Friday, March 6, 2009

MONTFALCON PORTAL - LAUSANNE

In my post (see link), last week, I spoke about Lausanne's splendid Cathedral of Notre-Dame, described as Switzerland's finest and most representative example of Gothic architecture.

Today, I'm going to show you the last batch of the pictures I took there...
I have decided to share with you the details of the Montfalcon Portal (thus named after a sixteenth-century bishop), a monumental arched doorway. As you can see, it is richly decorated with sculptures of biblical figures, saints, bishops and various creatures.

35 comments:

  1. merci pour ces belles photos

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  2. Encore un bon moment avec tes photos, merci et bon w-e. Je t'embrasse.

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  3. Super cette cathédrale...

    bonne journée,

    bisous

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  4. Beautiful pictures!!!

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  5. Thanks for sharing those gorgeous pictures!

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  6. Ciao ! I love the details of this portal : the snails and all the animals, it looks really beautiful ! Thank you !

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  7. Your photos are so beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing the amazing architecture with us.

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  8. Nice pics Rosa! Does the inscription (S:Marcus) in one of the pics (the one with the winged-lion) has any significance?

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  9. A AND N: I don't know much about the Christian religion, but it seems that this Winged Lion is the attribute of St. Marcus...

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  10. Merci pour tes magnifiques photos, bonne journée, bisous

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  11. They are amazing Rosa! I especially adore the little monkey.
    Cheers,
    elra

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  12. wunderbare Aufnahmen ! were you able to take all the pics from a standpoint on the floor ?

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  13. incredible and beautiful. These photos are so dramatic. Together they make a really nice series.

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  14. a very very interesting photos here!uniqueness and imaginative shots worth gazing at!

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  15. Wow - very powerful. Being from the states, there just really is not the kind of history that is enjoyed all over the world. The ONLY thing I miss about living on the US east coast was the ability to visit Washingotn DC. And that is not even very old...but I love the museums. Someday I hope to travel to Europe. But for now, thank you for putting these out there. Very cool - and awe inspiring!

    eila

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  16. Stunning photography, thank you for sharing.

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  17. J'aime tellement l'architecture. Lorsque je visite de nouvelles villes j'aime prendre des photos. Magnifique.

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  18. Très belle photos.....
    Bisous, Doria

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  19. C'est très amusant c'est bien la première fois que je vois lapin et escargots décorer une cathédrale !

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  20. HI,

    I do know what you mean about people everywhere... but I some days wish we had a happy medium. I wish it did not take all day to do the shopping. But true - the peace and quite, and lack of light pollution is nice. I see billions of stars at night.

    Funny thing, Montana (the state) has less than 1 million people living here... and we are a very large state.

    Have a lovely day - evening? whichever applies... LOL!

    eila

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  21. 147,046 sq mi ~ Montana size
    15,943 sq mi ~ Swtitzerland size

    902,195 - Montana Population
    7,451,000 Switzerland Population


    Really makes you think! I guess I should never ever complain - if for no other reason than the fact that I can choose heavy population or solitude. Thanks for the site...

    ciao,

    eila

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  22. Great attention to detail in those photos. I feel like I'm strolling through some far-off place just looking at them.

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  23. Great pictures!

    Greetings,
    Tiina

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  24. Lovely pictures Rosa. The sculptures remind me of some of the gargouilles of Notre Dame in Paris.

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  25. What gorgeous photos!! Mom loves gothic architecture!

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  26. joli partage avec belles photos! bisous et bon week end

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  27. Tes photos sont superbes!

    Et tu as raison Rosa, le lion représente st Marc, le boeuf St Luc...il s'agit de représentaions conventionnelles du téramorphe: ce sont les 4 apôtres qui ont écrit les évangiles (tétra = 4, morphe = apparence en grec). On les reconnait bien puisqu'ils tiennent un livre à leur nom. Les deux restants sont l'aigle pour St Jean et un homme pour St Matthieu. Normalement tu dois pouvoir les trouver aussi...

    Leurs réprésentaions sont hautement symboliques. Voici une des interpréations par St Jérôme (IV° s.): le symbole aurait été attribué à chacun selon la première page de son Évangile. Ainsi la généalogie de Jésus explique l'homme pour Matthieu, la prédiction de Jean Baptiste au désert impose le lion pour Marc, à Luc échoit le taureau, animal du sacrifice, car son Évangile débute par l'apparition de Gabriel à Zacharie dans le Temple. Quant à Jean, il ouvre le sien par un prologue renvoyant le lecteur "au commencement" et se voit attribuer l'aigle, l'animal à la vue perçante.

    Voilà...vous en savez un peu plus maintenant...


    PS je n'ai pas osé écrire mon commentaire en anlais, j'avais peur de faire trop de fautes!

    PPS ne t'inquiète pas, je ne suis pas une fervante croyante, loin de là, mais une passionnée des arts du Moyen Âge!

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  28. ils avaient une imagination débridée ces sculpteurs médiévaux! j'aime bien les chimères !

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  29. si on regarde bien les porches des cathédrales on est souvent surpris par les représentations des sculptures , on se demande ce que viennent faire le singe , l'escargot , le lapin , le chien ...... à l'entrée d'une cathédrale
    super ces photos
    bises et bon we

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  30. Wonderful photos! I'd love to visit here one day.

    Paz

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  31. c'est magnifique, je suis restée éblouie ce week devant la cathedrale de strasbourg me demandant comment ils avaient pu faire tout ça !

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  32. Thank you for sharing those gorgeous pictures with us!

    Rosie x

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  33. What gorgeous imagery, I could spend hours looking at these! Are they all carved from stone? Amazing....

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  34. Foodhoe: Thanks! They are all carved in stone and part of a portal...

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  35. The craftsmanship is amazing ... we seem to have lost so much of that ... at least in this country! Great pictures.

    It was fun too, to read those things you wrote about yourself and see your 25th year photo!! I wondered what you worked at. I used to do payroll and benefits for a 150 bed extended care hospital ... before I married and got to retire!

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