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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
43 views
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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
59 views
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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
49 views
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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
115 views
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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
128 views
1 comment
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
700 views
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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
405 views
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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
86 views
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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
145 views
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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
540 views
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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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di Balduccio Monument--The Christian Virtues
Capturing the back of the sarcophagus of Saint Peter Martyr is much trickier than photographing the front. The apse is quite close by,...
Carolyn Whitson
Jul 18, 20237 min read
120 views
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The di Balduccio Tomb--the Pagan Virtues
As much as I love medieval art that strikes me as bizarre, I really love it when I come across works which are marvels of symbolic...
Carolyn Whitson
Jul 9, 20236 min read
218 views
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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
67 views
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Time Travel through the French Monuments Museum in Paris
I love when a museum makes learning fun. The French Monuments Museum (FMM, for brevity here) in Paris gives a presentation that is...
Carolyn Whitson
Aug 16, 20225 min read
101 views
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What Child is *This*?
Medieval artists had a standard repertoire of scenes from the life of Jesus to reproduce in churches and personal religious items. ...
Carolyn Whitson
Dec 26, 20216 min read
114 views
0 comments
Crypt of the Original Sin
Caves evoke mystery to a modern person. We're so used to having all the light we want, wherever and whenever we go. Our interiors are...
Carolyn Whitson
Sep 5, 20217 min read
356 views
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The Lion King, Part 2
The use of lions in medieval religious and political art hews closely to the traditions inherited from around the Mediterranean. Lions...
Carolyn Whitson
Jul 10, 20214 min read
135 views
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The River God(father)
Baptism changed both in its practice and its artistic representation from its introduction in the Gospels to its depictions across...
Carolyn Whitson
Jun 5, 20219 min read
195 views
0 comments
Chasing a Ghost Along the Pilgrimage Trail
When I began to study medieval art in graduate school, I found myself often puzzling over murky, low-contrast images in black-and-white,...
Carolyn Whitson
May 19, 20219 min read
180 views
2 comments
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