Stonegate

The light conditions where over my skillfulness..

Sorry Vladimir, ne prihvacaju 7/7.... Pozdrav

Superb!(I tried to rate it higher but was not allowed.) Regards...

Thank you very much my friends. I deeply appreciate your voice..

... the light conditions did not defeat your skill. This shot is perfect. I absolutely love the way the shot emerges from a pool of blackness. We are led to her hand, then up to the edge of her arm reflecting the candle light. Great composition! This is one of the shots that I love. Wonderful job.

 

I hope you don't mind, but I did a quick B&W version to show you ... doesn't your own shot look like something from Rembrandt or Van Eyck?

Thanks a lot, Dennis. I am stil learning how to work with EF 24mm 1.4L, for mu first choice lense is (was) 24-105mm 4L. Postprocesing is far, far promised land for me.

... this shot is wonderful, Vladimir. Just so you know, I MUCH prefer your color version with its golden glow to the B&W test that I did. Only posted it to show you how much it looked like something from those painters. Please understand, I would have been PROUD to have taken this shot. If you don't mind, I'm going to recommend this shot to some folks who would really appreciate what you have done.

Other than a possible crop this picture is perfect.

Vladimir.

 

I completeyl ageree with Dennis on this. It is not above your skill and I find it haunting and poetic and melancholy. I immediately want to know something about the scene, something more than I am imagining.

 

Paul Henri

I'm one of those people whom Dennis invited to see this superb shot. I agree wholeheartedly with him. This shot represents perfect management of light, calling up great masters of old. An absolutely exquisite shot, not only technically, but emotionally.

Wow, thank you all for your to kind words; some old people say: Even blind hen sometimes find a grain..

...I am here invited for Dennis too. I must say you that I agree with him completely. And must add you have done a wonderful work.

Love this image. Original subject. Beautiful composition and light. It is so difficult when exits diferences of light... but you have solved it so well. With best wishes.

Has to stay in color Vladimir( Dennis took a nice action, inviting us!;-)) human and very emotional. light and shadow are spote on, especially her lighted face. well done!

ZAGREB CHARACTERISTICS

 

 

Stone Gate ( I have mistranslate as a Stopne port)

 

The Stone Gate is one of four gates (towers) in the walls surrounding the old Gradec. (Nucleus of today Zagreb) This is one of the best preserved monuments of old Zagreb, and its current appearance arose in 1760. The Stone Gate is best known as the Chapel of the Mother of God of the Stone Gate. The painting is a reminder of the past, and became particularly well know in 1731 when Zagreb suffered from a great fire. The story is that this painting of the Mother of God, which previously stood above the city gate, was found whole and undamaged in the midst of the fire and ash ? only the frame was burnt. That same year, the painting was placed in this Baroque altar in the recess of the Stone Gate. The artistic, Baroque, wrought iron gate around the altar was created in 1778 by Zagreb master, Ivan Korta.

 

Gates of stone. The main entry into today?s Upper City, a mysterious passage into history and legend, gates that lead through time into the timeless peace of old Zagreb. Step through the ?Porta lapidea?, the only preserved city gates of the medieval settlement Gradec, today?s Upper City and you might catch a glimpse of the past.

These for Zagreb important gates, were created and preserved by chance and by unusual circumstance connected to the history of Croats. Namely, by the directive of the Hungarian King Bela IV, and for protection from Mongol attacks in the year 1241 high fortifications were built with towers around today?s Upper City into which controlled entry was possible then only through the small gates Dverce from the south-west side or through the Stone Gate from the eastern side of the newly erected ramparts.

The gates are, after a long period, expanded and renewed during the times of the greatest Turkish threat in the 16th century along with works on the repair and maintenance of the fortifications. During this period a bridge is erected over the defensive moat just before the fortifications for whose roof work the city authorities purchase oak. The rooms in the building that line the city gates in this time serve as storage areas, and it is there that the first stores are opened in the 17th century. One of them is today a candle store.

The history and hostile forces of the wars of those days caused many fires which in 1645, 1674, 1706 and 1731 ravaged Gradec, and in which the Stone Gate suffered several times.

In connection with the last fire a legend developed. Namely, in an apartment on the first floor of the building above the Stone Gate Mrs. Modlar and her neighbours, just following the fire, in ashes on the floor found a depiction of the Virgin Mother Mary with the child Jesus portrayed as the Queen of Angels. (The author and dating of this painting is to this day unknown, although it is considered to be the valuable work of a local master from the 16th or 17th century). Even though the frame of the painting was burned during the fire the painting remained entirely undamaged which was almost unbelievable considering that all the wooden parts of the building had been entirely destroyed by fire. This was a miracle, concluded the finders, and from that day the painting was attributed with miraculous powers. The widow Modlar raised an altar under the vault of the Stone Gate with the miraculous painting over which an inscription was placed: ?Aid in all distress and against fires?. The altar was opened to the public, and the painting could even be touched until 1778 when the city government erected an artistically forged iron fence by the locksmith Ivan Juraj Chorth, which is today considered the most beautiful and largest example of baroque smithery in northern Croatia.

In the great baroque renewal of 1760 the Stone Gate is further expanded, the vault is again painted and the building is roofed with clay tiles. The rooms above the Stone Gate are converted by the city authorities to residences and rented. In 1776 these rooms are refurnished as classrooms for an elementary school and then in the second half of the 19th century they are granted to a girls school. In a public bidding, which was then a usual method of commerce, the apartment above the Gate is rented to Mrs. Barbara Lenar, and only some twenty days later the city decides to tear down the Stone Gate. One of the city's merchants, Mr. Daniel Jak?ić, suggests then that he bear all the expenses of the demolition and rebuilding and draws up new plans for the Stone Gate as a combination of a traffic route, a commercial building and a small chapel. For unknown reasons the signing of a contract and approval of the new plans, between Mr. Jak?ić and the City, did not go through. The Stone Gate was then preserved from all intervention.

In the budget of the City of Zagreb for the year 1878 the idea of the Stone Gate's demolition resurfaced but was again not put into action as many citizens reacted to it with disapproval. But, as every age has its crazy coachmen and drivers, so it was in distant 1880 that an impatient coachman overturned his coach right in the Stone Gate provoking a meeting of the city representatives which, prompted by this unseeming event for the otherwise peaceful Zagreb, decide to demolish the Stone Gate and build a safer road in its place. By a twist of fate the Stone Gate was again spared because at the time when construction was to have begun the city treasury, from which the works were to have been funded, was empty. So that the city government could in some way show its authority it barred passage to all coachmen and installed transverse bars.

Not long afterwards, in 1907, the City authorities again debated the demolition of the building and Stone Gate with the argument that the Gate served no purpose, as they had been only a passage for the past two centuries. The society ?Braća hrvatskog zmaja? (?Brothers of the Croatian Dragon?) then assumed possession of the old building and gate from the city administration and established three today significant cultural-educational and scientific institutions: The City Library, the Historical Archive of Zagreb and the Museum of the City of Zagreb.

The ?Painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the Stone Gate? is there today and the tiles with inscriptions of gratitude attached to the wall about it are a witness to the power of human will, trust and faith.

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the miraculous preservation of the painting in 1931, St. Mary and Christ on the painting receive, as an expression of gratitude from the city, a golden crown with gems that now make up an integral part of the painting. In 1991 the Archbishop of Zagreb proclaimed the Mother of God of the Stone Gate to be a special protector of Zagreb and the whole of Croatia.

Therefore, whether you are a citizen of Zagreb or not, take a stroll to the Stone Gate and feel the peace and tranquillity of lighted candles in the semi-darkness, make a wish and continue your journey knowing that someone is protecting you.

 

Written by Marko Vrdoljak

 

... it is so refreshing to get the background on some of these images. Thanks very much.

I discovered this great composition thanks to Dennis. This is magical and exquisite. You captured the light emanating from the candles skillfully and as Dennis mentioned it does have the quality of a fine painting. I like the reverse "C" that is formed from the lady's hand moving up through her body and ending with her delicate face reflection above the framed candles. The golden glow revealing the writing on the wall to her right is mesmerizing.

Dear Dennis, the Lord work in mysterious ways..Thank You.

I'm here because of Dennis Aubrey,a great friend.

The background info provided are enchanting.

The image worths the highest ratings.

My congratulations.

Just wonderful, congrutalations. The light on the hand makes it a winner! Ben

Thanks a lot for your to generous comments and ratings..it is strong encouragement; what we do is like gold prospecting: one have to dig tones of dirth to find a grain..

... prekrasan trenutak, kao neko ulje na platnu od starih majstora

Hvala ti Mirna, pokusavam sebe i druge uvjeriti da Zagreb nije sasvim dosadan grad...

Fantastic shot, love everything about it, light, colour and comp are excellent.

Dobra, znam kako je tamo fotkati

I sat in the pews in this place a long time wondering if it was respectful for me to take a photo like this one, but I never felt it was ok for me. I would have shot the woman who cleans the ocean of liquid wax in the huge metal tray.

 

Great image.