© Jean Ruaud 2009

The other day, I wrote about not publishing a photograph until I obtained the permission of a friend to do so. I did get the permission, but by then I’d decided (with a lot of help from Kathleen) not to run the photo, but to keep it as a purely personal souvenir of a great evening. Now I discover a photograph taken  by the very man from whom I sought that permission — but I’m not thinking twice about stealing it for The Daily Blague. If Jean Ruaud asks me to take this picture down, I shall, but I hope that he won’t.

I’ve been visiting the Cloisters for over forty years, and this space, taken from the abbey at St-Guilhem-le-Désert in what used to be called Aquitaine, is more lovable every time I see it. Never mind why right now. The thing to know is that, when you visit the reconstruction, your idea of the height of the space is fixed at a meter or so above the capitals, because that’s where the architecture stops. As a great photographer, though, Jean saw light, not architecture, and the result is stupendous. I won’t rest until the Museum buys this picture from him!

(All right; it’s an idle boast — but I still mean it.)

Drop me a line at rjk@dailyblague.com
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