Formulaic? Many of the Churches which occasioned this blog are of a similar style and origin,-- namely neo-gothic style built primarily by late 19th Century German-Americans. What has always surprised some of my friends is the subtle variations in a few simple styles. The early pictures will deal with the exterior structure while we may later move on to theme found inside the churches such as the altar pieces and the stained glass windows. Consider the structures. Chesterton once said that "Art, like morality, consists in drawing the line somewhere." Within the confines of a general style or form there are many variations. The details of the human face generally do not consist in the reorienting of all the major features but in slight variations in each and of the relations between the parts. Thus we have freedom within form and flowering within tradition. The form is so familair as to be recognizable at a distance of several miles, but closer inspection allows one to see the manifold variety of expressions on a given theme.
