This is the picture church of Paltaniemi in Finland. There were earlier churches on the site: the first was destroyed by an earthquake, the second was burnt down when the nearby Kajaani Castle was exploded by the Russians. The current church was built in 1726.
The card shows some of the wonderful paintings inside, created by Emanuel Granberg. The large painting in the upper left is on the back wall of the church. It originally showed heaven and hell, but the portion showing hell was so shocking and horrifying that women were fainting when they went to church. So the lower part was removed, possibly even with an axe in places.
There is a large image of the painting on Wikipedia which does show that even the parts of hell that remain are somewhat grotesque, and all the people suffering suitably in hell appear to be women. Hmmmm. That would explain why the men didn't faint, would it?
Visit Marie Reed's The French Factrice to find more people this Postcard Friday.
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Wonderful card and I enjoyed the story of the church. Wow ... learn something new everyday!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's really interesting...might have to check out wikipedia now. Happy PFF!
ReplyDeleteThat is quite a story, Sheila!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful postcard so much information thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteInteresting story about the art in the church. Why is it that women always get the bad rap?
ReplyDeleteThat's quite a painting.
ReplyDeleteThe Finns are always a bit dark and morose - their vision of hell must be really hellacious!
ReplyDeleteHi Sheila- What an interesting story... Looked at the Wikepedia site and saw the remainings of Hell- Pretty scary stuff. And they do all look like women!
ReplyDeleteAnyways, thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting. The birthday postcard was never used so there aren't any postal marks or stamps. But I agree that it's somewhere in the 1920s.
Happy PFF!
Wow.I am a painter so i can identify how much hard work much have gone in creating a piece like this.All these paintings are truly ggreat work.They mesmerize you.Thanks
ReplyDeleteI would have loved to see the original, although it may have been so gruesome.
ReplyDelete