Tag: Art
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The near and the far
The near and the far The Temple of Athena at Priene was built in the Ionic order, which is clearly recognisable by the shape of the capitals with their two volutes (curls). Over time, the entire temple had collapsed or been destroyed. All the columns lay on the ground and their discs were scattered about.…
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The past and the present
The past and the present In the foreground are the columns of the Temple of Athena in the ancient Greek city of Priene, in Turkey. In the background lie the neatly laid-out fields of the plain below. Archaic Priene had a seaport, but the mouth of the River Meander silted up over time, during the…
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Musers
Musers The musings of the stone figures are focussed on the child at their feet that goes its own way. The large head in the back is looking in the same direction but seems engrossed in his own thoughts. This musing in unison is contagious, I feel like joining them. Photo of the week: Berlin,…
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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…
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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:…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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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.…
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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,…
καιρός remembered 