Cologne Cathedral Tower

European Cathedrals tend to be very stark and to me, this photo of the Cathedral in Cologne,

Germany is a prime example of the severness of this type of building.

 

Thanks for viewing.

... never would have thought of cathedrals as stark, especially the gothic ones like Cologne. On the other hand, this is the first shot that I have ever seen where one can make a case for that characterization.

Hi Dennis - thanks for commenting. I believe that European cathedrals seem so stark to me because I am more accustomed to their Central American counterparts - which tend to be filigreed and colorful. I suppose the above photo is an apt rendition of my perception.

... don't mean to advertise, but look at some of the shots in my portfolio of the Romanesque churches, especially St. Austremoine in Issoire and Notre Dame la Grande in Poitiers. But I see your point of reference. My personal belief is that the churches in Europe used to be just that colorful. In fact, they have discovered traces of the paint on the north portal of Chartres that shows that those fantastic gothic sculptures used to be realistically (or at least representationally) painted. To give you an idea, here is a shot of one of the capitals in Chauvigny, representing some of the earliest Romanesque sculpture. Both the color (redone recently) and the styles are startling.

Beautiful, indeed. Isn't it fantastic that these buildings can evoke such varying perceptions?