Church Interior, Kirkwall, Orkney Islands
Watercolor, 2005, ~12”x9”
It rained and rained when we were in Kirkwall. Perfect time to sit in the dry St. Magnus Cathedral and paint. The story of St. Magnus is full of the violence of the time he lived (12th century, as the Vikings were raiding in the Orkneys and Scotland), and Wikipedia has a pretty good account of it. Political controversy in the 12th century was generally resolved by fighting. Magnus was murdered by axe in 1117 a.d., and in 1919, a box of bones with a damaged skull was found inside one of the columns of this cathedral, presumably Magnus himself.
