Sunday, January 25, 2009

Swan

Railing detail on an old bridge over Ribeira da Lage, the small river that crosses town. The swan is the symbol of Oeiras council. It was chosen in 1759, during the Iluminism period, as a symbol of light, purity and graciousness. This bird also represents the clear spirit of men as well as the beauty of nobility.

23 comments:

Tanya Breese said...

I love this detail on the bridge, you must show the whole thing next!

Kate said...

You have sharp eyes to see this detail. It's simple in design but quite beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Really nice iron scroll work. A talented artist in iron.

Virginia said...

Well shot JM> I like seeing the grass and water through the railing. V

Small City Scenes said...

Nice iron work and detail. Very cool. MB

Sharon said...

Fantastic photo beautifully framed.

Lois said...

Very nice! I too love the detail.

Tess Kincaid said...

Lovely. And the green watery background is nice, too.

Joan Elizabeth said...

When I saw the title of your post I opened it up expecting to see a white swan. Instead I found a black swan ... it must be an Aussie :-)

stromsjo said...

Good composition. Took a moment to figure this out.

roentare said...

Very nice capture in deed!

magiceye said...

great capture!

nanak said...

nice shot :)

Babzy.B said...

nice detail ! Did you see i tagged you ?

angela said...

How delicately beautiful..swans are faithful. A symbol for a city.

Anonymous said...

How did the swan become the symbol of the Oeiras Council?

Unknown said...

Mo,
The swan was chosen during the Iluminism period (around 1759) as a symbol of light, purity and graciousness. It also represents the clear spirit of men as well as the beauty of nobility.

abc said...

Very nice detail. Swans are gracious birds indeed.

get zapped said...

lovely design work. I can see all that it is to represent. Thank you for sharing this.

Nancy said...

I don't know JM, it represents fois gras to me ;)

humanobserver said...

A good one indeed...

Anonymous said...

Such beautiful details in this one!

vero said...

Beautiful picture.