New Flower (June 24, 2024) – White Peace Rose
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Category Archives: History
Sculpture Saturday – More Fun Sculptures from Dundee
More Trios From the Inn
…items are constantly being moved around or brought out of storage
If you have any trios to share I’d love to see them. Just copy my link from this post and paste it into your post. I’ll be sure to check it out.
Monday Mural Behind the Flatiron Building
..created by Canadian artist Derek Michael Besant
The mural, “trompe l’oeil”, is on the back of the Gooderham Building or more commonly known as the Flatiron Building. It appears to be a canvas screwed onto the façade with the edges of the canvas fluttering in the wind.
The Gooderham Building, is located on the wedge shaped corner of Wellington East, Front, and Scott Streets and was built in 1891. It was owned by George Gooderham who owned numerous properties throughout the city, including the Gooderham Distillery. He was one of the richest men in Canada and yet was relatively unknown.
Thursday Trios – July 6, 2023
…trios from Montgomery’s Inn
If you have any trios you’d like share, just copy my link and paste it into your post. I’ll be sure to leave a comment.
Weekly Prompts Weekend Challenge – Old
….thanks to Sue W and GC for hosting Weekly Prompts https://weeklyprompts.com/2023/02/11/weekly-prompts-weekend-challenge-old/
Getting old is not just a number but it’s a state of mind and declining physical abilities. We need to work at staying in shape and it becomes harder as we get older but the benefits outweigh the aches and pains that may come with it. Not caring how you look is not embracing old age or aging gracefully. Even though my husband is suffering with pain and discomfort he would never think about going out, even to a doctor’s appointment without showering first and putting on clean clothes.
As plants get older they wither and dry up. Our pets get grey around the muzzle and they slow down and sleep more. My grandmother was very wrinkled but she stayed active right up to her last three years of her life. She walked everywhere, rode her bike and travelled. My father was the same. He was less wrinkled but he walked every day, worked on his crosswords and at 90 he made one last trip overseas to visit his younger brother. He wasn’t without his faults and as he got older he said things that could be hurtful but in his mind he was just being ‘honest’. He passed at 94.
Furniture and paintings fade as they get older if they aren’t properly cared for. Books and papers yellow and can get musty and brittle. Old things in museums are stored in carefully crafted atmospheres to slow down the aging process and skilled hands can bring masterpieces back to life for future generations to experience and enjoy.
Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge – Missing
….thanks to Sue and her partner over at Weekly Prompts for hosting this challenge https://weeklyprompts.com/2022/05/25/weekly-prompts-wednesday-challenge-missing/
*WARNING* if you are offended by nudity in art or the antiquities you may not want to continue reading this post. Just saying…..
On our trip to London this year we spent a couple of hours at the British Museum. We went there primarily to see the Stonehenge Exhibition but our tickets were time sensitive so we decided to pass some time in the other galleries. The first gallery, on your right as you enter the museum, houses some of the collection donated by Hans Sloane who was directly responsible for the opening of the British Museum. He donated some 71 000 pieces from his personal collection on the premise that the museum itself would remain free of charge to the British people and anyone outside of Britain who wanted to see it. Sloane is not without his dark side and in recent years it was revealed that much of his collection and wealth were derived from slavery. In 2020 his bust was removed from the entrance and moved into the gallery next door and encased under glass with an explanation as to how slavery contributed to his wealth.
In this same gallery are many statues from ancient Greece and Rome. It is here that I found the ‘missing’ component of this post. It is not unusual to see parts of these statues with missing limbs and even heads but it seemed that every single nude male had his penis removed, not broken off but actually sliced off. I found this odd and I wondered why so I did some research.
Many scholars believe that the missing appendages fell off during an earthquake, which was quite a common occurrence in Greece and Rome but others believe that converts to Christianity back in the 5th century were offended by the exposed genitalia and the parts were consequently emasculated or were provided with a loincloth (cemented in place). In later years some believe that missionaries, dealers and some collectors had a hand in removing parts that they deemed offensive. This scant disrespect for the integrity of the items may explain the condition of the statues and sculptures that I witnessed on the day I visited.
In 1857 Queen Victoria was gifted a full scale cast of Michelangelo’s David . She was apparently so taken aback by the frontal nudity that the museum commissioned a fig leaf to conceal the offending genitalia for subsequent visits of Her Royal Majesty. On my our first trip to the V&A our son pointed out the gold plated fig leaf and explained the significance to us. We found it quite amusing.
If you want more information about how and why this happened you may find this paper by Jeremy MacClancy interesting.
Cutting and Covering Up Ethnographica: The Culture of Curatorshiphttps://www.theasa.org/publications/asaonline/articles/asaonline_0108.shtml
Thursday Trios – Random Trios From Our Vacation
….scrolling through my photos I discovered there were a few trios that I had forgotten about
If you have any trios you’d like to share just copy my link from this post and paste it into your post. I’ll get a ping back and I’ll be sure to leave a comment. Have fun.
Gargoyles in France
…..they’re everywhere…..on and in churches and castles
Did you know that gargoyles are more than decorative motifs on the sides of buildings? Most serve a very practical function.
Gargoyles are designed to allow rainwater to run off from the roof, usually through the mouth of the creature, man or animal that it is fashioned after. They were the precursor to gutters and rain spouts.
Historians also say that gargoyles were designed to protect a location and the people therein from negativity and unwanted spirits.
Castles in France – Part 3
….a visit to Blois to see Chateau Royal de Blois
The interesting part of this castle is that it has four wings from four different eras and in four different styles, arranged around the same courtyard.
From the Outside
Inside the Courtyard
Inside the Château
The wing remained an empty shell covered by an impressive oval dome…..the wing now houses temporary exhibition rooms
In the next post I will share the gardens and the views from the château.
Mama Cormier 