top of page
To search posts for specific subjects, please go to topics.
"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
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
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
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
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
Origins of Sirens
On October 25th, 2022, I gave a lecture at Metropolitan State University on the Origins of Sirens. In the presentation, I trace how...
Carolyn Whitson
Nov 6, 20222 min read
Apocalypse Wow--The Sainte-Chapelle Rose Window
The stained glass in Sainte Chapelle (building completed in 1248) represents the highest achievement of the form. When you enter the...
Carolyn Whitson
Mar 5, 20219 min read
Creation and Expulsion of Adam & Eve in the Stained Glass of Chartres Cathedral
To tell the story of Mary through a medieval church's lens, one must have at least one space to tell the story of Eve. At Chartres...
Carolyn Whitson
Feb 9, 20215 min read
Notre Dame de Paris' Tympanum
This image features the fate of the damned--stretching from their judgment by Saint Michael (upper-left), across to punishments for...
Carolyn Whitson
Jan 22, 20212 min read
Remembering the Notre Dame de Paris Interior, Part 1
Notre Dame de Paris was engulfed in a terrible fire in 2019. Here, I include some of my photos of the interior, taken in 2018. I don't...
Carolyn Whitson
Jan 22, 20213 min read
Remembering the Notre Dame de Paris Interior, Part 2
This entry continues an analysis of the thirteenth century choir screen of Notre Dame de Paris, with photos taken in 2018, before the...
Carolyn Whitson
Jan 22, 20215 min read
Remembering the Notre Dame de Paris Interior, Part 3
One thing that revolutionized looking at medieval stained glass for me was using a serious zoom lens, and then spending time in...
Carolyn Whitson
Jan 22, 20214 min read
Chartres Cathedral--another temple to Mary the Queen
Chartres isn't very far from Paris, by modern standards, and its veneration of Mary is an occasion for comparisons to Notre Dame de Paris....
Carolyn Whitson
Jan 22, 20213 min read
bottom of page