
Five Architectural Easter Eggs Hiding on Gothic Cathedrals - prismatic
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/five-architectural-easter-eggs-hiding-on-gothic-cathedrals
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pge
The Darth Vader at the Washington Cathedral was the result of a competition
for kids to submit drawings of possible grotesques and was highly publicized
when it was carved, so I wouldnt necessarily call it an easter egg. But in any
case, if anyone is interested, here are a couple other fun ones in the
Washington Cathedral that are more easter egg like (put there by the artists
of their own accord):

* On the North side, there is a grotesque that portrays a leering stone carver looking down on the girls school across the street, carved by a stonecarver to poke fun at one of his colleagues. Above it, another colleague carved a scolding Dean looking down on the leering carver

* What looks like a stray paint streak on the interior ceiling of the north transept is a rendering of Halley's comet which passed by in '86 when they were painting that ceiling

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ideonexus
I knew about Darth Vader from Dan Brown's book, but not the ones you mention.
Also, if you happen to be at the Washington Cathedral, check out the 'Space
Window' stained glass window that contains a piece of moon rock:

[https://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/spacewindowhist...](https://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/spacewindowhistory.html)

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onion2k
About 5 minutes walk from my office in Newcastle, UK is a cathedral building
featuring a vampire rabbit.

[http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-vampire-rabbit-of-
new...](http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-vampire-rabbit-of-newcastle)

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mhurron
It's just a harmless little bunny.

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sizzzzlerz
That's no ordinary rabbit! It's a killer!

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willvarfar
The hall in the naval college in Greenwich is beautifully painted. It was
built as a hospital for seaman and the rich patrons commissioned some famous
painter to decorate it. He painted himself into his painting with his cap out
after he had trouble getting paid for his efforts.

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kjetijor
The Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim has this interesting feature as well:
[https://radiojente.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/nidarosdomen-...](https://radiojente.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/nidarosdomen-
detalj.jpg)

The story behind that were something along the lines of, according to legend,
if Nidaros Cathedral ever were finished, Trondheim would be swept into the
ocean by clay/land-slide, hence, there's a missing brick that'll never be
laid.

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lb1lf
Another interesting feature of the Nidaros cathedral is that one of the
statues - Archangel Michael, if memory serves - has got Bob Dylan's facial
features.

The sculptor who restored the statue in the sixties needed a face and as Dylan
was opposed to the Vietnam war (as was the sculptor - in addition to being a
big Dylan fan), St. Bob wound up on top of a spire.

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dmix
The astronaut one was definitely a list stuffer. It was from 1992. Not sure
why it's already in such poor shape? Looks quite old.

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athenot
Though this is not Gothic, Michelangelo included a few easter eggs of his own
in the Sistine Chapel painting of The Last Judgement:

> The Papal Master of Ceremonies, Biagio da Cesena, deemed the fresco
> outrageous, and more suitable for public baths or taverns than a chapel.
> (...) Michelangelo responded by making Minos, judge of the underworld,
> resemble Cesena. It’s an extremely unflattering portrait;

[http://www.througheternity.com/blog/nudity-and-
controversy-i...](http://www.througheternity.com/blog/nudity-and-controversy-
in-the-sistine-chapel)

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vkreso
I love these mistakes in gothic cathedrals

[https://stainedglassattitudes.wordpress.com/2014/08/10/great...](https://stainedglassattitudes.wordpress.com/2014/08/10/great-
mistakes-in-english-medieval-architecture/)

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lqet
There is also this one on the Freiburg Minster:

[https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5006/5296624387_c98a68ff69_b.j...](https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5006/5296624387_c98a68ff69_b.jpg)

