Author: A Scholarly Skater
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of All Saints’ Church, Gresford, Wales
Here are some subtle and cheeky grotesques from All Saints Church in Gresford, Wales.
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Gargoyle and Grotesques of St. John’s Cathedral, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Technically, these little fellows are grotesques rather than true gargoyles, but who cares when they’re so charming? Apes, monkeys, and related creatures had rather poor connotations in the Middle Ages, symbolizing a variety of evils and sins including greed and lust, but this pair is depicted with a touching humanity nonetheless.
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Gargoyles in Pop Culture: Pick Five
Recently, while establishing a Pinterest account for A Scholarly Skater, I did a search for the keyword “gargoyle” and came across some pretty unusual stuff. I’ve searched for that term often enough times to know that there are plenty of twentieth and twenty-first century gargoyles out there. They occasionally appear on buildings, which I’ve talked…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of the Washington National Cathedral
The National Cathedral in Washington D.C. is a rare and wonderful example of twentieth-century architectural design including gargoyles and grotesques with all the cleverness and authenticity of their very best medieval ancestors. For this, we have to thank the creativity and skill of the craftsmen who carved them in much the same way they would…
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Rose Valland – Art Spy Extraordinaire
Rose Valland was a French museum administrator who worked as a spy and saved countless works of art during World War Two.
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Writing Prompt #17: Basilique Royale de Saint-Denis
Today’s prompt didn’t particularly interest me or feel like a good fit for this blog, but the additional challenge was to write in a style different from my usual one, which I liked a lot. I like my writing to flow and include lots of description; I never skimp on the words. Therefore, I decided…
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Writing Prompt #9: What Manet’s Girls Saw
For today’s prompt about writing from a different point of view, I decided to describe a work of art from the perspective of a figure depicted in the work. I have chosen Edouard Manet’s Railroad (Gare St-Lazare) at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., a painting noted for its opaque psychology, unclear narrative, and…
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Writing Prompt #8: Evocative Worlds in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Today’s prompt involves describing a place with the added challenge of doing so without using adverbs. The prompt specifies that I go to a place and describe it while I’m there, but I will describe someplace from memory because the weather is crummy, I competed this morning, and I have no desire to go back…
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Writing Prompt #7: Contrast, Controversy, and the Cloisters Cross
Today’s prompt told me to write about a contrast between two things. The first idea that came to mind for me was contrasting points of view or interpretations. Have you ever been in a situation where you and someone else experienced the exact same thing at the exact same time, yet both of you were…
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Writing Prompt #3 – thoughts on art
Today’s prompt told me to write stream of conscious for at least 15 minutes in order to develop a habit of writing every day. The topic I was given was to write about three songs that affect me and how they make me feel. I did the assignment and was pleased with what I wrote,…
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Lost Languages and conversations about them
It’s been a long time since I’ve been as excited about a book as I was about Andrew Robinson’s Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World’s Undeciphered Scripts (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002), and I get excited about books almost every day. Lost Languages is a really excellent and informative introduction to the world’s un-deciphered writing…
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Reims Cathedral, France
This gargoyle is so strange! From the differences in the stone, I assume that the creepy head is a later alteration or restoration, but I’m still not sure what the figure is supposed to represent. The words “crazed donkey” come to mind, however.
