Just an old blog and a heads up. Notre Dame cathedral is opening today, apparently there will be queues to go round it. But if you go to Bensozia's blog he has a a couple of links to the photos. The interior is fabulously clean and extraordinary in its beauty. Matilda and her boyfriend have been in Paris for the last few days but probably will not go because of the crowds. Matilda's birthday is on Tuesday, and I have just been wrestling with an internet birthday card for her.
But it reminded me of a visit in 2010 to Lincoln cathedral. My photos are not very good and I should have taken more photos of that doorway with its multiple carved pillars. Just a couple of paragraphs I wrote at the time, To be honest I wasn't much taken with Linconshire but it could have been the cold April weather.
Nothing can compare to Notre Dame of course. But doesn't it make you stop and think? These incredibly beautiful buildings were dedicated to the worship of a God. All that creativity garnered for a religious belief.
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| South door |
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| Tournai Font; "The Lincoln font is typical of its type and consists of a large square bowl on four colonnettes with a heavy central drum support and a massive carved base to suit. The bowl has been split horizontally in antiquity and has been skilfully repaired. The top of the bowl has been carved with leaves and rosettes whilst each side of the bowl is carved with grotesques and lions with foliate tails, possibly to represent the original sin which baptism removes." |
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| Beautiful doorway |
The font is hideous, apparently there was a fashion for imitating black marble, so a dark igneous limestone was used then buffed and polished to represent marble.
I think last year when we were in England we were close to Lincoln Cathedral but I did not know about its splendour until we returned home. Thank you for your splendid photos.
ReplyDeleteLincoln's landscape is very flat but the town and the cathedral are on a high ridge. You can see the spires from a long distance Andrew.
DeleteIt is amazing to me that a building of this detail and size was built in 20 years. A generation. And that it was destroyed by fire just a few years later and then again, 60-ish years later, by an earthquake. I also would quibble with you a bit that the initial building was created for the glory of God. It was built to cement the power of William the Conqueror to demonstrate his control over England. Religion and a thirst for power are a very dangerous combination. We are seeing that in my own country right now. Of course, it was rebuilt by the people of the city, and so somewhere along the line, perhaps people worked for the glory of God, as opposed to working for a mere mortal. You've led me down a rabbit hole this morning. Thanks. I needed a rabbit hole today.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the rabbit hole Debby. The State and The Church were separate forces, both as it were vying for power. The Normans came and conquered and split the valuables - land and estates. But the Church was in the hands of the bishops.
DeleteOkay, so when the Normans conquered, they did take possession of the churches too. I don't know huge amounts of your history and it is so much bigger than ours...I feel myself slipping down another rabbit hole...
Delete"so when the Normans conquered, they did take possession of the churches too". History is a long affair Debby and yes you will see a lot of Norman built churches, in fact they all follow a similar architectural design just look at a Norman doorway. But no. It would take a whole book to explain. I would prefer to start with "who will rid me of this turbulent priest". So four knights marched over from France and slew Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. Gosh what an upset that caused. The church was on an equal footing with the throne. Their man of power just happened to be the pope. To be honest I never liked history at school, lists of kings and battles. Everyone always vying for power, our country took the invasion of the Normans as well as the invasions of the Angles, Saxons, Romans and Vikings with the grace of a subjective nation that happens to fall in war. I see history like a game of chess. Move the pieces and see what falls next. Out of the blue Assad in Syria has fallen, a dictator hits the ground and is seen as moving to an unknown destination. But what will fill his space? The time of the kings of Britain is not my interest, but I would say our history has always been entwinned with European history.
DeleteWill no one rid me of this turbulent priest? - Wikipedia
Since I've quit religion, churches bother me. So much opulence and expense but I suppose it creates jobs rebuilding it all. Doesn't seem practical to me.
ReplyDeleteMy grandson Thomson has a birthday on Tuesday also! He will be 8 years old.
Churches should not bother you Ellen if they are crafted with love. But so much of what you see in our old churches is fear, in the wall paintings and especially the carvings. Hell doesn't exist;)
DeleteTam and I visited it too. Fabulous carvings. I'd love to go back.
ReplyDeleteWell if the sun was shining and it was warm Jennie;)
ReplyDelete