On a visit last summer to Madrid’s Almudena Cathedral, and then again last week while reviewing my photo sets, I was struck by how much more colorful the cathedral’s art and decoration is than most these days, stained glass aside.
The idea came to me especially sharply because of my visit in December to an exhibit at New York’s Metropolitan Museum that explored the bright polychrome colors that Greece and Rome painted the statues we think of as pristine white marble.
Add to that, a visit to the ‘augmented exhibition’ on Paris’s Notre Dame cathedral that’s been on view in several cities. It shows bright colors on all the statues surrounding the entrance—in the 17th century—compared to how we see it now.
But not only is Almudena marked by lots of color in its decorations and some of its statuary, it seems marked by an unselfconscious inclusion of modern art and forms along with the ancient-to-Renaissance works we’re used to seeing. This article is focused on those aspects; for more on the cathedral itself, there’s a great TravelGumbo blog by DrFumbefinger HERE. The stunning image below, from that blog, shows a modern, near-abstract view in stained glass.
While these two more traditional windows share religious themes with the new one, they have less room for softer, more pastel colors. The window below them, with no ‘content’ at all, gives itself over almost entirely to white and pastel shades.
Almudena is not alone in having paintings, of course, but they seem to have been kept or restored to unusual brightness. Below that, an assembly of sculpture and painted background in which the living nun’s bright colors contrast with the less-colorful heavenly figures.
Color, in this case bronze, highlights two Spanish royal figures, while full ‘natural’ color has been given to Father and Son in the Chapel of the Holy Trinity.
But what strikes me even more about the cathedral’s decor is the liberal use of color in walls and ceilings, places where one might expect white, or stone, or perhaps paintings of saints, angels and martyrs. Here, and at the top of the page, some examples.
Here’s another of the flashy modern windows, and two areas where gold and geometry make the emphasis: the Great Altar, and the organ casing.
The cathedral’s main spire has a ‘lantern’ that lets in light. When you look up at it, it also has a splash of gold and blue, for all the world like a small slice of blue sky filled with stars. It’s the top of the tall tower toward the left of the exterior photo.
Speaking of outside (we were going here, right?) there’s more sculpture to be seen. I’ve seen more statues of Pope John Paul II in and around more cathedrals in the past few years than anyone else. Perhaps there’s one everywhere he visited?
This one is practically next-door neighbor to Timothy Schmalz’s 2014 sculpture called ‘Homeless Jesus,’ with the quotation that “I say to you, inasmuch as you did it unto the least of my brethren, you did it unto me.”
Although the doors are usually the way into most buildings, cathedrals included, I’ve saved them for the end. After all, we leave by them as often as we enter! This pair struck me for the detail and depth of its reliefs.
Congratulations to PortMoresby and George G who recognized our title image, which also served as this week’s One-Clue Mystery
