Photo Credit to Rhonda Krause
On Saturday, September 20th, Art Professor Andrew Tallon gave a presentation on the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, shown here, in Taylor Hall for Freshmen Families Weekend. I attended this short lecture and wrote about my experience. Here’s what happens when Taylor attends an art lecture:
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I’d never been to an art lecture before. Sure, I’d been in Taylor Hall a few times for Transitions events, but never for something I wasn’t already very familiar with. Ten minutes early, I walk toward the open door of the auditorium, Taylor Hall 203. I can see no one’s inside yet. So as not to be the first one to arrive, I abruptly turn around and find a place outside to wait. A few minutes pass. I make myself look busy as a few strangers pass. Finally, one elderly gentleman walks into 203, followed by another one shortly thereafter. These men my only company, I enter the room.
I walk up the stairs in the dimly lit auditorium, stopping just a few rows short of the very top. As I take a seat, the larger-than-life image of a gorgeous building overwhelms me. The wall-sized projection makes it seem as if I’m in Paris at night, basking in the cathedral’s beauty, my path lit by several scattered lights. It’s absolutely breathtaking. A man’s voice pulls me back to Poughkeepsie. Professor Andrew Tallon is testing his microphone, trying to get the volume just right. The elderly men and I assure him it’s fine as more people trickle into the room.
Several families enter the room: a mom and dad here, several grandparents there, and even some younger siblings for good measure. Two students escort their families in the room. We three are the only Vassar students in the now-crowded room. I wonder why as Tallon begins the lecture by welcoming the families to campus for Freshmen Families Weekend. Right, of course. The age disparity begins to make sense.
Photo Credit to dream-time.com
Tallon is an incredibly engaging lecturer who wears his passion for art on his sleeve. He is clearly so knowledgeable about the field, but presents it in a way that’s still accessible to those who are not, like me. I find myself almost as excited about this religious cathedral as he is. Construction began in 1163 and continued in pieces thereafter. The front of the building was built first, the entryway of which Tallon called “a vision of world peace.” Then, nearby buildings were torn down to make room for the rest of it. There was also a still unexplained 15-year gap in construction. These pauses account for the architectural disparities in the building.
Naturally, Tallon has been to the cathedral himself. The interesting bit is that he was there to make a French film about Notre Dame in 2013. In an excerpt of the film he shows in the lecture, he takes laser scans of the building which digitally reproduce it as a series of data points so that it can be studied in greater detail. The scan allows him to pick up on nuances in construction that may have been otherwise overlooked. That he would go to such admittedly expensive lengths to study this one building further proves how passionate Tallon is about his field.
Despite its beauty and grandeur, the Cathedral of Notre Dame went neglected for years and began to deteriorate. Thankfully, in the 1800s French poet and playwright Victor Hugo took an interest in it. An art historian and somewhat of an amateur archaeologist, Hugo drew enough attention to the cathedral that it was brilliantly restored. To this day, it stands tall in Paris, flying buttresses, gargoyles, and all. The gargoyles, though, are apparently more of an “imaginative interpretation” of what the building once looked like according to Tallon.
All in all, I’m incredibly glad I attended this lecture. One Vassar student I talked to about it lamented at not knowing that such a presentation was happening at all. I, too, wish this event had been better advertised. If I didn’t hear about it through CAAD, I don’t know that I would’ve heard about it at all. This was possibly because it seemed geared more toward parents and families than to students. However, now that Families Weekend is over, I hope to hear about these lectures even more. CAAD will continue to keep you guys posted about events we hear about and write about the ones that have already passed. And feel free to let us know if there’s anything else you guys want to hear from us about. Until then, keep creating. Oh, and visit the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris.
~ peace, love, and creativity ~