Date(s): 2007. Photos by Aymar. 73 - 96 of 131 Total. 5597 Visits.
73 Maulbronn, altar mensa Entombment, Pieta scene of rather universal symbolism. (Also a war time photography staple. They have their Winniza guide books.)
74 Maulbronn, altar mensa
75 Maulbronn, alter mensa
76 Maulbronn, mensa altar Detail of the eye witness group: Interaction between temporal and spiritual power. Do I detect some last minute pleading. Second thoughts after the fact. Could be just as well an exhortation to show steadfastness. Justice must be served. Appropriate Cromwell quote: 'Cruel necessity.'
77 Maulbronn, mensa altar In the rear, a pug nosed little guy with imploringly raised Hammurabi hand. The wood grain is showing. The original will have been gilded (against all farsighted chapter regulations).
78 Maulbronn, choir stall The choir stall dates from 1470. Comes with 92 Patres 'alcoves'. This is a seat in folded up position. The visible ledge is merely the 'mercy seat' or 'misericord'. Monkish pun. (The little prop that was permitted to sustain you through prolonged periods of upright standing. Comment of an unknown general: How about a 'mercy hand' for troop reviews.) The true mercy seat, the lap of Abraham, or, more Temple orientated, the tabernacle feature by that name, is a salvation related concept.
The breviary reading figure with the brimmed hat could be a cardinal (brim however somewhat too small). I do not know any other matching order habit.
79 Maulbronn, choir stall The tree of Jesse. A better known example of genealogical surrealism and dream sights. Next of kin, a picnic of zodiacal figures. If you have a literal mind everything is possible. (A state of long distance driving induced drowsiness is always helpful.)
80 Maulbronn, choir stall Tree of Jesse. (The Daphne metamorphosis of Cellini is admittedly somewhat more refined.)
81 Maulbronn scroll work, nearly Corinthian
82 Maulbronn, choir stall Two backward walking 'shield bearers' (should be Shem & Japheth). Some sources postulate a preceding castration scene. (You have to fill in some expunged lines but it would still make the most sense.) The moral anecdote, punishment of the jokester and tale bearer, is maybe just as valid. (Ham acting before the fall.) Dovetailing just not quite so good. For the record: No laughing is reported in the original. Ham is the spitting image of either half of a Max & Moritz team (a 19th cent Bart & Homer - Beavis and Butthead? duo) after they had sawn the wooden bridge in two (or nearly so), the unsuspecting pastor (no longer sure about the particular figure of authority) just entering the scene. Greek (creek) humor. - Some blank narrator scrolls.
83 Maulbronn, choir stall Noah holding a bunch of grapes
84 Maulbronn, choir stall the snickering Ham
85 Maulbronn, choir stall The tabernacle is usually priest carried. A royal fact finding mission therefore the more likely interpretation.
86 Maulbronn A poncho wearing Isaac. Cannot explain the uneven wood coloring. (Context school: Why do Gods demand animal sacrifices. - What would you order if somebody gave you a black eye. Two raw steaks coming up.)
87 Maulbronn King Kong with lizard tail and chicken drumsticks. Hardly Hagenbeck correct.
Off hand description of the choir stall: Just spirit an oversized Arc into the center of an aircraft hanger. Overall effect: Plenty of shady aisles and cavernous side chapels but no large vistas. - And why call it a choir stall in the first place when it stands smack in the center of the nave.
[Still a miracle that something as bonfire prone as a choir stall did survive at all.]
88 Maulbronn, nave The elaborate and richly decorated cross ribbing (without full conviction, 'net ribbing') dates from around 1425 (that year is given as date for the paintings). The nave will have had only a wooden truss roof before (usually planked in upper deck fashion). The choir alone was cross ribbed (no 'netting') from the very start. I do not know any technical term for the resulting crawlspace between truss roof and ribbed vault. Quasimodo space? Stowaway space?
89 Maulbronn, nave It might be called 'Y-ribbing'. A transverse rib connects with two diagonal ribs. Or even 'diamond' ribbing.
90 Maulbronn, nave Man of sorrows. A particular kind of sky writing. Crossed contrails will sometimes also do.
91 Maulbronn, magic barrier The gate between the 'Lower' and 'Upper House' at the 6th arch of the nave. I do not think you can call it a choir chancel if it divides the church itself into different altar areas. Tracery with fraction lines. The rusty iron bar serves as temporary fix. - Cistercian and Cluny churches share the same overall blueprint, roughly equally divided into a Patres and a Lay Brethren section.
92 Maulbronn, lay brethren altar Massive stone cross by Conrad von Sinsheim, 1473. Some theft proof Heelstone magic is reported (thorn crown). - The moderate hight of the interposed choir stall in the middle nave does not obstruct the long distance view to the ceiling of the choir.
93 Maulbronn, baptismal font Covered baptismal font, next to the lay brethren altar. Possibly a later addition. (Or did some abbeys have baptismal fonts just in case.)
94 Maulbronn The famous well room extends well into the inner cloister. The 'flight deck control center' with the ring of bay windows on top is 17th century.
95 Maulbronn Well room and magnolia tree. No idea if the particular arrangement did inspire Hermann Hesse in his description of far off banyan trees. The wayward Siddhartha author is in any case one of the better known Maulbronn alumni. Lutheran side if that needs pointing out. Kepler and Mörike should also be mentioned.
