Hello Art Talk Community! Nice to meet you all. My (cyber)name is NomNomNoodle and this is my first time posting here as one of art appreciators all around the world. Today, I want to take my time and dedicate this post to my admiration of Toledo Cathedral's ecclesiastical art after talking about the Toledo Cathedral in the previous post.
Part I : Arrival | Part II : Palacio Real de Madrid | Part III : Jamón Iberico |
Part I : Toledo | Part II : Toledo Cathedral |
As I was saying, in this post, I'll try my best to breakdown and tell you about these masterpieces and without any further ado, let's start with..
🇪🇸✝️ The Chapels ✝️🇪🇸
There are many different chapels inside the cathedral and I took my sweet time to walk around and take pictures of some of them. The picture on the left is a painting on a chapel's wall of St. Christopher carrying the Christ Child.
🇪🇸✝️ Stained Glass Windows ✝️🇪🇸
It's quite common in a church to have stained glass windows, right? But here in Toledo Cathedral these stained glass windows are extra special because they have been preserved since medieval era. Some were produced and made in a different time between 14-17th century. I like the reflection on the other side of the wall.
🇪🇸✝️ El Transparente ✝️🇪🇸
The architect had to cut 2 holes of the cathedral and measure the angle right, then El Transparente was installed to allow light to pass from the ambulatory behind the high altar, onto the tabernacle aka the container for the Blessed Sacrament which stayed in constant shadow because of the tall reredos.
Added with the baroque style of sculpture and paintings. It was just marvelous to see such a work or art. I honestly hope I could take better pictures, but my Iphone will have to do for now.
What completely astonished me is this Baroque Altarpiece called El Transparente.
Altarpiece is work of art that decorates the space above and behind the altar in a Christian church.
El Transparente translate into English as the transparent. In order to create some sort of special lighting arrangement which would contrast with the half-dark atmosphere of the rest of the cathedral.
These are just beginning. Imagine looking up to see this and you follow the sculpture until you can see the grand magnificent baroque-style altar. I was stunned how it was so detailed and beautifully crafted. The Virgin Mary in the middle. (After all, the other name of Toledo Cathedral is Mary of Toledo.)
The natural light from the outside would shine right on the alter. What a master construction.
🇪🇸✝️ La Gran Ostensoria de Toledo ✝️🇪🇸
They said this is the most important object in Toledo Cathedral, to be more exact in the Chapel of the Treasure. In English, La Gran Ostensoria de Toledo means The Great Monstrance of Arfe. Every year, it will be used in the annual feast of Corpus Christi of Toledo, a religious ceremony of celebrating the presence of Jesus.
The creator of this masterpiece is actually from Germany, called Heinrich von Harff, then he had been called by his spanish name of Enrique de Arfe. It was made of the finest silver and gold and bejeweled with gems, it measures over ten feet tall.
When you looked into the details, it was insanely incredible because The monstrance comprises 5,600 different pieces held together. It weights Eighteen kilograms of 18 karat gold and 183 kilograms of pure silver. It is (allegedly) said to contain the first gold brought by Columbus from the New World.
There we go, guys. I was really lots of research went into writing this post, since I don't want to give out wrong information about the place I was so impressed by.
these sources to thank for: Spain's official tourism website, Toledo Cathedral Wikipedia and Madrid experience website.
And of course, all the photos are mine.
I hope I keep it understandable, but if it's not in anyway, please feel free to let me know, I'd super appreciate it.
Let's keep admiring the wonder and the exquisiteness of art, guys
Khob khun kaa,
Nomnomnoodle 🍜
It is obvious that you had a nice time visiting the chapels and doing other things around there
That’s nice
At the time, I was much enjoying what I was seeing and getting the vibe. Now that I'm writing about it, I actually get to learn even more about it.
Thank you for stopping by. Nice to see you @rafzat
Wow. That's insane! With such treasure, the cathedral must have top-notch security 😮.
Thank you for taking us on your tour, even if only virtually.
It was really impressive to be able to see these magnificent masterpiece. Ohh Maybe one day the platform will let me do that.