Both Old But Very Different…

The finale to my Monumentale Cemetery photos are all from a indoor portion called the Hall of Fame. I’m also sharing a link to a post Lovella shared on her blog yesterday about her visit to my old house.

You can see Lovella’s behind the scenes shots of my old house by clicking here.

Yes…the ceiling was that blue!

This was one of the very few images we saw of the risen Christ.

Another week is flying by at this old house.  A free calendar has been a blessing. It has been interesting making plans for a 90th birthday party for my folks from 1200 miles away. Our 70 or so guests will just have to be flexible along with the party planner! Since most of those 70 are related to the guests of honor the pressure is minimal. How’s your week going?

The Other Side…

I wanted to finish sharing my photos from the Duomo (Milan Cathedral). These shots are taken of the back and some from the sides.

This shot captures the lift that is used by construction crew to get to the top of the Duomo where restoration work is being done.

There are 2245 statues on the exterior of the Duomo, 96 gargoyles, and 135 Spires.

This is the one figure that I recognized on the outside of the Duomo. Have you read the account of David and Goliath from the Bible? Here are excerpts from 1 Samuel 17…

The Philistine army had a hero named Goliath who was from the town of Gath and was over nine feet tall. 5-6 He wore a bronze helmet and had bronze armor to protect his chest and legs. The chest armor alone weighed about one hundred twenty-five pounds. He carried a bronze sword strapped on his back, and his spear was so big that the iron spearhead alone weighed more than fifteen pounds. A soldier always walked in front of Goliath to carry his shield.

Goliath went out and shouted to the army of Israel:

Why are you lining up for battle? I’m the best soldier in our army, and all of you are in Saul’s army. Choose your best soldier to come out and fight me! If he can kill me, our people will be your slaves. But if I kill him, your people will be our slaves. 10 Here and now I challenge Israel’s whole army! Choose someone to fight me!…

…11 Saul and his men heard what Goliath said, but they were so frightened of Goliath that they couldn’t do a thing…

16 Goliath came out and gave his challenge every morning and every evening for forty days…

…26 David asked some soldiers standing nearby, “What will a man get for killing this Philistine and stopping him from insulting our people? Who does that worthless Philistine think he is? He’s making fun of the army of the living God!”…

…31 Some soldiers overheard David talking, so they told Saul what David had said. Saul sent for David, and David came. 32 “Your Majesty,” he said, “this Philistine shouldn’t turn us into cowards. I’ll go out and fight him myself!”

33 “You don’t have a chance against him,” Saul replied. “You’re only a boy, and he’s been a soldier all his life.”

34 But David told him:

Your Majesty, I take care of my father’s sheep. And when one of them is dragged off by a lion or a bear, 35 I go after it and beat the wild animal until it lets the sheep go. If the wild animal turns and attacks me, I grab it by the throat and kill it.

36 Sir, I have killed lions and bears that way, and I can kill this worthless Philistine. He shouldn’t have made fun of the army of the living God! 37 The Lord has rescued me from the claws of lions and bears, and he will keep me safe from the hands of this Philistine.

“All right,” Saul answered, “go ahead and fight him. And I hope the Lord will help you.”…

…David took off the armor 40 and picked up his shepherd’s stick. He went out to a stream and picked up five smooth rocks and put them in his leather bag. Then with his sling in his hand, he went straight toward Goliath.

41 Goliath came toward David, walking behind the soldier who was carrying his shield. 42 When Goliath saw that David was just a healthy, good-looking boy, he made fun of him. 43 “Do you think I’m a dog?” Goliath asked. “Is that why you’ve come after me with a stick?” He cursed David in the name of the Philistine gods 44 and shouted, “Come on! When I’m finished with you, I’ll feed you to the birds and wild animals!”

45 David answered:

You’ve come out to fight me with a sword and a spear and a dagger. But I’ve come out to fight you in the name of the Lord All-Powerful. He is the God of Israel’s army, and you have insulted him too!

46 Today the Lord will help me defeat you. I’ll knock you down and cut off your head, and I’ll feed the bodies of the other Philistine soldiers to the birds and wild animals. Then the whole world will know that Israel has a real God. 47 Everybody here will see that the Lord doesn’t need swords or spears to save his people. The Lord always wins his battles, and he will help us defeat you.

48 When Goliath started forward, David ran toward him. 49 He put a rock in his sling and swung the sling around by its straps. When he let go of one strap, the rock flew out and hit Goliath on the forehead. It cracked his skull, and he fell facedown on the ground. 50 David defeated Goliath with a sling and a rock. He killed him without even using a sword.

51 David ran over and pulled out Goliath’s sword. Then he used it to cut off Goliath’s head.

Hope you made it through my longer than usual post. There’s more and you can read the whole account in the Old Testament in the book of First Samuel. Reading this again makes me want to sing “Only a Boy Named David”. Did you ever sing that song?

Tuesday got away from me. Now I’m doing some scrambling today to get reconnected to my brain. Our glorious sunshine from the weekend is hiding away for now and hopefully will return soon. What are you enjoying this week?

Can You Name That Statue?

Oh dear me…

I saw and took pictures of so many statues while in Washington D.C. I’m embarrassed to say I don’t know who half of them are. Maybe you can help me? If not I’ll have to start googling images and try to figure it out. I was also in a quandary as to whether I should call them statues or sculptures.

This one is for my Canadian friends. The statue is in the plaza area of the Canadian Embassy in Washington D.C.

Grand Army of the Republic
Organized at Decatur Illinois, April 6, 1866
By Benjamin Franklin Stephenson M.D.

On some of the statues I managed to get the name in the photo so that is helpful. This statue of Major General Winfield Scott Hancock was sculpted by Henry Jackson Ellicott in 1896. Hancock fought in the Mexican, Seminole and Civil Wars.

Another easy one of Ben Franklin in front of the Old Post Office which is now a mall.

Sitting statues are popular in D.C. Here is the Majesty of Law Statue in front of the Rayburn House Office Building.

Contemplation of Justice

These last two sit in front of the Supreme Court Building. This one is called Authority of Law.

This is the Columbus Statue that sits outside Union Station.

Architect John Russell Pope placed four monumental statues around the National Archives Building. Each was cut from a single block of limestone weighing 125 tons. Aitken’s “The Future” sits on the Pennsylvania Avenue side of the building. The young woman lifts her eyes from the pages of an open book and gazes into the future. Its base is inscribed with a line inspired by Shakespeare’s play The Tempest: “What is Past is Prologue.”

This was taken on the grounds of the National Cathedral in D.C., George Washington.

The white marble Peace Monument was erected in 1877-1878 to commemorate the naval deaths at sea during the Civil War. Inscribed “In memory of the officers, seamen, and marines of the United States Navy who fell in defense of the Union and liberty of their country, 1861-1865.”

The Garfield Monument

Believe me when I say these are no where near even half of the statues around the D.C. area. There are many I missed.

Photobucket replaced all my photos with blurred out versions and photobucket stamped versions. They are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

Round Robin Photo Challenge ~ Statues

It’s time again for the Round Robin Photo Challenge! The theme is Statues. Please visit the Round Robin Blog to see more entries.

Hello Fellow Robins! Looking forward to seeing your statues today.

I decided to go with this copy of Michelangelo’s David in it’s Goliath proportions!

I took these shots at the Forest Lawn in Glendale, California. That’s my daughter Katie standing next to David to give you some perspective.

 

Have you ever read the story of David and Goliath? This giant of a man and the Philistines were taunting the Israelites and challenged them to send someone out of the nation of Israel to fight Goliath and if they could kill him the Philistines would be their servants. If not the Israelites would have to serve them. Every one in the Israelite army was afraid to face this giant but David a shepherd boy was really upset that this giant would taunt David’s God and he decided to go up against Goliath.

1 Samuel 17: 4, 41-51 (New Living Translation)

Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was over nine feet tall!

Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him,  sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy.  “Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods.  “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled.

David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.  Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel!  And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”

As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him.  Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground.

So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword.  Then David ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword from its sheath. David used it to kill him and cut off his head.

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

Three or More ~ Forest Lawn Glendale

My daughter Katie has been visiting us since last Wednesday and she returns to Seattle early tomorrow morning. Today we decided to drive to Forest Lawn in Glendale which is a Memorial Park and Mortuary but also filled with beautiful works of art. In fact it was the Builder’s Creed to provide a different place for burial that depicts Eternal Life and Light not Darkness.

 

This sweet grouping is set before the Builder’s Creed which speaks of the vision he had for this beautiful park. You can read the creed here.

Forest Lawn-Glendale has been home to a world-recognized collection of art and architecture since 1906.

Here is some of what you can see at this landmark location:

  • Exact replicas of Michelangelo’s greatest works such as David, Moses, and La Pieta
  • Leonardo da Vinci’s immortal Last Supper re-created in brilliant stained glass; two of the world’s largest paintings
  • The Crucifixion and The Resurrection
  • Original bronze and marble statuary, rare coins, valuable 13th century stained glass, old world architecture

unfortunately The Crucifixion and The Resurrection exhibit was not open today. :0(  We did see the Last Supper (no photos allowed) and many beautiful bronze and marble statues. The next three bronze statues really caught my eye.

Gentle Faith

“The First Lesson”

Charity

To see more Three or More visit Tam at the Gypsy’s Corner!

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage unless I pay them a lot of money. I’m slowly cleaning up many posts from this time period and deleting their ugly grey and black boxes with a ransom request. Such a time consuming bother.