View allAll Photos Tagged unlearn
Loving my scars is my new state of self respect, of the battles I won. The strength to learn how to unlearn what I have believed so far and reform my reality on another basis, outside the frame, inside a wider perspective. One that can fit and enlighten all my struggles. One that will welcome my scars and flaws as a sign of uniqueness.
My first attempt with psychotherapy was made many years ago. The same year I met yoga for the first time as well. The timing was not right yet. I trust in timing, if there is no student, there is no teacher. None worked, and there was photography that helped me start a trip within. Photography was my very private therapy. Yet, I shared it. I shared my stories and feelings in pixels and later in words on my blog, in an effort to come closer to others, to find a common ground, a common life experience, to put us together on a map of journeys people call memories.
Earlier today, as I was navigating along old emails from 2011/12, I found an old interview of mine. I was asked "Why do you take photographs? What do you experience?". I replied "I photograph in order to meet myself and then to introduce Nassia to the one in front of me"... In other words, I was reflecting myself on the person I was taking photos of. I was meeting my pieces in their personalities. No one you meet, has ever come randomly in your life. The importance of "meeting" each other. Crossing each other's journey on this map.
In my life so far, I have been on this circular trip, passing from almost the same points on time and space, where I re-meet myself, and perhaps love Nassia a bit more. 6 years after photography helped me see clearly, I am craving for yoga, I am connecting with dark spots, I am learning to unlearn, to trust. Trust. Trust. Trust. My new brain tattoo.
A profound statement by I know not whom.
The evocative and lyrical background track composed by Dexter Britain..... entitled 'Lucky ones'
K4.0000
8 Aug 18
Did anybody ever manage to find the original source where Toffler synthesizes these ideas for his famous quote...? "The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read or write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn."
Copy pasting
the hollow mind
the robust body
in eternal dissent
devoid of creativity
full of nonsense
its still time dude
improve and repent
to be noticed you need
to use the right lens
sensibility and sense
unlearn photography
dont be dense ...
sitting safely on a
broken fence ...
nothing personal
dont take offense
Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”Rumi ...
fragrance and incense
We carry ghosts within us, in a silence, in a sickness / Greed is a cruel companion, it’s the violence we are handed / So much to be returned, stolen not earned, so much to be unlearned / Between now and then / In a world that depends / On people like me and my friends / Do you really want the world to end? / Do you really want the world to end? (Lula Wiles)
© Invalidenstr., Berlin, 2023, Florian Fritsch
8.5.09
Hmm. Out of focus. Check. Blown highlights. Check. I am unlearning everything I ever learned.
Another highlight from Sophie's dying flower emporium. Day 154's allium, holding up well. Like an explosion in a miniature purple octopus factory.
I see a seedhead shot in its future...
For MSH's abstract. And because I don't know what I'm going to have for dinner tonight. So I can't shoot that.
Explore #67
Scenes from a retreat in the Catskills. Nineteen visionaries spend a week at work on new projects and strategies for wholesome and sovereign living.
"If you think education is expensive -- try ignorance."
– Ann Landers, October 4, 1975.
"Never call yourself a philosopher, nor talk a great deal among the unlearned about theorems, but act conformably to them."
– Epictetus, 'Enchiridion'
"Theories usually result from the precipitate reasoning of an impatient mind which would like to be rid of phenomena and replace them with images, concepts, indeed often with mere words."
– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 'Maxims and Reflections' (1833).
"How can we possibly test, or improve upon the truth of a theory if it is built in such a manner then any conceivable event can be described, and explained, in terms of its principles? The only way of investigating such all-embracing principles would be to compare them with a different set of equally all embracing principles- but this procedure has been excluded from the very beginning."
– Paul Feyerabend, 'Against Method' (1975).
I had great pleasure recently working with At Startup Speed on illustration for an interview with Barry O’reilly about unlearning old stuff. Here's the link to the whole article: bit.ly/2rqPDJS - check it out.
📰
As Tom Cruise was still determining filming of Top Gun: Maverick, Lockheed Martin invited him to their aerospace plant in Fort Worth that produces the phenomenal F-35 Lightning II 5th-generation stealth fighter… he signed an airframe of an F-35C (Navy variant) that is now at NAS Lamoore, the home of Top Gun. With the F-14 Tomcat retired since the original movie, Maverick’s ride would have to be updated. It would not be the F-35C. The 4th-generation F/A-18 Super Hornet was chosen for the film instead because there are no two-seat variants of the F-35. He wanted authenticity on the actors’ faces of the G-forces they experienced from the back seat of F/A-18Fs. Through the magic of movies, they used that footage to make it appear as though they were pilots of both F/A-18Fs and the single-seat F/A-18Es. That choice was a good thing, as all the critical issues concerning using the F/A-18 in the story's mission, would not have been an issue for the F-35… the movie would have been over in less than 20 minutes. No fun in that.
The pilot of this F-35C showed the crowd at the NAS Oceana Air Show just what a beast it truly is. In this profile pass over the crowd, you can see the pilot giving everyone a friendly ‘shaka sign’ hand gesture, common among fighter pilots. I wonder how many others caught that? The stunning demonstration was no more impressive than the precision and professionalism of the pilot. Moving at transonic speed is starting to create vapor on the carbon fiber-reinforced polymer skin, reflecting sunlight and showing all the sawtooth panel distinctions on the skin. Everything about that skin, as well as the shape of the aircraft, is designed to absorb and deflect search radar away from away from its receiver… stealth.
Early in its test phase, the F-35 was determined to be quite a dud as a fighter. Tested against a 4th-generation F-16, it could barely hold its own in a mock dogfight against the Viper, but what few knew was its capabilities were reined in, much like holding a racehorse back from what it was born to do… run. There was another problem that was unforeseen… pilots of the new F-35 had all previously flown 4th-generation, and they brought with them habits that did not apply to the new system’s stunning flight characteristics. They were just figuring out they had to unlearn what they had trusted for so long flying F-15s, F-16s, and F-18s, also known as Legacy fighters, because the Lightning wasn’t just capable of making mincemeat of any adversary, it was a gamechanger with immediate power, faster response to pilot input, an incredible angle of attack (AOA), and an ability to slow to less than 100 mph rapidly while still maintaining controlled flight to rapidly swing its nose to a target. The funny thing is, that as new pilots graduate flight school without the habits of the older pilots, they’re learning more about what the Lightning can do.
All variants of the F-35, A, B, and C models have advanced integrated avionics (sensor fusion) giving enhanced situational awareness not just to the pilots, but to every Lightning aircraft on a given mission… what one knows, they all know. Red Flag is somewhat like the Air Force’s version of Navy’s Top Gun, but there’s more to it than what the movie portrays. A Marine pilot new to the program in 2016 was preparing to take off in an F-35B from Luke AFB for a Red Flag exercise… it floored him how much information it provided him from the other members of his squadron who were already airborne. He had a Gods-eye view of the fray before he even left the ground. Since then, 4th-generation fighters are now taking part in that sensor fusion data… the weapons they carry can be slaved by F-35s to specific targets.
From a pilot’s own perspective at Red Flag: "You never knew I was there," he said with a smile. "You literally would never know I'm there. I flew the F-35 against 4th-generation platforms, and we killed them, and they never even saw us."
"If you were to engage an F-35 in say, a visual dogfight capability, the capabilities of the F-35 are absolutely eye-watering compared to a 4th-generation fighter. So, if it's a long-range contact, you'll never see me and you'll die, and if it's within visual-range contact you'll see me and you're gonna die and you're gonna die very quickly."
"I can tell you that it is by far the best platform I've ever flown in my entire life, and at that, you would have to take me on my word." – Maj. Gen. Scott Pleus, former CO of 56th Fighter Wing at Luke AFB. 24 years flying the F-16.
Makes me proud of my own involvement as an airman of the U.S. Air Force. A big shout out to all my brothers-in-arms. Many of you never knew what was coming when you signed the line and took the oath. That very decision took courage, no matter how you served. Much gratitude to you all.
If you have a special veteran in your life, mention their name here.
The Leh Palace dominates the crest of the hillside that runs right above the Main Bazaar of Leh. Just above it is a small Gonpa/Monastery.
This was shot from another temple lying below the Main Bazaar. A quaint place with a few people soaking up the sun and praying.
I am a tad away from Flickr, so forgive me for not visiting your photos. Flickr is not what it used to be. There is another revision of the look and feel of the UI. They do seem to be bringing back some of the features that used to exist but I guess the horses have already bolted the stables and now for the ones remaining it will be another period of unlearning.
_DSC8394 nef
It’s been a little while since my last post, okay 4 years!
And I’ve moved on a couple of centuries from my beloved Dutch Still Life to the next great era of Still Life, namely the impressionists and in particular Cezanne, the master of the apple.
I’ve been busy of late collecting period pieces and learning Corel Painter. I’m slowly getting there, it’s a bit of a head shift, everything I’ve learned I have to unlearn. Unlike the Dutch whose aim was to be photographic in their painting style, Impressionism favoured highly visible brush strokes, so I digitally paint my photos, frankly, they look silly without it. Also, Cezanne was more interested in shapes than in hidden symbols, although the apple is a pretty potent symbol, so I’ve got a lot to learn compositionally. Like the Impressionists who copied the Japanese Printmakers, over the next few months or years I plan to learn a new language by paying homage to the master. I print them on Canvas and put them in antique French frames, and they look pretty damned good next to my antique French furniture.
PS I don't even use my medium format camera. Because I "paint" them, the resolution is irrelevant.
Hope you enjoy them.
Cheers
Kev
It's Said That The G-String Has Been Around Since The '20s.
So Technically, G-Strings ARE Granny Panties.
Good Luck Unlearning That One.
~Mark Twain
Well, the bachelor party was a success! Great times with great friends, everyone home safe! Six more days until the wedding!!!
Here is another shot from the day I spent shooting with Pete Talke a few weeks ago. This is the inside of the Cathedral of Learning (other shots of the campus in my University of Pittsburgh set). It was early in the morning so it was pretty empty!
Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you all have a great week!
I don't mind invitations, but please no big, shiny, flashing, glitter graphics, they will be deleted. Also, please contact me if you would like to use my pictures for any reason, as all rights are reserved. Thanks!
Follow me on Twitter
My Facebook Page - HDR Exposed Become a fan!!!
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"Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts. Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is the meaning of life. Meaning does not lie in things.
Meaning lies in us."
Marianne Williamson
Welcome the new year with a smile from within. As we flip the calendar, we need to keep flipping our mind as well. Often, our diaries are full with memories. See that you don't fill your future dates with past events. Learn and unlearn from the past, and move on. ~ Sri Sri
Wishing you all a very Happy, Prosperous, Healthy and Peaceful 2013!
You know better babe, you know better babe,
Than to smile at me, smile at me like that
You know better babe, you know better babe!
Than to hold me just, hold me just like that.
I know who I am when I'm alone
I'm something else when I see you
You don't understand, you should never know
How easy you are to need
Don't let me in with with no intention to keep me
Jesus Christ! Don't be kind to me.
Honey don't feed me - I will come back.
It can't be unlearned
I've known the warmth of your doorways
Through the cold, I'll find my way back to you
Oh please, give me mercy no more!
It's a kindness you can't afford!
I want you baby tonight, as sure as you're born
You'll hear me howling outside your door.
Don't you hear me howling babe?
Won't you hear me howling babe?
Don't you hear me howling babe?
Once you here me howling, once you hear me howling, once you hear me howling babe!
Sometimes you learn from lessons,
sometimes you learn by doing,
and sometimes you learn only after unlearning everything you ever knew
In memoriam of the race-masters of Disguise and Decievement
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrEwJex9A8I
-
Grundar dóma hvergi hann
hallar réttu máli
Stundar sóma aldrei ann
örgu pretta táli
-
með innmúruðum aðdáunarkveðjum
(Even the mountains stand blushing in shame of their names)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE5ZrxyHgJ8
--
Clinton apologized Oct. 3, 1995 on behalf of the Government for forced MK Ultra Mind Control Experiments on thousands of innocent amercians.
Ted Gunderson:
www.scribd.com/doc/15890811/Gu...
---------------------------------------------------
Clinton's apology came 18 years after a Senate hearing on MKULTRA. "The existence of MK ULTRA was first brought to light by maverick government officer John Marks - on 20th September 1977. The U.S. Senate investigated MK ULTRA discovering that thousands of people had been the unwitting victims of mind control experiments.
"Part of MK ULTRA was the NAOMI PROJECT - involved in the creation of what were later to be called "Manchurian Candidates". Manchurian Candidates were people who were pre-programmed to become assassins without their knowledge. A post hypnotic trigger was used to put them into "killer mode"."[10] "Dr. George H. Estabrooks (1895-1973), speaking as the chaiman of the Department of Psychology of Colgate University, said, I can hypnotize a man without his knowledge or consent into committing treason against the United States. At the time he made that statement Dr. Estabrooks was one of this nations most authoritative voices in the field of hypnotism."[11] "Estabrooks proposed, over and over, that superspies with one-way amnesia should be created by deliberate personality splitting. An absolutely dependable, unbreakable amnesia for all events under hypnosis is the most essential single element to create an unknowing, authority-controlled hypnotic subject."[12]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryzIeTFu2IM&feature=related
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryzIeTFu2IM&feature=related
Sómi héraðs, sverð og skjöldur var hann öllu minniháttar
Einskis ærusviptir
Í sauðargæru verndara og valds hins góða
hann situr í Krists stað og hjálpar
og hjálpar
og hjálpar
og hjálpar
Blessuðum misnotuðu börnunum hann ríður ei að fullu
en gefur þeim og konunum gott í kroppinn; spraut í rassinn osv og mælir:
Komið til mín, ef þið viljið meira, og þau mæna á hann í gleðipilluvímu
mæla ekki orð, en falla að fótum hans í hóp
biðja um meira dóp
að hætti hans heilagleika og óskeikula valdi
til að hjálpa þeim
til að hjálpa þeim
að hugsa réttar hugsanir eins og hann
Dýrð sé þér heilagi Pater Páfi!!
mguð
(sérhvað það er hér er úr sleppt, ellegar missagt, þá skal hafa það sem réttara reynist)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqvozjDmGA8
Grundar dóma hvergi hann
hallar réttu máli
Stundar sóma aldrei ann
örgu pretta táli
með innmúruðum aðdáunarkveðjum
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-0lhF4UDwk
His Ephitaph plain: only a pawn in their game:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IStoyUb697c&list=PL73D831E259...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9HDljNlWYk
í Tilefni 60 ára árstíðar Jóns Karlssonar
sem myrtur var við hjúkrunarstörf
"Masters Of War"
Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build all the bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks.
You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly.
Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain.
You fasten all the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion'
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud.
You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins.
How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
That even Jesus would never Forgive what you do.
Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good?
Will it buy you forgiveness?
Do you think that it could?
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul.
And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand over your grave'
Til I'm sure that you're dead.
Bob Dylan 1963
"It is not hard to learn more. What is hard is to unlearn when you discover yourself wrong."
~Martin H. Fischer
Well, today marks the one year anniversary of the last time that I made Explore! I think that it has been good for me though, as for three months I was making it almost everyday. It's nice to not worry about it! It would be nice however, to make it one there once in a while!
Don't want you guys to get bored so I thought I would switch it up a bit for a while! This is a shot I took of the inside of the Cathedral of Learning on a photowalk I took with Pete Talke a few months back. Now I am not a fan of University of Pittsburgh football, however I do love photographing their campus!
Thank you for all the support my friends, and enjoy your day!
I don't mind invitations, but please no big, shiny, flashing, glitter graphics, they will be deleted. Also, please contact me if you would like to use my pictures for any reason, as all rights are reserved. Thanks!
Follow me on Twitter
My Facebook Page - HDR Exposed Become a fan!!!
My blog: HDR Exposed
The lovely coastal village of Locmariaquer is one of my favorites in all of Brittany. With Port-Navalo on the other side, it is one of the “gates to the Gulf or Morbihan”, this kind of “inner sea” which numbers, they say, 365 islands and islets... A pure paradise to learn to sail, with plenty of navigational difficulties; tricks and traps, and almost no serious risks.
My unmitigated love of the place does not however extend to the village church, as only its apse and transept are genuinely Romanesque, from just a few years after Year 1000. Further to an attack by the British in 1548, it had to be rebuilt during the 17th and 18th centuries. The bell tower was remodeled in 1817 above its Romanesque base. The defiance of the Ministry of Culture vis-à-vis this otherwise charming little church is reflected in the fact that, while its baptismal font (genuine), transept and apse were listed as Historic Landmarks as early as 1907, the rest of the building was not until... 2023!
Therefore, I will mostly show the Romanesque parts of the church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary as Notre-Dame. Aptly enough, “Locmariaquer” in Breton means “the built-up place of Mary”.
The transept crossing and, beyond, the two-row choir and the apse. The transept was covered with a flat wooden roof after the rebuilding of the nave and I have no way to tell how it was covered before that.
All the stonework you see in this photo is period Romanesque, and as you can see, there are quite a few very interesting sculpted capitals. We will look at them more closely over the upcoming days. Romanesque art was a lot about sculpture; it was back then that the idea appeared to “teach” the Scripture to unlearned masses by means of images.
Before that, during early Christianity, sculpted depictions were more an expression of the self directed at God, like a prayer or a declaration of faith cast in stone. Man was addressing God and proclaiming his faith in Him. Then, probably through witnessing how members of the congregation were interested in looking at those depictions, clerics conceived the idea of re-telling, in a permanent and always available manner, the tales of the Bible that they used to tell the faithful during Mass. Thus the historied capital was born, and then sculpture invaded every available space, pillars, tympani, door jambs, etc. It flourished until the advent of the Gothic Age, during which that teaching role was transferred to stained glass.
Three-time Olympian Megan James, frozen in time, floating on frozen ice crystals. Megan retired last year and is working on unlearning everything she knows about ski racing in favor of blowing up the pow. I am happy to tag along and take pictures :-)
Obviously because of what I have done it was wasn't too obvious but fortunatly right from the start that I was always quite female in my looks, voice and characteristics. But not only has it is made transition very easy for me and I have had to do very little really as I now realise I always was almost female and my thinking like one hely helped the change slip into place. because My biggest challenge was unlearning my male ways especially sexuality. I now work on the pricipal that liking a person comes first regardless of sex but even though I much prefer women they all seem to be friends and it is guys who want to dayte me.
Portugal, Lisbon, Main street, Crossing, Woman (uncut)
Photographing a scene like this and finding a title, normally would involve feeling or inventing a narrative that goes with it and as a result get some conceptualism going by naming it “Alone”, “Routine” or even give it a song title. My song association was How strong is a woman by one of my favorite soul songstresses: Ann Peebles.
But this time I settled for a factual/descriptive name. Here’s why.
I have been reading the poems of Fernando Pessoa again lately. And what a delight this is. I am currently at the ones Pessoa wrote as one of his heteronyms: Alberto Caeiro.
As Caeiro, Pessao was a bucolic and down to earth poet, who based his life on the things he sees and not on the things that could be or the things that could explain those things. And who also didn’t like to have a look around the bend of the river before he passes that bend. Pessoa used Caeiro as an antidote for being tormented by all kind of existential and metaphysical questions.
Poem #15 “What we see of things is things” of his “The Keeper of the Flocks” bundle, is a key poem of Caeiro and I decided to title the pic in accordance with its essence. Sometimes it’s cool to stay close to the facts ;-)
(In Portguese)
O que nós vemos das cousas são as cousas.
Por que veríamos nós uma cousa se houvesse outra?
Por que é que ver e ouvir seria iludirmo-nos
Se ver e ouvir são ver e ouvir?
O essencial é saber ver,
Saber ver sem estar a pensar,
Saber ver quando se vê,
E nem pensar quando se vê
Nem ver quando se pensa.
Mas isso (tristes de nós que trazemos a alma vestida!),
Isso exige um estudo profundo,
Uma aprendizagem de desaprender
E uma seqüestração na liberdade daquele convento
De que os poetas dizem que as estrelas são as freiras eternas
E as flores as penitentes convictas de um só dia,
Mas onde afinal as estrelas não são senão estrelas
Nem as flores senão flores.
Sendo por isso que lhes chamamos estrelas e flores.
----------------------
(In English)
What we see of things is things.
Why would we see one thing as being another?
Why is it that seeing and hearing would deceive us
If seeing and hearing are seeing and hearing?
The main thing is knowing how to see,
To know how to see without thinking,
To know how to see when you see,
And not think when you see
Or see when you think.
But this (poor us carrying a clothed soul!),
This takes deep study,
A learning to unlearn
And sequestration in freedom from that convent
Where the poets say the stars are the eternal brothers,
And flowers are penitent nuns who only live a day,
But where stars really aren’t anything but stars,
And flowers aren’t anything but flowers,
That being why I call them stars and flowers.
----------------------
(In Dutch)
Wat wij zien van de dingen zijn de dingen.
Waarom zouden wij het één zien als er iets anders was?
Waarom zouden zien en horen ons vergissen zijn
Als zien en horen zien en horen zijn?
Essentieel is kunnen zien,
Kunnen zien zonder te denken,
Kunnen zien wanneer men ziet,
En niet denken wanneer men ziet
Noch zien wanneer men denkt.
Maar dat (wee ons, met onze aangeklede zielen!),
Dat vereist diepgaande studie,
Eist een leerschool in verlering
En opsluiting in de vrijheid van dat klooster
Waarvan dichters zeggen dat de sterren de eeuwige nonnen zijn
En de bloemen de overtuigde boetelingen van één dag,
Maar waar uiteindelijk de sterren niets dan sterren zijn
en de bloemen niets dan bloemen,
Reden waarom wij ze sterren en bloemen noemen.
Translations:
August Willems (Dutch)
Berkeley Neo-Baroque Gang of One, based on the work of Teresa Sobral Cunha (English)
flower shop, completed 1969.
östra kyrkogården, malmö, 1916-1969.
architect: sigurd lewerentz, 1885-1975 (with bernt nyberg 1927-1978)
for a long time, the flower shop in malmö was my favourite building, and believing it to be the one piece of architecture able to express aspects of the human condition I would normally seek out in literature, I have visited the place more times than any other building outside copenhagen.
while this grey little girl no longer tops my long list of crushes, returning always leaves me thinking "still crazy after all these years"...
kraus claimed that art should present itself in the form of an enigma and lewerentz certainly delievers. this time in malmö, however, I felt I was able to decipher more than ever before.
I now believe the flower shop to be a return to neoclassicism for lewerentz and a departure from the neo-ruskinian anti-modernism of his two great churches. its skillful play on squares and the golden section, and the subversive distortion of familiar details connect this house with the methodology of his 1920s projects.
the sheer elegance of its proportions alone separates it from klippan and björkhagen and demonstrates at least two things: a continuity in all of lewerentz' works, and the willfulness of the churches in terms of an artist consciously working against his prior knowledge of his craft, unlearning with every step taken.
"all I know is that you are not going to do it the way you normally do", was not only an order spoken to his masons but a reminder spoken to himself during the design and construction of the churches, and - as a method, an obsessive, tortuous method - finally abandoned in this, his last building.
those concerned with the survival of our late-modernist heritage will be disheartened to hear that a second extension has been added to the shop. this time, at least, not physically connected.
The story goes like this, according to this version from the Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine (+1298) as translated by William Caxton (+1492) and adapted (much later) by S.B.
Saint Augustine made a book of the Trinity, in which he studied and mused sore in his mind, so far forth that on a time as he went by the sea-side in Africa, studying on the Trinity, he found by the sea-side a little child which had made a little pit in the sand, and in her hand a little plastic bucket. And with the bucket she took out water of the large sea and poured it into the pit.
And when Saint Augustine beheld him he marvelled, and demanded her what she did. And she answered and said: I will lade out and bring all this water of the sea into this pit. What? said he, it is impossible, how may it be done, sith the sea is so great and large, and thy pit and bucket so little? Yes, forsooth, said she, I shall lightlier and sooner draw all the water of the sea and bring it into this pit than thou shalt bring the mystery of the Trinity and his divinity into thy little understanding as to the regard thereof; for the mystery of the Trinity is greater and larger to the comparison of thy wit and brain than is this great sea unto this little pit. And therewith the child vanished away. Then here may every man take ensample that no man, and especially simple lettered men, ne unlearned, presume to intermit ne to muse on high things of the godhead, farther than we be informed by our faith, for our only faith shall suffice us.
“The spiritual path is more of an unlearning than a learning.”
― Donna Goddard, Waldmeer
Back side of the Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine at Vézelay Abbey, in France. Digital processing with
Photoshop and Topaz. HSS!
A look into the afterburner of the F-35A from the previous post. I'll let the text from that post speak to this one as well.
This is a case of stealth making itself known in a big way… its roar during this high-speed pass rivaled the thunder of its namesake. We brought friends along with us to this year’s Wings Over Wayne (WOW 2019) Air Show at Seymour Johnson AFB in Goldsboro, North Carolina… one noted that with this much noise, it wasn’t too stealthy. I responded to her that when its target hears that noise, it’s too late to do anything about it.
This is the F-35A Demo Team out of Luke AFB, Arizona, showing some of the capabilities of the Lightning. It is the Air Force’s latest 5th-generation stealth fighter. While it’s quite proficient at tearing up the sky, it was designed with an enhanced ability to survive in the advanced threat environment of the world today, and much what it can do will never be demonstrated at any air show… but it’s amazing.
Early in its test phase, the F-35 was determined to be quite a dud as a fighter. Tested against a 4th-generation F-16, it could barely hold its own in a mock dogfight against the Viper, but what few knew was its capabilities were reined in, much like holding a racehorse back from what it was born to do… run. There was another problem that was unforeseen… pilots of the new F-35 had all previously flown 4th-generation, and they brought with them habits that did not apply to the new system’s stunning flight characteristics. They were just figuring out they had to unlearn what they had trusted for so long flying F-15s, F-16s, and F-18s, also known as Legacy fighters, because the Lightning wasn’t just capable of making mincemeat of any adversary, it was a gamechanger with immediate power, faster response to pilot input, an incredible angle of attack (AOA), and an ability to slow to less than 100 mph rapidly while still maintaining controlled flight to rapidly swing its nose to a target. The funny thing is, that as new pilots graduate flight school without the habits of the older pilots, they’re learning more about what the Lightning can do.
All variants of the F-35, A, B, and C models all have advanced integrated avionics giving enhanced situational awareness not just to the pilots, but to every Lightning aircraft on a given mission… what one knows, they all know. Red Flag is somewhat like the Air Force’s version of Navy’s Top Gun, but there’s more to it than what the movie portrays. A Marine pilot new to the program in 2016 was preparing to take off in an F-35B from Luke AFB for a Red Flag exercise… it floored him how much information it provided him from the other members of his squadron who were already airborne. He had a Gods-eye view of the fray before he even left the ground.
From a pilot’s own perspective: "You never knew I was there," he said with a smile. "You literally would never know I'm there. I flew the F-35 against other fourth-generation platforms and we killed them, and they never even saw us."
"If you were to engage an F-35 in say, a visual dogfight capability, the capabilities of the F-35 are absolutely eye-watering compared to a fourth-generation fighter. So if it's a long-range contact, you'll never see me and you'll die, and if it's within visual-range contact you'll see me and you're gonna die and you're gonna die very quickly."
"I can tell you that it is by far the best platform I've ever flown in my entire life, and at that, you would have to take me on my word."
– Maj. Gen. Scott Pleus, former CO of 56th Fighter Wing at Luke AFB. 24 years flying the F-16.
Makes me proud of my own involvement as an airman of the U.S. Air Force.
Part of transitio. Dementia.
Entropy still life with parts of the scattered remains of the dove.
DMC-G2 - P1320356 27.3.2012
In the 25th century, the Justice League's history- their origins, their identities, are all an open book, and they're all linked by one thing. Tragedy. It's inescapable. There is no life without loss. No progress without pain. Barry Allen lost his mother when he was a boy. Bruce Wayne lost his parents. J'onn Jonzz was the last son of Mars. And in my time, they are heroes. They are better because of it. They know what they have to sacrifice to win, to be greater.
...I know tragedy too. I lost *my* mother when I was eight, my father was gunned down by police. I lost my marriage, my mentor, my ability to walk, to tragedy. It's what brought me to the Reverse-Flash, and it's what finally gave me a new purpose.
My name is Hunter Zolomon, and for years I was best friends with Wally West. Ever since I met him, I wanted nothing more than to be his teacher, to show him that tragedy is not something to be avoided, it is *necessary.* Time and time again, he rejected my gift. He didn't understand that you can't save the world with a smile on your face. You can't save the world without dirtying your hands. Some consider him a lost cause, that he can't be helped, and that? That hurts me more than anything.
===Arkham Asylum===
Since the inmates were transferred to Arkham City the year before, the Asylum had been quiet. Peaceful, one might even say. No more desperate screaming through padded cells. No more deranged cackling from the basement.
As far as most people knew, it had been abandoned. The acting mayor even had plans to demolish it come spring.
But it wasn't abandoned.
The low trundle of a wheelchair squeaked against the wet ground. A greyish hand grasped the wheel, and propelled himself forward. The last of Arkham's patients. He'd been told he wouldn't survive the trip to Slabside. That his body was too broken. And so they sent him here, discarded him like a broken toy. He looked down to the grounds below- Maybe... Yes, from this height, the fall would kill him, he thought.
And yet, he'd thought the same thing last time, during the quake, and all that had left him with was a broken body. Jonathan Crane sat there, in silence, the faint outline of his city just visible through the trees- Wayne Enterprise's latest steel monstrosity towered above the rest, as though it were mocking him...
"Ooga Wooga Booga!"
Crane turned his head slowly, unimpressed. "I knew you'd come, sooner or later. Don't presume that your little... jaunts across the island have gone unnoticed."
Knelt beside him, dressed in a bright purple suit and grinning like a hyena, was The Joker. "It's true!" he giggled. "You can't be spooked!"
Crane's tone shifted as he whispered bitterly. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Sure, you do... That's all you ever did. Lecture on top of lecture, speech on top of speech. Sure, *occasionally* you'd unleash some horrible doomsday weapon, create a new virus, but if there's one thing you loved more than fear, it was the sound of your voice when you talked about it."
"Eno-" Crane begins, but Joker's already raising a finger to silence him.
"Heh... It's funny, Straw Man," he smiles, rising to his feet, his hands on the wheelchair. "One push and... game over. "
"Joker, enough! I won't play your game."
"But it's fu-un," he sings, as he trundles the chair closer to the edge.
"In case you've forgotten, *I* can't be scared, so these cheap theatrics of yours are meaningless"
"No, but you *can* be killed," Joker continues, rocking the chair back and forth. Back and forth.
"I would welcome it!" Scarecrow hisses back.
...
"Now isn't that interesting..." Joker chuckles, his hands sliding off the handlebars.
"Let me tell you a secret Jonathan," he whispers. "There's a reason why they dumped you out here. A reason why they'd rather drop you here, than roll you out to Slabside with the big boys. They're not scared anymore. Why would they be... most evil lairs don't have disabled access after all! But I have a solution, a nasty, vile, undoubtedly bloody solution, and for that... I need your latest plague."
Crane paused. "Then, I suggest you check the bottom of the Gotham river. *Kite-Man* destroyed my factory."
"Please, don't lie, not after all we've been through- The good times! Drury's trial, the Cloudburst, others, that ellude me..."
Crane's ear's pricked up. "What do you want with that... idiot?" he asked, a note of disgust in his voice.
"Play nice, and I'll tell you... Hell, maybe I'll keep you around. Heh. You might even enjoy yourself," Joker laughs, as he pats Crane on the back, and lifts his cane up off from the ground.
"Joker, wait," Crane called out. "There's a rumour, that the pup has her father back..."
Joker smiles.
"So it's true?" Crane sighed. "There used to be a saying, do you remember? "Only the good villains come back." Though, I suppose that once Ted Carson was resurrected, that all went out the window."
"Heh. Rumours... Nasty, those. I think I killed him, you know. Maybe. Bullet to the skull really ought to have done it, but, heh, this is Gotham."
Crane nods. "Rumours, yes. I *may* have heard that the snowman took two gallons of my toxin..."
...
"Johnny, I love you, but you have to be more specific. Do you mean Freeze, or the literal hairy, yeti Kelsey Grammar bloke?"
...
"Yes, I meant Freeze."
~
It's 1991. I come home to find my parents dead. My father, gunned down by police. My mother, his final victim.
2003. The Flash, Barry Allen, encounters his first villain: Leonard Snart- Captain Cold, a self titled rogue armed with a cold gun. My fascination with these... Rogues is piqued.
2004. During my first year of college, I fall in love with my classmate, Ashley. I strike up a friendship with her father, the criminology professor at our school.
It's 2008. My wedding day. Ashley's father is my best man.
2010. Her father- in many ways *our* father, lies dead in my arms, a victim of my error. Ashley files for divorce.
2012. I come to Keystone City for a fresh start. Becoming the "Rogues Profiler" for KCPD, I meet a young man called Wally West. The Flash.
2013. A riot at Iron Heights renders me paralysed. In desperation, I turn to Wally, urging him to travel back in time, and fix my life. He refuses. In an attempt to use the treadmill myself, it explodes, effectively knocking me out of the timestream. I become Zoom. My new mission, to help the Flash, no matter the cost.
"The Flashes, are not worth your time Hunter."
~
Now, it is 2018, Louisiana. "They're nothing but selfish, cruel, vain individuals, not worthy of your... kindness." Beside me, Thawne tinkers with a machine. In a few hours, Lex Luthor will give the order, and the Secret Society will activate our Fear Gas Bomb in the heart of Gotham. Of the thousands affected, one in two will emerge stronger, their demons conquered.
"Idisagreeeeeeeee. You've spentyour eeeeeeentire life making BarryAllenbetter, JokerandBatman, Sineeeeestro- Haaaaal Jordan, BlckMnta- Aquaman. You aaaaall makeheroes strong."
"That's where you're wrong, Hunter. I don't want to *help* Barry Allen, I want to destroy him. Take apart all that he has. All that he *is*. You've seen my files. Do you really think Manta fights Aquaman to make him better?! Heh. Black Manta is a sociopathic maniac with an inane case of daddy issues. However, he does make an excellent tuna sandwich. He doesn't know I steal them."
~
Two years earlier, I am visited by an older Thawne. He's dying. Having just escaped an alternate timeline, the energy it took has dampened his speed. His one hope is a "Get out of Hell Free card." In the year that follows, Thawne recruits Drury Walker to infiltrate the Suicide Squad and find him that card. I'm not sure why he chose *him.* Thawne said it was a cruel irony of sorts, brought about by his time in this other timeline. Mothpoint. He uses the opportunity to punish Walker for his failings, and to tie up loose ends, by murdering the Van Cleer boy. His son. Moments later, the Signal Man issues a city wide blackout, wanting the card for himself. In the ensuing chaos, Thawne succumbs to his wounds, killed by the boy's stepmother.
Walker's grief, and role in Cobb's defeat inspires him to become more than a simple criminal. He runs for Mayor. A year later, the boy is resurrected. The tragedy, was undone. The lessons Walker learned? Unlearned.
2018. While Bane works to reshape the Society, Thawne is set on the path that will lead to his death. A confrontation with the Ratcatcher and the KGBeast ends with him retreating into the speedforce, as time changes around him. He's dumped in December, 2018. A new world, and is forced to work with Walker's boy. His disobedience and compassion makes him an unreliable ally. He plans to murder him once the timeline is restored.
2019. Thawne visits Bane one final time. I, am sent to deal with a rival Society spearheaded by Lex Luthor. The key, is the Riddler's journal.
The Joker destroys it before I can learn what he might have planned. The Society is satisfied.
2020. During an assault on the League of Assassins, Bane, Calculator, Sinestro and Zod are all apprehended. Kuttler's testimony grants him freedom. Though Faust, Ocean Master and Black Adam remain, each go their separate ways. The Society is finished. Intent on confronting the Joker, I travel to Gotham City. Instead, he imparts on me a new mission.
=Drury's Apartment, Keystone=
"Drury- Drury!" Wally called out. "Axel's been spotted with the Rogues, and I just- Drury?"
"Wah-Wah-Wah-Wah-Wah" a voice answered back, mockingly. Sat in the living room, draped in a tartan blanket, and a glass of scotch in his hand, was Drury Walker. Opposite him, playing Cooking Mama on the TV, was The Suit.
Wally sighed. "C-C'mon, man, that's just childish."
"Mi-Mi-Mi-Mi-Mi-Muh."
Wally edged into the room, and knelt beside Drury. "You don't want your kid in Iron Heights. I get it... I don't either! But he keeps going out with the Rogues, that's what's going to happen."
Drury took another sip of scotch. "Let him have his fun. He hasn't had *his* hopes and dreams stabbed yet.
Wally bowed his head. "Look, I'm not thrilled with this arrangement either. But we could at least try to get along, right? How about a pizza? Would you like a pizza."
"Gotham's are better."
"I can go to Gotham. Fastest man alive and all that."
"Lucky!" Drury called back sarcastically.
"Right. It's been a pleasure. Suit," he nodded, the empty costume putting the controller on the table and waving goodbye. The door slamming behind him, Drury rushed to the window. "Thank god he's gone," he smiled, and ripped his dressing gown off to reveal the costume underneath. "Now, where were we?"
He flipped the tablecloth over, unveiling a map of the prison on the other side.
"We really need to re-evaluate your artistic merits..." Drury murmured, as Suit rolled in a large mirror, and handed Walker a silver blaster.
"McCulloch this mirror gun better fucking work," Drury mused, as he pointed it at the mirror, and fired a white beam of light. The mirror now a dazzling portal, Drury winks back, and enters through the looking glass.
Lorsque je tavaillais cette photo, j'y ai vu comme un Jésus en croix, ou bras élevés montant aux cieux. De petites lignes simples, originales, une autre façon de voir et d'exprimer...ce Jésus en croix. On a eu toutes sortes de représentations et d'images qui nous sont parvenus d'artistes du passé, voici la mienne qui je sais sort de l'ordinaire. Mais c'est ce que j'aime aussi...car je pense que pour connaïtre Jésus, il faut comme désapprendre ce que nous a appris et laisser de côté nos préjugés et s'en faire sa propre vision dans notre aujourd'hui.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I worked this photo, I saw Jesus on a cross, arms raised or ascending to heaven. Small simple lines, original, another way of seeing and expressing it ... Jesus on the cross. We had all kinds of representations and images that have come from artists of the past, here is mine that I know out of ordinary. But that's what I like ... because I think that to know Jesus, we must unlearn as we learned and put aside our prejudices and make it his own vision in our day.
©2009 by João Paglione - all rights reserved
Visit my webpage www.joaopaglione.de to view images in larger resolution (full screen) or license them for editorial, commercial, or personal usage. Or e-mail me
What is rooted is easy to nourish.
What is recent is easy to correct.
What is brittle is easy to break.
What is small is easy to scatter.
Prevent trouble before it arises.
Put things in order before they exist.
The giant pine tree
grows from a tiny sprout.
The journey of a thousand miles
starts from beneath your feet.
Rushing into action, you fail.
Trying to grasp things, you lose them.
Forcing a project to completion,
you ruin what was almost ripe.
Therefore the Master takes action
by letting things take their course.
He remains as calm
at the end as at the beginning.
He has nothing,
thus has nothing to lose.
What he desires is non-desire;
what he learns is to unlearn.
He simply reminds people
of who they have always been.
He cares about nothing but the Tao.
Thus he can care for all things.
posted at Instagram
World Photography Day...
My new short series.. Photography came very late in life I bought a Nikon EM camera in 1980 while working at Muscat Muttrah.
I shot the streets usual stuff Corniche.
But I had to leave me job return to Mumbai 1982 did not have any savings I sold my camera at Fort.
I jjoined a Fashiom studio in Bandra as a stylist and later joined Mudra Communications under Guru AG Krishnamurti.
Came in contact with somebody great photographers but it was Pablo Bartolomew who inspired me he was doing some work for the agency and I accompanied him as a coordinator.
I left Mudra returned to my fashion job..
Bought a Nikon joined classes of Mr Shreekanth Malushte and crash course.
Joined PSI camera club and thus started my tryst with photography.
Met Prof BW Jatkar and Mr KG Maheshwariji and got involved in salon and fine art photography.
Bought a digital went deeper into photography shooting festivals feasts Shia Moharam Sufi Urus Hindu culture ritualism.
Bandra streets.. Became a grandfather tutored both my granddaughters Marziya and Nerjis let them shoot the streets.
Turning point of my photography was becoming digital joining Buzznet my formative school of unlearning photography.
I became a blogger but soon renounced blogging to shoot stories became a Sufi Poet..
I had a heart attack last December so I cut down my outdoor photography...
Lockdown holds my cameras in captivity.
This is dedicated to all my Gurus photographer friend who helped me learn the Art..
I became a YouTuber over 6000 videos 91 k subscribers and 35 million views.
I thank you all for visiting my photostream your love and support sustains me.
Merci
#worldphotographyday
#photographerno1
A great favourite of mine, Beinn Laoigh first came to my attention in the distant past when flicking through one of Poucher's books in my local library. The revelation that such a gleaming, alpinesque vision of mountain elegance was within reach of home was a thrill of life-changing proportions. In those days the thought of attempting that walk up Glen Cononish was, in my mind, something akin to finding the road to Shangri La.
The youthful joy of the unknown & mysterious is a gift that's never fully appreciated at the time. If only I could 'unlearn' all these things in order to discover them again.
Is it possible to base any race by one look at the face?
It is mostly the basis for a racist to not see past the faces.
A racist cannot face the fact that there are reasons not just “white and black”
To think the original peoples Aboriginal land business hi-jacked in the past
If you had to leave your home countries on your hands and knees
How would you and your families adjust when that was a must?
A culture within a culture within a culture. Easy to procure .
Because we are not sure why a guy would hate another guy
Would hate everything without seeing within, no one wins.
But these winds cannot change because of any generation
Fake sarcasm of misunderstanding demanding explanation
In any given nation hate the unknown down to the bone
Based on skin alone. Facing that saying ‘reverse-racism’
STUPID hearing that out loud, puts a dark cloud in a crowd
Stirs inside me like a Doctor came to this country to drive a taxi?
When he came here to make a better life for his wife and family?
Makes me angry no one sees groups are raising their arms
Like all is territory you rather burn. People…time to unlearn.
Time to unlearn.
The Full Moon reflects below from the surface of Lake Ashokan as viewed from the hillside retreat. Nineteen friends gather (just out of frame) around a roaring campfire for witness and celebration of the times.
Scenes from an event at a private retreat in the Catskills. Nineteen visionaries spend the previous week at work on new projects and strategies for wholesome and sovereign living.
As grandfather's Alzheimer`s progressed, he sat with the newspaper at the kitchen table as if he were reading it - he was not able to read anymore.
As a child I was sitting with books or newspapers in my hands, as if I were reading - I had not yet learned to read.
Als Großvaters Alzheimer fortschritt saß er mit der Zeitung beim Küchentisch als würde er darin lesen, aber er konnte nicht mehr lesen.
Als Kind saß ich mit Büchern oder Zeitungen in Händen, als würde ich lesen - ich hatte noch nicht lesen gelernt.
Part of: transitio Dementia. Found book in the ruin.
DMC-G2 - P1050542 30.6.2011
As grandfather's Alzheimer`s progressed, he sat with the newspaper at the kitchen table as if he were reading it - he was not able to read anymore.
As a child I was sitting with books or newspapers in my hands, as if I were reading - I had not yet learned to read.
Als Großvaters Alzheimer fortschritt saß er mit der Zeitung beim Küchentisch als würde er darin lesen, aber er konnte nicht mehr lesen.
Als Kind saß ich mit Büchern oder Zeitungen in Händen, als würde ich lesen - ich hatte noch nicht lesen gelernt.
Part of: transitio. Dementia. Found book in the ruin.
DMC-G2 - P1050537 30.6.2011
Just been on a rather exhausting but very worthwhile weekend long exposure workshop with Jay Vulture (Vulture Labs). So much to learn (and unlearn!) and now to try to put into practice. This is just a first, rather quick, attempt.
Thanks for a great weekend Jay. Also got to know some bits of London I hadn't got to before.
This sticker collection started in Halloween 2001 and it goes as follows: Plankton Man, Naco, DC Shoes, Emerica, ESM Artificial, Pop Lab, Hello Shitty, Acamonchi, Cacamonchi, Baker Skateboards, Buddy Cianci has a posse, Yoda, Join and Die, Propaganda, Flanda, Atletico Sound sister, Cleon Peterson, Luke Skywalker, Transworld Skateboarding, Thrasher Magazine, Paul Frank, Vegetarians are sprouting all over, Apple, Pepe Deluxe, Phunk Studios, C-3PO is gay, Crass, The Cure, Menudo, Dave Kinsey, Unlearn, Obey, Obey Giant, Apathy, Suave Records, Nortec Collective, El Santo, Phantasma, Go South, Atletico, Pig, At Syber, Submit, The Seventh Letter, Ford Proco, Skoal, Evoke, Evoker, Voke, Stain, Arte Postal, Pop Tripper, Vision Street Wear, Evil Design, Cha3, Spacewurm, Genomh, Get Down, Escientific Collective, Burton Snowboards, Willy Santos, Do The Math, DTM, Understood Skateboard Artshow, Eye Candy Magazine, Tu No Existes, Pink Panther, Stale Donut, Tillamok Cheddar, Superior Mix Drum and Bass, With Remote, Conformity Equals Midlife Crisis, Poopie Pants, I Threw Up, Jeff Koons, Michael Jackson, Bubbles, Love Gun, Pop Lab, Guerrilla Fanzine, Nortec, Colosio, Zero Lopez, The Visual Mafia, REP, Circa, Zero Chris Cole, Flying V, Volcom, DC shoes, Unlearn, Muska.
Wells Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, whose cathedra it holds as mother church of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Built as a Roman Catholic cathedral from around 1175 to replace an earlier church on the site since 705, it became an Anglican cathedral when King Henry VIII split from Rome. It is moderately sized for an English cathedral. Its broad west front and large central tower are dominant features. It has been called "unquestionably one of the most beautiful" and "most poetic" of English cathedrals.
Its Gothic architecture is mostly inspired from Early English style of the late 12th to early 13th centuries, lacking the Romanesque work that survives in many other cathedrals. Building began about 1175 at the east end with the choir. Historian John Harvey sees it as Europe's first truly Gothic structure, breaking the last constraints of Romanesque. The stonework of its pointed arcades and fluted piers bears pronounced mouldings and carved capitals in a foliate, "stiff-leaf" style. Its Early English front with 300 sculpted figures is seen as a "supreme triumph of the combined plastic arts in England". The east end retains much ancient stained glass. Unlike many cathedrals of monastic foundation, Wells has many surviving secular buildings linked to its chapter of secular canons, including the Bishop's Palace and the 15th-century residential Vicars' Close It is a Grade I listed building.
The earliest remains of a building on the site are of a late-Roman mausoleum, identified during excavations in 1980. An abbey church was built in Wells in 705 by Aldhelm, first bishop of the newly established Diocese of Sherborne during the reign of King Ine of Wessex. It was dedicated to St Andrew and stood at the site of the cathedral's cloisters, where some excavated remains can be seen. The font in the cathedral's south transept is from this church and is the oldest part of the present building. In 766 Cynewulf, King of Wessex, signed a charter endowing the church with eleven hides of land. In 909 the seat of the diocese was moved from Sherborne to Wells.
The first bishop of Wells was Athelm (909), who crowned King Æthelstan. Athelm and his nephew Dunstan both became Archbishops of Canterbury. During this period a choir of boys was established to sing the liturgy. Wells Cathedral School, which was established to educate these choirboys, dates its foundation to this point. There is, however, some controversy over this. Following the Norman Conquest, John de Villula moved the seat of the bishop from Wells to Bath in 1090. The church at Wells, no longer a cathedral, had a college of secular clergy.
The cathedral is thought to have been conceived and commenced in about 1175 by Reginald Fitz Jocelin, who died in 1191. Although it is clear from its size that from the outset, the church was planned to be the cathedral of the diocese, the seat of the bishop moved between Wells and the abbeys of Glastonbury and Bath, before settling at Wells. In 1197 Reginald's successor, Savaric FitzGeldewin, with the approval of Pope Celestine III, officially moved his seat to Glastonbury Abbey. The title of Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury was used until the Glastonbury claim was abandoned in 1219.
Savaric's successor, Jocelin of Wells, again moved the bishop's seat to Bath Abbey, with the title Bishop of Bath. Jocelin was a brother of Hugh (II) of Lincoln and was present at the signing of the Magna Carta. Jocelin continued the building campaign begun by Reginald and was responsible for the Bishop's Palace, the choristers' school, a grammar school, a hospital for travellers and a chapel. He also had a manor house built at Wookey, near Wells. Jocelin saw the church dedicated in 1239 but, despite much lobbying of the Pope by Jocelin's representatives in Rome, did not live to see cathedral status granted. The delay may have been a result of inaction by Pandulf Verraccio, a Roman ecclesiastical politician, papal legate to England and Bishop of Norwich, who was asked by the Pope to investigate the situation but did not respond. Jocelin died at Wells on 19 November 1242 and was buried in the choir of the cathedral; the memorial brass on his tomb is one of the earliest brasses in England. Following his death the monks of Bath unsuccessfully attempted to regain authority over Wells.
In 1245 the ongoing dispute over the title of the bishop was resolved by a ruling of Pope Innocent IV, who established the title as the "Bishop of Bath and Wells", which it has remained until this day, with Wells as the principal seat of the bishop. Since the 11th century the church has had a chapter of secular clergy, like the cathedrals of Chichester, Hereford, Lincoln and York. The chapter was endowed with 22 prebends (lands from which finance was drawn) and a provost to manage them. On acquiring cathedral status, in common with other such cathedrals, it had four chief clergy, the dean, precentor, chancellor and sacristan, who were responsible for the spiritual and material care of the cathedral.
The building programme, begun by Reginald Fitz Jocelin, Bishop in the 12th century, continued under Jocelin of Wells, who was a canon from 1200, then bishop from 1206. Adam Locke was master mason from about 1192 until 1230. It was designed in the new style with pointed arches, later known as Gothic, which was introduced at about the same time at Canterbury Cathedral. Work was halted between 1209 and 1213 when King John was excommunicated and Jocelin was in exile, but the main parts of the church were complete by the time of the dedication by Jocelin in 1239.
By the time the cathedral, including the chapter house, was finished in 1306, it was already too small for the developing liturgy, and unable to accommodate increasingly grand processions of clergy. John Droxford initiated another phase of building under master mason Thomas of Whitney, during which the central tower was heightened and an eight-sided Lady chapel was added at the east end by 1326. Ralph of Shrewsbury followed, continuing the eastward extension of the choir and retrochoir beyond. He oversaw the building of Vicars' Close and the Vicars' Hall, to give the men who were employed to sing in the choir a secure place to live and dine, away from the town and its temptations. He had an uneasy relationship with the citizens of Wells, partly because of his imposition of taxes, and he surrounded his palace with crenellated walls, a moat and a drawbridge.
John Harewell raised money for the completion of the west front by William Wynford, who was appointed as master mason in 1365. One of the foremost master masons of his time, Wynford worked for the king at Windsor, Winchester Cathedral and New College, Oxford. At Wells, he designed the western towers of which north-west was not built until the following century. In the 14th century, the central piers of the crossing were found to be sinking under the weight of the crossing tower which had been damaged by an earthquake in the previous century. Strainer arches, sometimes described as scissor arches, were inserted by master mason William Joy to brace and stabilise the piers as a unit.
By the reign of Henry VII the cathedral was complete, appearing much as it does today (though the fittings have changed). From 1508 to 1546, the eminent Italian humanist scholar Polydore Vergil was active as the chapter's representative in London. He donated a set of hangings for the choir of the cathedral. While Wells survived the Dissolution of the Monasteries better than the cathedrals of monastic foundation, the abolition of chantries in 1547 resulted in a reduction in its income. Medieval brasses were sold, and a pulpit was placed in the nave for the first time. Between 1551 and 1568, in two periods as dean, William Turner established a herb garden, which was recreated between 2003 and 2010.
Elizabeth I gave the chapter and the Vicars Choral a new charter in 1591, creating a new governing body, consisting of a dean and eight residentiary canons with control over the church estates and authority over its affairs, but no longer entitled to elect the dean (that entitlement thenceforward belonged ultimately to the Crown). The stability brought by the new charter ended with the onset of the Civil War and the execution of Charles I. Local fighting damaged the cathedral's stonework, furniture and windows. The dean, Walter Raleigh, a nephew of the explorer Walter Raleigh, was placed under house arrest after the fall of Bridgwater to the Parliamentarians in 1645, first in the rectory at Chedzoy and then in the deanery at Wells. His jailor, the shoe maker and city constable, David Barrett, caught him writing a letter to his wife. When he refused to surrender it, Barrett ran him through with a sword and he died six weeks later, on 10 October 1646. He was buried in an unmarked grave in the choir before the dean's stall. During the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell no dean was appointed and the cathedral fell into disrepair. The bishop went into retirement and some of the clerics were reduced to performing menial tasks.
In 1661, after Charles II was restored to the throne, Robert Creighton, the king's chaplain in exile, was appointed dean and was bishop for two years before his death in 1672. His brass lectern, given in thanksgiving, can be seen in the cathedral. He donated the nave's great west window at a cost of £140. Following Creighton's appointment as bishop, the post of dean went to Ralph Bathurst, who had been chaplain to the king, president of Trinity College, Oxford and fellow of the Royal Society. During Bathurst's long tenure the cathedral was restored, but in the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685, Puritan soldiers damaged the west front, tore lead from the roof to make bullets, broke the windows, smashed the organ and furnishings, and for a time stabled their horses in the nave.
Restoration began again under Thomas Ken who was appointed by the Crown in 1685 and served until 1691. He was one of seven bishops imprisoned for refusing to sign King James II's "Declaration of Indulgence", which would have enabled Catholics to resume positions of political power, but popular support led to their acquittal. Ken refused to take the oath of allegiance to William III and Mary II because James II had not abdicated and with others, known as the Nonjurors, was put out of office. His successor, Richard Kidder, was killed in the Great Storm of 1703 when two chimney stacks on the palace fell on him and his wife, while they were asleep in bed.
By the middle of the 19th century, a major restoration programme was needed. Under Dean Goodenough, the monuments were moved to the cloisters and the remaining medieval paint and whitewash removed in an operation known as "the great scrape". Anthony Salvin took charge of the extensive restoration of the choir. Wooden galleries installed in the 16th century were removed and the stalls were given stone canopies and placed further back within the line of the arcade. The medieval stone pulpitum screen was extended in the centre to support a new organ.
In 1933 the Friends of Wells Cathedral were formed to support the cathedral's chapter in the maintenance of the fabric, life and work of the cathedral. The late 20th century saw an extensive restoration programme, particularly of the west front. The stained glass is currently under restoration, with a programme underway to conserve the large 14th-century Jesse Tree window at the eastern terminal of the choir.
In January 2014, as part of the Bath film festival, the cathedral hosted a special screening of Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ. This provoked some controversy, but the church defended its decision to allow the screening.
In 2021, a contemporary sculpture by Anthony Gormley was unveiled on a temporary plinth outside the cathedral.
Since the 13th century, Wells Cathedral has been the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells. Its governing body, the chapter, is made up of five clerical canons (the dean, the precentor, the canon chancellor, the canon treasurer, and the archdeacon of Wells) and four lay members: the administrator (chief executive), Keeper of the Fabric, Overseer of the Estate and the chairman of the cathedral shop and catering boards. The current bishop of Bath and Wells is Peter Hancock, who was installed in a service in the cathedral on 7 June 2014. John Davies has been Dean of Wells since 2016.
Employed staff include the organist and master of choristers, head Verger archivist, librarian and the staff of the shop, café and restaurant. The chapter is advised by specialists such as architects, archaeologists and financial analysts.
More than a thousand services are held every year. There are daily services of Matins, Holy Communion and Choral Evensong, as well as major celebrations of Christian festivals such as Christmas, Easter, Pentecost and saints' days. The cathedral is also used for the baptisms, weddings and funerals of those with close connections to it. In July 2009 the cathedral undertook the funeral of Harry Patch, the last British Army veteran of World War I, who died at the age of 111.
Three Sunday services are led by the resident choir in school terms and choral services are sung on weekdays. The cathedral hosts visiting choirs and does outreach work with local schools as part of its Chorister Outreach Project. It is also a venue for musical events such as an annual concert by the Somerset Chamber Choir.
Each year about 150,000 people attend services and another 300,000 visit as tourists. Entry is free, but visitors are encouraged to make a donation towards the annual running costs of around £1.5 million in 2015.
Construction of the cathedral began in about 1175, to the design of an unknown master-mason. Wells is the first cathedral in England to be built, from its foundation, in Gothic style. According to art historian John Harvey, it is the first truly Gothic cathedral in the world, its architects having entirely dispensed with all features that bound the contemporary east end of Canterbury Cathedral and the earlier buildings of France, such as the east end of the Abbey of Saint Denis, to the Romanesque. Unlike these churches, Wells has clustered piers rather than columns and has a gallery of identical pointed arches rather than the typically Romanesque form of paired openings. The style, with its simple lancet arches without tracery and convoluted mouldings, is known as Early English Gothic.
From about 1192 to 1230, Adam Lock, the earliest master-mason at Wells for whom a name is known, continued the transept and nave in the same manner as his predecessor. Lock was also the builder of the north porch, to his own design.
The Early English west front was commenced around 1230 by Thomas Norreys, with building and sculpture continuing for thirty years. Its south-west tower was begun 100 years later and constructed between 1365 and 1395, and the north-west tower between 1425 and 1435, both in the Perpendicular Gothic style to the design of William Wynford, who also filled many of the cathedral's early English lancet windows with delicate tracery.
The undercroft and chapter house were built by unknown architects between 1275 and 1310, the undercroft in the Early English and the chapter house in the Geometric style of Decorated Gothic architecture. In about 1310 work commenced on the Lady Chapel, to the design of Thomas Witney, who also built the central tower from 1315 to 1322 in the Decorated Gothic style. The tower was later braced internally with arches by William Joy. Concurrent with this work, in 1329–45 Joy made alterations and extensions to the choir, joining it to the Lady Chapel with the retrochoir, the latter in the Flowing Decorated style.
Later changes include the Perpendicular vault of the tower and construction of Sugar's Chapel, 1475–1490 by William Smyth. Also, Gothic Revival renovations were made to the choir and pulpitum by Benjamin Ferrey and Anthony Salvin, 1842–1857.
Wells has a total length of 415 feet (126 m). Like Canterbury, Lincoln and Salisbury cathedrals, it has the distinctly English arrangement of two transepts, with the body of the church divided into distinct parts: nave, choir, and retro-choir, beyond which extends the Lady Chapel. The façade is wide, with its towers extending beyond the transepts on either side. There is a large projecting porch on the north side of the nave forming an entry into the cathedral. To the north-east is the large octagonal chapter house, entered from the north choir aisle by a passage and staircase. To the south of the nave is a large cloister, unusual in that the northern range, that adjacent the cathedral, was never built.
In section, the cathedral has the usual arrangement of a large church: a central nave with an aisle on each side, separated by two arcades. The elevation is in three stages, arcade, triforium gallery and clerestory. The nave is 67 feet (20 m) in height, very low compared to the Gothic cathedrals of France. It has a markedly horizontal emphasis, caused by the triforium having a unique form, a series of identical narrow openings, lacking the usual definition of the bays. The triforium is separated from the arcade by a single horizontal string course that runs unbroken the length of the nave. There are no vertical lines linking the three stages, as the shafts supporting the vault rise above the triforium.
The exterior of Wells Cathedral presents a relatively tidy and harmonious appearance since the greater part of the building was executed in a single style, Early English Gothic. This is uncommon among English cathedrals where the exterior usually exhibits a plethora of styles. At Wells, later changes in the Perpendicular style were universally applied, such as filling the Early English lancet windows with simple tracery, the construction of a parapet that encircles the roof, and the addition of pinnacles framing each gable, similar to those around the chapter house and on the west front. At the eastern end there is a proliferation of tracery with repeated motifs in the Reticulated style, a stage between Geometric and Flowing Decorated tracery.
The west front is 100 feet (30 m) high and 147 feet (45 m) wide, and built of Inferior Oolite of the Middle Jurassic period, which came from the Doulting Stone Quarry, about 8 miles (13 km) to the east. According to the architectural historian Alec Clifton-Taylor, it is "one of the great sights of England".
West fronts in general take three distinct forms: those that follow the elevation of the nave and aisles, those that have paired towers at the end of each aisle, framing the nave, and those that screen the form of the building. The west front at Wells has the paired-tower form, unusual in that the towers do not indicate the location of the aisles, but extend well beyond them, screening the dimensions and profile of the building.
The west front rises in three distinct stages, each clearly defined by a horizontal course. This horizontal emphasis is counteracted by six strongly projecting buttresses defining the cross-sectional divisions of nave, aisles and towers, and are highly decorated, each having canopied niches containing the largest statues on the façade.
At the lowest level of the façade is a plain base, contrasting with and stabilising the ornate arcades that rise above it. The base is penetrated by three doors, which are in stark contrast to the often imposing portals of French Gothic cathedrals. The outer two are of domestic proportion and the central door is ornamented only by a central post, quatrefoil and the fine mouldings of the arch.
Above the basement rise two storeys, ornamented with quatrefoils and niches originally holding about four hundred statues, with three hundred surviving until the mid-20th century. Since then, some have been restored or replaced, including the ruined figure of Christ in the gable.
The third stages of the flanking towers were both built in the Perpendicular style of the late 14th century, to the design of William Wynford; that on the north-west was not begun until about 1425. The design maintains the general proportions, and continues the strong projection of the buttresses.
The finished product has been criticised for its lack of pinnacles, and it is probable that the towers were intended to carry spires which were never built. Despite its lack of spires or pinnacles, the architectural historian Banister Fletcher describes it as "the highest development in English Gothic of this type of façade."
The sculptures on the west front at Wells include standing figures, seated figures, half-length angels and narratives in high relief. Many of the figures are life-sized or larger. Together they constitute the finest display of medieval carving in England. The figures and many of the architectural details were painted in bright colours, and the colouring scheme has been deduced from flakes of paint still adhering to some surfaces. The sculptures occupy nine architectural zones stretching horizontally across the entire west front and around the sides and the eastern returns of the towers which extend beyond the aisles. The strongly projecting buttresses have tiers of niches which contain many of the largest figures. Other large figures, including that of Christ, occupy the gable. A single figure stands in one of two later niches high on the northern tower.
In 1851 the archaeologist Charles Robert Cockerell published his analysis of the iconography, numbering the nine sculptural divisions from the lowest to the highest. He defined the theme as "a calendar for unlearned men" illustrating the doctrines and history of the Christian faith, its introduction to Britain and its protection by princes and bishops. He likens the arrangement and iconography to the Te Deum.
According to Cockerell, the side of the façade that is to the south of the central door is the more sacred and the scheme is divided accordingly. The lowest range of niches each contained a standing figure, of which all but four figures on the west front, two on each side, have been destroyed. More have survived on the northern and eastern sides of the north tower. Cockerell speculates that those to the south of the portal represented prophets and patriarchs of the Old Testament while those to the north represented early missionaries to Britain, of which Augustine of Canterbury, St Birinus, and Benedict Biscop are identifiable by their attributes. In the second zone, above each pair of standing figures, is a quatrefoil containing a half-length angel in relief, some of which have survived. Between the gables of the niches are quatrefoils that contain a series of narratives from the Bible, with the Old Testament stories to the south, above the prophets and patriarchs, and those from the New Testament to the north. A horizontal course runs around the west front dividing the architectural storeys at this point.
Above the course, zones four and five, as identified by Cockerell, contain figures which represent the Christian Church in Britain, with the spiritual lords such as bishops, abbots, abbesses and saintly founders of monasteries on the south, while kings, queens and princes occupy the north. Many of the figures survive and many have been identified in the light of their various attributes. There is a hierarchy of size, with the more significant figures larger and enthroned in their niches rather than standing. Immediately beneath the upper course are a series of small niches containing dynamic sculptures of the dead coming forth from their tombs on the Day of Judgement. Although naked, some of the dead are defined as royalty by their crowns and others as bishops by their mitres. Some emerge from their graves with joy and hope, and others with despair.
The niches in the lowest zone of the gable contain nine angels, of which Cockerell identifies Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel. In the next zone are the taller figures of the twelve apostles, some, such as John, Andrew and Bartholomew, clearly identifiable by the attributes that they carry. The uppermost niches of the gable contained the figure of Christ the Judge at the centre, with the Virgin Mary on his right and John the Baptist on his left. The figures all suffered from iconoclasm. A new statue of Jesus was carved for the central niche, but the two side niches now contain cherubim. Christ and the Virgin Mary are also represented by now headless figures in a Coronation of the Virgin in a niche above the central portal. A damaged figure of the Virgin and Christ Child occupies a quatrefoil in the spandrel of the door.
The central tower appears to date from the early 13th century. It was substantially reconstructed in the early 14th century during the remodelling of the east end, necessitating the internal bracing of the piers a decade or so later. In the 14th century the tower was given a timber and lead spire which burnt down in 1439. The exterior was then reworked in the Perpendicular style and given the present parapet and pinnacles. Alec Clifton-Taylor describes it as "outstanding even in Somerset, a county famed for the splendour of its church towers".
The north porch is described by art historian Nikolaus Pevsner as "sumptuously decorated", and intended as the main entrance. Externally it is simple and rectangular with plain side walls. The entrance is a steeply arched portal framed by rich mouldings of eight shafts with stiff-leaf capitals each encircled by an annular moulding at middle height. Those on the left are figurative, containing images representing the martyrdom of St Edmund the Martyr. The walls are lined with deep niches framed by narrow shafts with capitals and annulets like those of the portal. The path to the north porch is lined by four sculptures in Purbeck stone, each by Mary Spencer Watson, representing the symbols of the Evangelists.
The cloisters were built in the late 13th century and largely rebuilt from 1430 to 1508 and have wide openings divided by mullions and transoms, and tracery in the Perpendicular Gothic style. The vault has lierne ribs that form octagons at the centre of each compartment, the joints of each rib having decorative bosses. The eastern range is of two storeys, of which the upper is the library built in the 15th century.
Because Wells Cathedral was secular rather than monastic, cloisters were not a practical necessity. They were omitted from several other secular cathedrals but were built here and at Chichester. Explanations for their construction at these two secular cathedrals range from the processional to the aesthetic. As at Chichester, there is no northern range to the cloisters. In monastic cloisters it was the north range, benefiting most from winter sunlight, that was often used as a scriptorium.
In 1969, when a large chunk of stone fell from a statue near the main door, it became apparent that there was an urgent need for restoration of the west front. Detailed studies of the stonework and of conservation practices were undertaken under the cathedral architect, Alban D. R. Caroe and a restoration committee formed. The methods selected were those devised by Eve and Robert Baker. W. A. (Bert) Wheeler, clerk of works to the cathedral 1935–1978, had previously experimented with washing and surface treatment of architectural carvings on the building and his techniques were among those tried on the statues.
The conservation was carried out between 1974 and 1986, wherever possible using non-invasive procedures such as washing with water and a solution of lime, filling gaps and damaged surfaces with soft mortar to prevent the ingress of water and stabilising statues that were fracturing through corrosion of metal dowels. The surfaces were finished by painting with a thin coat of mortar and silane to resist further erosion and attack by pollutants. The restoration of the façade revealed much paint adhering to the statues and their niches, indicating that it had once been brightly coloured.
The particular character of this Early English interior is dependent on the proportions of the simple lancet arches. It is also dependent on the refinement of the architectural details, in particular the mouldings.
The arcade, which takes the same form in the nave, choir and transepts, is distinguished by the richness of both mouldings and carvings. Each pier of the arcade has a surface enrichment of 24 slender shafts in eight groups of three, rising beyond the capitals to form the deeply undulating mouldings of the arches. The capitals themselves are remarkable for the vitality of the stylised foliage, in a style known as "stiff-leaf". The liveliness contrasts with the formality of the moulded shafts and the smooth unbroken areas of ashlar masonry in the spandrels. Each capital is different, and some contain small figures illustrating narratives.
The vault of the nave rises steeply in a simple quadripartite form, in harmony with the nave arcade. The eastern end of the choir was extended and the whole upper part elaborated in the second quarter of the 14th century by William Joy. The vault has a multiplicity of ribs in a net-like form, which is very different from that of the nave, and is perhaps a recreation in stone of a local type of compartmented wooden roof of which examples remain from the 15th century, including those at St Cuthbert's Church, Wells. The vaults of the aisles of the choir also have a unique pattern.
Until the early 14th century, the interior of the cathedral was in a unified style, but it was to undergo two significant changes, to the tower and to the eastern end. Between 1315 and 1322 the central tower was heightened and topped by a spire, which caused the piers that supported it to show signs of stress. In 1338 the mason William Joy employed an unorthodox solution by inserting low arches topped by inverted arches of similar dimensions, forming scissors-like structures. These arches brace the piers of the crossing on three sides, while the easternmost side is braced by a choir screen. The bracing arches are known as "St Andrew's Cross arches", in a reference to the patron saint of the cathedral. They have been described by Wim Swaan – rightly or wrongly – as "brutally massive" and intrusive in an otherwise restrained interior.
Wells Cathedral has a square east end to the choir, as is usual, and like several other cathedrals including Salisbury and Lichfield, has a lower Lady Chapel projecting at the eastern end, begun by Thomas Witney in about 1310, possibly before the chapter house was completed. The Lady Chapel seems to have begun as a free-standing structure in the form of an elongated octagon, but the plan changed and it was linked to the eastern end by extension of the choir and construction of a second transept or retrochoir east of the choir, probably by William Joy.
The Lady Chapel has a vault of complex and somewhat irregular pattern, as the chapel is not symmetrical about both axes. The main ribs are intersected by additional non-supporting, lierne ribs, which in this case form a star-shaped pattern at the apex of the vault. It is one of the earliest lierne vaults in England. There are five large windows, of which four are filled with fragments of medieval glass. The tracery of the windows is in the style known as Reticulated Gothic, having a pattern of a single repeated shape, in this case a trefoil, giving a "reticulate" or net-like appearance.
The retrochoir extends across the east end of the choir and into the east transepts. At its centre the vault is supported by a remarkable structure of angled piers. Two of these are placed as to complete the octagonal shape of the Lady Chapel, a solution described by Francis Bond as "an intuition of Genius". The piers have attached shafts of marble, and, with the vaults that they support, create a vista of great complexity from every angle. The windows of the retrochoir are in the Reticulated style like those of the Lady Chapel, but are fully Flowing Decorated in that the tracery mouldings form ogival curves.
The chapter house was begun in the late 13th century and built in two stages, completed about 1310. It is a two-storeyed structure with the main chamber raised on an undercroft. It is entered from a staircase which divides and turns, one branch leading through the upper storey of Chain Gate to Vicars' Close. The Decorated interior is described by Alec Clifton-Taylor as "architecturally the most beautiful in England". It is octagonal, with its ribbed vault supported on a central column. The column is surrounded by shafts of Purbeck Marble, rising to a single continuous rippling foliate capital of stylised oak leaves and acorns, quite different in character from the Early English stiff-leaf foliage. Above the moulding spring 32 ribs of strong profile, giving an effect generally likened to "a great palm tree". The windows are large with Geometric Decorated tracery that is beginning to show an elongation of form, and ogees in the lesser lights that are characteristic of Flowing Decorated tracery. The tracery lights still contain ancient glass. Beneath the windows are 51 stalls, the canopies of which are enlivened by carvings including many heads carved in a light-hearted manner.
Wells Cathedral contains one of the most substantial collections of medieval stained glass in England, despite damage by Parliamentary troops in 1642 and 1643. The oldest surviving glass dates from the late 13th century and is in two windows on the west side of the chapter-house staircase. Two windows in the south choir aisle are from 1310 to 1320.
The Lady Chapel has five windows, of which four date from 1325 to 1330 and include images of a local saint, Dunstan. The east window was restored to a semblance of its original appearance by Thomas Willement in 1845. The other windows have complete canopies, but the pictorial sections are fragmented.
The east window of the choir is a broad, seven-light window dating from 1340 to 1345. It depicts the Tree of Jesse (the genealogy of Christ) and demonstrates the use of silver staining, a new technique that allowed the artist to paint details on the glass in yellow, as well as black. The combination of yellow and green glass and the application of the bright yellow stain gives the window its popular name, the "Golden Window". It is flanked by two windows each side in the clerestory, with large figures of saints, also dated to 1340–45. In 2010 a major conservation programme was undertaken on the Jesse Tree window.
The panels in the chapel of St Katherine are attributed to Arnold of Nijmegen and date from about 1520. They were acquired from the destroyed church of Saint-Jean, Rouen, with the last panel having been purchased in 1953.
The large triple lancet to the nave west end was glazed at the expense of Dean Creighton at a cost of £140 in 1664. It was repaired in 1813, and the central light was largely replaced to a design by Archibald Keightley Nicholson between 1925 and 1931. The main north and south transept end windows by James Powell and Sons were erected in the early 20th century.
The greater part of the stone carving of Wells Cathedral comprises foliate capitals in the stiff-leaf style. They are found ornamenting the piers of the nave, choir and transepts. Stiff-leaf foliage is highly abstract. Though possibly influenced by carvings of acanthus leaves or vine leaves, it cannot be easily identified with any particular plant. Here the carving of the foliage is varied and vigorous, the springing leaves and deep undercuts casting shadows that contrast with the surface of the piers. In the transepts and towards the crossing in the nave the capitals have many small figurative carvings among the leaves. These include a man with toothache and a series of four scenes depicting the "Wages of Sin" in a narrative of fruit stealers who creep into an orchard and are then beaten by the farmer. Another well-known carving is in the north transept aisle: a foliate corbel, on which climbs a lizard, sometimes identified as a salamander, a symbol of eternal life.
Carvings in the Decorated Gothic style may be found in the eastern end of the buildings, where there are many carved bosses. In the chapter house, the carvings of the 51 stalls include numerous small heads of great variety, many of them smiling or laughing. A well-known figure is the corbel of the dragon-slaying monk in the chapter house stair. The large continuous capital that encircles the central pillar of the chapter house is markedly different in style to the stiff-leaf of the Early English period. In contrast to the bold projections and undercutting of the earlier work, it has a rippling form and is clearly identifiable as grapevine.
The 15th-century cloisters have many small bosses ornamenting the vault. Two in the west cloister, near the gift shop and café, have been called sheela na gigs, i. e. female figures displaying their genitals and variously judged to depict the sin of lust or stem from ancient fertility cults.
Wells Cathedral has one of the finest sets of misericords in Britain. Its clergy has a long tradition of singing or reciting from the Book of Psalms each day, along with the customary daily reading of the Holy Office. In medieval times the clergy assembled in the church eight times daily for the canonical hours. As the greater part of the services was recited while standing, many monastic or collegiate churches fitted stalls whose seats tipped up to provide a ledge for the monk or cleric to lean against. These were "misericords" because their installation was an act of mercy. Misericords typically have a carved figurative bracket beneath the ledge framed by two floral motifs known, in heraldic manner, as "supporters".
The misericords date from 1330 to 1340. They may have been carved under the direction of Master Carpenter John Strode, although his name is not recorded before 1341. He was assisted by Bartholomew Quarter, who is documented from 1343. They originally numbered 90, of which 65 have survived. Sixty-one are installed in the choir, three are displayed in the cathedral, and one is held by the Victoria and Albert Museum. New stalls were ordered when the eastern end of the choir was extended in the early 14th century. The canons complained that they had borne the cost of the rebuilding and ordered the prebendary clerics to pay for their own stalls. When the newly refurbished choir opened in 1339 many misericords were left unfinished, including one-fifth of the surviving 65. Many of the clerics had not paid, having been called to contribute a total sum of £200. The misericords survived better than the other sections of the stalls, which during the Protestant Reformation had their canopies chopped off and galleries inserted above them. One misericord, showing a boy pulling a thorn from his foot, dates from the 17th century. In 1848 came a complete rearrangement of the choir furniture, and 61 of the misericords were reused in the restructured stalls.
The subject matter of the carvings of the central brackets as misericords varies, but many themes recur in different churches. Typically the themes are less unified or directly related to the Bible and Christian theology than small sculptures seen elsewhere within churches, such as bosses. This applies at Wells, where none of the misericord carvings is directly based on a Bible story. The subjects, chosen either by the woodcarver, or perhaps by the one paying for the stall, have no overriding theme. The sole unifying elements are the roundels on each side of the pictorial subject, which all show elaborately carved foliage, in most cases formal and stylised in the later Decorated manner, but with several examples of naturalistic foliage, including roses and bindweed. Many of the subjects carry traditional interpretations. The image of the "Pelican in her Piety" (believed to feed her young on her own blood) is a recognised symbol for Christ's love for the Church. A cat playing with a mouse may represent the Devil snaring a human soul. Other subjects illustrate popular fables or sayings such as "When the fox preaches, look to your geese". Many depict animals, some of which may symbolise a human vice or virtue, or an aspect of faith.
Twenty-seven of the carvings depict animals: rabbits, dogs, a puppy biting a cat, a ewe feeding a lamb, monkeys, lions, bats, and the Early Christian motif of two doves drinking from a ewer. Eighteen have mythological subjects, including mermaids, dragons and wyverns. Five are clearly narrative, such as the Fox and the Geese, and the story of Alexander the Great being raised to Heaven by griffins. There are three heads: a bishop in a mitre, an angel, and a woman wearing a veil over hair arranged in coils over each ear. Eleven carvings show human figures, among which are several of remarkable design, conceived by the artist specifically for their purpose of supporting a shelf. One figure lies beneath the seat, supporting the shelf with a cheek, a hand and a foot. Another sits in a contorted manner supporting the weight on his elbow, while a further figure squats with his knees wide apart and a strained look on his face.
Some of the cathedral's fittings and monuments are hundreds of years old. The brass lectern in the Lady Chapel dates from 1661 and has a moulded stand and foliate crest. In the north transept chapel is a 17th-century oak screen with columns, formerly used in cow stalls, with artisan Ionic capitals and cornice, set forward over the chest tomb of John Godelee. There is a bound oak chest from the 14th century, which was used to store the chapter seal and key documents. The bishop's throne dates from 1340, and has a panelled, canted front and stone doorway, and a deep nodding cusped ogee canopy above it, with three-stepped statue niches and pinnacles. The throne was restored by Anthony Salvin around 1850. Opposite the throne is a 19th-century octagonal pulpit on a coved base with panelled sides, and steps up from the north aisle. The round font in the south transept is from the former Saxon cathedral and has an arcade of round-headed arches, on a round plinth. The font cover was made in 1635 and is decorated with the heads of putti. The Chapel of St Martin is a memorial to every Somerset man who fell in World War I.
The monuments and tombs include Gisa, bishop; † 1088; William of Bitton, bishop; † 1274; William of March, bishop; † 1302; John Droxford; † 1329; John Godelee; † 1333; John Middleton, died †1350; Ralph of Shrewsbury, died †; John Harewell, bishop; † 1386; William Bykonyll; † c. 1448; John Bernard; † 1459; Thomas Beckington; † died 1464; John Gunthorpe; † 1498; John Still; † 1607; Robert Creighton; † 1672; Richard Kidder, bishop; † 1703; George Hooper, bishop; † 1727 and Arthur Harvey, bishop; † 1894.
In the north transept is Wells Cathedral clock, an astronomical clock from about 1325 believed to be by Peter Lightfoot, a monk of Glastonbury. Its mechanism, dated between 1386 and 1392, was replaced in the 19th century and the original moved to the Science Museum in London, where it still operates. It is the second oldest surviving clock in England after the Salisbury Cathedral clock.
The clock has its original medieval face. Apart from the time on a 24-hour dial, it shows the motion of the Sun and Moon, the phases of the Moon, and the time since the last new Moon. The astronomical dial presents a geocentric or pre-Copernican view, with the Sun and Moon revolving round a central fixed Earth, like that of the clock at Ottery St Mary. The quarters are chimed by a quarter jack: a small automaton known as Jack Blandifers, who hits two bells with hammers and two with his heels. At the striking of the clock, jousting knights appear above the clock face.
On the outer wall of the transept, opposite Vicars' Hall, is a second clock face of the same clock, placed there just over seventy years after the interior clock and driven by the same mechanism. The second clock face has two quarter jacks (which strike on the quarter-hour) in the form of knights in armour.
In 2010 the official clock-winder retired and was replaced by an electric mechanism.
The first record of an organ at this church dates from 1310. A smaller organ, probably for the Lady Chapel, was installed in 1415. In 1620 an organ built by Thomas Dallam was installed at a cost of £398 1s 5d.
The 1620 organ was destroyed by parliamentary soldiers in 1643. An organ built in 1662 was enlarged in 1786 and again in 1855. In 1909–1910 an organ was built by Harrison & Harrison of Durham, with the best parts of the old organ retained. It has been serviced by the same company ever since.
Since November 1996 the cathedral has also had a portable chamber organ, by the Scottish makers, Lammermuir. It is used regularly to accompany performances of Tudor and baroque music.
The first recorded organist of Wells was Walter Bagele (or Vageler) in 1416. The post of organist or assistant organist has been held by more than 60 people since. Peter Stanley Lyons was Master of Choristers at Wells Cathedral, and Director of Music at Wells Cathedral School in 1954–1960. The choral conductor James William Webb-Jones, father of Lyons's wife Bridget (whom he married in the cathedral), was Headmaster of Wells Cathedral School in 1955–1960. Malcolm Archer was the appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers from 1996 to 2004. Matthew Owens was the appointed organist from 2005 to 2019.
There has been a choir of boy choristers at Wells since 909. Currently there are 18 boy choristers and a similar number of girl choristers, aged from eight to fourteen. The Vicars Choral was formed in the 12th century and the sung liturgy provided by a traditional cathedral choir of men and boys until the formation of an additional choir of girls in 1994. The boys and girls sing alternately with the Vicars Choral and are educated at Wells Cathedral School.
The Vicars Choral currently number twelve men, of whom three are choral scholars. Since 1348 the College of Vicars had its own accommodation in a quadrangle converted in the early 15th century to form Vicar's Close. The Vicars Choral generally perform with the choristers, except on Wednesdays, when they sing alone, allowing them to present a different repertoire, in particular plainsong.
In December 2010 Wells Cathedral Choir was rated by Gramophone magazine as "the highest ranking choir with children in the world". It continues to provide music for the liturgy at Sunday and weekday services. The choir has made many recordings and toured frequently, including performances in Beijing and Hong Kong in 2012. Its repertoire ranges from the choral music of the Renaissance to recently commissioned works.
The Wells Cathedral Chamber Choir is a mixed adult choir of 25 members, formed in 1986 to sing at the midnight service on Christmas Eve, and invited to sing at several other special services. It now sings for about 30 services a year, when the Cathedral Choir is in recess or on tour, and spends one week a year singing as the "choir in residence" at another cathedral. Although primarily liturgical, the choir's repertoire includes other forms of music, as well as performances at engagements such as weddings and funerals.
The cathedral is home to Wells Cathedral Oratorio Society (WCOS), founded in 1896. With around 160 voices, the society gives three concerts a year under the direction of Matthew Owens, Organist and Master of the Choristers at the cathedral. Concerts are normally in early November, December (an annual performance of Handel's Messiah) and late March. It performs with a number of specialist orchestras including: Music for Awhile, Chameleon Arts and La Folia.
The bells at Wells Cathedral are the heaviest ring of ten bells in the world, the tenor bell (the 10th and largest), known as Harewell, weighing 56.25 long hundredweight (2,858 kg). They are hung for full-circle ringing in the English style of change ringing. These bells are now hung in the south-west tower, although some were originally hung in the central tower.
The library above the eastern cloister was built between 1430 and 1508. Its collection is in three parts: early documents housed in the Muniment Room; the collection predating 1800 housed in the Chained Library; and the post-1800 collection housed in the Reading Room. The chapter's earlier collection was destroyed during the Reformation, so that the present library consists chiefly of early printed books, rather than medieval manuscripts. The earlier books in the Chained Library number 2,800 volumes and give an indication of the variety of interests of the members of the cathedral chapter from the Reformation until 1800. The focus of the collection is predominantly theology, but there are volumes on science, medicine, exploration, and languages. Books of particular interest include Pliny's Natural History printed in 1472, an Atlas of the World by Abraham Ortelius, printed in 1606, and a set of the works by Aristotle that once belonged to Erasmus. The library is open to the public at appointed times in the summer and presents a small exhibition of documents and books.
Three early registers of the Dean and Chapter edited by W. H. B. Bird for the Historical Manuscripts Commissioners – Liber Albus I (White Book; R I), Liber Albus II (R III) and Liber Ruber (Red Book; R II, section i) – were published in 1907. They contain with some repetition, a cartulary of possessions of the cathedral, with grants of land back to the 8th century, well before hereditary surnames developed in England, and acts of the Dean and Chapter and surveys of their estates, mostly in Somerset.
Adjacent to the cathedral is a large lawned area, Cathedral Green, with three ancient gateways: Brown's Gatehouse, Penniless Porch and Chain Gate. On the green is the 12th-century Old Deanery, largely rebuilt in the late 15th century by Dean Gunthorpe and remodelled by Dean Bathurst in the late 17th century. No longer the dean's residence, it is used as diocesan offices.
To the south of the cathedral is the moated Bishop's Palace, begun about 1210 by Jocelin of Wells but dating mostly from the 1230s. In the 15th century Thomas Beckington added a north wing, now the bishop's residence. It was restored and extended by Benjamin Ferrey between 1846 and 1854.
To the north of the cathedral and connected to it by the Chain Gate is Vicars' Close, a street planned in the 14th century and claimed to be the oldest purely residential street in Europe, with all but one of its original buildings intact. Buildings in the close include the Vicars Hall and gateway at the south end, and the Vicars Chapel and Library at the north end.
The Liberty of St Andrew was the historic liberty and parish that encompassed the cathedral and surrounding lands closely associated with it.
The English painter J. M. W. Turner visited Wells in 1795, making sketches of the precinct and a water colour of the west front, now in the Tate gallery. Other artists whose paintings of the cathedral are in national collections are Albert Goodwin, John Syer and Ken Howard.
The cathedral served to inspire Ken Follett's 1989 novel The Pillars of the Earth and with a modified central tower, featured as the fictional Kingsbridge Cathedral at the end of the 2010 television adaptation of that novel. The interior of the cathedral was used for a 2007 Doctor Who episode, "The Lazarus Experiment", while the exterior shots were filmed at Southwark Cathedral.
An account of the damage to the cathedral during the Monmouth Rebellion is included in Arthur Conan Doyle's 1889 historical novel Micah Clarke.
The cathedral provided scenes for the 2019–2020 television series The Spanish Princess.