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“Between a Rock and a Hard Place” and More: Famous Myths Used in Common Speech
James Gillray, "Britannia Between Scylla and Charybdis" 1793 (public domain) by Patrick Hunt How often do we use idioms as part of common speech,...
Asteria Early Music : Living a Dream in Burgundy
By Sylvia Rhyne and Eric Redlinger Jan de Tavernier, Chroniques et Conquetes de Charlemagne, Brussels, BR 9066, c. 1460, [courtesy of State University of New York,...
Rhine Valley Gems: Swiss White and Red Wine from Sax
Brunner Vineyard, Hueb-Sax, Switzerland (photo P. Hunt 2011) By Patrick Hunt Converse with almost any native Swiss person about Swiss wine, and you should engage...
Wine in Bolzano Under the Alps
Sankt Magdalener Village above Bolzano (P. Hunt photo 2011) By Patrick Hunt Why are the crisp Alto Adige wines not more well-known? In June I spent a week around...
Dante’s Paolo and Francesca in Ingres’ 1819 Ekphrasis
Ingres, Paolo and Francesca (48 cm x 39 cm), 1819, Angers, Musée des Beaux-Arts By Patrick Hunt Jean A. D. Ingres (1780-1867) painted Dante’s story of Paolo...
Food for Thought Ancient to Modern: Truffles and Mushrooms, Trufflemania and Mycophily
By Patrick Hunt Herculaneum, Roman Wall Painting fungi detail, National Museum, Naples (public domain image) Truffles can drive people to do funny things. Moliere’s...
The New Alexandrian Library
By Andrew Herkovic The ancient Library of Alexandria, real as it once was, is essentially the stuff of myth. What we usually understand as libraries, even the most...
