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Posts Tagged ‘baroque’
Friday, December 2nd, 2011
The weather forecast for today was heavy rain so I planned a schedule of churches. What an education! I have to say that Prague is not a good place to shoot churches. Don’t get me wrong. It has some of the most astonishing churches in Europe and plenty of them. But the churches have also found inventive ways of stopping people from shooting them.
Forget the no photography signs and stern security guides of Rome. Prague has more effective ways of hindering photography. The obvious one is to not be open. Some churches only open a few hours a week. Some only an hour on certain days. A few don’t open ever (what’s the point?).
The church in Vysehrad (church of Sts Peter and Paul) is physically hard to get to being on top of a steep hill with no clearly labelled signage and successfully turned me away today by not being open.
St James in Old Town is the first church I’ve seen with the pews and all other areas cordoned off except the main walkway. It has alarmed everything except that walkway according to the signs. I wasn’t going to mess with a church that claims to have alarmed everything. That meant there was nowhere to sit down and hence no way for me to take photos.
St Giles was equally inventive. It has put up massive iron gates just inside the entrance that obscure the beautiful church and stop anyone from getting inside. I did get some shots through the gate but it certainly spoilt the atmosphere for me.
I’m completely supportive of the practise of charging a nominal amount to get photo permission. I also like what Prague has done that Rome and Paris haven’t for the most part. Many churches are only open for concerts that you pay to get into. It supports both musicians and also the church. At any given day in Prague I could be attending up to 10 concerts in various religious venues.
The day wasn’t a complete loss. I enjoyed the Church of St Ignazius (think Jesuits when you see that name) near Karlovo metro. It had gorgeous pink marble and pink detailing throughout as well as the usual glittering gilt.
Tags: baroque, church, gilt, prague, Roccoco, St Giles, St Ignazius
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Thursday, December 1st, 2011
I visited the Strahov monastery first thing this morning. You have to pay an entrance fee and then another $2 for permission to shoot but I think it’s worth the price. The library and the baroque hall are wonderful. As soon as I saw the library I thought of all the English books I’ve read that refer to old libraries (Terry Pratchett, Harry Potter). It’s really tall with many shelves and one of those great old wooden wheeled contraptions for reaching the higher shelves. I guess it’s the first time I’ve seen an olden times library. Loved it.
The Baroque hall had a cosy feel as the roof was lower and some wonderful frescoes. Unfortunately you’re not allowed inside the Baroque hall but I was able to sit at the entrance and get some HDR shots while sitting on the floor.
Tags: baroque, hall, library, prague, strahov monastery
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Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
I had a very enjoyable shoot at the big baroque church around the corner – St Nicholas. It’s almost Roccoco with it’s pink marble and very pale frescoes. The gilt is also quite bronzy so it’s not the sparkly gilt of Paris or bits of Rome. The church is Jesuit and has a lot of trompe l’oeil features. It actually cost 70K to get in (quite unusual charging for entry to a church) but was completely worth it. I had the place to myself for the first quarter of an hour. It started to turn into a circus at about 10am but it is a Saturday today.
This is the green dome, so typical of Prague.
Check out the marble and gilt! All of these interior shots are hand held HDR.
Mozart spent time in Prague and he played this organ in the 1700s. I’m a big fan and found the whole church a wonderful experience.
Tags: baroque, church, hdr, prague, St Nicholas
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Friday, October 28th, 2011
I revisited Sant Ignazio di Loyola. I’ve only ever left my lens cap somewhere twice in my photography career. Both times were in this church. I find it’s a sign of being completely immersed in the moment and the photography i.e. I’m having a ball! I just love the fresco and also this trompe l’oeil dome.
Tags: baroque, dome, fresco, gilt, hdr, Rome, sant ignazio di loyola
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Thursday, October 20th, 2011
My big tip to avoid crowd rage at St Peters Basilica (in the Vatican) is to be at the door at 7am when it opens. There were about a dozen people waiting with me to get in (many priests and nuns) and because of the size of the place, it felt like I had St Peters to myself. To state the obvious, St Peters is the largest basilica in the world and considered the pinnacle of Baroque. My first sight of the interior took my breathe away. The scale, the many coloured marble, the stucco, the baldichino, just wow!
I always think of churches as having one altar (that’s all they had where I grew up!) but St Peters has over a dozen so there’s multiple services going on at once. Given the number of people and services, it’s still a very quiet and peaceful place unless there’s a million tourists. Some one had very kindly left stomach height barriers everywhere. This was really handy as tripods and sitting on the floor are not allowed and there’s no chairs.
Check out the Baldichino (first image below). I think it’s absolutely gorgeous. What is it? Good question. Most people call it a sculpture. It’s a canopy for the altar basically which also sits on top of St Peters tomb (no you can’t go inside). It’s made out of bronze and marble and I love the twisting columns and the way the first morning light is bouncing off of it in this shot. And remember I’m shooting with a 20mm lens so the height is incredible (29 m).
My favourite things were the baldichino and the yellowest gilt I had ever seen on a stand beneath the baldichino (last image). Further posts will show some of the detail within the church. Is St Peters worth it? Absolutely.
Tags: baldichino, baroque, dome, gilt, hdr, Rome, st peters
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Tuesday, October 18th, 2011
I know, it’s a big call. There’s a lot of baroque to be had in Rome. But my best baroque experience was a concert by Opera Omnia held in the wonderful Sant Agnese in Agone. This is the main church in Piazza Navona and has an incredible interior while still being small enough to be intimate. The concert is not only held in both the hall not open to the public as well as the main church, it also includes information on architecture, art and music given in English between each piece. I’ve attended quite a few concerts now and this is by far the best all round experience. The musicians were wonderful.
The music is played on faithful replicas of baroque instruments. I loved the vocal pieces – one Gregorian chant and one polyphonic (unaccompanied singing in harmony). I also enjoyed pieces featuring the wooden flute – but I’m biased being a flutist!! If you only do one baroque thing in Rome, I’d do this concert. As much as the Vatican is awesome, it doesn’t involve performing arts and really concentrates on the architecture and the art.
Tags: baroque, concert, music, Rome
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Tuesday, October 18th, 2011
To finish off my morning feast of churches, I went to San Luigi dei Francesi. It’s between the Pantheon and Piazza Navona and hence crawling with tourists. The church is famous for it’s 3 Caravaggios in one of the crypts. Not much in the way of fresco but lots of gilt ornamentation. I would aim to go very early or late to this church if you ant to avoid the crush.
I got a bit grumpy at people using flash when it very clearly statesnot to and has an obvious affect on the art. I haven’t got any images of the famous paintings as it was too dark for handheld and I was being constantly jostled by the crowds.
Tags: baroque, church, gilt, hdr, Rome, san luigi dei francesi
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Sunday, October 2nd, 2011
Santa Maria in Campitelli is known for it’s gilt loaded tabernacle. For those not up on their religious architecture terminology, a tabernacle is a thing on the wall whereas an altar has a bench surface. I always think of these radiating tabernacles as being very Spanish baroque as the Spanish did over the top gilt tabernacles like no-one else (the only reason you’d catch me going to South America). It doesn’have the frescoes of the Jesuit churches but the ceiling was still interesting to me. It was a quiet church and a very pleasant experience.
Well, I’m only up to day 3of the Rome trip and unfortunately I’m flying out to Dubai today so there’ll be a break in the Rome blog until I’m back in mid October.
Tags: baroque, church, hdr, Rome, santa maria in campitelli
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Sunday, October 2nd, 2011
This is the main church in Piazza Navona and is named after an event occurring in roughly 250AD (a violent time with different cultural norms to the current). A virgin named Agnese was dragged into a vault in the stadium that existed on the site to be raped. Her hair miraculously grew to cover her body and reduce her agony (hence the name of the church that is found there today).
The church itself is initimate but light and airy. The interior is stunning and it plays baroque music. Most churches I visited were silent (which is a bit oppressive) or played hymns on the organs. This music was true baroque music rather than hymns and the combined affect of incredible architecture and music was very powerful.
There is a large no photography sign at the entrance and I wasn’t going to upset anyone. Not being able to take photos was great as it focuses my mind on the actual experience (you can a bit removed when photographing things for 10 hours a day). I came back in the evening and attended a concert by Opera Omnia. If you only have one baroque experience, this should be it. The concert is music from the 16th/17th centuries played on faithful replicas of the baroque instruments from that time. After each piece, information on architecture, art and music is given in English. I loved the vocal pieces – one Gregorian chant and one polyphonic. Also the pieces featuring the wooden flute were a favourite (although I’m pretty biased being a flutist!). This is the only performance I’m going to in Rome and definitely best for me and anyone into baroque.
Tags: baroque, church, concert, Rome, sant agnese in agone
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Saturday, October 1st, 2011
Saint Ignazio di Loyola is a large Jesuit church near the Pantheon. This is the incredible fresco that shows the light of God coming down via St Ignatius himself and then being broadcast to the four corners of the globe. Only Africa and America are visible in this shot due to the camera position. It’s the trompe l’oeil style that creates the illusion of a dome, statuary and other things that are not real by using 3D frescoes. This is my favourite ceiling in Rome – lovely colours, movement and style.
Tags: baroque, ceiling, church, fresco, hdr, Ignazio di Loyola, Rome
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