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...
top of page
To search posts for specific subjects, please go to topics.
Carolyn Whitson
Feb 711 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...
513 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
Feb 35 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...
327 views0 comments
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,...
48 views0 comments
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...
98 views0 comments
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...
386 views0 comments
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...
102 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
Jul 18, 20237 min read
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,...
87 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
Jul 9, 20236 min read
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...
161 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
Nov 6, 20222 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...
60 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
Sep 5, 20217 min read
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...
341 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
Jul 10, 20214 min read
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...
114 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
Jun 5, 20219 min read
The River God(father)
Baptism changed both in its practice and its artistic representation from its introduction in the Gospels to its depictions across...
177 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
Apr 22, 20215 min read
What Lies Beneath, Part 2
For such a small patch of excavated floor, the mosaic pavement in the abbey at Bobbio (under the current basilica) has a number of...
119 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
Apr 16, 20216 min read
What Lies Beneath, Part 1
The lovely town of Bobbio has always been small and out of the way, but in the early 600s, this was exactly what the Irish abbot St....
120 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
Feb 26, 20214 min read
The Good (After) Life: More Roman Sarcophagi
Ancient Roman sarcophagi were for the wealthy, and were created in workshops which concentrated on particular themes: demonstrating the...
156 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
Feb 25, 20216 min read
Rome's Metaphoric Others: Barbarians and Amazons
Images of barbarians were created to support a narrative of Roman superiority, and to justify military aggression as a defense of...
291 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
Feb 22, 20215 min read
Christianizing Festivals: The Barabbata of Marta
The ancient town, on Lake Bolsena, north of Rome, has Etruscan origins. The festival has roots as a fertility rite, where the town gave...
34 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
Feb 15, 20218 min read
Early Christian Churches in Rome, Part 2
Here, I continue to point out some features of church architecture, generally before 1100. Please see Part 1 post for more on this...
76 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
Feb 14, 20215 min read
Early Christian Churches in Rome, Part 1
What follows here are some features of churches from roughly 350-1100 in Rome. Most of my photo studies are of Romanesque and Gothic,...
108 views0 comments
bottom of page