The Howling Wall by sandra46
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Description
On a wall at one of the traffic lights I usually stop going home there is this wall, part of a condo which was built destrpying a much older building. They saved the keystones of the doors and windows putting them on the side wall. Every time I see them I find them a bit intriguing. Keystones, and real arches were invented first by the Etruscans, and the Romans copied them. Human, animal or fantastic heads actually represented a magic-religious protection of the most important part of the arch,the keystone where the two parts join without collapsing. Since Celts and Germans had a real passion for heads, they were happy to continue the tradition until more cynical Renaissance architects transformed these heads into intriguing ornaments.
Thanks for your kind comments.
Comments (63)
Rhanagaz
Great image and thanks for the info, Sandra! :o)
gmvgmvgmv
Wonderful combination of form, texture and color. Fine capture!!
Chipka
This is marvelous! I saw this many times before but only got to comment now. And, well, it's marvelous. Ya know, those Etruscan-sorts of people actually did quite a lot of really cool stuff. Romans too, and I'm surprised that the Romans actually copied something, what with that long, long, long, long list of inventions they were able to boast about. (I'm still impressed with that wonderfully ancient Roman invention: the laundromat! I'm only disappointed that they didn't have Mexican telenovelas playing on screens while children ran around [at mach-3] pretending to be wrestlers, superheroes, or...um...something. I love the various faces here, each sporting a rather threatening (or inviting?) grimace or rictus. The custom has definitely lasted until today, and I'm glad to see that these stones were preserved and incorporated into a more modern building. Modern life needs a touch of the ancient, I think...otherwise, we lose sight of where we've been and have no clue as to where we're going! This is brilliant. I particularly like the diminutive, possibly female visage on the lower right: she seems to be giving "kissy face" to the camera.