Reading a Medieval Cathedral: England’s Lincoln Cathedral and France’s Chartres Cathedral

Lifelong Learning | Registration opens 4/28/2026 1:00 PM EDT

5/26/2026 (one day)
9:00 AM-9:15 AM EDT on Tue

Reading a Medieval Cathedral: England’s Lincoln Cathedral and France’s Chartres Cathedral

Lifelong Learning | Registration opens 4/28/2026 1:00 PM EDT

In the course “How to Read a Medieval Cathedral” you will, with the help of my photographs, learn to “read” a cathedral: paying attention to sym­bols, saints, stories in windows, stone and wood, as well as important architectural features both outside and inside the cathedrals. We will compare and contrast English and French Gothic styles and touch on the Romanesque origins of both cathedrals and the remaining features that survived the near simultaneous transition to Gothic of these two deservedly famous cathedrals. The course will encourage students to think critically about what is shown, in what material is it depicted and in what context it appears. The book, “How to Read a Church: A Guide to Symbols and Images in Churches and Cathedrals,” by Richard Taylor will be encouraged for purchase but not required.

Philip Maye