At 11 feet tall and almost two feet wide, this rendering of the Rouen Cathedral spire is imposing from a distance, but close up, it’s intricate, fanciful, and utterly charming. Statues of saints face each other, startled and interrupted in the midst of conversation. Gargoyles peer impishly around corners. This drawing was not an architectural plan, but rather a sales tool for prospective donors—if you built it, presumably, He would come. It’s made on parchment, which gives it a pleasing, velvety, rumpled surface. This is humanity reaching for the heavens, riding on the coattails of some long-dead animal’s skin.

More here: “A Tall Drink of Water at the MFAH”, Glasstire, 9/22/2018

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