idle speculationsidle speculationsA series of postings on subjects I like-Catholicism, history, art, Italy,and whatever grabs me at the time Articles
Émile Bernard
2008-02-24 14:14:00 Émile Bernard (April 28, 1868 ? April 16, 1941)Virgin and Saints 1895.Hand-colored lithograph. 615 x 410 mm.Émile Bernard (April 28, 1868 ? April 16, 1941)The Way of the Cross 1895.Émile Bernard (April 28, 1868 ? April 16, 1941)The Passion: The Way of the Cross 1895.Émile Bernard (April 28, 1868 ? April 16, 1941)The Annunciation 1890Oil on canvas34.9 x 47 cmThyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid.Émile Bernard (April 28, 1868 ? April 16, 1941)Crucifixion 1894.353 x 150 mm.WoodcutMuseum of Fine Art, San Francisco.Émile Bernard (April 28, 1868 ? April 16, 1941) is best known as a Post-Impressionist painter who maintained close relations to Van Gogh and Gauguin, and, at a later time, to Cézanne.Symbolism and religious motifs appear in both Bernard`s work.During the summer of 1889, Bernard was alone in Le Pouldu and began to paint many religious canvasses. He was upset that he had to do commercial work at the same time that he wanted to create these pieces.Bernard wrote about his relationship...
Rosary
2008-02-23 12:58:00 Netherlandish Painter (possibly Goswijn van der Weyden, active by 1491, died after 1538), ca. 1515?20The Fifteen Mysteries and the Virgin of the RosaryOil on wood; (a) 9 7/8 x 21 in. (25.1 x 53.3 cm); (b?p) each 5 x 4 1/8 in. (12.7 x 10.5 cm)Metropolitan Museum, New York Depicted in this miniature altarpiece are the fifteen mysteries associated with the Virgin's life: five joyful, five sorrowful, and five glorious.The scene at the base seems related to a legend of a miracle that saved a man from his captors: the Christ Child, held by the Virgin, unfurls a rosary of white and red roses made from blossoms that issue from the man's mouth each time he recites a Hail Mary.The picture includes a topographical view of the park and Coudenberg Palace of the dukes of Brabant in Brussels and must have been commissioned for a member of the Habsburg court"The Rosary beadsThe traditional aid used for the recitation of the Rosary is the set of beads. At the most superficial level, the beads ofte...
Volto Santo
2008-02-22 22:12:00 "Volto Santo :(Italian: ?Sacred Face?). A large wooden Crucifix in Lucca Cathedral, on which Christ is shown fully robed. According to an early medieval tradition this Crucifix was an actual portrait of Christ made by Nicodemus, who had helped to bury him. It is said to have been in Lucca from the 8th century, but the present Volto Santo is perhaps a 13th-century copy of an 8th-century original. The commercial importance of Lucca in the Middle Ages helps to explain the appearance of a number of 12th-?15th-century copies of the Volto Santo throughout Europe." From The Oxford Dictionary of Art"To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ....The Gospel scene of Christ's transfiguration, in which the three Apostles Peter, James and John appear entranced by the beauty of the Redeemer, can be seen as an icon of Christian contemplation.To look upon the face of Christ, to recognize its mystery amid the daily events and the sufferings of his human li...
Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni
2008-02-22 21:36:00 Francesco Trevisani (1656-1746)Portrait of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni [1700]Oil on canvas 134.3 cm x 98.5 cmBowes Museum in Barnard Castle, Durham The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, Durham has a collection of paintings which presents a comprehensive survey of European art from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuriesIt possesses one of the largest collections of Spanish paintings in Britain. The collection of French paintings is also the largest in the country.One of its fine portraits is that of Pietro Ottoboni, who became a cardinal in 1689 (above).He was a mecenas of the arts in early 18th century Rome, gathering about him the most prominent musicians (including the young Handel, Arcàngelo Corelli, Antonio Vivaldi and Antonio Caldara), writers and artists (Sebastiano Conca, Sebastiano Ricci and Francesco Trevisani) of his day.He was the grandnephew of Pope Alexander VIII. Ottoboni was the last person to hold the curial office of Cardinal Nephew, which was abolished by Alexander V...
The Exhibition of the Inquisition
2008-02-21 20:52:00 Joseph Nicolas Robert-Fleury (1797 - 1890),Galileo before the Holy Office 1847,Oil on CanvasMusée du Louvre , Paris Secret documents from Holy Inquisition revealed is the title of an article in The Times.Secret documents from the archives of the Holy Inquisition went on public show for the first time in RomeSixty documents are on display at the Vittoriano Museum on Piazza Venezia in the centre of Rome included a collection of maps of Jewish settlements across Italy, "the oldest evidence we have of the ghettos''.There are also decrees from the Inquisition's Index of Forbidden Books, including a ban on the Renaissance poet and writer Ludovico Ariosto, with detailed comments by the censor on why Arisoto's work was unacceptable.Vatican officials said the exhibition would run for only a month because of the "fragile nature" of the documents. More About: Exhibition
Harder rules to become a saint
2008-02-20 20:31:00 Paul Delaroche [French, 1797-1856]Young Christian Martyr1855Oil on canvas, 171 x 148 cmMusée du Louvre, Paris What does it take to be a saint ?It is to be harder to become a saint. Or at least declared to be one.Pope Benedict XVI has instructed Vatican and diocesan officials to use stricter criteria when assessing candidates for sainthood and beatification.Richard Owen of The Times reports that a document made public in the Vatican calls on bishops to show ''greater sobriety and rigour'' when accepting requests to begin the first phase of proceedings.Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, head of the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saint s, said "certain aspects" of investigating miracles required for canonisation and beatification had proved "problematic'' over the past two decades.He said that during the pontificate of John Paul II, prospective saints from countries the Pope was about to visit or which lacked a local saint had sometimes been "fast-tracked".The new instructions... More About: Rules
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill (again)
2008-02-20 20:11:00 The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill has just completed its passage through the House of Lords and will be debated in the House of Commons in the next few weeks.There are amendments to the Bill which would limit embryo research, recognise the need for children to have knowledge of their biological father, and which would reduce rather than increase the numbers of abortions. The Bill even allows the creation of animal and human hybrid embryos for research.However the Labour Government will not allow its MPs in the House of Commons a free vote on matters relating to the Bill other than in relation to abortion.If you are a British citizen, you can sign a petition on-line requesting that the Government allow all its members a free vote on all matters in the Bill which have caused great concern.Here, you can sign the petition.
Re-discovering Batoni
2008-02-20 19:57:00 Pompeo Batoni (Lucca 1708 - Rome 1787)Pius VI 1775Oil on Canvascm. 98x135Palazzo Braschi, Museum of RomeArtists achieve the heights of popularity. Then often they are forgotten quickly and plunge the depths of oblivion. Maybe many years later, they are "re-discovered".Pompeo Batoni (Lucca 1708 - Rome 1787) is one such artist.The National Gallery in London has an exhibition of some of his works until May 2008.He was an Italian painter whose style incorporated elements of the French Rococo, Bolognese classicism, and nascent Neoclassicism.He specialized in portraits, for which he achieved international fame. He countedseveral popes among his patrons as well as Frederick the Great and Catherine of Russia. Members of the British nobility on the "Grand Tour" made a pont of having their portrait by him.He was also a well established painter of religious and mythological pictures.Amongst the important personages of his time who wished to be portrayed by him was Pius VI (pontiff from 1775 to...
La Mi-Carême
2008-02-19 20:38:00 Fritz Zuber-Buhler (1822-1896)La Mi-Carême [The Third Thursday in Lent]Oil on canvas49 x 67 1/2 inches (124.5 x 171.5 cm)Private collection La Mi-Carême was an ancient festival in Francophone countries: still celebrated in certain villages in France and in some Francophone areas of Canada. The celebration closely resembled that of Mardi Gras in Louisiana.It falls half-way in the Lenten season: the Thursday of the third entire week of Lent.
Newman and Westmacott
2008-02-18 19:03:00 "Go: and sin no more" 1849Richard Westmacott, the Younger, (III)R.A. 1799 - 1872Marble relief 997 X 689 mmRoyal Academy of Arts, London Richard Westmacott (the younger) (1799 - 19 April 1872) - also sometimes described as Richard Westmacott III (to distinguish him from his father and grandfather - both sculptors bearing the same name) - was a prominent English sculptor of the early- and mid-19th century.He succeeded his father to serve as the RA's professor of sculpture (1857-1868). However he is eclipsed by his father Sir Richard Westmacott (1775-1856) who was a student of Canova and whose output was prodigious.He was at Ealing School with Newman and remained a close friend of Newman`s at least until his conversion.Newman commissioned Westmacott to execute a memorial for Mrs Jemina Newman at Littlemore when she died in 1836. The memorial was executed about 1837.He also executed a bust of Newman see below.
China and the Vatican
2008-02-18 18:55:00 Under the over-optimistic title China repents and seeks to woo Pope The Sunday Times reports on further confidential discussions between The Vatican and China regarding the nomalisation of relations."TEMPTED by the prize of a historic visit to China by Pope Benedict XVI, the nation?s leaders have authorised a renewed effort in confidential discussions with the Vatican to heal their rift and inaugurate diplomatic ties.The talks have intensified over recent months, leading some diplomatic observers in Beijing to believe the Chinese may be seeking to announce a deal before the Olympic Games in August.Liu Bainian, the de facto head of Beijing?s official Patriotic Church, has said on several occasions that he would like to welcome the Pope to China once an agreement has been reached.While the Vatican says it has received no formal invitation, observers say Liu?s words would have been uttered only with approval from the highest levels.The announcement of mutual recognition and a papal vis... More About: The Vatican
John Paul II and Stabat Mater
2008-02-16 23:01:00 Stabat MaterJune 2007MosaicThe Chapel of the University Clinic King Umberto IViale Regina Elena, 324Rome The Committee which instructed the work for the Chapel for the University Clinic Umberto I in Rome wanted a work to represent the Servant of God Pope John Paul II because of his many years of illness and the way in which he bore his afflictions.Here we see the late Pope taking the place of the Apostle John in the scene of the Stabat Mater.For more about the Centro Aletti, see here for the website. (Some of the pages are in English).
Transfiguration 2
2008-02-16 22:39:00 Centro AlettiThe TransfigurationDecember 2007MosaicSanctuary of Our Lady of LourdesBasilica of the RosaryLourdesFrance Elijah and Moses are the two larger figures on the right standing behind the three Apostles.Moses represents the Law and Elijah the Prophets of the Old Testament. Without the Old Testament, there would not be the New Testament.Christ represents the true LightAccording to the Fathers, the eyes of the Apostles opened and saw the Light which never dims on the face of Christ. Later those eyes would see the Saviour tortured and put to death.
Transfiguration
2008-02-16 19:13:00 Marko Ivan Rupnik S.J.(b. 1954) and the Atelier del Centro Aletti, RomeThe Transfiguration on Mount Tabor (December 2002)MosaicThe Church of Saints James and JohnMilanChrist of the Transfiguration (detail) from The Transfiguration on Mount Tabor (December 2002)MosaicThe Church of Saints James and JohnMilanLeft side: the Apostles Peter and John (detail) from The Transfiguration on Mount Tabor (December 2002)MosaicThe Church of Saints James and JohnMilanRight side: the Apostle John (detail) from The Transfiguration on Mount Tabor (December 2002)MosaicThe Church of Saints James and JohnMilan"Awestruck at the sight of the transfigured Lord who was speaking with Moses and Elijah, Peter, James and John were suddenly overshadowed by a cloud, out of which came a voice which proclaimed: "This is my beloved Son on whom my favour rests; listen to him" (Mk 9: 7).When one has the grace to live a strong experience of God, it is as if one is living an experience similar to that of the disciples du...
Monet painting exposed as a fake
2008-02-16 14:03:00 The Times reports on a painting that the Wallraf-Richartz Museum and Foundation Corboud in Cologne has displayed as a Monet original is a fakeResearchers used X-rays, infrared technology and paint tests to examine the work, along with 70 others.It was noted that the painter's name was retraced so that it would be darker. “This does not happen with an original. The artist just throws his signature on to the canvas. Also, the painting was made over a drawing that was clearly not in Monet's style,†a spokesman said.He added that a colourless substance had been added to the canvas, to make it appear older. The original was produced in 1894.The painting will remain on display, although the museum said that it would be clearly marked as a fake. More About: Painting , Fake
Pope Benedict XVI and St Bonaventure
2008-02-16 13:41:00 Bagnoregio: Birthplace of St Bonaventure, and where his last remaining relics lie Zenit has an article on the Doctoral Thesis of Pope Benedict XVI written in 1957.Its subject was: St. Bonaventure's theology of historyFather Pietro Messa, director of the Antonian Pontifical University `s faculty of medieval and Franciscan studies states that to understand the papacy of Benedict XVI, one should become familiar with his formation as a theologianRegarding the role of Father Ratzinger's thesis in Benedict XVI's pontificate, Father Messa said, "There are many elements in this study that could have a correspondence in the magisterium of the Pontiff," such as the centrality of Christ, supported by St. Bonaventure and fully present in the papal magisterium.The priest referred further to words from well known Dominican theologian Father Yves Congar."Beginning from this study and the issue of the relationship between the local Churches and the universal Church, which played such a big role ... More About: Pope Benedict
Blogging: Hiatus
2008-02-07 19:06:00 For the next two weeks, there will be no posting on the blog. More About: Blogging , Hiatus
The Jewel off Leicester Square
2008-02-06 22:05:00 Jean Cocteau (5 July 1889 ? 11 October 1963)The Angel of the Annunciation: Detail from The Annunciation 1959MuralThe Church of Notre Dame de France, off Leicester Square , London Off Leicester Square in London, next door to the Prince Charles Cinema and close to China Town is a little jewel of a Church. Unfortunately the throngs of tourists in the area are probably blissfully unaware of its existence. Which is a pity.It is a beautiful church. More importantly, the services are a delight. Lively, friendly, welcoming and enthusiastic are adjectives which spring to mind.Some of the masses are in French. Don`t let that put you off. Even someone like me with only schoolboy French can get by.Even if you cannot make a service, the church is worth a visit. Many architects and sculptors as well as artists like Boris Anrep , Jean Cocteau, Robert de Chaunac and Charlotte Cochrane have contributed to the visual enhancement of the church.Of the murals by Jean Cocteau, (the Annunciation and the Cr... More About: Jewel
Thinking Faith
2008-02-06 21:20:00 Thinking Faith is a new site launched on 18th January 2008 by the Company of Jesus. Very professional with articles on religious themes of a very high quality.Worth more than just a visit.Two articles in particular caught my attention.Dawkins: what he, and we, need to learn by Gerard J Hughes SJ Oxford philosopher, Gerard J Hughes SJ, takes a critical look at the views of the 'arch-enemy of religion', Richard Dawkins, but also notes how the attitudes and behaviour of some Christians play into his hands.On Christian Hope: The New Encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI by James Corkery SJ James Corkery SJ, of Dublin's Milltown Institute analyses the message of the Pope's latest encyclical, Spe Salvi. More About: Thinking
Lenten Roses
2008-02-06 21:02:00 Anne Redpath 1895-1965Lenten Roses 1960Watercolour on board584 x 787 mmTate Gallery, London Lenten roses flower in early spring, around the period of Lent.Despite their name, they are not roses but hellebores.Hellebores are widely grown in gardens for decorative purposes, as well as for their purported medicinal abilities.Anne Redpath (1895?1965) was a Scottish artist whose vivid domestic still-lifes are among her best-known works.In the 1950s and early 1960s she also travelled in Europe, painting in Spain, the Canary Islands, Corsica, Brittany, Venice and elsewhere.A Scottish Protestant, she discovered the richness of Catholic imagery and this is explored in her later work. Some later works reflect religious influences, especially paintings of altars in The Chapel of St Jean - Treboul (1954) and Venetian Altar.
Laborare est orare
2008-02-05 19:49:00 John Rogers Herbert (1810-1890)Laborare est Orare (1862)Oil on canvassupport: 972 x 1759 mmTate Gallery, London Cistercian monks are shown working in a stone-walled Leicestershire field, and harvesting crops. The title (part of one of the famous sayings of St Benedict) suggests the strict rule of life at Mount Saint Bernard Abbey. The Abbey in Coalville, Leicestershire is shown in the distance, the first male only abbey to have been built in England since the Reformation. It was founded in 1835 as a continuation of the dissolved Garendon Abbey, which provided a spiritual sanctuary between 1133-1538.Like Augustus Pugin, the architect of the abbey, Herbert was a Roman Catholic. It was through Pugin`s influence that Herbert converted to Roman Catholicism sometime around 1840. From then on he painted religious subjects.Herbert shows himself drawing piously in the foreground alongside the Trappist monks.The artist described his work as:"And some fell upon the rock: and as soon as it was ...
A Rosary Bead
2008-02-04 20:40:00 Rosary bead, carved in boxwoodThe Netherlands, around AD 1500-30The British Museum, London The Crucifixion Open full view The Annunciation Of this precious exhibit in The British Museum, London, C.H. Read, in The Waddesdon Bequest: Catalog (1902) wrote:"A rosary bead (sometimes referred to as a 'prayer nut' or 'paternoster bead') is characteristic of the minutely detailed, small-scale boxwood carvings used for private devotion.These types of delicate and complex objects were owned by members of the nobility or wealthy merchant classes in northern Europe, and were highly prized as masterpieces of carving and invention.A complete rosary, bearing the arms of England and probably dating to the first third of the sixteenth century, survives in the collections of the Dukes of Devonshire.This spherical bead is carved on the outside with Gothic architectural detail, while the interiors are carved variously with scenes from the Old Testament and the New Testament.The upper half is fitte...
The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist
2008-02-03 11:01:00 PUVIS de CHAVANNES, Pierre-Cécile [1824 - 1898]The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist [about 1869]Oil on canvas 240 x 316.2 cmThe National Gallery, London Puvis de Chavannes was widely admired in his day for the grandeur and decorative subtlety of his large-scale, multi-figure compositions of allegorical subjects. But it was not always so.In 1852 and in the two following years Puvis's pictures were rejected by the Salon. The public laughed at his work as loudly as at that of Courbet but the young painter was none the less warmly defended by Théophile Gautier and Théodore de Banville. For nine years he was excluded from the Salons.Salome's features are thought to be based on those of the Princess Cantacuzène, who married Puvis de Chavannes in 1897.The figure of Herod standing on the right may be based on the novelist Anatole France.The cross which Saint John the Baptist holds as the executioner prepares to strike is the focus of the composition.The composition emphasises the Bapti... More About: Heading
Art of Light
2008-02-03 10:24:00 Esau gives up his birthright in exchange for a meal of pottage. Art of Light : German Renaissance Stained Glass is one of the National Gallery's latest exhibitions [in London] running to 17 February 2008.The climax of the exhibition is a full-sized recreation of a magnificent stained glass window from the Abbey of Mariawald.The window shows beautiful landscapes and biblical scenes including a representation of Genesis 25:29-34 wherein Esau, desperately hungry, gives up his birthright in exchange for a meal of pottage.The window is considered by many to represent the finest work of glass painters of the early 16th century
The Bacon Priest
2008-02-02 10:26:00 Father Werenfried van Straaten (1913-2003) founded the charity Aid to the Church in Need in 1947.Zenit reports on the dedication of a lecture hall named after him at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.Father Van Straaten, a Dutch Norbertine priest and religious, was described by his contemporaries as a "giant of charity" and as "the greatest beggar in the Church's history."The charity he founded supports pastoral projects in some 140 countries.In 1947, he started his appeal to aid the hungry and destitute in post-war Germany. So much bacon was collected that Father Werenfried was given his nickname of "The Bacon Priest ".A short biography is given here.
Calvary and Death
2008-02-01 22:49:00 LEGROS Alphonse 1837-1911Le Calvaire c.1874Oil on canvas91.5,x. 72.5 cmMusée d'Orsay, Paris LEGROS Alphonse 1837-1911Le Christ mort 1888Oil on canvas2.5, .x 1.51 mMusée d'Orsay, Paris More About: Death
Clerical Subjects
2008-02-01 21:25:00 Alphonse Legros 1837-1911Rehearsing the Service circa 1870Oil on canvassupport: 914 x 1168 mmTate Gallery, LondonAlphonse Legros 1837-1911Interior of a Church with Kneeling Figures c.1865oil on canvas; 84 x 71 cmAshmolean Museum, OxfordAlphonse Legros (May 8, 1837 - December 8, 1911), painter and etcher, was born in Dijon.In 1859 Legros's Angelus was exhibited, the first of those quiet church interiors, with kneeling figures of patient women, by which he is best known as a painter.Ex Voto (1861), a work of great power and insight, now in the museum at Dijon, was received by his friends with enthusiasm, but it only obtained a mention at the Salon.He moved to London in 1863, and from then exhibited both at the Royal Academy and the Paris Salon. At first he had followed the example of Courbet in style, but in the later 1860s came to admire Ingres and the Italian old masters, and emphasised outline and local colour in his paintings. He was also interested in Spanish painters in this pe... More About: Clerical
Moreau
2008-01-31 22:00:00 MOREAU, GUSTAVE (1826-1898)Salomé Dancing before Herod1876Oil on canvas56 5/8 x 40 5/8 inches (144 x 103.5 cm)Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Centre, Los Angeles,A small but select group of writers expressed their great admiration for Moreau, among them the French novelist J.-K. Huysmans, Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust and André Breton.Wilde was inspired to write his play Salome in part as a result of viewing of Moreau's painting (1874-76) of the princess who, in exchange for agreeing to dance before her stepfather, King Herod, demands the head of John the Baptist.Marcel Proust devoted a 10-page meditative essay to Moreau. He makes reference to a number of the paintings, most prominently to Bathsheba (c. 1886 and 1890), based on the biblical story.André Breton was another Moreau admirer. In his biography of the inventor of Surrealism, Mark Polizzotti writes:?But the artistic discovery that had by far the greatest impact [on Breton] was the Gustave Moreau museum.... The fact th...
Song of Songs
More articles from this author:2008-01-30 21:45:00 Gustave Moreau (April 6, 1826 ? April 18, 1898)Song of Songs 1853Oil on CanvasMusée des Beaux Arts Diogione Gustave Moreau (April 6, 1826 ? April 18, 1898) was a French Symbolist painter.Moreau's main focus was the illustration of biblical and mythological figures. As a painter of literary ideas rather than visual images, he appealed to the imaginations of some Symbolist writers and artists, who saw him as a precursor to their movement.He defined his art as a "passionate silence"He taught at the Ecole des Beaux Arts from 1892 until his death. He was a teacher of students such as Roualt and Matisse 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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