Friday 31 July 2009

Three Windows - # 09/112


What's this and why?
On Ham Common there is a small church dedicated to the name of St. Thomas Aquinas. I like the way it looks. And as I looked at it this evening I was attracted to the three windows and the way they look, and tried to do them justice.
Now, the next thing. This is the church where the painter Vincent van Gogh (which name Americans like to pronounce as "van Go" - Why on earth do they insist on pronouncing it like that?) preached his last sermon after which the Roman Catholic Church kindly suggested that perhaps the priesthood was not the right place for him. He might be happier doing something else.
I only recently found this out and was rather tickled to think of the remarkable painter van Gogh preaching in a little church in England, right where I live, before he was sacked and became famous.
(Some of you may have noticed that my normal daily "sermons" have been disrupted. Have patience. They will, I sincerely hope, ease themselves back.)

10 comments:

  1. Ces trois fenêtres me font penser à des notes de musique entre deux lignes de partition ; aussi je me demandais pourquoi tu pratiquais le silence, la pause, le soupir, le point d'orgue depuis un petit moment. Mon idée est que tu es très occupé comme nous le sommes tous, en été.
    Et bien quelle belle idée d'avoir perdu Van Gogh pour Richmont, il a été gagné pour Auvers sur Oise même s'il y est mort !
    (Comme tous les génies il était un peu "dérangé", non ?)

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  2. Very interesting, and a complete surprise to me. btw I like the sunlight backlighting the wall and grass. A slight quibble though, I don't think becoming famous followed quite so rapidly after getting the sack.... how many paintings did he sell?

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  3. @Richard......I did not say that. You have inferred too much. Much LOL as they say ;-)

    I'm glad you noticed the other elements that I particularly liked at the moment I saw the shot.

    It is inded a pretty scene.

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  4. What a beautiful shot of these windows. I so like their shape and the decoration that follows the line and then continues around the building. Am also drawn to that gorgeous wall in the foreground, with its beautiful rounded top.

    As to the history, I had absolutely no idea that Van Gogh preached in this church. Thankyou for that information.

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  5. Chucker - I know, but I can't resist that sort of thing.....

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  6. @Richard (again)..........I suppose I should have given the photo a vivid green or yellow tint. How silly of me not to have thought of that.

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  7. Oh, van Gosh! I didn't know that about van Gogh. He was kicked out of the priesthood. So fun! How do you pronounce it? Seriously. I didn't know that there was any other way.

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  8. @Nikki........well it's a sort of choking sound like Ghoghhhh where you get the wagler at the back of yr throat wagling really well. It's a sound that really only a Dutchman can make, but the English do it quite well. Americans just chicken out.....shame!!! I like the van Gosh, though. That's really clever. You are saved.

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  9. Okay! I have just practiced saying it out loud and I am making myself laugh. It does sound like someone choking! I'm afraid that people will attempt to do the Heimlich maneuver on me if I say it like that over here, so I think that I will remain a chicken and say, "van Go". - Glad that you liked "van Gosh"!

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  10. A thief in Paris planned to steal some Paintings from the Louvre. After careful planning, he got past security, stole the paintings, and made it safely to his van. However, he was captured only two blocks away when his van ran out of gas.

    When asked how he could mastermind such a crime and then make such an obvious error, he replied, 'Monsieur, that is the reason I stole the paintings.'

    I had no Monet
    To buy Degas
    To make the Van Gogh.'

    See if you have De Gaulle to send this on to someone else...

    I podsted it to you because I figured I had nothing Toulouse

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