Europe natur
674 creative works found
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European robin.
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Seascape at sunset nearby the village of Mosteiros. Sao Miguel island, Azores islands, Portugal.
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Morning light on l’Argentière beach at La Londe les Maures in Provence. Can be seen here at a very better size. .
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Properties inscribed on the World Heritage List – Italy The City of Orvieto (2006) / —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-— / Featured in A View Somewhere Group January – 02 – 2010 / —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-——- Featured in Image Writing Group December – 29 – 2009 —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—- / Featured in Unique Buildings Of The World April – 23 – 2009 —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—- Nikon D300 camera – Sigma 15/30 Lens Orvieto’s Duomo is one of the top three cathedrals in Central Italy; the other two belonged to those bitter rivals who long tried to dominate each other and, in fact, the whole Mediterranean: Siena and Florence. But Orvieto? Not only did it lack the power of its rival Tuscan cities, it also needed to import many of the artisans who worked on its iconic cathedral. Typically Orvieto’s Duomo was often built with Sienese hands.The answer to why Orvieto though, is as simple as the cathedral is complex. The answer is the pope.A few decades before work started on the Duomo, Pope Urban IV had made Orvieto his residence.When Pope Nicholas IV blessed the new foundation in 1290 as both religious and secular ruler of the town as he was Orvieto’s podestà - the rough equivalent of its head of state (or city). Some of the cathedral’s funding came from the papacy as well. Nicholas IV’s immediate successors also served as podesta - and funded Duomo construction as well. Both pope and town wanted a cathedral suitable for a pope. They got a stately cathedral, but not the seat of the papacy as that institution was about to start its most traumatic period, moving to Southern France before the Duomo had exterior walls. By the early 15th century, the cathedral had its walls and perhaps the most magnificent Gothic facade in the world. But three men each claimed to be Pope—and none of them were interested in Orvieto. As a work in progress over parts of five centuries, Orvieto’s Duomo survived a succession of master architects, some who knew a lot more about art than construction. Arnolfo di Cambio started in 1290 with a Romanesque layout. (He also served as the chief architect of Florence’s cathedral which started about the same time).Lorenzo Maitani took over around 1310 for better (the façade) and worse (adding useless buttresses that later were expanded into brilliantly frescoed transept chapels). Maitani’s sons took over at his death and they were followed by members of the Pisano family and then by Andrea Orcagna who designed the magnificent rose window. Several others followed and the façade was not completed until early in the 17th century.Over 300 years in the making including parts of 5 centuries.But Orvieto’s Duomo does more than display fine craftsmanship from the late middle ages through the Renaissance; it boasts an even finer paper trail through much of its long construction: Of great interest to scholars are the substantial archives of the cathedral, a tribute to the record keeping of the elected cathedral board of works that built and ran the place. These provide the foundation for research into the methods and organization of the medieval craftsmen who came together to build this specific cathedral as well as suggesting how other medieval buildings may have been constructed. While sketchy during the first 3 decades, after 1321 the record is rich in detail regarding the contacts binding the artists, artisans and the materials purchased. Masterpiece in Mosaic and Marble: Orvieto’s Duomo is the earliest Italian architectural masterpiece for which a master plan is available. In fact, two such plans remain and components from each were implemented. The first showed the influence of the French Gothic, especially that of Paris’s Notre Dame built about a century earlier (although it was still incomplete when Orvieto started its build). The second plan was thought to be by the Duomo’s second capomaestro (chief architect), Lorenzo Maitani, and reflects much of the work done during his two decade tenure.Maitani’s plan also suggests the golden ratio or “root of two” ratio stretching all the way back to Pythagoras and the Greeks. (And stretching forward into the works of Frank Lloyd Wright and other modern architects.)Despite any classic ratios, Orvieto’s façade is quite Gothic. And Tuscan. Orvieto was too small of a town to have an abundance of craftsmen; it imported its designers and craftsmen from Florence and Siena. Furthermore, Orvieto wanted to catch up with those Tuscan neighbors as their cathedrals underwent façade construction first in Siena and then in Florence.As was the case through most of history, technology didn’t transfer unless the technologists moved first. These Tuscan (primarily Siennan) artisans relocated to Orvieto—and sometimes went back and forth to Sienna and Florence as well. In fact, Siena’s cathedral nave continued to rise; so many of these craftsmen must have returned to that city to add a second story to its facade, one bearing a strong resemblance to Orvieto’s mosaic front. So many carvings, so little time. / No expense was spared here. Mosaics cost about 4 times what murals do.The façade gables highlight many crucial scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary in stunning symmetry with her assumption into heaven and coronation between the slender spires that frame the cathedral’s center. A first impression of the Duomo is a bit overwhelming, primarily due to the glittering mosaics on the façade: A golden Gothic face on a Romanesque body. As in most of Europe’s great cathedrals, visitors see mostly reproductions on the exterior with the sculpture and other art long moved indoors to preserve it. But unlike many of these cathedrals, the restorations here are typically not mere copies of what came before, although they appear to depict the same Christian legends. Instead, restorers viewed themselves as artists in their own right and created new images. However, it appears that with the exception of the topmost gable, the overall subject matter reflects the original framework of Marian lore created by Siena architect Lorenzo Maitani around 1310. It took most of the last half of the 14th century to complete these mosaics, starting around 1350 and mostly ending around 1390, and even then the capstone Coronation at the very top gable had yet to finish. The first Restoration started about 100 years later in 1484. Today only part of one mosaic contains original stone.Mostly what we see are “imaginative” reconstructions (actually more like reinterpretations) from the 17th through 19th centuries. Catherine Harding of the University of Victoria has researched the cathedral’s archives in order to reconstruct the social organization and methods needed to sustain the significant mosaic project necessary to create this key component of this magnificent façade. A well documented and preserved paper trail from 1321 through 1390 allows her to describe a well organized and hierarchical workshop which allowed apprentices to spend their whole working lives creating this façade. They would rise literally on a career ladder (scaffold) from laborer in the on-site factory to apprentice to glass cutter to master glass artisan. Some such as Fra Giovanni Leonardelli would begin their careers at Orvieto as glassmakers and later work on murals in the inner chapels.And no one got kicked upstairs: Andrea Orcagna created one of the façade mosaics and designed its rose window—after he became the master builder of the entire cathedral in 1359. / In many ways, the Orvieto mosaics show the technical transition from Byzantine to the Renaissance practice. Much as in the old way, the Orvieto artisans cut the glass and embedded it in the mortar with their own hands. The vision and the hand were one. But as time passed, they began to rely more on external drawings and/or drawings on the mortar, allowing lesser skilled craftsmen to cut and embed the tesserae. This is similar to how the Renaissance masters Titian or Tintoretto created cartoons for others to implement on Saint Mark’s in Venice.
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Angers, France /
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Five Lands National Park – Liguria – Italy Ministry of Heritage and Cultural Activities, Superintendence for the Architectural, the Landscape, the Historical Heritage. Artistic and Ethno-Anthropological of Italy Properties inscribed on the World Heritage List – Italy – Five Lands (1997) World Monuments Fund Watch – Five Lands 2002 —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-- / Featured in Your Magic Place Group May – 15 – 2009 / -—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-- Featured in A Place To Call Home May – 16 – 2009 —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—- Nikon D100 Sigma 28/70 / —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—- Volastra – Five Lands National Park Volastra village is located up in the hills (330 metres on the sea level), straightly less than 1 km from Manarola to which it gave birth. It dominates the five maritime “cribs” that give their name to the Cinqueterre territory (Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, Monterosso). It has notably contributed, thanks to its people’s work, in building up a unique landscape in the world, at the heart of the fabolous Cinqueterre scenary. It is a village with strong roots in peasantry, in vineyards, in wine production, but it is also a village that is quickly changing into a tourist place. Through the creation of reception/hospitality structures, of travelling services, it gives the tourists the opportunity of enjoying many various walks, either up in the hills or down along the seaside and eventually diving into the sea. Characters of the buildings in the village: the original circular structure makes to think of a possible Etrurian origin; the most ancient side cannot be seen from the sea.
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Collage digital, photo manipulation
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Nature’s Wonders, landscapes captured from above. Forests and rivers, mountains and valleys, islands and seascapes taken from commercially operated aeroplanes over Europe, Asia and America. Credit goes to my fellow artists without whom this calendar would not be possible: Mother Nature, numerous Town & Country planners and countless farmers who created eye-catching and often very abstract scenery, when viewed from above! My thanks also goes to all the pilots and crews of the airlines I’ve travelled with, bringing me safely to my destinations. 1 Sold!!! Thank you to the buyer! Part of my series World from Above. Also Available – The World from Above – Landscapes, a series of landscapes from above both natural and man-made.
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Fuji S6500fd / Gardens / Park of King Ludwig II Palace / (no zoological) / Isle Herreninsel – Lake Chiemsee / Germany
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Properties inscribed on the World Heritage List – Italy Portovenere, Five Lands, and the Islands (Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto) (1997) / —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—- Featured in Historic Places Group Agoust – 26 – 2009 —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-- / Featured in Unlimited Quality Group July – 21 – 2009 / -—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-- Featured in Sea Group July – 19 – 2009 —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—— Nikon D300 Sigma 28/70 Portovenere The ancient Portus Veneris is believed to date back to at least the middle of the first century BCE. It has been said that the name refers to a temple to the goddess Venus which was sited on the promontory where the church of Peter the Apostle now stands. The name has also been linked to that of the hermit Saint Venerius. In Roman times the city was essentially a fishing community After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Portovenere became the base of the Byzantine fleet in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea, but was destroyed by the Lombards in 643 CE. Later, it was a frequent target of Saracen raids. First indications of the existence of a castle date from 1113, and in 1161 the walls were erected. Portovenere became a fiefdom of a family from Vezzano before passing to Genoa in the early twelfth century. In 1494, it suffered a devastating bombardment from the Aragonese fleet during their war with Genoa: subsequently the old part of the town declined in importance, giving way to the development of the Borgo Nuovo (“New District”), which had existed from 1139 and is centred on the church of St. Peter.
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A field near Fontevraud, France Nikon D300 Nikkor 18-200 / f/22.0 1/60 300mm ISO 200
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Nikon D300 Nikon 12/24 / —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-- HDR processed in Photomatix Pro 3.1.3 from a single RAW image, then processed using CS4 – no tripod used / —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-- Yacht Maxime Was the 2003, when the motorboat, moored near the former yards “Clemma”(located in Cadimare a little marine village closed to the town of La Spezia,)to undergo some interventions of maintenance of hull, ran a result of events weather unfavourable.This is what remains today June – 26 – 2009
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Featured in The Compact Group December – 04 – 2009 —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-——- / Featured in Weekly Theme Challenges Group October – 01 – 2009 —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-——- Challenge Winner in Weekly Theme Challenges Group – Creepy Crawlies Challenge September – 29 – 2009 / —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—— Challenge Winner in All That is Nature Group – Insects, Bugs, Arachnids and Creepy-Crawlies Challenge September – 06 – 2009 / —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-- —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—- Harvesting Pollen – Taken during a hike in the Pollino National Park – Calabria – Italy The Pollino National Park is the biggest natural park in Italy, spreading over more than 200.000 hectars in areas of absolute wilderness and cultural landscapes in southern Italy. Founded in 1991 mainly to preserve the last individuals worldwide of Loricato Pine (Bosnian Pine- Pinus leucodermis) the park is still its last refuge against the human destruction, where the so-called civilization didn’t protect the Earth most endangered and precious natural environments. Nikon Coolpix 990
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Shot in the countryside near Viterbo, Italy
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From the Villa Paulick, a morning view of Lake Atter (Attersee) in the village of Seewalchen am Attersee in the Alps of Austria. / The painter Gustav Klimt spent his summer holidays here. Very little has changed in the villa since Klimt’s time.
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Images of a small but beautiful country / / frontpage / January Winter Sunrise / February Sunset Reflections / March A Stately Home on River the Vecht / April The Waterways of Giethoorn / May A Field of Tulips / June Rural View / July Giethoorn / August Dutch Windmill / September Drowned Landscape / October Silhouettes / November Reflections / December Frosty Look
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Nikon D300 Nikon 12/24 Tuscany This is a region rich of many kinds of realities, connected one to the other which offers brands new visual experiences, in every season of the year. / However, Tuscany doesn’t show itself so easily, it’s a hard work “to see it” properly but is offers to a careful photographer, the chance to “re-create”… / You have to choose the right “points of view”, moving upwards or downwards, waiting for the best light, walking for hours with your camera and tripod, to catch up the right proportions and cuts. / These gentle hills, undulations, far views, cypress’ silhouettes, vineyards, cottages and small villages can be connected and alterned with the photographer’s work, producing gorgeous compositions. / This puzzle has endless solutions; many colours and shades to seize… / Maybe here, more than anywhere, you can clearly feel how tight is the bond between man and nature: the result of a common effort to go deep inside, enhancing just the essential in order to get to the solid harmony of its architectures, and the gentles of its hills. / It’s hard searching for familiarity, just to penetrate that vague layer of jealousy, calmness and discretion surrounding the whole landscape. / Have a good trip in Tuscany!
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Featured in Heritage in Stone Group November – 13 – 2009 / —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-——- Featured in Historic Places Group November – 13 – 2009 —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—— Ministry of Heritage and Cultural Activities, Superintendence for the Architectural, the Landscape, the Historical Heritage. Artistic and Ethno-Anthropological of Italy It belongs the Club of “THE MOST BEAUTIFUL VILLAGES IN ITALY” was founded through the incentive of the Tourism Council of the ANCI (National Association of Italian Municipalities).This project arose from the need to promote the great heritage of History, Art, Culture, Environment and Traditions found in small Italian towns which are, for the most part, cut off from the flow of visitors and tourists. —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—— Bobbio – Old Bridge The Old Bridge: the 280 metre long Ponte Vecchio (“Old Bridge”), which spans the Trebbia by means of eleven unequal arches, is known to have existed before 1196 and may be of Roman origin. From its curious and irregularity shape it is commonly called the ‘Hunchback Bridge’; also the ‘Devil’s Bridge’ after many legends: the famous legend tells that it was built by the Devil in one night after he made a pact with Saint Columbanus who promised him the soul of the first passerby; but when the bridge was finished the Irish Saint sent a dog. / The other legend is in which a man tricks Satan into rebuilding it over-night after it has been destroyed by a flood. In reality the bridge did need to be reconstructed after flood damage in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Nikon D100 Sigma 15/30
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Featured in Nautical Group November – 13 – 2009 / —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-— Grado Grado is a town and comune in the north-eastern Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located on a peninsula of the Adriatic Sea between Venice and Trieste. The comune (municipality) of Grado has an area of 114 km², and a population of 8,691. Once mainly a fishing center, today it is a popular tourist destination, known commonly as L’Isola del Sole (“The Sunny Island”), also famous because it is also a spa town; together with Marano Lagunare, it is the center of a lagoon, which is famous for its uncontaminated nature. Grado is the birthplace of Biagio Marin, a poet who sang about the island in the local Venetian dialect. The harbour is a symbol linking past and present for a community that has always relied primarily on fishing for its sustenance. Built in the shape of an upside-down Y, this was one of the most significant public works projects built by the Austrians, who arrived in Grado in 1815. It is the backdrop for the frenetic activities of fisherman going to and from the lagoon, as well as the departure point for boats that set out to explore the entrancing lagoon landscape of canals, islets, and traditional thatched casoni, the fishermen’s houses that have now become an emblem of the lagoon. Nikon D100 Sigma 28/70
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Featured in Visions of Italy Group November – 21 – 2009 —-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-- The Lagoon of Grado In the surrounding area, the fishponds, canals, waterways, and many islands and islets lush with vegetation trace a unique landscape where nature reigns supreme: a pool of / water spanning approximately 12 thousand hectares, divided into the northern and southern lagoon.The maze of channels and fishfarms between the mouth of the Isonzo and the Anfora / canal contains a pristine ecosystem that is a perfect habitat for the dozens of waterfowl species herons, coots, mallards, teals, garganeys, ducks, and gulls—that nest here or / stop to rest during the migratory season before resuming their journey south. For birdwatching enthusiasts and all other nature lovers, the Valle Cavanata Regional Nature / Reserve is not to be missed. A former fish farm in the eastern lagoon, it stretches over 327 hectares that have become a natural habitat for 263 species of migratory, wintering, / and nesting birds. The visitor center offers informational material for exploring the reserve on foot or by bike, interactive trail stations to learn more about its environments and birds, / guided tours, and environmental education activities. Inside the municipal district of Grado is another fabulous natural attraction: the Isonzo River Mouth Nature Reserve. Over a total of 2400 hectares, from the northernmost tip of the Adriatic to the Po Delta, stretches a shoreline with shallow waters and a complex lagoon structure. The nature reserve offers a visitor center and facilities for observing and studying the flora and fauna, especially wetland waterfowl. Nikon D100 Sigma 15/30
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Shot in Sicily two years ago. These two trees seemed to have survived the arson…
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Shot this in my hometown , close to the Swiss border
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