Machu Picchu

I've recently noted a couple of different LEGO version of Machu Picchu and its potential religious significance. The British TV personality Ben Fogle got together with professional LEGO builders Bright Bricks to present a huge(!) version of Machu Picchu in London as part of an event highlighting Peruvian culture and promoting travel to Peru. I've only found a few images of this so far in this news story and in these two Flickr galleries. I don't know how long this will be on display, but my London readers might want to go over to the Covent Garden district to check it out.

Inferno: Lust

Somehow I never went back to Mihai Marias Mihu's Dante's Inferno project. His second circle is lust.

Birth and death

AlfredD has finally posted the remaining scenes in the series he calls the ten most beautiful stories in the Bible, showing the nativity and the cross. There's also a bonus creation of a giant cross.





So that makes his list:
1. The cross
2. Christ's birth
3. Noah's ark
4. David and Goliath
5. Not sure, but I think the parable of the prodigal son
6. The good Samaritan
7. Joseph in Egypt
8. Queen Esther
9. Creation
10. Jonah and the Whale
I wonder what others would pick as the ten key things to illustrate from the Bible? I think if I were to do a project like this I'd try to tell the story as: creation, the Fall, the giving of the law on Sinai, the promise of a messiah (no idea how I'd illustrate that), Christ's birth, the cross, the empty tomb, and Christ's return in glory. I know, that's eight. Maybe in there I'd include Abraham and Isaac, since that is such a wonderful prefiguring of Christ's substitutionary atonement, and maybe the parting of the Red Sea. How about you? (Of course, I recognize that this is completely a Christian interpretation. A Jewish reader would have a very different list.)

South America

It's been quite a while since I checked in with Jackie's Mid Life Crisis Gap Year. Jackie Britton is traveling the world, visiting UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and building them in LEGO. Her most recent travels have taken her to sites in South America.

Recently she visited Cuzco, Peru, where one of the sites she visited was the city's main cathedral.


She then went on to Machu Picchu. I've recently discussed the question of the religious significance of this site.


A bit after that she traveled to Rapa Nui, or Easter Island. It's not clear what exactly the Moai, the giant statues, represent, but they may represent deified ancestors.

Ivppiter Optimvs Maximvs

The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus located on the Capitoline Hill was one of the most important temples of ancient Rome, where Jupiter was worshiped along with Juno and Minerva. On the Ides of each month a white lamb was sacrificed to Jupiter, but on the Ides of January (January 13) a wether (a castrated goat or ram) was sacrificed, as shown here by lokosuperfluolegoman.

Deir el Bahari

I've previously noted the religious significance of the Pharoahs of ancient Egypt, including their apotheosis after death. Here Matija Grguric presents his own version of Deir el Bahari, the temple to the deceased Pharoah Hatshepsut.

Acts 12:1-11

Cam M. illustrated Acts 12:1-11.

The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.

Greek Temple

Matija Grguric made this beautiful Greek temple in the Doric style.

Machu Picchu

The purpose of the Incan site of Machu Picchu, built during the 15th century, is not known. Some argue that it was a royal retreat, while others believe it had a more religious purpose. One theory holds that Incan pilgrims would travel there to symbolically retrace the story of their ancestors. The site is surrounded by a sacred river and revered peaks. Certain buildings and stones seem to line up with the sun on significant dates, and may have been the sites of sacrifices and other rituals. Matija Grguric built this LEGO version.

Hagia Sophia

Legoadam made his own Hagia Sophia, the cathedral turned mosque turned museum from Istanbul.

Jesus figure

EclipseGrafx made this Jesus. It looks like he sells custom minifigures.

School of Athens

Erkhanc presents this interpretation of the School of Athens, a fresco by Raphael found in the reception rooms of the Pope's official residence.

Chichén Itzá

El Castillo Chichén Itzá (here by Matija Grguric) was a Mayan temple to the feathred snake deity Kukulkan. Interestingly, at the spring and fall equinoxes the temple casts a snake-like shadow along the northern stairs, showing that in addition to being the site of sacrifices and other ceremonies, this temple helped mark the calendar. Another aspect in this regard is that the temple has 365 steps (91 on each side plus the top).

Trinity Sunday

Many Christian churches in the western tradition celebrate today as Trinity Sunday, a recognition of the doctrine that God is one being but has three distinct persons.

Allegory of the cave

It's a little bit of a stretch to include this MOC here, since it is not directly religious. I thought about tying in another section of the Republic where Plato considers a philosopher's view of God as the ultimate form of all goodness, or maybe point to the passages in Hebrews that consider the earthly Temple as a mere copy of a heavenly form. Regardless, lokosuperfluoLEGOman's LEGO rendition of Plato's Allegory of the cave is simply too cool a creation to pass up. For those unfamiliar, this is an image offered in the Republic. In this life we are like prisoners in a cave, and all we perceive is shadows cast upon a wall. Enlightenment consists in turning and seeing that what we perceive as reality is simply the reflection of the true things, and then ultimately leaving the cave and seeing the sun.



As C.S. Lewis puts it in the Last Battle: "It's all in Plato, all in Plato: bless me, what do they teach them at those schools!"

Temple of Anubis

In ancient Egypt, Anubis was seen as the guardian of the afterlife. He protected tombs and guided embalmers. He weighed the hearts of men and decided their ultimate fate. Anubis was generally depicted as a jackal-headed man or as a full jackal. Pasukaru designed this Temple of Anubis, featuring that great statue in the center.

Vatican City

I've previously blogged on architect Stephen Schwartz of Building Blocks Workshops when he has conducted events at schools and synagogues to build important structures from Jewish history. He's branching out, and recently conducted a workshop at a Catholic school to make a LEGO Vatican City. After the 5th, 6th and 7th graders worked together to build important structures from the Vatican such as the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's, Schwartz then gave the students a tour and told them about the different buildings.

Communion

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Pedjahrubik made this medieval communion scene.

Shavuot

Around the world, Jews are celebrating Shavuot, the anniversary of God giving the Law to Moses atop Mount Sinai, as noted in LEGO form by Joanna.


She also briefly discusses the old 'horned Jew' stereotype. When Moses descended from the mountain, his face was shining with the reflected glory of God, such that he had to wear a veil so as not to frighten the Israelites. The word translated as radiant in Exodus 34:29 (When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was 'radiant' because he had spoken with the Lord.) was mistranslated as 'horned' in the Vulgate and then again in the original King James. It's basically a confusion of the Hebrew words 'keren' and 'karan'. So many Christians in the middle ages and even some more recently thought that Jews had horns. Joanna pokes some fun at this image with a Viking helmet for Moses:

Popemobile revisited

Gufy presents a different Popemobile. The Mercedes Benz ML 430 was introduced in 2002 and used by John Paul in his final years and then by Benedict. Note that this is completely enclosed in bullet proof glass - a feature that was seen as necessary in the Pope's cars after the 1981 attempt on John Paul's life (though the Pope occasionally travels in open air cars under more controlled circumstances).