This picture shows the main entrance to Burgos Cathedral, one of the greatest in Spain. We hit it on the first day of our trip, some three hours after I arrived in Madrid from New York on an overnight flight. Mercifully, L. did all of the driving up from Madrid (two hours) so I was able to sleep in the car and actually enjoy the cathedral. Even on a trip that included the grand Cathedral at Santiago de Compostela, this cathedral was a high point, especially its exquisite treasury of medieval art.Much as you can't get very far around Florence without running into all kinds of statues of Saint Sebastian getting shot full of arrows, you can't get far around Burgos without running into paintings of Saint Jerome (a.k.a. San Jeronimo). Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your point of view), Saint Jerome didn't meet with a grisly death, so instead he's usually depicted looking tormented, reading and/or translating the Bible, in the vicinity of a skull (symbol of meditation). For his labors, he is now patron saint of archivists, librarians, and students. So it's somewhat appropriate, given my impending journey, to devote this post to the many terrific depictions of Saint Jerome that fill Burgos Cathedral:
As cool as St. Jerome is, however, he can't hold a candle to the best piece of art in the treasury. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to present...
Disco Jesus!
I mean, is there really any doubt that this version of Jesus is not just bringing light and truth, but bringing it?
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