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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > Weirdly, some of these 'Restorations' and iconoclasms unwittingly put > churches closer to their *first* appearance than had been the case for > centuries. Thanks to the Reformation/Iconoclasm/Victorians, Durham > cathedral has been swept clean of the countless tabernacles, wooden side > altars, candlesticks, organs, stained glass windows, relics and etc > listed in the c16 Rites of Durham - and made into a bare, unpainted > muscular Romanesque pile with only one or two very spectacular fittings. > In general look and feel it is thus closer to its appearance in say 1110 > (including the 'unpainted' bit, I understand) than at any time since... Dear Jon, This is my point exactly. Durham Cathedral *never* looked like "a bare, unpainted" pile with "only one or two very spectacular fittings" until the Reformation, and later, Wyatt "the scraper" made it that way. The Romanesque church would undoubtedly have been painted, and filled with altars, screens, stalls, etc. Certainly, many such things would have proliferated rather enormously through the later Middle Ages, but I would wager that the church in that condition would have been far more understandable to its 12th-century patrons than the sweeping -- and empty -- Romantic vistas of the current church. Cheers, Jim Bugslag ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html