Tag Archives: art history
The finest Romanesque mustaches are at Moissac Abbey
This church. The elegant forms. The fantastic creatures. The visionary composition. The mustaches. Moissac Abbey is one of the great Romanesque churches (and admittedly deserves much better photos than what we managed with our crappy camera). The South portal, created 1120 – 1135, and the tympanum are a masterful sculptural illustrations of the vision of […]
The Allegory of Good and Bad Government: frescoes as political propaganda in Siena
Throughout Italy you’ll find almost all central town squares dominated by a church. Not Siena: its enchanting Piazza del Campo is presided over by Palazzo Publico, aka City Hall. Inside Palazzo Publico is another delightful surprise: secular frescoes. Ambrogio Lorenzetti painted The Allegory of Good and Bad Government frescoes inside the council chamber of Palazzo […]
Sant’ Apollinare in Classe: giddy with Byzantine mosaics and too much bread
A few years ago I was browsing for cheap airfares (okay, so I do that everyday) when I found a remarkably cheap flight into Northern Italy. People, these tickets were under $400, in late May!!! Obviously I snapped up the tickets in a hot second. Almost as quickly, I drafted an itinerary since I already knew where I […]
How to travel in winter
Around this time every year I open my email to find an inbox full of cheap airfare alerts–cheap winter flights to cold weather destinations. I feel cocky seeing those cheap winter airfares. And oh yes, smug. Just for a minute or two, I indulge in contempt for snowbirds, for sun-worshiping zombies, for geezer cruisers. While they’re flipping themselves […]
Mosaics in the Cathedral of Monreale
We’ve already established that I suck at history, and while we’re on the topic of embarrassing self-disclosures, I confess I didn’t realize until recently that Normans were French. Here’s what I do know about Normans (other than that they all seem to have been named William): they built some gorgeous Romanesque buildings. In Sicily, once […]
In which St. Francis preaches to the birds, tames a wolf and jumps the shark
What saint could be more endearing than St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals? St. Francis (1182 – 1226) grew up as a rich, fashionable boy in Assisi, but a religious epiphany turned him from a dandy to a monk. He “married” poverty, founded the Franciscan order of friars, and was a hugely influential […]
Giotto’s Scrovengni chapel: betrayal, revenge and dorky camels
It’s a devastating moment in the life of Joachim, a pious and generous man. He wants most of all to give to the poor and sacrifice to the Lord, but the rabbi rudely rejects him. As Joachim and his wife Anna are growing old but still childless, the rabbi declares they are cursed by God and unwelcome […]
Saint Sernin Basilica, Toulouse: Romanesque enchantment (just ignore the parking lot)
By now you know that I feel all warm in my ladyparts just thinking about Romanesque art and architecture, most especially French Romanesque. The juiciest of all French Romanesque buildings are the pilgrimage churches, and Saint Sernin is a delightful representation of a French Romanesque pilgrimage church, complete with stunning well-preserved stone carvings, medieval frescos, capital carvings, an […]
Bamberg Cathedral’s Last Judgment tympanium: some kings go to heaven, some kings go to H-E-double hockey stick.
See, there’s Christ in the center, with Virgin and St. John at his feet. Some happy naked people are popping up out of graves under his feet. On the left, some annoyingly self-satisfied folks are headed to their eternal reward, on the right, well, the facial expressions say it all. I know, I know, I […]
Picnic at the Cathedral 