#john kilpatrick

There Must Be More!

I was doing a bell tower marathon at Notre Dame at the turn of the century and I met this hunchback. I asked him, “Is your name Quasimodo?” and he said, “Don’t start with me, American. I am an alchemist and a stained glass maestro by trade. I’ve been doing repairs in this cathedral for what seems like centuries. I wonder if you’re interested in learning the art of stained glass and helping me and so forth. I would take you under my wing, as you Americans say.” And I noticed he had a couple of wings growing out of his hunchback. He said, “Let’s go have an absinthe at the bistro over there,” and he divulged secrets. He said “There’s only one thing that I ask and that’s not to let the gargoyle’s take over your work. They’ve infested this place and they really get on my last nerve. So, anyway, the art of stained glass began in Byzantium to keep a drowsy emperor awake and then traveled to Europe where the Gothics had their way with it.”