"Man with Cup" sculpture by Sean Henry at Salisbury Cathedral, England (built 1220)
Was on a Wikipedia rabbit hole and found this art installation and I love the contrast of a sculpture of a modern dude in a suit holding a takeout coffee alongside ornate early English Gothic medieval sculptures.
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Not uncommon to replace statues lost to time or other reasons with modern ones. Even on cathedrals. A prominent example is Darth Vaders helmet at the Washington National Cathedral. Even though this is basically a contemporary building in comparison to its European counterparts.
this exemplifies everything about the modern world.
from the cheap coffee, the disheveled business suit, the 1000 yard stare. even the fact that he's been cast with concrete and painted with an enameled paint.
the juxtaposition of it compared to the sleek beautiful lines on the other statues goes to show that in the modern world, we don't do things to honor someone or to make a statement. we do things for a quick hit of success with minimal to no effort and carry on ignoring why we did what we did.
bravo.
I'm wondering if the old statues used to have paint too. Wouldn't be the first time they lost it over time.
Ever seen those boring stone-coloured brown and grey castles on top of European hills? Most of them were painted back in their time, and not just white - they were usually painted in the colours of the resident knights or lords heraldic colours.
Yes, the town i grew up in happened to have one of those.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veste_Oberhaus
And another one further back: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgruine_Hals
IIRC, there's evidence that many of the central statues on the cathedral were originally painted, but those installed later typically were not.
People wore business attire in 1220?
This guy...
...is dressed in ~1220 business attire.
That's a weird sentence for sure. I think it was the building itself that was erected in 1220
Yeah, look at how long that coat jacket is! Looks like it's at least 1220. Maybe the 1230's, though.
tldr why? why are there free spots?
I'm actually not sure and can't find any information on that but if I were to make an uneducated guess, it would be that the statues themselves weren't really a part of the original building plan; just the spots for them were with the expectation that they'd be added over the years like art on the wall would be.
But again that's just a complete guess so take that with a grain of salt
I would posit that the original statues fell or were pulled down
Or the cash dried up and the statues were never made. Lots of possibilities!
Cash :: 1220
I Crossposted this to [email protected] because thats exactly the right vibe.
I'm liking a stature of David Bowie for that last open spot. Dressed as Aladdin Sane, let's say.
Why so short?
People in the 13th century were just 8 feet tall so a modern statue looks a little funny beside an older statue
To fool tourists from a distance.