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Teaching with the Kritios Boy

**Kritios Boy,** 480 BC, Marble from the island of Paros, Height: 116.7 m, Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece https://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en/youth-statue-kritios-boy

Teaching with the Kritios Boy is a set of student activities and worksheets inspired by an awe-inspiring work of art created by a remarkable artist, a daring creator, and an amazing innovator! According to the Acropolis Museum experts, The statue’s torso was found in 1865-1866 southeast of the Parthenon, while the head in 1888 near the south walls of the Acropolis. It is one of the most important works of ancient Greek art and the most characteristic of the so-called “Severe Style”. Archaeologists have dubbed it the “Kritios Boy”, after the name of the sculptor believed to have created it. The “Kritios Boy” is depicted standing in the nude. He supports his weight on his left leg, while the right one remains loose, bent at the knee, in the characteristic posture of the “Severe Style”. His expression is solemn and his eyes, which were originally crafted from another material, have not survived. His hair follows the shape of his scalp and is tightly gathered around a ring with a few scattered strands falling on his temples and the nape of his neck. Traces of red dye are preserved on his hair. The attribution of this statue to the sculptor Kritios is based on the similarities it presents with the statue of Harmodios from the bronze group of the Tyrannicides, a work of Kritios in collaboration with Nesiotes. This group, known to us today through marble copies of the Roman period, was erected in the Ancient Agora of Athens. Who does this statue portrays, however, is not known. Some scholars believe he represents a young athlete, the winner of an event in the celebration of the Greater Panathenaia. Others claim he depicts a hero, most likely Theseus. Moreover, they link the dedication of the statue on the Acropolis with the activities of 476/5 BC, when Kimon transferred Theseus bones from the island of Skyros to Athens. https://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en/youth-statue-kritios-boy

**Kritios Boy – face detail,** 480 BC, Marble from the island of Paros, Height: 116.7 m, Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece http://ancientrome.ru/art/artworken/img.htm?id=5960

Teaching with the Kritios Boy References, PowerPoint, and Activities…

For a List of ONLINE References on the Kritios Boy TeacherCurator put together, please… Click HERE!

For my PowerPoint on the Kritios Boy, please… Click HERE!

I always feel confident discussing an artist with my students when I prepare my Steps to Success Lesson Plan Outline…

For Student Activities (3 Activities), please… Click HERE!

**Marble statue of a kouros (youth)**, ca. 590–580 BC, Marble from the island of Naxos, (194.6 × 480 BC51.6 × 63.2 cm, the MET, NY, USA https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/253370
**Aristodikos Kouros**, 510-500 BC, Marble from the island of Paros, Height: 1.9 m, National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece http://nam.culture.gr/portal/page/portal/deam/virtual_exhibitions/EAMS/EAMG3938
**Kritios Boy,** 480 BC, Marble from the island of Paros, Height: 116.7 m, Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece https://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en/youth-statue-kritios-boy

I hope, Teaching with the Kritios Boy, will prove easy and helpful. Do you think it justifies my BLOG name Teacher Curator?

**Marble statue of a kouros (face)**, ca. 590–580 BC, Marble from the island of Naxos, (194.6 × 480 BC51.6 × 63.2 cm, the MET, NY, USA
https://gr.pinterest.com/pin/682436149758725905/
**Aristodikos Kouros (face)**, 510-500 BC, Marble from the island of Paros, Height: 1.9 m, National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece https://arthistorykmg.omeka.net/items/show/106
**Kritios Boy (face)**, 480 BC, Marble from the island of Paros, Height: 116.7 m, Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece http://ancientrome.ru/art/artworken/img.htm?id=5960

Salvador Dali or Pavlos Samios

**Salvador Dali,** 1904 – 1989
**Figure at the Window,** 1925, Oil on papier-mâché, 105 x 74,5 cm, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia https://en.opisanie-kartin.com/description-of-the-painting-by-salvador-dali-woman-at-the-window/
**Pavlos Samios, 1948 – 2021**
**Awaiting,** 1983, Acrylic on canvas, 130 × 88 cm, Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, Athens https://goulandris.gr/en/artwork/samios-pavlos-awaiting
https://www.iefimerida.gr/politismos/paylos-samios-kafeneia-pethane

“She opened her curtains, and looked out towards the bit of road that lay in view, with fields beyond outside the entrance-gates. On the road there was a man with a bundle on his back and a woman carrying her baby; in the field she could see figures moving – perhaps the shepherd with his dog. Far off in the bending sky was the pearly light; and she felt the largeness of the world and the manifold wakings of men to labor and endurance. She was a part of that involuntary, palpitating life, and could neither look out on it from her luxurious shelter as a mere spectator, nor hide her eyes in selfish complaining…” wrote George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans, 1819-1880) in Middlemarch. I believe her quotation can be a wonderful introduction for my new BLOG POST, Salvador Dali or Pavlos Samios, inspired by Awaiting, a beautiful painting by Pavlos Samios in the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation in Athens. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/window

Mid-July 2021 and with COVID still ON, I am constantly in front of my open windows or balcony doors searching for signs of a summer break… eager to be freed. Two paintings, by Salvador Dali and Pavlos Samios, inspire me to dream, hope, and be …merry!

**Pavlos Samios, 1948 – 2021**
**Awaiting,** 1983, Acrylic on canvas, 130 × 88 cm, Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation, Athens https://goulandris.gr/en/artwork/samios-pavlos-awaiting
https://www.iefimerida.gr/politismos/paylos-samios-kafeneia-pethane

Pavlos Samios is an artist I particularly like. His painting Awaiting in the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation in Athens is a favourite of mine. I also like what I read in his notes: In the early 1980s, the idea of Surrealism and the Metaphysical School greatly influenced me. In Paris, he continues there is little sun and the sea is far away, and yet, I dream of an unforgettable summer and I create a number of very nostalgic paintings. Fantastic buildings in the sand… The feeling of a desirable girl in a special place, on an untouched island. https://goulandris.gr/el/artwork/samios-pavlos-awaiting

On the 25^th of November 2019, I “published” my first BLOG POST ON the amazing Art Collection of the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation in Athens I am constantly surprised how much this new addition to the Athenian Art Gallery circuit will enthuse me… https://www.teachercurator.com/category/basil-and-elise-goulandris-foundation-athens/

When I first saw Samios’s Awaiting, I immediately thought of Salvador Dali and his1925 portrait of his sister Anna Maria in Figure at the Window, exhibited at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid. A wonderful painting that “travels” you to magical places. I particularly like how the Spanish Museo experts describe the painting as a masterpiece of Dali’s series of portraits of Anna Maria and how Rafael Santos Torroella stated that the painting is a marvel for the skill with which it combines the occupied spaces and the empty spaces, giving them equal compositional importance to such an extent that the fact that he has simply eliminated one of the window casements (the left one) escapes the viewer, who does not even notice the anomaly, despite the fact that this is precisely where so much of the enigmatic beauty radiating from the painting, with its pure serenity, resides. https://www.museoreinasofia.es/en/collection/artwork/figura-finestra-figure-window

For a Student Activity on Salvador Dali or Pavlos Samios, please… Check HERE!

Mosaics from the Ilissos Basilica in Athens

How do they call him, how do they call him / the river? / Ilissos, Ilissos. / Let me tell you my little secret. / I love you, I love you. / Babies yell at their mom, / but I am desolate and orphaned. / Birds fly with their wings, / but I fly in the dance. / How do they call him, how do they call him / the river? / Ilissos, Ilissos. / Let me tell you my little secret. / I love you, I love you… Back in the late 50’ Ilissos was popularly sung by everyone in Greece. With music by Manos Hadjidakis and Lyrics by George Emirzas, it was a musical hit that made the little river that crossed Athens, legendary… Very few, if any, of those who sang along Nana Mouskouri knew about the Byzantine Basilica, let alone, of the Mosaics from the Ilissos Basilica in Athens… https://midifiles.gr/lyrics/ilisos-nana-mushuri-giovana-1956/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cDeEYeR_0k

**Ilissos Basilica Archaeological Site,** 5th century AD, Athens, Greece http://www.byzantineathens.com/betaalphasigmaiotalambdaiotakappaeta-iotalambdaiotasigmasigmaomicronupsilon.html

Ilissos Basilica is one of the most important Early Christian monuments in the city of Athens… today, a “sad” archeological site, hardly anyone visits. Back in 1916 and 1917, George Sotiriou. a prominent scholar in the field of Christian Archaeology, excavated the area, discovered the Basilica and the lovely mosaics that are now exhibited in the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens. The Basilica was originally built on an islet in the middle of Ilissos river (the islet was known as Βατραχονήσι – Frog Island)… located to the east of the Olympieion, popularly called today, the Columns of the Olympian Zeus, a colossal Athenian Temple that started during the 6th century BC, at the time of the Athenian tyrants, and finished by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD, 638 years later. The fifth-century Basilica was dedicated to Saint Leonides, the third-century Bishop of Athens who was put to death along with seven female martyrs… in 250 AD during the persecutions of Decius.https://athensattica.com/things-to-see/ancient-sites/ilissos-basilica/ and http://www.byzantineathens.com/betaalphasigmaiotalambdaiotakappaeta-iotalambdaiotasigmasigmaomicronupsilon.html

The Ilissos Basilica was probably founded in the years 423-450 by the Byzantine Empress Athenais-Eudocia, wife of the Emperor Theodosius II and Sotiriou excavations of 1916/17 revealed a Basilica of the transitional type – from the simple, timber roofed to the domed basilica. Excavations also brought to light a crypte-martyrium, where Leonides’ relics were kept, and another edifice, a baptisterium, in all probability for the needs of the growing Christian group of Athenian citizens. The basilica, according to the experts, was very carefully built and richly decorated with marble walls, mosaics, and sculptures. This Early Christian monument of Ilissos properly fills the gap in the continuous artistic and cultural evolution of the city of Athens. https://www.archaeology.wiki/blog/issue/the-early-christian-basilica-of-ilissos/

**Ilissos Basilica Mosaic depicting a Stork pecking at a Snake**, 5th century AD, Floor Mosaic, 92 x 98 cm, Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens, Greece https://www.byzantinemuseum.gr/en/permanentexhibition/ancient_world_to_Byzantium/temples_of_the_new_religion/?bxm=1756
**Ilissos Basilica Mosaic depicting a Laurel Wreath,** 5th century AD, Floor Mosaic, 98 x 97 cm, Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens, Greece https://www.byzantinemuseum.gr/en/permanentexhibition/ancient_world_to_Byzantium/temples_of_the_new_religion/?bxm=1755

The group of mosaics, coming from the Ilissos Basilica and exhibited in the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens are of exceptional quality combining the best of Roman and Christian floor mosaic traditions. Inspired by the Roman tradition, the Ilissos Basilica mosaics show decorative features such as interlace in the form of chains (“guilloche”), stylized round flowers (rosettes), trailing ivy, motifs resembling fish scales and water birds. The Early Christian designs exhibited are vine scrolls from which hang bunches of grapes and vine leaves (symbol of the Christian Paradise), wreaths of laurel leaves (a well-known symbol of victory from Roman times), small crosses, and other geometrical and plant motifs. The 5th-century artist who designed these mosaics was a master colourist who favoured gentle hues of white, black, deep red, orange, grey, pale violet, brown, yellow, pink, blue and green. His drawing technique also showed an artist who liked discreet and charming lines, light touch, and great care in arranging the tesserae to follow the outlines. https://www.byzantinemuseum.gr/en/permanentexhibition/ancient_world_to_Byzantium/temples_of_the_new_religion/?bxm=1753

For a PowerPoint on the Mosaics from the Ilissos Basilica in Athens, please… Check HERE!

**Part of a Mosaic pavement decorated with a winding stem with leaves and grapes,** 5th century AD, Floor Mosaic, 62 x 151 cm, Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens, Greece https://www.byzantinemuseum.gr/en/permanentexhibition/ancient_world_to_Byzantium/temples_of_the_new_religion/?bxm=1758
**Part of a Mosaic pavement decorated with a winding stem with leaves and grapes,** 5th century AD, Floor Mosaic, 63 x 147 cm, Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens, Greece https://www.byzantinemuseum.gr/en/permanentexhibition/ancient_world_to_Byzantium/temples_of_the_new_religion/?bxm=1759

The Tennis Court Oath by Jacques-Louis David

**Jacques-Louis David,** 1748 – 1825
**The Tennis Court Oath**, 1791, oil on canvas, 65 × 88.7 cm, Musée Carnavalet, Paris, France
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Serment_du_Jeu_de_Paume_-_Jacques-Louis_David.jpg

One of the two representations of the historic The Tennis Court Oath by Jacques-Louis David is exhibited in the Musée Histoire de Paris Carnavalet. The Museum experts describe the painting as… An emblematic work of the revolutionary period, this historical representation illustrates a key moment in 1789: “the year without equal”. While the States General have been gathered in Versailles since their convocation on May 5, the debates trample around an essential issue: that of deliberation by order or by head. Soon, the elected officials of the third estate formed a National Assembly and were joined by the majority of those of the clergy, then by a very active minority of gentlemen. Gathered in a tennis court near the royal palace following a ban on sitting, the deputies of the Nation solemnly swear not to separate before having established a Constitution. The oath, read by the President of the Assembly Jean-Sylvain Bailly, is signed by all representatives except one, whose freedom of opinion was respected. The actors, none of whom are turning their backs, seem to play their role as on a stage. But this is the theater of history… https://www.carnavalet.paris.fr/collections/serment-du-jeu-de-paume-le-20-juin-1789

**Jacques-Louis David,** 1748 – 1825
**The Tennis Court Oath**, 1791, pen, ink, wash and heightened with white on pencil on paper, 65.5×101 cm, Palace of Versailles, France
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tennis_Court_Oath_(David)#/media/File:Le_Serment_du_Jeu_de_paume.jpg

David’s canvas at Carnavalet’s Museum is unfinished, just a step in colour, compared to the sketch in Versailles, of the same theme, and few preparatory drawings. The importance of the theme is momentous. David was commissioned to do a huge painting on the Oath of the Jeu de Paume, held in Versailles on June 20, 1789, by the Society of Friends of the Constitution. His aim was to represent very recent history, and real people in contemporary costume, thus posing a real challenge to the public traditional history painting. This drawing was exhibited in the Salon of 1791 with the intention to raise money and finance, at first, an engraving and in the end, the final painting of the historic Tennis Court Oath, which, unfortunately, was never completed. David’s drawing entered the Louvre collection in 1886 and on April 5, 1939, was deposited at the Versailles Museum, where is currently exhibited. http://collections.chateauversailles.fr/#310a5e1d-d66e-4101-8358-463f4746b06a and https://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/estate/royal-tennis-court

The artist of both artworks, Jacques-Louis David, is the finest representative of Neoclassicism in At and one of the most important French artists of all times. Seeking inspiration in the work of Nicolas Poussin and antiquity, David gained immediate success when in 1785 he displayed, at the Parisian Salon, his painting Oath of Horatii, a portrayal of his artistic and political beliefs… classical and revolutionary to their core. David proceeded in painting the important events of the French Revolution, right from its very beginning… the Tennis Court Oath taken by the Third Estate, Marie Antoinette led to her Execution and his most influential revolutionary painting of all, The Death of Marat in 1793.

For PowerPoint on Jacques-Louis David’s oeuvre, please… Click HERE!

A Meissen Figurine of La Chocolatière

**A Meissen Figure of La Chocolatière**, circa 1870, porcelain, 36 cm, Private Collection https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/13951/lot/103/

I hate milk chocolate, don’t want clouds / of cream diluting the dark night sky, / don’t want pralines or raisins, rubble / in this smooth plateau. I like my / black, my beer from Germany, wine / from Burgundy, the darker, the better. / I like my heroes complicated and brooding, / James Dean in oiled leather, leaning / on a motorcycle. You know the color. / Oh, chocolate! From the spice bazaars / of Africa, hulled in mills, beaten, / pressed in bars. The cold slab of a cave’s / interior, when all the stars / have gone to sleep. / Chocolate strolls up to the microphone / and plays jazz at midnight, the low slow / notes of a bass clarinet. Chocolate saunters / down the runway, slouches in quaint / boutiques; its style is je ne sais quoi. / Chocolate stays up late and gambles, / likes roulette. Always bets / on the noir. Barbara Crooker, the author of More, wrote Ode to Chocolate and my mind travels back in time when Chocolate was… all the rage… and A Meissen Figurine of La Chocolatière the latest in the Art of Porcelain! https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/2014/02/12/8-chocolate-poems-love-chocolate/

**Jean-Baptiste Charpentier the Elder**, 1728-1806
**The family of the Duke of Penthièvre called la tasse de chocolat,** 1768, oil on canvas, 176×256 cm, Palace of Versailles, France https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_famille_du_Duc_de_Penthi%C3%A8vre_dit_la_tasse_de_chocolat.jpg

Three hundred years ago drinking Hot Chocolate was the latest fab in fashionable cities like Paris, London or Bath… At home, or in trendy chocolate houses the elite of Europe would gather and indulge on the silkiest smooth, most aromatic, succulent chocolate from Latin America… Chocolatières could make, and money could buy! Recipes varied by adding vanilla or cinnamon, nutmeg, milk and sugar so as every chocolate drinker’s palette be satisfied. And that was not enough… The grandest porcelain factories in Europe competed to produce the finest, most stylish, and expansive tableware this delicate, mouthwatering drink demanded! Chocolate pots had shorter spouts and lower handles than coffee pots and often had hinged finials to allow the molinet (a wooden ridged stick to roll and mix grated chocolate) to be inserted. Two handled chocolate cups with their matching covers and saucers were distinctively different in style to tea or coffee cups and increasingly elegant designs were manufactured by leading porcelain factories such as Meissen in Dresden, Sevres in France or Worcester in England. https://museumofbatharchitecture.org.uk/hot-chocolate-in-the-18th-century/

**Jean-Étienne Liotard**, 1702-1789
**The Chocolate Girl,** 1744, pastel on parchment, 82.5×52.5 cm, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, Germany https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jean-Etienne_Liotard_-_The_Chocolate_Girl_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg

The Meissen Figurine of La Chocolatière is a wonderful Rococo-inspired example of the European Chocolate fashion of the 19^th century. The figurine copied Jean-Étienne Liotard’s pastel painting of The Chocolate Girl exhibited today in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden. Described by the Bonhams porcelain experts… the maidservant stands wearing a lace-trimmed bonnet, her dress decorated with colourful floral sprigs, holding a rectangular tray out before her, set on a square rocky base… This is a beautiful figurine to remind us of the small pleasures in life and help us celebrate World Chocolate Day! https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/13951/lot/103/

For a Student Activity, please… Check HERE!

**François Boucher,** 1703-1770
**Le Déjeuner,** 1739, oil on canvas, 81.5 x 61.5 cm, Louvre Museum, Paris, France https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fran%C3%A7ois_Boucher_002.jpg

Lansdowne Portrait of George Washington

**Gilbert Stuart,** American Artist, 1755–1828
**Portrait of George Washington, the Lansdowne Type,** 1796, oil on canvas, 243.8×152.4 cm, National Portrait Gallery , Washington, DC https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2001.13

My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth… George Washington once said… and every 4^th of July I think how foresighted he was… every 4^th of July the Lansdowne Portrait of George Washington comes to my mind and I pay my respects to a great man! https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/george_washington_118910

**Sarah Goodridge,** American Artist, 1788-1853
**Portrait of Gilbert Stuart,** c. 1825, watercolour on ivory, 83×71 mm, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC, USA

When I can net a sum sufficient to take me to America, I shall be off to my native soil. There I expect to make a fortune by [portraits of] Washington alone. I calculate upon making a plurality of his portraits, whole lengths, what will enable me to realize; and if I should be fortunate, I will repay my English and Irish creditors. To Ireland and English, I shall be adieu. What a plan Gilbert Stuart had… and he was fortunate to accomplish it! It was early May of 1793 when the artist arrived in New York City, and he immediately put his plan to work. In 1794 a letter of introduction by John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, an old acquaintance since Stuart’s London days, and a close political confidant to George Washington, was provided, and the rest is history. Gilbert Stuart painted three different types of portraits of the 1^st American President and dozens of subsequent copies. The “Vaughan Type” shows Washington facing slightly to his left, the “Athenaeum Type” shows the first president facing to his right, and the “Lansdowne Type” is a full-length portrait. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-americas/british-colonies/early-republic/a/gilbert-stuarts-lansdowne-portrait

Although I particularly like the Athenaeum Portrait, I find the full-length Lansdowne Type best befitting its purpose… grand and imposing, the portrait of a distinguished representative of the new American Democracy. The portrait was commissioned by Senator and Mrs. William Bingham of Pennsylvania as a gift to the Marquis of Lansdowne, an English supporter of American independence. Standing in front of the Lansdowne Portrait remember that the Smithsonian experts ask the viewer to consider three filters exploring this American treasure. Each one of these three different filters – symbolic (consider the represented objects surrounding the Portrait), biographic (Washington’s achievement and character are of the utmost importance), and artistic (let us not forget Stuart’s artistic abilities and personality) – will provide unique information and a distinct interpretation. https://www.georgewashington.si.edu/portrait/non-flash.html

**Gilbert Stuart,** American Artist,1755–1828
**Portrait of George Washington, the Lansdowne Type – Details,** 1796, oil on canvas, 243.8×152.4 cm, National Portrait Gallery , Washington, DC, USA
https://georgewashington.si.edu/portrait/sword.html
https://georgewashington.si.edu/portrait/inkwell.html
https://georgewashington.si.edu/portrait/chair.html

In an advertisement for the first exhibition of the Lansdowne portrait in 1798, we read… He (George Washington) is surrounded with allegorical emblems of his public life in the service of his country, which are highly illustrative of the great and tremendous storms which have frequently prevailed. These storms have abated, and the appearance of the rainbow is introduced in the background as a sign. No doubt, all embellishments presented by the artist were chosen to further stress symbolic ideas to viewers.

He is the best and the greatest man the world ever knew… Neither depressed by disappointment and difficulties nor elated with temporary success. He retreats like a General and attacks like a Hero. Wrote the composer Francis Hopkinson as a reference to the president’s character. All you have to do is look at his relaxed posture, his expended hand, and unpretentious attire to understand Washington’s character and political strength.

Finally, let’s not forget the artist of the Portrait, Gilbert Stuart… the man Abigail Adams described as… Genius and Eccentric, the man you do not know how to take hold of… nor by what means to prevail upon him to fulfill his engagements.

For a PowerPoint, please… Check HERE!

The Labours of the Months: July

As an introduction to my new BLOG POST The Labours of the Months: July, let’s read Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts’s poem on July… I am for the open meadows, / Open meadows full of sun, / Where the hot bee hugs the clover, / The hot breezes drop and run. / I am for the uncut hayfields / Open to the cloudless blue,— / For the wide unshadowed acres / Where the summer’s pomps renew; / Where the grass-tops gather purple, / Where the oxeye daisies thrive, / And the mendicants of summer / Laugh to feel themselves alive; / Where the hot scent steams and quivers, / Where the hot saps thrill and stir, / Where in leaf-cells’ green pavilions / Quaint artificers confer; / Where the bobolinks are merry, / Where the beetles bask and gleam, / Where above the powdered blossoms / Powdered moth-wings poise and dream; / Where the bead-eyed mice adventure / In the grass-roots green and dun. / Life is good and love is eager / In the playground of the sun! https://discoverpoetry.com/poems/july-poems/

The Labours of the Months had a role in highlighting authority and privilege, hard work, and occasionally, small, everyday pleasures. They are often perceived as a link between the work of man, the seasons of the year, and God’s ordering of the Universe. The Trentino Fresco Panels at Torre Aquila in Northern Italy for example, present trained and obedient peasants busy with their seasonal activities, but dominated by the local aristocracy who seem to only care for their idler activities. (I presented the eleven surviving Torre Aquila frescoes in 2020. Please check https://www.teachercurator.com/?s=torre%20aquila&cat=plus-5-results)

Starting the 1^st of January 2021 and for every month so far, we “take a trip” to the National Gallery in London and “study” a small picture (there are twelve such pictures), “painted on canvas and then… glued to a wooden panel. It is possible that (these twelve pictures) were made to decorate the recessed panels of a pair of doors! The paintings seem to have been planned in pairs with the figures facing each other and are currently displayed in two frames in groups of six. They show the ‘labours of the months’ – the rural activities that take place each month throughout the year.” https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/italian-venetian-the-labours-of-the-months-january#painting-group-info

**By an unknown Venetian artist…**
**The Labours of the Months: July (detail),** about 1580, oil on canvas, 13.6 x 10.6 cm, National Gallery, London
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/italian-venetian-the-labours-of-the-months-january#painting-group-info

For the Month of July, we have a copious outdoors scene. National Gallery experts believe that this small painting presents July and shows a man (as he) threshes grain from the corn husks and stalks of straw. He holds the corn on a wooden block and strikes it with his wooden flail. The weather is warm and the man is barefoot with no hat on his head. He is a little older than the labourers in the other pictures – some streaks of grey appear in his beard. The depicted man kneels outside a small brick building with an overhanging roof supported on two posts. Perhaps it is the same building in which the elderly man sits in the representation of January. At the foot of the blue mountains in the distance, we see a fine villa, to which this farmland perhaps belongs.

For a PowerPoint on The Labours of the Months at the National Gallery in London, please… Check HERE!

White Ships by John Singer Sargent

**John Singer Sargent**, American artist, 1856-1925
**White Ships,** circa 1908, Translucent and opaque watercolor and wax resist with graphite underdrawing, 35.6 x 49.2 cm, Brooklyn Museum, NY, USA https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/20397

Strange flight, the body / Held at a threshold / And never quite freed / Or quite revealed— / One wing taut with wind, / One wing concealed / Until the wind grows calm / And it shimmers in a shadow-world, / The shape of a sail, yet softer— / The drifting boat / A bird half in air, / Half in water… writes Heather Allen, and I think of White Ships by John Singer Sargent and a perfect day in the sea… anywhere in the world! https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/2017/02/09/top-10-ship-sail-boat-poems/

John Singer Sargent is the par excellence representative American artist of the Gilded Age. His life represents its very characteristics! He was born in Florence, Italy, to expatriate American parents… He had a nomadic childhood, spending winters in Florence, Rome, or Nice and summers in the Alps or other cooler locations. Early in his life, he realized what he wanted to do in life was to become an artist, and supported by his mother, Mary Newbold Sargent, who was herself an accomplished amateur watercolorist he accomplished it. Sargent and his mother carried sketchbooks throughout their extensive travels across Europe, and he developed a quick eye and fast reflexes for recording his impressions of the landscape. Eighteen years old, under the tutelage of the painter Carolus-Duran, who encouraged him to paint directly onto the canvas, without any preparatory drawing, and to study the Old Masters, John Singer Sargent developed his skills, exhibited both landscapes and portraits to much acclaim, and developed a reputation as a fine society portraitist on both sides of the Atlantic. What a life… Brooklyn Museum – Teaching Resource: Special Exhibition – John Singer Sargent Watercolors – April 5–July 28, 2013, p. 2

**John Singer Sargent**, American artist, 1856-1925
**Self-Portrait,** 1906, oil on canvas, 70×53 cm, the MET, NY, USA https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sargent,_John_SInger_(1856-1925)_-_Self-Portrait_1907_b.jpg

Sargent wanted more… He grew restless at the height of his career, and sought escape from the constraints of the studio and the demands of his patrons for society portraits. What he did was to travel to remote spots, choose his own subjects, and paint without distraction inspirational watercolours… of landscapes, genre scenes, friends, and family. After 1900 Sargent spent his summers traveling throughout Europe, painting both oil paintings and watercolors. What a life… Brooklyn Museum – Teaching Resource: Special Exhibition – John Singer Sargent Watercolors – April 5–July 28, 2013, p. 2

Painting the characteristic Mediterranean sailing boats and fishing vessels was a favourite theme of Sargent’s watercoloures. The Brooklyn White Ships is by far my favourite. The subject matter is purely “marine,” the lines communicate energy and the colours bask on summer chaleur! The artist focuses on the sails, the mast and the prow of each boat, the blue of the sky and the reflections on the seawater. Controlled tones of blue and white suggest subtle shadows while brushstrokes of colour on the water create an interaction of light a shade. How more summery can it get!

When I discuss John Singer Sargent’s Watercolours with my Students I always give them a copy of the Brooklyn Museum – Teaching Resource: Special Exhibition – John Singer Sargent Watercolors – April 5–July 28, 2013. It is a great source of information and provides many sources for Student Activities.

For a PowerPoint on John Singer Sargent’s Watercolours, please… Click HERE!

House of Julia Felix

Julia Felix, daughter of Spurius was very lucky indeed! After the earthquake of 62 AD her sumptuous Villa in Pompeii, today known as the House of Julia Felix, unscathed and extending over an area corresponding to two insulae, could easily be divided into parts and rented out to ease the difficulties caused by the shortage of accommodation in the city. Her first step was to open her private bath to the public. She then, offered private apartments and shops… she even advertised on the façade of her house… “elegant bathing facilities, shops with annexed apartments upstairs and independent apartments on the first floor are offered for rent to respectable people”. She was apparently, a smart businesswoman offering, as she further advertised, a long-term lease, of a period of five years “from August 1st next to August 1st of the sixth year.”

**House of Julia Felix,** 62-79 AD, Pompeii, (Reg II, Ins 4, 3-12) http://pompeiisites.org/en/archaeological-site/praedia-of-giulia-felice/

The house was easily divided into three parts. The baths, with access from Via dell’Abbondanza, were provided with all the required facilities and an open swimming pool. Julia Felix kept her own accommodations looking out onto a magnificent garden with a water channel surrounded on all sides by original marble-embellished quadrangular columns. Lastly, there were the shops, some of which opened onto Via dell’Abbondanza and some onto the side-street leading to the Large Palestra where the ground-floor rented lodgings were situated as well. http://www.pompeii.org.uk/m.php/museum-house-of-julia-felix-pompeii-en-92-m.htm

**House of Julia Felix Plan,** 62-79 AD, Pompeii, (Reg II, Ins 4, 3-12)
https://www.sutori.com/story/house-of-julia-felix–8TY7jnp2vyUnkDcmdrirvjk2

The Julia Felix’s Villa was one of the first Pompeiian buildings to be excavated or rather “hunted” for treasure, back in 1755 under the direction of R.J de Alcubierre, a military engineer in the Spanish Army, and his assistant Karl Jakob Weber (1712 – 1764) a Swiss architect and engineer who was in charge of the first organized excavations at Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Stabiae, under the patronage of Charles III of Naples. Weber joined the excavations in 1749, was against the R.J de Alcubierre method of “treasure hunting” and fervently argued against it. The detailed drawings of his excavations assisted the European intelligentsia became aware of the importance of what was recovered in Campagna at the time. It is essential to stress that Weber drew plans of the excavated buildings and labeled where objects or paintings had been originally discovered and later removed from. His architectural plans and notes prove priceless for reconstructing today the details of buildings, like the House of Julia Felix, where a taberna, luxurious baths, and richly decorated formal garden dining rooms were revealed since the very first excavations of 1754/55. https://sites.google.com/site/ad79eruption/dramatis-personae/since-the-re-discovery

**Still life with Eggs and Game**, 50-79 AD, a wall painting from the House of Julia Felix, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Still_life_with_eggs,_birds_and_bronze_dishes,_Pompeii.jpg

My favourite House of Julia Felix Frescoes are the small Still Life Scenes of the 4^th Pompeian style, which date to 62-79 AD, and were discovered in the House Tablinum (Room j in the provided plan) on July 13th, 1755. This beautiful fresco composition was removed from the original wall and inserted in a wooden frame, is now exhibited in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli. https://www.museoarcheologiconapoli.it/en/room-and-sections-of-the-exhibition/frescoes/

The four small paintings at the top of the composition form a frieze depicting… starting on the left… a display of Bread exhibited on built shelves and a presentation of various kinds of fresh fish. The next two scenes show a set of silver vessels with a spoon and a platter containing some eggs in addition to hanging quail, and a napkin and exhibited on the final scene, two shelves with a bag of coins and the instrumentum scriptorium (an inkwell, a stylus, and a papyrus).

**Still Life with Glass Bowl of Fruit and Vases,** 50-79 AD, a wall painting from the House of Julia Felix, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pompejanischer_Maler_um_70_001.jpg

For More Information on the Pompeian Villa, please… Check https://sites.google.com/site/ad79eruption/pompeii/regio-ii/reg-ii-ins-4/house-of-julia-felix and https://www.pompeiiinpictures.com/pompeiiinpictures/R2/2%2004%2010.htm

For a short but nice Video on the Pompeian Villa, please… Check http://pompeiisites.org/en/archaeological-site/praedia-of-giulia-felice/

For a Student Activity on how to bake Roman Bread, please… Check HERE!

**Still Life with Money pouch between gold heaps and writing utensils,** 50-79 AD, a wall painting from the House of Julia Felix, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pompei_-_House_of_Julia_Felix_-_MAN.jpg

Idle Hours by William Merritt Chase

**William Merritt Chase,** American painter, 1849-1916
**Idle Hours,** 1894, oil on canvas, 90.17×64.77 cm, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Texas

“The first lily of June opens its red mouth. / All over the sand road where we walk / multiflora rose climbs trees cascading / white or pink blossoms, simple, intense / the scene drifting like colored mist. / The arrowhead is spreading its creamy / clumps of flower and the blackberries / are blooming in the thickets. Season of / joy for the bee. The green will never / again be so green, so purely and lushly / new, grass lifting its wheaty seedheads / into the wind. Rich fresh wine / of June, we stagger into you smeared / with pollen, overcome as the turtle / laying her eggs in roadside sand.” More Than Enough is a lovely poem by Marge Piercy. Idle Hours by William Merritt Chase is a wonderful painting to make us dream of summer days… https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42466/more-than-enough

My God, I’d rather go to Europe than go to heaven… William Merritt Chase apparently said back in 1872 when a group of St. Louis businessmen offered him the financial support to study in Europe. He was a young, talented man from Indiana, and the Royal Academy in Munich, Germany, was his choice for Art studies. Less distracting… compared to Paris, he probably thought… but the more Academic Munich Art scene did not keep Chase from exploring the latest in European Art. The flashy brushwork and dramatic chiaroscuro espoused by Wilhelm Leibl, Gustave Courbet‘s German friend and stylistic alter ego was what he espoused in Munich along with the painterly realism of old masters such as Peter Paul Rubens and Frans Hals. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chas/hd_chas.htm

**William Merritt Chase,** American painter, 1849-1916
**Self-Portrait,** 1915-16, oil on canvas, 133.3×161.2 cm, Richmond Art Museum, Richmond, IN, USA

I intend to have the finest studio in New York… he told a friend… and in 1978, back in New York, he did… by renting a small studio in the prestigious Tenth Street Studio Building in Greenwich Village. That studio became the perfect setting for the elegant, debonair image he contrived for himself. He traveled back and forth to Europe, visited the latest art shows, meeting artists and collectors, exploring the modern look, experimenting with subjects of relaxation in an innovative style, and set himself to become the finest members of the American artistic community. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chas/hd_chas.htm

**Archival Photographs of the Shinnecock Summer School on Long Island**
https://aaqeastend.com/contents/the-art-village/

In 1891 William Merritt Chase became the leading Art Teacher of the prestigious, but equally popular and fashionable, Shinnecock Summer School on Long Island. He was happy at Shinnecock as he was able to practice open-air painting for twelve consecutive summers in an elegant environment he enjoyed. He taught two days every week and then… I imagine him in his veranda… overlooking the ocean, among members of his family, content and overwhelmed by the changing effects of light, creating some of his finest, vivid landscapes.

**William Merritt Chase,** American painter, 1849-1916
**Idle Hours (detail),** 1894, oil on canvas, 90.17×64.77 cm, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Texas
https://gallerythane.com/products/william-merritt-chase-fine-art-print-idle-hours

To celebrate the Summer Solstice of 2021, I chose to present the 1894 painting Idle Hours by William Merritt Chase exhibited today at Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Texas. The painting shows the artist’s wife in a red bonnet with two of her daughters and possibly his sister-in-law. The group enjoys a perfect day of sunshine and sea breeze while indulging in the idyllic pastime of reading outdoors. The Shinnecock dunes and beach, the yellowy, summer greens of the landscape and the flickering light, create a painting of summer bliss I particularly enjoy… and hope, you will enjoy as well… https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/idle-hours-william-merritt-chase/aAGRt5_rnKp-qw and https://www.wga.hu/html_m/c/chase/idlehour.html

For a Student Activity, please… Check HERE!