August 9th

Main Altar-Stephansdom

Master Pilgrim's pulpit

Madonna and Child

Today was my third trip to Stephansdom, but this trip was much more informative as Dr. O gave a great tour of the entire cathedral. The piece of sculpture that I really found beautiful was the Madonna and child, and was completed in 1330. It is more commonly referred to as the “servants Madonna”. It originally belonged to a wealthy woman who was very cruel to her servants. One day the rich woman lost her necklace and she blamed her servants for the lost necklace. One of the servants prayed to the Madonna, and in time the necklace was found. It was really interesting to see how the s curve was incorporated into the sculpture. It is unique in that the statue is standing in such a way that the curve is the most dominant feature at first and then it allows your eyes to flow upwards and enjoy the striking detail of the Madonna with Christ as a child, which according to Dr. O, is a continuous portrayal of Christ. She said as more modern art movements began to progress, Christ started to look more child like even when he was being depicted as a full grown adult.  I also thought it was interesting that the church was actually damaged in a fire during the closing days of World War II. I had read something online yesterday about a captain in the German army who refused orders from his commanding officer to totally destroy Stephansdom. I was totally surprised to see how the church was able to survive the great fire caused as a result of the war. I could see why the Viennese took buckets of water from their houses to try and douse the flames from spreading. It is one of the most beautiful cathedrals that I have been in since I have been in Europe. The three styles of architecture being gothic, new gothic, and Romanesque all blend together to create this majestic structure. I really admired the symbolic nature of the pulpit that was constructed by Master Pilgrim. The wheels with three spokes went upwards to symbolize the holy trinity being the holy spirit, the church, and Christ. The wheels with four spokes going down along the handrails of the pulpit symbolized the four seasons on earth. The pulpit was just so masterfully crafted and it is quite incredible how that beautiful piece was able to survive the fire that could have destroyed Stephansdom altogether.