Buddhas in Singapore museum

In Europe one can go to museums to see European art but in Singapore the best museum concentrates its attention on Asian art. One can see for example the development of a Buddha figure throughout the ages and in many countries. Here are just a few of them. 

Buddha from Gandhara (today's Afghanistan), 3rd century

Buddha from Java, 8th century, 

Buddha from North India, 9th century

Buddha from Thailand, 15th century

Buddha from Tibet, 16th century

Standing Buddha from North India, 10th century

Buddha from China, 6th century

Standing Buddha from Cambodja, 5th century

Hindu temple in Singapore

This is a Hindu temple in Singapore.
Hindus come to a temple for a "darshan", or seeing the face of God. Hinduism is of course a religion of many currents, for ascetics this darshan is achieved after a long meditation, but for ordinary people it is a visit in a temple to see a face of a figure. This is what the figure is there for. There is a special ceremony, analogous to the Catholic transfiguration, after which it becomes a body of God, very much like the Catholic host. It is not eaten but treated like a host in a monstrance. The priests treat this figure as a living being, they wash it, bring meals to it, put to bed. Which is a bit similar to figures of saints in Latin countries, where the figures are clad, and the clothing is regularly changed and washed.

Singapore old and new

A mixture of old and new and all world traditions can be seen at every corner in Singapore. They seem to connect well there. Just a few vistas here to illustrate this.

BC Indian hats

Do you think American Indian traditional head covering is a feather bonnet? Well, not in British Columbia. There the traditional head covering is a basket. A properly traditional one should be made with tree roots although nowadays one can see cheaper ones, perhaps not made in China but using some other than traditional materials. Anyway don't you dare put on a bonnet if you happen to paddle one of the traditional Indian ocean-going boats. 
All these pictures were taken during a rally of such boats in 2014 in Alert Bay.

St Louis Bible in Toledo

In Toledo most tourists want to see pictures of El Greco, so they crowd in Sacristy in the cathedral, but other things often ignore. These other things are not written about in papers, so they are not famous. If they are not famous, then perhaps they are not important.
This is the case with the Bible of Saint Louis, which is exhibited in the Toledo Cathedral. It is an exquisite book of 13th century, but most of the crowd, who have to pass in front of it when they leave the sacristy, don't even stop to have a look.  

Plafond in Toledo

       Most tourists in Toledo go to the cathedral to see pictures by El Greco in the sacristy. Few people, however, look at the ceiling there. There is a painting on the ceiling, and quite an impressive one, too. El Greco, however, is famous, whereas the author of the painting on the ceiling is little known and most guide books never mention it. Who would look at the ceiling when standing in front of an original El Greco?

       I, however, think that the ceiling is very interesting. It shows the heavens open with God (shown there as a bright disc with Hebrew letters IHWH written on it) and a crowd of angels and saints singing probably hymns of praise. At the edge of the painting there are also some people unpleasantly surprised by the vision. This is an illusionist painting that is supposed to give an impression that there is no ceiling but the open heaven instead. During the baroque era in Catholic Europe this was quite popular theme, the best known example being probably the plafond of St Ignacio in Rome, but the Toledo example is certainly very good. Its author (as some guide books mention) is a Neapolitan painter Luca Giordano.

  

Naked women in the cathedral of Toledo

This is medieval stained glass in the higher windows. Possibly the reason why there is so much nudity there, is that the windows are so high that one can hardly see what is pictured there. Unless, of course, one has binoculars or a telephoto lens (neither of which were in existence at the time the window was made).

It is interesting that in Gothic cathedrals the meticulously made stained glass windows were so high that practically nobody could see them. Perhaps they were made not for the glory of men but for the glory of God, who could see them. 

Of course the cathedral in Toledo is a place where tourists go to see paintings of El Greco, not naked women in some stained glass windows.