This 1st century BCE “Ara Pacis” celebrates fertility with breastfeeding children on a woman’s lap along with other symbols of fecundity. The artistic program matched with the mode of the day in Imperial Rome — the Republic had ended, and the new leader wanted to increase the population of elite Roman citizens. The birthrate among
Marriage and Children in Augustinian Rome Read More »
Many folks will soon celebrate Easter, and so I invite you to fall down the best sort of rabbit’s hole and investigate — Medieval bunnies! And sex, purity, hermaphrodites, and the Virgin Mary, because those things all co-existed in Medieval and Early Modern culture. The painting here, the “Madonna of the Rabbit,” painted by Titian
Easter Bunnies and Fertility Read More »
Costa Rica is the most ecologically minded country in the world, preserving 1/3 of its land for wilderness. The size of the US state of West Virginia, Costa Rica’s environment is incredibly diverse — it has rainforests, cloud forests, tropical beaches, dry uplands, and many, many volcanoes. Going on nature tours and hiking, I was
Costa Rica Wildlife Read More »
Here are some photographs of the coral reefs of the Cahuita National Park in Costa Rica, founded in 1970. Here, 5,600 acres of protected waters preserve 123 types of fish, 35 types of coral, along with a multitude of mollusks, crustaceans, and algae. In fact, the coral reef here is only one out of two
The Environment of Cahuita National Park Read More »
The National Park of Cahuita on the Carribean side of Costa Rica was created in 1970, and is part of the extensive system of wildlife protection which is the hallmark of that country. It includes 2,700 acres of tropical rainforest abutting a coral reef) containing an enormous range of biodiversity. You can see the vegetation
Cahuita National Park Read More »
The ruins of Guayaba, located in the Center of Costa Rica near the Turrialba Volcano, are the country’s most ancient. Those who dwelt here between 1000 BCE and 1400 CE stood at an epicenter of power in the region, and commanded excellent engineering skills which allowed them to construct underground aqueducts, wide imposing roads, and
This is me at Aquiares Coffee Estate, Costa Rica’s largest and oldest coffee plantation, where farmers and specialists have been growing coffee since 1880. As my tour guide Manuel explained, the product that so many people enjoy daily (and perhaps multiple times daily!) only comes to fruition after much time and effort.The Aquiares Coffee Estate
Costa Rica’s Coffee Production Read More »
Turrialba Volcano is the second-highest in Costa Rica, and as you can see, it is still active. At 10,958 feet/3,340 meters, one can see the Carribean from its peak on a clear day. Turrialba was known to the indigenous Huetar people, who may have given the volcano its name from their language (Turiri Aba, meaning
The Dep*rtment of G*vernment Eff*ciency, or DOGE, is a (currently) temporary organization that is not a Cabinet-level department of the U.S. government. Read the news to catch up on that one, but it’s not an accident that M*sk has embraced this acronym. Unlike his boss, M*sk is smart, and it is extremely unlikely that the
Black History month continues with the biographical sketch of Joseph Bologne, aka Chevalier de Saint-Georges. If you have the sound on, you can listen to a bit of this man’s violin concerto (No 2 in A Major, no. 5 op III). It is one of his many, many classical compositions, for the Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges Read More »
Black History Month continues with this gorgeous Medieval illustration of the Queen of Sheba, painted circa 1405. The queen’s dark skin contrasts with her flowing golden hair. Her willowy figure is accentuated by the drapes of her gown. Her beauty is both sensuous and regal, and in her hands she holds a scepter to indicate
The Queen of Sheba Read More »
Continuing with posts celebrating Black History Month, I bring you the artistic tradition of St Maurice in the Middle Ages. This beautiful sculpture of Saint Maurice resides at the Cathedral of Magedeberg and dates to the first half of the 1200s. Dressed as a soldier in chainmail, the figure clearly shows Maurice as an imposing
Black History Month is a wonderful occasion to talk about the legacy of the “Black Madonna” in Western European Medieval art. You are looking at one of the most revered statues from Medieval Spain, known as the Virgin of Montserrat, located in Catalonia and probably dating to the 12th century. Her skin and that of
This post starts off Black History Month with the incredible Josephine Baker, whose life deserves so much more attention than it’s usually given in the educational curriculum in the United States. Born in St Louis, Missouri, in 1906, Josephine (originally first named Freda) was raised in poverty, so she struck out for France in 1925
Josephine Baker, Performer and Spy Read More »
The Great Pyramid of Giza is almost unfathomably old, but new information about its construction gets published with such regularity that it’s worthy of a post to review what some of the most recent studies have postulated.A great mind-bender is that Egypt’s largest pyramid was built about 2,600 BCE, and the last Egyptian Pharaoh, Cleopatra
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Here is an example of a heavy wheeled plow, and if you’re thinking “so what?,” that might be because the ubiquity of our modern technology has made us jaded to more ordinary-looking inventions. But this plow was responsible for allowing major agricultural change in the Middle Ages, as a recent study focusing on farmland in
Agricultural Technology in Medieval Denmark Read More »
This is one of the most iconic scenes in Medieval art history: the death of King Harold at the Battle of Hastings of 1066 which sealed the deal for the Norman conquest of England. The embroidery here is of course the famous Bayeux Tapestry, created about a decade after that famous battle. And academics have
The Death of King Harold Read More »
This is Chief Oshkosh (ca. 1795-1858) of the Menominee Indigenous Americans, who occupied 10 million acres of land around Wisconsin until the US government forced a takeover. The Menominee had sided against the US in the War of 1812, but later helped the American government in a confrontation with the American Indigenous leader Black Hawk
Menominee Chief Oshkosh Read More »
“Coyotes, like humans, are unusually adaptable to their environments, which is why they have been making homes in urban places, like you see here. Unlike most other wild predators in the U.S., their populations have continued to thrive: where they had once been limited to the southwest and prairies of North America, they are now
Adaptability of Coyotes Read More »
“Sail to great Byzantium” (“Angels we have heard on high”)Sail to great Byzantium, eastern base of Ancient Rome.At the capital you’ll see St. Sophia’s massive dome.(Refrain): Goooooooooooold iconsBehold the great cityGoooooooooooold iconsHung up on the city wallsSilken robes the people wearFinest fabric anywherePurple color oh so rareRuler’s sign for those who bear(Refrain)Chariots in Blue and
“Sail to the great Byzantium” Christmas Carol Read More »
