Prince Eugene's Belvedere
One of two large sphinxes standing guard
at the garden entrance of the Upper Belvedere palace
The two Baroque palaces of the Belvedere,
one on top of a hill, the other at the bottom,
are linked by French-style gardens
laid out by garden architect Dominique Girard
Sphinxes
"The fabulous female beasts with human head and lion’s body
are symbols of power and strength paired with human insight" *)
Photographed 8 November 2014 -
a day of dense fog rising from the Danube river,
casting subdued soft light over the autumnal splendour
Images © by Merisi
Link:
*) Quoted from ->The Belvedere - Palaces and Gardens
-> Merisi goes Cloud Spotting with Sphinxes at the Belvedere
It' Sunday morning. Bright sun coming in through the window, the sun that was missing yesterday.
ReplyDeleteWishing you all a wonderful bright day,
Merisi
A gorgeous statue, that I remember fondly. They are perfectly spread out through the Belvedere Gardens.
ReplyDeleteThese are the two largest ones, to the left and right of the Upper Palace's terrace leading towards the gardens.
DeleteLike these Sphinxes much more than the Egyptian ones.
ReplyDeleteUnlike the Egyption androsphinxes, the Greek ones have a female face, with a lion's body and a bird's wings.
DeleteMajestic!
ReplyDeleteThey truly are!
DeleteLovely statues. These types of creatures are well known in distant history of the middle east such as Assyria. The asura was used as a protector against evil spirits by some households.
ReplyDeleteThose ancient cultures knew how to design awe-inspiring creatures!
DeleteWunderschön! Ganz tolle Fotos!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Somehow the sun over Belvedere Hill defied the thick fog coming up from the Danube just enough to light up the autumn colors.
Deleteyes, woman power!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete