top of page
To search posts for specific subjects, please go to topics.


Carolyn Whitson
15 hours 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...
29 views0 comments


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,...
58 views0 comments

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...
49 views0 comments


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,...
115 views0 comments


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...
128 views1 comment


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...
696 views0 comments


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...
400 views0 comments


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...
86 views0 comments


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. ...
144 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...
538 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...
118 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,...
120 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...
217 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...
67 views0 comments


Carolyn Whitson
Aug 16, 20225 min read
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...
101 views0 comments


Carolyn Whitson
Dec 26, 20216 min read
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. ...
114 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...
356 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...
135 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...
195 views0 comments


Carolyn Whitson
May 19, 20219 min read
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,...
180 views2 comments
bottom of page