Welcome to Pilgrim to the Past!
This is a website dedicated to people who enjoy medieval and ancient art, and want to know more. Maenad, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC...
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Carolyn Whitson
- 3 days ago
- 6 min
Works and Days (a hymn, but not to Hesiod)
12th century mosaic, Bobbio, depicting the month of March, emphasizing wind (I think) By the time March arrives, the January 1st...
400
Carolyn Whitson
- Nov 6, 2022
- 2 min
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...
400
Carolyn Whitson
- Aug 16, 2022
- 5 min
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...
190
Carolyn Whitson
- Apr 7, 2022
- 8 min
The Gods of Industry
The Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company headquarters was designed by and constructed for people with big ambitions. They saw...
440
Carolyn Whitson
- Dec 26, 2021
- 6 min
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. ...
690
Carolyn Whitson
- Sep 22, 2021
- 7 min
"The Past is Never Dead": The George Floyd Memorial
Like many white residents of the Twin Cities, for over a year I had avoided the site where George Floyd was murdered by police. On the...
960
Carolyn Whitson
- Sep 5, 2021
- 7 min
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...
1710
Carolyn Whitson
- Jul 14, 2021
- 9 min
The Lion King, Part 3
Let's look at some less-well-known uses of lions in medieval art, including art from outside the Christian tradition. Sanctuary Knocker,...
740
Carolyn Whitson
- Jul 10, 2021
- 4 min
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...
650
Carolyn Whitson
- Jun 21, 2021
- 4 min
The Lion King, Part 1
If you're looking at prestige art and architecture, it's likely that you're going to find lions in its decoration. I wouldn't be...
580
Carolyn Whitson
- Jun 5, 2021
- 9 min
The River God(father)
Baptism changed both in its practice and its artistic representation from its introduction in the Gospels to its depictions across...
890
Carolyn Whitson
- May 19, 2021
- 9 min
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,...
700
Carolyn Whitson
- Apr 30, 2021
- 6 min
"A Present of Things Past . . . A Present of Things to Come"
In this post, a few thoughts on why medieval churches cover themselves in stories. There are three times: a present of things past, a...
290
Carolyn Whitson
- Apr 22, 2021
- 5 min
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...
910
Carolyn Whitson
- Apr 16, 2021
- 6 min
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....
850
Carolyn Whitson
- Apr 9, 2021
- 7 min
Fabulous Fakes
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...
921
Carolyn Whitson
- Apr 2, 2021
- 10 min
They Gave at the Office: Sacrifice, Gifts, and Public Relations in Ravenna mosaics
In the 6th century, Emperor Justinian and Bishop Maximian wanted to take back the body (land) and soul (religion) of Ravenna, which for...
900
Carolyn Whitson
- Mar 26, 2021
- 7 min
Medusssssssssa!
Modern representations of the snake-haired woman depict her as a dangerous beauty, but the Ancient Greek and Roman images show her as...
891
Carolyn Whitson
- Mar 19, 2021
- 7 min
Why photographing sculpture rocks
You could reasonably ask, "If you like photographing sculptures of people so much, why not be a portraiture photographer? Aren't living...
732
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