Apollo’s Fountain and North Rose Window: An Analysis

North Rose Windows

Unknown

13th Century  

Paint on Glass

Chartres Cathedral, France

Apollo’s Fountain

Jean-Baptiste Tuby

Steel with lead lining (1668-1671)

Palace of Versailles, France

The two works I have chosen is the apollo’s fountain in Versailles created between the year 1668 and 1671 and the north rose window which was painted in the 13th century in France. Apollo’s fountain is a collection of sculptures interconnected at the base. Created by Jean-Baptiste Tuby. It is made up of steel with a lead lining to protect from the weather. The north rose window is located at Chartres Cathedral in France. It is a glass window with multicolored illustrations painted onto its surface which is still a common practice in modern day churches.

The apollo’s fountain features four terrified horses connected to a chariot. Its reigns are held by a man while another man is sounding a horn in front of the chariot. The water from the fountain creates a false perspective. An illusion that shows the horses being drowned while the chariot is moving forward. This also conveys a deeper message. No obstacles can stop you when you are in a war. In the case of the rose window, we can see different panes of the window showing different events and situations, but I have chosen one event from the series. A man with one knee on the ground while he has his up praying to two calves. There is also an eight-character word written which is the name of the person that is kneeling. The name “Jeroboam”.

The window penal depicts the story of king Jeroboam. He worshipped two calves which he saw as a god. God punished Jeroboam for his actions by killing his two sons which left him with no successor to his throne. This story is written in the Christian bible. The moral of the story is that God is far above anything that humans can make up to resemble God.  On the other hand, apollo is the god of the sun and is the twin of Artemis, the goddess of archery. The event portrayed in the fountain is the battle of the trojan war. According to Lesso, (2022) when Achilles killed Apollo’s son Troilus, Apollo took revenge by using his incredible skills in archery to aim the arrow straight into Achilles’s weak tendon, thus ending his life.

References

Cohen, M. (N.D). North Rose Windows. https://www.manuelcohen.com/image/I0000meQcdUlpWh0 

Lesso, Rosie. (2022, May 16). What are the Best Stories About the Greek God Apollo?. Retrieved from https://www.thecollector.com/best-stories-about-greek-god-apollo/

Unknown. (N.D). Apollo’s Fountain. https://bienvenue.chateauversailles.fr/en/gardens/to-see/307_apollo-s-fountain#!panel-242