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 …
The Portrait of Mäda Primavesi
Gustav Klimt, Austrian Artist, 1862-1918Mäda Primavesi, 1912–13, Oil on Canvas, 149.9 x 110.5 cm, the MET, NY, USA https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436819 The Portrait of Mäda Primavesi, the subject of Klimt's painting currently in the MET, presents the lively nine-year-old daughter of a wealthy Vien ...
Luigi Bazzani’s Watercolours of Pompeii
Luigi Bazzani, Italian Artist, 1836–1927A fountain in Pompeii (House of the Large Fountain, Pompeii), 1888, Watercolour on Paper, 46.35x 35.56 cm, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O406355/painting-of-pompeii-drawing-luigi-bazzani/#object-details I’m not sure if you enjoy Jap ...
St John the Baptist and Four Saints
St John the Baptist and Four Saints, c. 1000 AD, Elephant ivory with traces of gilding, 23.2x13.3cm, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._John_the_Baptist_and_saints,_c._1000_CE._Ivory_with_traces_of_gilding._From_Constantinople,_Byzantine_Empire_%28Istanbul,_Turkey%29._Vi ...
Bernardino Luini’s the Madonna of the Carnation
Bernardino Luini, c. 1480 - 1532The Madonna of the Carnation, c. 1515, Oil on Panel, 43.8 x 40.3 cm, The National Gallery, Washington DC, USA https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.293.html In Bernardino Luini's the Madonna of the Carnation, the humble carnation flower plays a significant symbolic role, qui ...
Morrison Triptych
Master of the Morrison Triptych, active in Bruges and Antwerp, ca. 1500-1525The Morrison Triptych, about 1500-1510, Oil on Wood, wings: 110.8 x 37.2 cm, center panel: 97.5 x 60.4 cm, Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, USA http://emuseum.toledomuseum.org/objects/55281 The Morrison Triptych is a remarkable altarpiece housed ...
Enkolpion with Nativity
Enkolpion with Enthroned Virgin, Nativity, Adoration and Baptism, Early Byzantine, last quarter of the 6th century (ca. 583?), Gold, 7.2x6.5 cm, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC, USA https://museum.doaks.org/objects-1/info?query=Portfolios%20%3D%20%222607%22&sort=0&page=51 In the realm of Byzantine devotion, E ...
Jeff Koons’ Tulips
Jeff Koons, American Artist, 1955Tulips, 1995–2004, High chromium stainless steel with transparent colour coating, 203x460x520 cm, Guggenheim, Bilbao, Spain - Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, May 2024 A. E. Stallings’ poem about tulips, with lines like… Something about the way they drop / Their petals on the tableto ...
Tomb of the Leopards
Etruscan Tomb of the Leopards, 473 BC, Tomb is decorated with fresco paintings, and measures: 3.52 x 3.3 x 2.16 in height, Monterozzi Necropolis, Tarquinia, Italy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_the_Leopards#/media/File:Danseurs_et_musiciens,_tombe_des_l%C3%A9opards.jpg The walls of this little tomb, the Tomb ...
Saint in Prayer
Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida, Spanish Artist, 1863-1923Saint in Prayer, 1888 – 1889, Oil on Canvas, 78x61 cm, Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/saint-in-prayer/992c8493-24c0-49ed-ac58-a4b690099b81 Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida is a favourite Spanish artist of the late 19th ...
House of the Large Fountain
House of the Large Fountain, 2nd century BC to 1st century AD, Pompeii (Regio VI Insula 8.22), Italyhttps://pompeiisites.org/en/comunicati/the-house-of-the-large-fountain-the-house-of-the-anchor-and-the-temple-of-isis-all-reopen-to-the-public/#&gid=1&pid=8 Pompeii is an ancient Ro ...
Snow Scene at Argenteuil
Claude Monet, French Artist, 1840 - 1926Snow Scene at Argenteuil, 1875, Oil on Canvas, 71.1 × 91.4 cm, the National Gallery, London, UK https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/claude-monet-snow-scene-at-argenteuil Thomas Hardy’s poem Snow in the Suburbs and Claude Monet’s painting Snow Scene at Argenteuil shar ...
Pumpkins
Yayoi Kusama, Japanese Artist, b. 1929Pumpkins, 1987, acrylic on canvas, 38.1 x 45.4 cm, Private Collection https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-6337416?ldp_breadcrumb=back&intObjectID=6337416&from=salessummary&lid=1 Yayoi Kusama's iconic Pumpkins, covered in her signature polka dots, offers a fascinating ...
Martin Johnson Heade’s Hummingbirds
Martin Johnson Heade, American Artist, 1819-1904Cattleya Orchid with Two Brazilian Hummingbirds, 1871, Oil on Panel, 34.9 x 45.7 cm, Private Collection https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-6465936?ldp_breadcrumb=back&intObjectID=6465936&from=salessummary&lid=1 Why do you stand on the air / And no sun shini ...
The Virgin with the Pomegranate
Fra Angelico (Guido di Piero di Gino), 1395-1455The Virgin with the Pomegranate, ca. 1426, Tempera on Panel, 87x59 cm, Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/the-virgin-with-the-pomegranate/61b654df-1de2-483f-88bb-404f37747d4a?searchid=55f3ec41-7c92-bebf-e83c-b0e5c7f74a9f ...
Head of Nemesis
Head of Nemesis, the personification of attribution of Justice, 2nd century AD, Marble, Museum of Ancient Agora, Athens, Greece - Photo Credit: Amalia Spiliakou, February 18, 2024, ‘Meanings’. Personifications and Allegories from Antiquity to Today Exhibition, Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece Of Nemesis we sing, un ...
Félix Ziem’s painting of Constantinople
Félix Ziem, French Artist, 1821-1911Constantinople, 1857-58, Oil on Canvas, 58 x 93.4 cm, Private Collectionhttps://www.christies.com/en/private-sales/privateitems/private-item-SN00656940-001 …Once out of nature I shall never take / My bodily form from any natural thing, / But such a form as Grecian goldsmiths make ...