justify, spiegeltent, transept, forerunner, stained glass

• Video: Cabaret in New York

  We go downtown for shows of acrobatics, burlesque and blue comedy in a 1920s spiegeltent

A Spiegeltent (Dutch for "Mirror Tent") is a large travelling tent, constructed in wood and canvas and decorated with mirrors and stained glass, intended as an entertainment venue. Originally built in Belgium during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, only a handful of these Spiegeltents remain in existence today, and these survivors continue to travel around Europe and beyond, often as a feature attraction at various international arts festivals, including the Edinburgh Fringe, the Melbourne International Arts Festival, the Adelaide Festival of Arts, the biennial Brisbane Festival, the Brighton Festival Fringe, the Belfast Festival at Queen's and Just for Laughs in Montreal, Canada. Two tents used by Teatro Zinzanni have been in (more or less) fixed locations in Seattle and San Francisco for several years.

Spotlight

Chagall's 'Blue Violinist'
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Painter and designer Marc Chagall was born on this date in 1887. Considered one of the forerunners of surrealism, Chagall is appreciated for the use of color and symbolism in his art. His pieces hang in the UN headquarters, New York's new Metropolitan Opera House, Israel's Knesset and France's Palais Garnier. Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem houses a set of Chagall's 12 stained glass windows, representing the 12 tribes of Israel; his stained glass windows also grace a church in the English town of Tudeley. There is only one Chagall mosaic hanging in a private home; made by the artist as a house gift for good friends, it fills a wall in the garden of their Georgetown home.

Quote

"Work isn't to make money; you work to justify life." — Marc Chagall

These masterpieces show an eclectic curatorial style that pays simultaneous tribute to scholars, writers, historical figures, and military greats.

20 incredible photos of stained glass at Harvard

Harvard's Memorial Hall is a veritable museum of American stained glass

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"You are your own forerunner, and the towers you have builded are but the foundation of your giant-self. And that self too shall be a foundation."
--from "The Forerunner" (1920) by Khalil Gibran

forerunner Show phonetics

noun [C]

something or someone that acts as an early and less advanced model for what will appear in the future, or a warning or sign of what is to follow:

Germany's Green party was said to be the forerunner of environmental parties throughout Europe.

The drop in share prices in March was a forerunner of the financial crash that followed in June.

justify Show phonetics

verb [T]

to give or to be a good reason for:

[+ ing form of verb] I can't really justify taking another day off work

Are you sure that these measures are justified?

justify yourself verb [R]

If you justify yourself, you give a good reason for what you have done:

It was the only thing that I could do - I don't have to justify myself to anyone.

justifiable Show phonetics

adjective

Her actions were quite justifiable (= there was a good reason for them) in the circumstances.

justifiably Show phonetics

adverb

He was justifiably proud of his achievements.

justification Show phonetics

noun [C or U]

a good reason or explanation for something:

There is no justification for treating people so badly.

It can be said, with some justification, that she is one of the greatest actresses on the English stage today.

justified Show phonetics

adjective

having a good reason for something:

I accept that the criticism is completely justified.

I think you were quite justified in complaining.

tran・sept

  
━━ n. 【建】（十字形式教会堂の南北の）袖廊(そでろう)（の総称）.


中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 十字形教堂的左右翼部, 交叉通道
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 袖廊
transept

Cathedral ground plan. The shaded area is the transept; darker shading represents the crossing.

South transept at Kilcooley Abbey, County Tipperary, Ireland

Full descriptions of the elements of a Gothic floorplan are found at the entry Cathedral diagram.
For the periodical go to The Transept.
The transept is the area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building in Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architecture. The transept separates the nave from the sanctuary, whether apse, choir, chevet, presbytery or chancel. The transepts cross the nave at the crossing, which belongs equally to the main nave axis and to the transept. Upon its four piers, the crossing may support a spire, a central tower (see Gloucester Cathedral) or a crossing dome. Since the altar is usually located at the east end of a church, a transept extends to the north and south. The north and south end walls often hold decorated windows of stained glass, such as rose windows, in stone tracery.