Early glasses

Shown on the right side of the facade is "Saint Jerome" (Hieronymus, 347-420), who translated the Bible into Latin ("Vulgate"). His attributes are the lion and the skull. Here he is wearing glasses! Pretty modern for a carving from around 1550.

La Chaise-Dieu was founded in 1043 by Robert de Turlande. It was named "Casa Dei", from which La Chaise-Dieu developed. From the 11th to the 13th century, the abbey experienced rapid and significant development. When the founder died in 1067, already 300 monks lived here. In the Auvergne La Chaise-Dieu gained importance similar to that of the Burgundian Cluny Abbey. The abbey received many donations from noble families and administered 42 daughter monasteries. Popes who visited the abbey include Urban II, Calixt II, Alexander III. and Innocent II. In 1342, Pierre Roger, who had lived as a monk in La Chaise-Dieu, became Pope in Avignon under the name Clement VI. He financed a new building of the abbey church, in which he was finally buried. The building was completed in 1378 under the pontificate of Gregory XI, a nephew of Clement VI. Since 1516 La Chaise-Dieu, like most other French abbeys, became "in commendam" so the commendatory abbot drew the revenue of the monastery but without fulfilling the duties of the abbot or even residing at the monastery. Calvinist troops looted the abbey in August 1562. After most of the monastery buildings were destroyed by fire in 1695, they were rebuilt by the monks in the decades that followed. In 1786, Cardinal de Rohan, who was involved in the "Affair of the Diamond Necklace" was exiled to La Chaise-Dieu. While the abbey had 40 monks at that time, religious life ended at the beginning of the French Revolution. La Chaise-Dieu is known for the "Danse Macabre" fresco, dated ~ 1450. In three panels 23 living persons, representing the medieval society, are invited to "dance" the invitation to death with the skeletons around them. The artistic from of the "Dance of the Death" arose from the calamities of the 13th and 14th century. The plague, named "Black Death", forced so many people into this dance. The monk wears a pair of glasses! Pretty early!

La Chaise-Dieu was founded in 1043 by Robert de Turlande. It was named "Casa Dei", from which La Chaise-Dieu developed. From the 11th to the 13th century, the abbey experienced rapid and significant development. When the founder died in 1067, already 300 monks lived here. In the Auvergne La Chaise-Dieu gained importance similar to that of the Burgundian Cluny Abbey. The abbey received many donations from noble families and administered 42 daughter monasteries. Popes who visited the abbey include Urban II, Calixt II, Alexander III. and Innocent II. In 1342, Pierre Roger, who had lived as a monk in La Chaise-Dieu, became Pope in Avignon under the name Clement VI. He financed a new building of the abbey church, in which he was finally buried. The building was completed in 1378 under the pontificate of Gregory XI, a nephew of Clement VI. Since 1516 La Chaise-Dieu, like most other French abbeys, became "in commendam" so the commendatory abbot drew the revenue of the monastery but without fulfilling the duties of the abbot or even residing at the monastery. Calvinist troops looted the abbey in August 1562. After most of the monastery buildings were destroyed by fire in 1695, they were rebuilt by the monks in the decades that followed. In 1786, Cardinal de Rohan, who was involved in the "Affair of the Diamond Necklace" was exiled to La Chaise-Dieu. While the abbey had 40 monks at that time, religious life ended at the beginning of the French Revolution. La Chaise-Dieu is known for the tapestries, once woven to embellish the monks´ choir. They were commissioned by Jacques de Saint-Nectaire and were woven by a Flemish workshop between 1501 and 1518. The collection includes 14 tapestries of which two are different and may have been ordered by the abbot for his personal use. The 12 other tapestries constitute a complete continuation of the Annunciation to the Last Judgment. An inventory prior to the Revolution mentions 18 tapestries, so four tapestries have therefore disappeared. The tapestries were only exhibited during major liturgical feasts. They were rolled up and kept during the troubles during the Wars of Religion and the Revolution. In 2013 the tapestries were removed. They got restored and returned to the abbey in July 2019. I was lucky to see them in August 2019. In the center - Jesus sold by Judas - Matthew 26:14 -15 "Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted out for him thirty pieces of silver." Left - Joseph sold by his brothers - Genesis 37:28 "So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt." Right - Samson sold by Delilah - Judges 16:4 - 5 "Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”

In the 7th/8th century, the area was reconquered from the hands of the Moors by the kings of Asturias. A castle was built in 884 on the orders of King Alfonso III. Burgos became the coronation city of the kings of Castile in the 11th century, which underlines its special importance. After the conquest of Toledo by Alfonso VI. (1085). The city became the see of a Diocese and was a major stop for pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela. Burgos lost its importance a little, but the city remained an important economic, cultural, and political center in northern Spain. The Convento de San Pablo was a Dominican monastery founded in 1224 that existed until 1835. The construction of the cathedral was ordered by King Ferdinand III of Castile and the Bishop of Burgos. Ferdinand had just married Barbarossa´s granddaughter Beatrice of Swabia (aka "Elisabeth of Swabia") and wanted a cathedral, reflecting his new role in the European power game. The former Romanesque cathedral was demolished in 1221, and the construction of the new Gothic started under the guidance of a French architect. After nine years, the chevet was completed and the high altar was consecrated. Then the construction stopped for about 200 years. Attending the Council of Basel (aka "Council of Florence") in 1435 bishop Alfonso de Cartagena saw the elegant towers of the Basel Minster. When he returned to Burgos he was accompanied by German architect Johannes von Köln (aka "Juan de Colonia"), who probably knew the blueprints of the towers, planned for the Cathedral of Cologne. Under his guidance, the towers of the Cathedral were completed in open tracery. He was followed on the construction site by his son Simon de Colonia. Francisco de Colonia, Simon's son, continued the work and created the Pellejería-Portal. This was a family business. As I have uploaded many photos of the cathedral before, I will only add a few for now. The choir is surrounded by numerous chapels. The Gothic altar in the chapel of St. Ana shows, among others, St. Jerome (with glasses) and his lion.

The Romans conquered the place in 57 BC. BC and expanded it into a walled city. The city gained importance because it was at the intersection of several important transport routes. During the barbarian invasions, Évora came under the rule of the Visigothic king Leovigild in 584. In 715, the city was conquered by the Moors. During the Moorish rule (715–1165), the town slowly began to prosper again and developed into an agricultural center with a fortress and a mosque. Évora was wrested from the Moors through an attack by Geraldo Sem Pavor ("Gerald the Fearless") in 1165. The town came under the rule of the Portuguese king Afonso I in 1166. It then flourished during the Middle Ages, especially in the 15th century. The official name of the museum is “Museo Nacional Fray Manuel del Cenáculo”. It is located in the old bishop's palace. Follower of Marinus van Reymerswaele (1490 - 1567) Saint Jerome on meditation, 2nd half 16th century

The area around Lübeck, today a large city with a population of more than 200,000, had been settled by Slavs since the 7th century. Slavs had a settlement north of the present city called "Liubice", which was razed by the pagan Rani tribe in 1128. 15 years later Adolf II, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein, founded the modern town as a German settlement on the river island of Bucu. He built a new castle, first mentioned as existing in 1147. Adolf II had to cede the castle to the Duke of Saxony, Henry the Lion, in 1158. After Henry's fall from power in 1181, the town became an Imperial city. Emperor Barbarossa ordained that the city should have a ruling council of 20 members. With the council dominated by merchants, trade interests shaped Lübeck's politics for centuries. In the 14th century, Lübeck became the "Queen of the Hanseatic League", being by far the largest and most powerful member of that medieval trade organization. In 1375, Emperor Charles IV named Lübeck one of the five "Glories of the Empire", a title shared with Venice, Rome, Pisa, and Florence. Conflicts about trading privileges resulted in fighting between Lübeck (with the Hanseatic League) and Denmark and Norway – with varying outcome. While Lübeck and the Hanseatic League prevailed in conflicts in 1435 and 1512, Lübeck lost when it became involved in a civil war that raged in Denmark from 1534 to 1536. From then on Lübeck's power slowly declined. The city remained neutral in the Thirty Years' War, but the devastation from the decades-long war and the new transatlantic orientation of European trade caused the Hanseatic League – and thus Lübeck with it – to decline in importance. However, Lübeck still remained an important trading town on the Baltic Sea. In 1160 Henry the Lion moved the bishopric of Oldenburg to Lübeck and endowed a cathedral chapter. In 1163 a wooden church was built, however, at the beginning of the 13th century, it was no longer sufficient to meet the representative demands of the self-confident burghers. St. Marien was built between 1250 and 1350. It has always been a symbol of the power and prosperity of the old Hanseatic city. It situated at the highest point of the island that forms the old town. Gothic cathedrals in France and Flanders made of natural stone were the models for the new construction of Lübeck's three-nave basilica. St. Marien epitomizes North German "Brick Gothic" and set the standard for many churches in the Baltic region. The church embodied the towering style of Gothic architecture using brick. The incentive for the City Council to undertake such an enormous project was rooted in the bitter dispute with the Lübeck bishopric. As a symbol of the long-distance merchants' desire for freedom and the secular power of the city, which had been free of the Empire since 1226, the church building in the immediate vicinity of Lübeck's city hall and the market square was intended to clearly and uncatchably surpass in size the city's bishop's church, Lübeck Cathedral. In March 1942, St. Marien (as well as the Cathedral and St. Peter) was almost completely burned out during the air raid on Lübeck, which destroyed one-fifth of the city centre. Reconstruction of the church began in 1947 and was essentially completed. The impressive "Antwerpener Retabel" was created in 1518. It was donated in 1522 by Johann Bone, a merchant from Geldern. During WWII the altarpiece was in the "Briefkapelle" (Chapel of Indulgences) and thus escaped destruction. The double-winged altarpiece depicts the life of the Virgin Mary. "Antwerp retable" is the collective name for a type of winged altarpiece that was produced in and around Antwerp workshops for export, especially in the first third of the 16th century. Even today, over 200 examples are preserved in churches and museums in various European countries.

Petrikirche is a hall church in the High Gothic style, which approximates the ideal type of this church form. The building has a nearly square floor plan with a comparatively short choir. St. Peter's Church, along with St. Reinoldi's Church and St. Mary's Church, is another medieval church located directly on Westenhellweg. The three-bay structure was begun in 1322 and is made of sandstone. Antwerp retable is the name given to a type of winged altarpiece produced for export, particularly in Antwerp workshops during the first third of the 16th century. Antwerp retables are generally characterized by their intricately detailed carvings, but also by certain standardizations, such as their dimensions and the frequent repetition of certain groups of figures. Over 200 examples are still preserved today in churches and museums in various European countries. At 5.65 meters high and 7.40 meters wide with the double doors open, the Dortmund carved altar, the "Goldenes Wunder von Westfalen", is considered the largest surviving Antwerp altarpiece. The retable features two pairs of wings, the interior of which is also sculpturally carved. The altar was originally commissioned by the Dortmund Franciscans from Jan Gillisz Wrage in Antwerp for their monastery church. After the monastery was dissolved during secularization, the St. Peter's congregation acquired the altar and brought it to their church. During World War II, the altar was removed and returned to Dortmund in 1954. It was restored in St. Peter's Church from the early 1960s onwards and reinstalled in 1985. The winged altar is opened differently throughout the church year, revealing different images on the front. From Thanksgiving to Holy Week and from Easter to Pentecost, the actual gilded carved altar with 36 compartments and a total of 633 gilded figures can be seen inside. It depicts the detailed story of Jesus' Passion, with the crucifixion at its center. Detail of the previous upload (Ascension of Christ). This person needs glasses, to follow the ascension.

The Aachen Cathedral Treasury ("Aachener Domschatz") is one of the largest and most important treasuries of medieval Christian artworks in Europe. The treasury has over a hundred works that are exhibited in a museum adjacent to the Aachen Cathedral – the monumental church of Charlemagne, which together with the treasury was added to the first UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list in 1978. Panel paintings with depictions of the life of Virgin Mary Master of the Life of Virgin Mary in Agachen, Cologne, ca 1485 Detail: the bearded man on the right wears glasses

The museum opened in 1809 in connection with the French Revolution, following the confiscation of works of art from noblemen and church property. A central warehouse for the Lille area was established in a former monastery building. The space was soon too small. When, after a move the space in the new town hall became insufficient, it was decided to build a new building in 1882. This building opened in 1892, but was closed in 1895 due to structural defects and reopened in 1998 with a renewed heating and ventilation system. During the First World War, the museum suffered significant damage. After the capture of Lille by German troops, certain works of art were stolen. In 1917 and 1918, parts of the collection were transported to Brussels. The museum was not reopened to the public until 1924, after extensive renovations. In 1991, the museum had to be closed due to urgent renovation work. In 1997, the museum reopened to the public. It now has 22,000 m² of space, of which 12,000 m² are available for exhibitions. Glasses North of France, 17th cent. The development of the first eyeglasses took place in northern Italy in the second half of the 13th century. The first eyeglasses were probably made of beryllium. The German word "brille" (glasses) is derived from this semiprecious stone. Venice quickly became an important center of manufacture, especially due to using the high-quality glass made at Murano. By 1301, there were guild regulations in Venice governing the sale of eyeglasses and a separate guild of Venetian spectacle makers was formed in 1320.