Notes on art history and the York Minster (+traveling with Caleb)

More art history lectures at the SJAC have been scheduled! Contact the SJAC at 633-4870 at register. Here is the first lecture in our series of three:

Me at the Minster, mastering my fear of heights. Caleb was no help. Gothic Architecture and the York Minster

Thursday, April 19, 7-8:30 p.m., $20

Marvel at the artistic spectacle of Gothic architecture through an exploration of the world-famous York Minster, one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in the world. Built on Constantinian Roman ruins between the 1220s and the 1470s, the Minster is known for its massive expanses of medieval stained glass, soaring towers and enormous buttressed walls.  The Minster is also home to some of the finest examples of Gothic sculpture – full to the brim with sculpted human heads pulling faces, angels, animals and gargoyles.

This session is illustrated with some of my own photographs of the Minster from a recent trip to the UK. 

(Look familiar from Pillars of the Earth??)

York Minster, York. Photo by self-described master of photography and everything else, Caleb JonesMy little brother Caleb went with me on this trip - our second together to Europe. The first, three years ago, to Spain and Italy, was an unmitigated disaster (for half, at least - from Venice to Rome), where we refused to even walk on the same side of the street. But my maturity and even temper saw us through and back to Canada. 

This latest trip to the UK was better. Caleb, fortunately, has almost reached my level of travel sophistication and mature temperament. But just so you have an idea of what I deal with on these trips:

York; Caleb in a pretend huff. Exactly.

But we bonded over our mutual love of English tea and a teashop in York called the Hairy Fig.

Yum

I momentarily forgot that I was paying for everything.