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

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,...

Hydria, 470-460 BCE, from Puglia, Italy. Home museum is the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli. Last May, I had the pleasure of...

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...

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...

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...

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

The Villa Giulia houses a great collection of Etruscan art. This post provides you with a few of the highlights. Here is a close-up of...

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