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Monuments historiques: PA00089925
Address entered in the Mérimée database:
Grève (rue de la); General-de-Gaulle (rue du)
29590 Le Faou - France
Insee code of the municipality: 29053
Finistère [29] - Quimper - Brittany
Approximate address taken from GPS coordinates (latitude and longitude):
1 Rue du Général de Gaulle 29590 Le Faou
Protected elements:
Church (cad. 1999 AE 20): registration by decree of June 3, 1932
History:
The church consists of a nave, a wide double transept, a three-sided apse and gables. To the south, a large porch bears the dates of 1593 and 1613. The bell tower, openwork and elongated, is cushioned by a lantern dome and bears the dates of 1629, 1630, 1634 and 1640.
Periods of construction:
16th century, 17th century
The Saint-Sauveur church was rebuilt between 1544 and 1680 but retained the furniture of the previous church. And some parts are graded. In particular the “snakes” baptismal font, made of Kersanton stone, considered to be of exceptional interest, and a magnificent stone pietà. The stained glass windows recounting the legendary foundation of the parish, the altar of the rosary and the medallions illustrating the "joyful, glorious, painful mysteries", the Saint-Antoine altar with turrets, that of the "four women", the panels with angels and the carved wooden candlesticks from the 17th century... The church contains many treasures!
Logonna Stone
Illustrated explanatory panels (made by the Ar Faou association) evoke the history of the church and its heritage The exterior is also very beautiful: the Logonna stone gives the building a golden hue associated with the Kersanton stone for the statuary elements. You can also see beautiful gargoyles. And the porch protects the wooden statues of the 12 apostles. Finally, the steeple is domed, unlike the other pointed steeples. The church is open every day, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and you can get an explanatory booklet for the visit, at the entrance.
The Gherardesca ivory Diptych, detail upper part [402 CE]
London BM MN 1857,1013.1 -
Original photo by courtesy of Dan Diffendale, photoshop treatment by PA
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Leaf of a diptych; ivory; the panel is carved with the apotheosis of a pagan figure in three scenes:
Above, a man borne by personifications of two winds into heaven, where he is welcomed by five male figures. He passes an arc with six zodiacal signs, and is watched by the sun god Helios.
at bottom: four elephants draw a carriage carrying a dignitary, who sits beneath an aedicula with a gabled roof. He wears a toga and carries a staff and laurel branch.
Beyond the carriage, a funeral pyre surmounted by a quadriga bearing a god. From this pyre fly two eagles.
At the top of the panel, an openwork scroll with monogram
I read the letters ~ A C H M O R S V
Source: BM
Details from the exhibition - ivory carved items from the Far East..
Ivory, as well as bone, has been used for various items since early times, when China still had its own species of elephant. Figures were typically uncolored, or just with certain features colored in ink, often just black, but sometimes a few other colors. By the 18th century China had a considerable market in items such as figures made for export to Europe, and from the Meiji Period Japan followed. Japanese ivory for the domestic market had traditionally mostly been small objects such as netsuke, for which ivory was used from the 17th century, or little inlays for sword-fittings and the like, but in the later 19th century, using African ivory.
A specialty was round puzzle balls of openwork that contained a series of smaller balls, freely rotating, inside them, a tribute to the patience of Asian craftsmen.
A legend attributes Kraków's founding to the mythical ruler Krakus, who built it above a cave occupied by a dragon, Smok Wawelski. The first written record dates to 965, when Kraków was described as a notable commercial center captured by a Bohemian duke Boleslaus I in 955. The first ruler of Poland, Mieszko I, took Kraków from the Bohemians.
In 1038, Kraków became the seat of the Polish government. By the end of the 10th century, the city was a center of trade. Brick buildings were constructed, including the Royal Wawel Castle. The city was sacked and burned during the Mongol invasion of 1241. It was rebuilt and incorporated in 1257 by Bolesław V the Chaste who introduced city rights. In 1259, the city was again ravaged by the Mongols. The third attack in 1287 was repelled thanks in part to the newly built fortifications.
The city rose to prominence in 1364, when Casimir III founded the University of Kraków, the second oldest university in central Europe. But after Casimir´s death in 1370 the campus did not get completed.
As the capital of the Kingdom of Poland and a member of the Hanseatic League, the city attracted craftsmen from abroad, guilds as science and the arts began to flourish. The 15th and 16th centuries are known as Poland's "Złoty Wiek" (Golden Age).
After childless King Sigismund II had died in 1572, the Polish throne passed to Henry III of France and then to other foreign-based rulers in rapid succession, causing a decline in the city's importance that was worsened by pillaging during the Swedish invasion and by an outbreak of bubonic plague that left 20,000 of the city's residents dead. In 1596, Sigismund III of the House of Vasa moved the capital of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from Kraków to Warsaw.
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In the place of a Romanesque church, that got destroyed during the Mongol invasion, the early Gothic Church of St. Mary was built on the northeast corner of the market square at the end of the 13th century. It got consecrated in 1320.
The church was completely rebuilt during the reign of Casimir III the Great between 1355 and 1365. The main body of the church was completed in 1395–97 with the new vault constructed by master Nicholas Wernher from Prague.
In the 18th century, the interior was rebuilt in the late Baroque style. In the years 1887–1891, the neo-Gothic design was introduced into the Basilica.
The altarpiece by Veit Stoss is a large Gothic altarpiece and the most important work of art in the basilica. It is located behind the altar of St. Mary. The altarpiece was created between 1477 and 1489 by the German-born sculptor Veit Stoss, who lived and worked in the city for over 20 years.
The retable of the Marian altar is a pentaptych, which means that it has five wings. It consists of a central part with sculptures, a pair of opening inner wings and a pair of fixed outer wings. Both pairs of wings are decorated with reliefs. The structure is completed by a predella in relief on the altarpiece and an openwork keystone with massive sculptures.
It is made of three types of wood. The structure is made of hard oak, the background of lighter but equally strong larch, while the figures are carved of soft and flexible linden.
The predella has a representation of the root of Jesse. From the body of the father of King David grows the trunk of a vine, on the branches of which are attached fourteen ancestors of Jesus.
Detail from the Seated Statue of Queen Nofret.
Queen Nofret is shown seated on a throne, wearing a wig known as a Hathor wig.
She wears an incised openwork pectoral, a large piece of jewelry that is worn upon the chest. The erased text on the throne's sides likely listed the queen's titles.
12th dynasty, from Tanis.
JE 3748, CG 381
Ground floor, gallery 26
Cairo Museum
Granzin, was "Grenzdorf" bedeutet, wird 1230 erstmals urkundlich erwähnt. Es liegt in der Nähe der mecklenburgischen Stadt Boizenburg. Eine Kirche wird 1335 bezeugt. Die heutige Kirche, ein schlichter klassizistischer Bau von 1842, hat den freistehenden Glockenturm aus Fachwerk mitsamt den beiden mittelalterlichen (1509 u. 1510) Bronzeglocken mit gotischer Minuskel-Inschrift von diesem Vorgängerbau übernommen. Im Innern eine Flachdecke mit Kreuz-Malerei sowie Jugendstil-Malereien an den Wänden und in der Apsis. Die Orgel wurde aber bereits 1831 von Friedrich Jacob Friese (Friese I) für die Vorgängerkirche gebaut, dann aber durch Johann Heinrich Runge umgebaut und 1841 in die neue Kirche umgesetzt. Der Altar ist von durchbrochenen Schranken umgeben. Auf dem Altar steht ein rechteckiges Ölgemälde, das Jesus im Garten Gethsemane zeigt. Der Taufstein ist eine zwölfeckige, neugotische Arbeit aus Kalkstein mit aufgelegter Schale aus Bronze. Im Kirchenschiff eine von Süd über West nach Nord umlaufende Empore. Der Kirchhof ist als Friedhof gestaltet. In der Südwestecke steht ein neugotisches Mausoleum mit Wappen der Familie von Stern im Giebeldreieck. Alte Grabplatten vor den Zugängen verweisen ebenfalls auf die Familie v. Stern.
www.dorfkirchen-in-mv.de/content/Version_1/detail_gesamt....
Granzin, meaning “Border Village”, was first mentioned in a document in 1230. The village is situated near the Mecklenburg town of Boizenburg. A church is attested in 1335. Today's church, a simple neo-Classical building dating from 1842, has inherited the freestanding half-timbered bell tower and the two medieval (1509 and 1510) bronze bells with Gothic minuscule inscriptions from its predecessor. The interior has a flat ceiling with cross paintings and Art Nouveau paintings on the walls and in the apse. However, the organ was already built by Friedrich Jacob Friese (Friese I) for the previous church in 1831, but was then rebuilt by Johann Heinrich Runge and moved to the new church in 1841. The altar is surrounded by openwork barriers. On the altar is a rectangular oil painting depicting Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. The baptismal font is a dodecagonal, Gothic Revival work made of limestone with a bronze bowl on top. The nave has a gallery running from south to west to north. The churchyard is designed as a cemetery. In the south-west corner is a Gothic Revival mausoleum with the coat of arms of the von Stern family in the gable triangle. Old gravestones in front of the entrances also refer to the von Stern family.
www.dorfkirchen-in-mv.de/content/Version_1/detail_gesamt....
The Church of St John the Baptist in Yeovil, Somerset, England was built in the late 14th century and has been designated as a Grade I listed building.
The tower, which was built around 1480, is 92 feet (28 m) high, in four stages with set-back offset corner buttresses. It is thought that the work was supervised by William Wynford, master mason of Wells. To meet the growing size of Yeovil and the increased population, work on Holy Trinity Church began on 24 June 1843 to relieve the pressures on St John's. In 1863, pressures on space in the graveyard were alleviated by the opening of Preston Road cemetery.
The church is capped by openwork balustrading matching the parapets which are from the 19th century, when major reconstruction work was undertaken from 1851 to 1860. The tower has two-light late 14th century windows on all sides at bell-ringing and bell-chamber levels, the latter having fine pierced stonework grilles. There is a stair turret to the north-west corner, with a weather vane termination. Among the fourteen bells are two dating from 1728 and made by Thomas Bilbie of the Bilbie family in Chew Stoke. Another from the same date, the "Great Bell", was recast in 2013, from 4,502 pounds (2,042 kg; 321.6 st) to 4,992 lb (2,264 kg; 356.6 st).
Because of the state of some of the external masonry the church has been added to the Heritage at Risk Register.
In the Church of St John the Baptist, Yeovil one stained glass window depicts Judas with a black halo.
Unusually, the stained glass windows include a depiction of a lone Judas Iscariot with a dark halo. Inside the church is a brass reading desk originally made in East Anglia.
The parish is part of a benefice with St Andrew with the Diocese of Bath and Wells.
Church of All Saints, Eggesford Devon , a former estate church it is sited in an isolated spot near to the manor house
It consists of a nave with narrower and lower chancel, north aisle with narrower and lower Chichester mortuary chapel at the east end with vaults below, north porch and west tower. The two stage tower is 15c , the rest was completely restored and much rebuilt with new windows etc in 1867 although some of 15c rubble fabric at the east end of the chancel and north aisle survives
The north porch is narrow and gable-ended.. The moulded hood has labels carved as male and female heads. Above the arch the gable contains a carved plaque containing the crest of the Earls of Portsmouth with the date 1867. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/C4147LdshU
The Interior dates mainly from the 1867 restoration, including the tiled floors, altar rails, choir stalls, chandelier and pulpit. . The ceiled wagon roofs are also 19c - the north aisle roof has carved bosses and the wall plate is enriched with carved openwork and painted heraldic devices under each truss. The Beerstone chancel arch dates from this time . The arch between the chancel and chapel is granite and is probably reset 15c work.
The chancel is plain with 19c oak altar rail on twisted iron supports with ivy leaf brackets, the Gothic stalls are of the same age. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/7314LC7356 Benches include series of 18c box pews in the south nave. The rest are 19c and the north aisle includes a large enclosure, the 17c / 18c family pew of the Earls of Portsmouth which now holds a 20c organ.
The purple mudstone cushion font is Norman but much restored in 1919. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/rX15J8890U
The nave contains some fragments of medieval & 16c stained glass reset in the tracery. www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/95LF9A8cB6 www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/d3Ksm875W9
There are two very large 17c Chichester monuments attributed by Katherine Sidaile to William Smith of Charing Cross - one to Edward Lord Viscount Chichester 1648 & wife Anne Coplestone 1616 heiress to Eggesford , www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/zpN6EL1F16 on the north aisle wall, the other on the south nave wall to their son Arthur Viscount Chichester, Earl of Donegal 1675 & his first 2 wives www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/wVW3a257E6 who both built their monuments in their lifetime but "erected and finished by the said Arthur". Another massive one is on the east wall of the north aisle to William Fellowes 1723 www.flickr.com/gp/52219527@N00/2xy26Ce1y9 who bought the manor from the Chichester heiress in accordance with a legacy from his uncle. - These were all originally together in a room north of the chancel until 1867 when they were re-erected in their present positions.
Pair of Philippine Silver Tiaras
1883
bulacan
silver
crown a:
engraved on the rim with "El Pueblo de Bulacán al Sr.
Alcalde Mayor D. Rafael de Ortega,
hoy 23 de Octubre de 1883"
H: 3 1/4" (8 cm) D: 8 1/2" (22 cm)
weight: 102 grams
crown b:
engraved on the rim with "De los principales de esta
Cabecera a la Sra. Dª Carmen Villegas
de Ortega, 15 de Julio de 1883"
H: 3 3/4" (10 cm) D: 8 1/2" (22 cm)
Starting Price: ₱ 120,000
A rare and exceptional example of 19th-century Filipino silversmithing in a civil, rather than religious, context. This matching pair of openwork silver tiaras displays the refined craftsmanship, patience, and skill for which the silversmiths of Bulacán were renowned. The delicate floral designs are finely chased, with intricate naturalistic details that attest to the mastery of local artisans.
One tiara bears the inscription: De los principales de esta Cabecera a la Sra. Dª Carmen Villegas de Ortega, 15 de Julio de 1883. The date marked the eve of the Saint’s day of Carmen, as the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, “name day” of Doña Carmen Villegas. The other tiara reads: El Pueblo de Bulacán al Sr. Alcalde Mayor D. Rafael de Ortega, hoy 23 de Octubre de 1883. The latter date is the eve of Saint Rafael, name day of the mayor of Bulacán, thus making the presentation especially personal.
The presentation of such civil objects by the principalía (local elite) to a Spanish colonial official and his wife was a common occurrence back then, but few items have survive to our time. These gifts reflect the recognition of Don Rafael de Ortega’s active engagement in local governance and the mutual, if unequal, bonds between colonial administrators and the communities they served. Don Rafael de Ortega y Díaz was a civil administrator of the Ministry of Overseas in Madrid, appointed in 1879 as Oficial Segundo for the civil government of the Philippines. In 1880, he served as secretary of the board tasked with establishing a Monte de Piedad in Manila, a charitable institution providing small loans at low or no interest to people in need, using personal belongings as collateral. Ortega drafted the regulations and oversaw the allocation of resources, ensuring the institution’s adherence to its founding mission. That same year, as a member of a commission for the distribution of dowries to poor orphans, he publicly announced and enforced strict eligibility requirements, reflecting his commitment to transparency and fairness in charitable administration. As mayor of Bulacán, Ortega demonstrated diligence in judicial matters, following formal regulations and ensuring due process in legal proceedings, while also acting decisively against crimes affecting local residents. His tenure left a record of active civic engagement and public works, in a town still recovering from the earthquakes of 1880.
By 1890, Ortega was mayor of Cebú, where he played a meaningful role in marking the constitution of the city’s Ayuntamiento. He proposed lasting commemorations of administrative reforms, personally inspected public works such as market construction, and undertook comprehensive reviews of commercial establishments to ensure fair trade practices, making no distinction between classes or nationalities.
These tiaras thus serve not only as superb examples of Filipino silver artistry but also as historical witnesses to the political and social relationships of their time, encapsulating the proactive leading role of the indigenous elite, and the prestige, integration, and public image of a Spanish colonial official and his wife within a provincial Philippine setting.
Lot 86 of the Leon Gallery auction on September 13, 2025. For more information and to place an online bid, please go to www.leon-gallery.com and www.leonexchange.com.
Oakridge United Church (1949)
305 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver, BC
Slated for full demolition due to redevelopment.
On our Top10 Watch List for 2015:
heritagevancouver.org/topten/2015/topten2015_03.html
The church originally opened as St. Giles United Church in 1949, to serve the growing postwar residential neighbourhood of Oakridge.
The origins of the congregation date back to 1892, when a Presbyterian Mission was founded in Mount Pleasant. A new church was built on Kingsway in 1910, and in 1925 the church name was changed to St. Giles United Church.
The congregation moved to its current site to build a larger new church in 1949 for the expanding United Church community.
At St. Giles, the prominent architectural firm Twizell & Twizell chose a Gothic Revival style of architecture. This firm was founded in 1908 by two British-born and educated brothers, who continued to practice in Vancouver for close to half a century.
Their early projects were modest, but they soon developed a reputation for designing high-quality residential and institutional buildings. They are best remembered for their churches, most often in the Gothic Revival style. Their first great church commission was for the Canadian Memorial United Church, at Burrard Street and West 16th Avenue. This led to other significant buildings for the United, Anglican and Catholic Churches in Vancouver and other cities across western Canada.
Oakridge United Church is a late representation of the Gothic Revival style, clad in stucco, as opposed to the more traditional but more costly stone. It displays design elements such as Gothic arched doors and windows with coloured glass panels, pointed pilasters and a steeply pitched roof.
The building addresses the prominent corner site on West 41st Avenue with a large bell tower, with an elaborate openwork spire, modeled on the much grander St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh.
Le tombeau de saint Remi, situé dans la basilique Saint-Remi de Reims, est un chef-d'œuvre de l'art gothique flamboyant qui abrite les reliques de saint Remi, évêque de Reims qui a baptisé le roi Clovis en 496 ou 498. L’actuel tombeau est le cinquième connu.
Le second en 852.
Le troisième en 1537.
Le quatrième après sa destruction en 1793, en 1803.
le cinquième en 1847.
Le tombeau mesure environ 4 mètres de haut et 3 mètres de large.
La face avant du tombeau de saint Remi est divisée en trois niveaux :
Le niveau inférieur comporte une plaque en marbre noir avec le texte suivant en latin rappelant les pérégrinations du des la tombe de Rémi.
Le niveau médian comporte une grille en fer forgé ajourée qui ferme l'accès à la châsse contenant les ossements de Saint Remi.
Le niveau supérieur est constitué d'un fronton avec une frise et une plaque en marbre blanc, surmontée des armoiries de Thomas Gousset, archevêque de Reims.
Sur les faces latérales du tombeau, sont disposées, entre les colonnes de marbre, douze statues représentant les pairs de France ecclésiastiques et laïcs. Elles sont attribuées à Pierre Jacques (1520-1596), sculpteur français du XVIe siècle. Ces statues sont issues de l’ancien tombeau construit en 1537 par Robert de Lenoncourt.
L'arrière est occupé par une arcade cintrée abritant un groupe sculpté représentant le baptême de Clovis par saint Remi.
The tomb of Saint Remi, located in the Basilica of Saint Remi in Reims, is a masterpiece of Flamboyant Gothic art that houses the relics of Saint Remi, Bishop of Reims who baptized King Clovis in 496 or 498. The current tomb is the fifth known.
The second in 852.
The third in 1537.
The fourth, after its destruction in 1793, in 1803.
The fifth in 1847.
The tomb measures approximately 4 meters high and 3 meters wide.
The front of the tomb of Saint Remi is divided into three levels:
The lower level features a black marble plaque with the following Latin text recalling the wanderings of the saint from Remi's tomb.
The middle level features an openwork wrought iron gate that closes access to the reliquary containing the bones of Saint Remi. The upper level consists of a pediment with a frieze and a white marble plaque, surmounted by the coat of arms of Thomas Gousset, Archbishop of Reims.
Arranged between the marble columns on the sides of the tomb are twelve statues representing the ecclesiastical and lay peers of France. They are attributed to Pierre Jacques (1520-1596), a 16th-century French sculptor. These statues come from the old tomb built in 1537 by Robert de Lenoncourt.
The rear is occupied by a curved arcade housing a sculpted group depicting the baptism of Clovis by Saint Remi.
Develop: Pyrocat HD
Planfilm: X-ray Fuji HR-U (green)
Zeiss Ikon Donata 9x12, Tessar 1:4,5/135 ( 1928 )
The Pitney Brooch
Anglo-Scandinavian, 2nd half of the 11th century AD
Found in Pitney, Somerset, England
An entwined animal and snake in combat
This elegant openwork brooch was found in a churchyard. The skill needed to make it indicates that it was probably worn by a man or woman of some importance, and the brooch would have been considered a symbol of prestige.
The main ornament is a snake with round eyes biting the underside of a four-legged animal, which in turn bites itself. A row of beads runs along the underside of the animal which is stretched into a looped ribbon. Its hips are marked with spirals and a spindly front and back leg are shown.
The brooch is a rare and fine example of the combination of Scandinavian and English art styles. The design, with its plant-like tendrils and ribbon animals, is an English version of the final phase of Viking art, the Urnes Style. However, the delicate beading which picks out the main animal, and the scalloped border of the brooch are both Anglo-Saxon features.
The brooch was cast in bronze with a slightly convex form, then gilded on both side. The reverse is plain, and still retains some fixings for the missing pin.
Diameter: 39 mm
M&ME 1979,11-1,1
Room 41, Sutton Hoo and early Medieval, case 42, no. 48
J. Backhouse, D.H. Turner and L. Webster (eds.), The golden age of Anglo-Saxon art 966-1066, exh. cat. (London, The British Museum Press, 1984), p. 112, no. 110
E. Roesdahl and D.M. Wilson (eds), From Viking to Crusader: Scandinavia and Europe 800-1200, Nordic Council of Ministers, 22nd Council of Europe Exhibition (Sweden, 1992), p. 340, no. 429
D.M. Wilson, Anglo-Saxon art (London, Thames and Hudson, 1984), p. 211, plate 272
Monument funéraire du chanoine Jean Coquillau †1455 : la Vierge de Pitié, saint Sébastien, saint Jean-Baptiste, le chanoine donateur accompagné d'un évêque, bas-relief, pierre peinte et dorée.
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painted stone ; 158cm. x 125cm.
Official list entry
Heritage Category:Listed Building
Grade:I
List Entry Number:1269316
Date first listed:18-Jan-1949
Statutory Address: Abbey Church of St Mary and St Aldhelm, Malmesbury, Wiltshire
Location
Statutory Address: Abbey Church of St Mary and St Aldhelm, Malmesbury, Wiltshire
District: Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish:Malmesbury
National Grid Reference:ST 93280 87320
Details
Benedictine Abbey church, now parish church. Church founded c637 by Irish hermit Mailduib, monastery founded during abbacy of Aldhelm (c675-705), though no pre-C12 work survives; church probably begun under Bishop Roger (c1118-1139), and mostly dates from c1160-80 with a 9-bay aisled nave, transepts with E chapels, chancel, ambulatory with 3 radiating chapels, and S porch, rebuilt 1350-1450 above gallery level with clerestory, vault, crossing spire and W towers, a lengthened chancel and Lady Chapel; spire fell 1479. After Dissolution nave altered by William Stumpe of Abbey House (qv) and damaged W parts walled for the parish church, W tower fell c1662, W window by Goodridge 1830, restored W end 1903. MATERIALS: limestone ashlar with stone tiles. STYLE: late Romanesque style C12 work, Decorated Gothic style C14 extensions. PLAN: reduced since the Dissolution to 6 E bays of nave, with short lengths of transept walls and S corner of W end. EXTERIOR: the E end has a single N chancel bay and matching chancel arch with paired half shafts set in square piers with quarter round capitals, beneath the 2-centre arched line of the vault, and tas-de-charges with sunken mouchettes; the jambs of next E bay has matching aisle and triforium semi-circular jambs with chevron mouldings. Inner wall of N transept has blocked 2-centred aisle arch containing a C16 doorway and 3-light mullion window, and a blind round-arched doorway to the right; 6-bay N elevation has a blind former cloister wall along the aisle divided by buttresses, with a roll-top coping, and round-arched windows above a cill band containing C14 tracery, with a steep gable in the fourth bay containing a 3-light Decorated tracery window; at the left end is a blocked, round-arched C12 doorway with an archivolt of relief palmettes, and a cusped cinquefoil arch set within. The C14 clerestory has flying buttresses with tall pyramidal pinnacles between 3-light 2-centre arched windows, 2-light at the E end, with paterae to each side of the three E windows. S transept as N, 2 bays after the aisle arch, an incomplete arcade of interlacing round arches with a chevron moulding
beneath 2 storeys of round-arched windows with splayed reveals, the lower windows flanked by narrow round-arched recesses containing inner arches open to a passage through the walls. The arcade continues along the former external side of the S transept and to the 9-bay S elevation, otherwise as the N side with a Decorated cusped openwork parapet to aisle and nave, and with second and third bays from E containing C14 2-centre windows with Decorated tracery. C12 porch rebuilt externally in C14 with angle buttresses, has a very fine splayed round-arched entrance of 3 orders, without capitals, richly carved with iconographic Biblical scenes set in oval panels, and separated by richly carved mouldings, and a hood with dog head stops. Inside is a similarly-moulded doorway and C14 door, beneath a tympanum of Christ in Glory supported by 2 angels, with along both sides the round-arched arcade above a bench, beneath finely-carved lunettes each of 6 Apostles with a horizontal flying angel above. In the E re-entrant is a square stair turret with a pyramidal roof. The incomplete W end has a massive clasping buttress stair turret to the S corner in 4 stages separated by moulded strings, blank from the ground, a pair of blind round-arched panels containing lower arched panels to the second stage, an arcade of narrow interlacing round-arches to the third, and a taller arcade to the fourth stage with square section mouldings; the bay to the left as the S aisle, with a pair of round arches with flanking half arches at the second stage enriched with chevron moulding, containing pairs of round-arches; above is an arcade of 5 round-arches, and a blind wall topped with a C20 parapet. The S side of the central entrance bay has the jamb of a round-arched entrance with 2 orders carved as the S porch and plain capitals, beneath the jamb of a large C14 W window with the springers of 4 cusped transoms. INTERIOR: nave arcade has round shafts with scallop capitals to sharply moulded 2-centre arches, with billet mouldings to the 2 E arches, and billet hoods with dog head stops; the triforium has blind round arches with attached shafts to cushion capitals, a chevron moulding, with an arcade of 4 similar arches within; splayed clerestory windows have rere arches. An attached shaft extends up from the piers to C14 tas-de-charges, and a lierne vault with carved bosses. A 'Watching Loft' is corbelled out above the fourth pier on the S side of the nave, with plain openings and billet moulded cornice. The C12 aisles have pointed quadripartite vaults and benches,
the blind arcade of the outside beneath the windows, on the S side without the middle columns; the E end bays have C15 stone screens with Perpendicular tracery. To the left of the entrance is a winder stair to the C14 parvis over the porch, which has C20 panelling. MEMORIALS: running counter-clockwise from the entrance, a wall monument to Joseph Cullerne, d1764, a marble panel with raised bracketed top section; wall monument to Robert Greenway, d1751, a marble shield; wall monument to Bartholomew Hiren, d1703, a panel with a broken pediment; at the W end, a wall monument to Dame Cyscely Marshal, d 162?, with a slate panel in a carved alabaster frame; to the left a late C17 cartouche with drapes; in the N aisle, a dresser tomb of King Athelston, d939, with narrow buttresses to the sides, with a recumbent figure of the King with his feet on a lion, and a vaulted canopy behind his head; wall monument to Elizabeth Warneford, d1631, a slate plaque set in a moulded alabaster frame with shields along the sides, a cartouche, and a segmental cornice over; wall tablet to Isaac Watts, d 1789, an oval marble panel set in slate; wall tablet to Johannes Willis, mid C18, a marble panel with gadroon beneath and a cornice; wall tablet to GI Saunders, d1806, with a round-arched top and moulded frame; wall tablet to Elizabeth George, d1806, a well-carved cartouche with putti below; wall tablet to Edward Cullerne, d1765, marble with yellow marble inserts and a pediment; wall tablet to Mary Thomson, d1723, a stone panel with draped surround including an hour glass; wall tablet facing the entrance to Willima Robernce (?), d1799, a stone frame including a small inscribed pointing hand in the corner. Set in the chancel floor are a group of 8 brasses from late C17 to mid C18. FITTINGS: include a round C15 font from St Mary Westport (qv), with a turned base and fluted sides; at the W end of the nave, is the font used since the C17; in the S aisle, a glass case containing a verge of 1615, carved with features of the Abbey; at the E end the S aisle is the parish chest dated 1638, panelled with 3 locks; communion rail of c1700 with twisted balusters. In the parvis are kept 4 volumes of an illustrated manuscript Bible of 1407. GLASS: mostly C14 glass in the N aisle; the Luce window in the S aisle designed by Burne Jones and made by William Morris. HISTORICAL NOTE: the use of pointed arches and vaults in the aisles is structurally advanced and transitional with Early Gothic, and links Malmesbury with subsequent West Country churches, but the carving is Anglo Saxon in character, and probably borrowed from manuscript illustrations. The conventual buildings stood on the N side of the church; for the reredorter and sections of the precinct wall, see
Abbey House, Market Cross (qv), and for the guest house, see Old Bell Hotel, Gloucester Street (qv). (Victoria History of the Counties of England: Crowley DA: Wiltshire: 1991-: 157; Archaeologia: Brakspear H: Malmesbury Abbey: 1912-; Smith MQ: The Sculptures of the S Porch of Malmesbury Abbey: Malmesbury: 1973-; The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Wiltshire: London: 1963-: 321-327; Midmer R: English Medieval Monasteries 1066-1540: London: 1976-: 212).
© Historic England 2022
Tutankhamun, Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen, was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the 18th dynasty during the New Kingdom of Egyptian history. His father was the pharaoh Akhenaten, believed to be the mummy found in the tomb KV55. Wikipedia
Born: Amarna
Died: Ancient Egypt
Spouse: Ankhesenamun (half-sister)
Place of burial: KV62, Egypt, Valley of the Kings, Egypt
Parents: Akhenaten, The Younger Lady
Children: 317a and 317b mummies
wikipedia
tutankhamun-london.com/tickets/?gclid=CjwKCAiA1L_xBRA2Eiw...
Official list entry
Heritage Category:Listed Building
Grade:I
List Entry Number:1269316
Date first listed:18-Jan-1949
Statutory Address: Abbey Church of St Mary and St Aldhelm, Malmesbury, Wiltshire
Location
Statutory Address: Abbey Church of St Mary and St Aldhelm, Malmesbury, Wiltshire
District: Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish:Malmesbury
National Grid Reference:ST 93280 87320
Details
Benedictine Abbey church, now parish church. Church founded c637 by Irish hermit Mailduib, monastery founded during abbacy of Aldhelm (c675-705), though no pre-C12 work survives; church probably begun under Bishop Roger (c1118-1139), and mostly dates from c1160-80 with a 9-bay aisled nave, transepts with E chapels, chancel, ambulatory with 3 radiating chapels, and S porch, rebuilt 1350-1450 above gallery level with clerestory, vault, crossing spire and W towers, a lengthened chancel and Lady Chapel; spire fell 1479. After Dissolution nave altered by William Stumpe of Abbey House (qv) and damaged W parts walled for the parish church, W tower fell c1662, W window by Goodridge 1830, restored W end 1903. MATERIALS: limestone ashlar with stone tiles. STYLE: late Romanesque style C12 work, Decorated Gothic style C14 extensions. PLAN: reduced since the Dissolution to 6 E bays of nave, with short lengths of transept walls and S corner of W end. EXTERIOR: the E end has a single N chancel bay and matching chancel arch with paired half shafts set in square piers with quarter round capitals, beneath the 2-centre arched line of the vault, and tas-de-charges with sunken mouchettes; the jambs of next E bay has matching aisle and triforium semi-circular jambs with chevron mouldings. Inner wall of N transept has blocked 2-centred aisle arch containing a C16 doorway and 3-light mullion window, and a blind round-arched doorway to the right; 6-bay N elevation has a blind former cloister wall along the aisle divided by buttresses, with a roll-top coping, and round-arched windows above a cill band containing C14 tracery, with a steep gable in the fourth bay containing a 3-light Decorated tracery window; at the left end is a blocked, round-arched C12 doorway with an archivolt of relief palmettes, and a cusped cinquefoil arch set within. The C14 clerestory has flying buttresses with tall pyramidal pinnacles between 3-light 2-centre arched windows, 2-light at the E end, with paterae to each side of the three E windows. S transept as N, 2 bays after the aisle arch, an incomplete arcade of interlacing round arches with a chevron moulding
beneath 2 storeys of round-arched windows with splayed reveals, the lower windows flanked by narrow round-arched recesses containing inner arches open to a passage through the walls. The arcade continues along the former external side of the S transept and to the 9-bay S elevation, otherwise as the N side with a Decorated cusped openwork parapet to aisle and nave, and with second and third bays from E containing C14 2-centre windows with Decorated tracery. C12 porch rebuilt externally in C14 with angle buttresses, has a very fine splayed round-arched entrance of 3 orders, without capitals, richly carved with iconographic Biblical scenes set in oval panels, and separated by richly carved mouldings, and a hood with dog head stops. Inside is a similarly-moulded doorway and C14 door, beneath a tympanum of Christ in Glory supported by 2 angels, with along both sides the round-arched arcade above a bench, beneath finely-carved lunettes each of 6 Apostles with a horizontal flying angel above. In the E re-entrant is a square stair turret with a pyramidal roof. The incomplete W end has a massive clasping buttress stair turret to the S corner in 4 stages separated by moulded strings, blank from the ground, a pair of blind round-arched panels containing lower arched panels to the second stage, an arcade of narrow interlacing round-arches to the third, and a taller arcade to the fourth stage with square section mouldings; the bay to the left as the S aisle, with a pair of round arches with flanking half arches at the second stage enriched with chevron moulding, containing pairs of round-arches; above is an arcade of 5 round-arches, and a blind wall topped with a C20 parapet. The S side of the central entrance bay has the jamb of a round-arched entrance with 2 orders carved as the S porch and plain capitals, beneath the jamb of a large C14 W window with the springers of 4 cusped transoms. INTERIOR: nave arcade has round shafts with scallop capitals to sharply moulded 2-centre arches, with billet mouldings to the 2 E arches, and billet hoods with dog head stops; the triforium has blind round arches with attached shafts to cushion capitals, a chevron moulding, with an arcade of 4 similar arches within; splayed clerestory windows have rere arches. An attached shaft extends up from the piers to C14 tas-de-charges, and a lierne vault with carved bosses. A 'Watching Loft' is corbelled out above the fourth pier on the S side of the nave, with plain openings and billet moulded cornice. The C12 aisles have pointed quadripartite vaults and benches,
the blind arcade of the outside beneath the windows, on the S side without the middle columns; the E end bays have C15 stone screens with Perpendicular tracery. To the left of the entrance is a winder stair to the C14 parvis over the porch, which has C20 panelling. MEMORIALS: running counter-clockwise from the entrance, a wall monument to Joseph Cullerne, d1764, a marble panel with raised bracketed top section; wall monument to Robert Greenway, d1751, a marble shield; wall monument to Bartholomew Hiren, d1703, a panel with a broken pediment; at the W end, a wall monument to Dame Cyscely Marshal, d 162?, with a slate panel in a carved alabaster frame; to the left a late C17 cartouche with drapes; in the N aisle, a dresser tomb of King Athelston, d939, with narrow buttresses to the sides, with a recumbent figure of the King with his feet on a lion, and a vaulted canopy behind his head; wall monument to Elizabeth Warneford, d1631, a slate plaque set in a moulded alabaster frame with shields along the sides, a cartouche, and a segmental cornice over; wall tablet to Isaac Watts, d 1789, an oval marble panel set in slate; wall tablet to Johannes Willis, mid C18, a marble panel with gadroon beneath and a cornice; wall tablet to GI Saunders, d1806, with a round-arched top and moulded frame; wall tablet to Elizabeth George, d1806, a well-carved cartouche with putti below; wall tablet to Edward Cullerne, d1765, marble with yellow marble inserts and a pediment; wall tablet to Mary Thomson, d1723, a stone panel with draped surround including an hour glass; wall tablet facing the entrance to Willima Robernce (?), d1799, a stone frame including a small inscribed pointing hand in the corner. Set in the chancel floor are a group of 8 brasses from late C17 to mid C18. FITTINGS: include a round C15 font from St Mary Westport (qv), with a turned base and fluted sides; at the W end of the nave, is the font used since the C17; in the S aisle, a glass case containing a verge of 1615, carved with features of the Abbey; at the E end the S aisle is the parish chest dated 1638, panelled with 3 locks; communion rail of c1700 with twisted balusters. In the parvis are kept 4 volumes of an illustrated manuscript Bible of 1407. GLASS: mostly C14 glass in the N aisle; the Luce window in the S aisle designed by Burne Jones and made by William Morris. HISTORICAL NOTE: the use of pointed arches and vaults in the aisles is structurally advanced and transitional with Early Gothic, and links Malmesbury with subsequent West Country churches, but the carving is Anglo Saxon in character, and probably borrowed from manuscript illustrations. The conventual buildings stood on the N side of the church; for the reredorter and sections of the precinct wall, see
Abbey House, Market Cross (qv), and for the guest house, see Old Bell Hotel, Gloucester Street (qv). (Victoria History of the Counties of England: Crowley DA: Wiltshire: 1991-: 157; Archaeologia: Brakspear H: Malmesbury Abbey: 1912-; Smith MQ: The Sculptures of the S Porch of Malmesbury Abbey: Malmesbury: 1973-; The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Wiltshire: London: 1963-: 321-327; Midmer R: English Medieval Monasteries 1066-1540: London: 1976-: 212).
© Historic England 2022
mémoire2cité - Sols absorbants, formes arrondies et couleurs vives, les aires de jeux standardisées font désormais partie du paysage urbain. Toujours les mêmes toboggans sécurisés, châteaux forts en bois et animaux à ressort. Ces non-lieux qu’on finit par ne plus voir ont une histoire, parallèle à celle des différentes visions portées sur l’enfant et l’éducation. En retournant jouer au xixe siècle, sur les premiers playgrounds des États-Unis, on assiste à la construction d’une nation – et à des jeux de société qui changent notre vision sur les balançoires du capitalisme. Ce texte est paru dans le numéro 4 de la revue Jef Klak « Ch’val de Course », printemps-été 2017. La version ici publiée en ligne est une version légèrement remaniée à l’occasion de sa republication dans le magazine Palais no 27 1, paru en juin 2018. la video içi www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwj1wh5k5PY The concept for adventure playgrounds originated in postwar Europe, after a playground designer found that children had more fun with the trash and rubble left behind by bombings -inventing their own toys and playing with them- than on the conventional equipment of swings and slides. Narrator John Snagge was a well-known voice talent in the UK, working as a newsreader for BBC Radio - jefklak.org/le-gouvernement-des-playgrounds/ - www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/chasing-the-vanishing-p... or children, playgrounds are where magic happens. And if you count yourself among Baby Boomers or Gen Xers, you probably have fond memories of high steel jungle gyms and even higher metal slides that squeaked and groaned as you slid down them. The cheerful variety of animals and vehicles on springs gave you plenty of rides to choose from, while a spiral slide, often made of striped panels, was a repeated thrill. When you dismounted from a teeter-totter, you had to be careful not to send your partner crashing to the ground or get hit in the head by your own seat. The tougher, faster kids always pushed the brightly colored merry-go-round, trying to make riders as dizzy as possible. In the same way, you’d dare your sibling or best friend to push you even higher on the swing so your toes could touch the sky. The most exciting playgrounds would take the form of a pirate ship, a giant robot, or a space rocket.
“My husband would look at these big metal things and go, ‘Oh my God, those are the Slides of Death!'” - insh.world/history/playground-equipment-of-yesterday-that...
Today, these objects of happy summers past have nearly disappeared, replaced by newer equipment that’s lower to the ground and made of plastic, painted metal, and sometimes rot-resistant woods like cedar or redwood. The transformation began in 1973, when the U.S. Congress established the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which began tracking playground injuries at hospital emergency rooms. The study led to the publication of the first Handbook for Public Playground Safety in 1981, which signaled the beginning of the end for much of the playground equipment in use. (See the latest PPS handbook here.) Then, the American Society for Testing and Materials created a subcommittee of designers and playground-equipment manufacturers to set safety standards for the whole industry. When they published their guidelines in 1993, they suggested most existing playground surfaces, which were usually asphalt, dirt, or grass, needed to be replaced with pits of wood or rubber mulch or sand, prompting many schools and parks to rip their old playgrounds out entirely.
Top: A Space Age rocket-themed playground set by Miracle Playground Equipment, introduced circa 1968, photographed in Burlington, Colorado, in 2009. Above: Two seesaws and a snail-shaped climber, circa 1970s, photographed in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, in 2007. (Photos by Brenda Biondo)
Top: A Space Age rocket-themed playground set by Miracle Playground Equipment, introduced circa 1968, photographed in Burlington, Colorado, in 2009. Above: Two seesaws and a snail-shaped climber, circa 1970s, photographed in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, in 2007. (Photos by Brenda Biondo)
That said, removing and replacing playground equipment takes money, so a certain amount of vintage playground equipment survived into the next millennium—but it’s vanishing fast. Fortunately, Brenda Biondo, a freelance journalist turned photographer, felt inspired to document these playscapes before they’ve all been melted down. Her photographs capture the sculptural beauty and creativity of the vintage apparatuses, as well as that feeling of nostalgia you get when you see a piece of your childhood. After a decade of hunting down old playgrounds, Biondo published a coffee-table book, 2014’s Once Upon a Playground: A Celebration of Classic American Playgrounds, 1920-1975, which includes both her photographs of vintage equipment and pages of old playground catalogs that sold it.
Starting this November, Biondo’s playground photos will hit the road as part of a four-year ExhibitsUSA traveling show, which will also include vintage playground postcards and catalog pages from Biondo’s collection. The show will make stops in smaller museums and history centers around the United States, passing through Temple, Texas; Lincoln, Nebraska; Kansas City, Missouri; and Greenville, South Carolina. Biondo talked to us on the phone from her home in small-town Colorado, where she lives with her husband and children.
This 1975 Miracle catalog page reads, "This famous Lifetime Whirl has delighted three generations of children and still is a safe, playground favorite. Although it has gone through many improvements many of the original models are still spinning on playgrounds from coast to coast." (Courtesy of Brenda Biondo)This 1975 Miracle catalog page reads, “This famous Lifetime Whirl has delighted three generations of children and still is a safe, playground favorite. Although it has gone through many improvements many of the original models are still spinning on playgrounds from coast to coast.” (Courtesy of Brenda Biondo)Collectors Weekly: What inspired you to photograph playgrounds?Biondo: In 2004, I happened to be at my local park with my 1-year-old daughter, who was playing in the sandbox. I had just switched careers, from freelance journalism to photography, and I was looking for a starter project. I looked around the playground and thought, “Where is all the equipment that I remember growing up on?” They had new plastic contraptions, but nothing like the big metal slides I grew up with. After that, I started driving around to other playgrounds to see if any of this old equipment still existed. I found very little of it and realized it was disappearing quickly. That got to me.I felt like somebody should be documenting this equipment, because it was such a big part—and a very good part—of so many people’s childhoods. I couldn’t find anybody else who was documenting it, and I didn’t see any evidence that the Smithsonian was collecting it. As far as I could tell, it was just getting ripped up and sent to the scrap heap. At first, I started traveling around Colorado where I live, visiting playgrounds. Eventually, I took longer trips around the Southwest, and then I started looking for playgrounds whenever I was in any other parts of the country, like around California and the East Coast. It was a long-term project—shot over the course of a decade. And every year that I was shooting, it got harder and harder to find those pieces of old equipment.
This merry-go-round, photographed in Cañon City, Colorado, in 2006, is very similar to the Lifetime Whirl above. In the background are a rideable jalopy and animals, including four attached to a teeter-totter. (Photo by Brenda Biondo)
This merry-go-round, photographed in Cañon City, Colorado, in 2006, is very similar to the Lifetime Whirl above. In the background are a rideable jalopy and animals, including four attached to a teeter-totter. (Photo by Brenda Biondo)
Collectors Weekly: How did you find them?
Biondo: I would just drive around. I started hunting down local elementary schools and main-street playgrounds as well as neighborhood playgrounds. If I had a weekend, I would say, “OK, I’m going to drive from my home three hours east to the Kansas border, stay overnight and drive back.” Along the way, I would stop at every little town that I’d pass. They usually had one tiny main-street playground and one elementary school. I never knew what I was going to find. In a poorer area, a town often doesn’t have much money to replace playground equipment, whereas more affluent areas usually have updated their playgrounds by now. It was a bit of a crap shoot. Sometimes, I’d drive for hours and not really find anything—or I’d find one old playground after the other, because I happened to be in an area where equipment hadn’t been replaced.
I couldn’t get to every state, so I had to shoot where I was. I think there certainly are still old playgrounds out there, especially in small towns. But there’s fewer and fewer of them every year. My book has something like 170 photographs. I would guess that half the equipment pictured is already gone. Sometimes, I’d go back to a playground with a nice piece of equipment a year later to reshoot it, maybe in different lighting or a different season, and so often it had been removed. That pressured me to get out as often as I could because if I waited a few weeks, that piece might not be there anymore.
A 1911 postcard shows girls playing on an outdoor gymnasium at Mayo Park in Rochester, Minnesota.
a 1911 postcard shows girls playing on an outdoor gymnasium at Mayo Park in Rochester, Minnesota.
Collectors Weekly: What did you learn about playground history?
Biondo: I didn’t know American playgrounds started as part of the social reform or progressive movement of the early 1900s. Reformers hoped to keep poor inner-city immigrant kids safe and out of trouble. Back then, city children were playing in the streets with nothing to do, and when cars became more popular, kids started to get hit by motorists. Child activists started building playgrounds in big cities like Boston, Chicago, and New York as a way to help and protect these kids. These reformers felt they could build model citizens by teaching cooperation and manners through playgrounds. These early main-street parks would also have playground leaders who orchestrated activities such as games and songs.
“I started driving to playgrounds to see if any old equipment still existed. I found very little of it and realized it was disappearing quickly.”
In the late 1800s, Germans developed what they called “sand gardens,” which are just piles of sand where kids can come dig and build things. There were few of those in the United States as well. But by the early 1900s, the emphasis of playgrounds was on the apparatuses, things kids could climb on or swing on.
Soon after I started researching playground history, I happened to stumble on an eBay auction for a 1926 catalog that the playground manufacturers used to send to schools. At that point, I wasn’t thinking of doing a book, but I thought I could do something with it. I won the catalog; I paid, like, $12 for it. And it was so interesting because I could see this vintage equipment when it was brand new and considered modern and advanced. The manufacturers boasted about how safe it was and how it was good for building both muscles and imaginations.
After that, I would always search on eBay for playground catalogs, and I ended up with about three dozen catalogs from different manufacturers. My oldest is 1916, and my newest is from 1975. So I would take a photograph of some type of merry-go-round, and then I might find that same merry-go-round in a 1930 catalog. Often in the book, I pair my picture with the page from the catalog showing when it was first manufactured. I discovered a couple dozen manufacturers, which tended to be located in the bigger industrial areas with steel manufacturing, like Trenton, New Jersey, and Kokomo and Litchfield, Indiana. Pueblo, Colorado, even had a playground manufacturer. Burke and GameTime were big 20th century companies, and actually are among few still in existence.
The cover of a 1926 catalog for EverWear Manufacturing Company. (Courtesy of Brenda Biondo)
The cover of a 1926 catalog for EverWear Manufacturing Company. (Courtesy of Brenda Biondo)
Collectors Weekly: I recently came across an old metal slide whose steps had the name of the manufacturer, American, forged in openwork letters.
Biondo: I love those. One of the last pages in the book shows treads from six different slides, and they each had the name of their manufacturer in them, including Porter, American, and Burke. One time when I was traveling, I did a quick side trip to a small town with an elementary school. In the parking lot was this old metal slide with the American step treads, lying on its side. You could tell it had just been ripped off out of the concrete, which was still attached to the bottom, and was waiting for the steel recyclers to come and take it away.
I thought, “Oh my gosh, just put it on eBay! Somebody is going to want that. Don’t melt it down.” But nobody thinks about this stuff getting thrown away when it should be preserved. If you go on eBay, you can find a lot of those small animals on springs that little kids ride, because they’re small enough to be shipped. Once I saw someone selling one of those huge rocket ships, which had been dismantled, on eBay, but I don’t know if anybody ever bid on it. It’s rare to see the big stuff, because it is so expensive to ship. It’s like, “What kind of truck do you need to haul this thing away?” I don’t know of anyone who’s collecting those pieces, but I hope somebody is.
A metal slide in Victor, Colorado, had step treads with the name "American" in them. Photographed in 2008. (Photo by Brenda Biondo)
A metal slide in Victor, Colorado, had step treads with the name “American” in them. Photographed in 2008. (Photo by Brenda Biondo)
Collectors Weekly: It seems like an opportunity for both starting a collection or repurposing the material.
Biondo: I photographed many of the apparatuses as if they were sculptures because they have really cool designs and colors. Even when they’re worn down, the exposed layers of paint can be beautiful. Hardly anybody stops to look at it that way. People drive by and think, “Oh, there’s an old, rusty, rundown playground.” But if you take the time to look closely at this stuff, it’s really interesting. Just by looking at these pieces, you can picture all the kids who played on them.
Collectors Weekly: Aren’t people nostalgic for their childhood playgrounds?
Biondo: While I was taking the pictures, I visited Boulder, Colorado, which is a very affluent community. I was sure there would be no old playground equipment there. When I was driving around, all of a sudden, I looked over and saw this huge rocket ship. It turns out that one of the original NASA astronauts, Scott Carpenter, grew up in Boulder, and this playground was built in the ’60s to honor their hometown boy. Because of that, the citizens of Boulder never wanted to take down the rocket ship. One of the first exhibitions of this photography project happened in Boulder, and at the opening, I sold four prints of that rocket ship. People would come up to me at the exhibition, and they’d go, “Oh my gosh, I grew up playing on this when I was a little kid! Now, my kids are playing on it, and I’m so excited that I can get a picture of it and hang it in their bedroom.” So people have a strong nostalgic attachment to this equipment. It’s sad that most of it’s not going to be around for much longer.
A 1968 Miracle Playground Equipment catalog features the huge rocket-ship play set seen at the top of this story. (Courtesy of Brenda Biondo)
A 1968 Miracle Playground Equipment catalog features the huge rocket-ship playset seen at the top of this story. (Courtesy of Brenda Biondo)
Collectors Weekly: Besides slides and animals on springs, what were some other pieces that were common in older playgrounds?
Biondo: I didn’t come across as many old swings as I expected. I thought they would be all over the place, but I guess they’re gone now because they were so easy to replace. I tended to find merry-go-rounds more frequently—you know, the one where you’d run around pushing them and then jump on. When my kids were younger, they’d go out playground hunting with me, and the merry-go-rounds were their favorite things. They’re just so fun. The other thing you don’t find often is the seesaw or teeter-totter, and that was my favorite.The Karymor Stationary Jingle Ring Outfit appeared in the 1931 playground catalog put out by Pueblo, Colorado's R.F. Lamar and Co. (Photo by Brenda Biondo)
The Karymor Stationary Jingle Ring Outfit appeared in the 1931 playground catalog put out by Pueblo, Colorado’s R.F. Lamar and Co. (Photo by Brenda Biondo)
Before I started this project, I didn’t know there was such a variety of equipment. I figured I’d see seesaws, swings, slides, and merry-go-rounds. But I had no idea there were such things as revolving swings, which would be attached to a spinning pole via outstretched metal arms. Many mid-century pieces had themes from pop culture like “The Wizard of Oz,” “Cinderella,” “Denis the Menace,” cowboys and Indians, and Saturday-morning cartoons. During the Space Age, you started to see pieces of equipment shaped like rocket ships and satellites, because in the ’60s, Americans were so excited about space exploration. What was going on in the broader culture often got reflected in playground equipment.
Pursuing the catalogs was eye-opening. I live about an hour and a half south of Denver, so I often looked for playgrounds around the city. There, I’d find these contraptions where were shaped like umbrella skeletons, but then they had these rings hanging off the spindles. I’ve never seen them outside of Colorado. Then I bought a 1930s catalog from the manufacturer in Pueblo, Colorado, which is only 45 minutes from me, and it featured this apparatus. Later, I met people in Denver who’d say, “Oh, yeah, I remember that thing as a kid. It’s kind of like monkey bars where you had to try and get from ring to ring swinging and hanging by your arms.” There was so much variety, and even so many variations on the basics.I have a cool catalog from 1926 from the manufacturer Mitchell, which doesn’t exist anymore. I looked at one of the contraptions they advertised and I was like, “Oh my God, this looks like a torture device!” It was their own proprietary apparatus and maybe it didn’t prove to be very popular. I had never seen something like that on a playground. There probably weren’t very many of them installed.
This strange Climbing Swing from the 1926 Mitchell Manufacturing Company catalog looks a bit like a torture device. Brenda Biondo says she's never found one in the wild. (Courtesy of Brenda Biondo)
This Climbing Swing from the 1926 Mitchell Manufacturing Company catalog looks a bit like a torture device. Biondo’s never found one in the wild. (Courtesy of Brenda Biondo)
Collectors Weekly: After a while, were you able to date pieces just by looking at them?
Biondo: From looking at the catalogs, I certainly got a better idea of when things were built. But there were a handful things I couldn’t find in the catalogs. You can guess the age by knowing the design, as well as by looking at the amount of wear and the height of the piece. Usually, the taller it was, the older it was. One of the oldest slides I photographed was probably from the ’30s. I climbed to the top to shoot it as if the viewer were going to go down the slide. Up there, the place where you’d sit before sliding had been used for so many years by so many kids that I could see an outline of all the butts worn into the metal. You can imagine all the children who must have gone down that slide to wear the metal down like that.
This 1930s-era slide, found in Sargents, Colorado, in 2007, developed a butt-shaped imprint. (Photo by Brenda Biondo)
This 1930s-era slide, found in Sargents, Colorado, in 2007, developed a butt-shaped imprint. (Photo by Brenda Biondo)
Collectors Weekly: How did Modernism influence playground design?
Biondo: In 1953, the Museum of Modern Art in New York held a competition for playground design. Modern Art was just getting popular, and the idea of incorporating the theories of Modernist design into utilitarian objects was in the air, and was translated into playgrounds for several years. I have a 1967 catalog that features very abstract playground equipment made from sinuous blobs of poured concrete. And you’ve probably seen some of it, but there’s not too much of that around. That’s another example of how broader cultural trends were reflected in playgrounds.
When most people think of playgrounds, they say, “Oh, that’s a kiddie subject. There’s not much to it.” But when you start looking into them, you realize playgrounds are a fascinating piece of American culture—they go back a hundred years and played a part in most Americans’ lives. These playground pieces are icons of our childhood.
Collectors Weekly:What was the impact of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which launched in 1973?
Biondo: Things started to change after that, which is why I limited to book to apparatuses made before 1975. New playgrounds were starting to be build out of plastic and fiberglass. I looked up the statistics, and according to the little research I’ve done—contrary to what you’d expect—there’s not much difference in the number of injuries on older equipment versus injuries on equipment today. A “New York Times” article from 2011 called “Can a Playground Be Too Safe?” explains that studies show when playground equipment was really high and just had asphalt underneath it and not seven layers of mulch, thekids knew they had to be careful because they didn’t want to fall. Nowadays, when everything is lower and there’s so much mulch, kids are just used to jumping down and falling and catching themselves. So kids learned to assess risk by playing on the older equipment. They also learned to challenge themselves because it is a little scary to go up to the top of the thing.
This old postcard of Shawnee Park in Kansas City, Kansas, circa 1912, shows how tall slides could get.
This old postcard of Shawnee Park in Kansas City, Kansas, circa 1912, shows how tall slides could get.
At my local park where you have new equipment, the monkey bars aren’t that high and there’s mulch below it, but a child fell and broke their arm last year. When I was talking to the principal at the school where they had just torn out that old American slide, I asked her, “Why did you replace the equipment?” She said, “We felt the parents in the community were expecting to have a little bit newer and nicer equipment. And this stuff had been here for so long.” And I said, “Have you seen a difference in injury rates since you put up your newer equipment?” She replied, “I’ve been a principal here several years, and we never had a serious broken-bone injury on the playground until four months ago on the new equipment.”
There were some nasty accidents in the ‘60s and ’70s, where kids got their arms or their heads caught in the contraptions. Those issues definitely needed to be assessed. What’s interesting is the Consumer Product Safety Commission never issued requirements, just suggested guidelines. But manufacturers felt that if their equipment didn’t meet those guidelines, they’d be vulnerable to liability. Everybody went to the extreme, making everything super safe so they wouldn’t risk getting sued.A 1970s-era climbing-bar apparatus, photographed in Rocky Ford, Colorado, in 2006. (Photo by Brenda Biondo)
A 1970s-era climbing-bar apparatus, photographed in Rocky Ford, Colorado, in 2006. (Photo by Brenda Biondo)
In the last decade, people have been looking at playground-equipment design and trying to make it more challenging and more encouraging of imaginative play, but without making it more likely someone’s going to get injured. And adults, I think, are realizing kids are spending more time indoors on devices so they want to do everything they can to encourage kids to still get outside, run around, and climb on things.
Collectors Weekly: You don’t need a playground to hurt yourself. When I was a kid, I fell off a farm post and broke my arm.Biondo: Oh, yeah, kids have been falling out trees forever—they always want to climb stuff. Playground politics are always evolving. Even in the 1920s, the catalogs talked about how safe their equipment was, and they were selling these 30-foot slides. Sometimes, I’d be out with my family on a vacation, and we’d make a little side tour to look for an old playground to shoot. My husband would look at these big metal things and go, “Oh my God, those are the Slides of Death!” because they were so huge and rickety. But back then, these were very safe pieces of equipment compared to what kids had been playing on before.
A page from the 1971 GameTime catalog offering rideable Saddle Mates. (Courtesy of Brenda Biondo)
A page from the 1971 GameTime catalog offering rideable Saddle Mates. (Courtesy of Brenda Biondo)
Collectors Weekly: Growing up in the 1980s, I always hated the new fiberglass slides because I’d end up with all these tiny glass shards in my butt.
Biondo: Yeah, I remember that, too. It’s always something. It is fun to talk to people about playgrounds because it reminds them of all the fun stuff they did as kids. When people see pictures of these metal slides, they tell me, “Oh my gosh, I remember getting such a bad burn from a metal slide one summer!” The metal would get so hot in the sun, and kids would take pieces of wax paper with them to sit on so they’d go flying down the slide. I have some old postcards that show playgrounds from the early ’20s. The wood seesaws not only were huge, but they had no handles so you had hold on to the sides of the board where you sat. I’m looking at that like, “Oh my God!” It’s all relative.
playground_postcard_milwaukee
Kids ride the rocking-boat seesaw at a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, park in this postcard postmarked 1910.
(To see more of Brenda Biondo’s playground photos and vintage catalog pages, pick up a copy of her book, “Once Upon a Playground: A Celebration of Classic American Playground, 1920-1975.” To find an exhibition of Biondo’s playground project, or to bring it to your town, visit the ExhibitsUSA page. To learn more about creative mid-century playgrounds around the globe, also pick up, “The Playground Project” by Xavier Salle and Vincent Romagny.) insh.world/history/playground-equipment-of-yesterday-that...
mémoire2cité - Sols absorbants, formes arrondies et couleurs vives, les aires de jeux standardisées font désormais partie du paysage urbain. Toujours les mêmes toboggans sécurisés, châteaux forts en bois et animaux à ressort. Ces non-lieux qu’on finit par ne plus voir ont une histoire, parallèle à celle des différentes visions portées sur l’enfant et l’éducation. En retournant jouer au xixe siècle, sur les premiers playgrounds des États-Unis, on assiste à la construction d’une nation – et à des jeux de société qui changent notre vision sur les balançoires du capitalisme. Ce texte est paru dans le numéro 4 de la revue Jef Klak « Ch’val de Course », printemps-été 2017. La version ici publiée en ligne est une version légèrement remaniée à l’occasion de sa republication dans le magazine Palais no 27 1, paru en juin 2018. la video içi www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwj1wh5k5PY The concept for adventure playgrounds originated in postwar Europe, after a playground designer found that children had more fun with the trash and rubble left behind by bombings -inventing their own toys and playing with them- than on the conventional equipment of swings and slides. Narrator John Snagge was a well-known voice talent in the UK, working as a newsreader for BBC Radio - jefklak.org/le-gouvernement-des-playgrounds/ - www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/chasing-the-vanishing-p... or children, playgrounds are where magic happens. And if you count yourself among Baby Boomers or Gen Xers, you probably have fond memories of high steel jungle gyms and even higher metal slides that squeaked and groaned as you slid down them. The cheerful variety of animals and vehicles on springs gave you plenty of rides to choose from, while a spiral slide, often made of striped panels, was a repeated thrill. When you dismounted from a teeter-totter, you had to be careful not to send your partner crashing to the ground or get hit in the head by your own seat. The tougher, faster kids always pushed the brightly colored merry-go-round, trying to make riders as dizzy as possible. In the same way, you’d dare your sibling or best friend to push you even higher on the swing so your toes could touch the sky. The most exciting playgrounds would take the form of a pirate ship, a giant robot, or a space rocket.
“My husband would look at these big metal things and go, ‘Oh my God, those are the Slides of Death!'” - insh.world/history/playground-equipment-of-yesterday-that...
Today, these objects of happy summers past have nearly disappeared, replaced by newer equipment that’s lower to the ground and made of plastic, painted metal, and sometimes rot-resistant woods like cedar or redwood. The transformation began in 1973, when the U.S. Congress established the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which began tracking playground injuries at hospital emergency rooms. The study led to the publication of the first Handbook for Public Playground Safety in 1981, which signaled the beginning of the end for much of the playground equipment in use. (See the latest PPS handbook here.) Then, the American Society for Testing and Materials created a subcommittee of designers and playground-equipment manufacturers to set safety standards for the whole industry. When they published their guidelines in 1993, they suggested most existing playground surfaces, which were usually asphalt, dirt, or grass, needed to be replaced with pits of wood or rubber mulch or sand, prompting many schools and parks to rip their old playgrounds out entirely.
Top: A Space Age rocket-themed playground set by Miracle Playground Equipment, introduced circa 1968, photographed in Burlington, Colorado, in 2009. Above: Two seesaws and a snail-shaped climber, circa 1970s, photographed in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, in 2007. (Photos by Brenda Biondo)
Top: A Space Age rocket-themed playground set by Miracle Playground Equipment, introduced circa 1968, photographed in Burlington, Colorado, in 2009. Above: Two seesaws and a snail-shaped climber, circa 1970s, photographed in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, in 2007. (Photos by Brenda Biondo)
That said, removing and replacing playground equipment takes money, so a certain amount of vintage playground equipment survived into the next millennium—but it’s vanishing fast. Fortunately, Brenda Biondo, a freelance journalist turned photographer, felt inspired to document these playscapes before they’ve all been melted down. Her photographs capture the sculptural beauty and creativity of the vintage apparatuses, as well as that feeling of nostalgia you get when you see a piece of your childhood. After a decade of hunting down old playgrounds, Biondo published a coffee-table book, 2014’s Once Upon a Playground: A Celebration of Classic American Playgrounds, 1920-1975, which includes both her photographs of vintage equipment and pages of old playground catalogs that sold it.
Starting this November, Biondo’s playground photos will hit the road as part of a four-year ExhibitsUSA traveling show, which will also include vintage playground postcards and catalog pages from Biondo’s collection. The show will make stops in smaller museums and history centers around the United States, passing through Temple, Texas; Lincoln, Nebraska; Kansas City, Missouri; and Greenville, South Carolina. Biondo talked to us on the phone from her home in small-town Colorado, where she lives with her husband and children.
This 1975 Miracle catalog page reads, "This famous Lifetime Whirl has delighted three generations of children and still is a safe, playground favorite. Although it has gone through many improvements many of the original models are still spinning on playgrounds from coast to coast." (Courtesy of Brenda Biondo)This 1975 Miracle catalog page reads, “This famous Lifetime Whirl has delighted three generations of children and still is a safe, playground favorite. Although it has gone through many improvements many of the original models are still spinning on playgrounds from coast to coast.” (Courtesy of Brenda Biondo)Collectors Weekly: What inspired you to photograph playgrounds?Biondo: In 2004, I happened to be at my local park with my 1-year-old daughter, who was playing in the sandbox. I had just switched careers, from freelance journalism to photography, and I was looking for a starter project. I looked around the playground and thought, “Where is all the equipment that I remember growing up on?” They had new plastic contraptions, but nothing like the big metal slides I grew up with. After that, I started driving around to other playgrounds to see if any of this old equipment still existed. I found very little of it and realized it was disappearing quickly. That got to me.I felt like somebody should be documenting this equipment, because it was such a big part—and a very good part—of so many people’s childhoods. I couldn’t find anybody else who was documenting it, and I didn’t see any evidence that the Smithsonian was collecting it. As far as I could tell, it was just getting ripped up and sent to the scrap heap. At first, I started traveling around Colorado where I live, visiting playgrounds. Eventually, I took longer trips around the Southwest, and then I started looking for playgrounds whenever I was in any other parts of the country, like around California and the East Coast. It was a long-term project—shot over the course of a decade. And every year that I was shooting, it got harder and harder to find those pieces of old equipment.
This merry-go-round, photographed in Cañon City, Colorado, in 2006, is very similar to the Lifetime Whirl above. In the background are a rideable jalopy and animals, including four attached to a teeter-totter. (Photo by Brenda Biondo)
This merry-go-round, photographed in Cañon City, Colorado, in 2006, is very similar to the Lifetime Whirl above. In the background are a rideable jalopy and animals, including four attached to a teeter-totter. (Photo by Brenda Biondo)
Collectors Weekly: How did you find them?
Biondo: I would just drive around. I started hunting down local elementary schools and main-street playgrounds as well as neighborhood playgrounds. If I had a weekend, I would say, “OK, I’m going to drive from my home three hours east to the Kansas border, stay overnight and drive back.” Along the way, I would stop at every little town that I’d pass. They usually had one tiny main-street playground and one elementary school. I never knew what I was going to find. In a poorer area, a town often doesn’t have much money to replace playground equipment, whereas more affluent areas usually have updated their playgrounds by now. It was a bit of a crap shoot. Sometimes, I’d drive for hours and not really find anything—or I’d find one old playground after the other, because I happened to be in an area where equipment hadn’t been replaced.
I couldn’t get to every state, so I had to shoot where I was. I think there certainly are still old playgrounds out there, especially in small towns. But there’s fewer and fewer of them every year. My book has something like 170 photographs. I would guess that half the equipment pictured is already gone. Sometimes, I’d go back to a playground with a nice piece of equipment a year later to reshoot it, maybe in different lighting or a different season, and so often it had been removed. That pressured me to get out as often as I could because if I waited a few weeks, that piece might not be there anymore.
A 1911 postcard shows girls playing on an outdoor gymnasium at Mayo Park in Rochester, Minnesota.
a 1911 postcard shows girls playing on an outdoor gymnasium at Mayo Park in Rochester, Minnesota.
Collectors Weekly: What did you learn about playground history?
Biondo: I didn’t know American playgrounds started as part of the social reform or progressive movement of the early 1900s. Reformers hoped to keep poor inner-city immigrant kids safe and out of trouble. Back then, city children were playing in the streets with nothing to do, and when cars became more popular, kids started to get hit by motorists. Child activists started building playgrounds in big cities like Boston, Chicago, and New York as a way to help and protect these kids. These reformers felt they could build model citizens by teaching cooperation and manners through playgrounds. These early main-street parks would also have playground leaders who orchestrated activities such as games and songs.
“I started driving to playgrounds to see if any old equipment still existed. I found very little of it and realized it was disappearing quickly.”
In the late 1800s, Germans developed what they called “sand gardens,” which are just piles of sand where kids can come dig and build things. There were few of those in the United States as well. But by the early 1900s, the emphasis of playgrounds was on the apparatuses, things kids could climb on or swing on.
Soon after I started researching playground history, I happened to stumble on an eBay auction for a 1926 catalog that the playground manufacturers used to send to schools. At that point, I wasn’t thinking of doing a book, but I thought I could do something with it. I won the catalog; I paid, like, $12 for it. And it was so interesting because I could see this vintage equipment when it was brand new and considered modern and advanced. The manufacturers boasted about how safe it was and how it was good for building both muscles and imaginations.
After that, I would always search on eBay for playground catalogs, and I ended up with about three dozen catalogs from different manufacturers. My oldest is 1916, and my newest is from 1975. So I would take a photograph of some type of merry-go-round, and then I might find that same merry-go-round in a 1930 catalog. Often in the book, I pair my picture with the page from the catalog showing when it was first manufactured. I discovered a couple dozen manufacturers, which tended to be located in the bigger industrial areas with steel manufacturing, like Trenton, New Jersey, and Kokomo and Litchfield, Indiana. Pueblo, Colorado, even had a playground manufacturer. Burke and GameTime were big 20th century companies, and actually are among few still in existence.
The cover of a 1926 catalog for EverWear Manufacturing Company. (Courtesy of Brenda Biondo)
The cover of a 1926 catalog for EverWear Manufacturing Company. (Courtesy of Brenda Biondo)
Collectors Weekly: I recently came across an old metal slide whose steps had the name of the manufacturer, American, forged in openwork letters.
Biondo: I love those. One of the last pages in the book shows treads from six different slides, and they each had the name of their manufacturer in them, including Porter, American, and Burke. One time when I was traveling, I did a quick side trip to a small town with an elementary school. In the parking lot was this old metal slide with the American step treads, lying on its side. You could tell it had just been ripped off out of the concrete, which was still attached to the bottom, and was waiting for the steel recyclers to come and take it away.
I thought, “Oh my gosh, just put it on eBay! Somebody is going to want that. Don’t melt it down.” But nobody thinks about this stuff getting thrown away when it should be preserved. If you go on eBay, you can find a lot of those small animals on springs that little kids ride, because they’re small enough to be shipped. Once I saw someone selling one of those huge rocket ships, which had been dismantled, on eBay, but I don’t know if anybody ever bid on it. It’s rare to see the big stuff, because it is so expensive to ship. It’s like, “What kind of truck do you need to haul this thing away?” I don’t know of anyone who’s collecting those pieces, but I hope somebody is.
A metal slide in Victor, Colorado, had step treads with the name "American" in them. Photographed in 2008. (Photo by Brenda Biondo)
A metal slide in Victor, Colorado, had step treads with the name “American” in them. Photographed in 2008. (Photo by Brenda Biondo)
Collectors Weekly: It seems like an opportunity for both starting a collection or repurposing the material.
Biondo: I photographed many of the apparatuses as if they were sculptures because they have really cool designs and colors. Even when they’re worn down, the exposed layers of paint can be beautiful. Hardly anybody stops to look at it that way. People drive by and think, “Oh, there’s an old, rusty, rundown playground.” But if you take the time to look closely at this stuff, it’s really interesting. Just by looking at these pieces, you can picture all the kids who played on them.
Collectors Weekly: Aren’t people nostalgic for their childhood playgrounds?
Biondo: While I was taking the pictures, I visited Boulder, Colorado, which is a very affluent community. I was sure there would be no old playground equipment there. When I was driving around, all of a sudden, I looked over and saw this huge rocket ship. It turns out that one of the original NASA astronauts, Scott Carpenter, grew up in Boulder, and this playground was built in the ’60s to honor their hometown boy. Because of that, the citizens of Boulder never wanted to take down the rocket ship. One of the first exhibitions of this photography project happened in Boulder, and at the opening, I sold four prints of that rocket ship. People would come up to me at the exhibition, and they’d go, “Oh my gosh, I grew up playing on this when I was a little kid! Now, my kids are playing on it, and I’m so excited that I can get a picture of it and hang it in their bedroom.” So people have a strong nostalgic attachment to this equipment. It’s sad that most of it’s not going to be around for much longer.
A 1968 Miracle Playground Equipment catalog features the huge rocket-ship play set seen at the top of this story. (Courtesy of Brenda Biondo)
A 1968 Miracle Playground Equipment catalog features the huge rocket-ship playset seen at the top of this story. (Courtesy of Brenda Biondo)
Collectors Weekly: Besides slides and animals on springs, what were some other pieces that were common in older playgrounds?
Biondo: I didn’t come across as many old swings as I expected. I thought they would be all over the place, but I guess they’re gone now because they were so easy to replace. I tended to find merry-go-rounds more frequently—you know, the one where you’d run around pushing them and then jump on. When my kids were younger, they’d go out playground hunting with me, and the merry-go-rounds were their favorite things. They’re just so fun. The other thing you don’t find often is the seesaw or teeter-totter, and that was my favorite.The Karymor Stationary Jingle Ring Outfit appeared in the 1931 playground catalog put out by Pueblo, Colorado's R.F. Lamar and Co. (Photo by Brenda Biondo)
The Karymor Stationary Jingle Ring Outfit appeared in the 1931 playground catalog put out by Pueblo, Colorado’s R.F. Lamar and Co. (Photo by Brenda Biondo)
Before I started this project, I didn’t know there was such a variety of equipment. I figured I’d see seesaws, swings, slides, and merry-go-rounds. But I had no idea there were such things as revolving swings, which would be attached to a spinning pole via outstretched metal arms. Many mid-century pieces had themes from pop culture like “The Wizard of Oz,” “Cinderella,” “Denis the Menace,” cowboys and Indians, and Saturday-morning cartoons. During the Space Age, you started to see pieces of equipment shaped like rocket ships and satellites, because in the ’60s, Americans were so excited about space exploration. What was going on in the broader culture often got reflected in playground equipment.
Pursuing the catalogs was eye-opening. I live about an hour and a half south of Denver, so I often looked for playgrounds around the city. There, I’d find these contraptions where were shaped like umbrella skeletons, but then they had these rings hanging off the spindles. I’ve never seen them outside of Colorado. Then I bought a 1930s catalog from the manufacturer in Pueblo, Colorado, which is only 45 minutes from me, and it featured this apparatus. Later, I met people in Denver who’d say, “Oh, yeah, I remember that thing as a kid. It’s kind of like monkey bars where you had to try and get from ring to ring swinging and hanging by your arms.” There was so much variety, and even so many variations on the basics.I have a cool catalog from 1926 from the manufacturer Mitchell, which doesn’t exist anymore. I looked at one of the contraptions they advertised and I was like, “Oh my God, this looks like a torture device!” It was their own proprietary apparatus and maybe it didn’t prove to be very popular. I had never seen something like that on a playground. There probably weren’t very many of them installed.
This strange Climbing Swing from the 1926 Mitchell Manufacturing Company catalog looks a bit like a torture device. Brenda Biondo says she's never found one in the wild. (Courtesy of Brenda Biondo)
This Climbing Swing from the 1926 Mitchell Manufacturing Company catalog looks a bit like a torture device. Biondo’s never found one in the wild. (Courtesy of Brenda Biondo)
Collectors Weekly: After a while, were you able to date pieces just by looking at them?
Biondo: From looking at the catalogs, I certainly got a better idea of when things were built. But there were a handful things I couldn’t find in the catalogs. You can guess the age by knowing the design, as well as by looking at the amount of wear and the height of the piece. Usually, the taller it was, the older it was. One of the oldest slides I photographed was probably from the ’30s. I climbed to the top to shoot it as if the viewer were going to go down the slide. Up there, the place where you’d sit before sliding had been used for so many years by so many kids that I could see an outline of all the butts worn into the metal. You can imagine all the children who must have gone down that slide to wear the metal down like that.
This 1930s-era slide, found in Sargents, Colorado, in 2007, developed a butt-shaped imprint. (Photo by Brenda Biondo)
This 1930s-era slide, found in Sargents, Colorado, in 2007, developed a butt-shaped imprint. (Photo by Brenda Biondo)
Collectors Weekly: How did Modernism influence playground design?
Biondo: In 1953, the Museum of Modern Art in New York held a competition for playground design. Modern Art was just getting popular, and the idea of incorporating the theories of Modernist design into utilitarian objects was in the air, and was translated into playgrounds for several years. I have a 1967 catalog that features very abstract playground equipment made from sinuous blobs of poured concrete. And you’ve probably seen some of it, but there’s not too much of that around. That’s another example of how broader cultural trends were reflected in playgrounds.
When most people think of playgrounds, they say, “Oh, that’s a kiddie subject. There’s not much to it.” But when you start looking into them, you realize playgrounds are a fascinating piece of American culture—they go back a hundred years and played a part in most Americans’ lives. These playground pieces are icons of our childhood.
Collectors Weekly:What was the impact of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which launched in 1973?
Biondo: Things started to change after that, which is why I limited to book to apparatuses made before 1975. New playgrounds were starting to be build out of plastic and fiberglass. I looked up the statistics, and according to the little research I’ve done—contrary to what you’d expect—there’s not much difference in the number of injuries on older equipment versus injuries on equipment today. A “New York Times” article from 2011 called “Can a Playground Be Too Safe?” explains that studies show when playground equipment was really high and just had asphalt underneath it and not seven layers of mulch, thekids knew they had to be careful because they didn’t want to fall. Nowadays, when everything is lower and there’s so much mulch, kids are just used to jumping down and falling and catching themselves. So kids learned to assess risk by playing on the older equipment. They also learned to challenge themselves because it is a little scary to go up to the top of the thing.
This old postcard of Shawnee Park in Kansas City, Kansas, circa 1912, shows how tall slides could get.
This old postcard of Shawnee Park in Kansas City, Kansas, circa 1912, shows how tall slides could get.
At my local park where you have new equipment, the monkey bars aren’t that high and there’s mulch below it, but a child fell and broke their arm last year. When I was talking to the principal at the school where they had just torn out that old American slide, I asked her, “Why did you replace the equipment?” She said, “We felt the parents in the community were expecting to have a little bit newer and nicer equipment. And this stuff had been here for so long.” And I said, “Have you seen a difference in injury rates since you put up your newer equipment?” She replied, “I’ve been a principal here several years, and we never had a serious broken-bone injury on the playground until four months ago on the new equipment.”
There were some nasty accidents in the ‘60s and ’70s, where kids got their arms or their heads caught in the contraptions. Those issues definitely needed to be assessed. What’s interesting is the Consumer Product Safety Commission never issued requirements, just suggested guidelines. But manufacturers felt that if their equipment didn’t meet those guidelines, they’d be vulnerable to liability. Everybody went to the extreme, making everything super safe so they wouldn’t risk getting sued.A 1970s-era climbing-bar apparatus, photographed in Rocky Ford, Colorado, in 2006. (Photo by Brenda Biondo)
A 1970s-era climbing-bar apparatus, photographed in Rocky Ford, Colorado, in 2006. (Photo by Brenda Biondo)
In the last decade, people have been looking at playground-equipment design and trying to make it more challenging and more encouraging of imaginative play, but without making it more likely someone’s going to get injured. And adults, I think, are realizing kids are spending more time indoors on devices so they want to do everything they can to encourage kids to still get outside, run around, and climb on things.
Collectors Weekly: You don’t need a playground to hurt yourself. When I was a kid, I fell off a farm post and broke my arm.Biondo: Oh, yeah, kids have been falling out trees forever—they always want to climb stuff. Playground politics are always evolving. Even in the 1920s, the catalogs talked about how safe their equipment was, and they were selling these 30-foot slides. Sometimes, I’d be out with my family on a vacation, and we’d make a little side tour to look for an old playground to shoot. My husband would look at these big metal things and go, “Oh my God, those are the Slides of Death!” because they were so huge and rickety. But back then, these were very safe pieces of equipment compared to what kids had been playing on before.
A page from the 1971 GameTime catalog offering rideable Saddle Mates. (Courtesy of Brenda Biondo)
A page from the 1971 GameTime catalog offering rideable Saddle Mates. (Courtesy of Brenda Biondo)
Collectors Weekly: Growing up in the 1980s, I always hated the new fiberglass slides because I’d end up with all these tiny glass shards in my butt.
Biondo: Yeah, I remember that, too. It’s always something. It is fun to talk to people about playgrounds because it reminds them of all the fun stuff they did as kids. When people see pictures of these metal slides, they tell me, “Oh my gosh, I remember getting such a bad burn from a metal slide one summer!” The metal would get so hot in the sun, and kids would take pieces of wax paper with them to sit on so they’d go flying down the slide. I have some old postcards that show playgrounds from the early ’20s. The wood seesaws not only were huge, but they had no handles so you had hold on to the sides of the board where you sat. I’m looking at that like, “Oh my God!” It’s all relative.
playground_postcard_milwaukee
Kids ride the rocking-boat seesaw at a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, park in this postcard postmarked 1910.
(To see more of Brenda Biondo’s playground photos and vintage catalog pages, pick up a copy of her book, “Once Upon a Playground: A Celebration of Classic American Playground, 1920-1975.” To find an exhibition of Biondo’s playground project, or to bring it to your town, visit the ExhibitsUSA page. To learn more about creative mid-century playgrounds around the globe, also pick up, “The Playground Project” by Xavier Salle and Vincent Romagny.) insh.world/history/playground-equipment-of-yesterday-that...
A large ceremonial covered vessel (incense burner) of tripod form, with three cranes acting as legs. High, curving handles and a domed openwork cover surmounted by a knob with dragons in relief. Decoration of cranes and deer in a landscape. Made of cloisonné enamel.
Qing Dynasty 1736-1795 - On display at the British Museum in London
This photo was taken by a Kowa Super 66 medium format film camera with a KOWA 1:3.5/55 lens and Kowa L39•3C(UV) ø67 filter using Ilford Delta 3200 film, the negative scanned by an Epson Perfection V600 and digitally rendered with Photoshop.
Name：Fang-hu, squarih ritual wine vessel
Number：89-00684
Level： National Treasure
Size：Height 90.3cm,weight 44kg
The square Hu is one of a pair. The other now is in the Beijing Palace Museum. They are the utensils found in the tomb of Marquise Cheng of the State of Cheng. The elaborate Hu has an openwork lid. Two handles are coiled dragons which cling on the neck, turn their heads backwards and stick out their tongues. A cross-shape spine was placed on the belly. There is also a pair of tongue-sticking crouching dragons on the long-square base. The complicate patterns add to its elaboration, which is the unique style of the Spring-and-Autumn Period.
品名：蟠龍方壺
館藏編號：h0000286
類別：銅器
級別： 國寶
公告日期：2011.02.11
尺寸：高90.3cm 最大腹長39cm 最大腹寬26.5cm 底徑30x24cm 口徑19.8x14cm
蟠龍方壺出土於河南新鄭，為春秋時期中原鄭公大墓之物。是著名的楚式龍耳方壺，早見於著錄，目前僅出土4對。壺乃酒器，具有盛酒、盛水之功能。周代禮制謹嚴，使用時必定成雙，方壺者，為卿大夫而設，使用於祭祀饗宴時，因此常使用精緻的紋飾裝飾，製作非常華美，並遠勝他器。
蟠龍方蓋沿寬厚，上接鏤空網狀的蟠蛇紋蓋冠，蓋冠以失蠟法製作而成。兩側附耳作立體鏤空回首的龍形圓雕一對，圈足下設一吐舌的虎形立雕，製作精良，珍貴無比。蟠龍方壺出土時原為一對，另一件藏於北京故宮博物院。同墓還出土蓮鶴方壺一對；其中一件藏於北京故宮博物院青銅館，另一件藏於河南博物院。
中央研究院歷史語言研究所 歷史文物陳列館
Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica
Taipei, Taiwan
2023/3/15
hx22596
dans.photo@gmail.com
A few of the many details of the Town Hall - Brussel
The Town Hall of the City of Brussels is a Gothic building from the Middle Ages. It is located on the famous Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium.
The oldest part of the present Town Hall is its east wing (to the left, when facing the front). This wing, together with a small belfry, was built from 1402 to 1420 under direction of Jacob van Thienen, and future additions were not originally foreseen. However, the admission of the craft guilds into the traditionally patrician city government probably spurred interest in expanding the building. A second, shorter wing was completed within five years of Charles the Bold laying its first stone in 1444. The right wing was built by Guillaume (Willem) de Voghel who in 1452 also built the Magna Aula.
The 96 meter (310 ft) high tower in Brabantine Gothic style emerged from the plans of Jan van Ruysbroek, the court architect of Philip the Good. By 1455 this tower had replaced the older belfry. Above the roof of the Town Hall, the square tower body narrows to a lavishly pinnacled octagonal openwork. Atop the spire stands a 5-meter-high gilt metal statue of the archangel Michael, patron saint of Brussels, slaying a dragon or devil. The tower, its front archway and the main building facade are conspicuously off-center relative to one another. According to legend, the architect upon discovering this "error" leapt to his death from the tower. More likely, the asymmetry of the Town Hall was an accepted consequence of the scattered construction history and space constraints.
The Town Hall at night
The facade is decorated with numerous statues representing nobles, saints, and allegorical figures. The present sculptures are reproductions; the older ones are in the city museum in the "King's House" across the Grand Place.
After the bombardment of Brussels in 1695 by a French army under the Duke of Villeroi, the resulting fire completely gutted the Town Hall, destroying the archives and the art collections. The interior was soon rebuilt, and the addition of two rear wings transformed the L-shaped building into its present configuration: a quadrilateral with an inner courtyard completed by Corneille Van Nerven in 1712. The Gothic interior was revised by Victor Jamar in 1868 in the style of his mentor Viollet-le-Duc. The halls have been replenished with tapestries, paintings, and sculptures, largely representing subjects of importance in local and regional history.
The Town Hall accommodated not only the municipal authorities of the city, but until 1795 also the States of Brabant. From 1830, a provisional government assembled here during the Belgian Revolution
Tsuki says: "This is mine, nobody else is having it !"
Tsuki's gorgeous hand carved bench is a fabulous piece of art by Joanna Rajtar, JRajtar on etsy.
Empire style inspired, oak wood with openwork armrest, black leather upholstery and brass foot pads.
Photos cannot do it justice,
Simply stunning!
Tsuki - porcelain Enchanted Doll Sapphire, wig by Marina Bychkova, dress by Bibarina.
Incense Burner / Brûleur d'encens
with openwork geometric design
Celadon
12ème siècle
Goryeo
hauteur 15,3 cm
Cet objet très esthétique et harmonieux est le Trésor national n° 95
Acquis en 1911
Notice du catalogue du musée national de Corée, Séoul
www.museum.go.kr/site/eng/relic/masterpiece/view?relicMpI...
La poterie de la Corée ancienne, de l'époque Koryo ou Goryeo (918-1392) est célèbre pour son art du céladon. Cette technique, initiée dans la Chine des Song, a été développée par les artisans coréens qui l'ont portée à un très haut niveau.
Silver, 8th-7th century B.C.E.
W. 18.4 cm.
The kingdom of Urartu that had spread east and south from the region of Lake Van in what is now eastern Turkey was known above all as the center of a vigorous metalworking industry. It utilized bronze, iron, and to a lesser extent silver and gold. Its metal artifacts were exported to lands as far away as Italy.
This crescent-shaped silver pectoral may have been worn around the neck of a high official. It has been suggested that gold, silver, and bronze pectorals connoted degrees of official rank in Urartian society.1 Two bronze statuettes in the Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin, depict male figures with crescent-shaped pectorals.2 Two bronze winged sphinxes, one in the British Museum and one in the Hermitage Museum, are shown wearing similar ornaments.3 A small couchant sphinx on a bronze candelabrum bearing an inscription naming an Urartian king as its owner also wears one.4 It would appear that both humans and non-human supernatural beings could be represented with this type of pectoral in Urartian art.
This pectoral's imagery is complex, featuring three sacred trees, so called, inhabited by striding fantastic winged quadrupeds. Two identical rows of two-legged winged creatures approach the central tree with drawn bows while two winged genii kneel on opposite sides of the crescent between pairs of raised rosettes. These motifs are most likely amuletic in function. Urartian imagery such as that seen here is found mainly on metal articles of personal use and chariot fittings, and seems to favor repetitive arrangements of individual elements that cannot be easily related to one another.5 Thus, we cannot tell with certainty whether the creatures with drawn bows are protecting or attacking the central sacred tree, or whether they are simply placed symmetrically with no specific relation to it.
A magnificent gold pectoral from Ziwiye in northwest Iran, dated to the seventh century B.C., is thought to have been inspired by the Urartian type in both shape and decoration.6 Distinctive but possibly derivative pectorals in precious metals have been found in Etruscan tombs; and it has been suggested that this type of ornament passed from the Etruscans to the Roman army.7 Other possibly related lunate pectorals dated to the mid-first millennium B.C. have been found in Eastern Europe.8 Also worth mentioning is a superb gold openwork crescent pectoral in the State Historical Museum in Kiev, clearly Greek in its artisanship and style, found in a South Russian Scythian tomb of the fourth century B.C.9 Richly decorated crescent pectorals are sometimes represented in Gandharan art. One notable example can be seen on a statue of the Buddhist goddess Hariti from Skarah Dheri.10 Similarly ornate pectorals of silver and brass appear to have been popular items of modern jewelry in the Swat Valley in Northwest Pakistan and may be descended from this ancient tradition.11
MLC
1. Merhav 1991, p. 164. This is the opinion of Hans-J. Kellner in one section of the catalogue. Merhav (p. 172) is not convinced.
2. Ghirshman 1964, p. 308, fig. 370; Merhav 1991, pp. 171-72, figs. 4-5.
3. British Museum: Merhav 1991 pp. 282-83, nos. a-b; also Ghirshman 1964, p. 309, fig. 371; Hermitage Museum: Piotrovsky 1967, pl. 3; also Merhav 1991, p. 173, fig. 7.
4. Merhav 1991, p. 173 , fig. 8, p. 262, no. 10a. This is in the Museum f Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg.
5. Ibid., pp. 312-14. This is the opinion of Peter Calmeyer, who wrote a section on Urartian iconography in the catalogue.
6. Ghirshman 1964, p. 311, fig. 376a-c.
7. Ibid., p. 310.
8. Ibid., figs. 374, 375.
9. Rolle 1980, pls. 14-18.
10. Ingholt 1957, pl. II.3; Dobbins 1967, pp. 268-72.
11. Kalter 1989, pp. 142-43, p. 98, figs. 131-33, p. 99, fig. 134, p. 100, fig. 137.
Text and image from the website of the Miho Museum.
By R D Chantrell, 1839-41; Dr W F Hook, vicar; alterations to east end 1870-80. Ashlar, slate roofs. Equal-length chancel and nave, both with clerestories and tall aisles; massive tower at centre of north aisle, shallow chancel apse, low outer north aisle, south transept. In Gothic Revival style. Main entrance below tower: massive oak doors, original ironwork. Generally Perpendicular tracery, 5-light east window, crocketted pinnacles, turrets at corners. Panelled sides, clock by Potts of Leeds, tall 2-light belfry, openwork battlements, crocketted pinnacles.
Also known as The Parish Church of Saint Peter-at-Leeds.
Robert Dennis Chantrell (1793-1872), born in Newington, London, became one of the most important church architects of Leeds. Chantrell's father was a businessman who took his young family to various European cities, where Chantrell was greatly inspired by the picturesque architectural forms he saw. Chantrell was eventually articled to Sir John Soane, then at the peak of his career. In 1816, he returned North and three years later opened his practice in Leeds. He was particularly noted as a church architect and pioneer Gothicist.
Salamis "royal" Tombs, at Tuzla, outskirts of Salamis
...........
St Catherine's Prison
Salamis, Near Famagusta, North Cyprus
St Catherine's prison. Tomb 50 at the Royal Tombs, Salamis, near Famagusta, North Cyprus
St Catherine's Prison
St Catherine's prison is officially tomb 50 within the Royal Tombs complex. So Who was Catherine, and what was her link with here?
St Catherine was a royal princess, the daughter of King Constant of Cyprus, born around 287AD. The Roman emperor at the time was Diocletian, who was known for his cruel persecution of Christians. When Constant was transferred to Alexandria to rule over Egypt, his brother became administrator of Cyprus. King Constant died soon after his arrival in Alexandria, and his daughter was sent back to her uncle in Cyprus.
When her uncle learned that she had become a Christian, he tried to convert her back to the pagan religion. Catherine was unyielding, and proclaimed her faith with such determination, that her uncle was forced to take harsh measures against her. Fearing that the emperor would put him to death for protecting her, her uncle imprisoned her first at Salamis, then at Paphos, before sending her to Alexandria.
Tomb 50 at the Royal tombs, Salamis, near Famagusta, North Cyprus
Tomb 50
The ruler of Alexandria at the time was Maxentius, son of the emperor Diocletian, and he was as ruthless as his father. He also tried to get her to change her faith, without success, torturing her and throwing her into prison. He asked 50 philosophers and orators to convince Catherine to return to the religion of her fathers. She countered their arguments to such an extent that she converted them to Christianity. This infuriated Maxentius, who ordered that the philosophers be burned at the stake.
It is also said that when Maxentius was away from Alexandria, his queen, followed by 200 officers and men visited Catherine in prison to convince her to relent. the soldiers were so impressed by Catherine's convincing defence that they were converted to Christianity and baptised. When Maxentius heard of this, he had them all beheaded.
He finally ordered that Catherine should be severely beaten and tied to a rolling spiked wheel. Ever wondered where the firework got its name? Although she survived this torture, she was beheaded in 307.
The interior of St Catherine's prison, Salamis, near Famagusta, North Cyprus
St Catherine's Prison Interior
Tomb 50 was originally built in the first half of the 7th century BC. Like the other tombs, excavations in 1965 showed that it consisted of a vaulted rectangular burial chamber with a wide dromos to the east. Two sacrificed horse skeletons and traces of a vehicle were found.
Between the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, the present vaulted chamber was constructed. It is thought that during this period it was used as a temple where you could go to remember exalted people.
Between the 4th and 7th centuries, stairs were built at the entrance to the vaulted chamber, and it became a burial ground. In the dromos, amphorae were discovered, which had been used for children's burials.
From the 14th century, the building was used as a Greek Orthodox chapel, a use which continued up until 1950.
There is no proof that St Catherine was ever imprisoned here, but the structure of the building is obviously in the style of a church. As it has been dated to the 4th century, around the time of St Catherine, the obvious conclusion is that there must have been some reason for building it here......
The royal tombs (sometimes called the kings tombs) are located in an area between Tuzla and Salamis. The entrance to the complex is close to St Barnabas' Monastery.
Tomb 3 at the Royal Tombs, Salamis near Famagusta, North Cyprus
Tomb 3
This site became famous in the 1950s because of the rich finds here. Until the end of the 19th century, however there was almost a "free for all" for treasure hunters. At the start of the 20th century, however, more scientific excavation was started. Unfortunately, the methods used in those days also caused some damage. However, in every case, the entrance way (dromos) had been undisturbed, and it was in this area that the richest discoveries were made.
The tombs date to the 8th and 7th centuries BC. Some go back to the 11th century BC, suggesting that for some time, Salamis coexisted with Enkomi.
The funerary rites of the tombs are very similar. In all, at least one pair of yoked horses has been sacrificed in the dromos, with or without a chariot. The wooden parts of these chariots had decayed, but left impressions in the soil with the metal parts still in place. In tomb 3, excavated in 1964, one chariot was accompanied by the deceased's armour, a silver studied sword, some bronze and iron-headed arrows, a bronze shield and an iron-headed spear. Offerings of food and honey, placed in amphora, were also found here.
Tomb 1, excavated in 1957, contained two burials from different periods. The first consisted of a bronze cauldron containing the cremated bones of a dead woman wrapped in cloth, with a necklace of gold, rock crystal beads and several thin sheets of gold. It is thought because of the shape of the tomb and the richness of the material, the burial belonged to a noble lady or princess. The skeletons of two horses were found on the floor of the dromos, with traces of the wooden parts of a chariot. These date to middle of the 8th century BC. The second burial, around 100 years later was disturbed badly, but four horses' skeletons, traces of a two-poled chariot, as well as some metal parts of horses' gear and a chariot's metal parts were found.
Tomb 47 with Tomb 3 in the background at the Royal Tombs, Salamis, near Famagusta, North Cyprus
Tomb 47 (Tomb 3 in the Background)
Tombs 79 and 47 provided the richest finds, with evidence of several elaborate royal burials. Tomb 47 is the largest, and is alongside the Royal Tombs Museum. It was excavated in 1964. It has a spacious cemented dromos leading to a monumental temple in front of a chamber built of enormous well-dressed stones.
This tomb was used twice for burials. In the first, two horses of a hearse were sacrificed. One of the horses had tried to escape when its companion was killed, but had twisted round the chariot pole and was found with its neck broken. The iron bits of the horses were still in their mouths, and the remains of leather frontlets and blinkers covered with sheets of gold on their heads. There was no trace of the chariot in this burial, and it was probably used as a hearse and placed with the body.
At a later burial, six horses were sacrificed, yoked in pairs, with ornamental coverings, iron bits and blinkers and frontlets of ivory and bronze with relief decorations of lotus flowers.
The best finds, however, are from tomb 79, just south of tomb 47. Evidence shows that it received two burials in a short space of time towards the end of the 8th century BC. A four-horse chariot had its wheels held by magnificent lynch pins nearly 2 ft long, with a bronze sphinx head at one end, and a hollow bronze figure of a warrior at the other, wearing a crested helmet, body armour inlaid with blue glass, and a long sword hanging from a baldric.
Tomb 79 att the Royal Tombs, Salamis, near Famagusta, North Cyprus
Tomb 79
A two-horse hearse had bronze lion heads on the corners and on the front The bronze gear of the horses lay piled in a corner, including breast plates with embossed designs of oriental animals and myths, and two side pendants showing the goddess Ishtar as mistress of the wild beasts. |Also of oriental design was a bronze tripod cauldron decorated with illustrations of griffins and bird-men round the rim.
The principal find at this tomb was a number of ivories, including a gold and ivory throne and an ivory-veneered bed. Of the ornaments discovered, the finest was probably an openwork, two-sided plaque of a winged sphinx wearing the crowns of Egypt.
Some of the horse skeletons have been left in situ, and there is a small museum on site showing some of the finds, although most are now elsewhere, the bed for example being in the Cyprus Museum in south Nicosia.
There is no evidence to show that these Royal Tombs belonged to the kings of Salamis, but with the precious death gifts, and the monumental architecture of the tombs, there is no doubt that they belonged to noble or rich persons.
And the less noble or rich? They were buried at the Necropolis of Cellarka, which is to be found within this complex, as is Tomb 50, commonly known as St Catherine's prison.
The Town Hall is a Gothic building from the Middle Ages. It is located on the famous Grand Place.
The oldest part of the present Town Hall is its east wing and was built from 1402 to 1420 under direction of Jacob van Thienen, and future additions were not originally foreseen. However, the admission of the craft guilds into the traditionally patrician city government probably spurred interest in expanding the building. A second, shorter wing was completed within five years of Charles the Bold laying its first stone in 1444. The right wing was built by Guillaume (Willem) de Voghel.
The 96 meter (310 ft) high tower in Brabantine Gothic style emerged from the plans of Jan van Ruysbroek, the court architect of Philip the Good. By 1455 this tower had replaced the older belfry.
Above the roof of the Town Hall, the square tower body narrows to a lavishly pinnacled octagonal openwork. Atop the spire stands a 5-meter-high gilt metal statue of the archangel Michael, patron saint of Brussels, slaying a dragon or devil. The tower, its front archway and the main building facade are conspicuously off-center relative to one another. According to legend, the architect upon discovering this "error" leapt to his death from the tower. More likely, the asymmetry of the Town Hall was an accepted consequence of the scattered construction history and space constraints.
The chapel
The chapel, located one kilometer northwest of the town, on the road to Coat-Méal, is in a magnificent setting, which also houses a fountain and a Calvary. It would date from the 15th century but it is likely that it partially contains earlier chapel structures. The chapel, sold during the revolution, was ceded to the town in 1825 by a certain Mr. Guéna. In 1841, the town donated it free of charge to the “factory” so that it could once again be opened for worship. The chapel had only one altar and included statues of the patron saint, of Our Lady of Sorrows and of St-Jean the Evangelist. Over the decades that followed, it gradually deteriorated and it took all the abnegation of the Friends of Saint-Urfold to restore it to health, in particular by adorning it with stained glass windows relating the life of the hermit.
“Although the name of its builder is not known with certainty, it is attested that the Kerlozrec family was the main donor from the first half of the 15th century. This is why it is possible to think that, perhaps, the members of this family and, more particularly Jehan de Kerlozrec and his wife Catherine de Kerhoënt (owners of the Coativy-Bihan manor in 1443) whose coat of arms still appears above the west door and on the left of the north altar, were at the origin of the construction of the Saint-Urfold chapel. However, they were certainly not the only ones to play an important role in the history of this building in the Middle Ages since four coats of arms of other lords also adorn the walls. Unfortunately these coats of arms could not provide any additional information. In effect, Having been only painted and not hammered like those of De Kerlozrec, most have either become naturally illegible over the centuries, or probably erased during the French Revolution. As for the one to the right of the altar, although decipherable, it does not appear in theNobiliary and Armorial of Brittany of Pol Potier de Courcy. Therefore, it remains a great enigma. Therefore all the hypotheses concerning it are possible. Was this coat of arms that of the wife of a son of Jehan de Kerlozrec, who came from a region outside Brittany? The question remains.
Rectangular in plan, the chapel has a nave with three bays and a large openwork apse with two tall twin windows. At the same time as the construction of this building, the tomb of the saint was highlighted by the installation of a plain sarcophagus, three feet high, without inscription, hollowed out a vaulted arcade.
To accompany the tomb, in addition to the furniture necessary for any office, it seems that around the 16th century (early modern period) the statue of Saint Margaret of Antioch and of Christ on the Cross, still visible today, were also placed in the chapel.
It was probably the same for the pietà in polychrome wood, placed since 1950 in the Notre-Dame church” (after Once upon a time Bourg-Blanc , Aurélie Alliard-Bescond).
Wrapped openwork vessel, 2023 7" x 7" x 4"
see creation info www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPkp1f36AtQ&t=64s
St Mary's is over 500 years old, having been built on the site of a previous Norman Church. As the following description from Arthur Mee's Yorkshire North Riding indicates it is worth a visit:
Thirsk has nothing to compare with its splendid church of St Mary, which has probably no equal for its time in the North Riding. Set on the green bank of one of the willow-bordered streams, it is a magnificent tribute to those who built it in the first half of the 15th century. Nobly yet simply planned, it has a lofty clerestoried nave with aisles, a lower chancel built over a crypt, a west tower, and a two-storeyed porch. A lovely feature of the exterior is the openwork parapet of traceried battlements edging all the walls, as well as the tower and the porch, as with delicate embroidery. There are slender and leafy pinnacles, weird gargoyles, and a glorious array of windows which make the interior a veritable lantern of light.
The tower has unusual buttresses, stepped and sloping, and a niche with a battered sculpture, probably a Madonna. The porch has an oak roof with bosses, but we still see the springers which were meant to support a vault. The richly moulded inner doorway has its worn 15th century door, still magnificent with its studs, tracery, and wicket. It is an introduction to much beautiful old woodwork within. The finest of the 500-year-old roofs is that of the nave, a barrel of open timbering with rich beams and bosses, and spandrels with tracery. In the carving of the one or two bench-ends that remain we see the asses of Askwith and the lion of Mowbray. There are 15th century screens in the aisles, a medieval door in the chancel, an old chest, and an exceptionally fine altar table said to have come from Byland Abbey; it has a border enriched with heads of men and women, and is supported by seated lions. Some old wood is worked into the pinnacled cover of the font.
Beautiful arcades soar to the great clerestory, where, between the windows, are traces of 17th century paintings of saints. The chancel has a trefoiled niche at each side of the east window, and three handsome sedilia. An oil painting of Doubting Thomas is thought to be 16th century, and one of the bells is believed to have been ringing at Fountains Abbey 500 years ago. In the 15th century glass filling the east window of the south aisle with a rich medley of red, blue, and silver light are many little heads and many complete figures, among them Anna, Cleopas, St Leonard, St Giles kneeling, and angels with shields. On two of the shields are three asses and the lion to match those carved in wood. St Catherine and angels are recognisable in glass fragments in the other aisle. The window above Sir Robert Lister Bower's bronze portrait plaque has rich glass in his memory. He had a thrilling adventure in his army days, for as a young man he was in the regiment which went up the Nile to try to relieve Gordon at Khartoum; in his window are nurses, an African native, and a knight riding a horse in splendid trappings, hounds following.”
In November 2016, the church was covered with handmade poppies as part of the Remembrance Day celebrations in Thirsk. The Thirsk Yarnbombers created a more than 40,000 knitted or crocheted poppies to decorate the town, with the main display consisting of a "river" of poppies flowing from the top of St Mary's Church, down the side and then across the wall of the church's cemetery.
Prompt: An antique clock with a pendulum and a cuckoo is hanging on the wall. There is a dim light in the room and only a ray of sunlight falls on the golden pendulum of the clock. There is antique furniture in the room, clean and tidy. There is a vase of flowers on the table on an openwork napkin. The realistic clock attracts attention and is the accent of the painting --ar 5:4 --v 7
This digital fine art was created using Midjourney AI and Photoshop
Official list entry
Heritage Category:Listed Building
Grade:I
List Entry Number:1269316
Date first listed:18-Jan-1949
Statutory Address: Abbey Church of St Mary and St Aldhelm, Malmesbury, Wiltshire
Location
Statutory Address: Abbey Church of St Mary and St Aldhelm, Malmesbury, Wiltshire
District: Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
Parish:Malmesbury
National Grid Reference:ST 93280 87320
Details
Benedictine Abbey church, now parish church. Church founded c637 by Irish hermit Mailduib, monastery founded during abbacy of Aldhelm (c675-705), though no pre-C12 work survives; church probably begun under Bishop Roger (c1118-1139), and mostly dates from c1160-80 with a 9-bay aisled nave, transepts with E chapels, chancel, ambulatory with 3 radiating chapels, and S porch, rebuilt 1350-1450 above gallery level with clerestory, vault, crossing spire and W towers, a lengthened chancel and Lady Chapel; spire fell 1479. After Dissolution nave altered by William Stumpe of Abbey House (qv) and damaged W parts walled for the parish church, W tower fell c1662, W window by Goodridge 1830, restored W end 1903. MATERIALS: limestone ashlar with stone tiles. STYLE: late Romanesque style C12 work, Decorated Gothic style C14 extensions. PLAN: reduced since the Dissolution to 6 E bays of nave, with short lengths of transept walls and S corner of W end. EXTERIOR: the E end has a single N chancel bay and matching chancel arch with paired half shafts set in square piers with quarter round capitals, beneath the 2-centre arched line of the vault, and tas-de-charges with sunken mouchettes; the jambs of next E bay has matching aisle and triforium semi-circular jambs with chevron mouldings. Inner wall of N transept has blocked 2-centred aisle arch containing a C16 doorway and 3-light mullion window, and a blind round-arched doorway to the right; 6-bay N elevation has a blind former cloister wall along the aisle divided by buttresses, with a roll-top coping, and round-arched windows above a cill band containing C14 tracery, with a steep gable in the fourth bay containing a 3-light Decorated tracery window; at the left end is a blocked, round-arched C12 doorway with an archivolt of relief palmettes, and a cusped cinquefoil arch set within. The C14 clerestory has flying buttresses with tall pyramidal pinnacles between 3-light 2-centre arched windows, 2-light at the E end, with paterae to each side of the three E windows. S transept as N, 2 bays after the aisle arch, an incomplete arcade of interlacing round arches with a chevron moulding
beneath 2 storeys of round-arched windows with splayed reveals, the lower windows flanked by narrow round-arched recesses containing inner arches open to a passage through the walls. The arcade continues along the former external side of the S transept and to the 9-bay S elevation, otherwise as the N side with a Decorated cusped openwork parapet to aisle and nave, and with second and third bays from E containing C14 2-centre windows with Decorated tracery. C12 porch rebuilt externally in C14 with angle buttresses, has a very fine splayed round-arched entrance of 3 orders, without capitals, richly carved with iconographic Biblical scenes set in oval panels, and separated by richly carved mouldings, and a hood with dog head stops. Inside is a similarly-moulded doorway and C14 door, beneath a tympanum of Christ in Glory supported by 2 angels, with along both sides the round-arched arcade above a bench, beneath finely-carved lunettes each of 6 Apostles with a horizontal flying angel above. In the E re-entrant is a square stair turret with a pyramidal roof. The incomplete W end has a massive clasping buttress stair turret to the S corner in 4 stages separated by moulded strings, blank from the ground, a pair of blind round-arched panels containing lower arched panels to the second stage, an arcade of narrow interlacing round-arches to the third, and a taller arcade to the fourth stage with square section mouldings; the bay to the left as the S aisle, with a pair of round arches with flanking half arches at the second stage enriched with chevron moulding, containing pairs of round-arches; above is an arcade of 5 round-arches, and a blind wall topped with a C20 parapet. The S side of the central entrance bay has the jamb of a round-arched entrance with 2 orders carved as the S porch and plain capitals, beneath the jamb of a large C14 W window with the springers of 4 cusped transoms. INTERIOR: nave arcade has round shafts with scallop capitals to sharply moulded 2-centre arches, with billet mouldings to the 2 E arches, and billet hoods with dog head stops; the triforium has blind round arches with attached shafts to cushion capitals, a chevron moulding, with an arcade of 4 similar arches within; splayed clerestory windows have rere arches. An attached shaft extends up from the piers to C14 tas-de-charges, and a lierne vault with carved bosses. A 'Watching Loft' is corbelled out above the fourth pier on the S side of the nave, with plain openings and billet moulded cornice. The C12 aisles have pointed quadripartite vaults and benches,
the blind arcade of the outside beneath the windows, on the S side without the middle columns; the E end bays have C15 stone screens with Perpendicular tracery. To the left of the entrance is a winder stair to the C14 parvis over the porch, which has C20 panelling. MEMORIALS: running counter-clockwise from the entrance, a wall monument to Joseph Cullerne, d1764, a marble panel with raised bracketed top section; wall monument to Robert Greenway, d1751, a marble shield; wall monument to Bartholomew Hiren, d1703, a panel with a broken pediment; at the W end, a wall monument to Dame Cyscely Marshal, d 162?, with a slate panel in a carved alabaster frame; to the left a late C17 cartouche with drapes; in the N aisle, a dresser tomb of King Athelston, d939, with narrow buttresses to the sides, with a recumbent figure of the King with his feet on a lion, and a vaulted canopy behind his head; wall monument to Elizabeth Warneford, d1631, a slate plaque set in a moulded alabaster frame with shields along the sides, a cartouche, and a segmental cornice over; wall tablet to Isaac Watts, d 1789, an oval marble panel set in slate; wall tablet to Johannes Willis, mid C18, a marble panel with gadroon beneath and a cornice; wall tablet to GI Saunders, d1806, with a round-arched top and moulded frame; wall tablet to Elizabeth George, d1806, a well-carved cartouche with putti below; wall tablet to Edward Cullerne, d1765, marble with yellow marble inserts and a pediment; wall tablet to Mary Thomson, d1723, a stone panel with draped surround including an hour glass; wall tablet facing the entrance to Willima Robernce (?), d1799, a stone frame including a small inscribed pointing hand in the corner. Set in the chancel floor are a group of 8 brasses from late C17 to mid C18. FITTINGS: include a round C15 font from St Mary Westport (qv), with a turned base and fluted sides; at the W end of the nave, is the font used since the C17; in the S aisle, a glass case containing a verge of 1615, carved with features of the Abbey; at the E end the S aisle is the parish chest dated 1638, panelled with 3 locks; communion rail of c1700 with twisted balusters. In the parvis are kept 4 volumes of an illustrated manuscript Bible of 1407. GLASS: mostly C14 glass in the N aisle; the Luce window in the S aisle designed by Burne Jones and made by William Morris. HISTORICAL NOTE: the use of pointed arches and vaults in the aisles is structurally advanced and transitional with Early Gothic, and links Malmesbury with subsequent West Country churches, but the carving is Anglo Saxon in character, and probably borrowed from manuscript illustrations. The conventual buildings stood on the N side of the church; for the reredorter and sections of the precinct wall, see
Abbey House, Market Cross (qv), and for the guest house, see Old Bell Hotel, Gloucester Street (qv). (Victoria History of the Counties of England: Crowley DA: Wiltshire: 1991-: 157; Archaeologia: Brakspear H: Malmesbury Abbey: 1912-; Smith MQ: The Sculptures of the S Porch of Malmesbury Abbey: Malmesbury: 1973-; The Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Wiltshire: London: 1963-: 321-327; Midmer R: English Medieval Monasteries 1066-1540: London: 1976-: 212).
© Historic England 2022
La chaire, sculptée par Robert Verbure, représente des scènes de la vie de saint François, tandis que le long de la balustrade sont des médaillons des saints de l'ordre franciscains. {fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couvent_des_R%C3%A9collets_de_Li%C3...}
Before 1737.
Dance Macabre 02/02/2023 15h26
A look over the fences and behind the scenes during the construction of Dance Macabre in the new thematic area Huyverwoud. With a little imagination, the foundation of the round building is clearly visible, which is central to the new sinister dance experience that will open in 2024 as Dance Macabre.
Looking from the previous front square of Spookslot towards Piraña.
Danse Macabre is designed as a ruin of a round Gothic monastery, with elements such as battlements, buttresses and pinnacles. On top of the domed roof is a so-called lantern; an openwork crown.
Huyverwoud
Huyverwoud (translated Shiver Forest) will have an area of 17,000 square metres. The Danse Macabre attraction will be located right next to the Spookslot remains. Efteling is also realizing a souvenir shop, toilets and a catering facility in the theme area, which must be completely finished in 2024. The total investment amounts to approximately 25 million euros.
[ Looopings, 11/2022 ]
May 1, 2022 - Located at the corner of Singel and Koningsplein, Rijksmonument number 518360.
Introduction
Built in 1899 on the corner of Singel and Koningsplein in a mixture of Neo-Baroque and Art Nouveau style, DEPARTMENT STORE with warehouses, studios and an office, called New England, after a design by A. Jacot and W. Oldewelt commissioned by the N.V. Maatschappij Exploitatie Engros- en Detailzaken 'New England'. N.B. The department store extended over the ground, first and second floors.
In 1913-1914 the building was partly renovated and the merging of Koningsplein 4 and 6 with Singel 468 followed, with the designation thereof as a shop, office, warehouse and studios by A. Jacot on behalf of the H. Meyer fa. J.G. Sphere.
The ground floor was renovated in 1990 for Albert Heyn, whereby the shop front was radically changed. In addition, the entrance, originally in the rounded corner, has been moved to the Koningsplein.
definition
Department store built on a trapezoidal plan, originally called New England, consisting of an iron construction that was partly left in sight, filled with large cast iron shop windows and natural stone. Freestone and Oberkirchner sandstone have been used for the natural stone. The corner building consists of a ground floor and three floors under a truncated hipped roof covered with shingles. The dome is covered with slate.
The first two floors are separated by large, visible horizontal iron beams. On the first floor, the windows placed between slender natural stone pilasters are rectangular with vertically subdivided skylights. The colossal pilasters over two floors have decorative wrought iron wall anchors. The window axes on the second floor have decorative cast-iron balustrades. The segment-shaped skylights, designed in New Art style, are divided vertically. On the Koningsplein side, in the leftmost window axis, there is a triangular bay window above which is a balcony with an openwork balustrade. The transition from the second to the third floor is formed by a wide frieze with a cantilevered cordon band provided with bobbins. The third floor, which is lower in storey height, has two linked round-arched closed windows with heavy natural stone frames on consoles on both sides of the rounded corner. The other windows are rectangular and separated by natural stone pilasters.
The three outer bays on the Singel side and the outer bay on Koningsplein belong to the expansion of 1913-1914 and have an extra floor. The outer bay on the Singel has a bay window over two floors.
The dome has a round-arched window at the front between two blind niches. The dome is further provided with pilasters and a frieze placed at both the top and bottom. In the roof of the dome four small dormer windows. The dome is topped by an openwork lantern with decorative wrought iron balustrade. On both sides of the dome, segment-shaped, decoratively designed dormer windows with recessed windows.
Appreciation Former department store of general interest because of its architectural-historical value as an example of a mixture of historicism and New Art, as well as of cultural-historical value as a reminiscence of the rise of the large department store from the end of the 19th century. Moreover, the building, together with the Speyer building opposite, fulfills a strong image-determining function within the urban development on the Koningsplein. Previous description translated to English from the following website: monumentenregister.cultureelerfgoed.nl/monumenten/518360
Monastery of Batalha
The Monastery of the Dominicans of Batalha was built to commemorate the victory of the Portuguese over the Castilians at the battle of Aljubarrota in 1385. It was to be the Portuguese monarchy's main building project for the next two centuries. Here a highly original, national Gothic style evolved, profoundly influenced by Manueline art, as demonstrated by its masterpiece, the Royal Cloister.
The Chapterhouse
reminds the visitors of the military reason for its foundation: two sentinels guard the tombs of two unknown soldiers killed in World War I.
This square room is especially notable for its star vault lacking a central support and spanning a space of 19 square meters. This was such a daring concept at the time that condemned prisoners were used to perform the task. It was completed after two failed attempts. When the last scaffolds were removed, it is said that Huguet spent the night under the vault in order to silence his critics.
The stained-glass Renaissance window in the east wall dates from 1508. It depicts scenes of the Passion and is attributed to the Portuguese painters Master João and Francisco
Henriques Constructed in fulfilment of a vow by King João to commemorate the victory over the Castilians at Aljubarrota (15 August 1385), the Dominican monastery of Batalha is one of the great masterpieces of Gothic art. The majority of the monumental complex dates from the reign of João I, when the church (finished in 1416), the royal cloister, the chapter-house, and the funeral chapel of the founder were constructed.
Following a brief interruption, work was begun again under King Duarte on the prolongation of the choir, the construction of his funerary chapel and that of his descendants, a spacious edifice based an octagonal plan that the death of the king in 1438 left unfinished. The design has been attributed to the English architect Master Huguet. The chapel's floor plan consists of an octagonal space inserted inside a square, creating two separate volumes that combine most harmoniously. The ceiling consists of an eight-point star-shaped lantern. The most dramatic feature is to be found in the centre of the chapel: the enormous medieval tomb of Dom João I and his wife, Queen Philippa of Lancaster, the first tomb for husband and wife made in Portugal, on which are carved the coats of arms of the Houses of Avis and Lancaster. Bays in the chapel walls contain the tombs of their sons, among them Prince Henry the Navigator.
The main entrance of the church is through the porch on the west facade. On both sides of this portal are sculptures of the twelve apostles standing on consoles. In the centre is a high relief statue of Christ in Majesty surrounded by the Evangelists, framed by six covings decorated with sculptures of biblical kings and queens, prophets and angels holding musical instruments from the Middle Ages. This great profusion of sculptures is completed by the crowning of the Virgin Mary.
The church's interior refers back to the period of sober Gothic majesty that has remained undisturbed by later additions. The nave and aisles are separated by thick pillars crowned by capitals with plant motifs. The chancel windows, decorated with beautiful 16th century stained-glass windows representing the Visitation, the Adoration of the Magi, the Flight into Egypt and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, project a diffused light that gives the church a feeling of great spirituality.
The last great period of Batalha coincided with the reign of Manuel I, who built the monumental vestibule and the principal portal, and restored the royal cloister, built in the reign of Dom João I. The arches overlooking the garden were built later and are embellished with finely carved tracery displaying the emblems of Dom Manuel I, the Cross of the Order of Christ and the armillary sphere. In the galleries are doors leading to the various rooms of the former monastery, beginning with the large Chapter House, a marvellous example of the pointed arches of Gothic architecture, in which the enormous vaulted ceiling has no central supports.
As a monument charged with a symbolic value from its foundation, the convent of Batalha was, for more than two centuries, the great workshop of the Portuguese monarchy. It is not surprising that the roost characteristic features of a national art would have been determined there, during both the Gothic and the Renaissance periods. Batalha is the conservatory of several privileged expressions of Portuguese art: the sober and audacious architectural style of the end of the 14th century, with the stupendous nave of the abbatial, of which the two-storey elevation, whit broad arcades and high windows, renders more impressive its dimensions; the exuberant aesthetic of the capelas imperfeitas; the marvellous flamboyant arcades embroidered in a lace-work of stone: the Manueline Baroque even more perceptible in the openwork decor of the tracery of the arcades of the royal cloister than on the immense portal attributed to Mateus Fernandes the Elder; and finally, the hybrid style of João de Castilho, architect of the loggia constructed under João III
Batalha Monastery Portugal March 2014
El Colegio de San Gregorio de Valladolid es la sede principal del Museo Nacional de Escultura. Es uno de los mejores ejemplos de la arquitectura del periodo de los Reyes Católicos. En particular, su patio y su portada son célebres por su refinada ornamentación, las elegantes proporciones y una ostensible simbología del poder.
Igualmente interesante es su historia como institución docente. Destinado a colegio de Teología para frailes dominicos, adquirió una notable autoridad doctrinal y actuó como un semillero espiritual y político de la España renacentista y barroca.
La Universidad de Valladolid fue fundada en el siglo XIII durante el reinado de Alfonso X el Sabio; como en otros países se potenció la aparición de centros colegiales, de modo que tardíamente se creó el Colegio de San Gregorio, que actuaron en paralelo o complementariamente con relación a la vida universitaria. En Valladolid se creó además el Colegio de Santa Cruz también a finales del siglo XV
La creación del Colegio, bajo la advocación del doctor de la Iglesia San Gregorio, fue obra del dominico Alonso de Burgos, obispo de la diócesis de Palencia y confesor de los Reyes Católicos. Alonso de Burgos condicionó su fundación a la obtención de la comunidad dominica de San Pablo de los terrenos para la construcción de su propia capilla funeraria, que serviría igualmente para el alumnado del Colegio. Tal petición se vio satisfecha en 1487: consigue el espacio necesario, lo cual fue confirmado por el Papa Inocencio VIII.
Las obras se iniciaron en 1488 aunque se había comenzado ya la construcción de la capilla funeraria, cuya puerta de entrada se percibe en el crucero sur de la Iglesia conventual de San Pablo.
La fachada fue concebida como un telón o estandarte (arquitectura suspendida). Su compartimentación se organiza con elementos vegetales que evocan los arcos triunfales construidos con madera y enramada, reforzándose su carácter civil y urbano. Dada su significación simbólica, la explicación de los diferentes motivos y elementos que la integran ofrece una gran dificultad, tanto individualmente como en su totalidad y en la relación entre los diferentes elementos.
En el tímpano principal y sobre el dintel decorado con flor de lis aparece la dedicatoria y la ofrenda del Colegio por parte del fraile dominico Alonso de Burgos a san Gregorio Magno en presencia de San Pablo y Santo Domingo.
Destacan las figuras de hombres silvestres cubiertos, o no, de pelo, y con garrotes y escudos; o bien aluden a la costumbre cortesana de disfrazar escuderos con ocasión de fiestas, o bien representan la imagen mítica del «hombre natural», tal como se discutió por esas fechas y entran en diálogo visual con esculturas de caballeros, vestidos con armaduras y portando lanzas y escudos, encarnando la Virtud.
La parte central superior está ocupada por un pilón hexagonal, rebosante de agua, que puede evocar la especulación intelectual como Fuente de la Vida. En torno al pilón, se arremolinan parejas de niños y de él arranca el tronco de un granado, en posible alusión a la Fuente de la Vida y al Árbol de la Ciencia, aparte de la celebración de la reciente conquista del Reino de Granada. Todo el relieve central de la fachada se constituye con esta representación simbólica de un microcosmos, a imagen del Paraíso, lugar hacia donde deberían dirigirse los hombres mediante el conocimiento de las Artes y la Teología.
La presencia del escudo de los Reyes Católicos, sostenido por leones y por el águila de San Juan podría tener una significación política o podría ser una alusión a la dedicación del edificio a la Monarquía, a la que Alonso de Burgos nombró heredera y patrona del Colegio.
El patio del Colegio es de planta cuadrada y representa una de las joyas de estilo hispanoflamenco. Sus dos pisos se levantan sobre pilares helicoidales decorados sus capiteles con medias bolas y lises separados ambos por el tema de la cadena.
En las arquerías del piso superior se encuentra toda la decoración mediante calados pretiles de tracería gótica y cortinas pétreas que al abrirse originan arcos geminados de guirnaldas y follaje, entre los que juguetean niños, concebido con una talla muy plana próxima al estilo renacentista. Un friso de yugos y flechas y las gárgolas es lo único que se conserva de su antiguo coronamiento.
El acceso al piso superior se realiza a través de una sola escalera con pretiles góticos a los que se suceden los paramentos almohadillados de su caja decorada también con el timbre heráldico del fundador y con un artesonado mudéjar, en cuyo friso se pueden observar las iniciales de los Reyes Católicos y que cierra todo su ámbito.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colegio_de_San_Gregorio
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_Nacional_de_Escultura
The Colegio de San Gregorio is an Isabelline style building located in the city of Valladolid, in Castile and León, Spain, it was formerly a college and now is housing the Museo Nacional de Escultura museum. This building is one of the best examples of the architectural style known as Isabelline, which is the characteristic architectural style of the Crown of Castile region during the Catholic Monarchs' reign (late-15th century to early-16th century).
Among other sections highlights its courtyard and its facade for its refined decoration, elegant proportions and the number of symbologies. It was founded as a teaching institution. Aimed at College of Theology for Dominican friars, it has acquired a doctrinal authority and acted as a spiritual and political hotbed in the Central region of Spain's Renaissance and Baroque periods.
The University of Valladolid was founded in the 13th-century during the Alfonso X of Castile the Wise's reign; as in other countries, the emergence of college centers was potentiated, then belatedly was created the Colegio de San Gregorio, who performed in parallel or complementarily in relation to university life. In Valladolid the Colegio Mayor Santa Cruz was also created also in late 15th-century.
The creation of the College, under the title of the Doctor of the Church Saint Gregory the Great, was work of Dominican Alonso de Burgos, the Catholic Monarchs's confessor and Bishop of the dioceses of Córdoba, Cuenca and Palencia. The foundation of the college was confirmed by with Papal Bull of Pope Innocent VIII in 1487, and accepted as Royal patronage by Queen Isabella the Catholic in 1500, after the founder's death.
It attached to the Convento de San Pablo, which Friar Alonso had been its prior, its foundation was subject to the assignment of the Capilla del Crucifijo (Crucifix's chapel), attached to the Epistle's arm of the Dominican church, to become his own funeral chapel, which later acquired dual function to also serve as a chapel for college.
Work began in 1488 in a process from the inside to outside, being the main facade the last in lift. The Royal shields in the corners of the Large courtyard still do not present the Granada's symbol suggests that this part would be completed before 1492. The building is assumed to completed in 1496.
The facade, plain facing and topped with a crest, stands out above all for its spectacular main facade, which by its stylistic features it sets regarding the workshop of Gil de Siloé, a Flemish origin artist, who was at that time in Burgos dealing with the royal sepulchers of the Miraflores Charterhouse and is known to have been commissioned to make the defunct altarpiece of the chapel, very in connection with which the sculptor had made in the Conception's chapel or of Bishop Acuña in the Cathedral of Burgos and has obvious similarities to the upper of the main facade of San Gregorio.
Perhaps evoking the triumphal arches of the architectures at that time were developing in Central Europe, or perhaps the Islamic Madrasas, architects of this building applying an individually decorated of the Castilian late-Gothic (Isabelline), it has a complex symbolic significance in that mix contemporary figures, saints, allegories, wild men, abundant symbolic of power, etc.
It has two bodies framed by two buttresses. The lower hosts a vain lintel decorated with fleur-de-lys, the founder's symbol repeated often enough, covered with three-centered arch in turn covered by another ogee trefoil.
It draw attention to the "savage men" of the jambs and buttresses, a total of sixteen. Theories about the significance of these figures, present in many buildings of 15th-century, are varied and should be put in relation to the context in which these appear. One of its functions would be simple heraldry sculptures. It is also said that, dressed with shield and mace, were the guardians of the building, beastmen guaranteeing security. Or these could allude to the custom of disguising the squires and lackeys in Court (nobility) festivities in which it presented the "savage" as inferior, in relation, for example, the chivalric romances, which mentions hair covered wild men, degraded men, estranged from the civilized world, not Christianized, and could here be in visual confrontation with the knights who also appear on the main facade, with armor, spears and shields, that would be interpreted as allegories of Virtue. On the contrary, these could also be a positive allusion, the mythical image of man in nature, unpolluted, symbol of purity that evokes the time in a perfect and happy world, with prototype to John the Baptist.
Those on the lower part, flanking the main facade, are completely covered with long hair, carrying weapons and the shields are decorated with demonic figures except in one, which has a Knight order of Calatrava's cross, the same motifs of the soldiers's shields of the second floor, the same iconography already seen for over a century.
However, in the top of the main facade are completely different, with the same attributes but without hair on the body and even two hairless, with a more human aspect, and there are authors who consider the oldest representation in Castile of an American Native, reflecting the effect of the Americas's arrival in the European imagination.
The tympanum, on a lintel, seems to represent the offering of the college by Friar Alonso de Burgos to Saint Gregory the Great in the presence of Saints Dominic and Paul, patrons of the neighboring Dominican convent, a somewhat disconcerting scene, unbalanced, with disproportion between the figures and Saint Paul with a cruciferous nimbus, an exclusive attribute of Christ. It seems to be earlier work than the rest, or even reused from other site.
The upper body is divided into three sections, with the center occupied by a hexagonal pylon which starts a pomegranate tree, referring to the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada's conquest in 1492, swirling around putti playing and jumping. It could be a Fountain of Eternal Youth's representation, hence the children, of the Tree of Knowledge, in relation to the building dedicated to the study, an allegory of the Paradise, the place to which men aspire to reach through the knowledge, an allegory of the Golden Age, in relation to the historical moment that was occurring to the Spanish monarchy.
The pomegranate tree is topped by a big shield of the Catholic Monarchs with the St. John's eagle held by two attitude lions and below the Catholic Monarchs's symbols also appear: the beam and arrows. And the use of the royal heraldry with propaganda purposes in this period reached prominence hitherto unknown, present not only in buildings directly promoted by the Catholic Monarchs but also in many that of their closest collaborators, in that way showing participation and acceptance in the political project undertaken by Isabella I and Ferdinand II in relation to the establishment of a modern state with which to control and organize all their territories under their unique power.
Upper body's side sections have the founder's heraldic decoration and two kings of arms placed at height of the central shield.
Distributed among the distributed arboured throughout the main facade are seen multiple scenes related to the defects to be overcome with the study, in relation to the search for truth and rejection of heresy, the triumph of intelligence over force or the strength to overcome temptation.
(Large courtyard) The Patio Grande was the access to the most important stays of the set. It considered a Hispanic-Flemish (Isabelline) gem, is set in relation to Juan Guas for its similarities to Palacio del Infantado in Guadalajara, although have also located abundant motifs that Bartolomé Solórzano, an active artist at that time in the area, used in the Cathedral of Palencia, seat of the Friar Alonso's bishopric.
It is square with two floors, the lower with slender pillars, perhaps a Solomonic reference in relation to a building as a "temple of wisdom", with capitals of average balls and fleur-de-lis sustaining segmental arches, and the upper with one of the most decorative Isabelline galleries, with parapets openwork with Gothic tracery and geminare arches riddled with garlands and foliage among those appears children playing and where already shown Renassaince influence, of midpoint and a form that goes be more flat.
Then follows a frieze of yokes and arrows on highlighting the imaginative gargoyles.
It has abundant emblems of the Catholic Monarchs and the kingdoms of Navarre and Granada, incorporated into the Crown of Castile during the erection of the building.
The only staircase that connects both floors is rectangular of two sections, Isabelline base, decorated walls with padding of Renaissance influence with the founder's heraldry; an impressive Mudéjar roof on a frieze with the Catholic Monarchs's initials; and neo-Gothic parapets with same trace that the base, added in works in the 1860s to replace the wooden fence that had.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colegio_de_San_Gregorio
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_Nacional_de_Escultura,_Vallad...
El Colegio de San Gregorio de Valladolid es la sede principal del Museo Nacional de Escultura. Es uno de los mejores ejemplos de la arquitectura del periodo de los Reyes Católicos. En particular, su patio y su portada son célebres por su refinada ornamentación, las elegantes proporciones y una ostensible simbología del poder.
Igualmente interesante es su historia como institución docente. Destinado a colegio de Teología para frailes dominicos, adquirió una notable autoridad doctrinal y actuó como un semillero espiritual y político de la España renacentista y barroca.
La Universidad de Valladolid fue fundada en el siglo XIII durante el reinado de Alfonso X el Sabio; como en otros países se potenció la aparición de centros colegiales, de modo que tardíamente se creó el Colegio de San Gregorio, que actuaron en paralelo o complementariamente con relación a la vida universitaria. En Valladolid se creó además el Colegio de Santa Cruz también a finales del siglo XV
La creación del Colegio, bajo la advocación del doctor de la Iglesia San Gregorio, fue obra del dominico Alonso de Burgos, obispo de la diócesis de Palencia y confesor de los Reyes Católicos. Alonso de Burgos condicionó su fundación a la obtención de la comunidad dominica de San Pablo de los terrenos para la construcción de su propia capilla funeraria, que serviría igualmente para el alumnado del Colegio. Tal petición se vio satisfecha en 1487: consigue el espacio necesario, lo cual fue confirmado por el Papa Inocencio VIII.
Las obras se iniciaron en 1488 aunque se había comenzado ya la construcción de la capilla funeraria, cuya puerta de entrada se percibe en el crucero sur de la Iglesia conventual de San Pablo.
La fachada fue concebida como un telón o estandarte (arquitectura suspendida). Su compartimentación se organiza con elementos vegetales que evocan los arcos triunfales construidos con madera y enramada, reforzándose su carácter civil y urbano. Dada su significación simbólica, la explicación de los diferentes motivos y elementos que la integran ofrece una gran dificultad, tanto individualmente como en su totalidad y en la relación entre los diferentes elementos.
En el tímpano principal y sobre el dintel decorado con flor de lis aparece la dedicatoria y la ofrenda del Colegio por parte del fraile dominico Alonso de Burgos a san Gregorio Magno en presencia de San Pablo y Santo Domingo.
Destacan las figuras de hombres silvestres cubiertos, o no, de pelo, y con garrotes y escudos; o bien aluden a la costumbre cortesana de disfrazar escuderos con ocasión de fiestas, o bien representan la imagen mítica del «hombre natural», tal como se discutió por esas fechas y entran en diálogo visual con esculturas de caballeros, vestidos con armaduras y portando lanzas y escudos, encarnando la Virtud.
La parte central superior está ocupada por un pilón hexagonal, rebosante de agua, que puede evocar la especulación intelectual como Fuente de la Vida. En torno al pilón, se arremolinan parejas de niños y de él arranca el tronco de un granado, en posible alusión a la Fuente de la Vida y al Árbol de la Ciencia, aparte de la celebración de la reciente conquista del Reino de Granada. Todo el relieve central de la fachada se constituye con esta representación simbólica de un microcosmos, a imagen del Paraíso, lugar hacia donde deberían dirigirse los hombres mediante el conocimiento de las Artes y la Teología.
La presencia del escudo de los Reyes Católicos, sostenido por leones y por el águila de San Juan podría tener una significación política o podría ser una alusión a la dedicación del edificio a la Monarquía, a la que Alonso de Burgos nombró heredera y patrona del Colegio.
El patio del Colegio es de planta cuadrada y representa una de las joyas de estilo hispanoflamenco. Sus dos pisos se levantan sobre pilares helicoidales decorados sus capiteles con medias bolas y lises separados ambos por el tema de la cadena.
En las arquerías del piso superior se encuentra toda la decoración mediante calados pretiles de tracería gótica y cortinas pétreas que al abrirse originan arcos geminados de guirnaldas y follaje, entre los que juguetean niños, concebido con una talla muy plana próxima al estilo renacentista. Un friso de yugos y flechas y las gárgolas es lo único que se conserva de su antiguo coronamiento.
El acceso al piso superior se realiza a través de una sola escalera con pretiles góticos a los que se suceden los paramentos almohadillados de su caja decorada también con el timbre heráldico del fundador y con un artesonado mudéjar, en cuyo friso se pueden observar las iniciales de los Reyes Católicos y que cierra todo su ámbito.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colegio_de_San_Gregorio
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_Nacional_de_Escultura
The Colegio de San Gregorio is an Isabelline style building located in the city of Valladolid, in Castile and León, Spain, it was formerly a college and now is housing the Museo Nacional de Escultura museum. This building is one of the best examples of the architectural style known as Isabelline, which is the characteristic architectural style of the Crown of Castile region during the Catholic Monarchs' reign (late-15th century to early-16th century).
Among other sections highlights its courtyard and its facade for its refined decoration, elegant proportions and the number of symbologies. It was founded as a teaching institution. Aimed at College of Theology for Dominican friars, it has acquired a doctrinal authority and acted as a spiritual and political hotbed in the Central region of Spain's Renaissance and Baroque periods.
The University of Valladolid was founded in the 13th-century during the Alfonso X of Castile the Wise's reign; as in other countries, the emergence of college centers was potentiated, then belatedly was created the Colegio de San Gregorio, who performed in parallel or complementarily in relation to university life. In Valladolid the Colegio Mayor Santa Cruz was also created also in late 15th-century.
The creation of the College, under the title of the Doctor of the Church Saint Gregory the Great, was work of Dominican Alonso de Burgos, the Catholic Monarchs's confessor and Bishop of the dioceses of Córdoba, Cuenca and Palencia. The foundation of the college was confirmed by with Papal Bull of Pope Innocent VIII in 1487, and accepted as Royal patronage by Queen Isabella the Catholic in 1500, after the founder's death.
It attached to the Convento de San Pablo, which Friar Alonso had been its prior, its foundation was subject to the assignment of the Capilla del Crucifijo (Crucifix's chapel), attached to the Epistle's arm of the Dominican church, to become his own funeral chapel, which later acquired dual function to also serve as a chapel for college.
Work began in 1488 in a process from the inside to outside, being the main facade the last in lift. The Royal shields in the corners of the Large courtyard still do not present the Granada's symbol suggests that this part would be completed before 1492. The building is assumed to completed in 1496.
The facade, plain facing and topped with a crest, stands out above all for its spectacular main facade, which by its stylistic features it sets regarding the workshop of Gil de Siloé, a Flemish origin artist, who was at that time in Burgos dealing with the royal sepulchers of the Miraflores Charterhouse and is known to have been commissioned to make the defunct altarpiece of the chapel, very in connection with which the sculptor had made in the Conception's chapel or of Bishop Acuña in the Cathedral of Burgos and has obvious similarities to the upper of the main facade of San Gregorio.
Perhaps evoking the triumphal arches of the architectures at that time were developing in Central Europe, or perhaps the Islamic Madrasas, architects of this building applying an individually decorated of the Castilian late-Gothic (Isabelline), it has a complex symbolic significance in that mix contemporary figures, saints, allegories, wild men, abundant symbolic of power, etc.
It has two bodies framed by two buttresses. The lower hosts a vain lintel decorated with fleur-de-lys, the founder's symbol repeated often enough, covered with three-centered arch in turn covered by another ogee trefoil.
It draw attention to the "savage men" of the jambs and buttresses, a total of sixteen. Theories about the significance of these figures, present in many buildings of 15th-century, are varied and should be put in relation to the context in which these appear. One of its functions would be simple heraldry sculptures. It is also said that, dressed with shield and mace, were the guardians of the building, beastmen guaranteeing security. Or these could allude to the custom of disguising the squires and lackeys in Court (nobility) festivities in which it presented the "savage" as inferior, in relation, for example, the chivalric romances, which mentions hair covered wild men, degraded men, estranged from the civilized world, not Christianized, and could here be in visual confrontation with the knights who also appear on the main facade, with armor, spears and shields, that would be interpreted as allegories of Virtue. On the contrary, these could also be a positive allusion, the mythical image of man in nature, unpolluted, symbol of purity that evokes the time in a perfect and happy world, with prototype to John the Baptist.
Those on the lower part, flanking the main facade, are completely covered with long hair, carrying weapons and the shields are decorated with demonic figures except in one, which has a Knight order of Calatrava's cross, the same motifs of the soldiers's shields of the second floor, the same iconography already seen for over a century.
However, in the top of the main facade are completely different, with the same attributes but without hair on the body and even two hairless, with a more human aspect, and there are authors who consider the oldest representation in Castile of an American Native, reflecting the effect of the Americas's arrival in the European imagination.
The tympanum, on a lintel, seems to represent the offering of the college by Friar Alonso de Burgos to Saint Gregory the Great in the presence of Saints Dominic and Paul, patrons of the neighboring Dominican convent, a somewhat disconcerting scene, unbalanced, with disproportion between the figures and Saint Paul with a cruciferous nimbus, an exclusive attribute of Christ. It seems to be earlier work than the rest, or even reused from other site.
The upper body is divided into three sections, with the center occupied by a hexagonal pylon which starts a pomegranate tree, referring to the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada's conquest in 1492, swirling around putti playing and jumping. It could be a Fountain of Eternal Youth's representation, hence the children, of the Tree of Knowledge, in relation to the building dedicated to the study, an allegory of the Paradise, the place to which men aspire to reach through the knowledge, an allegory of the Golden Age, in relation to the historical moment that was occurring to the Spanish monarchy.
The pomegranate tree is topped by a big shield of the Catholic Monarchs with the St. John's eagle held by two attitude lions and below the Catholic Monarchs's symbols also appear: the beam and arrows. And the use of the royal heraldry with propaganda purposes in this period reached prominence hitherto unknown, present not only in buildings directly promoted by the Catholic Monarchs but also in many that of their closest collaborators, in that way showing participation and acceptance in the political project undertaken by Isabella I and Ferdinand II in relation to the establishment of a modern state with which to control and organize all their territories under their unique power.
Upper body's side sections have the founder's heraldic decoration and two kings of arms placed at height of the central shield.
Distributed among the distributed arboured throughout the main facade are seen multiple scenes related to the defects to be overcome with the study, in relation to the search for truth and rejection of heresy, the triumph of intelligence over force or the strength to overcome temptation.
(Large courtyard) The Patio Grande was the access to the most important stays of the set. It considered a Hispanic-Flemish (Isabelline) gem, is set in relation to Juan Guas for its similarities to Palacio del Infantado in Guadalajara, although have also located abundant motifs that Bartolomé Solórzano, an active artist at that time in the area, used in the Cathedral of Palencia, seat of the Friar Alonso's bishopric.
It is square with two floors, the lower with slender pillars, perhaps a Solomonic reference in relation to a building as a "temple of wisdom", with capitals of average balls and fleur-de-lis sustaining segmental arches, and the upper with one of the most decorative Isabelline galleries, with parapets openwork with Gothic tracery and geminare arches riddled with garlands and foliage among those appears children playing and where already shown Renassaince influence, of midpoint and a form that goes be more flat.
Then follows a frieze of yokes and arrows on highlighting the imaginative gargoyles.
It has abundant emblems of the Catholic Monarchs and the kingdoms of Navarre and Granada, incorporated into the Crown of Castile during the erection of the building.
The only staircase that connects both floors is rectangular of two sections, Isabelline base, decorated walls with padding of Renaissance influence with the founder's heraldry; an impressive Mudéjar roof on a frieze with the Catholic Monarchs's initials; and neo-Gothic parapets with same trace that the base, added in works in the 1860s to replace the wooden fence that had.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colegio_de_San_Gregorio
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_Nacional_de_Escultura,_Vallad...
www.1001gardens.org/2016/08/20-inexpensive-fencing-ideas-...
To protect you from prying eyes and clearly delineate your property, the fence is indispensable. When you think of fence you imagine anxiously barbed wire running around your garden? No panic, it can also be a decorative element in your exterior, something very aesthetic. Here is a selection of 20 possibilities, you choose the material and style that you like the most, you're spoiled for choice.
1 - A simple grid: simplicity
Finally, if you just want to protect your space while allowing the look, you can simply opt for a simple grid is needed to define the economically spaces.
2 - Pretty braces
In a bucolic and rural atmosphere in your garden, go for this pretty fence crossed wooden planks.
3 - Ultra modern
This type of fencing is ideal for newer homes with modern architecture. A beautiful irregular railing steel that will make the area around your property resolutely design.
4 - The chic to rounding
For a country fence, opt for a wooden model. Add a chic point in the garden rounded choosing.
5 - The hurdle that we have no need to prune
It is the perfect solution for those of us who do not feel sufficiently green thumb to opt for genuine hedges as fences. A very fine imitation may also do the trick and does not require much maintenance.
6 - Natural
If you are looking for a fence that will give your exterior a rustic, close to nature, then look no further. This consists of shoots of heather together by a galvanized wire.
7 - "Trendy"
It's not always easy to find the right fence, which will be in harmony with the style of the house and garden. In case you have a very modern building like this, a steel wire fence and bins full of rock may be what you need.
8 - Chic gray
Here the Kyoto Leroy Merlin fence and his beautiful gray, the most beautiful effect to separate a lovely summer lounge from the rest of the world!
9 - All wood
If you want to stay as close to nature, this fence made with hazel branches is what you need.
10 - American style
Opt for the American charms of this pretty wooden fence painted in white.
11 - For a Zen garden
There are some website and companies that market fully customizable fences. This is particularly the case of dirickx.fr with the model "cottage" in a very zen garden release.
12 - Concrete: Security and privacy
If you want to protect against burglary and enjoy total privacy in your home, the concrete is probably the best solution because it will completely close the space. Note that this is a fairly good insulator if you are on a busy street.
13 - The wooden brise-view: the natural option
If you want total privacy but do not want to partition your garden with concrete, aware that wood is a good alternative because it helps to preserve the natural setting of the garden while preserving your looks and intrusions.
14 - The natural fiber-breaking sight: the exotic theme
Similarly, to maintain a spirit of nature in your garden, you can cover a single mesh with reeds or other natural fibers that give an exotic feel to your space.
15 - The PVC fence: contemporary option
IF you want your fence matches the contemporary style of your garden, opt for PVC fences that will offer original decorative finishes like this model with the top openwork design way.
16 - The visual barrier plastic weaving: The design idea
To give a sleek design and style to your garden, you can also attach a plastic woven cloth on your fence. You are then hidden from view while giving style to your garden.
17 - The metal grids: the traditional spirit
If you fancy a castle atmosphere, turn to the metal gates to surround your home. This gives a traditional and romantic spirit while protecting yourself without stopping look.
18 - A trellis: a plant solution
If you desire not to distort your garden with fencing all kinds, why not opt for breeze-view trellis that will allow you to climb the plants and thus to remove the fences.
19 - A wooden fence: the charm asset
If you only want to define your property and prevent young children to go out, you can bet on a single low-rise wooden fence. She leaves all the views of the surrounding countryside and offers much charm to your garden.
20 - Concrete & barrier: the classic style
If you want to mix the safety of concrete with the charm of a wooden fence, know that it is possible. This will be placing a barrier on a concrete wall that will represent half the height of your fence.
Gold and stone (garnet, emerald) inlay bracelet with Herakles knot, openwork grape vine and floral designs. Hellenistic, 3rd Century BC - 2nd Century BC. Special Exhibition: Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World. Metropolitan Museum. New York, New York, USA. Copyright 2016, James A. Glazier.
Tiara
C. 300-250 BC
Canosa, hypogeum Lagrasta
Gold, glass and enamel
The necropolis in Canosa has provided splendid examples of the refinement of women's jewelry in the Hellenistic period. This diadem features exuberant, richly inventive decoration typical of the floral style developed by Greek goldsmiths in southern Italy, especially Taranto, in the 3rd century BC. Palmettes, rosettes, and intertwining foliage form a tracery in gold and enamel, worthy of the finest lace. The piece is dotted with tiny colored glass beads.
A piece of women's jewelry -
The diadem is one of the oldest and most characteristic items of women's jewelry in the Greek world. Unlike coronets or wreaths, which were used by men as signs of political or social status, and as funerary objects, the diadem was worn by women only, often serving a purely decorative purpose. Numerous examples in gold have been found in necropolises in southern Italy, Macedonia, and on the Black Sea coast, testifying to the great refinement of Greek jewelry-making during the Hellenistic period, and to the widespread diffusion of decorative motifs throughout the Mediterranean basin. This example is from Canosa, in Apulia (southern Italy), where it was probably found in one of the Lacrasta tombs. It entered the Louvre in 1863 after Napoleon III purchased the collection of the marquis of Campana.
Exuberant flowers and foliage -
The diadem's decoration is extraordinarily inventive and technically accomplished, comprising an openwork tracery of luxuriant stems dotted with palmettes, rosettes, foliage, and a variety of flowers. The motifs are intertwined like fine lace, highlighted with gold filigree work, blue enamel, and berries made from green, white, and blue pâte de verre. The piece is clearly the work of a Greek goldsmith influenced by Oriental styles and jewelry created for the royal court of Macedonia in the 4th century BC. The diadem is typical of the naturalistic decorative style seen in northern Greek jewelry and precious metalwork from 375-350 BC.
Hellenistic jewelry and metalwork in southern Italy -
The diadem was made during the Hellenistic period, in the 3rd century BC, by a goldsmith active at Canosa in southern Italy, or possibly a workshop in Taranto. Greek metalworking flourished in Apulia during this period; women's jewelry based on northern Greek designs using abundant flowers and foliage was especially popular. Items made in Taranto were exported throughout the surrounding region, as well as to Campania and Etruria. The innovative workshops of Taranto pioneered the reduction of the base plate to a plain background, focusing our attention solely on the scrolling, openwork design.