Click on images below to enlarge:
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| Outside
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| The National Shrine as approached from the east (along its long side).
It looks so clean! And, yes, the tower at left is part of it, despite
it looking more distant.
| The National Shrine as seen from its south (main) entrance. With the
tower in the foreground, the building looks smaller from this direction.
| Ditto, just a vertically oriented shot. The lightly textured clouds
make a nice backdrop.
| The National Shrine is located on the Catholic University of America's
campus. Though most of the campus is basic twentieth-century
architecture (including a couple of ugly 1960s/1970s-era buildings),
there are some stone buildings that look appropriately medieval.
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| Another stone building.
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| Inside
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| This marble statue is not painted. Rather, it's made from multiple
different pieces of marble, each naturally colored, that were cut
separately and then assembled. Only a few people the world are capable
of this.
| This mosaic (of Vietnamese Christians) is fairly detailed; one can see
hairs in people's beards for instance. The pieces were carved with a
high-pressure water jet. Other mosaics in the church were carved with a
hammer and chisel and consequently less detailed.
| A grand, glittery chapel due to the large gold- and red-tinted tiles in
the dome's mosaic.
| Nice stained glass. I also like the chandelier. The shrine has many in
this style.
By the way, because this church is dedicated to Mary, blue is a
recurring theme. (It's traditionally her color.)
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An impressive organ that frames a stained glass window. There's another
organ (smaller) at the other end of the church. Apparently it's wired to
this one so they can be controlled simultaneously.
Artificially brightened.
| Looking up the nave toward the altar. Note the ceiling mosaics. (Yes,
they're mosaics, not murals.)
Artificially brightened.
| One glittery, sunny mosaic.
Artificially brightened.
| I call this the hydra dome.
Artificially brightened.
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Another huge mosaic, this one of farmers at work.
Artificially brightened.
| And another. All the world: Adam & Even with a zoo of animals
(including dinosaurs...) around them. At the bottom left but too
dark to be seen in this photograph are representations of the the
molecules of life (e.g., sucrose, DNA). I wonder if this science makes
up for having dinosaurs in the same mosaic as humans
Artificially
brightened.
| And another: End of the World, a mosaic of people rising to heaven
(right) green-colored people being condemned to hell by "Christ's
laser-beam hand" as one of our tour guides put it. For a sense of
scale: Jesus's head is seven feet tall.
Artificially
brightened.
| This mosaic, of a Lithuanian city, feels
impressionist.
Artificially brightened.
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