Calling an Angel
Created | Updated Jan 13, 2024
Calling an Angel
Just had time to take a picture of the 'angel you can call', on top of our Sint Jan�s Cathedral, plus some bonus statuary my son liked.
The calling angel was placed some years ago because the original statue had eroded beyond recognition. The sculptor says she is an emancipated female working angel, with a phone, a laptop bag an trouser suit. Someone else started an actual phone number for people in need of a line to the divine or just someone to talk to.
I marked the location of the angel on the overview photo of the Cathedral. Not for people with vertigo.
The cathedral has beautiful stained-glass windows, but since mass was going on it was not appropriate to start an extensive photo session inside�
The innocent statue lifts her skirts to reveal.... more skirts.
The demon-pet-holding gentleman clearly disagrees with sitting on a rooftop instead of his horse.
Some numbers and such:
Sint Jan is a sandstone 'Brabant gothic' style Basilica Cathedral with 16 double flying buttresses. The brick and mortar tower is 73 metres high. The base of the tower is the oldest bit and is a remnant of the previous Romanesque style church. Due to the French, for reasons of community purposes like time-keeping and it being an important watchtower, the tower is property of the city to this day, while the rest of the building is owned by the congregation. Original building took from 1220 till 1530. There are around 600 statues inside and mostly outside. The most recent restauration work started in 1949 and is still ongoing (the previous restauration took from 1860 till 1939). That is the trouble with sandstone and acid rain...