In early October last year, PJ and I returned to Conques for two days. While there, we saw something that took us back to the origins of this great pilgrimage church. In the late morning, I was photographing the tympanum over the west portal. This sculpture has the same subject as many similar works, the […]
This morning I was checking the statistics of this blog when I noticed an interesting search term that someone used to find Via Lucis. The Google search entry read “Joseph Raaymakers”. PJ and I had met this man in 2008 in the Pyrénées-Orientales and we had written of him in a post on the vierges […]
A man stood transfixed on the Acropolis in Athens, stunned at the beauty of the Parthenon. He turned to an old man standing nearby and said, “How lucky they must have been to live with all of this beauty.” He responded, “Ask, Stranger, what must they have suffered to need such beauty.” Much of my […]
Many scholars believe that the origins of the Romanesque style are found in the French department of the Pyrénées-Orientales, part of ancient Catalonia. The abbey churches at Saint Martin-du-Canigou and Saint Michel-de-Cuxa are part of this architectural renaissance. Hand-in-hand with the architectural innovation were developments in sculpture. This post will discuss two small fragments of […]
The Église Saint-Pierre in the town of Parthenay-le-Vieux near Poitiers is mentioned for the first time in the texts in 1092. Today, it is an empty church, privately owned. On this day, it was being unconsciously watched over by a house painter working on the house next door. Our equipment and question about whether church […]
The Charente-Maritime can be difficult for explorers of churches like PJ and myself. While there is a wealth of Romanesque churches, many are closed and accessible only a certain times of the day or even the week. Some are not open at all except for services. In addition, it is heartbreaking to see so many […]
Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he has made in the earth. He makes wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and cuts the spear in two; he burns the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted […]
We always think of Dijon in the legendary Côte d’Or as the home of the the great wine domaines of the Cote-de-Nuits; of famous mustards; of kir, the aperitif made with crême de cassis and bourgogne aligoté, a local white wine; and of course, MFK Fisher. Architecturally, it is rich with the contributions of the […]
Christian monastic churches were often found in the most remote and inaccessible areas, partly because of the early Christian hermits and their monasteries. One only has to look at the Cenobic monasteries in Egypt and Cappadocia, Greek churches in Meteora, or the Syrian churches in Maalula to see that this is a long-standing tradition. These […]
In Christian theology, Saint Michael the Archangel is the leader of the Army of God and the forces of heaven in their triumph over the powers of hell. He is also described as the patron saint of high places. Everyone knows Mont Saint Michel on the border between Normandy and Brittany where his statue soars […]
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