Two Romanesque churches - Part 2, Santa Maria Assunta

A Deep Dive into 12th century architecture

The “collegiate” church of Mary of the Assumption, Lugnano in Teverina. Built between the 8th and 9th centuries, with a major reconstruction between the 11th and 12th, completed by 1230.

Today we’re getting back in the car and finishing our little trip from the other day to the beautiful medieval village of Lugnano in Teverina, and looking at their extraordinary little Romanesque church. Got lots more pics, and some annoying shaky-cam videos. It’ll be great!

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I honestly had no idea there were so many people out there who would be interested in my weird little niche. I had to update this screenshot from my dashboard because it had grown so much in the few days it took to finish this post.

First, a little business.

A big welcome to all the new arrivals. My piece on Marko Rupnik’s eyes has really grown legs and has been sprinting madly all over the internet. The graph on my subscribers stats went vertical for a whole week. So, hi everybody!

I should add a caveat though, that if you’ve subscribed for a lot of Catholic polemics you’re going to be disappointed. This isn’t a site for that. We talk about art here, mostly. So I won’t be the least bit offended if you unsubscribe because you’re not super-keen on the distinctions between Trecento Gothic painting of central Italy and Florentine Early Renaissance or the influences of the early Byzantine on 11th century church architecture. But if you feel like there’s a bunch of things you’ve never had the chance to learn about Christian sacred art, you’re in the right place.

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If you’d like to help support my painting work with a donation but don’t feel like subscribing here, you can click on my studio blog where you can browse my work too. You can also order a print of selected drawings and paintings in my shop.

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And thanks again to the many who have dropped donations in the jar at my studio blog and have become monthly patrons. I hope that if you’re a monthly patron on Ko-fi you’ll drop me a note so I can give you a complimentary subscription to the paid section of this site. I’ve added about a dozen so far, and there are still about ten or so left, so sing out if you’d like to be added.

You supporters have made it possible for me to level up in my equipment, tools and materials from enthusiastic and occasionally-paid amateur to professional painter of sacred art.

In the last couple of days, the Amazon fairies have brought the table easel of my dreams, and a tin of the most ridiculously overpriced fixative for charcoal drawings I’ve ever heard of but which I’m assured is “archival” - meaning it won’t yellow on exposure to oxygen over time. It certainly would never have been possible to do so much in the last few years, or to have advanced so far in skills and knowledge without the help of my kind patrons. So, thanks.

(As usual, Substack is telling me “this post is too long for email” so if you’re getting a truncated version, just click the headline at the top and you can read it on the site.)

Now, on with the show! We’re off to Umbria!