the secret of the cathedrals
Š Jean-Baptiste RABOUAN / hemis.fr
Feature
France :
When these photos appear on the computer screen,you might think of these travel painters displaying their sketches in the peace of the studio. On the field the reporter meets a lot of people and share emotions. He goes through a mixt of informations, impressions, things of the past or even beliefs... this is what Sandrine and Jean-Baptiste Rabouan try to express with the pixart images. The work is clearly different from usual photography, it has to be considered as a separate art in itself. “The secret of the cathedrals” is a topic which required an important historical documentation as well as a kind of feeling of the past in order to understand the cathedral builders’ state of mind. They have selected 25 photos showing significant elements on the documentary point of view then worked them as if it were paintings to finally recreate this impalpable atmosphere of the Middle Ages.
HEMIS_159681 : France, Cher, Saint Etienne of Bourges cathedral, detail of the western front showing Eve and the snake
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France, Somme, Amiens, Notre-Dame d'Amiens Cathedral, listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, painted as it must have been seen by the 13th century worshippers
France, Paris, banks of the Seine river listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, Notre Dame of Paris, built on the eastern side of Ile Saint Louis
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France, Marne, Reims, Notre Dame de Reims cathedral listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, the angel of the kings'coronation cathedral
France, Cher, Bourges, cathedral of Saint Etienne de Bourges, detail of the Apocalypse stained glass (13th century)
HEMIS_159685 : France, Cher, Bourges, the astrological lunar clock in Saint Etienne of Bourges cathedral was built in the 15th century
HEMIS_159682 France, Cher, Saint Etienne of Bourges cathedral, the Holy Sepulchre group of statues (16th century)
HEMIS_159683 France, Cher, Bourges cathedral, the Doomsday Gate (13th)
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France, Marne, Reims, Notre Dame de Reims cathedral listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, the French kings’ coronation cathedral since Clovis in the 5th century
France, Somme, Amiens, Notre-Dame d'Amiens Cathedral, listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, upside down pentagram in the northern transept
HEMIS_159691 : France, Somme, Amiens, Notre-Dame d'Amiens Cathedral, listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, maze of the nave restaured in the 19th century according to the original patern
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France, Somme, Amiens, Notre-Dame d'Amiens Cathedral, listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, outer flying buttresses
France, Somme, Amiens, Notre-Dame d'Amiens Cathedral, listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, strange character hiding with a phallus in the stairs going to the organ
HEMIS_159692 France, Somme, Amiens, Notre-Dame d'Amiens Cathedral, listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, Saint John the Baptiste’s skull
HEMIS_159693 France, Eure et Loir, Chartres, a man beneath the saint's feet is hearing something,
HEMIS_159696 : France, Cher, Bourges, buttock statue in Saint Etienne of Bourges cathedrall
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France, Eure et Loir, Chartres, Notre Dame de Chartres Cathedral listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, cathedral choir
France, Eure et Loir, Chartres, Notre Dame de Chartres Cathedral listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, detail of a stained glass : the Christ is appearing in the baker pastry
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France, Eure et Loir, Chartres, Notre Dame de Chartres Cathedral listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, statue of the Ark with the inscription : it is here
France, Eure et Loir, Chartres, Notre Dame de Chartres Cathedral listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, a man is listening a fantasy animal
HEMIS_159703 : France, Sarthe, Le Mans, menhir against the main wall of Le Mans cathedral
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France, Eure et Loir, Chartres, Notre Dame de Chartres Cathedral listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, stained glass detail with a child boiling in a cauldron : a typical symbol of alchemy
France, Eure et Loir, Chartres, Notre Dame de Chartres Cathedral listed as World Heritage by UNESCO, Blessed Virgin performing miracles
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France, Eure et Loir, Chartres, 13th century maze of Notre Dame de Chartres Cathedral listed as World Heritage by UNESCO
France, Eure et Loir, Chartres, 13th century maze of Notre Dame de Chartres Cathedral listed as World Heritage by UNESCO