Tag: Death
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Philibert de Savoie
Philibert de Savoie Like Marguerite d’Autriche, her husband Philibert de Savoie, who died at the age of 24 in 1504, is also buried in the cathedral of the Royal Abbey in Brou. His tomb, like his wife’s, has also two effigies, one formal and one informal, one above the other. The effigies are surrounded by…
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Marguerite d’Autriche
Marguerite d’Autriche Marguerite d’Autriche, who was the talented governor of the Low Countries for many years, died in 1530 and is buried in the cathedral of the Royal Abbey of Brou. Her tomb has two effigies, one above the other, made by Conrat Meit. The upper one depicts her in marble in full royal regalia,…
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Of loss and love
Of loss and love Before the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022, more than 14.000 people had already died in the war that started back in 2014. In the Mothers Series Ukrainian photographers portray hundreds of mothers that have lost a soldier son in the early years of the war. Under each picture…
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A wall in Kazimierz
A wall in Kazimierz Broken, mangled, scattered in disarray,unearthed from layers of dust and sand: fragments of memory of the deceased,which fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. A memorial wall for the dead,for the eyes of the living. Photo of the week: 16th cent. Jewish R’emuh Cemetery wall, Kazimierz, Krakow, Poland 2007
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Memento mori
Memento mori When we walk through a cemetery, we may well be glad that we still belong to the world of the living, but it inevitably reminds us of our own mortality. This is certainly true of the Portuguese Jewish cemetery near Amsterdam. Many gravestones feature images symbolising death: an hourglass running out (and which…
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Anno Mundi 5490
Anno Mundi 5490 The Jewish cemetery at ‘Ouderkerk aan de Amstel’ near Amsterdam is called Beth Haim which means House of Life. This tells us something about the Sephardim philosophy of life – and death. The picture shows a detail of a partly submerged gravestone in which we see a shepherdess with her cattle. A…
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Watery grave
Watery grave I saw this sculpted marble gravestone at the cemetery of the Portuguese Jewish community in ‘Ouderkerk aan de Amstel’. The Sephardim Jews had started settling in Amsterdam in the 16th century and their cemetery in nearby Ouderkerk dates from 1614. I used to pass and visit it regularly on my walks along the…
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Death and decay
Death and decay Two headstones, one a bit more pointed than the other, are each covering a corner of two gothic church windows, one a bit more pointed than the other. A harmonious rhythm of corresponding forms that subconsciously may have caught my eye. But I took the picture in the first place because I…
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Cross on stilts
Cross on stilts I.I climbed up to an elevated cemeteryand saw a cross on stilts.Raised for a still better view?For the pursuit of heaven?Or just for fun? II.I descended the steps into a pitch-dark tomb. Groped for my camera, managed to put on the flash and took a picture. The photo shows what I couldn’t…
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Of light and loss
Of light and loss I enjoy visiting cemeteries. Gravestones, a name and two dates, sometimes a photograph of the deceased. Sometimes there are also other expressions of loving remembrance which, in all their simplicity and – often – kitsch taste, can be moving. Gravestones remind us of the dead who rest beneath them, but they…
καιρός remembered 