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Carolyn Whitson
12 hours ago3 min read
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...
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Carolyn Whitson
3 days ago10 min read
"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...
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Carolyn Whitson
Feb 412 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,...
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Carolyn Whitson
Jan 216 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...
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Carolyn Whitson
Dec 29, 20248 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,...
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Carolyn Whitson
Nov 20, 202410 min read
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...
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Carolyn Whitson
Nov 10, 20245 min read
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...
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Carolyn Whitson
Sep 17, 20246 min read
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...
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Carolyn Whitson
Jul 7, 202414 min read
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...
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Carolyn Whitson
Jun 9, 202411 min read
"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...
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Carolyn Whitson
Mar 18, 202412 min read
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...
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Carolyn Whitson
Feb 7, 202411 min read
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...
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Carolyn Whitson
Feb 3, 20245 min read
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...
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Carolyn Whitson
Dec 28, 20239 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...
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Carolyn Whitson
Dec 10, 20238 min read
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....
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Carolyn Whitson
Nov 27, 202310 min read
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. ...
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Carolyn Whitson
Oct 16, 20236 min read
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,...
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Carolyn Whitson
Sep 26, 20234 min read
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...
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Carolyn Whitson
Sep 5, 20235 min read
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...
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Carolyn Whitson
Aug 10, 20239 min read
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...
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