William Walsh’s 1814 painting of Fulford Chapel
This year I've been - even if only for a moment in some cases - to quite a number of Old Continental countries. Some of them are powerful, some used to be powerful, some used to be part of great empires, some were those empires; some influenced the world's art and culture in a big way, some are still influencing them in a small way.
But one thing struck me again and again: take the Church away, and it all is so parochial.
