ἕν οἶδα, ὅτι οὐδέν οἶδα
All I know is that I know nothing
Allegedly said by Socrates
So true, 30 years in Education, and I still feel like a kindergarten student, curious and inquisitive, questioning, interested, prying …
Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
Limbourg Brothers, Herman, Jean, Paul, c. 1370-80-1416 Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, Anatomical Man/Zodiac Man (folio 14v), 1413-16, Painting on Vellum, 30x21 cm, Museum Conde, Chantilly, France https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anatomical_Man.jpg The Limbourg Brothers were a trio of Dutch Renai ...
Chagall’s magnificent ceiling at the Opéra Garnier
Marc Chagall, from Belarus, 1887-1985The ceiling of the Opéra Garnier, started in 1963 and completed on the 23rd of September, 1964, nearly 240 m² canvas, Opera Garnier, Paris, France - Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, May 8, 2023 Russian-born artist Marc Chagall once said that "the dignity of the artist lies in his ...
Cardinal Bessarion in prayer before his Byzantine Reliquary
Gentile Bellini, active about 1460-1507Cardinal Bessarion and Two Members of the Scuola della Carità in prayer with the Bessarion Reliquary, about 1472/3, Egg Tempera on Wood, 102.3 × 37.2 cm, The National Gallery, London, UK https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/gentile-bellini-cardinal-bessarion-with-the-bess ...
The March Marigold by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, British Artist, 1833–1898The March Marigold, circa the 1870s, Oil and Mixed Media on Canvas, 71.7x77.4 cm, Private Collection https://www.wikiart.org/en/edward-burne-jones/the-march-marigold The March Marigold by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones celebrates the vibrantly tinted and warmly h ...
The Bronze Hellenistic Dancer at the MET
Bronze statuette of a veiled and masked dancer, 3rd–2nd century BC, Bronze, 20.5 × 8.9 × 11.4 cm, the MET, NY, USA https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/255408?pkgids=351&pos=20&nextInternalLocale=en&ft=*&oid=255408&rpp=4&exhibitionId=%7Bc81fa618-19f5-47a1-a089-fd1b22309109%7D&pg= ...
The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1526/1530–1569The Tower of Babel, 1563, Oil on Panel, 1,140x1,550 mm, Collection Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria https://www.bruegel2018.at/en/the-tower-of-babel/ 11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eas ...
The Lady and the Unicorn
The Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries, circa 1500, Wool and Silk, Musée de Cluny, Paris, France https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lady_and_the_Unicorn#/media/File:Lady_and_the_Unicorn_1.jpg In the heart of the Cluny Museum in Paris, six exquisite masterpieces from the late 15th century quietly captivate visitors—The ...
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema and Romantic Love
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, O.M., R.A., R.W.S., British Artist, 1836-1912A Solicitation, 1878, pencil and watercolour on paper, 22.9 x 45.1 cm, Private Collection https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/A-Solicitation/8FB915CF2DFA260B4CC9A753186F8298 On Saint Valentine’s Day, I think of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema and Romanti ...
Two Early Christian Tunics in Thessaloniki
Early Christian Tunic, 5th-7th cent., Wool, 117x100 cm, from Egypt (permanent loan of the Benaki Museum), Museum of Byzantine Culture, Thessaloniki, Greecehttps://vizantinaistorika.blogspot.com/2016/06/blog-post_30.html The Early Christian Tunic refers to a garment style worn during the Late Roman/Early Christian p ...
Musée de Cluny
View of the 3 architectural phases of the Musée de Cluny - Musée national du Moyen Âge (Roman, 20th century, Renaissance) in Paris, France https://www.paris.fr/pages/reouverture-de-cluny-le-musee-qui-modernise-le-moyen-age-21099 The Cluny Museum, officially known as the Musée de Cluny - Musée national du Moyen Âge, ...
February and the Waterloo Cup
George Derville Rowlandson, British, 1861-1918The Month of February: Coursing, the Waterloo Cup, unknown date, pen & ink and w/c on paper, Private Collection https://www.meisterdrucke.uk/fine-art-prints/George-Derville-Rowlandson/179537/The-Month-of-February:-Coursing-%28pen-and-ink-and-wc-on-paper%29.html I'll ...
Puabi’s Tomb and Magnificent Jewels
Puabi’s Jewelry, 2600-2450 BC, Gold and semi-precious stones, Penn Museum, Philadelphia, PA, USA https://www.penn.museum/collections/object_images.php?irn=1138 Back on the 4th of January 1928, Sir Leonard Wooley wrote about Puabi’s Tomb and magnificent Jewels … I found the intact tomb, stone built and vaulted over ...
Bliss Madonna by Luca della Robbia
Luca della Robbia, 1399/1400–1482Virgin and Child in a niche, ca. 1460, Glazed terracotta with gilt and painted details, 47.3 × 38.7 × 8.9 cm, 13.2 kg, the MET, NY, USAhttps://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/204722 …It then occurred to Luca della Robia that clay can be manipulated with ease and little troub ...
Oedipus Rex and Jocasta by Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French Artist, 1841-1919Panel for Oedipus: Jocasta, and Panel for Oedipus: King OedipusBoth Panels: circa 1895, Oil on Canvas, 96.1 x 36.5 cm, Private Collectionhttps://www.christies.com/lot/lot-6452011?ldp_breadcrumb=back&intObjectID=6452011&from=salessummary&lid=1 Citizens of my ...
Europa on the Bull in the House of Jason in Pompeii
Europe on the Bull, 20-25 AD, Fresco Painting,125x95 cm, from Pompeii, Room ‘f’ in the House of Jason, today, in the National Archaeological Museum, Naples, Italy https://ancientrome.ru/art/artworken/img.htm?id=2092 In 1878 archaeologists discovered a most wonderful fresco of the Myth of Europa on the Bull in the H ...
The Temple of Segesta by Thomas Cole
Thomas Cole, American Artist, 1801-1848The Temple of Segesta with the Artist Sketching, circa 1842, oil on canvas, 49.8x76.5 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cole_Thomas_The_Temple_of_Segesta_with_the_Artist_Sketching_1843.jpg O that I was there again, and in the same spirit ...