My parents left this morning following a good visit and quality bonding time with Elias. As she departed, my mother passed her Maternal Nurturing Baton to Stefan's mother. The baton went from the kitchen to the bathroom, from making soup and doing all the dishes to dusting every horizontal surface and scrubbing sinks we didn't even know were dirty. I fear Elias will never have it as good when he's grown up and I'm on baton duty.
My parents, both avid photographers, also passed one of their older digital SLR cameras on to Stefan, and he has been taking some wonderful pictures with it. He managed to combine the right f-stops and shutter speeds with a steady enough hand to capture some of the figures over the Muenster door without also capturing the distracting pigeon-restraining wires.
Over 500 figures surround the cathedral entrance, which was built between 1280 and 1300. In an age of high illiteracy, the statues conveyed stories and lessons to the masses. They also served as a useful method for identifying Freiburgers. Who other than a Freiburger would know that a devil wrings his hands over the Muenster doors because--as the angel's scales illustrate--
good souls always outweigh bad souls, even when bad souls cheat to tip the balance. To the left of the angel, good souls help lift one another out of their graves (notice the skulls); to the devil's right, bad souls are weighed down with heavy stones.
While Mary and Jesus sit front and center above the entrance, the allegorical Ecclesia and Synagoge stand on the left and right sides of the portal. Ecclesia, wearing a crown, holds a cross and chalice. Synagoge, blind to the coming of the Messiah, holds the broken law of the Jews.
My parents left this morning following a good visit and quality bonding time with Elias. As she departed, my mother passed her Maternal Nurturing Baton to Stefan's mother. The baton went from the kitchen to the bathroom, from making soup and doing all the dishes to dusting every horizontal surface and scrubbing sinks we didn't even know were dirty. I fear Elias will never have it as good when he's grown up and I'm on baton duty.
My parents, both avid photographers, also passed one of their older digital SLR cameras on to Stefan, and he has been taking some wonderful pictures with it. He managed to combine the right f-stops and shutter speeds with a steady enough hand to capture some of the figures over the Muenster door without also capturing the distracting pigeon-restraining wires.
Over 500 figures surround the cathedral entrance, which was built between 1280 and 1300. In an age of high illiteracy, the statues conveyed stories and lessons to the masses. They also served as a useful method for identifying Freiburgers. Who other than a Freiburger would know that a devil wrings his hands over the Muenster doors because--as the angel's scales illustrate--
good souls always outweigh bad souls, even when bad souls cheat to tip the balance. To the left of the angel, good souls help lift one another out of their graves (notice the skulls); to the devil's right, bad souls are weighed down with heavy stones.
While Mary and Jesus sit front and center above the entrance, the allegorical Ecclesia and Synagoge stand on the left and right sides of the portal. Ecclesia, wearing a crown, holds a cross and chalice. Synagoge, blind to the coming of the Messiah, holds the broken law of the Jews.
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