When I arrived at the Saint Adalbert Church of Berea, I was surprised to see that it was in a rather modest building, unlike many churches that you see around the area. It was a plain brick building with some statues on the outside. The statues were of religious figures, animals, and scenery, which provided for a calming atmosphere in the summer sun, even for someone who is nonreligious. Rather peculiarly, the statues were modest; they were not impeccably sized or extravagant in color, which I do not find to be particularly common. Often times when you see religious statues, they are quite large and are often the centerpiece of the outside of the building. Trailing outside of the rather large doors was a long line of people, all members of the church waiting for the service to begin. …show more content…
While the outside was plain and filled with light, I could not help but think that the setting of the interior of the church seemed rather somber and caliginous. There were rows upon rows of seating for the members of the church that all faced towards colossal artistic depictions of religious figures, especially Jesus Christ, placed behind the altar in which they used for the service. The most eye-catching was the rounded painted ceiling which showed an emaciated Jesus ascending into Heaven after he was crucified. Along every row, hanging on the adjacent wall, was a small statue illustrating what seemed to be the different events in the Passion. They seemed to go in chronological order, eventually leading up to a front statue of the crucifiction. As I looked around me, all I could think was, “Wow, there are a lot of images of death and pain surrounding me right
Jesus’s body is centered in the middle of the altarpiece, positioned in an elegant curve as his lifeless form is removed from the cross. His body is sickly thin, ribs easily visible
Another example of Christian iconography is The Transfiguration. It is located in the Church of Saint Catherine’s monaster...
The piece was chosen primarily because of the magnificent presence that is felt as one enters the room, or cathedral, where the piece may be located. The viewer's eye is drawn immediately to the central figure of Saint Peter who was seated as pope at the time. Giving the main focus of the work to the pope is representative of the importance that was placed on the papal seat. This importance was exemplified, during the time of this altarpiece's creation, by the crisis of the Great Schism. Furthermore, a scene of Christ's crucifixion can be seen directly above the panel of Saint Peter further emphasizing the importance of Christ in the painting, and in the medieval time period as well. Overall, the piece depicts four images from the life of Saint Peter, which surround the center panel on the left and the right sides. In addition, scenes from the lives of the Virgin Mary and St. Blaise, a fourth century martyr, are also present. All the characters in the panels more or less have halos and therefore are holy figures. The twelve apostles line the bottom of the panels, perhaps suggesting that they were the foundation of the Catholic religion. Basically, the painting is designed for a church altar, it has religious figures in it, and it is filled with Bibles and images of Christ's crucifixion. All of this relays a strong message to the viewer that this is what is important in life; one should pay close attention to religion and have respect for it.
After walking inside and trying to first experience, the church, and all its beauty and ornateness, I began examining the floor plan and elevations of the cathedral. Grace Cathedral was build in a gothic style, which it represents in its architecture inside and out. There were three huge rose windows. One at the very top of the main entrance and one on either end of the transept. There wer...
The towers of the church have cone-shaped tops with one being larger than the other. There is a large circle shaped window in the center of the west facade. There are windows in the towers and windows at the base. There are doors and pedestals.There are details carved into the building which include the image of holy figures.
Looking across the entire triptych certain visual elements can be seen. Lighting is carefully used to highlight many important details in the painting; the dramatic facial expressions of many of the people in this scene are clearly lighted and defined to illustrate the emotions felt by the witnesses. In the left panel of The Raising of the Cross, among the mourners appear to be St. John, another man that seems to be consoling St. John, Elizabeth (the mother of John the Baptist), St. Mary (the mother of Jesus) and Mary Magdalene (hoocher.com). One of the mourners is actually looking directly at the viewer with a very distraught expression on her face. The mourner that I suspect is St. John in the back appears to be almost nauseous and his face is surrounded by darkness and is subordinate and his face is being emphasized. Also, the rocky background is subordin...
There is a cast of five different characters, which includes the angels and Jesus Christ himself. This painting seems to be symmetrical as there are two figures, or angels, on both sides. Christ is in the center and the angels are surrounding him. He is also in the foreground, upfront, whereas the angels appear to be in the background. Christ is dominating the pictorial composition, and is the main focal point of the work, guessing from his centered location in the painting. There are no real vibrant colors used in the painting, even the bright colors shown feel darkened as if the figures are in the shadows somewhere, and light is peaking in, shining off all of them. If the lighting wasn’t as dark, the colors would surely be brighter. Christ himself is nude, whereas the angels are each clothed in different colors. There is a warm light that makes Christ appear soft. The color schemes of the clothes the angels are wearing appear to be a lot of red, green and white. The painting helps us to understand that the main focal point of the piece is Christ. Not only is he the largest figure and takes up most of the painting, the light is directly shining onto him and leaving the angels to be darker, in the shadows. The angels have light on them to show they do have a presence but not nearly as much as Christ. Additionally, the left side of the bench that Christ is seated on, if looked at closely, appears to be
As I walked into the first gallery, I saw a wood sculpture that stood in the center of the room. This carving depicted “the crucified Christ, flanked by the Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist with Angels holding instruments of the Passion”. It was painted oak and very appealing to the eye. It stood approximately 15 feet in the air. The origin of this sculpture is unknown, but it was found in a Belgium church. This kind of sculpture usually stood at the entrance or at the center of the alter in the church facing the congregation. This image of the suffering Christ relates to the Christian ideas of suffering and Christ’s salvation of all mankind.
In his Crucifixion, with the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist Mourning (c.1460), a piece within the Northern Renaissance collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Rogier van der Weyden portrays a stark image of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The right panel of the diptych depicts the gruesome image of a crucified Christ. Weight pulls the emaciated body down into a Y-shape, contrasting the T-shape of the cross it is mounted on. The only movement comes from the loincloth wrapped around Christ’s waist that dances in the wind. Blood visibly trickles from the corpse’s wounds. Behind the body, a red cloth is draped down the grey wall. At the base of the cross sits a skull and bone. The left panel portrays the Virgin Mary swooning in despair as Saint John attempts to support her weight. Her hands are clasped in prayer as she gazes up at her lifeless son. Both figures are clothed in pale draping robes. The vibrant red of the cloth that hangs from the grey wall in the background contrasts the subdued colors of the
Every religion embodies a plethora of recognized rituals that are significant to its teachings. Customs exclusive to each religion can include acts such as: attending a weekly mass, praying five times a day at specified hours, celebrating the transition from childhood to manhood, along with endless others. The similarity shared amongst all religious rituals is that the follower of faith must believe whole-heartedly in what he/she is doing or saying. Dhikr, or the remembrance of God, is a ritual based in Islam that does not receive the attention it deserves from mainstream Muslims, and is highly under appreciated for its value (Robson 238). Its myriad versions allow it to be very personal, whereas other rituals are more structured, which is
Brother Terry, lead us in a quick prayer to open the morning's service. The band was already in position and a worship team was waiting in the wings.
The church external appearance was quite different than other churches that I have seen. It was basically a big white stucco block with a gold dome on top and four decorated spikes on each corner of the building that surrounded the dome. The people of course were all Greek and were very well dressed. Most of the men and boys all wore suits, and If not they had some kind of vest on. I don’t know if this was some kind of rule or tradition, but it mostly seemed as a respect to God. The women all wore the basic dresses, and all the skirts fell down below the knee. Everybody was proper and ordered. As I walked in the church I entered a lobby of some kind. What I saw hear was something like social hour. Everybody was in there. They were all speaking Greek, and I felt as if I was in a family reunion party. The children were all together; the adults talked together and the young adults all were together. The way they all socialize is when someone comes up to say hello, they give each other a kiss on the cheek and a hug. These people are all very close to each other. It seems as if the church is the center of their lives. I admire that trait as well. To enter the auditorium you must enter this little room, which has a piece of garment from St. Constantine and St. Helen. Also there were candles lit. As they walked through this little room they lit a candle and knelt down for a moment to pray, and then touched each garment and made a cross over their chest.
On Sunday March 12th and 19th, my husband and I attended Holy Trinity St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church (HTSN) in Finneytown, Ohio. The church conducts Orthros (Matins) at 8:15 am and Divine Liturgy from 9:30-11:30 am. I chose to attend HTSN for two reasons; first, they host the annual Panegyri Festival and two, learning about the 1054 split intrigued me given the current state of the Methodist Church.
The people there were all extremely nice and would try to help me understand. They understood and accepted the fact that I wasn’t religious, but was showing interest in their faith. There were not as much people there as I had expected, but that might have been because it was a smaller church. It also wasn’t as racially diverse as I had expected. I thought that because it is the world’s biggest religion, that it
Jesus served as example for all of humanity. His life work was to solve the fundamental problem of humanities sin and to provide eternal life with the Father. Jesus Christ demonstrated the way humans should live. He modeled behavior to the poor, the sick, the imprisoned, women, tax collector, to His friends. He came to set the example of the way to live for Christians. Basically, Jesus life was an outline of how to live your own life. Jesus confirmed that you should love your neighbor as yourself. That you should love your God with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your strength. This was demonstrated on a daily bases. Jesus verified that although humans are prone to sin, one can make a choice to not sin. When tempted by Satan, Jesus refrained from sin and turned to God the Father for strength to turn away from the temptation. Jesus was the teacher of complete, true knowledge.