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 …
Daisies by Henri Matisse
Henri Emile Benoît Matisse, French Artist, 1869-1954Daisies, 1939, Oil on Canvas, 92 × 65 cm, The Art Institute of Chicago, USA https://www.artic.edu/artworks/100226/daisies The painting Daisies by Henri Matisse, housed in The Art Institute of Chicago, captures the quiet radiance of nature with his signature bold c ...
House of the Ancient Hunt
Tablinum in the House of the Ancient Hunt in Pompeii, Regio VII Insula 4.48, Pompeii, Italyhttps://www.planetpompeii.com/it/map/casa-della-caccia-antica.html Nestled in the heart of Pompeii, the House of the Ancient Hunt (Casa della Caccia Antica) is a captivating glimpse into the artistry and domestic life of th ...
Flight after the Massacre of Psara
Nikolaos Gyzis, Greek Artist, 1842-1901Fuite après le massacre de Psara (Flight after the Massacre of Psara), c. 1896, Oil on Canvas, 37,5 x 30,5 cm, Private Collection https://www.bonhams.com/auction/29818/lot/4/nicholaos-gysis-1842-1901-fuite-apres-le-massacre-de-psara/ Nikolaos Gyzis’ poignant painting Fuite apr ...
Personification of Spring
Tunic Decoration: Tabula (Square) with the Head of Spring, 5th – 7th centuryAD, Tapestry in multicolored Wool and Linen, 23.5 x 25 cm, the MET, NY, USA https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/444327 Christos Laskaris captures the essence of Spring in his evocative poem: ‘Διάβαζα ένα ποίημα για την άνοιξη / ...
Moissac Vase by René Lalique
René Lalique, French Artist, 1860-1945Moissac Vase, c. 1930, Opalescent Glass, Height: 13 cm, Private Collection https://hickmet.com/products/rene-lalique-moissac-vase?srsltid=AfmBOopKGBdoz2qgOWYJy5s3FAq5xmPJq2A1jCN-QQW4gMqEHjEXwrhK Glass is a marvellous material, capable of transforming light, texture, and form in ...
Tomb of the Philosophers
Tomb of Philosophers, c. 300 BC, Fresco Paintings, Pella, GreeceWest Wall: Main figural frieze showing a man in a red himation with a wooden rod, pointing at a blue globe. North Wall: On the right side of the photo, a bearded man is depicted, absorbed in reading a papyrus roll. South Wall: On the left side of the phot ...
Sofonisba Anguissola of Cremona
Sofonisba Anguissola, c. 1532 – 1625Self-Portrait at the Easel, 1554, Oil on poplar wood, 19.5 x 12.5 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria https://smarthistory.org/sofonisba-anguissola/ On International Women’s Day, March 8, we honor the visionary achievements of Sofonisba Anguissola of Cremona, a pioneeri ...
David Hockney’s Daffodils
David Hockney, English,born 9 July 1937The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, 2020, Do Remember They Can't Cancel the Spring, iPad painting © David Hockney https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/david-hockney-daffodils-spring-coronavirus-lockdown-a4394636.html As we step into March, we celebrate its arrival with the radiant ...
Variations in Flesh Colour and Green
James McNeill Whistler, American Artist, 1834-1903Variations in Flesh Colour and Green – The Balcony, 1864-1870; additions 1870-1879, Oil on Wood Panel, 61.4 × 48.5 cm, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian, Washington DC, USA https://asia-archive.si.edu/object/F1892.23a-b/ During the latter half of the 19th ce ...
Rubens and Isabella Brant
Peter Paul Rubens, 1577-1640Rubens and Isabella Brant in the Honeysuckle Bower, c. 1609–10, Oil on Canvas, 178 x 136.5 cm, Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany https://smarthistory.org/peter-paul-rubens-and-isabella-brant-in-the-honeysuckle-bower/ You can almost smell the sweet fragrance of honeysuckle wafting from the ...
Eros and Psyche
Eros and Psyche, Roman marble sculpture, 300 AD, after a Hellenistic, 2nd century BC original statue, Marble, Height: 1.25 m, Capitoline Museums, Rome, Italy - Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, February 18, 2024, ‘Meanings’. Personifications and Allegories from Antiquity to Today Exhibition, Acropolis Museum, Athens, Gr ...
Amarna Canopic Jar
Canopic Jar with a Lid Depicting a Queen, New Kingdom, Amarna Period, Dynasty 18, reign of Akhenaten, ca. 1349–1330 BC, from Upper Egypt, Valley of the Kings, Tomb KV 55, Travertine (Egyptian alabaster), blue glass, obsidian, unidentified stone, Height of Jar and Lid: 53.2 cm, the MET, NY, USA https://www.metmuseum.or ...
Portrait of a Young Man Praying and Flowers in a Jug
Hans Memling, 1435-1494Portrait of a young man praying (obverse) and Flowers in a Jug (verso), ca. 1485, Oil on Panel, 29.2 x 22.5 cm, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain https://www.museothyssen.org/coleccion/artistas/memling-hans/retrato-hombre-joven-orante-anverso and https://www.museothyssen.org/colec ...
The Wisteria-Laburnum Table Lamp by Tiffany Studios
Designer: Louis C. Tiffany, American, 1848–1933 (Shade) - Clara Driscoll, American, 1861–1944 (Base)Maker: Tiffany Studios, 1902–32‘Wisteria-Laburnum’ Table Lamp with a telescoping reticulated ‘Queen Anne's Lace’ base, circa 1910, leaded glass, patinated bronze, Height: 73.8 cm, Private Collection https://www.sothebys ...
Sweet Violet
Sweet Violet, Vienna Dioscurides, Folio 148v, about 515 AD, Byzantine Greek Illuminated Manuscript of De Materia Medica by Pedanius Dioscurides, vellum folios measure 37 by 30 cm, Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek, Vienna https://jenikirbyhistory.getarchive.net/topics/vienna+dioscurides?page=2 “The Vienna Dioscur ...
The Tyche of Antioch
Tyche of Antioch (Roman copy after a Greek bronze original by Eutychides of the 3rd century BC), 1st-2nd cent AD, Marble, Height: 0.89 m, Galleria dei Candelabri, Musei Vaticani - Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, February 18, 2024, ‘Meanings’. Personifications and Allegories from Antiquity to Today Exhibition, Acropoli ...