Masons Of God
Feb. 10th, 2011 12:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphiloI enjoyed this. I particularly liked the reconstruction of the West Front of Wells Cathedral as it was before all the paint washed off. Has there ever been a movie set in the Middle Ages that faithfully reflected the medieval delight in colour?
Did we really lose 90% of our medieval sculpture at the Reformation? Who comes up with these figures anyway? When I'm out trundling round churches I'm always astonished by just how much survives. Consider Wells: the statues on the west front are mostly still there- the only casualties having been caused- not by starchy chaps with hammers- but by wind and weather. Go into any moderately well preserved medieval church and the higher you look, the more sculpture there is to see- Reformers and Puritans baulked at climbing ladders I think- and very sensible of them too. But, perhaps I'm in denial. It hurts to think of so much beauty being wantonly destroyed.
Did we really lose 90% of our medieval sculpture at the Reformation? Who comes up with these figures anyway? When I'm out trundling round churches I'm always astonished by just how much survives. Consider Wells: the statues on the west front are mostly still there- the only casualties having been caused- not by starchy chaps with hammers- but by wind and weather. Go into any moderately well preserved medieval church and the higher you look, the more sculpture there is to see- Reformers and Puritans baulked at climbing ladders I think- and very sensible of them too. But, perhaps I'm in denial. It hurts to think of so much beauty being wantonly destroyed.
