Andy Bittner - Cathedral Docent

12/27/2021

Hi Everyone! I hope you had a very merry Christmas. This year I am making a move into professional tour guiding and need a little help getting started. Your help is appreciated.

At the end of June 2020, I was laid off by my former employer because of the COVID-19… Andy Bittner needs your support for Help Andy Get To The Starting Line

12/26/2020

The cancer toll at Washington National Cathedral this year has been heartbreaking. Mary Clerkin Higgins was a great master of stained glass art and her work should persist at Washington National Cathedral for centuries to come, mostly credited to Rowan LeCompte. See the film Let There Be Light to see some of Mary's work. Rest in peace, Mary. It was a great pleasure knowing you

It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that I pass on the news that Grand Master of stained glass Mary Clerkin Higgins passed away yesterday. She had been courageously battling cancer for several years and it finally got to her.

She was an amazing, fearless woman and a trail blazer in her male dominated profession. I feel privileged to have had an opportunity to spend time with her in her studio and high on the scaffolding. Our deepest sympathies go out to her family. The entire stained glass community is mourning this loss.

04/14/2020

I am as happy as can be to announce the new Washington National Cathedral podcast series, Tower Talks. I am the first guest. I got a chance to say much of what is important to me about the cathedral and my life there. Let me know what you think. Congratulations also to Erin Murphy, who has crafted a very professional premiere episode.

Welcome to Tower Talks, a conversational podcast brought to you by Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC! We’re connecting you with the Cathedral from afar – the docents, volunteers, staff and artists who have dedicated their time and energy to m...

11/23/2019

Who Is That? - Religious Attributes in Art #2

It was here at the cathedral that I learned the concept of religious attributes in art. Given that the real appearance of these individuals is lost to time, Christian artists built a canon of symbolic items, pretty much standardized, to tell the viewer which biblical character is being depicted.

There are lots of attributes that could indicate who this statue represents. Two are actually on the pedestal... An inverted cross and a set of keys. That said, in Christian art, the guy with a fishing net is always Saint Peter. This is Frederick Hart's Saint Peter, carved by Vincent Palumbo.

11/14/2019

Welcome to my new series called, Who Is That? - Religious Attributes in Art.

The stories told in the Bible took place 2,000 years ago and some of the Old Testament stories long before that. Attempts to represent these stories in art didn't occur until centuries later. No one knows what those people looked like. Particularly as it relates to individuals.

It was here at the cathedral that I learned the concept of religious attributes in art. Given that the real appearance of these individuals is lost to time, Christian artists built a canon of symbolic items, pretty much standardized, to tell the viewer which biblical character is being depicted.

This picture is of Brenda Belfield's Ruth window in the St. Paul tower. In Christian art, the woman with wheat is always Ruth. This was the first attribute explained to me as such.

07/14/2019

Aaahhh... My first name mention on Trip Advisor. I like it. Good advice.

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