Murals on the wall of a small train station near Königstein im Taunus, Germany. It was not the main station and when we arrived, the trains weren’t running. We ended up driving into Frankfurt.
Join: Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Week 2 Photo. See link for reference photo for this week. Photo elements to select from this week include whale, blue, mural, truck, octopus, and other items. I selected mural.
Glazed tiles (Azulejos), Sintra, Portugal
Azulejos, tin-glazed ceramic tiles, were introduced to present-day Spain and Portugal by the invading Moors as early as the 13th century. During the 16th and 17th centuries, their use in Portuguese art and architecture became common. Earlier geometric patterns were replaced with elaborate decorative scenes and ornate elements. Azulejos were used to tell stories, especially in churches (where large blank walls in earlier Gothic buildings were covered with elaborate panels), palaces, schools, and other public building. Today Azulejos are still used in Portuguese architecture on both the interior and exterior of building. Efforts are being made to protect historic Azulejos. Beginning in 2013, Lisbon made it illegal to demolish buildings with tile covered facades. Lisbon’s Banco do Azulejo stores over 30,000 tiles from demolished or renovated buildings. Aviero, Porto and Ovar have similar programs. Since August 2017, a national law prevents the demolition or renovation of buildings that would mean the removal of tiles.
Walls of the 14th century cloister of Porto’s cathedral were covered with tiles in the 18th century. While many scenes are religious, they also include scenes from the Metamorphoses, an epic poem by the Roman writer Ovid.
Exotic subjects or elements often depicted in scenes from Portugal’s global empire. This 18th century panel is in the National Palace of Queluz.
A house in Aveiro, Portugal.
For more pictures and information see my earlier posts on Obidos , Aveiro, and Lisbon.
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Detail for one of two identical Baroque fountains in Rossio Square (Pedro IV Square) in Lisbon, Portugal. I blinked and the water started to flow.
Memorial, Prazeres Cemetery (Cemitério dos Prazeres), Lisbon, Portugal
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As some of you may know from old posts, I am non religious but I love old churches and religious art and objects. Three churches have stood out for me in the last two days and all are quite different.
Catholicism played a big role in both the development and the expansion of Portuguese culture. It has only been since the 1970s, and the end of a long term dictatorship, that church and state were finally separated.
I’ll start with my favorite so far.
Unremarkable on the outside, the mid-16th century Church of St. Roch is an explosion of gold on the inside. While the simple floorplan follows the Jesuit auditorium-church plan, the interior decoration is flamboyant Baroque.
The single nave has a flat wooden ceiling with false domes painted on it. Eight side chapels line the nave.
The Chapel of St John the Baptist, ordered by King Juan V in 1540, was constructed in Rome, blessed by the pope, then disassembled and shipped to Lisbon on three ships. It was said to be the most expensive chapel ever built at the time.
The three large paintings are actually micromosaic copies of paintings. The altar frony is lapis lazuli. Most of the altar decorations are gold or gilt silver or bronze.
Many of the valuable or fragile altar good and vestments made for use in the chapel are now housed in the museum adjoining the church.
The other seven side chapels are also splendid, and gold leaf predominates.
Chapel of Our Lady of Piety.
Chapel of Our Lady of the Doctrine
Gold, diamond and amethyst item in museum.
Side Chapel Wall Decoration, Notre Dame, Paris
Side Chapel Wall Decoration in Notre Dame de Paris, Paris, France.
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