Behind the bust

At the Chateau Azay-le-Ferron, in the Indre département of central France, this bust of a former owner sits on a mantelpiece in front of a mirror that gives away some of the secrets of its construction.

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Open Topic

Basilica San Marco, Venice

These carvings atop the Basilica San Marco in Venice are clearly not the originals, but there is plenty of intricate detail to appreciate, especially in monochrome:

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Sculpture

Thursday Doors: Encore Cahors (5)

And still they come….

Yet more from Cahors. When I first posted some doors from this medieval town, I commented on the carving that many of them displayed. Like these:

You can’t go wrong with a door-within-a-door…

Or just go full tatty:

There are still a few more doors to come from Cahors, but for the next few weeks we’ll be rather closer to home, at a new Thursday Doors destination.

Thursday Doors 31 May 2018

Elephants!

Cee’s topic this week is ‘small subjects’. So here are a pair of elephants.

I should explain that this carving – part of Madame’s extensive elephant collection – is in fact only about an inch long.

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Small Subjects

Roman Head

I saw this striking carved head on display in the museum attached to the Argentomagus archaeological site – a Roman town built over an Iron Age village –  in the Indre département of central France.

sculpture

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Sculptures

Tuesdays of Texture: Statuary

A fortuitous angle of light source helps to bring out the textures of these statuettes, which are located up on a wall of a side chapel in the cathedral of Limoges:

Texture=Statuettes

Tuesdays of Texture: Week 34

Monochrome: Texture & Contrast

Cee’s Compose Yourself Photo Challenge has now reached Black & White and as a first stage is focussing on texture and contrast. Here are some images that incorporate both these key elements of monochrome images.

This camellia flower was actually a gorgeous shade of purple, but the monochrome brings out the texture of the leaves very well, while the greater contrast enhances the perception of detail at the heart of the flower :

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This little imp sits on an electricity pylon, contrasting well with the texture of the concrete post, in the small hamlet of Bonnefont, quite close to here:

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Monochrome also brings out the texture in these carvings from Chartres Cathedral….

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…and the contrast in this dramatic skyscape

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Art in the service of religion

In response to this week’s Black & White Challenge from Cee, here is an image of the extraordinarily intricate carving above the great door of Chartres Cathedral.

CarvingB&W

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge

Horse’s Head (Detail)

Detail of a carved wooden horse that sits on a table in our salon. The monochrome conversion (the real thing is actually bronze-coloured) highlights the interesting textures of the piece.

HeadB&W

Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge.