen Rittern, die während des Französisch-Englischen Krieges gefangen genommen worden waren. Sie konnten jedoch nur den Keep besetzen, in dem sie lieber verhungerten, anstatt sich zu ergeben. 22 der Ritter starben, nur drei Überlebende konnten schließlich überwältigt werden. Auch Johanns Nichte Eleonore von der Bretagne und im 14. Jahrhundert König Eduard II. wurden in Corfe Castle gefangen gehalten. Unter Eduard I. wurde der äußere Burghof vollendet. Im 14. Jahrhundert wurde die Burg zunächst vernachlässigt, bis Eduard III. sie zwischen 1356 und 1377 instand setzen ließ. Nach den Rosenkriegen ließ sie Heinrich VII. als Residenz für seine Mutter Margaret Beaufort ausbauen. Nach deren Tod fiel die Burg wieder zurück an die Krone. 1572 verkaufte Elisabeth I. sie an ihren späteren Lordkanzler Christopher Hatton, der die Burg angesichts der Bedrohung durch die spanische Armada weiter befestigte. 1635 erwarb Sir John Bankes, der spätere Chief Justices of the Common Pleas, die Burg.

 

Im Jahr 1643, während des Englischen Bürgerkrieges, wurde die Burg von Truppen der Parlamentarier („Roundheads“) belagert. Unter dem Befehl der Royalistin Lady Mary Bankes hielt die Burg der Belagerung für sechs Wochen stand, woraufhin sich die Parlamentarier mit einem Verlust von 100 Männern zurückzogen. Drei Jahre später, 1646, wurde die Burg ein zweites Mal belagert. Nach zweimonatiger Belagerung wurde die Burggarnison im Februar 1646 von einem ihrer Mitglieder verraten. Nach der Übernahme durch die Parlamentarier wurde der Familie der Bankes erlaubt, die Burg zu verlassen. Die Burg wurde daraufhin von Sappeuren mit Sprengstoff zerstört, was zum heutigen Aussehen der Burganlage führte. Die örtliche Bevölkerung nutzte dies aus und verwertete die aus der Burg stammenden Steine, Türrahmen usw. für ihre nahe gelegenen Häuser.

 

Nach dem Bürgerkrieg errichtete Ralph Bankes 1663 bei Wimborne Minster Kingston Hall als neuen Familiensitz. Die Überreste von Corfe Castle blieben bis 1982 im Besitz der Bankes-Familie, dann überließ sie Ralph Bankes dem National Trust, der britischen Treuhand-Organisation für Denkmalpflege. Nach Einsturzgefahr des Bergfrieds im Jahre 2006 sind die oberen Ruinen jetzt wieder zu besichtigen.

 

Die Burg ist Eigentum des National Trust, der am Marktplatz auch einen Souvenirladen eingerichtet hat. 2002 zählte die ganzjährig für Touristen zugängliche Burg 167.582 Besucher.

 

Am Marktplatz von Corfe Castle steht das Corfe Model Village mit einer Nachbildung der Burg und des Dorfes vor der Zerstörung in einem Maßstab von 1:20. Es wurde von 1964 bis 1966 von Eddie Holland erstellt.

 

Die Ruine diente u. a. als Kulisse für die Fernsehserie Die Sache mit der Schatzinsel, die 1957 nach Motiven der Kinderbuchreihe Fünf Freunde von Enid Blyton gedreht wurde, sowie für die 2008 gedrehte Verfilmung des Romans Tess von den d’Urbervilles.

 

(Wikipedia)

"Patience, meditation, solidity.... forever"

THE UR-PHENOMENON

Goethe argued that, in time, out of commitment, practice, and proper efforts, the student would discover the "ur-phenomenon" (Ur-Phänomen), the essential pattern or process of a thing. Ur- bears the connotation of primordial, basic, elemental, archetypal; the ur-phenomenon may be thought of as the "deep-down phenomenon," the essential core of a thing that makes it what it is and what it becomes. For example, in his botanical work, Goethe saw the ur-phenomenon of the plant as arising out of the interplay between two opposing forces: the "vertical tendency" and "horizontal tendency."The former is the plant's inescapable need to grow upward; the latter, the nourishing, expanding principle that gives solidity to the plant.20 Only when these two forces are in balance can the plant grow normally.

Goethe believed that the powers of human perception and understanding cannot penetrate beyond the ur-phenomenon. It is "an ultimate which can not itself be explained, which is in fact not in need of explanation, but from which all that we observe can be made intelligible."The key procedural need in discovering the ur-phenomenon, Goethe argued, is maintaining continuous experiential contact with the thing throughout the course of investigation‑-to intellectualize abstractly as little as possible. "Pure experience," he wrote, "should lie at the root of all physical sciences... A theory can be judged worthy only when all experiences are brought under one roof and assist in their subsequent application."Goethe believed that the powers of human perception and understanding cannot penetrate beyond the ur-phenomenon. It is "an ultimate which can not itself be explained, which is in fact not in need of explanation, but from which all that we observe can be made intelligible

www.arch.ksu.edu/seamon/book chapters/goethe_intro.htm

The highest is to understand that all fact is really theory. The blue of the sky reveals to us the basic law of color. Search nothing beyond the phenomena, they themselves are the theory.

www.arch.ksu.edu/seamon/book chapters/goethe_intro.htm

The sanctuary of Hippolytus at Troizena, directly connected with the mythical love of Phaedra for Hippolytus, lies in an idyllic environment about 170 kilometers away from Athens and in a short distance from Epidaurus. In spite of its significance, it remains unknown to the broad public. The enclosure and buildings of the sanctuary were erected outside the walls of ancient Troizena in the late fourth or early third century BC around an earlier nucleus of worship, which is located in the area of the small shrine of the Geometric period. Although the existence and function of an Asclepieion in the sanctuary is ascertained by relevant inscriptions, it seems that the celebrated Asclepieion of Epidaurus outshone it, therefore it remained rather obscure. The earthquake caused by the eruption of the Methana volcano in the mid-third century BC obviously contributed to the decline of the Troizena Asclepieion: its buildings suffered serious damages and remained in ruins until the Roman age, when they were restored. After the prevalence of Christianity the ancient building material was removed from the original structures and was used for the erection of Christian churches such as Episkopi. It should be noted that the removal and reuse of ancient building material has been continued until the recent decades. Some of the ancient monuments face today certain solidity and static problems due to the inherited weakness of the building material (limestone) and the reactive thrusts of the ground. The archaeological site remains undefined by enclosure, it lacks informational plates in front of the buildings and does not provide the necessary facilities for the few, for the time being, visitors.

Laura Aguilar (1959-2018) was a Chicana photographer known for black and white portraiture commemorating her intersecting Latinx and LGBTQ+ communities. A key figure in the Los Angeles Chicanx and queer art scenes, Aguilar produced numerous series that gave visibility to these and other marginalized communities and identities she aligned with as a fat, lesbian, working-class Latina.

 

In 'Nature Self-Portrait', the artist appears unclothed in the desert, prompting the viewer to regard her body in the same manner they would the solidity and soft contours of the surrounding boulders. By claiming space in this way, Aguilar simultaneously subverts normative beauty standards and critiques the perceived radicality of a body like hers being nude outdoors.

 

Seen and photographed on exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco, California (SFMOMA).

Chartres Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres (French: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), is a Catholic church in Chartres, France, about 80 km (50 miles) southwest of Paris, and is the seat of the Bishop of Chartres. Mostly constructed between 1194 and 1220, it stands on the site of at least five cathedrals that have occupied the site since the Diocese of Chartres was formed as an episcopal see in the 4th century. It is one of the best-known and most influential examples of High Gothic and Classic Gothic architecture, It stands on Romanesque basements, while its north spire is more recent (1507–1513) and is built in the more ornate Flamboyant style.

 

Long renowned as "one of the most beautiful and historically significant cathedrals in all of Europe," it was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979, which called it "the high point of French Gothic art" and a "masterpiece".

 

The cathedral is well-preserved and well-restored: the majority of the original stained glass windows survive intact, while the architecture has seen only minor changes since the early 13th century. The building's exterior is dominated by heavy flying buttresses which allowed the architects to increase the window size significantly, while the west end is dominated by two contrasting spires – a 105-metre (349 ft) plain pyramid completed around 1160 and a 113-metre (377 ft) early 16th-century Flamboyant spire on top of an older tower. Equally notable are the three great façades, each adorned with hundreds of sculpted figures illustrating key theological themes and narratives.

 

Since at least the 12th century the cathedral has been an important destination for travellers. It attracts large numbers of Christian pilgrims, many of whom come to venerate its famous relic, the Sancta Camisa, said to be the tunic worn by the Virgin Mary at Christ's birth, as well as large numbers of secular tourists who come to admire the cathedral's architecture and art. A venerated Black Madonna enshrined within was crowned by Pope Pius IX on 31 May 1855.

 

History

At least five cathedrals have stood on this site, each replacing an earlier building damaged by war or fire. The first church dated from no later than the 4th century and was located at the base of a Gallo-Roman wall; this was put to the torch in 743 on the orders of the Duke of Aquitaine. The second church on the site was set on fire by Danish pirates in 858. This was then reconstructed and enlarged by Bishop Gislebert, but was itself destroyed by fire in 1020. A vestige of this church, now known as Saint Lubin Chapel, remains, underneath the apse of the present cathedral. It took its name from Lubinus, the mid-6th-century Bishop of Chartres. It is lower than the rest of the crypt and may have been the shrine of a local saint, prior to the church's rededication to the Virgin Mary.

 

In 962 the church was damaged by another fire and was reconstructed yet again. A more serious fire broke out on 7 September 1020, after which Bishop Fulbert (bishop from 1006 to 1028) decided to build a new cathedral. He appealed to the royal houses of Europe, and received generous donations for the rebuilding, including a gift from Cnut the Great, King of Norway, Denmark and much of England. The new cathedral was constructed atop and around the remains of the 9th-century church. It consisted of an ambulatory around the earlier chapel, surrounded by three large chapels with Romanesque barrel vault and groin vault ceilings, which still exist. On top of this structure he built the upper church, 108 meters long and 34 meters wide. The rebuilding proceeded in phases over the next century, culminating in 1145 in a display of public enthusiasm dubbed the "Cult of the Carts" – one of several such incidents recorded during the period. It was claimed that during this religious outburst, a crowd of more than a thousand penitents dragged carts filled with building supplies and provisions including stones, wood, grain, etc. to the site.

 

In 1134, another fire in the town damaged the façade and the bell tower of the cathedral. Construction had already begun on the north tower in the mid-1120s, which was capped with a wooden spire around 1142. The site for the south tower was occupied by the Hotel Dieu that was damaged in the fire. Excavations for that tower were begun straight away. As it rose the sculpture for the Royal Portal (most of which had been carved beforehand) was integrated with the walls of the south tower. The square of the tower was changed to an octagon for the spire just after the Second Crusade. It was finished about 1165 and reached a height of 105 metres or 345 feet, one of the highest in Europe. There was a narthex between the towers and a chapel devoted to Saint Michael. Traces of the vaults and the shafts which supported them are still visible in the western two bays. The stained glass in the three lancet windows over the portals dates from some time before 1145. The Royal Portal on the west façade, between the towers, the primary entrance to the cathedral, was probably finished a year or so after 1140.

 

Fire and reconstruction (1194–1260)

On the night of 10 June 1194, another major fire devastated the cathedral. Only the crypt, the towers, and the new façade survived. The cathedral was already known throughout Europe as a pilgrimage destination, due to the reputed relics of the Virgin Mary that it contained. A legate of the Pope happened to be in Chartres at the time of the fire, and spread the word. Funds were collected from royal and noble patrons across Europe, as well as small donations from ordinary people. Reconstruction began almost immediately. Some portions of the building had survived, including the two towers and the Royal Portal on the west end, and these were incorporated into the new cathedral.

 

The nave, aisles, and lower levels of the transepts of the new cathedral were probably completed first, then the choir and chapels of the apse; then the upper parts of the transept. By 1220 the roof was in place. The major portions of the new cathedral, with its stained glass and sculpture, were largely finished within just twenty-five years, extraordinarily rapid for the time. The cathedral was formally re-consecrated in October 1260, in the presence of King Louis IX of France, whose coat of arms can be seen painted on a boss at the entrance to the apse, although this was added in the 14th century.

 

Later modifications (13th–18th centuries) and the coronation of Relatively few changes were made after this time. An additional seven spires were proposed in the original plans, but these were never built. In 1326, a new two-storey chapel, dedicated to Saint Piatus of Tournai, displaying his relics, was added to the apse. The upper floor of this chapel was accessed by a staircase opening onto the ambulatory. (The chapel is normally closed to visitors, although it occasionally houses temporary exhibitions.) Another chapel was opened in 1417 by Louis, Count of Vendôme, who had been captured by the English at the Battle of Agincourt and fought alongside Joan of Arc at the siege of Orléans. It is located in the fifth bay of the south aisle and is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Its highly ornate Flamboyant Gothic style contrasts with the earlier chapels.

 

In 1506, lightning destroyed the north spire, which was rebuilt in the 'Flamboyant' style from 1507 to 1513 by architect Jean Texier. When he finished this, he began constructing a new jubé or Rood screen that separated the ceremonial choir space from the nave, where the worshippers sat.

 

On 27 February 1594, King Henry IV of France was crowned in Chartres Cathedral, rather than the traditional Reims Cathedral, since both Paris and Reims were occupied at the time by the Catholic League. The ceremony took place in the choir of the church, after which the King and the Bishop mounted the rood screen to be seen by the crowd in the nave. After the ceremony and a mass, they moved to the residence of the bishop next to the cathedral for a banquet.

 

In 1753, further modifications were made to the interior to adapt it to new theological practices. The stone pillars were covered with stucco, and the tapestries which hung behind the stalls were replaced by marble reliefs. The rood screen that separated the liturgical choir from the nave was torn down and the present stalls were built. At the same time, some of the stained glass in the clerestory was removed and replaced with grisaille windows, greatly increasing the light on the high altar in the center of the church.[citation needed]

 

French Revolution and 19th century

Early in the French Revolution a mob attacked and began to destroy the sculpture on the north porch, but was stopped by a larger crowd of townspeople. The local Revolutionary Committee decided to destroy the cathedral via explosives and asked a local architect to find the best place to set the explosions. He saved the building by pointing out that the vast amount of rubble from the demolished building would so clog the streets it would take years to clear away. The cathedral, like Notre Dame de Paris and other major cathedrals, became the property of the French State and worship was halted until the time of Napoleon, but it was not further damaged.

 

In 1836, due to the negligence of workmen, a fire began which destroyed the lead-covered wooden roof and the two belfries, but the building structure and the stained glass were untouched. The old roof was replaced by a copper-covered roof on an iron frame. At the time, the framework over the crossing had the largest span of any iron-framed construction in Europe.

 

World War II

The Second World War, in France, was a battle between the Allies and Axis powers of Germany and Italy. In July 1944, the British and Canadians found themselves restrained just south of Caen. The Americans and their five divisions planned an alternative route to the Germans. While some Americans headed west and south, others found themselves in a sweep east of Caen that led them behind the frontline of the German forces. Hitler ordered the German commissioner, Kluge, to head west to cut off the Americans. This ultimately led the Allies to Chartres in mid-August 1944.

 

On August 16, 1944, the cathedral was saved from destruction thanks to the American colonel Welborn Barton Griffith Jr. (1901–1944), who questioned the order he was given to target the cathedral. The Americans believed that the steeples and towers were being used as an observation post for German artillery.

 

Griffith, accompanied by a volunteer soldier, instead decided to go and verify whether or not the Germans were using the cathedral. Griffith could see that the cathedral was empty, so he had the cathedral bells ring as a signal for the Americans not to shoot. Upon hearing the bells, the American command rescinded the order to fire. Colonel Griffith died in combat action that same day, in the town of Lèves, near Chartres. He was posthumously decorated with the Croix de Guerre avec Palme (War Cross 1939–1945), the Légion d'Honneur (Legion of Honour) and the Ordre National du Mérite (National Order of Merit) of the French government and the Distinguished Service Cross of the American government

 

2009 restoration

In 2009, the Monuments Historiques division of the French Ministry of Culture began an $18.5-million program of works at the cathedral, cleaning the inside and outside, protecting the stained glass with a coating, and cleaning and painting the inside masonry creamy-white with trompe-l'œil marbling and gilded detailing, as it may have looked in the 13th century. This has been a subject of controversy (see below).

 

Liturgy

The cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Chartres of the Diocese of Chartres. The diocese is part of the ecclesiastical province of Tours.

 

Every evening since the events of 11 September 2001, Vespers are sung by the Chemin Neuf Community.

 

Timeline

743 – First mention of a cathedral in Chartres in a text

c. 876 – Charles the Bald gives the cathedral an important sacred relic, the veil of the Virgin, making it an important pilgrimage destination.

1020 – Fire damages cathedral. Bishop Fulbert begins reconstruction.

1030 – New cathedral dedicated by Bishop Thierry, successor to Fulbert

1134 – Construction of the Royal Portal

1170 – Completion of south bell tower

1194 – Fire destroys much of city and a large part of the cathedral, but spares the crypt and the new façade. Fund-raising and rebuilding begins immediately.

1221 – New vaults are completed. The chapter takes possession of the new choir.

1210–1250 – Major installation of stained glass windows in choir and nave installed

1260 – Consecration of the new cathedral in presence of Louis IX (Saint Louis). Roof built over chevet, transept and nave

1270–1280 – Sacristy completed

1324–1353 – Construction of the chapel of Saint Piat

1417 – Chapel of the Annunciation completed

1507–1513 – North tower, damaged by a fire, is rebuilt in Flamboyant Gothic style

1513 – Work begins on the choir tower by Jehan de Beuce

1520- Pavillon de l'Horloge clock tower loge begun on the north side

1594 – Since Reims Cathedral is occupied by the Catholic League, coronation of King Henry IV of France held in Chartres

1789 – Following French Revolution, church property seized and Catholic worship forbidden

1792 – Cathedral treasury confiscated by revolutionary government

1802 – Church restored to the Catholic Church for its exclusive use

1805 – Restoration of church begins

1836 – Fire destroys the roof beams and roof. They are replaced with a metal structure and copper roof

1840 – Cathedral classified a national historical monument

1857 – Completion of Notre-Dame-du-Pilier

1908 – Cathedral granted status of basilica

1979 – Cathedral is declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site

1992 – New main altar by the Georgian-French sculptor Goudji installed in choir

1994 – Cathedral celebrates 800th anniversary of first reconstruction

2009 – New restoration campaign, including cleaning and repainting walls to recreate original light colors and atmosphere

 

Statistics

Length: 130 metres (430 ft)

Width: 32 metres (105 ft) / 46 metres (151 ft)

Nave: height 37 metres (121 ft); width 16.4 metres (54 ft)

Ground area: 10,875 square metres (117,060 sq ft)

Height of south-west tower: 105 metres (344 ft)

Height of north-west tower: 113 metres (371 ft)

176 stained-glass windows

Choir enclosure: 200 statues in 41 scenes

 

The plan, like other Gothic cathedrals, is in the form of a cross and was determined by the shape and size of the 11th-century Romanesque cathedral, whose crypt and vestiges are underneath it. A two-bay narthex at the western end opens into a seven bay nave leading to the crossing, from which wide transepts extend three bays each to north and south. East of the crossing are four rectangular bays terminating in a semicircular apse. The nave and transepts are flanked by single aisles, broadening to a double-aisled ambulatory around the choir and apse. From the ambulatory three deep semi-circular chapels radiate (overlying the deep chapels of Fulbert's 11th-century crypt).

 

While the floor plan was traditional, the elevation was bolder and more original, thanks to the use of the flying buttress to support the upper walls. This was the first known use in a Gothic cathedral. These heavy columns of stone were joined to the walls by double stone arches, and reinforced by columns, like the spokes of a wheel. Each of these columns is made from a single piece of stone. The arches press against the walls, counterbalancing the outward thrust from the rib vaults over the cathedral interior. These vaults were also innovative, having just four compartments, unlike the six-part vaults of earlier Gothic churches. They were lighter and could cross a greater distance. Since the flying buttresses were experimental, the architect prudently added additional buttresses concealed under roofs of the aisles.

 

The elevations of earlier Gothic cathedrals usually had four levels to give them solidity; an arcade of massive columns on the ground floor, supporting a wide arched tribune gallery or tribune, below a narrower arcade triforium; then, under the roof, the higher and thinner walls, or clerestory, where the windows were. Thanks to the buttresses, the architects of Chartres could eliminate the gallery entirely, make the triforium very narrow, and have much more room for windows above. Chartres was not the first cathedral to use this innovation, but it used it much more consistently and effectively throughout. This buttressing plan was adopted by the other major 13th-century cathedrals, notably Amiens Cathedral and Reims Cathedral.

 

Another architectural innovation at Chartres was the design of the massive piers or pillars on the ground floor which receive the weight of the roof through the thin stone ribs of vaults above. The weight of the roof is carried by the thin stone ribs of the vaults outwards to the walls, where it is counterbalanced by the flying buttresses, and downwards, first through columns made of ribs joined together, then by alternating round and octagonal solid cored piers, each of which bundles together four half-columns. This pier design, known as pilier cantonné, was strong, simple, and elegant, and permitted the large stained glass windows of the clerestory, or upper level.

 

Although the sculpture on the portals at Chartres is generally of a high standard, the various carved elements inside, such as the capitals and string courses, are relatively poorly finished (when compared for example with those at Reims or Soissons) – the reason is simply that the portals were carved from the finest Parisian limestone, or ' 'calcaire' ', while the internal capitals were carved from the local "Berchères stone", that is hard to work and can be brittle.

 

The two towers were built at different times, during the Gothic period, and have different heights and decoration. The north tower was begun in 1134, to replace a Romanesque tower that was damaged by fire. It was completed in 1150 and originally was just two stories high, with a lead-covered roof. The south tower was begun in about 1144 and was finished in 1150. It was more ambitious, and has an octagonal masonry spire on a square tower, and reaches a height of 105 meters. It was built without an interior wooden framework; the flat stone sides narrow progressively to the pinnacle, and heavy stone pyramids around the base give it additional support.

 

The two towers survived the devastating fire of 1194, which destroyed most of the cathedral except the west façade and crypt. As the cathedral was rebuilt, the famous west rose window was installed between the two towers (13th century), and in 1507, the architect Jean Texier (also sometimes known as Jehan de Beauce) designed a spire for the north tower, to give it a height and appearance closer to that of the south tower. This work was completed in 1513. The north tower is in a more decorative Flamboyant Gothic style, with pinnacles and buttresses. It reaches a height of 113 meters, just above the south tower. Plans were made for the addition of seven more spires around the cathedral, but these were abandoned.

 

At the base of the north tower is a small structure which contains a Renaissance-era twenty-four-hour clock with a polychrome face, constructed in 1520 by Jean Texier. The face of the clock is eighteen feet in diameter.

 

A fire in 1836 destroyed the roof and belfries of the cathedral, and melted the bells, but did not damage the structure below or the stained glass. The timber beams under the roof were replaced with an iron framework covered with copper plates.

 

The portals and their sculpture

The cathedral has three great portals or entrances, opening into the nave from the west and into the transepts from north and south. The portals are richly decorated with sculptures, which rendered biblical stories and theological ideas visible for both the educated clergy and layfolk who may not have had access to textual learning. Each of the three portals on the west façade (made 1145–55) focuses on a different aspect of Christ's role in the world; on the right, his earthly Incarnation, on the left, his Ascension or his existence before his Incarnation (the era "ante legem"), and, in the center, his Second Coming, initiating the End of Time. The statuary of the Chartres portals is considered among the finest existing Gothic sculpture.

 

One of the few parts of the cathedral to survive the 1194 fire, the Portail royal was integrated into the new cathedral. Opening on to the parvis (the large square in front of the cathedral where markets were held), the two lateral doors would have been the first entry point for most visitors to Chartres, as they remain today. The central door is only opened for the entry of processions on major festivals, of which the most important is the Adventus or installation of a new bishop. The harmonious appearance of the façade results in part from the relative proportions of the central and lateral portals, whose widths are in the ratio 10:7 – one of the common medieval approximations of the square root of 2.

 

As well as their basic functions of providing access to the interior, portals are the main locations for sculpted images on the Gothic cathedral and it is on the west façade at Chartres that this practice began to develop into a visual summa or encyclopedia of theological knowledge. Each of the three portals focuses on a different aspect of Christ's role in salvation history; his earthly incarnation on the right, his Ascension or existence before the Incarnation on the left, and his Second Coming (the Theophanic Vision) in the center.

 

Above the right portal, the lintel is carved in two registers with (lower) the Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity, Annunciation to the Shepherds and (upper) the Presentation in the Temple. Above this the tympanum shows the Virgin and Child enthroned in the Sedes sapientiae pose. Surrounding the tympanum, as a reminder of the glory days of the School of Chartres, the archivolts are carved with some very distinctive personifications of the Seven Liberal Arts as well as the classical authors and philosophers most closely associated with them.

 

The left portal is more enigmatic and art historians still argue over the correct identification. The tympanum shows Christ standing on a cloud, apparently supported by two angels. Some see this as a depiction of the Ascension of Christ (in which case the figures on the lower lintel would represent the disciples witnessing the event) while others see it as representing the Parousia, or Second Coming of Christ (in which case the lintel figures could be either the prophets who foresaw that event or else the 'Men of Galilee' mentioned in Acts 1:9-11). The presence of angels in the upper lintel, descending from a cloud and apparently shouting to those below, would seem to support the latter interpretation. The archivolts contain the signs of the zodiac and the labours of the months – standard references to the cyclical nature of time which appear in many Gothic portals.

 

The central portal is a more conventional representation of the End of Time as described in the Book of Revelation. In the center of the tympanum is Christ within a mandorla, surrounded by the four symbols of the evangelists (the Tetramorph). The lintel shows the Twelve Apostles while the archivolts show the 24 Elders of the Apocalypse.

 

Although the upper parts of the three portals are treated separately, two sculptural elements run horizontally across the façade, uniting its different parts. Most obvious are the jamb statues affixed to the columns flanking the doorways – tall, slender standing figures of kings and queens from whom the Portail royal derived its name. Although in the 18th and 19th century these figures were mistakenly identified as the Merovingian monarchs of France (thus attracting the opprobrium of Revolutionary iconoclasts) they almost certainly represent the kings and queens of the Old Testament – another standard iconographical feature of Gothic portals.

 

Less obvious than the jamb statues but far more intricately carved is the frieze that stretches all across the façade in the sculpted capitals on top of the jamb columns. Carved into these capitals is a very lengthy narrative depicting the life of the Virgin and the life and Passion of Christ.

 

The statuary of the north transept portals is devoted to the Old Testament, and the events leading up to the birth of Christ, with particular emphasis on the Virgin Mary. The glorification of Mary in the center, the incarnation of her son on the left and Old Testament prefigurations and prophecies on the right. One major exception to this scheme is the presence of large statues of St Modesta (a local martyr) and St Potentian on the north west corner of the porch, close to a small doorway where pilgrims visiting the crypt (where their relics were stored) would once have emerged.

 

As well as the main sculptural areas around the portals themselves, the deep porches are filled with other carvings depicting a range of subjects including local saints, Old Testament narratives, naturalistic foliage, fantastical beasts, Labours of the Months and personifications of the 'active and contemplative lives' (the vita activa and vita contemplativa). The personifications of the vita activa (directly overhead, just inside the inside of the left hand porch) are of particular interest for their meticulous depictions of the various stages in the preparation of flax – an important cash crop in the area during the Middle Ages.

 

The south portal, which was added later than the others, in the 13th century, is devoted to events after the Crucifixion of Christ, and particularly to the Christian martyrs. The decoration of the central bay concentrates on the Last Judgemnt and the Apostles; the left bay on the lives of martyrs; and the right bay is devoted to confessor saints. This arrangement is repeated in the stained glass windows of the apse. The arches and columns of the porch are lavishly decorated with sculpture representing the labours of the months, the signs of the zodiac, and statues representing the virtues and vices. On top of the porch, between the gables, are pinnacles in the arcades with statues of eighteen Kings, beginning with King David, representing the lineage of Christ, and linking the Old Testament and the New.

 

While most of the sculpture of the cathedral portrayed saints, apostles and other Biblical figures, such as the angel holding a sundial on the south façade, other sculpture at Chartres was designed to warn the faithful. These works include statues of assorted monsters and demons. Some of these figures, such as gargoyles, also had a practical function; these served as rain spouts to project water far away from the walls. Others, like the chimera and the strix, were designed to show the consequences of disregarding Biblical teachings.

 

The nave, or main space for the congregation, was designed especially to receive pilgrims, who would often sleep in the church. The floor is slightly tilted so that it could be washed out with water each morning. The rooms on either side of Royal Portal still have traces of construction of the earlier Romanesque building. The nave itself was built after the fire, beginning in 1194. The floor of the nave also has a labyrinth in the pavement (see labyrinth section below). The two rows of alternating octagonal and round pillars on either side of the nave receive part of the weight of the roof through the thin stone ribs descending from the vaults above. The rest of the weight is distributed by the vaults outwards to the walls, supported by flying buttresses.

 

The statue of Mary and the infant Christ, called Our Lady of the Pillar, replaces a 16th-century statue which was burned by the Revolutionaries in 1793.

 

Stained glass windows

See also: Stained glass windows of Chartres Cathedral

One of the most distinctive features of Chartres Cathedral is the stained glass, both for its quantity and quality. There are 167 windows, including rose windows, round oculi, and tall, pointed lancet windows. The architecture of the cathedral, with its innovative combination of rib vaults and flying buttresses, permitted the construction of much higher and thinner walls, particularly at the top clerestory level, allowing more and larger windows. Also, Chartres contains fewer plain or grisaille windows than later cathedrals, and more windows with densely stained glass panels, making the interior of Chartres darker but the colour of the light deeper and richer.

 

These are the oldest windows in the cathedral. The right window, the Jesse Window, depicts the genealogy of Christ. The middle window depicts the life of Christ, and the left window depicts the Passion of Christ, from the Transfiguration and Last Supper to the Resurrection. All three of these windows were originally made around 1145 but were restored in the early 13th century and again in the 19th.

 

The other 12th-century window, perhaps the most famous at Chartres, is the "Notre-Dame de la Belle-Verrière", or "The Blue Virgin". It is found in the first bay of the choir after the south transept. Most windows are made up of around 25 to 30 individual panels showing distinct episodes within the narrative; only Notre-Dame de la Belle-Verrière includes a larger image made up of multiple panels. This window is actually a composite; the upper part, showing the Virgin and Child surrounded by adoring angels, dates from around 1180 and was probably positioned at the center of the apse in the earlier building. The Virgin is depicted wearing a blue robe and sitting in a frontal pose on a throne, with the Christ Child seated on her lap raising his hand in blessing. This composition, known as the Sedes sapientiae ("Throne of Wisdom"), which also appears on the Portail royal, is based on the famous cult figure kept in the crypt. The lower part of the window, showing scenes from the infancy of Christ, dates from the main glazing campaign around 1225.

 

The cathedral has three large rose windows. The western rose (c. 1215, 12 m in diameter) shows the Last Judgment – a traditional theme for west façades. A central oculus showing Christ as the Judge is surrounded by an inner ring of twelve paired roundels containing angels and the Elders of the Apocalypse and an outer ring of 12 roundels showing the dead emerging from their tombs and the angels blowing trumpets to summon them to judgment.

 

The north transept rose (10.5 m diameter, c. 1235), like much of the sculpture in the north porch beneath it, is dedicated to the Virgin. The central oculus shows the Virgin and Child and is surrounded by twelve small petal-shaped windows, four with doves (the 'Four Gifts of the Spirit'), the rest with adoring angels carrying candlesticks. Beyond this is a ring of twelve diamond-shaped openings containing the Old Testament Kings of Judah, another ring of smaller lozenges containing the arms of France and Castille, and finally a ring of semicircles containing Old Testament Prophets holding scrolls. The presence of the arms of the French king (yellow fleurs-de-lis on a blue background) and of his mother, Blanche of Castile (yellow castles on a red background) are taken as a sign of royal patronage for this window. Beneath the rose itself are five tall lancet windows (7.5 m high) showing, in the center, the Virgin as an infant held by her mother, St Anne – the same subject as the trumeau in the portal beneath it. Flanking this lancet are four more containing Old Testament figures. Each of these standing figures is shown symbolically triumphing over an enemy depicted in the base of the lancet beneath them – David over Saul, Aaron over Pharaoh, St Anne over Synagoga, etc.

 

The south transept rose (10.5 m diameter, made c. 1225–30) is dedicated to Christ, who is shown in the central oculus, right hand raised in benediction, surrounded by adoring angels. Two outer rings of twelve circles each contain the 24 Elders of the Apocalypse, crowned and carrying phials and musical instruments. The central lancet beneath the rose shows the Virgin carrying the infant Christ. Either side of this are four lancets showing the four evangelists sitting on the shoulders of four prophets – a rare literal illustration of the theological principle that the New Testament builds upon the Old Testament. This window was a donation of the Mauclerc family, the Counts of Dreux-Bretagne, who are depicted with their arms in the bases of the lancets.

 

Each bay of the aisles and the choir ambulatory contains one large lancet window, most of them roughly 8.1m high by 2.2m wide. The subjects depicted in these windows, made between 1205 and 1235, include stories from the Old and New Testament and the Lives of the Saints as well as typological cycles and symbolic images such as the signs of the zodiac and labours of the months. One of the most famous examples is the Good Samaritan parable.

 

Several of the windows at Chartres include images of local tradesmen or labourers in the lowest two or three panels, often with details of their equipment and working methods. Traditionally it was claimed that these images represented the guilds of the donors who paid for the windows. In recent years however this view has largely been discounted, not least because each window would have cost around as much as a large mansion house to make – while most of the labourers depicted would have been subsistence workers with little or no disposable income. Furthermore, although they became powerful and wealthy organisations in the later medieval period, none of these trade guilds had actually been founded when the glass was being made in the early 13th century. Another possible explanation is that the cathedral clergy wanted to emphasise the universal reach of the Church, particularly at a time when their relationship with the local community was often a troubled one.

 

Clerestory windows

Because of their greater distance from the viewer, the windows in the clerestory generally adopt simpler, bolder designs. Most feature the standing figure of a saint or Apostle in the upper two-thirds, often with one or two simplified narrative scenes in the lower part, either to help identify the figure or else to remind the viewer of some key event in their life. Whereas the lower windows in the nave arcades and the ambulatory consist of one simple lancet per bay, the clerestory windows are each made up of a pair of lancets with a plate-traceried rose window above. The nave and transept clerestory windows mainly depict saints and Old Testament prophets. Those in the choir depict the kings of France and Castile and members of the local nobility in the straight bays, while the windows in the apse hemicycle show those Old Testament prophets who foresaw the virgin birth, flanking scenes of the Annunciation, Visitation and Nativity in the axial window.

 

Later windows

On the whole, Chartres' windows have been remarkably fortunate. The medieval glass largely escaped harm during the Huguenot iconoclasm and the religious wars of the 16th century although the west rose sustained damage from artillery fire in 1591. The relative darkness of the interior seems to have been a problem for some. A few windows were replaced with much lighter grisaille glass in the 14th century to improve illumination, particularly on the north side and several more were replaced with clear glass in 1753 as part of the reforms to liturgical practice that also led to the removal of the jubé (rood screen). The installation of the Vendôme Chapel between two buttresses of the nave in the early 15th century resulted in the loss of one more lancet window, though it did allow for the insertion of a fine late-Gothic window with donor portraits of Louis de Bourbon and his family witnessing the Coronation of the Virgin with assorted saints.

 

Although estimates vary (depending on how one counts compound or grouped windows) approximately 152 of the original 176 stained glass windows survive – far more than any other medieval cathedral anywhere in the world.

 

Like most medieval buildings, the windows at Chartres suffered badly from the corrosive effects of atmospheric acids during the Industrial Revolution and thereafter. The majority of windows were cleaned and restored by the famous local workshop Atelier Lorin at the end of the 19th century, but they continued to deteriorate. During World War II most of the stained glass was removed from the cathedral and stored in the surrounding countryside to protect it from damage. At the close of the war the windows were taken out of storage and reinstalled. Since then, an ongoing programme of conservation has been underway and isothermal secondary glazing was gradually installed on the exterior to protect the windows from further damage.

 

The small Saint Lubin Crypt, under the choir of the cathedral, was constructed in the 9th century and is the oldest part of the building. It is surrounded by a much larger crypt, the Saint Fulbert Crypt, which was completed in 1025, five years after the fire that destroyed most of the older cathedral. It is U-shaped and 230 meters long, next to the crypts of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and Canterbury Cathedral. It is the largest crypt in Europe and serves as the foundation of the cathedral above.

 

The corridors and chapels of the crypt are covered with Romanesque barrel vaults, groin vaults where two barrel vaults meet at right angles, and a few more modern Gothic rib-vaults.

 

One notable feature of the crypt is the Well of the Saints-Forts. The well is thirty-three metres deep and is probably of Celtic origin. According to legend, Quirinus, the Roman magistrate of the Gallo-Roman town, had the early Christian martyrs thrown down the well. A statue of one of the martyrs, Modeste, is featured among the sculpture on the North Portico.

 

Another notable feature is the Our Lady of the Crypt Chapel. A reliquary here contains a fragment of the reputed veil of the Virgin Mary, which was donated to the cathedral in 876 by Charles the Bald, the grandson of Charlemagne. The silk veil was divided into pieces during the French Revolution. The largest piece is shown in one of the ambulatory chapels above. and the small Shrine of Our Lady of the Crypt. The altar of the chapel is carved from a single block of limestone from the Berchères quarry, the source of most of the stone of the cathedral. The fresco on the wall dates from about 1200 and depicts the Virgin Mary on her throne. The Three Kings are to her left, and the Apostles Savinien and Potentien to her right. The chapel also has a modern stained glass window, the Mary, Door to Heaven Window, made by Henri Guérin, made by cementing together thick slabs of stained glass.

 

The high ornamental stone screen that separates the choir from the ambulatory was put in place between the 16th and 18th century, to adapt the church to a change in liturgy. It was built in the late Flamboyant Gothic and then the Renaissance style. The screen has forty niches along the ambulatory filled with statues by prominent sculptors telling the life of Christ. The last statues were put in place in 1714.

 

The buffet, or wooden case of the grand organ of the cathedral is among the oldest in France. It was first built in the 14th century, rebuilt in 1475, and enlarged in 1542. Both the organ and the tribune have been classified as separate historic monuments since 1840.

 

The organ is placed in the nave at the crossing of the south transept, sixteen meters above the floor of the nave, in close proximity to the choir, to assure the best sound quality throughout the cathedral. The whole case is fifteen meters high, with the top of its central tower thirty meters above the floor of the nave. The case was rebuilt during the Renaissance, and largely took its present form. Closer study of the case by the Ministry of Culture showed that the early case was covered with polychrome painting; yellow ochre under a varnish of reddish brown in earlier layer, and later by a brighter yellow on white. This study also showed that the mechanism was in very poor condition, and urgently needed reconstruction.

 

A major rebuilding and enlargement of the organ instrument took place in 1969–71, both to restore the ageing mechanism, and to add new keys and functions. The case was also restored, with the cost paid entirely by the French State, as was part of the cost of restoring the organ itself. As a result of this, and after further work on the organ in 1996, the instrument has 70 stops, totaling of over 4000 pipes.

 

The labyrinth (early 1200s) is a famous feature of the cathedral, located on the floor in the center of the nave. Labyrinths were found in almost all Gothic cathedrals, though most were later removed since they distracted from the religious services in the nave. They symbolized the long winding path towards salvation. Unlike mazes, there was only a single path that could be followed. On certain days the chairs of the nave are removed so that visiting pilgrims can follow the labyrinth. Copies of the Chartres labyrinth are found at other churches and cathedrals, including Grace Cathedral, San Francisco. Artist Kent Bellows depicts a direct reference to the labyrinth, which he renders in the background of at least one of his artworks; Mandala, 1990, Pencil on paper, 18 x 19 1/2 in.

 

The Chapel of Saint Piatus of Tournai was a later addition to the cathedral, built in 1326, close to the apse at the east end of the cathedral. It contained a collection of reputed relics from the saint, who was bishop of Tournai in modern-day Belgium in the third century. Martyred by the Romans, who cut off the top of his skull, he is depicted in stained glass and sculpture holding the fragment of his skull in his hands. The chapel has a flat chevet and two circular towers. Inside are four bays, in a harmonious style, since it was built all at the same time. It also contains a notable collection of 14th-century stained glass. The lower floor was used as a chapter house, or meeting place for official functions, and the top floor was connected to the cathedral by an open stairway.

 

The sacristy, across from the north portal of the cathedral, was built in the second half of the 13th century. The bishop's palace, also to the north, is built of brick and stone, and dates to the 17th century. A gateway from the period of Louis XV leads to the palace and also gives access to the terraced gardens, which offer of good view of the cathedral, particularly the chevet of the cathedral at the east end, with its radiating chapels built over the earlier Romanesque vaults. The lower garden also has a labyrinth of hedges.

 

Construction

Work was begun on the Royal Portal with the south lintel around 1136 and with all its sculpture installed up to 1141. Opinions are uncertain as the sizes and styles of the figures vary and some elements, such as the lintel over the right-hand portal, have clearly been cut down to fit the available spaces. The sculpture was originally designed for these portals, but the layouts were changed by successive masters, see careful lithic analysis by John James. Either way, most of the carving follows the exceptionally high standard typical of this period and exercised a strong influence on the subsequent development of Gothic portal design.

 

Some of the masters have been identified by John James, and drafts of these studies have been published on the web site of the International Center of Medieval Art, New York.

 

On 10 June 1194, another fire caused extensive damage to Fulbert's cathedral. The true extent of the damage is unknown, though the fact that the lead cames holding the west windows together survived the conflagration intact suggests contemporary accounts of the terrible devastation may have been exaggerated. Either way, the opportunity was taken to begin a complete rebuilding of the choir and nave in the latest style. The undamaged western towers and façade were incorporated into the new works, as was the earlier crypt, effectively limiting the designers of the new building to the same general plan as its predecessor. In fact, the present building is only marginally longer than Fulbert's cathedral.

 

One of the features of Chartres cathedral is the speed with which it was built – a factor which helped contribute to the consistency of its design. Even though there were innumerable changes to the details, the plan remains consistent. The major change occurred six years after work began when the seven deep chapels around the choir opening off a single ambulatory were turned into shallow recesses opening off a double-aisled ambulatory.

 

Australian architectural historian John James, who made a detailed study of the cathedral, has estimated that there were about 300 men working on the site at any one time, although it has to be acknowledged that current knowledge of working practices at this time is somewhat limited. Normally medieval churches were built from east to west so that the choir could be completed first and put into use (with a temporary wall sealing off the west end) while the crossing and nave were completed. Canon Delaporte argued that building work started at the crossing and proceeded outwards from there, but the evidence in the stonework itself is unequivocal, especially within the level of the triforium: the nave was at all times more advanced than ambulatory bays of the choir, and this has been confirmed by dendrochronology.

 

The builders were not working on a clean site; they would have had to clear back the rubble and surviving parts of the old church as they built the new. Work nevertheless progressed rapidly: the south porch with most of its sculpture was installed by 1210, and by 1215 the north porch and the west rose window were completed. The nave high vaults were erected in the 1220s, the canons moved into their new stalls in 1221 under a temporary roof at the level of the clerestory, and the transept roses were erected over the next two decades. The high vaults over the choir were not built until the last years of the 1250s, as was rediscovered in the first decade of the 21st century.

 

Restoration

From 1997 until 2018, the exterior of the cathedral underwent an extensive cleaning, that also included many of the interior walls and the sculpture. The statement of purpose declared, "the restoration aims not only to clean and maintains the structure but also to offer an insight into what the cathedral would have looked like in the 13th century." The walls and sculpture, blackened by soot and age, again became white. The celebrated Black Madonna statue was cleaned, and her face was found to be white under the soot. The project went further; the walls in the nave were painted white and shades of yellow and beige, to recreate an idea of the earlier medieval decoration. However, the restoration also brought sharp criticism. The architectural critic of the New York Times, Martin Filler, called it "a scandalous desecration of a cultural holy place." He also noted that the bright white walls made it more difficult to appreciate the colours of the stained glass windows, and declared that the work violated international conservation protocols, in particular, the 1964 Charter of Venice of which France is a signatory. The president of the Friends of Chartres Cathedral Isabelle Paillot defended the restoration work as necessary to prevent the building from crumbling.

 

The School of Chartres

At the beginning of the 11th century, Bishop Fulbert besides rebuilding the cathedral, established Chartres as a cathedral school, an important center of religious scholarship and theology. He attracted important theologians, including Thierry of Chartres, William of Conches and the Englishman John of Salisbury. These men were at the forefront of the intense intellectual rethinking that culminated in what is now known as the twelfth-century renaissance, pioneering the Scholastic philosophy that came to dominate medieval thinking throughout Europe. By the mid-12th century, the role of Chartres had waned, as it was replaced by the University of Paris as the leading school of theology. The primary activity of Chartres became pilgrimages.

 

Social and economic context

As with any medieval bishopric, Chartres Cathedral was the most important building in the town – the center of its economy, its most famous landmark and the focal point of many activities that in modern towns are provided for by specialised civic buildings. In the Middle Ages, the cathedral functioned as a kind of marketplace, with different commercial activities centred on the different portals, particularly during the regular fairs. Textiles were sold around the north transept, while meat, vegetable and fuel sellers congregated around the south porch. Money-changers (an essential service at a time when each town or region had its own currency) had their benches, or banques, near the west portals and also in the nave itself.[citation needed] Wine sellers plied their trade in the nave to avoid taxes until, sometime in the 13th century, an ordinance forbade this. The ordinance assigned to the wine-sellers part of the crypt, where they could avoid the count's taxes without disturbing worshippers. Workers of various professions gathered in particular locations around the cathedral awaiting offers of work.

 

Although the town of Chartres was under the judicial and tax authority of the Counts of Blois, the area immediately surrounding the cathedral, known as the cloître, was in effect a free-trade zone governed by the church authorities, who were entitled to the taxes from all commercial activity taking place there. As well as greatly increasing the cathedral's income, throughout the 12th and 13th centuries this led to regular disputes, often violent, between the bishops, the chapter and the civic authorities – particularly when serfs belonging to the counts transferred their trade (and taxes) to the cathedral. In 1258, after a series of bloody riots instigated by the count's officials, the chapter finally gained permission from the King to seal off the area of the cloître and lock the gates each night.

 

Pilgrimages and the legend of the Sancta Camisa

Even before the Gothic cathedral was built, Chartres was a place of pilgrimage, albeit on a much smaller scale. During the Merovingian and early Carolingian eras, the main focus of devotion for pilgrims was a well (now located in the north side of Fulbert's crypt), known as the Puits des Saints-Forts, or the 'Well of the Strong Saints', into which it was believed the bodies of various local Early-Christian martyrs (including saints Piat, Chéron, Modesta and Potentianus) had been tossed.

 

Chartres became a site for the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 876 the cathedral acquired the Sancta Camisa, believed to be the tunic worn by Mary at the time of Christ's birth. According to legend, the relic was given to the cathedral by Charlemagne who received it as a gift from Emperor Constantine VI during a crusade to Jerusalem. However, as Charlemagne's crusade is fiction, the legend lacks historical merit and was probably invented in the 11th century to authenticate relics at the Abbey of St Denis. In fact, the Sancta Camisa was a gift to the cathedral from Charles the Bald and there is no evidence for its being an important object of pilgrimage prior to the 12th century. In 1194, when the cathedral was struck by lightning, and the east spire was lost, the Sancta Camisa was thought lost, too. However, it was found three days later, protected by priests, who fled behind iron trapdoors when the fire broke out.

 

Some research suggests that depictions in the cathedral, e.g. Mary's infertile parents Joachim and Anne, harken back to the pre-Christian cult of a fertility goddess, and women would come to the well at this location in order to pray for their children and that some refer to that past. Chartres historian and expert Malcolm Miller rejected the claims of pre-cathedral, Celtic, ceremonies and buildings on the site in a documentary. However, the widespread belief[citation needed] that the cathedral was also the site of a pre-Christian druidical sect who worshipped a "Virgin who will give birth" is purely a late-medieval invention.

 

By the end of the 12th century, the church had become one of the most important popular pilgrimage destinations in Europe. There were four great fairs which coincided with the main feast days of the Virgin Mary: the Presentation, the Annunciation, the Assumption and the Nativity. The fairs were held in the area administered by the cathedral and were attended by many of the pilgrims in town to see the cloak of the Virgin. Specific pilgrimages were also held in response to outbreaks of disease. When ergotism (more popularly known in the Middle Ages as "St. Anthony's fire") afflicted many victims, the crypt of the original church became a hospital to care for the sick.

 

Today Chartres continues to attract large numbers of pilgrims, many of whom come to walk slowly around the labyrinth, their heads bowed in prayer – a devotional practice that the cathedral authorities accommodate by removing the chairs from the nave on Fridays from Lent to All Saints' Day (except for Good Friday).

 

Orson Welles famously used Chartres as a visual backdrop and inspiration for a montage sequence in his film F For Fake. Welles' semi-autobiographical narration spoke to the power of art in culture and how the work itself may be more important than the identity of its creators. Feeling that the beauty of Chartres and its unknown artisans and architects epitomized this sentiment, Welles, standing outside the cathedral and looking at it, eulogizes:

 

Now this has been standing here for centuries. The premier work of man perhaps in the whole western world and it's without a signature: Chartres.

 

A celebration to God's glory and to the dignity of man. All that's left most artists seem to feel these days, is man. Naked, poor, forked radish. There aren't any celebrations. Ours, the scientists keep telling us, is a universe, which is disposable. You know it might be just this one anonymous glory of all things, this rich stone forest, this epic chant, this gaiety, this grand choiring shout of affirmation, which we choose when all our cities are dust, to stand intact, to mark where we have been, to testify to what we had it in us, to accomplish.

 

Our works in stone, in paint, in print are spared, some of them for a few decades, or a millennium or two, but everything must finally fall in war or wear away into the ultimate and universal ash. The triumphs and the frauds, the treasures and the fakes. A fact of life. We're going to die. "Be of good heart," cry the dead artists out of the living past. Our songs will all be silenced – but what of it? Go on singing. Maybe a man's name doesn't matter all that much.

 

(Church bells peal...)

 

Joseph Campbell references his spiritual experience in The Power of Myth:

 

I'm back in the Middle Ages. I'm back in the world that I was brought up in as a child, the Roman Catholic spiritual-image world, and it is magnificent ... That cathedral talks to me about the spiritual information of the world. It's a place for meditation, just walking around, just sitting, just looking at those beautiful things.

 

Joris-Karl Huysmans includes detailed interpretation of the symbolism underlying the art of Chartres Cathedral in his 1898 semi-autobiographical novel La cathédrale.

 

Chartres was the primary basis for the fictional cathedral in David Macaulay's Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction and the animated special based on this book.

 

Chartres was an important setting in the religious thriller Gospel Truths by J. G. Sandom. The book used the cathedral's architecture and history as clues in the search for a lost Gospel.

 

The cathedral is featured in the television travel series The Naked Pilgrim; presenter Brian Sewell explores the cathedral and discusses its famous relic – the nativity cloak said to have been worn by the Virgin Mary.

 

Popular action-adventure video game Assassin's Creed features a climbable cathedral modelled heavily on the Chartres Cathedral.

 

Chartres Cathedral and, especially, its labyrinth are featured in the novels Labyrinth and The City of Tears by Kate Mosse, who was educated in and is a resident of Chartres' twin city Chichester.

 

Chartres Light Celebration

One of the attractions at the Chartres Cathedral is the Chartres Light Celebration, when not only is the cathedral lit, but so are many buildings throughout the town, as a celebration of electrification.

 

Chartres is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about 90 km (56 mi) southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as defined by the INSEE), 38,534 of whom lived in the city (commune) of Chartres proper.

 

Chartres is famous worldwide for its cathedral. Mostly constructed between 1193 and 1250, this Gothic cathedral is in an exceptional state of preservation. The majority of the original stained glass windows survive intact, while the architecture has seen only minor changes since the early 13th century. Part of the old town, including most of the library associated with the School of Chartres, was destroyed by Allied bombs in 1944.

 

History

Chartres was one of the principal towns in Gaul of the Carnutes, a Celtic tribe. In the Gallo-Roman period, it was called Autricum, name derived from the river Autura (Eure), and afterwards civitas Carnutum, "city of the Carnutes", from which Chartres got its name. The city was raided and burned down by the Norsemen in 858, and once again besieged, this time unsuccessfully, by them in 911.

 

During the Middle Ages, it was the most important town of the Beauce. It gave its name to a county which was held by the counts of Blois, and the counts of Champagne, and afterwards by the House of Châtillon, a member of which sold it to the Crown in 1286.

 

In 1417, during the Hundred Years' War, Chartres fell into the hands of the English, from whom it was recovered in 1432. In 1528, it was raised to the rank of a duchy by Francis I.

 

In 1568, during the Wars of Religion, Chartres was unsuccessfully besieged by the Huguenot leader, the Prince of Condé. It was finally taken by the royal troops of Henry IV on 19 April 1591. On Sunday, 27 February 1594, the cathedral of Chartres was the site of the coronation of Henry IV after he converted to the Catholic faith, the only king of France whose coronation ceremony was not performed in Reims.

 

In 1674, Louis XIV raised Chartres from a duchy to a duchy peerage in favor of his nephew, Duke Philippe II of Orléans. The title of Duke of Chartres was hereditary in the House of Orléans, and given to the eldest son of the Duke of Orléans.

 

In the 1870–1871 Franco-Prussian War, Chartres was seized by the Germans on 2 October 1870, and continued during the rest of the war to be an important centre of operations.

 

In World War II, the city suffered heavy damage by bombing and during the battle of Chartres in August 1944, but its cathedral was spared by an American Army officer who challenged the order to destroy it. On 16 August 1944, Colonel Welborn Barton Griffith, Jr. questioned the necessity of destroying the cathedral and volunteered to go behind enemy lines to find out whether the Germans were using it as an observation post. With his driver, Griffith proceeded to the cathedral and, after searching it all the way up its bell tower, confirmed to Headquarters that it was empty of Germans. The order to destroy the cathedral was withdrawn.

 

Colonel Griffith was killed in action later on that day in the town of Lèves, 3.5 kilometres (2.2 miles) north of Chartres. For his heroic action both at Chartres and Lèves, Colonel Griffith received, posthumously, several decorations awarded by the President of the United States and the U.S. Military, and also from the French government.

 

Following deep reconnaissance missions in the region by the 3rd Cavalry Group and units of the 1139 Engineer Combat Group, and after heavy fighting in and around the city, Chartres was liberated, on 18 August 1944, by the U.S. 5th Infantry and 7th Armored Divisions belonging to the XX Corps of the U.S. Third Army commanded by General George S. Patton.

 

Geography

Chartres is built on a hill on the left bank of the river Eure. Its renowned medieval cathedral is at the top of the hill, and its two spires are visible from miles away across the flat surrounding lands. To the southeast stretches the fertile plain of Beauce, the "granary of France", of which the town is the commercial centre.

 

Main sights

Chartres is best known for its cathedral, the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres, which is considered one of the finest and best preserved Gothic cathedrals in France and in Europe. Its historical and cultural importance has been recognized by its inclusion on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

 

It was built on the site of the former Chartres cathedral of Romanesque architecture, which was destroyed by fire in 1194 (that former cathedral had been built on the ruins of an ancient Celtic temple, later replaced by a Roman temple). Begun in 1205, the construction of Notre-Dame de Chartres was completed 66 years later.

 

The stained glass windows of the cathedral were financed by guilds of merchants and craftsmen, and by wealthy noblemen, whose names appear at the bottom.

 

It is not known how the famous and unique blue, bleu de Chartres, of the glass was created, and it has been impossible to replicate it. The French author Michel Pastoureau says that it could also be called bleu de Saint-Denis.

 

The Église Saint-Pierre de Chartres was the church of the Benedictine Abbaye Saint-Père-en-Vallée, founded in the 7th century by queen Balthild. At time of its construction, the abbey was outside the walls of the city. It contains fine stained glass and, formerly, twelve representations of the apostles in enamel, created about 1547 by Léonard Limosin, which now can be seen in the fine arts museum.

 

Other noteworthy churches of Chartres are Saint-Aignan (13th, 16th and 17th centuries), and Saint-Martin-au-Val (12th century), inside the Saint-Brice hospital.

 

Museums

Musée des Beaux-Arts, Fine arts museum, housed in the former episcopal palace adjacent to the cathedral.

Le Centre international du vitrail, a workshop-museum and cultural center devoted to stained glass art, located 50 metres (160 feet) from the cathedral.

Conservatoire du machinisme et des pratiques agricoles, an agricultural museum.

Musée le grenier de l'histoire, history museum specializing in military uniforms and accoutrements, in Lèves, a suburb of Chartres.

Muséum des sciences naturelles et de la préhistoire, Natural science and Prehistory Museum (closed since 2015).

Other sights

 

The Eure river running through Chartres

The river Eure, which at this point divides into three branches, is crossed by several bridges, some of them ancient, and is fringed in places by remains of the old fortifications, of which the Porte Guillaume (14th century), a gateway flanked by towers, was the most complete specimen, until destroyed by the retreating German army in the night of 15 to 16 August 1944. The steep, narrow streets of the old town contrast with the wide, shady boulevards which encircle it and separate it from the suburbs. The "parc André-Gagnon" or "Clos St. Jean", a pleasant park, lies to the north-west, and squares and open spaces are numerous.

 

Part of the Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) is a building of the 17th century called Hôtel de Montescot. The Maison Canoniale dating back to the 13th century, and several medieval and Renaissance houses, are of interest.

 

There is a statue of General Marceau (1769–1796), a native of Chartres and a general during the French Revolution.

 

La Maison Picassiette, a house decorated inside and out with mosaics of shards of broken china and pottery, is also worth a visit.

 

Economy

Chartres is one of the most important market towns in the region of Beauce (known as "the granary of France").

 

Historically, game pies and other delicacies of Chartres were well known, and the industries also included flour-milling, brewing, distilling, iron-founding, leather manufacture, perfumes, dyeing, stained glass, billiard requisites and hosiery. More recently, businesses include the manufacture of electronic equipment and car accessories.[citation needed]

 

Since 1976 the fashion and perfumes company Puig has had a production plant in this commune.

 

Transport

The Gare de Chartres railway station offers frequent services to Paris, and a few daily connections to Le Mans, Nogent-le-Rotrou and Courtalain. The A11 motorway connects Chartres with Paris and Le Mans.

 

Sport

Chartres is home to two semi-professio

Paul Cézanne

Still-Life with a curtain & flowered pitcher, detail unfinished tablecloth [1898]

St. Petersburg, Hermitage

 

Far from being at odds with the rest of the highly worked picture, the ‘unfinished’ passage in the right-hand bottom corner plays an important pictorial role. The transparency of the napkin provides a necessary note of spontaneity and emphasizes the solidity of everything else in the still life. It is also important to remember that Cézanne never thought in terms of ‘finished’ pictures; he had the courage to stop before killing a picture with a last fatal brushstroke.

 

Source: artchive

www.artchive.com/artwork/still-life-with-curtain-and-flow...

Puzzle Manufacture

cardboard

1080 pieces, new and complete

54x65cm

2023 piece count: 100,359

puzzle no: 146

 

I stupidly 'missed the boat' when it came to purchasing from Anna Sochacka's 'Puzzle Manufacture' during its short life, so when I spotted this copy of 'Jewess with Oranges' on eBay there was no chance I'd pass it by. It was still sealed so I bought it and sat back to await delivery. My verdict? A gorgeous jigsaw with very high production values, from the beautifully designed box to the thick pieces, reminiscent of wooden ones in their solidity. A tight (but not too tight) fit, glossy surface, an attractive cotton drawstring bag, full colour guide picture, certificate of authenticity, all screaming top quality. A bonus is that the finished puzzle is the same size as the original painting, adding to the pleasure of what is going to be another of my 'keepers'.

Giotto di Bondone (born 1267 or 1276 - died 1337)

No. 1 Scenes from the Life of Joachim:

1. Rejection of Joachim's Sacrifice [1304-06]

Fresco, 200 x 185 cm

Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua

 

The elderly Joachim is denied entry to the temple, as he has remained childless. The architecture reinforces the priest's gesture of rejection, to which the saint replies with a saddened look. The sheep, as a sacrificial animal that has become superfluous, has a particularly touching effect.

 

The rejection of Joachim's sacrifice and his expulsion from the Temple occurred because of his childlessness. Here we are dealing with a true opening picture: the closed architecture of the temple introduces the first idea of solidity, while Joachim's dual movement brings this scene to a close, on the one hand, and on the other paves the way for the rest of the series, which finds a premature conclusion in the last picture of this register, the Meeting at the Golden Gate.

 

The action is also driven forward by the repetition of buildings. Thus the temple of the opening picture reappears in the fresco Presentation of Christ at the Temple.

****************************************************************

Source:

www.wga.hu/html_m/g/giotto/padova/1joachim/joachi1.html

I met Carlo a few months ago as I was looking for some honey and I discovered this passionate beekeeper lived only half a mile from my home.

 

As we got to know each other over time, I found out that this amazing 84 years old was a true genius in building anything out of wood and metal in his well-equipped workshops.

 

I asked him to help me tame the biggest and heaviest lens I own, so that I could finally mount it onto a 4x5 camera and give it some use.

 

A few years ago I actually devised a way to mount this beastly lens, but I was never entirely satisfied with the results, as they lacked the solidity such a heavy piece of glass demands.

 

Carlo was able to quickly solder together a metal cone, permanently attached to a clone of a Plaubel lens board (which he cut and carved by hand !) where the heavy 12 Inch Aero Ektar f2.5lens would snugly fit.

 

The lens was to be further supported by a metal bracket that Carlo created, inspired by a plastic telescope lens bracket I had showed him earlier, but much, much sturdier than the original one.

 

Now came the shutter: we opted to drill a hole in a pine wooden board the size of the large packard shutter we were going to use (1/10th of a second maximum speed !!!).

 

To attach the “shutter board” to the lens Carlo hand-carved a slot of exactly the same diameter of the lens front element rim on the back. Once the rim slid into this groove, a couple of elastic bands were sufficient to stabilize and firmly attach the entire contraption to the camera body.

 

The heavy 12Inch Aero Ektar Lens can be a wonderful tool, giving you a very Shallow Depth Of Field and a Creamy Bokeh at a great Focal Length for portraiture (at 12 Inch FL this lens does cover 8x10 although I prefer using it on 4x5 and even 6x9, something I am able to do on the old Plaubel Supra camera by just changing the back).

 

It’s just that the lens is freakin’ big and heavy to mount anywhere but on a military aircraft!

 

Carlo was able to find a really good and elegant solution (in a retro-post-industrial style) that I truly love !!

 

My heartfelt THANK YOU to this wonderful, genial, inventor friend of mine!

   

Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the village of the same name on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset. Built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates to the 11th century and commands a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham and Swanage. The first phase was one of the earliest castles in England to be built at least partly using stone when the majority were built with earth and timber. Corfe Castle underwent major structural changes in the 12th and 13th centuries.

 

In 1572, Corfe Castle left the Crown's control when Elizabeth I sold it to Sir Christopher Hatton. Sir John Bankes bought the castle in 1635, and was the owner during the English Civil War. His wife, Lady Mary Bankes, led the defence of the castle when it was twice besieged by Parliamentarian forces. The first siege, in 1643, was unsuccessful, but by 1645 Corfe was one of the last remaining royalist strongholds in southern England and fell to a siege ending in an assault. In March that year Corfe Castle was slighted on Parliament's orders. Owned by the National Trust, the castle is open to the public and in 2017 received around 247,000 visitors. It is protected as a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

 

Corfe Castle was built on a steep hill in a gap in a long line of chalk hills, created by two streams eroding the rock on either side. The name Corfe derives from the Old English ceorfan, meaning 'a cutting', referring to the gap. The construction of the medieval castle means that little is known about previous activity on the hill. However, there are postholes belonging to a Saxon hall on the site. The hall may be where the boy-king Edward the Martyr was assassinated in 978.

 

A castle was founded at Corfe on England's south coast soon after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. The royal forest of Purbeck, where William the Conqueror enjoyed hunting, was established in the area. Between 1066 and 1087, William established 36 such castles in England. Sitting as it does on a hill top, Corfe Castle is one of the classic images of a medieval castle. However, despite popular imagination, occupying the highest point in the landscape was not the typical position of a medieval castle. In England, a minority are located on hilltops, but most are in valleys; many were near important transport routes such as river crossings.

 

Unusually for castles built in the 11th century, Corfe was partially constructed from stone indicating it was of particularly high status. A stone wall was built around the hill top, creating an inner ward or enclosure. There were two further enclosures: one to the west, and one that extended south (the outer bailey); in contrast to the inner bailey, these were surrounded by palisades made from timber. At the time, the vast majority of castles in England were built using earth and timber, and it was not until the 12th century that many began to be rebuilt in stone. The Domesday Book records one castle in Dorset; the entry, which reads "Of the manor of Kingston the King has one hide on which he built Wareham castle", is thought to refer to Corfe rather than the timber castle at Wareham. There are 48 castles directly mentioned in the Domesday Book, although not all those in existence at the time were recorded. Assuming that Corfe is the castle in question, it is one of four the Domesday Book attributes to William the Conqueror; the survey explicitly mentions seven people as having built castles, of which William was the most prolific.

 

In the early 12th century, Henry I began the construction of a stone keep at Corfe. Progressing at a rate of 3 to 4 metres (10 to 13 ft) per year for the best part of a decade, the work was complete by 1105. The chalk of the hill Corfe Castle was built on was an unsuitable building material, and instead Purbeck limestone quarried a few miles away was used. By the reign of King Stephen (1135–1154) Corfe Castle was already a strong fortress with a keep and inner enclosure, both built in stone. In 1139, during the civil war of Stephen's reign, Corfe withstood a siege by the king. It is thought that he built a siege castle to facilitate the siege and that a series of earthworks about 290 metres (320 yd) south-southwest of Corfe Castle mark the site of the fortification.

 

During the reign of Henry II Corfe Castle was probably not significantly changed, and records from Richard I's reign indicate maintenance rather than significant new building work. In contrast, extensive construction of other towers, halls and walls occurred during the reigns of John and Henry III, both of whom kept Eleanor, rightful Duchess of Brittany who posed a potential threat to their crowns, in confinement at Corfe until 1222. It was probably during John's reign that the Gloriette in the inner bailey was built. The Pipe Rolls, records of royal expenditure, show that between 1201 and 1204 over £750 was spent at the castle, probably on rebuilding the defences of the west bailey with £275 spent on constructing the Gloriette. The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England noted the link between periods of unrest and building at Corfe. In the early years of his reign, John lost Normandy to the French, and further building work at Corfe coincided with the political disturbances later in his reign. At least £500 was spent between 1212 and 1214 and may have been focused on the defences of the outer bailey. R. Allen Brown noted that in John's reign "it would seem that though a fortress of the first order might cost more than £7,000, a medium castle of reasonable strength might be built for less than £2,000". The Pipe Rolls show that John spent over £17,000 on 95 castles during his reign spread; he spent over £500 at nine of them, of which Corfe was one. Additional records show that John spent over £1,400 at Corfe Castle.

 

One of the secondary roles of castles was to act as a storage facility, as demonstrated by Corfe Castle; in 1224 Henry III sent to Corfe for 15,000 crossbow bolts to be used in the siege of Bedford Castle. Following John's work, Henry III also spent over £1,000 on Corfe Castle, in particular the years 1235 and 1236 saw £362 spent on the keep. While construction was under-way, a camp to accommodate the workers was established outside the castle. Over time, this grew into a settlement in its own right and in 1247 was granted a market and fair by royal permission. It was Henry III who ordered in 1244 that Corfe's keep should be whitewashed. Four years previously, he also ordered that the keep of the Tower of London should be whitewashed, and it therefore became known as the White Tower.

 

In December 1460, during the Wars of the Roses Henry Beaufort and his army marched from the castle destined for the Battle of Wakefield. During the march the army split at Exeter so the cavalry could reach the north quicker, and on 16 December 1460 some of his men became embroiled in the Battle of Worksop, Nottinghamshire. Beaufort and the Lancastrians won the skirmish.

 

The castle remained a royal fortress until sold by Elizabeth I in 1572 to her Lord Chancellor, Sir Christopher Hatton. Ralph Treswell, Hatton's steward, drafted a series of plans of the castle; the documents are the oldest surviving survey of the castle.

 

The castle was bought by Sir John Bankes, Attorney General to Charles I, in 1635. The English Civil War broke out in 1642, and by 1643 most of Dorset was under Parliamentarian control. While Bankes was in Oxford with the king, his men held Corfe Castle in the royal cause. During this time his wife, Lady Mary Bankes, resided at the castle with their children. Parliamentarian forces planned to infiltrate the castle's garrison by joining a hunting party from the garrison on a May Day hunt; however they were unsuccessful. The Parliamentarians gave orders that anyone joining the garrison would have their house burned and that no supplies were to reach the castle. Initially defended by just five people, Lady Bankes was able to get food through and swell the garrison to 80. The Parliamentarian forces numbered between 500 and 600 and began a more thorough siege; it went on for six weeks until Lady Bankes was relieved by Royalist forces. During the siege the defenders suffered two casualties while there were at least 100 deaths among the besieging force.

 

The Parliamentarians were in the ascendency so that by 1645 Corfe Castle was one of a few remaining strongholds in southern England that remained under royal control. Consequently, it was besieged by a force under the command of a Colonel Bingham. One of the garrison's officers, Colonel Pitman, colluded with Bingham. Pitman proposed that he should go to Somerset and bring back a hundred men as reinforcements; however the troops he returned with were Parliamentarians in disguise. Once inside, they waited until the besieging force attacked before making a move, so that the defenders were attacked from without and within at the same time. Corfe Castle was captured and Lady Bankes and the garrison were allowed to leave. In March that year, Parliament voted to slight (demolish) the castle, giving it its present appearance. In the 17th century many castles in England were in a state of decline, but the war saw them pressed into use as fortresses one more time. Parliament ordered the slighting of many of these fortifications, but the solidity of their walls meant that complete demolition was often impracticable. A minority were repaired after the war, but most were left as ruins. Corfe Castle provided a ready supply of building material, and its stones were reused by the villagers.

 

After the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the Bankes family regained their properties. Rather than rebuild or replace the ruined castle they chose to build a new house at Kingston Lacy on their other Dorset estate near Wimborne Minster.

 

The first archaeological excavations were carried out in 1883. No further archaeological work was carried out on the site until the 1950s. Between 1986 and 1997 excavations were carried out, jointly funded by the National Trust and English Heritage. Corfe Castle is considered to be the inspiration for Enid Blyton's Kirrin Island, which had its own similar castle. It was used as a shooting location for the 1957 film Five on a Treasure Island (film) and the 1971 film Bedknobs and Broomsticks. The castle plays an important part in Keith Roberts' uchronia novel Pavane.

 

Upon his death, Henry John Ralph Bankes (1902–81) bequeathed the entire Bankes estate to the National Trust, including Corfe Castle, much of the village of Corfe, the family home at Kingston Lacy, and substantial property and land holdings elsewhere in the area.

 

In summer 2006, the dangerous condition of the keep caused it to be closed to visitors, who could only visit the walls and inner bailey. The National Trust undertook an extensive conservation project on the castle, and the keep was re-opened to visitors in 2008, and the work completed the following year. During the restoration work, an "appearance" door was found in the keep, designed for Henry I. The National Trust claims that this indicates that the castle would have been one of the most important in England at the time.

 

The castle is a Grade I listed building, and recognised as an internationally important structure. It is also a Scheduled Monument, a "nationally important" historic building and archaeological site which has been given protection against unauthorised change. The earthworks known as "The Rings", thought to be the remains of a 12th-century motte-and-bailey castle built during a siege of Corfe are also scheduled. In 2006, Corfe Castle was the National Trust's tenth most-visited historic house with 173,829 visitors. According to figures released by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, the number of visitors in 2010 had risen to nearly 190,000.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Corfe Castle ist die Ruine einer Burg im englischen Ort Corfe Castle in der Grafschaft Dorset. Die als Kulturdenkmal der Kategorie Grade I klassifizierte und als Scheduled Monument geschützte Ruine liegt in den Purbeck Hills auf der Isle of Purbeck sieben Kilometer südöstlich von Wareham und acht Kilometer westlich von Swanage. Es liegt etwa 12 km südwestlich der großen Städte Poole und Bournemouth.

 

Der Bezeichnung Corfe kommt aus dem Angelsächsischen und bezeichnet das Tal, in dem sich das Dorf und die Burgruine befindet. Corfe Castle bedeutet übersetzt also ungefähr Talburg oder Burg im Tal.

 

Unter Alfred dem Großen wurde Ende des 9. Jahrhunderts zum Schutz vor den Dänen in Corfe eine erste Befestigung angelegt. Der Legende nach wurde der englische König Eduard der Märtyrer am 18. März 978 in der Burg ermordet.

 

Nach der normannischen Eroberung Englands wurde um 1090 von den Normannen am Ort der alten Befestigungsanlage der Bau einer Burg aus dem lokalen Kalkstein begonnen. Unter Henry I. „Beauclerc“ entstand um 1105 der mächtige Keep. Zu Beginn des englischen Bürgerkriegs wurde die Burg, die von Baldwin de Redvers verteidigt wurde, 1139 erfolglos von König Stephan belagert. Unter König Johann Ohneland wurde die Burg weiter ausgebaut. Er hielt sich häufig in der Burg auf, außerdem nutzte er sie als Aufbewahrungsort für die Kronjuwelen und als Gefängnis. 1202 kam es zu einem Ausbruchsversuch von 25 französischen Rittern, die während des Französisch-Englischen Krieges gefangen genommen worden waren. Sie konnten jedoch nur den Keep besetzen, in dem sie lieber verhungerten, anstatt sich zu ergeben. 22 der Ritter starben, nur drei Überlebende konnten schließlich überwältigt werden. Auch Johanns Nichte Eleonore von der Bretagne und im 14. Jahrhundert König Eduard II. wurden in Corfe Castle gefangen gehalten. Unter Eduard I. wurde der äußere Burghof vollendet. Im 14. Jahrhundert wurde die Burg zunächst vernachlässigt, bis Eduard III. sie zwischen 1356 und 1377 instand setzen ließ. Nach den Rosenkriegen ließ sie Heinrich VII. als Residenz für seine Mutter Margaret Beaufort ausbauen. Nach deren Tod fiel die Burg wieder zurück an die Krone. 1572 verkaufte Elisabeth I. sie an ihren späteren Lordkanzler Christopher Hatton, der die Burg angesichts der Bedrohung durch die spanische Armada weiter befestigte. 1635 erwarb Sir John Bankes, der spätere Chief Justices of the Common Pleas, die Burg.

 

Im Jahr 1643, während des Englischen Bürgerkrieges, wurde die Burg von Truppen der Parlamentarier („Roundheads“) belagert. Unter dem Befehl der Royalistin Lady Mary Bankes hielt die Burg der Belagerung für sechs Wochen stand, woraufhin sich die Parlamentarier mit einem Verlust von 100 Männern zurückzogen. Drei Jahre später, 1646, wurde die Burg ein zweites Mal belagert. Nach zweimonatiger Belagerung wurde die Burggarnison im Februar 1646 von einem ihrer Mitglieder verraten. Nach der Übernahme durch die Parlamentarier wurde der Familie der Bankes erlaubt, die Burg zu verlassen. Die Burg wurde daraufhin von Sappeuren mit Sprengstoff zerstört, was zum heutigen Aussehen der Burganlage führte. Die örtliche Bevölkerung nutzte dies aus und verwertete die aus der Burg stammenden Steine, Türrahmen usw. für ihre nahe gelegenen Häuser.

 

Nach dem Bürgerkrieg errichtete Ralph Bankes 1663 bei Wimborne Minster Kingston Hall als neuen Familiensitz. Die Überreste von Corfe Castle blieben bis 1982 im Besitz der Bankes-Familie, dann überließ sie Ralph Bankes dem National Trust, der britischen Treuhand-Organisation für Denkmalpflege. Nach Einsturzgefahr des Bergfrieds im Jahre 2006 sind die oberen Ruinen jetzt wieder zu besichtigen.

 

Die Burg ist Eigentum des National Trust, der am Marktplatz auch einen Souvenirladen eingerichtet hat. 2002 zählte die ganzjährig für Touristen zugängliche Burg 167.582 Besucher.

 

Am Marktplatz von Corfe Castle steht das Corfe Model Village mit einer Nachbildung der Burg und des Dorfes vor der Zerstörung in einem Maßstab von 1:20. Es wurde von 1964 bis 1966 von Eddie Holland erstellt.

 

Die Ruine diente u. a. als Kulisse für die Fernsehserie Die Sache mit der Schatzinsel, die 1957 nach Motiven der Kinderbuchreihe Fünf Freunde von Enid Blyton gedreht wurde, sowie für die 2008 gedrehte Verfilmung des Romans Tess von den d’Urbervilles.

 

(Wikipedia)

Bauhaus Museum Weimar, Germany

 

German architect Heike Hanada designed a minimalist concrete museum to celebrate the Bauhaus in Weimar, where the design school was founded 100 years ago. The building is dedicated to the design school creates a physical cultural presence for the Bauhaus in the German city where it was based between 1919 and 1925. Located near the Nazi-era Gauforum square and the Neue Museum Weimar, the Bauhaus Museum is a simple five-storey concrete box broken only with its entrance and a couple of windows. The enclosing shell of light-grey concrete lends the cube stability and dynamic solidity. Equally spaced horizontal grooves run around the facades of the museum, with the words "bauhaus museum" repeated in a band near the top of the building. Hanada designed the museum to be a public building for the city and has attempted to clearly connect it to the neighbouring park. With elements such as plinths, fasciae, portals, stairways and a terrace to the park, the architecture incorporates classical themes that underscore its public character.

 

The museum contains 2,000 m2 of exhibition space, which will be used to display around 1,000 items from the Weimar Bauhaus collection. A shop and entrance hall is located on the ground floor, with a cafe and toilets below, and three floors dedicated to telling the story of the Bauhaus above. Each of the galleries overlooks double-height spaces and are accessed from a long ceremonial staircase that stretches the height of the building. The visitors ascend a succession of interchanging open spaces and staircases until they finally arrive at the top floor where they are presented with an unobstructed view of the park. The cascading staircases are encased by ceiling-high walls and function as free-standing, enclosed bodies in the interior space. The collection is arranged to inform visitors about the history of the design school, with the gallery on the first floor dedicated to its origins in Weimar and the Bauhaus manifesto that Walter Gropius wrote in 1919. The second floor has exhibits that show how these ideas were implemented, with galleries dedicated to each of the Bauhaus directors – Gropius, Hannes Meyer and Mies van der Rohe – at the top of the building.

 

The museum in Weimar has opened to coincide with the centenary of the Bauhaus, which was established in the city in 1919. The school was forced to relocate from Weimar to Dessau in 1925, where Gropius designed a new school building for the institution. Following a short time based in Berlin the school closed for good in 1933. Although only open for just over a decade, the Bauhaus is the most influential art and design school in history. The ideas and people associated with the school had an incredible impact on design and architecture, and to mark its centenary we created a series exploring its key works and figures.

 

Where the water, land, and the sky meet there is always a drama and it is a a quintessential theme in landscape painting and photography that capturies the viewer's imagination with its breathtaking beauty.

 

This typical meeting of the elements creates a harmonious balance that speaks to our innate connection with nature. Artists have long been drawn to these scenes, as they offer an opportunity to explore the interplay of light and texture across different mediums.

 

In landscape paintings, the fluidity of water often contrasts with the solidity of earth, while the sky serves as a dynamic canvas for changing moods and colors.

 

Photographers too are captivated by this elemental convergence albeit with a difficulty to hold the sky and the earth in the same shutter and aperture setting as the sky always has more light compared to the land.

They strive to capture fleeting moments where reflections dance on calm waters or storm clouds loom over rolling hills. These compositions not only showcase nature's grandeur but also evoke emotions that resonate deeply within us.

  

Whether it's through a serene lakeside view at dawn or a dramatic coastal sunset—reminding us that these natural elements are forever intertwined in our world.

 

Engaging with this theme encourages a deeper understanding of the environment around us, pushing us to reflect on our own experiences and connections to these landscapes. When you immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of nature, whether through painting, photography, or simply spending time outdoors, you begin to appreciate the subtleties that define each element.

 

Consider how water can serve as a mirror, reflecting not just the sky above but also our inner thoughts and feelings. The land beneath our feet provides stability while simultaneously reminding us of nature's resilience and fragility. And then there’s the sky—its vastness offers a sense of freedom yet can also evoke feelings of isolation when stormy clouds gather. As you experiment with your creativity or engage with works by others who have explored this intersection, allow yourself to be open to new interpretations. Perhaps you'll find inspiration in unexpected places—a mist-covered river at sunrise or waves crashing against rugged cliffs during sunset—each scene telling its own unique story. Ultimately, embracing this interplay invites an enriching dialogue between artist and viewer; it fosters appreciation for not just what we see but what we feel when confronted with such profound beauty. This journey into understanding the elements may inspire you further along your artistic path or deepen your enjoyment of landscape art already present in galleries and homes around you.

 

This was shot somewhere deep in the hills of Tamilnadu off Ooty in a rather inaccessible area where perhaps a hydel power station was nearby.

  

PXL_20230820_082907815 dng 2025

Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the village of the same name on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset. Built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates to the 11th century and commands a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham and Swanage. The first phase was one of the earliest castles in England to be built at least partly using stone when the majority were built with earth and timber. Corfe Castle underwent major structural changes in the 12th and 13th centuries.

 

In 1572, Corfe Castle left the Crown's control when Elizabeth I sold it to Sir Christopher Hatton. Sir John Bankes bought the castle in 1635, and was the owner during the English Civil War. His wife, Lady Mary Bankes, led the defence of the castle when it was twice besieged by Parliamentarian forces. The first siege, in 1643, was unsuccessful, but by 1645 Corfe was one of the last remaining royalist strongholds in southern England and fell to a siege ending in an assault. In March that year Corfe Castle was slighted on Parliament's orders. Owned by the National Trust, the castle is open to the public and in 2017 received around 247,000 visitors. It is protected as a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

 

Corfe Castle was built on a steep hill in a gap in a long line of chalk hills, created by two streams eroding the rock on either side. The name Corfe derives from the Old English ceorfan, meaning 'a cutting', referring to the gap. The construction of the medieval castle means that little is known about previous activity on the hill. However, there are postholes belonging to a Saxon hall on the site. The hall may be where the boy-king Edward the Martyr was assassinated in 978.

 

A castle was founded at Corfe on England's south coast soon after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. The royal forest of Purbeck, where William the Conqueror enjoyed hunting, was established in the area. Between 1066 and 1087, William established 36 such castles in England. Sitting as it does on a hill top, Corfe Castle is one of the classic images of a medieval castle. However, despite popular imagination, occupying the highest point in the landscape was not the typical position of a medieval castle. In England, a minority are located on hilltops, but most are in valleys; many were near important transport routes such as river crossings.

 

Unusually for castles built in the 11th century, Corfe was partially constructed from stone indicating it was of particularly high status. A stone wall was built around the hill top, creating an inner ward or enclosure. There were two further enclosures: one to the west, and one that extended south (the outer bailey); in contrast to the inner bailey, these were surrounded by palisades made from timber. At the time, the vast majority of castles in England were built using earth and timber, and it was not until the 12th century that many began to be rebuilt in stone. The Domesday Book records one castle in Dorset; the entry, which reads "Of the manor of Kingston the King has one hide on which he built Wareham castle", is thought to refer to Corfe rather than the timber castle at Wareham. There are 48 castles directly mentioned in the Domesday Book, although not all those in existence at the time were recorded. Assuming that Corfe is the castle in question, it is one of four the Domesday Book attributes to William the Conqueror; the survey explicitly mentions seven people as having built castles, of which William was the most prolific.

 

In the early 12th century, Henry I began the construction of a stone keep at Corfe. Progressing at a rate of 3 to 4 metres (10 to 13 ft) per year for the best part of a decade, the work was complete by 1105. The chalk of the hill Corfe Castle was built on was an unsuitable building material, and instead Purbeck limestone quarried a few miles away was used. By the reign of King Stephen (1135–1154) Corfe Castle was already a strong fortress with a keep and inner enclosure, both built in stone. In 1139, during the civil war of Stephen's reign, Corfe withstood a siege by the king. It is thought that he built a siege castle to facilitate the siege and that a series of earthworks about 290 metres (320 yd) south-southwest of Corfe Castle mark the site of the fortification.

 

During the reign of Henry II Corfe Castle was probably not significantly changed, and records from Richard I's reign indicate maintenance rather than significant new building work. In contrast, extensive construction of other towers, halls and walls occurred during the reigns of John and Henry III, both of whom kept Eleanor, rightful Duchess of Brittany who posed a potential threat to their crowns, in confinement at Corfe until 1222. It was probably during John's reign that the Gloriette in the inner bailey was built. The Pipe Rolls, records of royal expenditure, show that between 1201 and 1204 over £750 was spent at the castle, probably on rebuilding the defences of the west bailey with £275 spent on constructing the Gloriette. The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England noted the link between periods of unrest and building at Corfe. In the early years of his reign, John lost Normandy to the French, and further building work at Corfe coincided with the political disturbances later in his reign. At least £500 was spent between 1212 and 1214 and may have been focused on the defences of the outer bailey. R. Allen Brown noted that in John's reign "it would seem that though a fortress of the first order might cost more than £7,000, a medium castle of reasonable strength might be built for less than £2,000". The Pipe Rolls show that John spent over £17,000 on 95 castles during his reign spread; he spent over £500 at nine of them, of which Corfe was one. Additional records show that John spent over £1,400 at Corfe Castle.

 

One of the secondary roles of castles was to act as a storage facility, as demonstrated by Corfe Castle; in 1224 Henry III sent to Corfe for 15,000 crossbow bolts to be used in the siege of Bedford Castle. Following John's work, Henry III also spent over £1,000 on Corfe Castle, in particular the years 1235 and 1236 saw £362 spent on the keep. While construction was under-way, a camp to accommodate the workers was established outside the castle. Over time, this grew into a settlement in its own right and in 1247 was granted a market and fair by royal permission. It was Henry III who ordered in 1244 that Corfe's keep should be whitewashed. Four years previously, he also ordered that the keep of the Tower of London should be whitewashed, and it therefore became known as the White Tower.

 

In December 1460, during the Wars of the Roses Henry Beaufort and his army marched from the castle destined for the Battle of Wakefield. During the march the army split at Exeter so the cavalry could reach the north quicker, and on 16 December 1460 some of his men became embroiled in the Battle of Worksop, Nottinghamshire. Beaufort and the Lancastrians won the skirmish.

 

The castle remained a royal fortress until sold by Elizabeth I in 1572 to her Lord Chancellor, Sir Christopher Hatton. Ralph Treswell, Hatton's steward, drafted a series of plans of the castle; the documents are the oldest surviving survey of the castle.

 

The castle was bought by Sir John Bankes, Attorney General to Charles I, in 1635. The English Civil War broke out in 1642, and by 1643 most of Dorset was under Parliamentarian control. While Bankes was in Oxford with the king, his men held Corfe Castle in the royal cause. During this time his wife, Lady Mary Bankes, resided at the castle with their children. Parliamentarian forces planned to infiltrate the castle's garrison by joining a hunting party from the garrison on a May Day hunt; however they were unsuccessful. The Parliamentarians gave orders that anyone joining the garrison would have their house burned and that no supplies were to reach the castle. Initially defended by just five people, Lady Bankes was able to get food through and swell the garrison to 80. The Parliamentarian forces numbered between 500 and 600 and began a more thorough siege; it went on for six weeks until Lady Bankes was relieved by Royalist forces. During the siege the defenders suffered two casualties while there were at least 100 deaths among the besieging force.

 

The Parliamentarians were in the ascendency so that by 1645 Corfe Castle was one of a few remaining strongholds in southern England that remained under royal control. Consequently, it was besieged by a force under the command of a Colonel Bingham. One of the garrison's officers, Colonel Pitman, colluded with Bingham. Pitman proposed that he should go to Somerset and bring back a hundred men as reinforcements; however the troops he returned with were Parliamentarians in disguise. Once inside, they waited until the besieging force attacked before making a move, so that the defenders were attacked from without and within at the same time. Corfe Castle was captured and Lady Bankes and the garrison were allowed to leave. In March that year, Parliament voted to slight (demolish) the castle, giving it its present appearance. In the 17th century many castles in England were in a state of decline, but the war saw them pressed into use as fortresses one more time. Parliament ordered the slighting of many of these fortifications, but the solidity of their walls meant that complete demolition was often impracticable. A minority were repaired after the war, but most were left as ruins. Corfe Castle provided a ready supply of building material, and its stones were reused by the villagers.

 

After the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the Bankes family regained their properties. Rather than rebuild or replace the ruined castle they chose to build a new house at Kingston Lacy on their other Dorset estate near Wimborne Minster.

 

The first archaeological excavations were carried out in 1883. No further archaeological work was carried out on the site until the 1950s. Between 1986 and 1997 excavations were carried out, jointly funded by the National Trust and English Heritage. Corfe Castle is considered to be the inspiration for Enid Blyton's Kirrin Island, which had its own similar castle. It was used as a shooting location for the 1957 film Five on a Treasure Island (film) and the 1971 film Bedknobs and Broomsticks. The castle plays an important part in Keith Roberts' uchronia novel Pavane.

 

Upon his death, Henry John Ralph Bankes (1902–81) bequeathed the entire Bankes estate to the National Trust, including Corfe Castle, much of the village of Corfe, the family home at Kingston Lacy, and substantial property and land holdings elsewhere in the area.

 

In summer 2006, the dangerous condition of the keep caused it to be closed to visitors, who could only visit the walls and inner bailey. The National Trust undertook an extensive conservation project on the castle, and the keep was re-opened to visitors in 2008, and the work completed the following year. During the restoration work, an "appearance" door was found in the keep, designed for Henry I. The National Trust claims that this indicates that the castle would have been one of the most important in England at the time.

 

The castle is a Grade I listed building, and recognised as an internationally important structure. It is also a Scheduled Monument, a "nationally important" historic building and archaeological site which has been given protection against unauthorised change. The earthworks known as "The Rings", thought to be the remains of a 12th-century motte-and-bailey castle built during a siege of Corfe are also scheduled. In 2006, Corfe Castle was the National Trust's tenth most-visited historic house with 173,829 visitors. According to figures released by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, the number of visitors in 2010 had risen to nearly 190,000.

 

(Wikipedia)

 

Corfe Castle ist die Ruine einer Burg im englischen Ort Corfe Castle in der Grafschaft Dorset. Die als Kulturdenkmal der Kategorie Grade I klassifizierte und als Scheduled Monument geschützte Ruine liegt in den Purbeck Hills auf der Isle of Purbeck sieben Kilometer südöstlich von Wareham und acht Kilometer westlich von Swanage. Es liegt etwa 12 km südwestlich der großen Städte Poole und Bournemouth.

 

Der Bezeichnung Corfe kommt aus dem Angelsächsischen und bezeichnet das Tal, in dem sich das Dorf und die Burgruine befindet. Corfe Castle bedeutet übersetzt also ungefähr Talburg oder Burg im Tal.

 

Unter Alfred dem Großen wurde Ende des 9. Jahrhunderts zum Schutz vor den Dänen in Corfe eine erste Befestigung angelegt. Der Legende nach wurde der englische König Eduard der Märtyrer am 18. März 978 in der Burg ermordet.

 

Nach der normannischen Eroberung Englands wurde um 1090 von den Normannen am Ort der alten Befestigungsanlage der Bau einer Burg aus dem lokalen Kalkstein begonnen. Unter Henry I. „Beauclerc“ entstand um 1105 der mächtige Keep. Zu Beginn des englischen Bürgerkriegs wurde die Burg, die von Baldwin de Redvers verteidigt wurde, 1139 erfolglos von König Stephan belagert. Unter König Johann Ohneland wurde die Burg weiter ausgebaut. Er hielt sich häufig in der Burg auf, außerdem nutzte er sie als Aufbewahrungsort für die Kronjuwelen und als Gefängnis. 1202 kam es zu einem Ausbruchsversuch von 25 französischen Rittern, die während des Französisch-Englischen Krieges gefangen genommen worden waren. Sie konnten jedoch nur den Keep besetzen, in dem sie lieber verhungerten, anstatt sich zu ergeben. 22 der Ritter starben, nur drei Überlebende konnten schließlich überwältigt werden. Auch Johanns Nichte Eleonore von der Bretagne und im 14. Jahrhundert König Eduard II. wurden in Corfe Castle gefangen gehalten. Unter Eduard I. wurde der äußere Burghof vollendet. Im 14. Jahrhundert wurde die Burg zunächst vernachlässigt, bis Eduard III. sie zwischen 1356 und 1377 instand setzen ließ. Nach den Rosenkriegen ließ sie Heinrich VII. als Residenz für seine Mutter Margaret Beaufort ausbauen. Nach deren Tod fiel die Burg wieder zurück an die Krone. 1572 verkaufte Elisabeth I. sie an ihren späteren Lordkanzler Christopher Hatton, der die Burg angesichts der Bedrohung durch die spanische Armada weiter befestigte. 1635 erwarb Sir John Bankes, der spätere Chief Justices of the Common Pleas, die Burg.

 

Im Jahr 1643, während des Englischen Bürgerkrieges, wurde die Burg von Truppen der Parlamentarier („Roundheads“) belagert. Unter dem Befehl der Royalistin Lady Mary Bankes hielt die Burg der Belagerung für sechs Wochen stand, woraufhin sich die Parlamentarier mit einem Verlust von 100 Männern zurückzogen. Drei Jahre später, 1646, wurde die Burg ein zweites Mal belagert. Nach zweimonatiger Belagerung wurde die Burggarnison im Februar 1646 von einem ihrer Mitglieder verraten. Nach der Übernahme durch die Parlamentarier wurde der Familie der Bankes erlaubt, die Burg zu verlassen. Die Burg wurde daraufhin von Sappeuren mit Sprengstoff zerstört, was zum heutigen Aussehen der Burganlage führte. Die örtliche Bevölkerung nutzte dies aus und verwertete die aus der Burg stammenden Steine, Türrahmen usw. für ihre nahe gelegenen Häuser.

 

Nach dem Bürgerkrieg errichtete Ralph Bankes 1663 bei Wimborne Minster Kingston Hall als neuen Familiensitz. Die Überreste von Corfe Castle blieben bis 1982 im Besitz der Bankes-Familie, dann überließ sie Ralph Bankes dem National Trust, der britischen Treuhand-Organisation für Denkmalpflege. Nach Einsturzgefahr des Bergfrieds im Jahre 2006 sind die oberen Ruinen jetzt wieder zu besichtigen.

 

Die Burg ist Eigentum des National Trust, der am Marktplatz auch einen Souvenirladen eingerichtet hat. 2002 zählte die ganzjährig für Touristen zugängliche Burg 167.582 Besucher.

 

Am Marktplatz von Corfe Castle steht das Corfe Model Village mit einer Nachbildung der Burg und des Dorfes vor der Zerstörung in einem Maßstab von 1:20. Es wurde von 1964 bis 1966 von Eddie Holland erstellt.

 

Die Ruine diente u. a. als Kulisse für die Fernsehserie Die Sache mit der Schatzinsel, die 1957 nach Motiven der Kinderbuchreihe Fünf Freunde von Enid Blyton gedreht wurde, sowie für die 2008 gedrehte Verfilmung des Romans Tess von den d’Urbervilles.

 

(Wikipedia)

Copyright © Tatiana Cardeal. All rights reserved.

Reprodução proibida. © Todos os direitos reservados.

 

I've been admiring him form a long time,

a strong shaman with strong words,

embracing the environment for his people (and for us).

It was a great honor for me to meet him and to make his portrait.

 

"The invasion of the Yanomami lands by about 30,000 to 40,000 garimpeiros cost the lives, between 1987 and 1990, of more than 1,000 Yanomami in Brazil. Shocked with this tragedy, which revived in him the reminiscences of the epidemics that decimated his family in the 1960s, Davi Kopenawa engaged himself in a relentless struggle against the destruction of his people and of his land's forest. Thanks to his experience with the whites and the intellectual solidity his shamanistic knowledge gives him, he soon became the main spokesman for the yanomami cause in Brazil and in the world."

To read more:

ISA Narratives The Saga of Davi Kopenawa Yanomami

 

Davi is a winner of the UN Global 500 award, and was a key figure in the campaign

that resulted in the demarcation of the Yanomami's land in 1992.

"And suddenly the memory revealed itself. The taste was that of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray … when I went to say good morning to her in her bedroom, my aunt Leonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of tea or tisane …. and the whole of Combray and its surroundings, taking shape and solidity, sprang into being, town and garden alike, from my cup of tea."

 

Excerpt from "In Search of Lost Time" - "Remembrance of Things Past" (French: À la recherche du temps perdu) by Marcel Proust

 

Sometime you don't need to spray the bullets all over the screen. You just need a better shot.

A Firefly is charged with special batteries and is capable of converting energy into light, which is then amplified and projected forward through a focusing crystal located underneath the front of the weapon. Each battery is charged for a hundred shots and can be quickly reloaded. The laser beam is capable of piercing all but the thickest body, even penetrating armor plating.

The weapon is semiautomatic, to improve cooling and prevent overheating.

Due to cost and complex construction, it is not issued to regular Lunarian troops.

“A meditation on the relationship between two entities, the work also references the work of Rudolf Steiner and Joseph Beuys (who was heavily influenced by Steiner) by the use of golden antlers (for Steiner, who opined that we had psychic invisible antennae streaming from the tops of our heads) and a felt interior for Beuys. Both serve to break up the solidity of the forms, opening them up to an encounter with each other and a dissolution of the self.”

Chi ti ha parlato di me

nelle tue notti insonni?

Chi ti ha raccontato questa mia voce

che canta

nelle mie solitudini?

Chi ti ha descritto il colore dei miei occhi

il sapore della mia pelle

il gusto del mio cuore?

Queste altrui parole

ti basteranno

per sentirmi vicina?

Ti prego vieni

con le nubi del cielo

tra buie piogge

dentro onde impetuose

Oltrepassa mille regni

tribù sconosciute

confini infiniti

E aspettami là

dove si incrociano i quattro venti

Là sarà tempesta

Le nostre mani si sfioreranno

Per la prima volta

Tu toccherai le mie labbra

Io toccherò il tuo cuore

E così…

sarai testimone di ciò che sono

E così…

sarò testimone di ciò che sei

E rinasceremo insieme

dalla verità

nel crocevia dei quattro venti

 

Yashica Mat 124+Ilford HP5 400@800

 

(In English Below)

 

Enfin complet !

 

Le Tie Crawler Version 2. Je préfère cette version.

 

Un de Tie mes préférés, encore une fois par son côté ridicule et peu pratique.

 

Le Tie Crawler (aussi connu comme Tie Century ou Tie Tank) est un véhicule blindé léger. Armé de deux blasters Tie classique, et d’un blaster anti-personnel (donc plus léger). Un seul pilote qui fait aussi office de tireur.

 

Idées dans le Lore

Il était simple à produire, et c’est à peu près tout. J’ai aussi le souvenir d’avoir lu quelque part que les recrues de l’Empire échouant au test pour devenir pilote de chasseur Tie, pouvaient se reconvertir plus facilement en pilote de Tie Crawler. Mais je n’ai pas pu retrouver la source. Et de toute façon l’idée que ce soit plus facile de devenir pilote de char plutôt que pilote de cargo quand on échoue à devenir pilote de chasse est stupide.

 

Limites

Tel que décrit, l’engin est limité. Les armes sont trop basses. Les deux blasters de Tie classique ne peuvent pas pivoter et du fait de son emplacement, le blaster antipersonnel ne peut pas pivoter verticalement avec un angle très grand. Les trois sont donc quasi inutiles sur n’importe quel terrain accidenté. De plus, la forme des chenilles me fait dire qu’un bloc de béton, d’environ un mètre de haut, suffirait à bloquer le Tie. Et puis c’est un Tie, donc pas de bouclier énergétique, donc peu blindé. L’unique pilote est à la merci de n’importe quel armement anti-char ou chasseur spatial. Il a aussi un gros point faible évident : les quatre réservoirs visibles de fuel. Bon déjà, c’est un point faible évident que n’importe quel rebelle mal armé essaiera de viser. Mais aussi, pourquoi les avoir mis là ? Vous avez vu la taille des chenilles ? Et la tailles des réservoirs ? Il suffisait de les mettre quelque part dans les chenilles où ils auraient été mieux protégés, mais aussi plus proche des moteurs. Sans compter qu’en cas d’explosion, les éloigner un peu du pilote augmenterait ses chances de survie. Et l’Empire a à cœur la sécurité de ses employés…

 

Amélioration de Lego 7664

Lego a amélioré le concept en rendant les ailes pivotantes et indépendantes. Le Tie crawler devenant tout à coup vraiment tout terrain. De plus, ils ont ajouté des lance-missiles planqués dans les ailes. Ce que j’avais maladroitement fait dans ma première version. Cette version n’en a pas. Les idées que j’ai testées en la matière manquaient tous de solidité. Et pour être franc, une fois sur l’étagère, les missiles cachés le resteraient.

 

Utilisation possible.

L’engin a quand même son utilité, surtout avec les améliorations lego. Ok, il n’a pas de boucliers, mais même la partie la plus faible (le cockpit) résiste au vide spatial, ce n’est pas non plus une voiture en plastique. En cas de guérilla, il peut être pratique. Il est relativement rapide (90km/h), et contrairement au AT-Walkers (toute la série des AT-AT, AT-ST, AT-DP, AT-RT…), il ne risque pas de tomber. D’ailleurs, même si on le retournait, ce ne serait pas un problème, ce serait même un avantage d’avoir les canons en haut. Il est aussi plus simple à stocker que des AT-AT et AT-ST, probablement aussi plus simple d’entretien.

Je vois aussi un avantage en tant qu’escorte de fantassin lors de patrouille à pied en zone de guérilla. En cas d’escarmouche, une demi-douzaine de soldats pourraient s’abriter derrière un mur de chenille. Concernant le point faible à l’arrière, c’est aussi un défaut de certains char IRL, donc on ne peut pas vraiment lui en tenir rigueur.

Il se trouve que j'ai trouvé un autre usage au Tie Crawler, en effet le mode « tourelle », avec les deux chenilles en position verticale.

Imaginez l'Empire arrive sur une nouvelle planète, ils explorent le terrain, et trouvent un endroit pour monter une base temporaire. Le temps de monter la base, le Tie Crawler pourrait monter la garde en mode tourelle. J’ai pas mal joué à Star Wars Battleground à l’époque (pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas, imaginez Age of Empire, mais version Star Wars). Imaginer un peu l’utilité d’une unité qui ferait à la fois tourelle et Tank.

 

Concernant le modèle en lui-même.

Le cockpit est bien solide, j’en suis très content, d’autant que j’ai réussi à y ajouter une ouverture de toit fonctionnelle, avec un passage. Alors soyons clair, vous n’y feriez pas passer une minifig, le trou ne fait que 1x2, mais c’est suffisant pour y positionner le conducteur en mode vigie (un pilote AT-AT piqué dans un set micro-fighter).

Les stickers viennent de lego, le TIE classique UCS que j’ai démonté depuis longtemps, mais dont j’avais gardé les pièces « stickers » pour cet usage.

Les chenilles aussi sont solides, je regrette de n’avoir pu y intégrer un lance-missiles dissimulé comme le set lego, mais mes tentatives tenaient sur lego studio, mais pas sur IRL. Et si j’aimais l’idée de lego, je n’aimais l’exécution lego. J’ai donc laissé tomber.

Le seul point faible étant qu’avec le poids des chenilles, leur fixation au cockpit peut lâcher sous une contrainte trop grande. Contrairement au set lego, je déconseille de tenir le tout par les réservoirs. Il vaut mieux tenir le modèle par les deux chenilles en même temps.

    

Finally complete!

 

The Tie Crawler Version 2. I prefer this version.

 

One of my favorite Tie, again for its ridiculousness and impracticality.

 

The Tie Crawler (also known as Tie Century or Tie Tank) is a light armored vehicle. Armed with two classic Tie blasters, and one anti-personnel blaster (so, lighter). A single pilot who also acts as a gunner.

 

Ideas in the Lore

It was simple to produce, and that's about it. I also remember reading somewhere that Empire recruits who fail the test to become Tie fighter pilots could more easily be converted to Tie Crawler pilots. But I couldn't find the source. And anyway the idea that it's easier to become a tank pilot than a freighter pilot when you fail to become a fighter pilot is stupid.

 

Limitations

As described, the machine is limited. The weapons are too low. The two classic Tie blasters cannot rotate and because of its location, the anti-personnel blaster cannot rotate vertically at a very large angle. All three are therefore almost useless on any rough terrain. Also, the shape of the tracks tells me that a concrete block, about a meter high, would be enough to block the Tie. And it's a Tie, so it has no energy shield, so it's not very armored. The single pilot is at the mercy of any anti-tank weapon or space fighter. It also has an obvious weak point: the four visible fuel tanks. Now, this is an obvious weak point that any poorly armed rebel will try to target. But also, why put them there? Have you seen the size of the tracks? And the size of the tanks? They could have been put somewhere in the tracks where they would have been better protected, but also closer to the engines. Not to mention that in the event of an explosion, moving them a little further away from the pilot would increase his chances of survival. And the Empire cares about the safety of its employees...

 

Improvement of Lego 7664

Lego has improved the concept by making the wings swivel and independent. The Tie crawler suddenly becoming truly all terrain. Moreover, they added missile launchers hidden in the wings. Which I had clumsily done in my first version. This version does not have them. The ideas I tested in this area all lacked solidity. And to be honest, once on the shelf, the hidden missiles would stay there.

 

Possible use.

The thing still has its uses, especially with the lego upgrades. Ok, it doesn't have shields, but even the weakest part (the cockpit) resists the vacuum of space, it's not a plastic car either. In case of guerrilla warfare, it can be handy. It is relatively fast (90km/h), and unlike the AT-Walkers (the whole series of AT-AT, AT-ST, AT-DP, AT-RT...), it does not risk falling. Moreover, even if it was turned over, it would not be a problem, it would even be an advantage to have the guns on top. It is also easier to store than AT-ATs and AT-STs, probably also easier to maintain.

I also see an advantage as an infantryman escort when on foot patrol in a guerrilla zone. In case of a skirmish, half a dozen soldiers could take shelter behind a track wall. Regarding the weak point at the rear, this is also a flaw of some IRL tanks, so you can't really hold it against it.

I happened to find another use for the Tie Crawler, the " tower " mode, with the two tracks in vertical position.

Imagine the Empire arrives on a new planet, they explore the terrain, and find a place to set up a temporary base. By the time the base is set up, the Tie Crawler could stand guard in a tower mode. I played a lot of Star Wars Battleground at the time (for those who don't know, imagine Age of Empire, but Star Wars version). Imagine the usefulness of a unit that would be both tower and tank.

 

About the model itself.

This cockpit is very solid, I'm very happy with it, especially since I managed to add a functional roof opening, with a passage. So let's be clear, you wouldn't fit a minifig through it, the hole is only 1x2, but it's enough to position the driver in lookout mode (an AT-AT pilot nicked from a micro-fighter set).

The stickers come from lego, the classic UCS TIE that I disassembled a long time ago, but I kept the "sticker" parts for this purpose.

The tracks are also solid, I regret not having been able to integrate a concealed missile launcher like the lego set, my attempts were successful on lego studio, but not on IRL. And if I liked the lego idea, I didn't like the lego execution. So I gave up.

The only weak point is that with the weight of the tracks, their fixation to the cockpit can break under too much stress. Contrary to the lego set, I don't recommend to hold the whole thing by the tanks. It is better to hold the model by both tracks at the same time.

   

Against a canvas of blue sky and wispy clouds, this striking modern apartment building in Berkeley, California showcases a bold interplay of concrete, glass, and rhythm. Its distinctive zigzag façade creates a sculptural tension between solidity and motion—a dynamic interpretation of urban housing that reflects Berkeley’s evolving architectural landscape.

 

At first glance, the building’s monolithic concrete surface appears austere, but closer inspection reveals deliberate precision. Each vertical bay shifts slightly, giving the façade a sense of depth and shadow that changes throughout the day. The alternating angles capture light differently, animating the structure as morning turns to afternoon. It’s a contemporary evolution of brutalist design, softened through human-scale detailing and sustainable sensibility.

 

The building sits along University Avenue, one of Berkeley’s most storied corridors, where decades of architectural experimentation coexist—craftsman homes, mid-century commercial blocks, and new urban infill projects. This structure represents the city’s forward-looking approach to density and sustainability, using concrete not as a symbol of heaviness but as a medium for clarity and permanence. Its rhythmic windows echo the pulse of city life, while the clean street frontage offers a respectful nod to the pedestrian experience.

 

Architecturally, it embodies the Bay Area’s shift toward minimalist urban housing—simple in palette but rich in geometry. The structure’s sharp angles create deep shadows that lend drama to an otherwise restrained composition. There’s poetry in its pragmatism: vertical repetition balanced by asymmetrical nuance, form driven by function, yet never without aesthetic ambition.

 

As the photograph captures it, the building feels both monumental and intimate. The warm evening light softens the gray façade, emphasizing texture over mass. Nearby, the red structure provides a counterpoint of color and contrast, revealing how contemporary architecture can harmonize with its surroundings through thoughtful restraint.

 

In a city known for its architectural experimentation, this building stands as a quiet yet confident expression of modern Berkeley—rooted in function, shaped by design, and alive with urban rhythm. It’s not a landmark by name, but it reflects the evolving identity of a city constantly redefining what home and density mean in a 21st-century context.

. (Even if a form does not have an explicit frame—imagine a sculpture in the middle of a vast plain—it is still implicitly framed by our field of vision.) Moreover, with the act of framing, something rather magical happens, something we refer to as frame magnetism. When a dot is closer to one side of a frame, that side seems to pull the dot towards it. Notice the diagram below: the dot is being pulled upwards in Figure One. In Figure Two the dot is being pulled to the right. The result, not surprisingly, is a bit of agitation, or at least interest. Place the dot in the absolute center of the frame (Figure 3) and it becomes inert—all four sides of the image are equally pulling at the dot, making for a rather boring composition.

Or, we can do the opposite, framing figures so they are not pulled by the sides of a picture, and comfortably balanced within the frame. TV producers usually strive to achieve this kind of balance: they routinely make talk show hosts and their guests sit uncomfortably close to each other (for them) so that they aren'tpulled apart by the sides of the video frame. The result is to have them fake their comfort in order to make us comfortable: as viewers we feel as if these individuals like each other and are having a pleasant conversation, not pulling away from each other. As we can also see in the Nazi salute photograph, the two dominant shapes (in this case, each soccer team) are cohesively clumped without being pulled to one side of the frame or another, creating a sense of pictorial balance.

The realities of frame magnetism have led to certain framing conventions. One is head room: framing an image so an individual has a bit of space over her head to convey that she is not cramped by the frame or pulled upward by frame magnetism. Headroom creates the illusion that the figure is in a larger setting rather than a box. Another is “rule of thirds,” a well-known principle of photographic and image composition. By breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically), and by placing elements on the points of intersection, we can avoid both the uncomfortable pulling when the form is too close to the frame, and the boring inertia when the form is too central.

Knowing the rule of thirds is to create images that are balanced yet interesting. However, knowing when to break the rule—to add tension—is also an essential part of the artistic vocabulary and a means for conveying narrative.

Shape is tied to form. The most basic shapes—square, circle and triangle—are often connected to the three basic (primary) colors, red, blue and yellow. Each shape in turn has an expressive quality. Squares convey stability, solidity, support, confidence, strength, but also boredom. They carry a heavier weight in the frame than circles or triangles, and tend to be imposing, dominating an image. Rectangles—part of the square family—usually feel slightly less stable and slightly more interesting than squares. In contrast, circles are fluid instead of solid, expressing wholeness, completion, happiness, unity, and motion. Circles are more interesting than squares, but nowhere near as interesting as triangles, our most dynamic shape. Triangles are stimulating because they point, leading one’s eyes to various areas within the frame, adding tension with diagonal lines, and energy to the entire visual composition. Like the color red, triangles are useful in isolating ideas and identifying the significance of an element within the frame. For example, a photograph of two basketball players jumping up towards a ball completes the shape of a triangle and dramatizes the ball’s significance. A photograph of a bird landing on a gutter—the bird’s wings outstretched—shows two triangles: each one pointing in a different direction and asking the viewer to follow the direction of both invisible lines. In the Nazi salute photograph, the flags in the stadium point upwards, lifting our eyes out of the narrative. As designer and theorist Johannes Itten commented about shapes, “The square is resting matter, the triangle is thought, and the circle is spirit in eternal motion.”

Line

A line embodies a narrative significance of its own. Horizontal lines evoke calm and stability; vertical lines convey energy and upward thrust. Diagonal lines, like triangles, are dynamic, exciting, somewhat unstable, and for these reasons are advantageous towards visually communicating complicated ideas. It’s an important strength, when creating an image, to be aware of how lines divide a frame. For example, telephone lines can slice a frame into numerous boxes and rectangles against the sky, or dramatically slice a frame at a diagonal, directing viewers to various points of interest. Photographers can also intentionally create diagonals by cocking the camera—making what we call a Dutch angle— and destabilizing an otherwise sturdy image to make a visual point. In advertising, Dutch angles are used constantly to add excitement, or to juxtapose instability (e.g., discomfort in the doctor’s office) with stability (e.g., relief after taking a certain pill).

. Thus, diagonal lines both offer directional force and convey depth. Lines, whether visible or invisible, help us understand spatial arrangements and the corresponding relationships within the visual narrative.

The angle from which the image is taken offers more invisible lines and another means for communicating depth—the more extreme the angle, the more intense the feeling of depth. The invisible lines that angles create are also infused with meaning. A very low angle intensifies the stature of a figure or inanimate object. A child portrayed from below can look like a giant, a monster can appear even more scary and powerful, and an armed tank all the more menacing. When shooting Citizen Kane, for example, Orson Welles was so intent on portraying Kane with as much grandeur as possible in certain scenes that he dug holes in the floor of sets and shot from below the floorboards, creating extreme low angles for maximum effect.

"The atoms are in a continual state of motion. Among the atoms, some are separated by great distances, others come very near to each other in the formation of composite bodies, or at times are enveloped by others which are combining. But in this latter case they, nevertheless, preserve their own unique motion, thanks to the nature of the vacuum, which separates the one from the other, and yet offers them no resistance. The solidity which they possess causes them, while knocking against each other, to react the one upon the other, Finally, the repeated impacts bring on the dissolution of the composite body. For all this there is no external cause, the atoms and the vacuum being the only causes". Epicurus. Letter To Herodotus

IN ENGLISH BELOW THE LINE

 

La Graflex Pacemaker Speed Graphic de 4x5 polzades és el summum de la càmera de premsa de gran format des de els anys 40 fins a inicis dels 60. Ja les Speed Graphic anteriors (Pre-Anniversary, Anniversary) havien dominat en bona mesura els anys 30 i 40, sobretot als Estats Units. La versió Pacemaker del 1947 millora les qualitats del model Anniversary, sobretot en fermesa: es substitueix l'estructura de fusta per una de totalment metal·lica. És l'equivalent a un tanc en el món de la fotografía. Igualment millorà en certa mesura els moviments del objectiu, i es simplificà l'obturador de pla focal sense perdre capacitats. Amés, aviat si incorporà el sistema Graflok per a carregar portaplaques, magatzems de plaques o adaptadors de filmpacks i pel·licula format 120. Una càmera realment tot terreny.

 

Aquesta en concret fou fabricada el 1949, incorpora el "Graflok back" i l'objectiu que venia amb ella és un Kodak Anastigmat f4.5 de 6 3/9 polzades, montat en un obturador No.3 Kodak Supermatic. Per desgràcia el visor es va mig trencar en el transport, però és facilment substituible.

 

Ah, i el motiu esencial per sumar aquesta càmera a la Crown Graphic i la Anniversary Speed Graphic que ja tenia és que aquesta és la millor opció per poder montar-hi un inmens objectiu Kodak Aero Ektar de la Segona Guerra Mundial.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_Graphic

 

www.graflex.org/speed-graphic/pacemaker-speed-graphic.html

 

camera-wiki.org/wiki/Graflex_Speed_Graphic

 

lommen9.home.xs4all.nl/Pacemaker%20Versus%20Anniversary/i...

 

======================

 

The 4x5" Graflex Pacemaker Speed ​​Graphic is the summum of the large-format press camera from the 40's to the beginning of the 60's. Previous Speed ​​Graphic models (Pre-Anniversary, Anniversary) had already dominated the 30's and 40, especially in the United States. The Pacemaker version of 1947 improves the qualities of the Anniversary model, especially in solidity: the wood structure is replaced by a completely metallic one. It is the equivalent of a tank in the world of photography. It also improved to a certain extent the lens movements, and the focal plane shutter was simplified without losing capacities. Plus, soon it incorporated the Graflok back system to load plate holders, film magazines (Grafmatic) or filmpack and rollfilm adapters.

 

This one in particular was manufactured in 1949, and incorporates the "Graflok back"; the lens that came with it is a Kodak Anastigmat f4.5 in 6 3/9", mounted on a No.3 Kodak Supermatic leaf shutter. Unfortunately, the viewfinder was broken during shipping, but it is easily replaceable.

 

Oh, and the essential reason to add this camera to the Crown Graphic and the Anniversary Speed ​​Graphic that I already had is that this is the best option to mount an immense WW2 Kodak Aero Ektar recon lens.

 

www.graflex.org/speed-graphic/pacemaker-speed-graphic.html

 

camera-wiki.org/wiki/Graflex_Speed_Graphic

 

lommen9.home.xs4all.nl/Pacemaker%20Versus%20Anniversary/i...

 

Commentary

 

West of, and just above, the flood-plain of the River Adur,

in West Sussex, stands the ancient church dedicated to St. Botolph.

It is one of relatively few churches dating back to Saxon Times,

and parts of it are well over 1,000 years old.

Made from local Flint, in the South Downs Chalk,

it is beautiful in its simplicity.

Originally, it would have been only a Nave and Chancel.

Other features were added or altered in later centuries.

Perhaps churches should have less expensive adornment

and more solidity and durability, like this one.

 

"Rødgrød or Rote Grütze was traditionally made of groat or grit, as revealed by the second component of the name in Danish, German, or Low German. Semolina and sago are still used in some family recipes; potato starch is today the standard choice to achieve a creamy to pudding-like starch gelatinization. The essential ingredients that justify the adjective are red summer berries such as redcurrant, blackcurrant, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, bilberries and stoned black cherries. The essential flavour can be achieved with redcurrant alone; a small amount of blackcurrant will add variety; sugar is used to intensify the flavour. The amounts of starch, sago, semolina differ with the solidity desired; 20 to 60 grams on a kilogram or liter of the recipe are usual; sago, groat or grit have to soak before they can be used.

 

The preparation is basically that of a pudding: The fruits are cooked briefly with sugar. The mass should cool down for a moment so that the starch—dissolved in fruit juice or water—can be stirred into it without clumping. A second cooking process of one to two minutes is needed to start the gelatinization; remaining streaks of white starch have to clear up in this process.

 

Rødgrød or Rote Grütze is served hot or cold as a dessert with milk, a mixture of milk and vanilla sugar, vanilla sauce, (whipped) cream, vanilla ice cream, or custard to balance the refreshing taste of the fruit acids."

 

Source: wikipedia.org

ESG 652 is one of ten Guy 5LW's which were purchased new following the second world war in 1948 and 1949. These stylish single deckers with rear entrances - a new concept for Edinburgh, had Metro-Cammell bodies and a seating capacity for 35 people. They were considered among the best of Edinburgh's single-deckers and the interiors had brown leather seats and ornate alhambrinal ceilings.

 

The ten Guys were prone to being rather noisy with intense vibrating and the sliding windows would sometimes drop down by themselves! They were perhaps not the fastest beasts around, nor were they quiet, but they had a certain solidity that would reassure the travelling public of the day. Note the very quaint jelly-mould indicator - not the originals which would have been semaphore arrows when new.

 

Many of these buses survived in service until the early 1960's and then some of them were converted to road gritting machines - a very unfortunate ending to a fine career!

 

739 is seen on an excursion to the Tron on Service 1

 

Commentary.

 

Started as a Norman Motte and Bailey castle

almost a thousand years ago,

Arundel Castle is surreal, almost mesmeric,

the stuff of fairy tales,

but it is real.

Home to the Duke of Norfolk’s family

for over 400 years the site was extended

throughout medieval times.

Arundel is a superb, unique town, in a glorious valley,

through which flows a vibrant and beautiful river, the Arun.

But from wherever one looks, north, south, east or west

of the town, the castle dominates and raises this town’s

profile to magical, mysterious and legendary status.

Simply, magnificent!!!

 

SOLD

 

Tried some sculpting with Sculpey Ultralight. This clay is amazingly light and easy to handle. I am not so sure about the solidity though. Once it has been covered with another polymer clay it is solid, but just alone it is a bit brittle...

Another from Sunday's trip down to Old Hartley (which should have been a trip to Craster except I overslept!). The sunrise really was a strange one, with good clouds, but only the barest hint of colour in the sky.

 

As always with Old Hartley, there was a multitude of interesting cracks and outcrops to play with. I think this was one of the best, as you really get an idea of the scale of the geology down there.

 

Used a really low point of view to draw the eye along the crack to the lighthouse and a long exposure put some movement into an otherwise dull sky. ND Grad as usual to balance the exposure and cloudy white balance......er......because it was cloudy!

Bauhaus Museum Weimar, Germany

 

German architect Heike Hanada designed a minimalist concrete museum to celebrate the Bauhaus in Weimar, where the design school was founded 100 years ago. The building is dedicated to the design school creates a physical cultural presence for the Bauhaus in the German city where it was based between 1919 and 1925. Located near the Nazi-era Gauforum square and the Neue Museum Weimar, the Bauhaus Museum is a simple five-storey concrete box broken only with its entrance and a couple of windows. The enclosing shell of light-grey concrete lends the cube stability and dynamic solidity. Equally spaced horizontal grooves run around the facades of the museum, with the words "bauhaus museum" repeated in a band near the top of the building. Hanada designed the museum to be a public building for the city and has attempted to clearly connect it to the neighbouring park. With elements such as plinths, fasciae, portals, stairways and a terrace to the park, the architecture incorporates classical themes that underscore its public character.

 

The museum contains 2,000 m2 of exhibition space, which will be used to display around 1,000 items from the Weimar Bauhaus collection. A shop and entrance hall is located on the ground floor, with a cafe and toilets below, and three floors dedicated to telling the story of the Bauhaus above. Each of the galleries overlooks double-height spaces and are accessed from a long ceremonial staircase that stretches the height of the building. The visitors ascend a succession of interchanging open spaces and staircases until they finally arrive at the top floor where they are presented with an unobstructed view of the park. The cascading staircases are encased by ceiling-high walls and function as free-standing, enclosed bodies in the interior space. The collection is arranged to inform visitors about the history of the design school, with the gallery on the first floor dedicated to its origins in Weimar and the Bauhaus manifesto that Walter Gropius wrote in 1919. The second floor has exhibits that show how these ideas were implemented, with galleries dedicated to each of the Bauhaus directors – Gropius, Hannes Meyer and Mies van der Rohe – at the top of the building.

 

The museum in Weimar has opened to coincide with the centenary of the Bauhaus, which was established in the city in 1919. The school was forced to relocate from Weimar to Dessau in 1925, where Gropius designed a new school building for the institution. Following a short time based in Berlin the school closed for good in 1933. Although only open for just over a decade, the Bauhaus is the most influential art and design school in history. The ideas and people associated with the school had an incredible impact on design and architecture, and to mark its centenary we created a series exploring its key works and figures.

 

Scene from the Life of Christ, roof boss in the 14th century vault of the nave.

 

The attractive town of Tewkesbury has been dominated by its superb abbey church since the beginning of the 12th century, and we can be forever grateful to its townspeople for purchasing the monastic church in 1540 for £453 for use as their parish church, saving it from the fate that befell countless similar great churches across the land during the turmoil of the Dissolution. It reminds us both how lucky we are to still marvel at it today, yet also how great a loss to our heritage the period wrought when many more such buildings were so utterly plundered as to have gone without trace (the fate of the monastic buildings here and even the lady chapel of the church whose footings are laid out in the grass at the east end).

 

Tewkesbury Abbey is thus rightly celebrated as one of our greatest non-cathedral churches, and remarkably much of the original Norman church remains substantially intact, most apparently in the great central tower, a fine example of Romanesque architecture adorned with rows of blind-arcading. The west front is dominated by a massive Norman-arched recess (enclosing the somewhat later west window) and the nave and transepts remain largely as originally built, though this is less clear externally owing to the changes made to the windows, nearly all of which were enlarged in the 14th century in the Decorated Gothic style. This century also saw the complete rebuilding of the eastern limb of the church, of a form less common in England with radiating chapels surrounding the eastern apse of the choir (the central lady chapel sadly missing since 1540).

 

The interior reveals far more of the Romanesque structure with mighty columns supporting the round Norman arches of the nave arcades giving the building a great sense of solidity. The space is further enlivened by the changes made during the 14th century by the stunning vault over the nave (adorned with a rewarding series of figurative bosses) which sits surprisingly well with the Norman work below. Beyond the apsidal choir beckons, and both this and the space below the tower are enriched with stunningly complex vaulted ceilings (replete with further bosses and gilded metal stars), all ablaze with colour and gilding.

 

There is much to enjoy in glass here, most remarkably a complete set of 14th century glazing in the clerestorey of the choir, seven windows filled with saints and prophets (and most memorably two groups of knights in the westernmost windows on each side). A few of the figures have fared less well over the centuries but on the whole this is a wonderfully rare and well preserved scheme. There is much glass from the 19th century too, with an extensive scheme in the nave of good quality work by Hardman's, and more recently a pair of rich windows by Tom Denny were added in one of the polygonal chapels around the east end.

 

Some of the most memorable features are the monuments with many medieval tombs of note, primarily the effigies and chantry chapels of members of the Despenser family around the choir (two of the chantries being miniature architectural gems in their own right with exquisite fan-vaulting). In one of the apsidal chapels is the unusual cenotaph to Abbot Wakeman with his grisly cadaver effigy, a late medieval reminder of earthly mortality.

 

Tewkesbury Abbey is not to be missed and is every bit as rewarding as many of our cathedrals (superior in fact to all but the best). It is normally kept open and welcoming to visitors on a daily basis. I have also had the privilege of working on this great building several times over the years (as part of the team at the studio I once worked for), and have left my mark in glass in a few discreet places.

www.tewkesburyabbey.org.uk/

M by Montcalm is a 23-story hotel near Old Street tube station in Shoreditch, London. It was designed by architects Squire and Partners and delivered in collaboration with Executive Architects 5 Plus. It was completed July 2015.

 

The unusual building design was based on the proximity of the hotel to Moorfields Eye Hospital, which sits opposite it. The architects suggest that the facade ‘…expresses the idea of the optical and the visual’ and takes inspiration from the hypnotic, illusionary artwork of Bridget Riley.

 

The building is expressed by conflicting patterns of transparency, opacity and solidity, and includes confusing angles that break down the geometry of the underlying structure. Vertical and diagonal lines create a visual effect of depth and movement that appear to contradict the buildings actual form. At the lower levels, the building skin is lifted on a visually disorientating slant to reveal the hotel lobby, public bar and restaurant.

 

M by Montcalm has not been without controversy, being described as ‘very unfortunate for any hungover hipsters’, and ‘a myopic optical ruse that must have been hypnotic enough to secure it planning’. It was nominated for the Carbuncle Cup in 2015, an annual architectural prize awarded by the magazine Building Design to the ugliest building in the United Kingdom completed in the last 12 months. It was ‘beaten’ that year by the Walkie Talkie (20 Fenchurch Street).

Cited in designing buildings Wiki

 

Personally I like this building.

 

© 2019 Nigel Matthews (Gook the Goblin) - All rights reserved.

Do not use, download, print or reproduce any of my images without my permission!

 

Piazza del Campo - Torre del Mangia.

È tra le torri antiche italiane più alte (la quattordicesima), arrivando a 88 metri all'altezza degli ultimi merli.

Con queste parole Agnolo di Tura celebra nelle cronache del 1325 l'inizio dei lavori che dettero vita alla torre, mescolando insieme i sacri riti religiosi delle preghiere, delle orazioni e dei salmi, con quelli profani come la collocazione di monete e iscrizioni in lingua antica come il latino, il greco e l'ebraico per propiziare la solidità dell'edificio.

Da sempre il popolo senese è solito chiamare con soprannomi ed epiteti cose o persone (non a caso ogni fantino che corre il Palio ha un personale soprannome datogli dalla contrada con cui esordisce); non fu escluso da tale consuetudine uno dei primi campanari adibiti a scandire le ore, tale Giovanni di Balduccio, "mésso dei Signori Nove", noto per i suoi sperperi e i suoi vizi legati soprattutto alla cucina.

Tale fama gli valse il soprannome di "Mangiaguadagni" o, più semplicemente, "Mangia".

Il lavoro di campanaro non gli durò a lungo visto che nel 1360 venne subito installato il primo orologio meccanico.

 

Piazza del Campo - Torre del Mangia.

It is among the tallest ancient Italian towers (the fourteenth), reaching 88 meters at the height of the last battlements.

With these words Agnolo di Tura celebrates in the chronicles of 1325 the beginning of the works that gave life to the tower, mixing together the sacred religious rites of prayers, orations and psalms, with the profane ones such as the placing of coins and inscriptions in ancient languages such as Latin, Greek and Hebrew to propitiate the solidity of the building.

The Sienese people have always been accustomed to calling things or people with nicknames and epithets (it is no coincidence that every jockey who runs the Palio has a personal nickname given to him by the contrada with which he debuts); one of the first bell ringers assigned to mark the hours, a certain Giovanni di Balduccio, "messo dei Signori Nove", known for his waste and his vices linked above all to the kitchen, was not excluded from this custom.

This fame earned him the nickname "Mangiaguadagni" or, more simply, "Mangia".

His work as a bell ringer did not last long since the first mechanical clock was immediately installed in 1360.

 

IMG20241228114647m

La iglesia de San Sebastián de los Caballeros se encuentra en torno al primer recinto amurallado de Toro. Es una zona céntrica próxima a la Plaza Mayor, a la cual se puede llegar a través del Arco del Postigo.

Fue parroquia al menos desde principios del S. XII hasta 1896. Su primera fábrica seria de ladrillo, de estilo románico-mudéjar, aunque a principios del S.XVI fue reconstruida por el trasmerano Juan Martínez de Revilla a expensas del famoso teólogo toresano Fray Diego de Deza, profesor de Salamanca, preceptor del príncipe don Juan, hijo de los RR.CC., Inquisidor General, Arzobispo de Sevilla y protector de Colón. Esta construcción gótica tardía destaca por la solidez, continencia ornamental y el predominio del macizo sobre el vano. La tribuna data de 1570 y su hermoso alfarje es obra de carpinteros locales. La torre fue acabada en 1573 por el cantero Antonio de Villafaña. Ya en época barroca sufrió un proceso de barroquización bastante mediocre que, sumado al abandono posterior en el S.XX, casi significa la ruina del conjunto.

En la década de 1970 el Estado decide restaurarla para albergar las pinturas murales procedentes del monasterio de Sta. Clara. Aparte de estas pinturas, su patrimonio quedó reducido al arte mueble. Se conserva el retablo mayor in situ.

El museo está formado por una única sala, que coincide con la nave de la iglesia. Ésta consta de capilla mayor, precedida de arco de triunfo agudo y sobre pilares y coro alto. También tiene una sencilla torre adosada al muro norte y la sacristía pospuesta a la cabecera. A los pies se levanta una hermosa tribuna con antepecho de balaustres torneados en arenisca sobre arco escarzado que arranca de pilares. El templo tiene tres puertas a norte sur y oeste pero la entrada al museo se realiza a través de la sacristía en la cara este.

La iglesia-museo de San Sebastián de los Caballeros expone las pinturas murales procedentes del monasterio de Santa Clara.

 

Las pinturas corresponden a la primera fase del gótico lineal o franco-gótico, que todavía no conoce la perspectiva. Aproximadamente, se realizaron en la tercera década del S.XIV. La composición es sólo de dos dimensiones y las trazas lineales, así como la caligrafía grácil y espontánea funcionan como esqueleto sustentante de los colores, formados con muchos matices y abundantes sombreados. Los frecuentes arrepentimientos hablan de la rapidez con la que se debió efectuar la obra. Se trata de una manifestación de la fe sencilla del pueblo cristiano medieval que aceptaba sin crítica la historia de los santos. Se inspiran en la leyenda áurea. De su autoría se habló del nombre de Teresa Diez, ya que este nombre aparece escrito en las pinturas, pero ésta debía ser la donante como indican los escudos heráldicos de la familia que también aparecen. Descartada entonces Teresa Diez, es posible que sean obra de Domingo Pérez, el pintor que se representa como criado de Sancho IV en la firma de la policromía de la Portada de la Majestad de la Colegiata de Toro. Nos consta de este autor que también efectuó unos murales en la catedral de Zamora.

 

torosacro.com/historia/san-sebastian-de-los-caballeros/

 

The church of San Sebastián de los Caballeros is located around the first walled enclosure of Toro. It is a central area near the Plaza Mayor, which can be reached through the Arch of the Postigo.

It was parished at least from the early 12th century until 1896. Its first factory would be brick, Romanesque-Mudejar style, although at the beginning of the H.XVI century it was rebuilt by the transmerano Juan Martínez de Revilla at the expense of the famous Toresian theologian Fray Diego de Deza, professor of Salamanca, preceptor of Prince Don Juan, son of the RR. CC., Inquisidor General, Archbishop of Seville and protector of Columbus. This late Gothic construction stands out for its solidity, ornamental continence and the predominance of the massif over the vain. The grandstand dates back to 1570 and its beautiful pottery is the work of local carpenters. The tower was finished in 1573 by the goalkeeper Antonio de Villafaña. Already in baroque times it suffered a rather mediocre baroque process that, together with the subsequent abandonment in the twentieth century, almost means the ruin of the whole.

In the 1970s the State decided to restore it to house the mural paintings from the monastery of St. Clare. Apart from these paintings, his heritage was reduced to the art of furniture. The main altarpiece is preserved in situ.

 

The museum consists of a single room, which coincides with the nave of the church. This consists of main chapel, preceded by a sharp triumphal arch and on pillars and a high choir. It also has a simple tower attached to the north wall and the sacristy postponed to the headboard. At the feet stands a beautiful grandstand with a balustle of balusters turned in sandstone on a frosted arch that starts from pillars. The temple has three gates to the north south and west but the entrance to the museum is made through the sacristy on the east side.

The church-museum of San Sebastian de los Caballeros exhibits the mural paintings from the monastery of Santa Clara.

 

The paintings correspond to the first phase of linear gothic or Franco-Gothic, which does not yet know the perspective. Approximately, they were held in the third decade of the S.XIV. The composition is only two dimensions and the linear traces, as well as the graceful and spontaneous calligraphy function as a skeleton supporting the colors, formed with many nuances and abundant shades. Frequent repentances tell of how quickly the work should be done. It is a manifestation of the simple faith of the medieval Christian people who accepted the history of the saints without criticism. They are inspired by the golden legend. From her authorship was mentioned the name of Teresa Diez, since this name is written in the paintings, but this was to be the donor as indicated by the heraldic shields of the family that also appear. Discarded then Teresa Diez, it is possible that they are the work of Domingo Pérez, the painter who is depicted as a servant of Sancho IV in the signature of the polychromia of the Cover of the Majesty of the Collegiate of Toro. We are aware of this author who also made some murals in the cathedral of Zamora

 

Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor 18/10/2022 19h20

A photo taken during twilight on the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor looking towards the Jardin des Tuileries.

 

Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor

The passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor, formerly known as passerelle Solférino (or pont de Solférino), is a footbridge over the River Seine in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. It is served by the Metro station Assemblée Nationale.

For a century, a cast iron bridge inaugurated by Napoleon III in 1861 allowed vehicles to cross between quai Anatole-France and quai des Tuileries. Built by the engineers of the Pont des Invalides, Paul-Martin Gallocher de Lagalisserie and Jules Savarin, it was named after the June 1859 French victory of the Battle of Solferino. Having weakened over time (particularly due to barges crashing into it), it was demolished and replaced in 1961 with a steel footbridge, which was demolished in 1992.

The new passerelle de Solférino linking the Musée d'Orsay and the Jardin des Tuileries (Tuileries Gardens) was built between 1997 and 1999 under the direction of the engineer and architect Marc Mimram. Crossing the Seine with a single span and no piers, this metallic bridge is architecturally unique and covered in exotic woods (ipê, a Brazilian tree also used for outdoor flooring[1] at the Bibliothèque nationale de France) which gives it a light and warm appearance. Its solidity is, however, never in doubt - at either end, its foundations are in the form of concrete pillars extending 15m into the ground, and the structure itself is made up of six 150 tonne components built by the Eiffel engineering company, Eiffel Constructions métalliques. Its innovative architecture brought Marc Mimram the award "Prix de l'Équerre d'Argent" for the year 1999.

 

The bridge also has benches and lampposts for promenaders who can reach the Jardin des Tuileries through a subterranean passage on the Rive Droite.

 

The bridge was renamed after Léopold Sédar Senghor on 9 October 2006 on the centenary of his birth.

 

FACTS & FIGURES

Crosses: River Seine

Next upstream: Pont Royal

Next downstream: Pont de la Concorde

Design: Marc Mimram

Total length: 106m

Width: 15m

Opened: 1999

 

[ Wikipedia - Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor ]

Chiaroscuro (English: /kiˌɑːrəˈskjʊəroʊ/; Italian: [ˌkjaroˈskuːro] (light-dark)) is an artistic technique, developed during the Renaissance, that uses strong tonal contrasts between light and dark to model three-dimensional forms, often to dramatic effect.[1] It is one of the four canonical painting modes of Renaissance art (alongside cangiante, sfumato, and unione).

 

The underlying principle is that solidity of form is best achieved by the light falling against it. Artists known for developing the technique include Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio, and Rembrandt. It is a mainstay of black and white and low-key photography.

Nestled within San Francisco's iconic Nob Hill neighborhood, the Masonic Temple stands as a beacon of history and architecture. This striking building, known for its unique blend of modern and classical design elements, has been an integral part of the city's landscape since its completion in 1958. The structure's facade, crafted from pristine white marble, is adorned with intricate bas-reliefs depicting Masonic symbols and figures, paying homage to the rich heritage of the Freemasons.

 

The building's architectural significance is further enhanced by its modernist influences, with clean lines and minimalist detailing that reflect the mid-20th-century design ethos. The temple's upper portion features a series of stylized figures that seem to march in unison, symbolizing unity and fraternity, core values of the Masonic brotherhood. Below, large glass panels invite natural light into the building, creating a harmonious blend of transparency and solidity.

 

The Masonic Temple is not only an architectural marvel but also a cultural hub. The building houses the Nob Hill Masonic Center, a popular venue for concerts, lectures, and community events. The center's auditorium, known for its excellent acoustics and seating capacity of over 3,000, has hosted countless performances, from classical concerts to modern rock shows.

 

This building's location in Nob Hill places it in one of San Francisco's most prestigious neighborhoods, known for its historic mansions, luxury hotels, and stunning views of the city. Whether you're a history enthusiast, an architecture aficionado, or simply exploring San Francisco, the Masonic Temple is a must-visit landmark that encapsulates the spirit and history of the city.

From the Olympics on the left to the San Juan islands on the right, nothing but water in various stages of solidity and salinity. 'Twas a good clouds morning.

__________________________________________________

Summer 2015: "Up was Down"

 

June 28th: Dungeness Spit, Madison Falls, Port Angeles for dinner.

There’s not much to ‘Orion’, a small installation in Lowther Road, consisting of a small fridge placed in front of an end of terrace wall. Without context, it look like a minimalist idea artfully constructed on the pavement of a modest Walthamstow neighborhood. It is quite graceful nevertheless.

The white fridge, its door open to manifest the full extent of its emptiness and uselessness, appears fragile and defenceless against the solidity of the wall. This work hints at existential anxiety, and it's possible to trace this disquiet in the five pattress plates, immutable celestial-like objects, indifferent to the frailty of all life beneath.

The artist has used destitute material to underline the idea that art objects can be created from the most prosaic of human waste. A well-known theme among E17 artists; almost a cliché. It's an exercise in graceful, restrained mindfulness. Whether this art enlightens us in any sense doesn’t really matter. The installation is satisfied being nothing more than beautiful.

 

♫ Diego el Cigala - Suspiros de España ♫

   

Plaza central del Museo Reina Sofía, creada por Jean Nouvel.

  

El Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (MNCARS) es el museo nacional español de arte del siglo XX y actual.

Está situado en el antiguo Hospital General, gran edificio neoclásico del siglo XVIII que está situado en la zona de Atocha, .

Fue diseñado inicialmente por José de Hermosilla y continuado posteriormente por Francesco Sabatini. El Museo Reina Sofía es el vértice sur del conocido como Triángulo del Arte de Madrid, que incluye a otros dos célebres museos: el Prado y el Thyssen-Bornemisza.

Año tras año, el número de visitantes del museo aumenta, y en 2010 ocupó el 16º puesto entre los museos más visitados del mundo.

 

Nadie diría que los dos edificios, el antiguo de Sabatini, y el nuevo de Nouvel, pertenecen a un mismo museo. El contraste entre la solidez de la piedra, del edificio de Sabatini y la liviandad que da el vidrio y los materiales reflectantes del edificio de Nouvel, hace que el diálogo entre ambos edificios parezca difícil, pero una vez que se ha franqueado la puerta de entrada del museo y se cruza la plaza pública, aunténtico centro de todo, ambos edificios parecen condenados a entenderse. Una gran cubierta volada abraza a ambos edificios con misión protectora.

 

Reina Sofía Museum, Central Plaza , created by Jean Nouvel.

  

The National Museum Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Reina Sofia Museum) is the Spanish national museum of twentieth century art and contemporary.

Located in the Old General Hospital, a large eighteenth-century neoclassical building which is located in the area of Atocha.

Was initially designed by José de Hermosilla and continued later by Francesco Sabatini. The Reina Sofia is the southern tip of the famous Golden Triangle of Art in Madrid, which includes two other famous museums: the Prado and the Thyssen-Bornemisza.

Year after year, the number of museum visitors is increasing, and in 2010 ranked 16 th among the most visited museums in the world.

 

Nobody would say that the two buildings, the old Sabatini, and new Nouvel, belong to the same museum. The contrast between the solidity of the stone, the building of Sabatini and the lightness which gives the glass and reflective materials Nouvel building makes the dialogue between the two buildings may be difficult, but once it has crossed the gate the museum and across the public square, authentic center of everything, both buildings appear doomed to be understood. A great cover blown embraces both buildings with protective mission.

Poem.

 

Like a military parade of trees,

Commercial Spruce, in bottle-green uniform,

stand to attention on the lower slopes, mile upon mile.

Golden Larch, like Red-Hot Pokers,

frame plantations in spectacular contrast,

acting as expendable fire-breaks in order to sustain the bulk of the forest.

Delicate fronds of the Silver Birch droop and waiver in the breeze.

Lower branches speckled by what seems countless golden doubloons “sparkle” with an iridescent glow.

Millions of leaves metamorphose into their Autumnal apparel.

The deeper, richer bronze of the bracken adds to this awesome, multi-coloured tapestry, but Broom and Gorse hang on to their now, flowerless, green foliage.

Blacks and greys of leafless bushes and the scaffolding of straight, deeply grooved pine-tree-trunks, gives an architectural solidity to the scene.

The richness of colour and texture is momentous, mesmeric and moving.

It is a joy to behold.

  

Seven years ago, I came across this 1993 photograph in my 'shoe box', but because the picture is 21 years old, I had a difficult time identifying the exact location. I could make out the street signs that said "Broadway", but little else looked familiar.

 

What a tool Google Earth and Google Maps have become for identifying location shots like this. The 'street view' in Google Maps is especially useful.

 

I'm sure many Upper West Side residents of Manhattan can identify this spot, even though roughly 60% of what you see in this picture no longer exists. I'm sure part of what threw me off was that the vantage point is unusual. I appear to have been in a second floor window or some such location. And apparently, judging by the curb that seems to run directly below my feet, the window seems to be directly over the street.

 

At first glance, this appeared to be somewhere in midtown Manhattan, but the trees in the distance look like Central Park or some other 'green space', but I still couldn't place this spot no matter how much I toured the side streets along Broadway on Google Maps.

 

I spent an hour or two simply searching online for addresses of the businesses seen in this shot. Every one of the shops that are identifiable in this photograph are no longer in business. One of them actually filed papers on September 10, 2001 - how eerie.

 

I had a clue from the very beginning that helped. I noticed the traffic pattern. One-way traffic on Broadway flowing diagonally across another street heading the opposite direction. There are only a handful of intersections like this along the entire length of Broadway's path through Manhattan. In Times Square, Madison Square, and twice on the Upper West Side - at the intersection with Amsterdam Ave. and the intersection with Columbus Ave.

 

Finally, using the 'street view' of Google Maps, I was able to identify the white building on the upper left. The street level of the building has been changed, but the upper section is the same today, as you see here. However, nothing else in this picture matched the Google Maps view. Take a look for yourself. I now recognize that building as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at 125 Columbus Avenue.

 

I was curious about the red-brick building, with the bright windows, midway down the street — close to what appears to be Central Park. It was distinctive enough to be a certain landmark. Here, Google Maps 'street view' threw me a curve. The webware application doesn't permit 'travel' on W. 65th Street from this intersection at Broadway. Undaunted, I knew there had to be a way around this roadblock. And that's exactly what the solution was — a way around. Google Maps DOES permit travel on West 65th if you go around to the other end, from Central Park West. I did that and inspected the tops of the buildings as I slowly traversed the street toward Broadway. Low and behold there was that distinctive building, almost from the same angle as this shot above. Check it out, here.

 

That discovery still left me confused. Where had I taken the shot from? Was I in a bookstore or restaurant? No. The corner where this picture was taken is the Julliard School at Lincoln Center. The 'street view' of Google Maps doesn't show a window or even a place where I could have stood to take this shot. But, it does show construction in progress. Maybe something has been removed. Like everything else in the photograph, maybe there used to be a structure or something else there where I stood to take this shot.

 

I next took a look at the spot on Google Earth. There was the answer. The satellite imagery is several years old on Google Earth and it clearly shows that there used to be an outdoor stairway and balcony, accessible to anyone, over the north curb of West 65th Street, roughly 105 feet from the Broadway intersection. I'll include a link to that view on WikiMapia. In the WikiMapia view, I've positioned the cross-hairs directly on the spot on the Julliard School balcony were the above shot was taken some 14 years ago. My camera was aimed toward the 4:30 - 5 o'clock direction in the WikiMapia view. Take a look.

 

Now that I've determined the exact location of my camera position, here's a street view of the same spot today. Notice how much has changed.

 

Thanks for tagging along with me during this little bit of detective work. I hope you had a little fun along the way.

 

OH — My wife just walked in the room. I asked her to identify the photo's location. No hints were given. She immediately identified it as W. 65th at Broadway, at the Julliard School, because she recognized the name of the restaurant across Broadway on W. 65th, Shun Lee. Who needs Google Maps, Google Earth, etc. when you have a wife like that?

 

P.S. If anything shows potential visitors to New York City how rapidly and extensively the city is changing, this photograph should. Almost weekly, older buildings are demolished to make way for new ones, usually high rise condominiums. Granted, some of the old buildings are dangerous, poorly constructed, and eyesores (like the Chemical Bank branch above), but no doubt many of their replacements will turn out to be even worse. And they are all exactly alike in style. Bland, mirrored boxes with a few eccentricities thrown in masquerading as creativity. Does anyone realize what a city full of mirrored glass boxes will be? A "House of Mirrors", or more appropriately, a "City of Mirrors".

 

The problem with glass buildings is that light simply reflects off of them, it doesn't illuminate them. They have no character of their own, they only reflect their surroundings, the are chameleons, mirroring their neighbors while having no surface identity. They have no solidity, no substance. A glowing sunrise or sunset can't bathe them in a soft warm glow, it can only be reflected from them. If you don't believe me, just notice how dark the streets are around a bunch of mirrored glass buildings at night. Streetlights don't illuminate glass structures the way they illuminate brick or stone buildings and therefore the surroundings are comparatively darker. So, in addition to the aesthetic problems created by a city of mirrors, you also create a safety problem with darkened streets.

 

[12130009]

Bauhaus Museum Weimar, Germany

 

German architect Heike Hanada designed a minimalist concrete museum to celebrate the Bauhaus in Weimar, where the design school was founded 100 years ago. The building is dedicated to the design school creates a physical cultural presence for the Bauhaus in the German city where it was based between 1919 and 1925. Located near the Nazi-era Gauforum square and the Neue Museum Weimar, the Bauhaus Museum is a simple five-storey concrete box broken only with its entrance and a couple of windows. The enclosing shell of light-grey concrete lends the cube stability and dynamic solidity. Equally spaced horizontal grooves run around the facades of the museum, with the words "bauhaus museum" repeated in a band near the top of the building. Hanada designed the museum to be a public building for the city and has attempted to clearly connect it to the neighbouring park. With elements such as plinths, fasciae, portals, stairways and a terrace to the park, the architecture incorporates classical themes that underscore its public character.

 

The museum contains 2,000 m2 of exhibition space, which will be used to display around 1,000 items from the Weimar Bauhaus collection. A shop and entrance hall is located on the ground floor, with a cafe and toilets below, and three floors dedicated to telling the story of the Bauhaus above. Each of the galleries overlooks double-height spaces and are accessed from a long ceremonial staircase that stretches the height of the building. The visitors ascend a succession of interchanging open spaces and staircases until they finally arrive at the top floor where they are presented with an unobstructed view of the park. The cascading staircases are encased by ceiling-high walls and function as free-standing, enclosed bodies in the interior space. The collection is arranged to inform visitors about the history of the design school, with the gallery on the first floor dedicated to its origins in Weimar and the Bauhaus manifesto that Walter Gropius wrote in 1919. The second floor has exhibits that show how these ideas were implemented, with galleries dedicated to each of the Bauhaus directors – Gropius, Hannes Meyer and Mies van der Rohe – at the top of the building.

 

The museum in Weimar has opened to coincide with the centenary of the Bauhaus, which was established in the city in 1919. The school was forced to relocate from Weimar to Dessau in 1925, where Gropius designed a new school building for the institution. Following a short time based in Berlin the school closed for good in 1933. Although only open for just over a decade, the Bauhaus is the most influential art and design school in history. The ideas and people associated with the school had an incredible impact on design and architecture, and to mark its centenary we created a series exploring its key works and figures.

 

I loved her as one loves a statue

Perfectly poised and gazing

I loved her solidity

Though I longed for her to be softer

Though I longed for her to be more fluid

Though I longed for her beyond humanness

And in the deepest parts of myself I kept her

In the image I wanted to see

To feel

To taste

To touch

To smell

To hear

And that’s when the garden started growing

I saw her smile from behind her eyes

And then she blossomed

And everything became these flowers

And everything was connected

And she was me

And I was her

And then there were only the flowers themselves

 

© Ganga Fondan, March 2011

     

Oil on canvas; 100 x 65 cm.

 

Modigliani was born into a Jewish family of merchants. As a child he suffered from pleurisy and typhus, which prevented him from receiving a conventional education. In 1898 he began to study painting. After a brief stay in Florence in 1902, he continued his artistic studies in Venice, remaining there until the winter of 1906, when he left for Paris. His early admiration for Italian Renaissance painting—especially that of Siena—was to last throughout his life. In Paris Modigliani became interested in the Post-Impressionist paintings of Paul Cézanne. His initial important contacts were with the poets André Salmon and Max Jacob, with the artist Pablo Picasso, and—in 1907—with Paul Alexandre, a friend of many avant-garde artists and the first to become interested in Modigliani and to buy his works. In 1908 the artist exhibited five or six paintings at the Salon des Indépendants. In 1909 Modigliani met the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi, on whose advice he seriously studied African sculpture. To prepare himself for creating his own sculpture, he intensified his graphic experiments. In his drawings Modigliani tried to give the function of limiting or enclosing volumes to his contours. In 1912 he exhibited at the Salon d’Automne eight stone heads whose elongated and simplified forms reflect the influence of African sculpture. Modigliani returned entirely to painting about 1915, but his experience as a sculptor had fundamental consequences for his painting style. The characteristics of Modigliani’s sculptured heads—long necks and noses, simplified features, and long oval faces—became typical of his paintings. He reduced and almost eliminated chiaroscuro (the use of gradations of light and shadow to achieve the illusion of three-dimensionality), and he achieved a sense of solidity with strong contours and the richness of juxtaposed colors.

 

The outbreak of World War I in 1914 increased the difficulties of Modigliani’s life. Alexandre and some of his other friends were at the front, his paintings did not sell, and his already delicate health was deteriorating because of his poverty, feverish work ethic, and abuse of alcohol and drugs. He was in the midst of a troubled affair with the South African poet Beatrice Hastings, with whom he lived for two years, from 1914 to 1916. He was assisted, however, by the art dealer Paul Guillaume and especially by the Polish poet Leopold Zborowski, who bought or helped him to sell a few paintings and drawings.

 

Modigliani was not a professional portraitist; for him the portrait was only an occasion to isolate a figure as a kind of sculptural relief through firm and expressive contour drawing. He painted his friends, usually personalities of the Parisian artistic and literary world (such as the artists Juan Gris and Jacques Lipchitz, the writer and artist Jean Cocteau, and the poet Max Jacob), but he also portrayed unknown people, including models, servants, and girls from the neighborhood. In 1917 he began painting a series of about 30 large female nudes that, with their warm, glowing colors and sensuous, rounded forms, are among his best works. In December of that year Berthe Weill organized a solo show for him in her gallery, but the police judged the nudes indecent and had them removed.

 

In 1917 Modigliani began a love affair with the young painter Jeanne Hébuterne, with whom he went to live on the Côte d’Azur. Their daughter, Jeanne, was born in November 1918. His painting became increasingly refined in line and delicate in colour. A more tranquil life and the climate of the Mediterranean, however, did not restore the artist’s undermined health. After returning to Paris in May 1919, he became ill in January 1920; 10 days later he died of tubercular meningitis. Little-known outside avant-garde Parisian circles, Modigliani had seldom participated in official exhibitions. Fame came after his death, with a solo exhibition at the Bernheim-Jeune Gallery in 1922 and later with a biography by André Salmon. For decades critical evaluations of Modigliani’s work were overshadowed by the dramatic story of his tragic life, but he is now acknowledged as one of the most significant and original artists of his time.

According to the tenets of the 17th–century Catholic church, Mary Magdalen was an example of the repentant sinner and consequently a symbol of the Sacrament of Penance. According to legend, Mary led a dissolute life until her sister Martha persuaded her to listen to Jesus Christ. She became one of Christ's most devoted followers and he absolved her of her former sins.

 

In Georges de La Tour's sombre canvas Mary is shown in profile seated at a table. A candle is the source of light in the composition, but the light also carries a spiritual meaning as it casts a golden glow on the saint's face and the objects assembled on the table. The candle light silhouettes Mary's left hand which rests on a skull that is placed on a book. The skull is reflected in a mirror. The skull and mirror are emblems of vanitas, implying the transience of life.

 

The simplification of forms, reduced palette, and attention to details evoke a haunting silence that is unique to La Tour's work. La Tour's intense naturalism rendered religious allegory accessible to every viewer. Although his work is deeply spiritual in tone, the solidity and massing of the forms reveal the same emphasis on clarity and symmetry that pervaded contemporary history painting and was a hallmark of French baroque art.

 

[Oil on canvas, 113 x 92.7 cm]

 

gandalfsgallery.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/georges-de-la-tour...

St Edmund, Southwold, Suffolk

 

I kept meaning to come back to Southwold - the church, I mean, for I found myself in the little town from time to time. I finally kept my promise to myself in the summer of 2017, tipping up on a beautiful sunny day only to find the church closed for extensive repairs. The days got shorter, and by the time the church reopened it was too late in the year for me to try again. In fact, it was not until late October 2018 that I made it back there, on another beautiful day.

 

Southwold is well-known to people who have never even been there I suppose, signifying one side of Suffolk to which Ipswich is perhaps the counter in the popular imagination. Some thirty years ago, the comedian Michael Palin made a film for television called East of Ipswich. It was a memoir of his childhood in the 1950s, and the basic comic premise behind the film was that in those days families would go on holiday to seaside resorts on the East Anglian coast. In the child Palin's case, it was Southwold.

 

The amusement came from the idea that people in those days would sit in deckchairs beside the grey north sea, or shelter from the drizzle in genteel teashops or the amusement arcade on the pier. In the Costa Brava package tour days of the 1980s, the quaintness of this image made it seem like something from a different world.

 

I remember Southwold in the 1980s. It was one of those agreeable little towns distant enough from anywhere bigger to maintain a life of its own. It still had its genteel tea shops, its dusty grocers, its quaint hotels and pubs all owned by Adnams, the old-fashioned and unfashionable local brewery. In the white heat of the Thatcherite cultural revolution, it seemed a place that would soon die on its feet quietly and peaceably.

 

And then, in the 1990s, the colour supplements discovered the East Anglian coast, and fell in love with it. The new fashions for antique-collecting, cooking with local produce and general country living, coupled with a snobbishness about how vulgar foreign package trips had become, conspired to make places like Southwold very sought after. Before Nigel Lawson's boom became a bust, the inflated house prices of London and the home counties gave people money to burn. And in their hoards, they came out of the big city to buy holiday homes in East Anglia.

 

Although they are often lumped together, the coasts of Norfolk and Suffolk are very different to each other (Cambridgeshire and North Essex are also culturally part of East Anglia, but the North Essex coast is too close to London to have ever stopped being cheap and cheerful, and Cambridgeshire has no coastline). Norfolk's beaches are wide and sandy, with dunes and cliffs and rock pools to explore. Towns like Cromer and Hunstanton seem to have stepped out of the pages of the Ladybird Book of the Seaside. Tiny villages along the Norfolk coast have secret little beaches of their own.

 

Suffolk's coast is wilder. Beaches are mainly pebbles rather than sand, and the marshes stretch inland, cutting the coast off from the rest of the county. Unlike Norfolk, Suffolk has no coast road, and so the settlements on the coast are isolated from each other, stuck at the ends of narrow lanes which snake away from the A12 and peter out in the heathland above the sea. There are fewer of them too. It is still quicker to get from Walberswick to Southwold by water than by land. Because they are isolated from each other, they take on individual personalities and characteristics. Because they are isolated from the land, they become bastions of polite civilisation.

 

Between Felixstowe in the south, which no outsiders like (and consequently is the favourite of many Suffolk people) and Lowestoft in the north, which is basically an industrial town-on-sea (but which still has the county's best beaches - shhh, don't tell a soul) are half a dozen small towns that vie with each other for trendiness. Southwold is the biggest, and today it is also the most expensive place to live in all East Anglia. Genteel tea shops survive, but are increasingly shouldered by shops that specialise in ski-wear and Barbour jackets, delicatessens that stock radicchio and seventeen different kinds of olive, jewellery shops and kitchen gadget shops and antique furniture shops where prices are exquisitely painful. Worst of all, the homely, shabby, smoke-filled Sole Bay Inn under the lighthouse has been converted by the now-trendy Adnams Brewery into a chrome and glass filled wine bar.

 

If you see someone in Norfolk driving a truck, they are probably wearing a baseball cap and carrying a shotgun. in Suffolk, they've more likely just bought a Victorian pine dresser from an antique shop, and they're taking it back to Islington. Does this matter? The fishing industry was dying anyway. The tourist industry was also dying. If places like Southwold, Aldeburgh and Orford become outposts of north London, at least they will still provide jobs for local people. But the local people won't be able to afford to live there, of course. They'll be bussed in from Reydon, Leiston and Melton to provide services for people in holiday cottages which are the former homes they grew up in, but can no longer afford to buy. Does this seriously annoy me? Not as much as it does them, I'll bet.

 

So, lets go to Southwold, turning off the A12 at the great ship of Blythburgh church, the wide marshes of the River Blyth spreading aimlessly beyond the road. We climb and fall over ancient dunes, and then the road opens out into the flat marshes, the town spreads out beyond. We enter through Reydon (now actually bigger than Southwold, with houses at half the price) and over the bridge into the town of Southwold itself.

 

Having been so critical, I need to say here that Southwold is beautiful. It is quite the loveliest small town in all East Anglia. None of the half-timbered houses here that you find in places like Long Melford and Lavenham. Here, the town was completely destroyed by fire in the 17th century, and so we have fine 18th and 19th century municipal buildings. One of the legacies of the fire was the creation of wide open spaces just off of the high street, called greens. The best one of all is Gun Hill Green, overlooking the bay where the last major naval battle in British waters was fought. The cannons still point out to sea. The houses here are stunning, gobsmacking, jaw-droppingly wonderful. If I could afford to buy one of them as a weekend retreat, then you bet your life I would, and to hell with the people who moaned about it.

 

At the western end of the High Street is St Bartholomew's Green, and beyond it sits what is, for my money, Suffolk's single most impressive building. This is the great church of St Edmund, a vast edifice built all in one go in the second half of the 15th century. Only Lavenham can compete with it for scale and presence. Unlike the massing at St Peter and St Paul at Lavenham, St Edmund is defined by a long unbroken clerestory and aisles beneath - where St Peter and St Paul looks full of tension, ready to spring, St Edmund is languid and floating, a ship at ease.

 

Southwold church was just one of several vast late medieval rebuildings in this area. Across the river at Walberswick and a few miles upriver at Blythburgh the same thing happened. Blythburgh still survives, but Walberswick was derelicted to make a smaller church, as were Covehithe and Kessingland. Dunwich All Saints was lost to the sea. But Southwold was the biggest. Everything about it breathes massive permanence, from the solidity of the tower to the turreted porch, from the wide windows to the jaunty sanctus bell fleche.

 

Along the top of the aisles, grimacing faces look down. All of them are different. The pedestals atop the clerestory were intended for statues as at Blythburgh, but were probably never filled before the Reformation intervened. At the west end, above the great west window, you can see the vast inscription SAncT EDMUND ORA P: NOBIS ('Saint Edmund, pray for us') as bold a record of the mindset of late medieval East Anglian Catholicism as you'll find.

 

As at Lavenham and Long Melford, the interior has been extensively restored, but not in as heavy or blunt a manner as at those two churches. St Edmund has, it must be said, benefited from the attentions of German bombers who put out all the dull Victorian glass with blast damage during World War II. Here, the interior is vast, light and airy, and much of the restoration is 20th century work, not 19th century.

 

Perhaps because of this, more medieval interior features have survived. Unlike Long Melford, Southwold does not have surviving medieval glass (Mr Dowsing saw to that in 1644), but it does have what is the finest screen in the county.

 

It stretches right the way across the church, and is effectively three separate screens. There is a rood screen across the chancel arch, and parclose screens across the north and south chancel aisles. All retain their original dado figures. There are 36 of them, more than anywhere else in Suffolk. They have been restored, particularly in the central range, but are fascinating because they retain a lot of original gesso work, where plaster of Paris is applied to wood and allowed to dry. It is then carved to produce intricate details.

 

The central screen shows the eleven remaining disciples and St Paul. They are, from left to right, Philip, Bartholomew, James the Less, Thomas, Andrew, Peter, Paul, John, James, Simon, Jude and Matthew.

 

The south chancel chapel is light and open. The bosses above are said to represent Mary Tudor and her second husband Charles, Duke of Brandon. The screen here is painted with twelve Old Testament prophets, and Mortlock suggests that they are by a different hand to the images on the other two screens. Here on the south screen, some of the figures have surviving naming inscriptions, and Mortlock surmises that the complete sequence, from left to right, is Baruch, Hosea, Nahum, Jeremiah, Elias, Moses, David, Isaiah, Amos, Jonah and Ezekiel. Further, he observes that the subject is a usual one for the English Midlands, but rare for East Anglia, and that perhaps this part of the screen came from elsewhere. The same may be true of the other two parts - it is hard to think that the central screen was deliberately made too wide for the two arcades.

 

The north aisle chapel is reserved as the blessed sacrament chapel. The screen is harder to explore, because the northern side is curtailed by a large chest, but it features angels. Unlike the screens at Hitcham and Blundeston, which show angels holding instruments of the passion, these are the nine orders of angels, with Gabriel at their head, and flanked by angels holding symbols of the Trinity and the Eucharist. Mortlock says that they are so similar to the ones at Barton Turf in Norfolk that they may be by the same hand, in which case the central screen is also by that person. They are, from left to right, the Holy Trinity, Gabriel, Archangels, Powers, Dominions, Cherubim, Seraphim, Thrones, Principalities, Virtues, Messengers, and finally the Eucharist. The Holy Trinity angel still has part of the original dedicatory inscription beneath his feet.

 

If part or all of this screen came from elsewhere, where did it come from? Possibly either Walberswick, Covehithe or Kessingland, the three downsized churches mentioned earlier. More excitingly, it might have come from one of the churches along this coast that was lost to the sea, perhaps neighbouring St Nicholas at Easton Bavents, or, just to the south, St Peter or St John the Baptist, the two Dunwich churches lost in the 16th and 17th centuries. We'll never know.

 

If you turn back at the screen and face westwards, your eyes are automatically drawn to the towering font cover, part of the extensive 1930s redecoration of the building. The clerestory is almost like a glass atrium intended to house it. Also the work of the period is the repainting and regilding of the 15th century pulpit (a lot of people blanch at this, but I think it is gorgeous) and the lectern. Beneath the font cover, the font is clearly one of the rare seven sacraments series, and part of the same group as Westhall, Blythburgh and Wenhaston. As at Blythburgh and Wenhaston, the panels are completely erased, probably in the 19th century, an act of barbarous vandalism. Given that Westhall is probably the best of all in the county, we must assume that three major medieval art treasures were wiped out. Astonishingly, vague shadows survive of the former reliefs; you can easily make out the Mass panel, facing east as at Westhall, the Penance panel and even what may be the Baptism of Christ.

 

Stepping through the screen, the reredos ahead is by Benedict Williamson and the glass above by Ninian Comper, familiar names in the Anglo-catholic pantheon, and evidence of an enthusiasm here that still survives in High Church form. There is a good engraved glass image of St Edmund to the north of the sanctuary, very much in the 1960s fashion, but curiously placed. On the wall of the chancel to the west of it, the high organ case is also painted and gilded enthusiastically.

 

As well as the screen, Southwold's other great medieval survival is the set of return stalls either side of the eastern face of the chancel screen. They have misericord seats, but the best feature are the handrests between the seats. On the south side, carvings include a man with a horn-shaped hat and sinners being drawn into the mouth of hell. On the north side are a man playing two pipes, a monkey preaching and a beaver biting its own genitals, a tale from the medieval bestiary, apparently.

 

What else is there to see? Well, the church is full of delights, and rewards further visits which always seem to turn up something previously unnoticed. St George rides full tilt at a dragon on an old chest at the west end of the north aisle. There is good 19th century glass in the porch and at the west end of the nave. A clock jack stands, axe and bell in hand, at the west end, a twin to the one upriver at Blythburgh. This one has a name, he's called Southwold Jack, and he is one of the symbols of the Adnams brewery.

 

As Mortlock notes, there are very few surviving memorials. This is partly because St Edmund was not in the patronage of a great landed family, but it may also suggest that they were largely removed at the time of the 19th century restoration, as at Brandon. One moving one is for the child of a vicar, and there are some interesting pre-Oxford Movement 19th century brasses in the south aisle.

 

High, high above all this, the roofs are models of Anglo-Catholic melodrama, the canopy of honour to the rood and the chancel ceilure in particular. But there is a warmth about it all that is missing from, say, Eye, which underwent a similar makeover. This church feels full of life, and not a museum piece at all. I remember attending evensong here late one winter Saturday afternoon, and it was magical. On another visit, I came on one of the first days of spring that was truly warm and bright, with not a cloud in the sky. As we drove into town, a cold fret off of the sea was condensing the steam of the brewery, sending it in swirls and skeins around the tower of St Edmund like low cloud. It was so atmospheric that I almost forgave them for what they have done to the Sole Bay Inn.

abstract to show fluidity/ movement against solidity/ stillness

 

Description in english below.

More photos on my page.

Plus de photos sur ma page.

 

Modèle uniquement utilisé par les pilotes de l’Amiral Zsinj.

Parlons du gars. Si Timothy Zhan s’est inspiré de Sherlock Holmes pour le grand Amiral Zahn, je suspecte fortement l’auteur responsable de la création de Zsinj (Aaron Alston ?) de s’être inspiré d’Hercule Poirot. Petit, moustachu et ventripotent, adepte du ridicule pour être sous-estimé, et redoutablement intelligent et cultivé. Moi ça me fait furieusement penser à Hercule Poirot.

Bref, Zsinj a peut-être été responsable du design du Tie Raptor. Objectivement, c’est le design de Tie le plus logique que je connaisse. Mieux armé que le Tie classique (4 blasters, 2 lances missiles) il est plus rapide (entre le Tie classique et l’interceptor) et tout aussi maniable. Autre point fort du Raptor : La disposition et la taille de ses ailes, donnent un meilleur champ de vision au pilote, tout en offrant une cible plus petite à l’adversaire. De plus certains modèles furent équipés d’un boulier, mais pas d’Hyperdrive cependant.

 

Si la forme en x des ailes peut rappeler les X-wing, celles-ci ne sont cependant pas mobiles contrairement au X-wing.

 

Concernant le moc proprement dit. J’ai un peu galéré. Ce qui passe sur le logiciel studio, ne passe pas nécessairement irl. La boule centrale dut facile à faire, mais les ailes étaient trop en pression contre la courbure du cockpit, j’ai du modifier mes plan initiaux.

Question solidité : Pas terrible…

Cela tient en place, mais il ne faut pas trop remuer l’engin sous peine de voir les ailes se décrocher.

 

Model only used by Admiral Zsinj's pilots.

Let's talk about the guy. If Timothy Zhan was inspired by Sherlock Holmes for the great Admiral Zahn, I strongly suspect that the author responsible for the creation of Zsinj (Aaron Alston?) was inspired by Hercule Poirot. Short, mustachioed and a little fat, adept at ridicule to be underestimated, and fearfully intelligent and cultured. It makes me furiously think of Hercule Poirot.

In short, Zsinj may have been responsible for the design of the Tie Raptor. Objectively, it's the most logical Tie design I know. Better armed than the classic Tie (4 blasters, 2 missiles launchers) it is faster (between the classic Tie and the interceptor) and just as easy to handle. Another strong point of the Raptor : The layout and the size of its wings, give a better field of vision to the pilot, while offering a smaller target to the opponent. In addition, some models were equipped with an shield, but no Hyperdrive however.

 

If the x-shape of the wings can remind the X-wing, they are not mobile unlike the X-wing.

 

Concerning the moc itself. I had a little trouble. What goes on the studio software, does not necessarily go well irl. The center ball was easy to make, but the wings were too much pressure against the cockpit curvature, I had to modify my initial plan.

Concerning the moc Solidity : Not so good...

This holds in place, but you shouldn't shake the gear too much or the wings will fall.