via BAA Southwell Minster study day: From medieval toilets to one of the purest symbols of western thought

Stained Glass Attitudes

The British Archaeological Association runs a number of study days that are free for students, the most recent was at Southwell Minster, the dinky little pepperpot-topped cathedral in Nottinghamshire that hardly anyone has heard of. The day was led by Philip Dixon, consultant archaeologist at the Minster and a well-known figure to many BAA members. I highly recommend any students interested in medieval architecture to go on these trips (travel money is reimbursed to a reasonable level), as they are an excellent opportunity to point at things in buildings with people who know an outstanding amount about them and are always a rewarding experience.

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Southwell does not have a rail station, so getting there from London means travelling to Newark first, but this did mean I could have a visit to St Mary Magdalene, Newark, one of the finest parish churches in the country. Its enormous steeple, consisting…

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via Why I love: Simone Martini

Stained Glass Attitudes

Simone Martini – The Grieving St John – dated 1320 (The Barber Institute, Birmingham, England)

Although I saw a few nice churches in Haggerston and Hackney last week, it didn’t seem quite exciting enough to write up as a blog, and this week I was far too crippled to even consider much more than a trip to Piccadilly to catch the RA’s George Bellows exhibition before it closes, so I thought I would try something a bit different. There are some things that as an Art Historian that I get very excited about, even if they are not part of my current research. Outward appearances are obviously part of the attraction, but it’s only when you really consider and study things at length that you can see how special they were in their own time. I thought I would share a few on this blog, and the first, on the

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