Roofs of taoist temples

On roofs of Taoist temples in China one can see sculptures of some personalities. I have no idea how old these sculptures are or who do they represent. They do represent soldiers and officials in very ancient attire but I have no idea how ancient. It seems to be a standard decoration of a Taoist temple. These pictures are from City God Temple in Shanghai.

Roofs in Beijing

The main attraction of the Forbidden City in Peking is a maze of yellow roofs. Not much more to ogle at there really, but the roofs are impressive. Only imperial buildings could have a roof in that colour. Interestingly the Temple of Heaven has a blue roof, no less impressive although a bit less of it.

La Mezquita in Cordoba

It used to be a heart of Andalusia, the capital of its Muslim Caliphs, who built the place of prayer. The building so extraordinary that even the Catholic conquerors decided not to destroy it but make it their own cathedral. So it was again a place of prayer for a few more centuries. It is changing only now, these days to enter you need to but a ticket and you can ogle as long as you like. As all other famous buildings in the world this one also is becoming a centre of ogling. It nevertheless is breathtaking.

Chinese bonsai in Suzhou

The main tourist attraction of Suzhou are its gardens, the most famous and by far the most visited is the Humble Administrator Garden. The garden was supposed to provide a quiet refuge for its owner but today it is as crowded as Hyde Park. You can see many things there, not just the garden. There is for example a collection of bonsai, which is very different from Japanese bonsai. I haven't seen any comment on them in any language I could understand nor have I ever seen any literature on the subject (at least in a language intelligible to me). So I am presenting the pictures without any comment.

Bahai gardens in Haifa

Jerusalem is a holy place for Jews and Christians and also for Muslims, but there is more holy places in Israel. Haifa is a holy place for Bahais, an Iranian faith, because one of their founders died there. Around his shrine there is a garden in Persian style. In Iran gardening is one of the arts and the Bahai garden in Haifa is one of the best examples I have ever seen anywhere.

English stained glass

In England there are many mediaeval churches but hardly any mediaeval stained glass windows. This is because during Cromwell era the Protestant taliban smashed them all claiming that there should be no images in churches because this is what the Bible says. However, there seems to have been a movement to fill those windows in the 19th century, it now seems that most of the mediaeval English churches have them. They are of course very different in style from the mediaeval windows. I have visited many English churches and with my art historian eye I can see an interesting art movement. Here are some pictures of the stained glass windows from the church in Bedford. The scenes are of course illustrations to the Gospels.

Bill Reid

Of Haida tribe origin, Bill Reid is probably the most famous Canadian Indian artist. His famous sculpture for some time decorated even a 20 dollar bill. He was both a sculptor and a silversmith. Here are a few of his works that can be seen publicly, some in Vancouver and some in Haida Gwaii.