129 Amiens Cathedral : Have you been naughty or nice ?

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 The huge volumes, the stained glass, the magnificent Baroque pulpit and main altar. We accidentally arrived at exactly the right time to have a guided tour of the stalls, several centuries old, with hundreds of scenes from the Bible, or from apocryphal Christian sources, telling stories. Some of the stories were very well known, like Noah’s ark. representations of Christ’s ascension, the Nativity, the crucifixion. But also scenes from the old testament : Moses going to fetch the 10 Commandments, his followers worshiping the golden calf etc.

 As you can see, there was a large variety of leaflets, explaining church positions on various questions. I was interested to read the one on homosexuality. Sadly, it remained very backward, it explained that while the church was opposed to mistreating homosexuals, and felt that homosexuals could play a role in parish life, it considered that homosexual sex was against God‘s plan, and opposed the idea of the church recognizing gay marriages.

The cathedral also carries a number of plaques consequent to wars. Some of these are to celebrate war criminals, others to celebrate the ordinary soldiers who were killed either in 1914-1918, or in the liberation of Normandy in the 1940s. We are not far from the Somme, so there are plaques in honour of British soldiers and Australian  soldiers from the First World War, of whom huge numbers were killed in the region.

The famous, crying angel can be seen behind the main altar. It was extremely well known by British soldiers of the First World War, and was considered a symbol of the tragedies of war.

The façade of the cathedral carries an incredible representation of the day of judgment. In the center you see Jesus judging, and sending off to his left those people who are headed for hell. And to his right those people who are headed for heaven ; below him is the person responsible for weighing your soul to see which group you are going to be into - it’s a bit like the Harry Potter sorting hat, but not so much based on chance

 










































































































 

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