Detail of a Door
I walked by this door the other day and thought this was an interesting detail. It looks like an old door to me and I wonder what made the original owner wanting to have a mask like this on his door... I'm assuming it's to protect the house and scare everything that's bad away. What do you think? Any other ideas?Labels: doors
posted by Nicola @ 7:36 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
Love antique doors! this one is in a really good shape. I have pictures of doors, when I went with Karine around Montpellier, Carcassonne, and Paris before...I'll show you one day :-)
Yeah, in Indonesia...a monster looking like gargoyle etc. is usually a symbol of a protector (it can be a god too). I can't remember on top of my head right now what's the name in Indonesian tradition (it's all also influenced by Indian traditional stories of Mahabrata and Ramayana) Just like you were saying...right on, Nicola :-)
To me, it looks like the "mask" is sticking out its tongue to us...
I love it!! Maybe there lives a necromancer or some person with an odd habit! (I would have something like that on my door...)
Is it really pink? Odd color for a door
Maya - I've heard that there are different traditions like that. In China I guess they put a little mirror at the door or outside the window so that everything bad sees its reflection and gets scared away...
Lisi - I agree :), maybe this isn't even to scare but to make fun of pepople outside the door...
Cynthia - waht is a necromancer??
Anne - The door is really this color (no PS tricks :-) ), I guess it's called "alt-rose". They used sand stones for the door and window frames and the rest of the house is white so it doesn't look too bad...
Thanks, you all, for your comments!
I think It´s a guy who can talk to the dead or raises up the daed or something like that...
Uhhh, weird and scary...
Another Greenman! I think the "guardian of the threshold" Maya mentioned is called Kirtimukha - the Face of Glory. The Hindu god Shiva named it and said:
"This is my most magnificent creation ever! Henceforth it shall be known as Kirtimukha, the Face of Glory, and must always remain at the entrance of my door. From now on, nobody comes before me unless they first bow to Kirtimukha."
How this got transferred to Deutschland is an interesting mystery! Love your photos!
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