STL DPB ON THE ROAD - WAITING FOR A TREAT

 

While in Vienna, we attended morning exercise at the Spanish Riding School with the Lipizzaner stallions. The main shows are sold out weeks in advance. No photos while the horses are in the arena, supposedly for their peace of mind. However, a walkway just behind goes by the stables. This one looks to be waiting for a sugar cube.              

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - I THINK I GOT MY SAINTS STRAIGHT

 

I admitted recently that I was getting confused about what saint goes with which cathedral, an easy thing to do in Europe. I'm confident, though, that this is St. Stephen's in Vienna. Although its twin steeples tower over the central city, it is hard to get an overview as it is crowded by neighboring buildings. One corner, though, collects afternoon sun.             

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - THE LAST SUPPER OF VIENNA

 

Something special and a bit  out of the way in Vienna. There is a somewhat smaller church in the central city known as the Minoritenkirche. It contains something remarkable. When Napoleon swung through town, he decided he wanted Leonardo's Last Supper there. The original in Milan wasn't portable - it's a fresco, egg tempera painted on wet plaster. So an Italian artist was commissioned to create a copy in mosaic - thousands and thousands ot tiny pieces only a couple of millimeters across.

Turns out I did have mild pneumonia. Getting better now, hoping to get out to shoot our big outdoor Halloween party Saturday night.  

              

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - THE WORK OF THE MONTHS OF THE YEAR

I have been incorrectly identifying the church within the grounds of Prague Castle as St. Stephen's. Wrong. It's St. Vitus. I can't tell them apart anyway. But we found these fascinating small reliefs on a gate along the side. Turns out they are illustrations of the labors of the months of the year. I used Claude to find out, on the theory that Anthropic is marginally less evil than OpenAI. What it tells me:

 

Winter into spring

• January (Aquarius): A man in a fur coat warms his hands by a pot over a fire while a woman kneels at the hearth.
• February (Pisces): Women spin thread at a spinning wheel inside a cottage with a crucifix on the wall.
• March: One man prunes a young tree while another stands beside him.
• April: A sower scatters seed in a windswept field.

Summer

• May (Gemini): A young man plays a pipe beside a woman at a well, a courtship scene. A Czech stamp issued in 1986 is titled “Allegory of May,” after a Horejc grating at St. Vitus, so this may be the same panel. cpslib
• June (Cancer): One man mows with a scythe while another sharpens a blade, with a village church tower behind them.
• July (Leo): A reaper in the field drinks from a jug while a woman binds sheaves.
• August: Two people thresh grain with flails. The small plaque below is hard to make out, but Virgo would fit here.

Autumn into winter

• September (Libra): A woman holds a basket while a man on a ladder picks fruit from a tree.
• October (Scorpio): A grape harvest, with a man and woman beside heavy vines.
• November (Sagittarius): An elderly couple carries bundles of firewood and brushwood.
• December (Capricorn): A pig slaughter, with a carcass hung from a frame.

I hope I got the order right. 

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - HIGH GOTHIC

 

Arches and shadows in the interior of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Prague. The architecture is entirely gothic although the interior decor is a wide range of baroque and rococo. 

Sorry I haven't returned to local material. I've had a hacking, productive cough for a couple of weeks now. It's getting worse and I'm concerned it's pneumonia. Talking to the doc this morning.             

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - KING WENCESLAS RIDING ON AN UPSIDE-DOWN DEAD HORSE

 

What? A sculpture found in a shopping arcade in Prague. According to some website, "Created by Prague-born artist David Černý, whose claim to fame was the painting a Soviet tank pink as a memorial to the Velvet Revolution, he's also known for his unsettling large scale installation piece of babies crawling their way up the Prague television tower, among other works of modern surrealism.

The sculpture is a mocking reference to the more famous equestrian statue of King (and later, Saint) Wenceslas that sits in Wenceslas Square, and possibly a mocking nod to Czech president Vaclav Klaus, although the artist will not say what his intentions were."

You got to like a city that doesn't take itself too seriously. 

                     

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - PRAGUE ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK

 

I need to get back on the street and find some local material. No fall color here at all - much too warm and dry. So more from the trip. This is the famous astronomical clock in Prague's Old Town Square. Obviously, the display is complex and if you would like an explanation check https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_astronomical_clock .  On the hour, figures come out of the door on the left and march around but it gets so crowded you can't get a good picture.