Lucas Cranach and Erfurt cathedral

From a post on a the evil atheist Socialism.. I thought I might smoothly transition to a post on a catholic cathedral. Perhaps it is part of my upbringing (a granny who constantly told me from as young as I can remember not to trust anyone religious, or men with beards) but I am scared to enter churches or cathedral. Scared is maybe too strong a word, unworthy? Being not a religious type in the slightest I often think that the folks in these churches, being nutters as my granny hath made me believe, will smell my unreligiousness like animals smell fear and send me out to the devil with the rest (Also on a another level I don't want to offend anyone). Clearly this is stupid and my interest in art usually overrides my fear of being burnt as a heretic.

In Erfurt there was a very beautiful cathedral called the Domberg St. Marien. It set a great scene, sitting on a hill in all it's gothic spikey towers. This was the cathedral where Martin Luther was ordained, so lots o' history too.

Inside was a lot of stained glass which was our reason for being there, however it was covered with scaffolding. What a disappointment, however, there was paintings there for me to look at. In particular a painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder. Having seen a few of his paintings of weird naked women in the national gallery I quite liked his style and was interested to see such a famous 'name' in the painting world with their work in-situ (much like the last post the work makes more sense in a cathedral, rather than in a gallery)

'The Maddona and Child with SS Catherine and Barbara'

By Lucas Cranach the Elder

The painting was interesting, although impossible to see up close as there was ropes in front. It shows the typical style of his workshop and I believe is one of only a few that he is known to have definitively done himself. The figures with oddly elongated proportions reminded me of his painting 'Venus in a Landscape'. I also went to the town of Gotha, near Erfurt, home of the founding of the German Socialist party (in yet another nod to the last post) and of the British royal family. The city centre is dominated by Schloss Friedenstein a former palace which housed King Albert of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in his days as a Prince. Later changed to Windsor during the War.. Anyway the castle inside had a pretty impressive collection of paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder and Younger. The paintings were very beautiful and I recommend anyone interested should go and see them.

Another cool piece of art in Erfurt Cathedral was this Bronze cast made in c. 1160 of 'Wolfram'. At 850 years old it looks remarkably modern in design, when I first saw it I thought it could have been made today.

There was also a painting donated to to the cathedral by a local family I thought was quite cool. The perspective tile element I always appreciate in an old painting, I also liked the architectural elements the artist has employed. I don't know who painted it and couldn't find any info in the church.

Stone Carving

Just a quick update. I was in Wells Cathedral the other day and saw some very beautiful, ancient stone carvings. They are effigy's of the ancient Bishops of Wells. The carving of the figures is exact, the detail and elegance of them was striking. Their age was amazing as well, some over 500 years old.

Wells

Greetings!

I post from Wells, Somerset.

Not having none of the internets floating around the pub we are staying in to hijack I am forced to write from a Starbucks.

Thought I'd share a couple of photos I and Roz have taken of the place, it is very beautiful. I like all the medieval buildings there are around, although I am not hugely into religious buildings the ones here are very impressive.

I have also been working on some paintings but thanks to not being able to find some acrylics I am using oils.. I like the oils when in a studio but a little more frustrating when sitting in a bog. Even so I have been using the slow drying time to work on several things at once. The idea being I can return to the same spot several times to finish a drawing/painting and see how that changes over time. Nothing spectacular so far but I think I will use the drawings in future paintings.

Wells Cathedral, medieval sculptures on the outside. The sculptures are really beautiful, it's quite amazing to see so many figures on the outside of the building which are so old. I have a deep interest in the medieval so the strange poses and faces of these figures are fascinating to me.

Ye olde gateway, leads to the main entrance to the cathedral (this pic and one above courtesy of Roz McKenzie!)

The forests around here are really fantastic, very inspiring. Having been in Edinburgh for so long I forgot just how much I enjoy walking through mud and branches and leaves in the cold. The autumn is undoubtedly the most beautiful time in the 'wild' for me.

A view of the cathedral at night, kind of reminded me of Caspar David Friedrich's paintings. Although not what I would normally paint I appreciated the view all the same.

The forest is about 2 minutes walk from where we are staying. I took this photo at around 6pm when the sun was going down. I have been enjoying sitting in the woods with paints and drawing in situ. The different moods and light on the trees have been inspiring. I plan to make a load of paintings from sketches when I get back to Edinburgh as well as finishes works made in the forest. Very exciting!