St John the Baptist, Clayton

[poliphilo]

Just down the road from Ditchling is St John the Baptist, Clayton- with its very fine 11th century Clunaic frescos. The paintings got a coat of whitewash in Cromwellian times and re-emerged during restoration in the late 19th century. All things considered they're very well preserved. Gill must have loved having them on the doorstep.

Comments

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

Not one I know.

That's really rather fine!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Odd, isn't it, how little known these great medieval artworks are!

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

Just so.

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

Whitewash, hm? Parallels ring between that mindset and the likes of the Taliban - certain works, or entire styles, offend them, going against their specific interpretation of their particular magical being, and therefore they must be defaced or destroyed.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Whitewash was the least of evils. It can, after all, be removed. A lot of medieval art has survived thanks to whitewash.

Vast quantities of church art were destroyed by fundamentalist iconoclasts in the 16th and 17th centuries.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

The paintings are extremely fine! They remind me of some in tones like that from the Catalan Pyrenees area.