Friday, August 22, 2008
Back on course
Following the excursion to Devon, diet back on course with the first round of Epsom lentil soup. Made more exciting by the use of a lump of roast bacon from Sokolow from a Polish shop in Taunton, rather than the usual smoked streaky from Cheam. A lump about 2.5 inches square and 6 inches long weighing in at 1lb for £4. Pink and fatty on the sliced sides; same sort of gear as our streaky. Did a very good job diced. On the other hand the kabanos from the same shop were not too good at all. A bit fatty - and not as good as the mini kabanos sold by Mr S everywhere. No need to go to Taunton at all.
Then off to the National Gallery to inspect the Italians in the Sainsbury wing. While a lot of the stuff was not really my sort of thing, interesting just the same. The way it moved from altar peices which reminded one of icons and mosaics, to decorations for the houses of the rich in a hundred years or so. The exuberant inclusion of all sorts of mundane titbits along with the religious main course - odd animals and acitivities - rather in the way of some cathedral sculpture - for example, that at Ely. For example, the mother of John the Baptist being presented with what looked like a roast swan, to pick her up after his birth. (Servants being charged with washing the new born so as to leave her hands free for the swan). The inclusion of self conscious features as the pictures moved from naive to realistic. The inclusion of pictures, sculptures, windows and mirrors in pictures. Pictures of people in mirrors.
Although they were far from being first past the post in this. I remembered having seen a picture of a Greek pot with a frieze of little men around the rim, with one of the little men jumping down out of the frieze into the main action. From 540BC, so nearly 2,000 years before the Florentines. For those interested, the pot in question is exhibit number 1989.281.62 at the Metropolitan Museun in New York.
The transition from naive to realistic also seemed to result in the loss of piety. The pictures, even when still ostensibly of religious subjects did not convey piety. But one thing did not change: nearly all the pictures appeared to be designed, inter alia, to tell one how rich the person who commissioned it was. Overall, one was reminded why us dour north europeans had thought that the south europeans had lost touch with native simplicity of faith and that reform was necessary.
Then off to the National Gallery to inspect the Italians in the Sainsbury wing. While a lot of the stuff was not really my sort of thing, interesting just the same. The way it moved from altar peices which reminded one of icons and mosaics, to decorations for the houses of the rich in a hundred years or so. The exuberant inclusion of all sorts of mundane titbits along with the religious main course - odd animals and acitivities - rather in the way of some cathedral sculpture - for example, that at Ely. For example, the mother of John the Baptist being presented with what looked like a roast swan, to pick her up after his birth. (Servants being charged with washing the new born so as to leave her hands free for the swan). The inclusion of self conscious features as the pictures moved from naive to realistic. The inclusion of pictures, sculptures, windows and mirrors in pictures. Pictures of people in mirrors.
Although they were far from being first past the post in this. I remembered having seen a picture of a Greek pot with a frieze of little men around the rim, with one of the little men jumping down out of the frieze into the main action. From 540BC, so nearly 2,000 years before the Florentines. For those interested, the pot in question is exhibit number 1989.281.62 at the Metropolitan Museun in New York.
The transition from naive to realistic also seemed to result in the loss of piety. The pictures, even when still ostensibly of religious subjects did not convey piety. But one thing did not change: nearly all the pictures appeared to be designed, inter alia, to tell one how rich the person who commissioned it was. Overall, one was reminded why us dour north europeans had thought that the south europeans had lost touch with native simplicity of faith and that reform was necessary.
# posted by Jim @ 1:50 AM 
