Eyes of the Prophet
My favorite European sculpture in the A.I.C. has always been this fragment from Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. It was knocked off the facade back in the 1790's by ramapaging sans coulottes -- and who can blame them for wanting to keep the eyes of God from looking at the brave new secular world they were trying to build ? But the power of this abused fragment is so great, it could not be kept from public display -- and here it is, 200 years later still passing judgement on the frivolities of modern life.
posted by chris miller at 6:58 AM
2 Comments:
Great sculpture and what a story. I am glad the framents is found and well kept. Loved Paris and the cathedral when I was there last year. Great post.
Thankyou, Ms. Red, and welcome to Mount Shang. I doubt that those four famous sages of the early Han Dynasty would have welcomed a beautiful young woman like yourself up to their mountain retreat (judging from the attitudes expressed in "Journey to the West", where every attractive young woman encountered in remote, mountainous areas, turned out to be a man-eating demon in disguise) But living in a more enlightened age - we now realize that everyone likes to visit the mountains now and then -- while beautiful young men are equally capable of turning into monsters.
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