A Scholarly Skater
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Gargoyles and Grotesques of Hotel de Ville, Brussels
Read about a part-fish gargoyle on the Hotel de Ville in Brussels.
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Why I’m a fan of preservation and “Preservation” magazine
In one of the first philanthropic acts of my grown-up life, I recently joined the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a non-profit organization that provides funding and support for the protection and restoration of historical landmarks throughout the United States. As a membership benefit, I just received my first issue (Winter 2015) of Preservation magazine in the…
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My review of David Day’s The World of Tolkien: Mythological Sources of The Lord of the Rings
The fact that it is still December and I’m already writing a review of a book I got for Christmas should tell you everything you need to know about how wonderful this book was. David Day’s The World of Tolkien: Mythological Sources of The Lord of the Rings. (New York: Chartwell Books, Inc., 2013) is a 184-page-long,…
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Nerd Candy: Doodles in Medieval Manuscripts
I loved medieval graffiti, and now I find out that there are medieval doodles, too! What more could a history nerd want? I just came across an article on Colossal (a very cool site, by the way, so be sure to follow it) about some work being done by Erik Kwakkel, a manuscript historian at Leiden University. Kwakkel is…
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Art Crimes Awareness: Ebay and the Modern Forger
The Monuments Men Foundation for Art the Preservation of Art’s facebook page, which by the way is one of the best resources out there for information about cultural heritage advocacy, recently linked to this article from The Daily Beast about art forgery on eBay. My first reaction was that anyone who thinks they’re going to buy a Picasso on eBay…
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Fantastic Beasts (Oh Look, I Found One)
Harry Potter fans (such as myself) will certainly enjoy this basilisk grotesque carved into the façade of Amiens Cathedral in France. It is interesting that the basilisk (or cockatrice) of medieval legend looks almost nothing like the one described in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, but its other characteristics and the deadly effects…
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A Strange Connection
I’ve always seen parallels between Indian or Southeast Asian and ancient Egyptian statuary. The styles, poses, clothing, and modes of representation all seem very similar to me, yet no one has ever been able to give me a satisfactory explanation as to why. When I was at the Met last week, I saw the Lost Kingdoms:…
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Exhibition Review – Charles James: Beyond Fashion at the Met
A review of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute’s 2014 exhibit of gowns by Charles James.
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The Fascinating World of Medieval Graffiti
In 2014, I was briefly fascinated with the recent discovery of medieval graffiti in English churches. Read a lengthy article on the topic I originally wrote as a guest post for a no-longer-existing blog.
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B.A Shapiro’s “The Art Forger: A Novel” – a personal reaction
My reaction to B.A. Shapiro’s The Art Forger, a novel about a fictional young art forger and the real-life Isabella Stewart Gardner heist of 1990.
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Where in the world is this place? Not where you might think.
The house pictured above might look like an English manor house or a French chateau, but it is actually a country estate near where I live in the United States. I went to visit this turn-of-the-century Beaux Arts mansion one day this past week. The home is now privately-owned and no longer decorated according to the…
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William Shakespeare’s Dictionary (or not?)
My boss just brought this news item from last month to my attention. It seems that two book dealers in New York City have stumbled upon what they believe may be William Shakespeare’s dictionary, complete with annotations and markings by the Bard himself. If that is true, it would be very exciting indeed! I would…
