Dívka s amforou

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“Dívka s amforou” (Girl with an amphora) by Jaroslav Horejc, 1956
Nosticova zahrada (Nostic Garden)
Maltézské náměstí, Malá Strana
Prague, September 2024

“The ‘Girl with an amphora’ is a white marble sculpture in the exterior of the Nostic Garden, near the Čertovka canal in Lesser Town of Prague. It is a nude of a half-naked slender girl sitting on a stone and holding an amphora on her right shoulder. The author of the work in the Art Deco style is the Czech Prague academic sculptor Jaroslav Horejc (1886–1983). The sculpture is placed on a low sandstone block plinth. The work is in the care of the Gallery of the City of Prague. The first version of the work was created in 1938 and was made of plaster. Later, the author also created a bronze work and finally, in 1956, a marble version of the work was created. In 1980 or 1983, the work was placed in the Nostic Garden. In 2002, the work was restored.” (Dívka s amforou, Wikipedia)

San Bartolomeo a Ripoli

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Abbey of San Bartolomeo a Ripoli
Via di Ripoli
Florence, December 2024

"The Abbey of San Bartolomeo a Ripoli is located in the locality of Badia a Ripoli, in the municipality of Florence. ‘Badia’ is a popular contraction of the word abbey. In Florence and its surroundings there have existed five abbeys, located as if at the cardinal points of the city: to the north the Badia Fiesolana, to the west the Badia a Settimo, to the south the Abbey of San Miniato, to the east the Badia a Ripoli and in the centre the Badia fiorentina." (Abbey of San Bartolomeo a Ripoli, Wikipedia)

Edith Stein Memorial

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Edith Stein Memorial by sculptor Bert Gerresheim, 1999
Börsenplatz
Cologne, September 2024

“The memorial was created in 1999 by sculptor Bert Gerresheim and shows the different phases of Edith Stein's life: as a Jewish girl with the Star of David, as a philosopher searching for the truth and as a baptised Carmelite following Christ. Edith Stein's personal ordeal is depicted by the numerous shoe prints, shoes and concentration camp numbers, which also represent the countless people murdered in the concentration camps. Edith Stein was born on 12 October 1891 to Jewish parents in Breslau. Among other things, she studied philosophy, converted to Catholicism and worked as a teacher until she was banned from her profession. In 1933, she joined the Carmelite Order in Cologne and took the name Theresia Benedicta a Cruce. Due to her origins and her commitment against the persecution of Jewish citizens, she had to flee from the National Socialists to the Netherlands. Edith Stein and her sister Rosa Stein were arrested by the Gestapo and deported to Auschwitz, where they were murdered in the gas chamber on 9 August 1942. Edith Stein's willingness to make sacrifices for the Jewish people and the Catholic faith prompted Pope John Paul II to beatify her in Cologne on 1 May 1987. The canonisation then took place on 11 October 1998 in Rome.” (Edith Stein Memorial, Cologne Tourist Board)

Torre del Gardello

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Torre del Gardello
Piazza delle Erbe
Verona, May 2025

“The Gardello Tower is a medieval structure located in Verona, near the central Piazza delle Erbe. At the point where the Gardello tower stands, there was previously a tower house, most likely belonging to the Gardello family, from which it would have inherited its name. This tower was restored and raised in 1370 by Cansignorio della Scala, perhaps to a design by Giovanni da Ferrara or his son; the Scaliger prince had it erected, together with the bell clock that was installed there, to promote the prestige of the family and the city. With this intervention the building assumed its substantially definitive appearance, even if it underwent further work in 1626, when the structure was slightly raised by the construction of a truncated cone roof, which gave it its final height of 44 metres.” (Torre del Gardello, Wikipedia)

Heine-Denkmal

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Heine-Denkmal (Heine Monument) by Georg Kolbe, 1913
Friedberger Anlage
Frankfurt, September 2024

“The Heinrich Heine Memorial in the Wallanlagen park of Frankfurt am Main, built in 1913, is the first and only representative monument to the poet Heinrich Heine, who died in 1856 , in Germany. It was erected with the help of public funds and survived both the terror of the Nazi era and the Second World War largely unscathed. The bronze sculpture of a striding young man and a young woman seated at his feet, created by the sculptor Georg Kolbe, is an allegory of the youthfulness and lightness of Heine's poetry. The group of figures, a typical work of Art Nouveau, stands on a shell limestone base, to which a bronze relief, also designed by Kolbe, depicts the poet's profile and name.” (Heinrich-Heine-Denkmal, Wikipedia)

Torre Bissara

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Torre Bissara
Piazza dei Signori
Vicenza, May 2025

“Torre Bissara is a tower in Piazza dei Signori, Vicenza, Italy. Bissara Tower is a civic tower that overlooks Piazza dei Signori, alongside the famous Basilica Palladiana. At 82 meters high, it is one of the tallest buildings in Vicenza. The earliest records date back to 1174 when the tower was built at the behest of the family Bissari, next to their palazzo. Between 1211 and 1229 the municipality of Vicenza bought both the building (with the intention of turning it into the mayor's office) and the tower. The tower was not damaged in the terrible earthquake of January 25, 1347. In the mid- fifteenth century the tower was raised to the present height. The relics of saints and five bells were placed inside. Over the centuries, many interventions were done to maintain the stability and beauty of the tower. The history of the city is described in its stones: on top there is a headless statue of the goddess Athena from the Roman era; almost at the top there is the marble bas-relief of the Lion of Saint Mark, symbol of the Serenissima; at the base is a triumphal arch with the war memoria. On 18 March 1945, the tower (along with the Palladian Basilica) was hit in an Anglo-American bombing raid. The top of the tower caught fire and the dome collapsed to the ground: the tower was severed. The bells also had fallen off, destroying the pavement of the square. Together with the Basilica, in the years after the tower was rebuilt, not without controversy concerning the form, in part different from the original. Not all of the bells were also relocated, nor the ball indicating the moon's phases (which was placed under the clock).” (Torre Bissara, Wikipedia)

Löwenbrunnen

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Löwenbrunnen (Lions Fountain)
Naschmarkt
Leipzig, September 2024

“The Löwenbrunnen (Lions Fountain) located on the Naschmarkt opposite the main entrance of the Mädler Passage dates back to 1918. Several previous fountains had existed on the same site since 1690. The first fountain is known to have been surrounded by three steps and decorated with mythical maritime creatures and sandstone reliefs. Atop the painted copper cap was a pyramid crowned by a golden sun. Around 1820, the two iron lions and the pump handles, which still exist today, were cast in Lauchhammer according to designs by the Berlin sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow. Their arrangement was adopted in 1918, when the Löwenbrunnen received its present appearance according to plans by Leipzig's chief building inspector Hugo Licht. This is commemorated in gold-colored capital letters on the back of the fountain: ‘In the last year of the war, 1918, this fountain was rebuilt by the council in its original form with its wooden casing by the architect Dr. Ing. Hugo Licht. The funds for this were donated by Commercial Councillor Hugo Haschke’.” (Fountain in Leipzig, Wikipedia)