Stained glass of Girona Cathedral Photo

Photographer’s Note

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I have presented already the outside of this church in two posts [1, 2] and a couple of WS's. Now I show you a stained glass window.

As far as I could investigate, the oldest stained glass windows of this cathedral were made in the early 14th century, but in the 18th century many of them were destroyed and promptly restored. The newer ones are from the 20th century and what we see now is the result of the restoration carried in the end of the last century, supposedly strictly respecting the original work to the point that some of the light effects weren't restored. I have no idea of the age of what you see here.

Beyond the beauty of the drawings and their colours, the light passing through the windows produce an unique, incredible, atmosphere inside the darkness of this old building that I would have liked to register, but I have doubts if anyone can. That mesmerizing effects are likely enhanced by the quite unique architecture of the church and for being almost devoid of benches, something that makes it look even bigger. I don't know much churches with really impressive stained glass windows; the Sainte Chapelle, in Paris, comes to my mind as the most impressive I have ever seen, but it is very luminous, while the cathedral of Girona is mostly dark, so the impact is completely different.

One of the things that makes this church unique is that, contrarily to other large churches, it has only one nave, which is the widest Gothic nave in the world, with its 23 meters (75.4 ft), and the second widest in the world after St. Peter's in Rome, which is 25 meters (82 ft) wide. Being Gothic, it is also very tall.

Most of the actual building is Gothic and dates from th 14th and 15th centuries, when the existing Romanesque cathedral built in the early 11th century underwent a major renovation. The cloister and the tower are still from the 11th century. The Romanesque church replaced the existing mosque (Muslim Moors occupied the city for most of the 8th century and on several occasions after that until 1015). In turn, that mosque occupied the place of an older church - the first see of Girona was erected here in 247.

WS : Another window.

Link to all my posts of Girona: ***

Location (latitude, longitude): 41.9874,2.8262

ciakgiak, trekks, maloutim, Buin, jhm, xuaxo, cobbydale, adramad, danos, Romatou, thor68, bakes888, ines8, alvaraalto, Emile, Urs, RADEEH, ellelloo, edytungkal trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

ciakgiak (10978) 2009-06-13 17:09

Hello Jose,
what impressive image with this splendid stained glass.
I like a lot the superb details and the colors in this magnificent shot.
Thanks a lot for the interesting notes.
Best regards.
Giorgio

trekks (14324) 2009-06-13 19:59

hi Jose

Very well presented.

The Spanish influence of this kind of gothic glass on church is found in many places and it is interesting to note the history of colonisation in ancient days by Portugal, Spain, Dutch, French, British and many European countries with strong marine fleet.

I think this is a superb presentation in vertical and you have done exceptionally detailed description of the piece in your note. Very impressive kind of work that even historians or scholars may appreciate.

Great work.

tfs, bill

Docarmo (8844) 2009-06-13 21:14

Olá José,
Apresentação impecável destes vitral e nota.
Na versão grande, é um deleite reparar em minuciosos detalhes, agradavelmente visíveis.
Parabéns!
Docarmo

maloutim (3989) 2009-06-13 23:07

Bom dia Jose!
J'aime beaucoup les vitraux et les photos les représentant!
Celui-ci est particulièrement beau: Les couleurs diverses avec la dominante de bleus donne un très bel effet! Tu as aussi réussi le redressement de la perspective, compétence que je ne maîtrise pas malheureusement.
Par contre, j'ai fait mon deuxième voyage à Gloucester et à Oxford, et je dois dire que les vitraux que j' y ai vus sont impressionnants aussi! J'en montrerai un de ces jours!
Eh bien, tu nous as proposé une très belle photo bien adaptée à ce dimanche matin! Parabens!
Agradecimento por a partilha
Cumprimentos!
Marie Louise.

Buin (37988) 2009-06-13 23:26

Hallo José!
I know about the difficulties of photographing this kind of windows. Your photo here really shows the beauty of this kind of art work. I think a photo never can reproduce these colours exactly but here you show us a truly wonderful presentaion. A photo to marvel at...
Greetings from warm and sunny Germany - and have a nice Sunday!
Frank

jhm (82909) 2009-06-14 1:59

Hello José,

I know about the difficulties of photographing this kind of windows
I think this is a superb presentation in vertical and you have done exceptionally detailed description of the piece in your note.
Sharpness and clarity are superb.
Very well composition and good presentation. TFS.

Have a nice sunday,
John

Jeppo (11996) 2009-06-14 3:02

hola José

I visited Girona more than 20 years ago...therefore my memories are not that good.
I like this kind of shot...the sharpness and light management is excellent...considering the difficult light conditions

interesting note as well

ciao
silvio

xuaxo (5771) 2009-06-14 3:09

Olá José,
No novo TE esta foto fica impressionante até na miniatura.
Esperava encontrar na nota a quantidade de colagens que fizeste. Será que foi só uma foto?!
~
the light passing through the windows produce an unique, incredible, atmosphere inside the darkness of this old building that I would have liked to register, but I have doubts if anyone can.
Embora com pouca qualidade, acho que é o que aparece na minha foto
Inside History, Olivenza, em que comentaste "embora estranhe aqueles tons rosados à direita". Neste caso de Olivença acho que o efeito (e sua captura) não é tão forte porque há muita luz no interior da igreja.
Cumprimentos,
Francisco

cobbydale (1924) 2009-06-14 5:33

Hi José,
it's often difficult to get the exposure right with these type of shots but you did it well with this one.
A very educational note too. TFS.
cheers
Leon

sunamoon (5061) 2009-06-14 7:09

Hola José,

Una genial captura de interior,
a pesar de la dificultad que conlleva esta imagen, con poca luz,
has logrado conseguir luz en los colores para poder apreciar las escenas, muy buena definición, muy bueno la versión large, un trabajo optimo!

Un saludo,
Elena

adramad (3734) 2009-06-14 7:35

Hola Jose.
Mis felicitaciones por una captura tan magnifica, las vidrieras siempre me gustaron para intentar una buena foto y no siempre son faciles, aun asi tengo algunas que no estan mal pero aun no me he decidido añadirlas a la galeria. La vidriera es toda una obra de arte, gracias por mostrarnosla.
Un abrazo.
Luis.

jusninasirun (10211) 2009-06-14 8:58

Hi Jose,

This is one super tall frame shot. The details of the stained glass is amazing with fine colors and saturation.

Well done and have a wonderful week ahead.
Jusni

danos (32852) 2009-06-14 11:37

Ola Jose,
nice capture with the stained glass window to looks so great,especially at the LV. Difficult shot with the other in the WS to complete the scene.Informative your note too.Well done.

Have a nice week,Danos

Romatou (1375) 2009-06-14 11:48

Bonjour José ,

Tu n'as pas gaché le travail des maitres verriers , ton image est très bien faite et reproduit fidèlement cette belle oeuvre d'art !

Amicalement ,

bostankorkulugu (33734) 2009-06-14 12:07

good old memories... i checked my catalonia album from 1992 after seeing this shot... i have many shots of this cathedral, but all from outside... i had long hair then, and i used to wear an ear ring... those were the days>:P... nice one jose... all the best... korkut

thor68 (5537) 2009-06-14 14:08

wonderful, beautiful, marvellous - it is hard to find the right words, this is a terrific capture of the
amazing stained glass window! :-) the colors, sharpness, details, pov are perfect.
excellent job & best wishes, thor.

bakes888 (18257) 2009-06-14 15:34

Hi José. Remarkable window! Nice photo. Wonderful colours and excellent details. Good choice for Large view. Thanks for sharing.
Have a good week, Paul.

danyy (69147) 2009-06-14 23:57

Bonjour Jose, tu as réussi ic quelque chose de pas facile mais le resltat ne manque ni de netteté, ni de rendu dans les couleurs. Un cadrage parfait et tout cela donne un esthétisme certain.
Best regards.
Daniel.

ines8 (990) 2009-06-15 1:23

Beautiful image, great colours!
Best regards,
ines

alvaraalto (5265) 2009-06-15 6:02

Dag Jose,

In normal and in large size this is not an appropriate format on a computer monitor for this beautiful stained glass window. On the other hand, this format is excellent as thumbnail.

Groet Rob

lucasgalodoido (16615) 2009-06-15 8:27

Olá José,
impressionante como esses vitrais sempre são bonitos né, fez uma ótima captura na vertical aqui, explorando toda a capacidade do TE. Belo trabalho.
Parabéns e Abraço

Emile (20037) 2009-06-15 12:27

Hola José.
Muy buena foto de este vitral en el cual podemos ver sus excelentes detalles en la versión ampliada, muy buena la captura pudiendo disfrutar de sus colores y perfecto marco. Buen POV y composición.
Un fuerte abrazo mi amigo, cariños a la familia.

leonorkuhn (13785) 2009-06-16 6:26

Olá José,

Excelente trabalho! As imagens do vitral foram registradas em excelentes detalhes e belas cores. Creio não ter sido fácil, devido à verticalidade do vitral.

Abraços
Leonor

oriolm (1142) 2009-06-16 10:30

extraordinaria, como un libro abierto

jmdias (19567) 2009-06-16 17:28

zé

nem sempre as pessoas acertam na feitura d euma foto de vitrais, muitas vezes a luz forte do lado de fora desfigura os desenhos, aqui vc conseguiu uma boa vista do conjunto, os santos bem colocados criaram uma colcha de belo colorido. lindo trabalho

abraços

jorge

Urs (3048) 2009-06-17 16:45

Dear Jose,

I could not resist this impressive picture. It's really great in every aspect, the colors, the DOF, the sharpness and the execution. Such painted windows are almost impossible to see in this part of the world. I really like your shot. Well done.

Best regards
Urs

ellelloo (4875) 2009-06-20 3:11

Hello José,
A skilfully exposed photo of this truly beautiful stained glass window. Your photo presents the colours and details in a wonderful way. The WS photo is excellent as well. Thanks for the very informative note.
Have a nice weekend!
Lasse

edytungkal (4519) 2009-06-21 21:00

Ola Jose,
Missed many pictures from you and i like alot this beautiful stained glass, your compo has give a simple the best to enjoy this. Thanks for the shot Jose and both picture and your notes are really impressive.

daniel