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 …
Sosannah
Funerary Wall Painting with Sosannah and the Elders, early 5th century, Fresco, 170 x 127 cm, Museum of Byzantine Culture, Thessaloniki, Greece https://www.lifo.gr/culture/arxaiologia/oi-toihografies-sta-tafika-mnimeia-sto-moyseio-byzantinoy-politismoy-tis In the quiet hush of a walled garden, Sosannah, a woman of ...
Ancient Greek Gold Phiale
Libation Bowl (phiale mesomphalos), Greek, Late Orientalizing Period, about 625 BC, Gold, Diameter: 15 cm, MFA Boston, USA https://collections.mfa.org/objects/238352/libation-bowl-phiale-mesomphalos?ctx=7a1910d2-cc14-430a-99b9-d503c1d5b7f3&idx=6 Radiant and evocative, the Ancient Greek Gold Phiale housed at MFA ...
Giambologna’s Mercury
Giambologna, 1529-1608Mercury, 1564-65, Bronze, Height: 1.87 m, National Museum of Bargello, Florence, Italy – Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, April 2025 High in the dome of Heaven, behold the bright Caduceus-Bearer soared on balanced wings… With these words from Metamorphoses, Ovid captures the essence of Mercury— ...
Imperial Basket with Lilies of the Valley
House of Carl Fabergé - Workmaster: August Wilhelm HolmströmImperial Lilies-of-the-Valley Basket, 1896, Yellow and green gold, silver, nephrite, pearl, rose-cut diamond, 19.1 x 21.6 x 14.9 cm, the MET, NY, USA https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/238777 Nestled within the glittering galleries of the Metr ...
Mithraic Aion and Orphic Phanes
Syncretistic deity Aion-Phanes, second quarter of 2nd century AD, Marble, 71x48,5 cm, Galleria Estense, Modena, Italy – Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, April 2025 In the richly symbolic world of late antiquity, the Roman relief sculpture housed in the Galleria Estense in Modena, Italy, offers a captivating glimpse ...
Good Friday – ΜεγάληΠαρασκευή
Pietro Lornzetti, ca. 1280-1348Panoramic view of the frescoes, 1320-40, Fresco, Lower Church, San Francesco, Assisi, Italy – Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, April 2025 Σήμερον κρεμᾶται ἐπὶ ξύλου ὁ ἐν ὕδασι τὴν γῆν κρεμάσας. Στέφανον ἐξ ἀκανθῶν περιτίθεται ὁ τῶν Ἀγγέλων Βασιλεύς. Ψευδῆ πορφύραν περιβάλλεται ὁ περιβά ...
Gabriele Münter
Gabriele Münter, German Artist, 1877–1962Self-Portrait in front of an easel, ca. 1908–09, Oil on Canvas, 78 × 60.5 cm, Princeton University Art Museum, NJ, USA https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collections/objects/33606 Gabriele Münter, a key figure in early 20th-century expressionism, once remarked, “I depicted the ...
Palm Sunday fresco scene in Assisi
Pietro Lornzetti, ca. 1280-1348Entry of Christ into Jerusalem, c. 1320, Fresco, Lower Church, View of the south arm of the western transept, San Francesco, Assisi, Italy https://www.wga.hu/html_m/l/lorenzet/pietro/1/1vault/1entry.html Pietro Laurati (commonly known as Pietro Lorenzetti), an excellent painter of Sie ...
Daisies by Henri Matisse
Henri Emile Benoît Matisse, French Artist, 1869-1954Daisies, 1939, Oil on Canvas, 92 × 65 cm, The Art Institute of Chicago, USA https://www.artic.edu/artworks/100226/daisies The painting Daisies by Henri Matisse, housed in The Art Institute of Chicago, captures the quiet radiance of nature with his signature bold c ...
House of the Ancient Hunt
Tablinum in the House of the Ancient Hunt in Pompeii, Regio VII Insula 4.48, Pompeii, Italyhttps://www.planetpompeii.com/it/map/casa-della-caccia-antica.html Nestled in the heart of Pompeii, the House of the Ancient Hunt (Casa della Caccia Antica) is a captivating glimpse into the artistry and domestic life of th ...
Flight after the Massacre of Psara
Nikolaos Gyzis, Greek Artist, 1842-1901Fuite après le massacre de Psara (Flight after the Massacre of Psara), c. 1896, Oil on Canvas, 37,5 x 30,5 cm, Private Collection https://www.bonhams.com/auction/29818/lot/4/nicholaos-gysis-1842-1901-fuite-apres-le-massacre-de-psara/ Nikolaos Gyzis’ poignant painting Fuite apr ...
Personification of Spring
Tunic Decoration: Tabula (Square) with the Head of Spring, 5th – 7th centuryAD, Tapestry in multicolored Wool and Linen, 23.5 x 25 cm, the MET, NY, USA https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/444327 Christos Laskaris captures the essence of Spring in his evocative poem: ‘Διάβαζα ένα ποίημα για την άνοιξη / ...
Moissac Vase by René Lalique
René Lalique, French Artist, 1860-1945Moissac Vase, c. 1930, Opalescent Glass, Height: 13 cm, Private Collection https://hickmet.com/products/rene-lalique-moissac-vase?srsltid=AfmBOopKGBdoz2qgOWYJy5s3FAq5xmPJq2A1jCN-QQW4gMqEHjEXwrhK Glass is a marvellous material, capable of transforming light, texture, and form in ...
Tomb of the Philosophers
Tomb of Philosophers, c. 300 BC, Fresco Paintings, Pella, GreeceWest Wall: Main figural frieze showing a man in a red himation with a wooden rod, pointing at a blue globe. North Wall: On the right side of the photo, a bearded man is depicted, absorbed in reading a papyrus roll. South Wall: On the left side of the phot ...
Sofonisba Anguissola of Cremona
Sofonisba Anguissola, c. 1532 – 1625Self-Portrait at the Easel, 1554, Oil on poplar wood, 19.5 x 12.5 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria https://smarthistory.org/sofonisba-anguissola/ On International Women’s Day, March 8, we honor the visionary achievements of Sofonisba Anguissola of Cremona, a pioneeri ...
David Hockney’s Daffodils
David Hockney, English,born 9 July 1937The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, 2020, Do Remember They Can't Cancel the Spring, iPad painting © David Hockney https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/david-hockney-daffodils-spring-coronavirus-lockdown-a4394636.html As we step into March, we celebrate its arrival with the radiant ...