‘A Dove’ – Not just any dove, of course, it is the Holy Spirit. And this is a remarkably rare sighting of it in the Nativity. I can’t, off the top of my head, think of another example, although apparently there are a few, particularly in paintings from Antwerp in the early 16th Century. ItContinue reading “An Advent Calendar – 9”
Category Archives: Angels
An Advent Calendar – 5
A Capital Today we are looking at another column, and like the one yesterday, it might be made from Rosso di Verona, although seeing it like this, I doubt it. It’s a deeper red, for one thing, and it has dark, almost black veins in it. Not only that: it has a very high shine,Continue reading “An Advent Calendar – 5”
An Advent Calendar – 2
Angels Angels have just as much as a right as the star to be present at the Nativity. They are mentioned in all four gospels, as it happens, although Mark only mentions them when Jesus is tempted by the devil, and John has one stirring the waters of the pool of Bethesda, and more appearingContinue reading “An Advent Calendar – 2”
112 …and so, ‘Farewell’…
Giotto, The Scrovegni Chapel, c. 1305, Padua. This is it, the very last ‘Scrovegni Saturday’. When I started out on this strand I had no idea what was coming, but I feel I understand Giotto’s decoration far better than I did before – and inevitably I also have far more questions about it than previously!Continue reading “112 …and so, ‘Farewell’…”
110 – The Ascension
Giotto, The Ascension of Christ, c. 1305, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua. Welcome back to Scrovegni Saturday – and I mean the Saturday bit specifically! Having said that, I think there are only two more to go. One next week (or the week after, to be honest), to look at the final image, and a ‘coda’ toContinue reading “110 – The Ascension”
109 – Death and Resurrection
Giotto, The Lamentation over the Dead Christ and The Resurrection, c. 1305, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua. I know – the whole idea of ‘Scrovegni Saturday’ was blown apart weeks back when I first failed to hit the deadline, but never before have I been early. So welcome to the first, and presumably only, ‘Scrovegni Friday’. I’mContinue reading “109 – Death and Resurrection”
104 – Don’t touch!
Fede Galizia, Noli mi tangere, 1616, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan. Great news this week, which I know some of you will have heard already. But just in case you haven’t, I’m glad to let you know that the National Gallery has managed to completely re-schedule the Artemisia Gentileschi exhibition. And not only that, but theyContinue reading “104 – Don’t touch!”
Day 99 – Paradise
Giovanni di Paolo, Paradise, 1445, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Since yesterday, nothing drastic has happened – and so I give you a vision of Paradise, the rabbits, more numerous since the days of Adam and Eve, still nibbling peaceably at the grass. I don’t know about you, but back in the middle of March IContinue reading “Day 99 – Paradise”
Day 98 – Out of Eden
Giovanni di Paolo, The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise, 1445, Metropolitain Museum of Art, New York. I alluded yesterday (Picture Of The Day 97) to the medieval conception of the Universe, in relation to the tapestries across the top of the walls in the tower of The Lady of Shalott – so what betterContinue reading “Day 98 – Out of Eden”
Day 89 – The Baptism
Juan de Pareja, The Baptism of Christ, 1660s, The Prado, Madrid. Yesterday we saw Velázquez’ beautiful portrait of Juan de Pareja, and last Thursday, Pareja’s own Flight into Egypt (Picture Of The Day 85 & 88). Today, I want to look at his Baptism of Christ. As only ten of Pareja’s works have so far been identified, talking aboutContinue reading “Day 89 – The Baptism”
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