2004 Europe

Finial Model, Cologne Cathedral



June 7 – Today we are headed to Amsterdam in the Netherlands by way of Cologne, Germany to see the Cologne Cathedral. It’s the cathedral you see in the WWII pictures where the Allies completely bombed out a rail yard right next to the church and yet the church is still standing. It was the tallest building in the world when it was finished in 1880 with its towers topping out at 515 feet. It was begun in 1248 to be the resting place for the relics of the three Magi relocated from Milan in the 1100s. Apparently they took a break for a few centuries in the middle of construction.



In the plaza in front of the cathedral they have a full-size model of the finials that set atop the towers. I have a picture of Diana walking by one (above) and it’s easily 5 times taller than she. When you look up at them atop the spires of the cathedral (below) they look like thimbles. It’s amazing. The church is gorgeously decorated but very dark and hard to photograph. I did get a good pick of a carved, wooden triptych that could be moved from place to place on a wagon as a teaching tool. Remember 95% of the population at this time was illiterate so graphics were important. Show and tell for the peasants.



After visiting the Cologne Cathedral we drove to Amsterdam and visited the Rikjsmuseum, the home of many fine oils by Rembrandt including his masterpiece ‘The Night Watch’. There were also some more modern canvases by VanGogh and others but the painting that stuck me the most was ‘Woman Pouring Milk’ by Jan Vermeer (below). The composition is marvelous. It breaks most of the rules of the time and some that still exist today. For example, all the action is on the left side of the canvas. The right side is almost entirely empty. Yet, because the window is placed on the left, the right side of the canvas is brighter. It’s hard for the eye not to look there even though all the action is on the left side. Because the woman is also bathed in the light from the window, she’s the first object in the picture on which the eye naturally settles. That’s another thing. Most painting at that time was in portrait or still live style with no movement or action at all. Here, Vermeer draws attention to an unknown woman pouring milk. It’s almost a metaphor. She’s pouring the only nourishment an infant can handle and as a result the painting seems to be asking the viewer, ‘Can you handle this small start towards a new type of painting with action?’ The imagery is compounded by the fact that the table in the scene, with its bread, basket, crockery, blue drape and tablecloth is a classical still life contained in his action scene. Like he’s saying, here’s where we were and here’s where we’re going. The action in the scene is the pouring of the milk of life into the still life portion of the canvass. Absolutely genus. Of course there’s the possibility that I’m reading way too much into this, but I don’t think so.



It was a great place to visit. They let you take pictures without a flash. The exposures are very long and hard to hand hold, but you can also take video. I did manage to get a decent picture of ‘The Night Watch’ and ‘The Woman Pouring Milk’.



After the Rikjsmuseum we checked into the hotel and then walked down a few blocks to board a canal boat for a tour of Amsterdam’s canals. I think I got some good video but it was hard to be far enough away from anything to get pictures. Any time on a boat is good, but this was great. Not as overwhelming as Venice but still impressive. One unusual thing I could photograph, the narrowest house I’ve ever seen (below).



As you probably know, drugs are legal in Amsterdam and they have had quite a problem with young people who come here and live on the street. Having read reports about the situation I was expecting the worst. To my pleasant surprise the police have cracked down on most of the more antisocial behavior and things are much better than I had expected. Still, I saw a lot of young people on the streets completely out of it. It’s just sad.



Tourist Safety Note: When walking in Amsterdam you can safely ignore the druggies but do not, I repeat, DO NOT, walk in a bike path. The cyclists will run you down without the least compunction or apology. In fact they may be highly incensed that you may have damaged their bicycle. The last thing you will hear is the soft ringing of the little bell they all have fastened to their handlebars “Ding-ding”...then WHAM, you are hearing another totally different bell ringing inside your head. I think it’s the way the authorities keep track of how many pedestrians have been run down during the day. “Ding-ding” “Ach Hans, there’s another tourist bleeding on a bike path somewhere in Amsterdam!” I kept looking closely at the frames of the bicycles expecting to see the white outline of little stick men commemorating the kills the rider has accumulated in the fashion or a WWII fighter pilot marking his victories on the fuselage of his airplane.

(c) 2004 Rod Longenberger