Quadrilingual Funerary Inscription – Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Arabic – in Palazzo Normanni, Palermo, 12th c. (photo P. Hunt). By Anthony Klein – The island of Sicily in the 12th century has long been portrayed as a golden age of multi-cultural amity resulting in spectacular wealth and a flowering of syncretic art […]
Bayeux Tapestry Norman Ships with Dragon Prows as “Figureheads” (image public domain) By Timothy Demy – The carving and painting of eyes, faces, and figures on boats and ships is an ancient practice that continues around the globe in the present day. Whether the eyes were decorative, religious, or believed […]
Image courtesy of J.C. Scull, Mental Illness – History and Ancient Treatments, Invisible Illness, 2022 By Walter Borden, M.D. – In the Dark Ages of Greek ancient history (before writing), mental illness and seizure disorders were considered as demonic possession of one kind or another. Mysticism was the prevailing explanation of all unknowns. […]
Cover of Eugene Field and Maxfield Parrish, Poems of Childhood, 1904 By P. F. Sommerfeldt – If you had a favorite book as a child, depending on how old – or young – you were, this book is not unlikely to look fairly battered if you’ve still had it long […]
Giotto’s Navicella, ca 1305, Vatican (see below) public domain By Timothy Demy – Consider the things one might expect to see in chapels, churches, and cathedrals—stained glass windows, altars, pulpits, pianos, pipe organs, Bibles, hymnals, prayer books, missals, vestments, candles, pews, embroidered kneelers, and a score of other items. […]
By Walter Borden, M.D. – “If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so.” Thomas Jefferson “Character is destiny”, seemingly simple, yet enigmatic, written in the 5th century BCE by the Pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus. It is a powerful message for all peoples. […]
By P. F. Sommerfeldt – Hair color should never be considered responsible by itself for determining character and destiny, nor have more redheads per capita likely been any more statistically dynamic than brown-, black-, blonde-haired folk. But the number of redheads who have been unstoppable in history may come as […]
By P. F. Sommerfeldt – I know how lucky I am, having just returned from a fabulous tour of Morocco, exploring Rabat, Fes, Meknes, Arfoud, Merzouga, Toubkal and Marrakesh (March, 2023), staying in wonderful riads and scouring three medinas (Rabat, Fes, Marrakesh) for exotic items generally unavailable in San Francisco […]
By P. F. Sommerfeldt – I spend a fair amount of time in museums, perhaps too much, but I usually don’t need a deep reason to enter a museum whether I’ve been there often or not to revisit favorite objects or works. Because a museum is literally a “House of […]
By P. F. Sommerfeldt – A day at the National Prado Museum in Madrid is never enough, but there are always my landmark works of art to see when there. More Titians than one can easily count, and the Velazquez portraits are a Spanish Baroque force majeur, and the Goya […]