This Ancient Greek statuette, a votive offering showing a pregnant women wearing a supportive binder, speaks to the palpable fears and worries that pregnant women from this part of history all faced. The figurine’s mouth seems to be contorted in pain, perhaps due to her labor. In the Ancient Greek world, when a woman became […]
Troubling Childbirth in Ancient Greece Read More »
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 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 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 »
Remedio Varo is much better known in Mexico than in the US, but she produced hundreds of paintings that evoke the subconsciousness. Her contributions to the Surrealist movement added not only lovely, dreamlike art, but also a perspective that imagined women as central figures with their own designs — definitely a break from the images
Remedio Varo an accomplished Surrealist artist Read More »
Sex and sin have a complicated history in Christian tradition. In the Middle Ages in Western Europe, Church theologians argued that sex itself was not evil, but enjoying it was. As Pope Gregory the Great wrote to Augustine of Canterbury around 600, “lawful intercourse should be for the procreation of offspring, and not for mere
Sex and Sin During the Middle Ages Read More »
Who wouldn’t be captivated by the Homeric rendition of the Goddess Athena? (-or this fabulous 6th-c BCE painting of her on display at the New York Met?) The Ancient Goddess of wisdom got away with behaviors completely off-limits to actual Athenian women during the city’s 5th-century “golden age,” when those born with XX chromosomes were
Athena as “Mentor” in the Odyssey and Her Identity in Ancient Greece Read More »
Right now (fall 2024) at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, there is a fabulous exhibit on Tibetian Mandalas, and here is one that is perfect for the current Halloween season.Mandalas in Tibetian Buddhism are artistic representations of the spiritual universe, often comprised of geometric shapes and featuring specific deities that reflect different aspects
_Nosferatu: a Symphony of Horror_ is one of the world’s most famous films. Released as a silent movie with a musical soundtrack background, its portrayal of Count Orlok as the rat-faced, hulking vampire who brings death to the fictional village of Wisborg, Germany, is still easily recognized over 100 years later. (In fact, a remake
Nosferatu and World War I Read More »
The first known person to discover an element relied on pee and actually was looking for the Philosopher’s Stone. Henning Brand used up the financial resources of three people – himself, his first wife, and his second wife – in the focused pursuit of finding a way to turn base metals into gold. Alchemy favored
Alchemist Henning Brand and Phosphorous Read More »
In the Sufi tradition of Islam, the role of Satan takes a very different direction than other Abrahamic traditions. Called Iblis, this angel is a true monotheist – unlike all the other angels, Iblis refused to prostrate himself to Adam. True, God had commanded the angels to do so, but whereas in most branches of
Iblis Traditions of Islam Read More »
Statue of Shiva from West Bengal, 1100. The vertical third eye and matted hair are typical features of the Hindu deity – his face on the right represents benevolence, on the left fierce protectiveness, and in the center his serenity – when this universal aspect of Shiva is emphasized his title is “Sadashiva.” From the
Shiva from West Bengal Read More »
The Hindu Goddess Durga was the original demon-slayer. As this sandstone carving made about 750 CE (from India) shows, she has a multitude of weapons that help her take down her opponents – in this case, the buffalo-demon Mahishasuramardini. The legend goes that the buffalo demon – who represents ignorance – was destroying the whole
Hindu Goddess Durga Read More »
This terracotta figure of a merchant dates from seventh-to-eighth century Tang China and is testimony to the role of long-distance trade along the Silk Road and other conduits. I also think this guy looks like Dr. Strange, so there’s that.
Chinese Terracotta Merchant Figurine Read More »
The scholar-elite class of dynastic China were not always engrossed in studying or affairs of state. This gourd with ivory-carved lid held live crickets, who were set to fight in staged cricket matches for the amusement of the Chinese intelligentsia. From 19th-century Qing China, the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Chinese Ivory Gourds Read More »
This drawing shows Jesus as a child, taking the birds he has just shaped out of clay and turning them into real sparrows. It is a sweet story, part of a passage from a (possibly late first century) text known as “The Infancy Gospel of St Thomas,” never accepted as cannonical by the Church. We
The Infancy Gospel of Saint Thomas Read More »
Eighth-century Spain witnessed the conquest of the Christian kingdom of the Visigoths by Muslims and the fracturing of the Iberian peninsula into various kingdoms. It was in this era the Spanish monk Beatus of Liebana (d. 785) wrote a book called _Commentary on the Apocolypse_, and depicted here is an extremely rare painting from a
Conquest of the Visigoth Christian Kingdom by Muslims Read More »
“Greek Fire,” the famous naval weapon of the Byzantine Empire, was a liquid projectile that burst into flames after spewing out of pressurized nozzles, and kept burning as it floated on water. This is a twelfth-century illustration of Greek Fire in action. The eleventh-century historian Anna Komnene has a great description of the theatrics involved
Greek Fire by the Byzantine Empire Read More »
A 17th-century wooden sculpture of Vishnu beginning the world. Symbolic features include the snake that Vishnu sleeps upon, the multi-headed Ananta, who has existed throughout the cycles of birth and destruction that permeate the universe. Also featured are seven sages so enlightened that they have transcended the episodic cycles of birth and decay, and nine
Vishnu Beginning the World Sculpture Read More »
This painting from 1494 is possibly a depiction of the famed Lucrezia Borgia appearing as Saint Catherine of Alexandria. The oxymoronic nature of such a depiction is obvious if we have heard of the many legends (incest, poisonings, etc) of this _femme fatale_. Of course, many of the tales are completely unproven, and probably can
The Powerful Lucrezia Borgia Read More »
