Kirkerne

Have you ever played hookey?  We did today, and it was glorious.  Heidi, our teacher is in Odense at some kind of conference, and told us to just go to the language lab, which we didn't.  We decided to take this as a full day off.  We should have done laundry, we should have ironed, we should have studied Danish, we should have worked on financial accounts, we should have washed windows, but we did none of the above.

We left our apartment in the morning and just walked.  We had decided to walk east into Copenhagen...a direction we have not explored yet.  We just wanted to see what that area of the city looked like.  Our goal was simply to see the sights.

We got nearly a block and a half away from home before we stopped.  We have been passing a church there probably 5 or 6 times a week since we arrived in Denmark.  We have seen it and mentioned in passing that "We really ought to stop and look inside."

Even though seeing churches was not really quite on our minds, we stepped inside.  It is a Lutheran Church, known here as the national church.  The building is sandwiched into a row of buildings/businesses.

We climbed a long flight of stairs and went through the large wooden doors into a small entryway that opened into a large chapel area.  As with all cathedrals, it was spacious, quiet and peaceful.  The front wall....actually the entire interior is dominated by a very large painting of "The Transfiguration" with a smaller painting of Peter on the right balanced by a painting of the same size of James and John on the left.

On the right side of the chapel hangs a small replica of an old sailing vessel, something that echos the old Danish custom of hanging a ship (or a model) from the ceiling of the church.  It is said that for a seafaring nation, it may have commemorated love ones lost at sea, or a celebration of a loved one's safe return, or a lifetime at sea.  It also may have signified the Church as a refuge from life's storms.

I looked around and then sat down to look at the painting.  As I sat there, I realized that it might be the work of an artist I have recently come to love, Franz Schwartz.  I first saw his work at a presentation made by curators at BYU Museum of Art last May at Women's Conference.  There are several of his works there right now in a special exhibition "Sacred Gifts."

I tiptoed up close to see the signature....it was Franz Schwartz!

I snapped pictures with my little telephone...I didn't have the camera.  The lighting was beautiful for the interior of a large church but not for my little phone camera.  The surface of the painting, I am sure has darkened with age and dirt, but I hope you can see its beauty.

A woman who was there visited with us for several minutes and told us a little bit about the church, but knew nothing about the artist.  She told us there was a bigger church with a much larger painting several blocks away, so we set out for the Church of Matthias.  Inside we found a very large painting on the front wall behind the altar.  I sat there for some time studying the depiction of the sermon on the mount.  It was beautiful.  A man there told us where we could find another church.

And the day proceeded from there.  We walked and walked.  The weather was gorgeous.  People were out in droves on bicycles and walking.  We saw several other churches from the outside...which were not open to the public at this time, but we will go back!

This photo and the one below is reputed to be the most beautiful street in northern Europe.  I am sure it will be beautiful when the trees are covered in green.

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We took a bus ride, just to see where it went.  We got off at the end of the line and boarded another bus, got off at a church, and then walked home.  It was quite delightful.

An area for bikes outside a movie theater.

We spent a lovely evening with Elder and Sister Thorne and are now ready for bed.  

A good friend once said, "A change is as good as a rest."  That was quite a change from what has been our normal activities for several weeks.  

And I feel rested!