ἕν οἶδα, ὅτι οὐδέν οἶδα
All I know is that I know nothing
Allegedly said by Socrates
So true, 30 years in Education, and I still feel like a kindergarten student, curious and inquisitive, questioning, interested, prying …
Adam’s Statue by Tullio Lombardo
Tullio Lombardo, ca. 1455–1532Adam, ca. 1490–95, Marble, Height: 191.8 cm, the MET, NY, USA https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/197822 In his epic poem Paradise Lost, the English poet John Milton (1608–1674) laments, "O miserable mankind, to what fall / Degraded, to what wretched state reserved! ... Can ...
The ‘Council of the Gods’ by Rubens and Renoir
Peter Paul Rubens, Flemish Baroque Artist, 1622 - 1624The Council of the Gods, 1621-25, Oil on Canvas, 394x702 cm, Louvre, Paris, France https://www.wikiart.org/en/peter-paul-rubens/the-council-of-the-gods-1624Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French Impressionist Artist, 1841–1919Copy after “The Council of the Gods” by Peter Pa ...
Talos the ancient Greek automaton
The Death of Talos by the Talos Painter, 425-400 BC, Attic Red-Figured Volute Krater, Τerracotta, Height: 75 cm, Archaeological Museum Jatta, Ruvo di Puglia, Italy - Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, February 18, 2024, ‘Meanings’. Personifications and Allegories from Antiquity to Today Exhibition, Acropolis Museum, Athe ...
‘October’ Stained Glass Roundel
October, ca. 1480, Clear and coloured glass with painted details in brown/black pigment and yellow (silver) stain, Diameter: 29.2cm, V&A Museum, London, UK https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O7620/october-roundel-unknown/ I’m not sure if you enjoy Japanese Haiku, those brief poems with 3 lines and 17 syllables. ...
Palacio de Santa María del Naranco and San Miguel de Lillo
Palacio de Santa María del Naranco, consecrated in 848, Mount Naranco, Spain – Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, May 2024St. Michael of Lillo, completed in 842, Mount Nranco, Spain – Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, May 2024 Nestled in the heart of Asturias, Spain, Mount Naranco stands as a majestic sentinel overlooki ...
Bust of Prince Ankhhaf
Bust of Prince Ankhhaf, reign of Khafra 2520–2494 BC, Egyptian Old Kingdom, Dynasty 4, Findspot: Egypt, Giza, tomb G 7510, Painted Limestone, Height: 50.48 cm, Museum Fine Arts, Boston, USA https://www.ancient-egypt.co.uk/boston/ankhhaf/pages/boston_03_2006%20444%201.htm In the world of ancient Egyptian art, true p ...
Painter Lorenzo Lotto and Collector Andrea Odoni
Lorenzo Lotto, ca. 1480-1556Portrait of Andrea Odoni, 1527, Oil on Canvas, 104 x 117 cm, Royal Collection, Hampton Court, UK https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%91%CF%81%CF%87%CE%B5%CE%AF%CE%BF:Lorenzo_Lotto_-_Andrea_Odoni_%281488-1545%29_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg In the rich tapestry of Renaissance art, few relations ...
A Gorge in the Mountains (Kauterskill Clove)
Sanford Robinson Gifford, American Artist, 1823–1880A Gorge in the Mountains (Kauterskill Clove), 1862, Oil on Canvas, 121.9 x 101.3 cm, the ET, NY, USAhttps://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/10946?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&high=on&ao=on&showOnly=openAccess&ft=*&a ...
Education in Byzantium
Teaching scene with teachers and students during the reign of the scholarly Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos (944-959) by a Sicilian Illuminator identified as B1, 12th century, Illuminated Manuscript version of the Synopsis of Histories, or Σύνοψις Ἱστοριῶν (in Greek) by John Skylitzes, which covers the reigns ...
The Rampin Rider
The Rampin Rider, Archaic Period, around 550 BC, Marble from Paros, Height: 1.08 m, Length: 0.77 m, Width: 0.38 m, Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece https://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en/statue-rider-rampin-rider …Come, take the Dorian lyre down from its peg, if the splendor of Pisa and of Pherenicus placed your mind ...
September Sunlight
Childe Hassam, American Artist,1859–1935September Sunlight, circa 1887, Oil on Canvas, 45.8 x 55.8 cm, Private Collection https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=710256554473763&set=a.559870122845741&type=3&locale=it_IT&paipv=0&eav=AfaH9KHKOLoFA2Q2dpyw10i8ycH0KFTFgQ3GXNBBtewHGh34TvI_l-T1UjHORJ-rVC ...
Plaque with Eros as a Sleeping Child
Plaque with Eros as a Sleeping Child and a poppy capsule, symbol of sleep, 1st/2nd century AD, Amber, Museo d’ Antiquita, ‘J. J. Winckelmann’, Trieste, Italy – Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, February 18, 2024, ‘Meanings’. Personifications and Allegories from Antiquity to Today Exhibition, Acropolis Museum, Athens, Gr ...
Santa María la Real de las Huelgas
View of the Cloister of Santa María la Real de las Huelgas, 13th century, Burgos Spain – Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, May 2024 I love cloisters' peace / soft words of silence within / harmony and calm… This is exactly how I felt in the Cloister of the Monastery of Santa María la Real de las Huelgas, in Burgos, S ...
Jo Sketching at Good Harbor Beach by Edward Hopper
Edward Hopper, American Artist, 1882–1967Jo Sketching at Good Harbor Beach, 1923–1924, Watercolor and fabricated chalk on paper, 35.2 × 50.6 cm, Whitney Museum of American Art, NY, USA https://whitney.org/collection/works/6864 Gull patrol / paranoiac survey / is it “I want to have a lot of sex” / or “I want to have ...
The Torcello Hodegetria
Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta in Torcello, View of the Apse with the Mosaics of the Annunciation at the very top, the Hodegetria, and the Apostles, 11th century, Torcello, Italy http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/date/2020/10/06 and https://gr.pinterest.com/pin/642677809300738057/ Torcello was the mother-cit ...
Charon crossing the Styx by Joachim Patinir
Joachim Patinir, 1480-1524Charon crossing the Styx, 1520 – 1524, Oil on Panel, 64x103 cm, Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/charon-crossing-the-styx/c51349b6-049e-476c-a388-5ae6d301e8c1 A horrible ferryman keeps these waters and streams / in fearful squalor, Charon, ...