The beautiful cathedral of León goes way back to the days when León was one of the kingdoms that carved its way out of the Islamic invaders and called itself a “Empire”. It was also the first kingdom in Europe to become a Queendom under queen Urraca.

This is an Eastern Roman triumphal inscription celebrating in Greek a local victory on land _and_ sea over the Langobards. I cannot emphasize enough how extremely rare such a text is, not only because of its location, but just as a document illuminating a very obscure period in history.

The mythical bard of Thrace seems to have been a popular character, because one of the most famous spots in the archeological park also has a mosaic with his image. But even more astounding was the inscription preserved in the main hall of the Basilica (blink and you'll miss it).

The Bardi table, usually hosted in the chapel of the same name when it’s not being restored, was when I visited in the, well, Epistolar side of the nave. It’s a huge table that dates back to the 13th century, way before Cimabue and Giotto with their Trecento. Temple over wood table, as usual

Santi Pietro e Biagio in Cividale del Friuli is this small chapel with a fully frescoed façade. In this, it follows a tradition of Souther Germany, Switzerland, Austria but also Northern Italy, in the inner part of the Triveneto; I have seen similar decoration in palaces and churches in Trento

I was talking the other day about the Longobardi/Lombards, and here’s the so called “tempietto longobardo”, or little Lombard temple in Cividale del Friuli, part of the world heritage site called Sites of the Longobard Civilization. It’s really a small place, more a palatine chapel than a church

Santa Maria Antica alle Arche Scaligere is small and almost hidden church, right behind the monumental funerary monuments to the Scaligeri, the bosses of Verona for a good part of the 14th century, the so called “arche” or arks. You go in through a small door, below one of the monuments.

This perspective brings together works from two different 20th century style: postmodernism at left, art deco at right, in the shape of the sculptures by Franz Metzner. The slate siding kind of joins the two buildings, together with the rectangular shapes. But still, they clash in everything

The Mosque in Córdoba has an amazing Gothic-going-on-Baroque cathedral inside, with all the trappings you would expect from them, including this mahogany choir by Pedro Duque Cornejo. These estipites columns are very characteristic of the full Baroque in Southern Spain. But Duque shows his mastery

Pierre Legros was one of those Frenchmen who came to Rome to learn their métier, and then stayed there for good becoming part of the Roman Baroque scene as much as the next one. His work is at Saint Peter… and also here, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, a Baroque jewel all over.

Day 1658 of this terrorism being inflicted on an innocent country. Ukraine is fighting for its life & the lives of every one of its inhabitants. Just hours ago, this happened in Kyiv, a western-looking, freedom loving, European capital city. This may come to you soon. Today's🧵

Coming up later this month at the Mapfre Foundation in Madrid: Women of the Pre-Raphaelite movement: www.fundacionmapfre.org/en/art-and-c... Same show is on next spring at La Piscine in Roubaix, near Lille: www.roubaix-lapiscine.com/exposition/p... #artherstory

Women Artists: Pathways through Pre-Raphaelitism (1850-1914)

Discover the exhibition on Pre-Raphaelite women artists, from 24 September 2026 to 10 January 2027. Check hours and tickets.

fundacionmapfre.org

Isaac: really bored. Abraham: looking for God. Angel: I'm really sorry, but you don't get to kill your annoying child today. Ram: I definitely have the worst part in this production. By Matthias Stomer, whose day is today.

Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, c. 1690–1706, by #LuisaRoldán (#LuisaIgnaciaRoldán; Spanish, 1652–1706), who was born #otd, Sept 8. Recently acquired by The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, museumoffineartshouston-my.sharepoint.com/personal/mfa... #womenartists #artherstory

Luisa Roldán is one of the most amazing sculptors (sculptress?) in Spain.

Art Herstory@artherstory.bsky.social · 2y ago

Christ Child’s First Steps, 1692–1705, by #LuisaRoldán (#LuisaIgnaciaRoldán; Spanish, 1652–1706), who was born #otd, Sept 8. Held by Museo de Bellas Artes, Palacio del Infantado, Guadalajara; source, 100greatestwomenartists.blogspot.com/2020/08/29-l... #artherstory #womenartists #LaRoldana

I was here 3 years ago today, the magnificent Redentore in la Giudecca, a great Palladian church, one that has the purest architectural lines thanks to its austerity, determined by the Capuchin monks that managed it. Created as a votive church, it’s the center of a yearly celebration.

New Faro Santander cultural centre opens in northern Spain tomorrow, with exhibitions including Old Masters, Frida Kahlo & Diego Rivera, and Leonora Carrington! www.farosantander.com/en/inicio/sa...

Cley church must be one of the most beautiful in Norfolk and contains many strange and interesting things. Worth a visit.

Mario De Biasi, 1958. #photography #1950s #trains #MarioDeBiasi

There are these places in the world, and certainly in Spain, where it’s forbidden to take pictures. I got my moves for them. I used the “unwittingly looking up the time in my phone” to snap this one in San Isidoro de León, the pantheon of the kings of that kingdom, ancestor políties to Spain.

Santo Domingo de Silos is a 11th century abbey in the province of Burgos. It has amazing reliefs as well as column capitals decorated by several Romanesque sculptors, which are actually called after the site: first master of Silos and second master of Silos. This quadruple capital is by the former

I was not so impressed in this last visit to Verona, over all after I had visited the highlights of the Spanish Renaissance and Trento, which was a really original place at a crossroad. But you have to give it to them, these funerary monuments for the Scaligeri family are really impressive.

In this painting entitled “San Triphone’s miracle” Vittore Carpaccio shows his mastery at color, over all his reds that eventually gave its name to the dish. He was hired by the Scuola di San Giorgio degli Schiavoni, a small recinct not far from San Marco, to create a whole cycle

New exhibitions in Scandinavia this month: The beach in art at the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm Remedios Varo at Louisiana in Denmark These and more in our preview: art-exhibitions.blogspot.com/2026/08/new-... Pic: Winslow Homer, Eagle Head, Manchester, Massachusetts (High TIde), 1870, @metmuseum.org

The Castel del Buonconsiglio is a space that deserves quite a while. Three hours into it, we were so exhausted we had to skip some exhibition rooms. Besides the space itself, it’s got an exhibition of the art and archaeological collections held by the prince-bishops of Trento.

Germany has accused Russia of attacking them at Leipzig. Who will Donald support? 1. Russia 2. Vladimir 3. Putin 4. The Kremlin

This cryptic symbol is in a door in the main street of the city of Trento, in Italy. It’s not really art, but I guess that studying symbols is also part of the metier, so I’d go with it. I had seen a similar thing in Rottweil, in Germany, many years back, and found it to be a symbol of the Epiphany

I can get why there’s a Neptune fountain in Trento. Trento comes from Tridentum, trident, well, there you have it. But there are far too many Neptune fountains in the main squares in Italy to be just a coincidence. Bologna, Florence, Rome… Come to think of it, also in Madrid. All over, really.

The Mart (museum of modern and contemporary art) in Rovereto is an excellent reason to take a train from Trento or even Verona, instead of wasting your time in the queue for the totally fake Romeo and Juliet balcony. This is a totally authentic top tier museum built this century by Mario Botta

The Cathedral of Málaga was one of the last to be completed (minus one of its towers), so it’s got a curious mixture of architectural languages. The presbyterium, however, is unequivocally Baroque, with the cascading cornice, gilding and painting of the columns. Not to mention the tabernacle.