Tag: Art
-
Wax twosome
Wax twosome Two women’s wax heads waiting to be completed with a wealth of hair and a long dress. And then to become flying angels or maybe even the Virgin Mary. But that was in the 18th or 19th century when they were fabricated by the nuns of Montorge. With their wry mouths, I wouldn’t…
-
Alluring twosome
Alluring twosome Through their gestures these heavenly nymphs draw our attention straight away to their heavy rounded breasts. The sculptor may have exaggerated a bit in his striving to let them meet the ideal of feminine beauty, but nonetheless the nymphs seem to be content with the outcome of his work. Photo of the week:…
-
Flat twosome
Flat twosome Like ancient Egyptian reliefs – see for example the reliefs inside Ramose’s tomb in Thebe – Assyrian reliefs too stand out by their flatness and beauty. They are hardly three-dimensional but the subtle curves of head and hair are delicately shaped and bring the face to life. When the relief shows two partly…
-
Migrating birds
Migrating birds The play of reeds, water and light in last week’s photo pleased me because of its abstract nature. In the same way Devrim Erbil must have been pleased by the sight of a chaotic swarm of migrating birds and took it up as the subject of his painting. Abstraction inspired by nature. Photo…
-
Not to forget
Not to forget At the beginning of the 2nd World War there were 17.000 Jewish residents in the part of Amsterdam where I live. During the war 13.000 of them were deported and murdered in the concentration camps. When I walk through my neighbourhood I can ‘stumble’ sometimes upon little brass plates in the pavement.…
-
Deposizione
Deposizione And here we look at the Madonna figuring in a polychrome wooden sculpture of the Deposition of Christ. Tears are dripping from her eyes. A beautiful example, as so many Romanesque Madonna’s, of truly great art. Photos of the week: Bottega (workshop) altotiberina, Gruppo della Deposizione (Deposition of Christ), detail of the Madonna, c.…
-
Crocifissione
Crocifissione What I wrote in last week’s post applies to this fresco of the crucifixion as well. Especially the figure on the left of the painting – Mary I presume – is touching, with her deeply bowed head and the sadly resigned expression of her face. Photos of the week: Maestro di Montemartello (?), Crocifissione,…
-
Crucifixion
Crucifixion During Lent, the weeks before Easter, I happily bring out the oratorios by Handel (Messiah), Caldara (Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo) and of course Bach (St. Matthew and St. John Passion) to immerse myself in magnificent music that recollects among other things the life and Passion of Christ. Does ardent faith play a part…
-
Greek Madonna
Greek Madonna This Madonna, painted on cloth, appeals to me. I think it is the expression of her longish face that made me look at her intently. I feel in it a tinge of sadness. There runs a scarcely perceptible fold through the hanging cloth as a result of which the left half of her…
-
On the roof of the world
On the roof of the world Outside on the top floor of the Jokhang temple, between elaborately gilded roofs, you have a view of Lhasa and the surrounding mountains. With their velvety green cover they almost look like a film set. Photo of the week: Jokhang, Lhasa, Tibet 1996
καιρός remembered 