I had no idea who Carl Ludvig Engel was. But as I made my way around Finland, his name kept popping up. I would be awed by a fantastic cathedral and later on find out Engel was the architect. I would admire a stately municipal building and then discover that Engel was the architect for that, too. And his name kept reappearing, in houses and theaters and parks. I was soon on the hunt for more of Engel’s works, and they were pretty easy to find. Read about Engel’s top five works >
Category Archives: Art & Architecture
The Best of Annapolis Architecture
A day trip from my wonderful accommodations in Dover, Delaware, brought me across state lines to Maryland. I was immediately enamored by Annapolis, now one of my favorite small U.S. cities, thanks in no small part to some outstanding structures, from utterly charming homes along brick sidewalks to impressive churches to the spectacular campus of the United States Naval Academy. Read about the top five buildings in Annapolis >
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Amsterdam’s Architectural Treasures
It’s easy to fall into one of the 165 canals that course their way around Amsterdam, especially when you’re gawking at everything surrounding you. On average, 100 people do so every year (as well as about 35 cars and thousands of bicycles). I was careful to keep an eye on the often unprotected drop into the drink as I strode around the largest city in the Netherlands, admiring both those wonderfully characteristic slender canal houses with gabled roofs and the much grander megastructures that make this city so memorable. Read about the top five buildings in Amsterdam >
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The Highest-Quality Art in Norway
One of the world’s most renowned paintings is also one of its most disturbing and mysterious. Almost as famous for its history of thefts as for its quality and impact on the art world, The Scream anchors a tremendous collection of excellent art at Oslo’s National Gallery, Norway’s biggest and best art museum. This one piece alone makes a visit here necessary, but I found so many others that made a wonderfully lasting impression. Read about it >
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Busted: The World’s Best Heads
An artist’s ability to carve a human head and have the result bear an uncanny likeness to the model never fails to impress me. Such busts may very well cause you to do a double-take, as you question yourself whether that is the real flesh-and-blood person, or their image re-created in marble, copper, stone, or whatever other material the sculptor has chosen to employ. Some, of course, rise head and shoulders above the rest. Read about the world’s top five busts >
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Gems in the “City of Glass”
I was using Vancouver as my base to explore a small part of southwestern British Columbia. It was a wise choice, making access to Victoria, the Sea-to-Sky Highway, and multiple hiking and nature adventures simple. It was also a wise choice for staying local, because this highly livable city is both bustling and laid back, with plenty of things to see, from a colorful Little India to excellent museums to Stanley Park, one of the world’s best urban parks—and to some very impressive architecture just waiting to be admired among all the glass and steel skyscrapers. Read about the top five buildings in Vancouver >
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Missouri’s Best Religious Buildings
One has the largest collection of mosaics in the world. Another has some of the finest stained-glass windows in the United States. Still a third has a reredos that knocked my socks off. What are they? They’re some of the most beautiful churches in Missouri. Read more about them >
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St. Stephen Rocks
At last count, there are at least nine St. Stephens, including a Byzantine monk, an English abbot, and a Russian painter and missionary. I’m familiar with only two: Stephen I, the man who united Hungary into one nation a millennium ago and served as its first king for nearly 40 years, and my namesake, the Biblical Stephen who was stoned to death for his faith, thus becoming Christianity’s first martyr. With the latter’s feast day coming up, on December 26, it seems like an appropriate time to take a look at how this Stephen is presented in art—very often, but not always, holding the rocks that were used to kill him. Read about the top five depictions of St. Stephen >
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The Best Museums in the U.S. Capital
Most national capitals are their nation’s largest city. The American capital is a bit of an anomaly: Washington, D.C., doesn’t even crack the top 15. Yet, despite its comparatively smaller size, it has an embarrassment of riches, including more than 70 museums. Covering a wide array of topics, they can entertain and inform you on everything from art to postage stamps to espionage. Read more about the top five museums in Washington, D.C. >
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Pre-War Perfection in Düsseldorf, Germany
While walking between the Christmas markets in Düsseldorf, Germany, including one of the largest in the entire country, and snacking on ginger Lebkuchen and sipping glühwein, I stopped to admire some wonderful buildings. Although much of the city (about 64 percent) was destroyed during the Second World War, these survivors escaped total destruction and remain some of the city’s most spectacular structures. Read about the top five buildings in Düsseldorf >
Stephen Travels 