Thanksgiving Thoughts....

John Fitzgerald Kennedy:
 
"As we express our gratitude, 

we must never forget 

that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, 

but to live by them."

 
Luis Egidio Meléndez, 1772

 

*

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. 

It turns what we have into enough, and more. 

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. 

It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, 

a stranger into a friend. 

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, 

and creates a vision for tomorrow.
by Melody Beattie 

 

*

Luis Meléndez, circa 1771

 

***

*

Happy Thanksgiving!

*
***

Remark:
Luis Egidio Meléndez (1716–1780) was a Spanish painter. 
Although he received little acclaim during his lifetime and died in poverty,
Meléndez is recognized today as the greatest Spanish still-life painter of the 18th century. 
His mastery of composition and light, 
and his remarkable ability to convey the volume and texture of individual objects 
enabled him to transform the most mundane of kitchen fare into powerful images.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Egidio_Mel%C3%A9ndez

Loving Easter Greetings.....

...with

Albrecht Dürer's

Young Hare

  "Junger Feldhase"  (1502)

*
*

Tizian's

  Madonna and child with St. Catherine and a Rabbit 
(1530, Louvre Paris)

*
*

The Holy Family with Three Hares

Albrecht Dürer, 1496

*
*
*

...with 

 
 fresh Easter farm eggs....

and....

"Osterglocken"  
- yes "Easter bells", that's what we also call Daffodils in Germany -

*
*
*

See the land, her Easter keeping,
Rises as her Maker rose.
Seeds, so long in darkness sleeping,
Burst at last from winter snows. 

 Earth with heaven above rejoices;
Fields and gardens hail the spring;
Shaughs and woodlands ring with voices,
While the wild birds build and sing. 




You, to whom your Maker granted
Powers to those sweet birds unknown,
Use the craft by God implanted;
Use the reason not your own.
Here, while heaven and earth rejoices,
Each his Easter tribute bring-
Work of fingers, chant of voices,
Like the birds who build and sing. 
 by Charles Kingsley


FROHE  OSTERN!

HAPPY  EASTER !

JOYEUSES  PAQUES !

The air is like a butterfly
With frail blue wings.
The happy earth looks at the sky
And sings.

Easter by Joyce Kilmer



*
*
*

*
*
*

Week 48 - Fashion in the 17th Century

Prince Charles Louis, Count Palatine, about 1637

Studio of Anthony van Dyck, 1599 - 1641

National Gallery, London

*

"A fashion is nothing but an induced epidemic"

George Bernhard Shaw

True?  What do you think?

Bonne Semaine!

Old Master's Autumn

Guiseppe Arcimboldo, 1527 - 1593

"....perfect in his uniqueness, as are only the great".

Autumn, 1573

Musee National du Louvre, Paris

A broken old tub is held together by some wicker branches in a somewhat make shift arrangement, 
and a head protrudes from it. It is the head of a rather rough sort of fellow,  and is made up of autumn produce.

His bulbous nose is a juicy pear, his healthy-looking cheek is a ripe apple, his chin is a pomegranate and his ear is a large mushroom, which could be a russula. It seems appropriate that the ear-ring should be an over-ripe, burst fig.    His head is crowned with red and white grapes, reddish vine-leaves and a gigantic squash,   thus reminding us of Arcimboldo's earlier depictions of Baccus.

The sumptuousness of the fruit is an indication of the fertility of autumn, and the sharp tongue which comes through the prickly lips seems to signal Autumn's joyful anticipation of culinary delights.

*

As in "The four seasons", in the series of "The four elements"

Arcimboldo assigned to any element a face formed by the most characteristic of any of them.

In addition, this series has an evident connection with "The four seasons".

Both series are organised by a hypothetical "axis of symmetry",

confronting the air with the spring, the summer with the fire,

and the autumn with the earth.

Earth, around 1570

Private collection, Vienna

...a head which consists of over forty different animals...

The ibex, an animal which lives in the Tyrolean mountains, has been inserted in the back of the neck,

together with the rhinoceros, the mule, the monkey, the bear and the wild boar.

 Above the forehead are the camel, the lion and the horse.

And the nice thing is that all the animals with antlers have arranged their weapons around the forehead,

thus forming a king's crown:  that was an amazingly clever idea,and it decorates the head very nicely, too.

The area behind the cheek (the head being in profile)

is formed by an elephant whose ear is large enough to be the ear of the whole figure.

A donkey underneath the elephant fills out the lower jaw.

For the front portion of the cheek a wolf was forced to render its service, its mouth wide open and about to snap at a mouse: its open mouth is the eye, and the mouse the pupil of the eye.

The tail and the leg of the mouse form a moustache just above the upper lip.

On the forehead, sitting among the other animals, there is a fox with its tail curled up, which forms the eyebrow.

There is a hare on the wolf's shoulder, forming the nose, and a cat's head which is the upper lip.

Instead of a chin there is a tiger, held up by the elephant's trunk. The trunk is rolled up and forms the lower lip of the figure's mouth. A lizard can be seen coming out of the open mouth.

The curvature of the entire neck is formed by a recumbent ox, together with a fawn."

*

"I think if there are buffoons today, then that is nothing new.

There have always been eccentrics who were probably also buffoons.

But there is an important difference:

if nowadays someone suddenly discovers the genius in him,

even though yesterday he could not even draw, then that seems a bit insincere to me.

When, on the other hand, the early pioneers discovered beauty in ugliness or vice versa,

they were in fact faultless masters of their craft and, partly because they were relative beginners,

had a certain straightforwardness about them.  And because they were straightforward,

they were original.  Indeed, this ugliness surpassed all beauty and included

the sort of satire that delighted the artist's customer,

the jokes that were told again and again among the bored inhabitants of the various courts,

it included those optical illusions and that artistic mimicry.

All this is just one more reason why it is worthwhile spending time and effort

to studying a painter who was indeed a genius,

who used to entertain three emperors at the time of Titian and Tintoretto

and who still entertains us today."

  Benno Geiger

who published in 1954 his extremely thorough analysis

I dipinti ghiribizzosi di Giuseppe Arcimboldi

*

 Autumn, 1572

Private collection, Berlin

This picture of Autumn differs from the one in the Louvre

through its sharp contrasts of light and darkness.

Some of the grapes, for instance, are almost black,

whereas the face is generally very bright indeed.

The change of format is made necessary by the tub,

which is longer than in the other picture.

What is particularly striking, however, is the relatively light background,

which is rare in Arcimboldo's art.

Beyond that, there are only very few differences.

The level of artistic quality is the same in both paintings.

***

H A P P Y    T H A N K S G I V I N G !

Remark:

Arcimboldo's  "Spring"   here

Arcimboldo's  "Summer"  here
Arcimboldo's biography and Benno Geiger  here 

Week 42 - Fashion in the Past

Fashion and costume have always formed

an integral part of society, class and individualism....

Marimus van Reymerswade, active 1535-1545  (Two Tax Gentlemens - detail)

"He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat"

William Shakespeare

Colonel Tarleton, 1782 (detail)

Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1723-1792

"Fashion condemns us to make many follies;

the greatest is to make ourselves its slave"

Napoleon Bonaparte

The Dauphin, Louis de France, 1760s (detail)

Studio of Alexandre Roslin, 1718-1793

*

Victor Hugo:

"Fashions have done more harm than revolutions"

Do we agree with that ???

Bonne Semaine!

Remark:

All paintings National Gallery, London

Week 38 - Italian 16th-Century-Fashion

We are shaped and fashioned by what we love

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Portrait of a Woman inspired by Lucretia, about 1530-1532

 Venetian painter Lorenzo Lotto (1480 - 1556/7)

National Gallery, London

*
Bonne Semaine !

Summer with Guiseppe....

Guiseppe Arcimboldo, 1527 - 1593

Arcimboldo was an Italian painter best known for

creating imaginative portrait heads made entirely of such objects

as fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish, and books - that is,

he painted representations of these objects on the canvas arranged in such a way

that the whole collection of objects formed a recognizable likeness of the portrait subject.

Arcimboldo does not look like a fun person in this self portrait,

but he was skilled and imaginative in his art,

and is most famous for his "portraits" of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter:

'The Four Seasons'

Following on from my posts for  Winter   here 
and  Spring  here

now here comes Summer:

 1563

This picture of Summer, 

which is now in the Kunsthisorisches Museum in Vienna,

forms part of Arcimboldo's first series of the Four Seasons.

Like other pictures of Summer,

it bears the inscription "Guiseppe Arcimboldo F." on the collar of the figure.

There are only minor differences from the one he painted 10 years later in 1573,

 whereas it differs more obviously from the other two 'Summer',

both with regard to composition and in the design of the head dress.

1573

Like Spring, this picture belongs to the complete series of the Four Seasons

which is now in the Musée National du Louvre in Paris.

What is said about the garlands around the Spring picture  here

also applies to this one.

Both Summer and Spring are human heads in profile.

Summer consists entirely of different kinds of summer fruit and vegetables.

The glowing colours of the head stand out in bold relief against the dark background.

Also here on the broad, stiff collar he has delicately woven the words

"Guiseppe Arcimboldo - F."  The F stands for fecit ("he has done it").

This is the painter's way of authenticating his work of art.

On the shoulder there is the date of the painting: 1573

Summer, 1572

Private collection, Berlin

Summer, undated

Bayerische Staatsgemaeldesammlungen, Munich

This depiction of Summer is the most unusual one among the four paintings shown here.

A close study of the individual elements may reveal that

in a number of places the paint was applied rather more spontaneously.

 Guiseppe Arcimboldo

"...perfect in his uniqueness, as are only the great".

*

The order of the Seasons is full of symbolical symmetry.

There are always two matching heads in profile, one of them facing left,

 the other right and expressing a special relationship between the seasons they symbolize.

The Air of Spring   here 

shows up the glowing colours of flowers in blossom.

Summer and Fire both share a common star as their point of reference - the sun.

 Fire, 1566

In this allegory Arcimboldo depicted several different types of fire,

ranging from the small light of an oil-lamp or a candle 

to the tremendous power of cannons and guns.

A flame can be kindled by striking the two pieces of steel (the nose and the ear)

against the flint which decorates the Golden Fleece.

This will light the little oil-lamp (the chin of the figure),

the bundle of spills (the moustache), the rolled-up taper candle (the forehead complete with wrinkles)

and finally the pile of firewood, whose flames surround the head like a crown.

There is hardly any other work of Arcimboldo's which is more explicit in its references to the Hapsburgs.

The neck is separated from the body by the chain of the Golden Fleece,

which was one of the most important orders of the time.

Duke Philipp of Burgundy gave it to the Hapsburgs on the day of his wedding 1429.

Like many others, he became one of the Hapsburgs through marriage.

What is even more significant is the presence of the double eagle,

the symbol of the Holy Roman Empire of which the Hapsburgs were emperors

at the time of Arcimboldo.

Finally there are the gun and the cannons.  These may well have served

the purpose of emphasizing the great military power of the Hapsburgs rulers,

then at war with Turkey

*

Remark:

All images: Benedikt Taschen Verlag GmbH

Itinerary - Romanesque Churches

 Romanesque Art around

Ribérac and Verteillac - Périgord

Ribérac

In the relative peace between the 19th and 12th centuries,

after the Viking invasions, the decadent Carolingian dynasty

and struggles between feudal barons,

white-stoned Romanesque churches sprang up all over the area,

particularly around Ribérac and along the Charente border.

This is the area where we live...

The churches vary enormously, from the simplest to the most refined,

though sobriety and sparse ornamentation are a common feature.

Based around one or more cupolas, some naves are divided

into a series of square vaulted bays topped by domes.

Most follow a rectangular plan, with a simple nave ending in a rounded or polygonal apse

but each church has is own character and personality.

In some fortified churches,

such as Saint-Martial-Veveyrols,

multiple domes flank a spacious belfry...

...used to shelter the villagers who climbed a narrow staircase

within the thick wall to reach shelter in the upper storey.

Crenellations and arrow slits are further indications

that such churches doubled as keeps in troubled times.

One could follow a circuit of these domed churches

during our Baroque Music Festival last week.

 The idea of Saturday's itinerary is to attend six consecutive concerts

in six churches not far from one another.

All ticket holders were invited first

to an organ concert, in the church of Cercles, beginning at 9:45:

Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, Johann Sebastian Bach

Joseph Haydn and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

with Ton Koopman

After the concert, everyone was divided into one of five groups and given a 'passport'

 indicating the order in which they should attend the remaining concerts.

Each concert will last approx. 30 minutes.

Starting time at the 5 churches was at 11, 12:15, 3:00, 4:15 and 5:30.

The musicians repeated the concerts with each new group.

Sufficient time was allowed for participants to get from one church

to the next without rushing.  Additionally, two hours has been set-aside for lunch.

*

Cherval

The Saint Martin church of Cherval is a good example of a fortified church with domes.

The flat-ended sanctuary...

...has three windows,

while the nave is topped by domes pierced with openings

that could be used as a system of defence.

The church can be dated to the 12th-13th Century

The concerts in this church:

'ALLA  LUCE'

Giovanni Kapsberger, Girolamo Frescobaldi,

Claudio Monteverdi, Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger,

Flamminio Corradi, Sigismondo D'India

Giovanni Paolo Foscarini, Giovanni Rovetta

Scientific advancements throughout Europe around the turn of the 17th Century

led to discoveries that opened up new perspectives on human existence.

The perception of the sun and the earth,

of light and darkness depended upon both physical knowledge

as well as the observer's theological standpoint.

A stylish transition in music around 1600 reflected

this developement of a new, early modern identity.

As pioneers of the stile nuovo, composers such as Claudio Monterverdi,

Sigismondo d'India and Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger contributed significantly

to the emergence of a new aesthetic able to more acutely express emotions........

The Concert by Hendrick ter Brugghen, 1588 - 1629
National Gallery, London

*

 Saint-Martial-Viveyrol

When I visited some of the churches 2 weeks ago to make plans for the decoration,

This Romanesque church has three bays of which two are covered in cupolas,

and a flat-ended chevet to an apse covered in barrel vaulting.

The bell tower gives a defensive aspect to the building.

The church underwent few modifications...

...and has happily preserved its authentic medieval aspect.

Concert:

'Dans Cette Douce Et Plaisante Vallee'

several 18th Century Dutch composer

Unlike in France, in the 17th and early 18th Century

Holland did not have a court for which great amounts of music was written.

Music was cultivated chiefly under the auspices of the Calvinist church,

the city authorities, or in the numerous collegia musica.

There was also music in inns, which commonly had a collection

of musical instruments for visitors to play, in return for a free drink.

If a guest wasn't able to play some music,

he had to pay drinks for everyone in the pub!

The music in this program varied from music played in the pub

to music played in the highbrow collegia musica.

*

Before we continue to the next church -

a few 'impressions' of a typical French house in this village

.... no comments ....

And a quick visit to the old cemetery....

 right next to the church...

*

Eglise Saint-Paul-Lizonne

Built in the 12th Century,

...St. Paul was modified in the 17th Century and again in the 19th Century.

Only the transept and the apse are of Romanesque origin.

The main interest of this church lies in the rare Louis XVI interior decoration:

the ceiling, composed of wooden boards was painted in 1689.

The 18th Century reredos is also one of the most beautiful in this region.

 about 1457 - 1504, National Gallery London

The Concert:

'Danse Et Chanson'

The basse dance is a stately court dance whose golden age

lasted from the middle of the 15th Century to the middle of the 16th Century.

It probably originated in Burgundy, and was enthusiastically taken up by courts throughout Europe.

According to the musicologist Daniel Heartz, each note of the melody

corresponds to a figure of dance.  Each figure is composed

of four movements of equal duration, with the musical accompaniment taking up six beats.

Thus the dancers moved fluidly on their toes in a three-to-two proportion to the music.

With the exception of Fille a marier, one of the pieces,

the songs in this program are by Guilaume Dufay  and Gilles Binchois,

two of the great composers of the 15th Century.

*

St.Paul-Lizonne-Village 'Impressions':

Old fashion French Roses allover....

 and nearly at every house...

*

Coutures

Eglise Saint-Saturnin

This small 12th Century church, which was already falling into ruin in the 18th Century,

 was mainly restored at that time:

the bell tower and porch being entirely rebuilt.

There are three bays, two being vaulted cupolas on pendant brackets.

To the south of the third bay a chapel was created in 1702.

 The apse is vaulted in a "cul de jour"....

 ...ornamented by arches...

...resting on pillars with sculpted capitals.

I call this  "architectural harmony"

...and the recently repainted doors are just beautiful

The Concert:

"Strumenti Dell'Amore, Del Pianto E Della Vittoria"

When considering the development of early music,

the 18th Century can perhaps be perceived as the richest period due to

the innumerable and quite diverse additions that took place in the space of only 100 years.

Alongside a host of transitory instruments that are today known only by historical references,

this period also gave birth to a number of instruments that remain part of today's standard repertoire,

including the piano-forte and the clarinet.  Shortly after its invention at Nuremberg in 1700,

use of the clarinet spread throughout Germany.  For example, by 1739 five clarinets were

already in use at the Benedictine monastery of Kremsmunster in Upper Austria.

The discovery of the clarinet was made in direct correlation with work on the

chalumeau being undertaken by the instrument maker J.C. Denners in Nuremberg.

The chalumeau was played for the first time in 1706,

at the Viennese Court by the hautboiste of the Hofkapelle.

In the following composers including Fux, Ariosti, Caldara, Conti,

and the Bonicini brothers used the chalumeau's intimate and dark sound for parts

of their operas and oratorios, most often the pastorals.

The emperor Joseph 1st wrote one of the most elaborate parts

for the chalumeau in his aria "Tutto in piano" for Ziani's opera "Chilonida".

by Calamus Consort

the musicians of this concert in Couture

Michaela Riener, soprano
Ernst Schlader and Markus Springer, clarinette and chalumeaux

Mario Aschauer, clavecin

André Bouys, 1656 - 1740

La Barre and Other Musicians, about 1710

National Gallery, London

*

I hope that you enjoyed this 'small' Circuit Roman

with all information about the several concerts, held successfully in our beautiful old churches.
www.itinerairebaroque.com 

***********

Update:

Don't miss!

 Two beautiful bee skeps

A wonderful Give-Away

from the lovely ladies Angela and Renee

Under Spanish Moss   here