Carnegie Museum of Art’s Hall of Architecture is home to the largest architectural plaster cast in the world – the West Portal of St.-Gilles-du-Gard. The massive 87-foot-wide and 38-foot high cast was painstakingly made directly from the original abbey located in the south of France. The abbey was considered one of the greatest examples of Romanesque architecture by the architects who consulted on the Hall of Architecture cast collection which opened in 1907. 

The Crash Course: The Façade of St. Gilles class examines the history of the original 12-century abbey, the surrounding region, and the abbey’s importance as a stop on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The class will also cover the imagery that unfolds across the entire length of the cast, and the plaster process used to create this and other casts in the collection.

The Crash Course: The Façade of St. Gilles will be held on Wednesday, January 27 from 1:30 to 3:30 pm. The cost of the class is Pay-What-You-Wish. For more details, or to register, visit the Crash Course: The Façade of St. Gilles event page.