Mandalay’s Golden Palace (Image courtesy of Oway Agency, Myanmar) By Catherine Clover – On a recent trip to Myanmar (Burma) I made a stop in the crossroads city of Mandalay. Linking the route from the south of the country in Yangon to the states of the north, in modern times […]
By Andrea M. Gáldy – Imagine a present-day student being so happy with the education she or he received from the alma mater that the thank you note includes a huge drinking vessel in the form of a ship and made from gilded silver. Perhaps a little over-the-top but then […]
By P. F. Sommerfeldt – That far-fetched frolic of the rogue librarian Raspe, Adventures of Baron Munchausen has entertained many generations of readers since 1785, including the genius Terry Gilliam who made his peerless movie version in 1988, thereby introducing its wiles to modern cinematography, although often faithful to Gustave Doré’s […]
By Cher Stone Beall – Gardens are a vital part of urban Pompeii as perhaps the best known Roman city. From a distance the location of some of the gardens in Pompeii must have revealed themselves with treetops rising above walls encircling them. The gardens of Pompeii were spread throughout […]
By Patrick Hunt – 1 “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. 2 One evening David got up from his […]
by Andrea M. Gáldy, with Stefanie Fricke, Sabrina Kessler, Felicitas Meifert-Menhard War and Peace Bayerische Landesausstellung 2015 Napoleon und Bayern” Ingolstadt Neues Schloss, Bayerisches Armeemuseum, Paradeplatz 4, 85049 Ingolstadt [Bavaria,Germany] 30 April to 31. October 2015, every day 9.00 am to 6.00 pm Organisers: Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte (www.hdbg.de/napoleon/), Bayerisches Armeemuseum […]
By Andrea M. Gáldy – Southern Germany offers more than skiing holidays and the Oktoberfest, nice though they are. Traces of ancient Celtic and Roman settlements in the former Province of Raetia can still be admired, while during the mediaeval and early modern period the imperial free cities, bishoprics and […]
By Patrick Hunt – Fernand Cormon’s giant 1880 painting almost fills an entire gallery wall at the Musee d’Orsay, Paris, not just because it is almost 23 feet long (7 meters) but also because its dramatic starkness directly strikes the viewer in the often-darkened room. The biblical background of Genesis […]
By Douglas McElwain Antikythera Mechanism The Antikythera Mechanism was discovered in a shipwreck off the Greek island of Antikythera (just south of the Peloponnesus) between 1900-02. Over a century of study by researchers has determined that it is the remains of a two thousand year old astronomical computer. It is […]
By Andrea M. Gáldy – Two concurrent complementary exhibitions in Florence in 2015 have been dazzling and hugely aesthetically rewarding: Power and Pathos. Bronze Sculpture of the Hellenistic World (Palazzo Strozzi, 14 March to 21 June 2015) and Small Great Bronzes. Greek, Roman and Etruscan Masterpieces (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Firenze, […]