Tag: Art
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A tribute to HM
A tribute to HM I was immersed in looking at The Sheaf, one of Matisse’s large collages, made during the latter years of his life when he was bedridden and not able to paint anymore. Then a visitor entered my field of view. I took her appearance for a fortunate incident, a fleeting tribute to…
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Wet dream
Wet dream The young man dreams of a good catch. Only when looking more closely at the painting we see what kind of fish he actually hopes to hook up with. Sweet dreams of youth. Photo of the week: “Rêves de jeunesse” (1894) by the Swiss painter Luigi Rossi, Musée d’Art et Histoire, Genève, Switzerland…
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Stigmata
Stigmata When the shopkeeper in the little town of Deruta, known since mediaeval times for its quality production of majolica earthenware, was dressing his shop-window he must have thought: let’s have something for everyone. Photos of the week: Ceramics shop, Deruta, Italy 2018
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Gilded Buddha’s
Gilded Buddha’s These are a few of a whole series of Buddha statues inside Wat Mai Suwannaphumaham. The variety in their facial features is remarkable. Probably different individuals (local monks?) have served as models for the sculptors, with this lively diversity as a result. Photo of the week: Wat Mai Suwannaphumaham, Luang Prabang, Laos 2020
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Cute couple
Cute couple Two lovers in a compromising embrace. The woman is on the alert for being caught in the act. Even though it’s almost 2000 years ago, the scene is timeless, and funny at that. Photo of the week: Roman mosaic, Villa Romana del casale, Piazza Armerina, Sicily, Italy 2000
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Spring
Spring A girl, naked, walking her dog, 2000 years ago. After my first surprise – a double surprise -, I saw that she doesn’t hold the leash. She has a flower in her hand. She is part of an enormous Roman mosaic (almost 25 m², late 2nd cent. CE), depicting in the middle the ‘Triumph…
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Beware pickpocket
Beware pickpocket Wat Pho is known for its reclining Buddha, an impressive statue measuring 46 meter in length from top to toe. The soles of his feet – 3 meter high and 4.5 meter long – are inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Photos of the week: Reclining Buddha, Wat Pho, Bangkok, Thailand 2019
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Wat Pho
Wat Pho The stone statue can easily be recognized as Chinese; the way the tree branches have been steered in their growth betrays Japanese inspiration; and the Buddha images in the back are clearly Thai. Three examples of three Asian aesthetic traditions harmoniously brought together in a corner of the temple complex of Wat Pho.…
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David
David In last week’s post we could find a tiny plastic David at the Trevi Fountain in Rome. Here he is a full-size bronze copy of the original marble sculpture, overlooking Florence from the elevated Piazzale Michelangelo. For a stone replica we have to descend into town to the Piazza della Signora. And if we…
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Fontana di Trevi
Fontana di Trevi Except for Mary with her dead son on her lap, Venus, David, the Sabine woman … I think they all would rather like splashing about in the fountain under the watchful eye of Oceanus. I miss Anita Ekberg, she would have fit in nicely among them. Photo of the week: Souvenir stall,…
