Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: paradies

The former church of a priory, built 1150/1170, got remodelled quite often over the centuries. This was done not only by architects, but as well by clerics. The church was dedicated to St. Genesius first, then to St. Limin, followed by Saint-Martin. In the 19th century the dedication changed to Saint-Bonnet and some decades ago to Saint-Bénilde, a saint born in Thuret in 1805 under the name Pierre Romançon. There are interesting carvings here. Ever since the art history discovered them as specific works of art, they have been a subject in the literature. B. Craplet ("Auvergne roman", 1992) describes the carvings just as "unskilled". He in general disagrees with Z. Swiechowski ("Sculpture Romane D'auvergne", 1973), who sees this as the work of "naive folk art". A. Gybal ("L´Auvergne, berceau de l´artroman", 1958) describes a specific "Thuret-style" being a totally simplified work of art. Only to be found here. For him, the simplification is the result of the artists inspiration. He makes totally clear, that this is not "folk art" ("l`art populaire"), but the result of artistic work of very skilled monks ("moines tres cultives"). So this is what André Gybal describes as the "Thuret style" of total simplification. The same capital as before, now from another angle. Adam in the center. Eve, the snake, the apple to the right. Reflective Adam scratches his chin. On the left the third of the skeletal trees, that form the whole of the Garden of Eden. Very minimalistic! Bernard Craplet wrote "Is there a hidden message within the unskilled sculptures? This is probably not the case. Neither here nor somewhere else."

The former church of a priory, built 1150/1170, got remodelled quite often over the centuries. This was done not only by architects, but as well by clerics. The church was dedicated to St. Genesius first, then to St. Limin, followed by Saint-Martin. In the 19th century the dedication changed to Saint-Bonnet and some decades ago to Saint-Bénilde, a saint born in Thuret in 1805 under the name Pierre Romançon. There are interesting carvings here. Ever since the art history discovered them as specific works of art, they have been a subject in the literature. B. Craplet ("Auvergne roman", 1992) describes the carvings just as "unskilled". He in general disagrees with Z. Swiechowski ("Sculpture Romane D'auvergne", 1973), who sees this as the work of "naive folk art". A. Gybal ("L´Auvergne, berceau de l´artroman", 1958) describes a specific "Thuret-style" being a totally simplified work of art. Only to be found here. For him, the simplification is the result of the artists inspiration. He makes totally clear, that this is not "folk art" ("l`art populaire"), but the result of artistic work of very skilled monks ("moines tres cultives"). So this is what André Gybal describes as the "Thuret style" of total simplification. Eve, the snake, the apple. That tells the whole story. The Garden of Eden exists out of exactly three trees (one is behind the corner). These trees not even have leaves, just stem, branches, apples. Exactly one apple per branch. The right tree seems somehow "anorganic", standing on a base. Eve, a huge head on a skinny body, has a very strange look in her eyes. Bernard Craplet wrote "Is there a system within the obviously incoherent sculptures? Is there a hidden message within the unskilled carvings? This is probably not the case. Neither here nor somewhere else." Maybe there is at least one question to ask here. There are 3 trees, 18 branches and 18 apples. Where does the 19. apple come from? The apple the snake offers to Eve.

Venice (ital. Venezia) is one of the most important tourist destinations worldwide with about 30 million visitors each year. As each tourist takes at least 100 photos (minimum!) in Venice 3000000000 photos are taken here per year, what means more than 8 millions per day. Many of them are uploaded and can be found in the web. - Even the facade of the Basilica di San Marco has wonderful mosaics. Here are scenes from the Garden of Eden..

The construction of the "Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens" started in 1220, after a predecessor Romanesque church burnt down two years earlier. Unusual for medieval structures, the first architects are known here. Robert de Luzarches was the architect until 1228. He was followed by Thomas de Cormont until 1258. His son, Renaud de Cormont, acted as the architect until 1288. Today Amiens Cathedral is the largest existing Gothic cathedral in France. There was a lot of competition between the cities and towns about the largest nave, the highest vaults. The long and relatively peaceful reign of Louis IX (aka "Saint Louis") brought prosperity to the region, so that Amiens could afford such a structure. The cathedral is 145m long (interior length 133,50m). The volume of the structure is about 200.000m³, Notre Dame de Paris has only about 100.000m³ Back to the western facade od the cathedral. The base of the central trumeau is decorated with three scenes from the story of Adam and Eve. The creation of Eve, accepting the apple from a snake (with a human head), working hard on the field, after the expulsion from Eden.

Saint-Pierre was the church of one of the largest Augustinian abbeys in the Poitou, that was founded in 991 by Audéarde, the wife of viscount Herbert I of Thouars. The monastery was on one of the "chemins" of the Via Turonensis, so when the number of pilgrims increased, the Canons Regular of St. Augustine had this large church erected in two construction phases from the 12th century on. This church is very long and has a wide ambulatory. It could surely host large groups of pilgrims. When the era of the pilgrimage ended, the abbey declined and impoverished during the Hundred Years' War. Most conventual buildings were destroyed in the Wars of Religion. The abbey church now serves the parish. Saint-Pierre has an extraordinary density of medieval carvings. Most of these works are well preserved. The capitals all around the ambulatory and the choir are carved by a different workshop. The carvers here were very experienced, so their works are very sophisticated and elegant. Here is Eve, accepting an apple from the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam seems not to notice, what is going on. We all know the end of that. To the very right the createn of Eve can partly be seen.