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Welcome to Pilgrim to the Past!
This is a website dedicated to people who enjoy medieval and ancient art, and want to know more. Maenad, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC...
Carolyn Whitson
Feb 263 min read
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"Church" and "Synagogue" in Religious Art
Once early Christianity became the dominant religion in Western Europe, the Eastern story of a Jewish messiah in a culture under Roman...
Carolyn Whitson
Feb 2410 min read
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Red in Hoof and Claw: Revelation's Beasts in the York Apocalypse Window
The Lamb before the Elders, Revelation 5: 8-10 The Great East Window of York Minster is the largest expanse of stained glass in England,...
Carolyn Whitson
Feb 412 min read
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Creatures Great and Small in York's Apocalypse in Stained Glass
York East Window, 1405-7, The Seventh Day of Creation Talk about biting off more than one can chew: the Great East Window of York Minster...
Carolyn Whitson
Jan 216 min read
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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
In my previous two posts , I discussed medieval symbolic animals which derived from real-life creatures, and then the Monstrous Races,...
Carolyn Whitson
Dec 29, 20248 min read
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Strangers from a Strange Land: "Monstrous Races" in Medieval Religious Art
Triton, ridden by Poseidon, backgammon game piece, walrus ivory, Louvre Museum, Norway or Cologne origin, late 12th c. Mythical...
Carolyn Whitson
Nov 20, 202410 min read
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The Oak Menagerie: Allegorical Animals in English Misericords
Tiny lion, Worcester Cathedral, 14th c. While much of the ornamentation in a medieval church was instructional or devotional, the...
Carolyn Whitson
Nov 10, 20245 min read
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A New Medium for the Mystery: The Chester Mystery Play Quilt
I've shown you Last Judgment art in painting, sculpture (in stone and wood), architecture, and more, but here's something extra cool...
Carolyn Whitson
Sep 17, 20246 min read
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The Bronze Doors of San Zeno: Poisoned Beauty
Portals in medieval churches were often imbued with imagery of the contrast between sin and salvation, punishment and redemption. The...
Carolyn Whitson
Jul 7, 202414 min read
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"But I really want to do horses...": The Master Carvers of Fidenza
The sculptural program in Fidenza's San Donnino is an oft-overlooked set of masterpieces. Fidenza is a small town compared to the much...
Carolyn Whitson
Jun 9, 202411 min read
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Santa Sabina & The Complicated Past
Often, examining an object found in an old church is a lot like playing "Where's Waldo?" in reverse. You have your "Waldo," the special...
Carolyn Whitson
Mar 18, 202412 min read
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Welcome to the Working Week...Demons and their Jobs in Medieval Art
In my last post, I began the Herculean task of trying to give a general overview of demons in medieval art. I came away from writing...
Carolyn Whitson
Feb 7, 202411 min read
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Devil's Gonna Get You!
13th c. capital of a sinner being devoured, Saint Pierre, Chauvigny, France A nasty case of Covid pretty much bankrupted my energy for...
Carolyn Whitson
Feb 3, 20245 min read
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Angels We Have Seen On High
I thought I'd finish out our year with something light-hearted and ravishingly beautiful. The West Window of Worcester Cathedral was...
Carolyn Whitson
Dec 28, 20239 min read
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Art Nouveau Heaven--the Watts Cemetery Chapel Interior
Entry view, facing altar Stepping inside the Watts Cemetery Chapel is an altogether different experience from walking about its exterior....
Carolyn Whitson
Dec 10, 20238 min read
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Everything Old is New Again: The Watts Memorial Chapel
One of the bittersweet realities for lovers of Romanesque art is that the majority of it exists in a state of decay and dislocation. ...
Carolyn Whitson
Nov 27, 202310 min read
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The Anti-David: St. Bartholomew by Marco D'Adrate, 1562
A statue has been haunting me. I saw it inside the Duomo of Milan. In retrospect, I think it's the only thing I really saw in the Duomo,...
Carolyn Whitson
Oct 16, 20236 min read
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Victory for the Vase Painters!
Hydria, 470-460 BCE, from Puglia, Italy. Home museum is the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli. Last May, I had the pleasure of...
Carolyn Whitson
Sep 26, 20234 min read
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The "Three Living Meet Three Dead" Fresco by Buonamico Buffalmacco, 1336
Some art seems to have a life of its own, its own vitality and presence which can make it seem like a character in its own right. The...
Carolyn Whitson
Sep 5, 20235 min read
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What Becomes a Martyr Most? Part 3 of the di Balduccio Monument of Milan
di Balduccio monument for Saint Peter of Verona, 1339 After having examined the larger sculptures at the base of this monument, we arrive...
Carolyn Whitson
Aug 10, 20239 min read
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