St. Stephen's - V

There are usually places in a church, nearly any church, where the simplicity of presentation overcome the overall exaggerated presentation to generate a truly tender moment. This madonna on a column next to a column is one of the better examples of this. The legend is that a servant girl accused of theft sought refuge with the statue of Mary (not sure what this might actually mean) and we subsequently found innocent. Hence, it is known as the Madonna of the Domestics.

Compare the simple clean lines of the madonna with the intricacies of the Catherine chapel, below. Everywhere are details placed often where it is difficult to see what is being represented. The main attraction here is the baptismal font. It is made of Salzburg marble and was carved in 1481. Among the many people represented in the carvings found here are the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the twelve apostles; and St. Stephen. While such displays of devotion and skill are impressive, I find that it is really overtaken by the simple lines and unadorned execution of the Madonna of the Domestics.

The cathedral was greatly damaged in WWII and some of the statues and ornamentation has been at least partially restored and displayed. Below are parts of the statue that celebrated the Ottoman defeat when the Turks were driven from the city in 1683.

All the pillars are decorated with depictions of saints along with finely detailed ornamentation.

This place is indeed a masterpiece of gothic architecture.

Here, even the smaller altars are ones that would overwhelm most other churches. Today I'll leave you with something to consider. You'll notice in the image below that there are numerous holes in the ceiling through which the wiring and support passes for the modern lighting. Consider what must exist above the visible ceiling and below the outside roof to permit the lighting, heating and cooling of this place. It is after all a kind of museum where light, temperature, and humidity control are important to the preservation of the many historically and religiously important items. My guess is that this kind of access was only really possible because of the rebuilding necessitated by the destruction during the war.

 We also toured the crypt and saw all manner of what were in effect mass graves under the church. While we were not allowed to photograph there (for good reasons...narrow passageways, big crowd of people, low lighting), there was little to compel me to try to pull out the camera. I'll just note that is one of the most extensive crypts we've visited.