CHRISTMAS GREETINGS!
Chapel, Eton College; © Brian Sibley, 2007
25 December 2008
21 December 2008
Hanukkah
Another of John K Clark's stained glass windows the Giffnock Synagogue in Glasgow photographed for Window Gazing by Sharon Mail.SHARON MAIL.
This window symbolizes the Festival of Lights...
The Festival of Lights commemorates the victory of the Maccabees over Syrian Greek rule in 175 BCE. The Greeks had defiled the Temple and the Maccabean victory led to the dedication of the Temple and the kindling of the menorah, the Temple Candelabrum. Only a single small jar of undefiled oil could be found, but that miraculously burned for eight days until more could be produced. To commemorate this miracle one more candle is lit in the Chanukah menorah each day, and the window alludes to this by depicting each flame in a different shade.
Palm branches represent the victory over Hellenism, a laurel wreath in the darkness at the base of the window indicates the end of Greek rule and golden vine leaves provide a reminder of the Temple. The window also shows a dreidel, a small spinning top used in a traditional Chanukah game.
© Sharon Mail 2008
08 December 2008
Frosty Windows
These windows are part of this year's Christmas display at Fortnum & Mason's emporium in Piccadilly, London...
What I particularly love about photographing these windows during the day - when winter sunlight is falling on the facade of The Royal Academy opposite - is the way in which the fantasy images in the windows merge with the real London (and its windows) on the opposite side of the road reflected on the windows...
Fortnum & Mason's Christmas windows, Piccadilly, London © Brian Sibley 2008
In the archive of my companion blog, you can view last year's F&M windows that were devoted to the seasonal song, 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'.
Click on any image to enlarge
What I particularly love about photographing these windows during the day - when winter sunlight is falling on the facade of The Royal Academy opposite - is the way in which the fantasy images in the windows merge with the real London (and its windows) on the opposite side of the road reflected on the windows...
Fortnum & Mason's Christmas windows, Piccadilly, London © Brian Sibley 2008
In the archive of my companion blog, you can view last year's F&M windows that were devoted to the seasonal song, 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'.
30 November 2008
09 November 2008
03 November 2008
16 October 2008
Tabernacles
These two stained-glass windows were photographed for Window Gazing by SHARON MAIL and are part of one of the most significant works of art commissioned by the Jewish community in Scotland.
They are the work of one of Scotland’s best contemporary artists, John K Clark, and were originally commissioned, in 1987, for the Queens Park Synagogue but subsequently moved to the Giffnock Synagogue in Glasgow.
The windows are part of the Sukkot (Tabernacles) Series and their symbolism is explained below:
The top window represents the ingathering of Crops: ‘on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruits of the land, ye shall keep the feast of the Lord seven days’ (Leviticus 23.39). The arched area of this panel shows another interpretation of the Sukkah, as the Clouds of Glory, cloud by day and fire by night, that accompanied the Children of Israel in the desert and gave them continual Divine protection. The window also includes a reminder of the Exodus in the form of the parting of the sea. Seven types of produce appear, harvested and put in storage.
The bottom window is dominated by one of the main symbols of Sukkot, the Arba Minim, the four species – willow, palm, etrog (citron) and myrtle – that are taken together and shaken in all directions during prayers in the first seven days of the Festival. This window also represents Hoshannah Rabah, the seventh day of Sukkot, when the Temple ritual reached a climax with prayers for water, and a libation ceremony on the altar, accompanied by music on trumpets and harps, flutes and cymbals.
© Sharon Mail 2008
06 October 2008
28 September 2008
23 September 2008
16 September 2008
10 September 2008
09 September 2008
02 September 2008
26 August 2008
19 August 2008
12 August 2008
06 August 2008
22 July 2008
09 July 2008
24 June 2008
11 June 2008
Lilliputian Church
Model of church at Bourbourg, Calais, France by Sir Anthoy Caro, Royal Academy Summer Show, London; © Brian Sibley, 2008
30 May 2008
05 May 2008
20 April 2008
Five Bees
Guest Window Gazer, MANDY DAVIS contributes another photograph to Window Gazing, this time of a particularly beautiful stained-glass window from The Magic Barn in Massachusetts...
Mandy writes...
© Mandy Davis, 2008
Mandy writes...
This window is to be found in the Magic Barn, Massachusetts: a wondrous place with collections of magic posters and other magical items as well as arcade machines which were very very unusual - one was a very old juke box with huge metal discs and another was a keyboard which also played the violin!Can you find all five? Click on the image to enlarge.
Hidden among the flowers on the window are five bees...
© Mandy Davis, 2008
12 April 2008
21 March 2008
12 March 2008
03 March 2008
27 February 2008
15 February 2008
08 February 2008
Loch Ness
Guest Window Gazer, MANDY DAVIS contributes this stunning photograph of Castle Urquhart beside Loch Ness in Scotland.
Mandy writes...
After watching a film show about the ownership and eventual dereliction of the castle - deliberately by the last people to own it in the early something hundreds to stop anyone benefiting from it! - the screen was raised and the curtains behind drew back to reveal this view...
© Mandy Davis, 2008
Mandy writes...
After watching a film show about the ownership and eventual dereliction of the castle - deliberately by the last people to own it in the early something hundreds to stop anyone benefiting from it! - the screen was raised and the curtains behind drew back to reveal this view...
© Mandy Davis, 2008
29 January 2008
18 January 2008
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