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...
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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...
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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...
58 views0 comments
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,...
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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...
92 views1 comment
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...
73 views2 comments
Carolyn Whitson
- Feb 26, 2021
- 4 min
The Good (After) Life: More Roman Sarcophagi
Ancient Roman sarcophagi were for the wealthy, and were created in workshops which concentrated on particular themes: demonstrating the...
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Carolyn Whitson
- Feb 25, 2021
- 6 min
Rome's Metaphoric Others: Barbarians and Amazons
Images of barbarians were created to support a narrative of Roman superiority, and to justify military aggression as a defense of...
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Carolyn Whitson
- Feb 21, 2021
- 4 min
The Patio of the Lions
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...
99 views3 comments
Carolyn Whitson
- Feb 21, 2021
- 5 min
The Otherworldly Alhambra
The mostly 13th century palace is a studied combination of science, statecraft, and mysticism. The Alhambra began its life on the ruins...
77 views2 comments
Carolyn Whitson
- Feb 20, 2021
- 3 min
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
- Feb 18, 2021
- 5 min
Pre-Romanesque Churches in Asturias
Few 9th century churches survive anywhere in Europe, but in Northern Spain are a few precious remaining examples. Santa Cristina de Lena...
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Carolyn Whitson
- Feb 15, 2021
- 8 min
Early Christian Churches in Rome, Part 2
Here, I continue to point out some features of church architecture, generally before 1100. Please see Part 1 post for more on this...
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Carolyn Whitson
- Feb 5, 2021
- 3 min
Treasures of the Villa Giulia Museum in Rome
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...
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Carolyn Whitson
- Jan 22, 2021
- 2 min
Notre Dame de Paris' Tympanum
This image features the fate of the damned--stretching from their judgment by Saint Michael (upper-left), across to punishments for...
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Carolyn Whitson
- Jan 22, 2021
- 4 min
San Juan de La Pena, Service and Miracles
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...
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Carolyn Whitson
- Jan 22, 2021
- 6 min
Rome and Barbarians--Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus
The barbarians here are not a journalistic representation of a specific battle, just as the image of the decedent at the center of the...
232 views1 comment
Carolyn Whitson
- Jan 22, 2021
- 3 min
Remembering the Notre Dame de Paris Interior, Part 1
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...
311 views1 comment
Carolyn Whitson
- Jan 22, 2021
- 5 min
Remembering the Notre Dame de Paris Interior, Part 2
This entry continues an analysis of the thirteenth century choir screen of Notre Dame de Paris, with photos taken in 2018, before the...
97 views0 comments
Carolyn Whitson
- Jan 22, 2021
- 3 min
Chartres Cathedral--another temple to Mary the Queen
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....
394 views3 comments
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