Saturday, November 4, 2017

Oddities

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Capela dos Ossos (English: Chapel of Bones) is a small interior chapel in Évora, Portugal, interior walls decorated with human skulls and bones. It was built in the 16th century by a Franciscan monk who wanted to remind his fellow brothers that life is transitory. This is shown in the famous warning at the entrance Nós ossos que aqui estamos pelos vossos esperamos - “We bones that here are, for yours await". The number of skeletons of monks has been calculated to be about 5000, coming from the cemeteries that were situated inside several dozen churches. Two desiccated corpses, one of which is a child, dangle from ropes. And at the roof of chapel, the phrase "Melior est die mortis die nativitatis (Better is the day of death than the day of birth)" (Ecclesiastes, 7, 1). 



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The Bound Woman statue on the grave of Archibald John Sheldon Yates, Key West Cemetery 

In the Old Town section of the Key West Cemetery in Florida is the grave of Archibald John Sheldon Yates, atop of which sits a statue known as The Bound Woman. The figure is said to represent Yates’ wife Magdalena and strangely is nude with her hands tied behind her back. The grave dates from 1966. 

In the book The Florida Keys: A History & Guide, Joy Williams writes: 
She’s no angel certainly and her posture seems to suggest something other than grief, but Archibald John Sheldon Yates really, really wanted her on his grave and there she is. 

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While on the topic of naked ladies on graves, here is another. 


Located in the Mount Macedon Cemetery of Victoria, Australia is the grave of Laurence "Laurie" Matheson, who died in 1987 aged 57. Atop the grave, carved from marble, is a naked female sculpture entitled "Asleep". Matheson's widow, Christina Matheson, commissioned Peter Schipperheyn to design this life-size memorial in a loving tribute to an eternal and undying love. Matheson was an early sponsor of Schipperheyn's artwork. 


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The grave of Mexican painter Julio Ruelas (1870 – 1907) In Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris is also adorned with a naked female figure. Ruelas was born in Zacatecas and died in Paris. The sculpture in his grave is a work of Arnulfo Domínguez Bello and was erected 3 years after his death. 
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In arctic areas, these floral ice formations, known as frost flowers, occur when the temperature between the ocean and the atmosphere differs. 




A frost flower is also formed when thin layers of ice are extruded from long-stemmed plants in autumn or early winter. The thin layers of ice are often formed into exquisite patterns that curl into "petals" that resemble flowers.
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Lenticular clouds are stationary lens-shaped clouds that form in the troposphere, normally in perpendicular alignment to the wind direction. Because of their shape, they have been offered as an explanation for some UFO sightings.

Lenticular Cloud over Harold's Cross Dublin Ireland taken on 30th June 2015








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