tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post5979113308845450929..comments2024-02-11T03:50:53.613-05:00Comments on Counterlight's Peculiars: The Most Beautiful CathedralUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post-54976576736474339342012-05-08T11:50:53.421-04:002012-05-08T11:50:53.421-04:00I went to Rheims, and fell in love with it, when I...I went to Rheims, and fell in love with it, when I was about 20. (I got to stay a few extra days by doing a little seasonal labor in the vineyards, where, as I recall, some Arab lads called me "Nixon")<br /><br />One thing that struck me then, and ever since, is how Hellenistic the statuary felt, making me doubt that the Classical world needed to be "re-born" in the 15th C.<br /><br />And , as you point out, this was not all the work of humble, anonymous craftsmen who supposedly were not recognized as "artists" until centuries later.chris millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09575033275184403015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post-48672653687237954292012-05-08T09:06:57.163-04:002012-05-08T09:06:57.163-04:00Indeed, these Gothic Cathedrals (and the Romanesqu...Indeed, these Gothic Cathedrals (and the Romanesque ones) were once brightly colored, and their original state when new might appear to us now now as garish.Counterlighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14345956180434795401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post-61827504969300959822012-05-08T08:58:14.053-04:002012-05-08T08:58:14.053-04:00Windows aside (I like Chagall's contribution i...Windows aside (I like Chagall's contribution in spite of myself), the lack of color is striking and has to be wholly unlike the church's medieval appearance.Lapinbizarrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07686990585795363001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post-83799908004556343862012-05-07T18:05:53.150-04:002012-05-07T18:05:53.150-04:00Argh, like I said, I can't remember where I sa...Argh, like I said, I can't remember where I saw that comparison. Only that it culminated w/ the Sistine (and that it left an impression on me. And impression that did not extend to an reference citation, obviously! ;-p)<br /><br />Lacking same, I have to bow to your refutation.JCFnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post-13167599169276591412012-05-07T08:08:23.591-04:002012-05-07T08:08:23.591-04:00I'm guessing that you have something like this...I'm guessing that you have something like this in mind:<br /><br />http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/images/chora_lg.jpg<br /><br />This is a particularly Greek image (and this one is from the 14th century), that I don't think found its way into Western art until much later.<br /><br />If I'm wrong, then please let me know.Counterlighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14345956180434795401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post-62089372674651096942012-05-07T06:59:31.717-04:002012-05-07T06:59:31.717-04:00The Romanesque more hopeful? The 11th and 12th ce...The Romanesque more hopeful? The 11th and 12th centuries produced some of the scariest of all Last Judgement scenes. For example, the Last Judgment from the 11th century tympanum of Saint Lazare in Autun is as scary or scarier that anything Michelangelo or Bosch made:<br /><br />https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/cSkNVspWmwd8iGhkKkxO8I3Co57NoJm0mIGnZPShVew?feat=directlink<br /><br /><br />And here's another one, the Hellmouth from the Winchester Psalter:<br /><br />http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/medieval/images/hellmouth-MSNerocivf39r.jpg<br /><br />The 11th century was preoccupied with millenialist terrors. The Beatus manuscripts were What-to-Expect guides to the coming apocalypse.<br /><br />The more hopeful and humane vision that produced Gothic art came when the 11th century had passed and nothing happened.<br /><br />The later 12th and the 13th centuries took a more hopeful view of the Apocalypse as the Triumphant Second Coming to be awaited with faithful expectation.<br /><br />For example, the tympanum over the West Door of Chartres Cathedral:<br /><br />http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nBAN-KQxJC8/TYpzHZLXM_I/AAAAAAAAI0Q/AfqhepYjQuo/s1600/Chartres%253B%2Bwest%2Bportal%2Btympanum.jpg<br /><br />And the south rose window of Chartres which shows the same subject as the tympanum, the Triumphant Second Coming with the Four Living Creatures and the 24 Elders:<br /><br />http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W93N_DCoBQQ/TOxuAXecXoI/AAAAAAAACrU/PufbiGU-fPE/s1600/South_rose_window_of_Chartres_Cathedral.jpg<br /><br />Also, Europe finished rebuilding from the long Dark Age by the 12th century, and a certain measure of peace and prosperity had returned.Counterlighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14345956180434795401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post-22872095831376155212012-05-07T03:45:35.456-04:002012-05-07T03:45:35.456-04:00Wonderful, Doug!
I am struck, also, by those uniq...Wonderful, Doug!<br /><br />I am struck, also, by those unique towers, w/ their columns, for maximum airiness.<br /><br />Re this<br /><br />"The Gothic style invented there reflected the new hopeful more humane concentration on God the Creator after the millennial fears of the 11th century passed."<br /><br />How does this square w/ the developments of Apocalyptic imagery over this time? <br /><br />[I've seen---can't remember where---that while in the Romanesque, they were more hopeful (resembling "Harrowing of Hell", w/ broken locks), they grew progressively more pessimistic and judgmental during the Gothic, till we get to the ghastly (IMO!) Heartless Judge Jesus of Michelangelo in the Sistine]JCFnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post-16301704065871099862012-05-06T22:50:31.109-04:002012-05-06T22:50:31.109-04:00You, the Artist, have never been to France?! How i...You, the Artist, have never been to France?! How is that possible? [FWIW, I've never been either. Saw it from Dover though! (On my one and only trip to the UK)]<br /><br />Looking forward to luxuriating in this post...JCFnoreply@blogger.com