Great Rose Window
December 26, 2009 | Filed Under Cathedrals/Churches, Stained Glass Windows, The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine | 18 Comments
This stained-glass window is located above the front entrance of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the largest Gothic-style cathedral in the world.
The window is made from over 10,000 pieces of colored glass, making it the largest stained-glass window in the United States.
Hmmm… I think I’d like to learn how to make stained-glass windows.
Paz
Wardrobe Malfunction
October 25, 2009 | Filed Under Cathedrals/Churches | 10 Comments
This church building is under some type of renovation. The green scaffolding covered the entire building from top to bottom. However, on a very windy day, a piece of the protective netting fell apart, exposing the top.
Paz
Jesus, Women and Guest
July 28, 2009 | Filed Under Birds, Cathedrals/Churches, New York City Wildlife, Pigeons, The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine | 14 Comments
When I took a photo of this portal stone carving in front of St. John the Divine, it wasn’t until later, when I downloaded the photo and looked at it closely, that I noticed a special guest next to the carvings of Jesus and the women. A live pigeon.
Here’s a close up of the special guest (on the right) — pretending to be a special carving.
On another note, let’s join in on the fun of helping Abraham Lincoln make one of his blogs famous in the Wall Street Journal. I’ve mentioned in earlier posts that he needs about 10,000 visitor comments posted on his blog. So, when you have some time, stop by Abraham’s Pick a Peck of Pixels blog and leave a comment.
Paz
Peace Fountain
July 27, 2009 | Filed Under Cathedrals/Churches, Fountains, The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine | 15 Comments
I hope you’re not getting tired of St. John the Divine and its surrounding but there’s lot to see there. Next to the cathedral, you’ll find the Children’s Sculpture Garden and one of the things you’ll see is the Peace Fountain. This is a combination of a bronze sculpture and fountain. At the moment, there’s no running water in the fountain. I’m not sure why.
The sculpture represents and celebrates triumph of Good over Evil. It depicts opposite forces such as violence and harmony, light and darkness, life and death. You’ll see Archangel Michael triumphant over Satan.
You’ll also see depictions of the Sun, the Moon, and animals like a giraffe, crab, lion and lamb, which all have symbolic and Biblical interpretations.
Normally you’ll also find at least one live peacock roaming around the fountain. However, I haven’t seen any there in a long time. I don’t know why. Don’t know what happened to them.
Paz
Ed. Note: Laura left a comment that she visited the Peace Garden the day before this post and she saw the peacock. Yay! I’m glad he’s still around. Thanks for letting us know, Laura.
Bobbie wondered about children’s reaction to the sculpture. From what I’ve seen they do not have a negative reaction. The kids I’ve seen around the sculpture are happy. I’ve seen them playing and running around. I’m sure they have questions and interesting comments….
Exterior of St. John the Divine
July 26, 2009 | Filed Under Cathedrals/Churches, Harlem/Morningside Heights, The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine | 13 Comments
This is the Western (and main) entrance into the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. There five portals over the entrance.
Two 3-ton bronze doors stand in the middle, below the central portal. The bronze door on the left is decorated with scenes from the Old Testament, while the bronze door on the right is covered with scenes from the New Testament.
These bronze doors are only opened twice a year — for Easter and the Feast of St. Francis (Blessing of the Animals).
One of the portals over one of the entrances into the Cathedral.
Some visitors heading inside the cathedral, while others pause outside.
These two men walked across the street and set up their cameras in the middle of the street to take a photo of the front of the cathedral. As far as I know, no cars ran them over.
