Bas relief/sculpture

This post is about a portrayal of maternal death and stillbirth--if you'd prefer not to read about this, please stop now. Bas-Relief of...

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...

One of the bittersweet realities for lovers of Romanesque art is that the majority of it exists in a state of decay and dislocation. ...

di Balduccio monument for Saint Peter of Verona, 1339 After having examined the larger sculptures at the base of this monument, we arrive...

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...

The use of lions in medieval religious and political art hews closely to the traditions inherited from around the Mediterranean. Lions...

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...

When I began to study medieval art in graduate school, I found myself often puzzling over murky, low-contrast images in black-and-white,...

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...

The mostly 13th century palace is a studied combination of science, statecraft, and mysticism. The Alhambra began its life on the ruins...

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...

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...

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...