This was a signal to the men inside the Alamo that their lives would not be spared. In addition, Jim Bowie, who was a key defender of the Alamo, had been married in the church five years earlier. Many believe that the small coffin inside the San Fernando contains the remains of men who died during the battle.
Later, in , the church was expanded into the Gothic style building that can be seen today. A series of renovations followed thereafter, including the addition of the Stations of the Cross in when the church was officially named a cathedral and the installation of stained glass windows in In , it became an archdiocese. But what other secrets lie inside this ancient building?
Finished at the end of the 19th century, this Technicolor mosque in southern Iran dazzles with intricate stained-glass windows, richly colored tiles, carved pillars, and woven rugs. Due to its strategic positioning, early-morning light produces a kaleidoscopic effect within the structure, which has survived numerous earthquakes thanks to the flexible wood struts within its walls.
In King Henry VI laid the foundation stone of this monumental English Gothic chapel, which features the largest fan vault in the world. The 26 stained-glass panels were installed more than a century later under the authority of King Henry VIII, who used them to reinforce his position as Supreme Head of the English Church after breaking with Rome.
This upmarket department store with a soaring Tiffany-stained-glass ceiling in the lobby was transformed into a luxury hotel in anticipation of the Olympic Games. Commissioned by the Australian government, this vast art gallery planned by architect Roy Grounds opened its doors in August Glazed in the late 13th century, the geometric glasswork features a scene of the martyrdom of Thomas Becket under an ecclesiastical canopy, plus several full-length figures within a canopied niche.
But the point is that it still does exist and has not changed, as it were, since the great century when the cathedrals were built. For us to imagine what a living and sublimely functioning thirteenth-century cathedral was like, we need not do with it as we do with the theater of Orange and turn it into a venue for exact yet frozen reconstitutions and retrospectives. All we need to do is to go into it at any hour of the day when a liturgical office is being celebrated.
One could not hope for livelier and more sincere extras, since it is the faithful that take the trouble of unwittingly playing their role for us. One may say that thanks to the persistence of the same rites in the Catholic Church and also of Catholic belief in French hearts, cathedrals are not only the most beautiful monuments of our art, but also the only ones that still live their life fully and have remained true to the purpose for which they were built.
Well: better to ransack a church than to decommission it. As mutilated as a church may be, so long as the Mass is celebrated there, it retains at least some life.
Once a church is decommissioned it dies, and though as an historical monument it may be protected from scandalous uses, it is no more than a museum. Jesus is leaving, but He will return. None of the Apostles seems pleased, though one, probably Andrew, is waving. In the lower right corner is the beardless John, dressed in purple and green.
The Apostle in the center is probably Andrew, who also often is shown beardless. Tears seem to be forming in his eyes as he knows Jesus is leaving. Christ, with outstretched hands, is saying, "Not my will but thine be done," and a sorrowful angel is bringing the chalice of suffering to Him.
Above is a crescent moon in a foreboding sky, perhaps even a solar eclipse. Below are the three disciples, John, Peter and James. Peter has fallen asleep on his sword, the same sword that he will soon use to cut the High Priest's servant's ear.
The attitude of John's hand indicates he is asleep, his head collapsed on Peter's thigh. John seems to be dreaming because his big toe is over the next toe.
James, with his beard down his chest, seems to have passed out. Could the little bush in the far right corner be a coffee plant? Perhaps if they had been drinking coffee, they would not be asleep. Jesus forms the gate of the sheepfold. Jesus is depicted with the wounds of His crucifixion.
He has returned, shepherd's staff in hand, to guard His sheep, which are happily gathered around Him. In the background is the city of Jerusalem, which is about to fall.
Jesus holds one lamb, the hundredth lamb, He has found. There is rejoicing among the sheep as the lost sheep returns. He gives water to all. Jesus looks at the little lamb He has rescued with loving eyes, reminding that all people are His lambs. At the end of the central aisle of the Mausoleum is the stunning figure of Christ at sunrise, ridding the sky of darkness, as He rises from His burial tomb.
He is holding the banner of Christian triumph, a red cross on a white shield. Christ holds his hand in blessing to the world. Around Christ are soldiers in total disarray. On the lower left, one is holding his shield. On the upper right, another is reaching for his spear, but being cast back.
Two others are hiding their faces, yet another is on his shield, a symbol of defeat. The wounds of the nails are in Christ's feet, and there are clouds, foreshadowing the Ascension of Christ into Heaven. In the background is an Italian cypress, the symbol of death. However, the symbol of death is being overcome by the gold of the sky. This window recalls a twelve year old Jesus preaching to the elders in the Temple in Jerusalem.
He is dressed in white and gold, the two colors that represent purity. On the bottom of His garment is a grapevine, reminding us of the stories of Israel being the vineyard and stories Jesus told involving grapes and grapevines, and, ultimately, the wine of the Eucharist.
His halo has three points, a reference to the Trinity. The light above represents the Menorah, and the books on the floor remind that Jesus has come to fulfill the law and the prophecies. One of the elders holds a scroll, representing the law. The elders do not seem pleased with what Jesus is saying because they fear He has come to replace the law.
The gold curtain is significant artistically because it pushes the figure of Jesus into prominence, but it also is a foreboding of the Temple curtain that will be torn at the time of Christ's crucifixion. Forty days after the birth of Christ, Mary complied with the Mosaic law by going to the Temple to be cleansed and to redeem her first-born by introducing Him into the House of God.
Simeon the Just purifies Mary with his prayers and blesses the baby Jesus.
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