Bone Church, Kutna Hora

The Cemetery of the Capuchins in The Marble Faun reminded me of the Bone Church in Kutna Hora, Czech Republic that I visited when in Prague. During the Plague, there were too many bodies to bury in the cemetery surrounding this church, and so the priest there took the old bodies out and decorated his church with their bones. This is a chandelier he made.

Big View of St. Peter's

More St. Peter's

Guido Reni-11-04-1575 -08/18/1643

Beatrice Cenci

Saint Sebastian-early 1630s

Saint Sebastian - (1617-1619) there are reputedly 7 around this same saint
done by Reni

Archangel Michael and the Demon

Aurora 1614
Fresco
Casino Rospiglioso, Palazzo Pallavicini, Rome

His base was in Bologna, Italy
Baroque style- expressive, flamboyant, dynamic
Reni's works are known for their mythological and religious themes.

St. Peters

Guercino



Dome of St. Peter's




St. Peter's Cathedral



Left Transept



Guido's Archangel

Gargoyles in Gothic Cathedral Churches

Hawthorne wrote: "A Gothic cathedral is surely the most wonderful work which mortal man has yet achieved, so vast, so intricate, and so profoundly simple, with such strange, delightful recesses in its grand figure, so difficult to comprehend within one idea, and yet all so consonant that it ultimately draws the beholder and his universe into its harmony. It is the only thing in the world that is vast enough and rich enough" (Charney, 37.)

Hawthorne writes: “Within the multitudiousness of the gothic style, the grotesque has a special function. By juxtaposition, absurd and sublime images make an ironic commentary on each other and indicate unlooked-for possibilities at either end of the chain of being” (Charney, 43).

"The Dying Gladiator" or "The Dying Gaul"

















































Detail of "The Dying Gaul" showing his Torc (a rigid circular ring or necklace)



































Paperweight! Only $91 plus S&H (a steal at twice the price--impress your friends!)














Cover of an 1833 periodical--from a print






He may also have been painted:











Watch the trailer for "The Dying Gaul: the Movie"
Watch for a moment right at the end for a familiar image...