Quote:
Originally Posted by jeremy_haak
Yeah, me too. While the colours in Notre Dame are breathtaking, the overall effect seems to be slightly gloomy, like a moonlit night or something. The brighter and lighter interior seems much more pleasant to me.
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I love them both. The atmosphere is so different.
You can tell a lot about a community that way. The Anglican Cathedral here, for example, is exquisite but the overall view is quite modest. Everything is simple, but the very best available at the time - like a plain white bowl made my some famous designer that costs thousands.
The Basilica, on the other hand, is like nouveau riche. Almost every possible surface is ornately decorated. The landmark pieces are all proudly displayed almost to the point of impeding function. Every possible thing is sourced from Ireland. It's like a over-done girl who actually is beautiful underneath the caked on make-up.
So it's not hard to guess which community was upper class, comprised of merchants, whose children were sent back to England for schooling, etc. And which community had only recently won the right to practice its faith, was constantly rebelling against whatever the leadership of the day happened to be, only recently could afford to build much of anything, etc.
Even the location of the two on the hillside shows the quiet confidence of one, and the anxious, optimistic longing of the other.
As for Montreal - not sure why its churches are so exceptionally well done. French pride against the Anglo onslaught, perhaps?