In my previous two posts , I discussed medieval symbolic animals which derived from real-life creatures, and then the Monstrous Races,...

13th c. capital of a sinner being devoured, Saint Pierre, Chauvigny, France A nasty case of Covid pretty much bankrupted my energy for...

Capturing the back of the sarcophagus of Saint Peter Martyr is much trickier than photographing the front. The apse is quite close by,...

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...

12th century mosaic, Bobbio, depicting the month of March, emphasizing wind (I think) By the time March arrives, the January 1st...

On October 25th, 2022, I gave a lecture at Metropolitan State University on the Origins of Sirens. In the presentation, I trace how...

Many's the time I've gotten excited by the prospect of visiting a medieval church, only to find that "medieval" mostly referred to the...

Ancient Roman sarcophagi were for the wealthy, and were created in workshops which concentrated on particular themes: demonstrating the...

Images of barbarians were created to support a narrative of Roman superiority, and to justify military aggression as a defense of...

The lion fountain in the Alhambra may be one of my all-time favorite works of medieval art. I'll tell you why in this post. (For Part 1...

This is a website dedicated to people who enjoy medieval and ancient art, and want to know more. Maenad, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC...

Few 9th century churches survive anywhere in Europe, but in Northern Spain are a few precious remaining examples. Santa Cristina de Lena...

Here, I continue to point out some features of church architecture, generally before 1100. Please see Part 1 post for more on this...

This image features the fate of the damned--stretching from their judgment by Saint Michael (upper-left), across to punishments for...

Up in the remote hills in northern Spain, the monastery of San Juan de la Pena contains the ruins of a tiny cloister, with magnificent...

The barbarians here are not a journalistic representation of a specific battle, just as the image of the decedent at the center of the...

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...

This entry continues an analysis of the thirteenth century choir screen of Notre Dame de Paris, with photos taken in 2018, before the...

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....