Walking on Broken Glass by brewgirlca
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Description
Needs a full size peak for textures.
Why broken glass? Because during Roman times these three large portols were filled with stained glass scenes! But time and wanton human destruction have taken their toll and the glass is now all gone. You can see the vertical grooves that held the panes on the two openings to the left and if you look carefully you can see the grooves on the top too.
This is the outer wall of a large passage that connected the steam room to the cool pools. The lady, Helen again, is resting on the remains of a low inner wall that bounded the passage.
I was just blown away to realize the Romans were creating stained glass panels of this size in their recreation centers. I can only imagine what it must have been like to be in this room when the strong Mediterranian sunlight was pouring through these huge multicolored displays. What scenes were depicted on these panels? Sadly, we will never know. All that remains are fine bits of ground glass to tantalize our imaginations as to what must have been a place of incredible sensual beauty.
This HDR image was created in Photomatrix Pro 4.2
Previous Perge
"Steam Baths"
"Steam Baths"
Comments (24)
barryjeffer
Amazing Roxy... I am blown away at the images you are sharing with us... a most excellent way to taste history.
Faemike55
Fantastic capture and descriptions Thanks for sharing your adventure with us
SidheRoseGraphics
The Romans may have put them up, but it is likely that the glass panels themselves were made by Phoenicians (Sidonians), who had been working with glass for some time at this point. Yes, it must have been quite the spectacular place, this bath, with the sunlight streaming through the panels. Such a shame they were destroyed. Lovely image and wonderful information, Roxy! Thanks for sharing with us!!
odile
This must have been wonderful! Wonderful picture and information. Thanks,Roxy!
Richardphotos
no matter where in the world people wantonly destroy works of art for no reason. I like old ruins.exciting to explore
mikeerson
amazing that doorway is standing after all this time.
0rest4wicked
An age when decadence was at it's pinnacle!
eekdog Online Now!
so cool of a place Roxy, wish i was there also to see and photograph. your work behind the lens is most exceptional.
tommorules
I believe early Roman window glass was "poured" rather than blown & cut, so would probably have looked a little disappointing to a modern eye; but i agree, it would be wonderful to see for real.
brycek
Love your photos..wonderful!!
vitachick
The Romans were great...So many buildings, roads etc...
FaeMoon
Wow, it must have been something to behold. My daughter said something today.. someone charted all the advances of civilization and conjecture is that had the dark ages not happened, we would probably already be living in space. Seeing how advanced this is, I do not find it hard to believe.
magnus073
What a fantastic capture Roxy really amazing stuff. I too can't get over what the Romans were creating back then. It's hard to imagine stained-glass windows of this size
mgtcs
Splendid shot!
auntietk
That's amazing! I had no idea. Thanks for the fascinating information, along with a great pic!
renecyberdoc
amazing shot and work and also useful bit of history.
nefertiabet
Wonderful capture and great info!!!
3dpoetry
Fantastic image
photosynthesis
The HDR really brings out the texture of the stonework beautifully & I also like the strong shadows. It is a shame the glass panels didn't survive. You could take some photos of stained glass windows & use the PS warp tool to fit them into these openings pretty easily, but creating the streaming sunlight effect you described would be challenging...
drifterlee
That's a shame that the glass is lost forever!
adorety Online Now!
Stunning to imagine ancient stained glass panels. I wonder what sort of scenes or symbols they would have contained. Nice capture of the detail. You can see the grooves where the panels used to be quite easily. Nice postwork.
RodS Online Now!
A super photo, Roxy! It never ceases to amaze me how really advanced the Romans (and several other 'ancient' cultures) were... It would cost thousands to create and install three stained glass windows of that size, and take a crew of seasoned experts to do the job with modern power tools, temperature-controlled ovens, etc. And yet..... What a shame that so many things of historic signifigance and beauty have been destroyed by the supidity that ironically seems to grow more prevalant as we "advance" our knowledge.
Chipka
You know, when it comes to the ancient Romans, nothing surprises me. I mean, they invented the Laundromat after all...well...they were called "fulleries" and they didn't smell very good, but they got a toga nice and clean, but you had to wash it again, just to get the smell out. I guess, by that logic, the ancient Romans also invented the concept of "pre-washing." That has absolutely nothing to do with this image, but there you have it. The information you provide is absolutely riveting. I came upon my interest in history later in life, and it was essentially because of the Romans and other people that drew me in. Actually, it was a bunch of Czech people...but that's a ramble for another day. Your POV is stunning, and even if there is no Roman glass, the sky seems to imply that something remains there. Existential glass: not the glass itself, but the conceptual essence and meaning of it simply oozes through this image. I think it's because of your POV in addition to the information you provided. I love the details. On full zoom, this is quite a pleasantly overwhelming image. The sense of color is quite Roman as well: if it was big and bright, they liked it. Heck, I like it! This is such brilliant and sensitive work. Now, I'm beginning to think about how stuff like this influences your rendered work. There are similarities, after all...they're in your overall sense of aesthetics and in your eye. Isn't it nice when something can express itself in more than one way? I love your work, and your historical photography is brilliant, as this image so deliciously proves.
Blush
I bet this was pretty at one time...........esp with the stained glass and really it is sad that the stained glass is gone forever....I can like you only imagine it in my minds eye what it looked like.................and when the stained glass was there while the sun shined down on it....beautiful colorful dust mote's danced in the air.............. Beautiful image and capture Also thanks for the info as well Hugs Susan~