tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28335558357384730622011-11-25T21:18:42.783+07:00Tangents from my readingRWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.comBlogger1371100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-27908347020869718522010-10-25T20:03:00.001+07:002010-10-25T20:07:23.946+07:00

Book VI of the Metamorphoses opens with the story of Arachne. (picture from wikicommons by galak76, used by permission under creative commons licence) Arachne appears in a fresco painted by Francesco del Cossa in the Palazzo Schifanoia in the late 1460s. Although the Palazzo doesn’t seem to have a website, you can see the fresco in situ in the following video, where it appears about 25

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-59959729651190698952010-10-24T22:50:00.000+07:002010-10-24T22:50:05.833+07:00

For those who enjoyed my series of posts on Perseus, H. Niyazi has a recent post on The Three Pipe Problem discussing the portrayal of Perseus in Renaissance Art.

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-47987997447890501382010-10-16T21:41:00.000+07:002010-10-16T21:41:01.959+07:00

The next story in the Metamorphoses is that of Lyncus’s treacherous attempt to murder his guest, Triptolemus, for which he was turned into a lynx. Jacques Dumont Le Romain painted a picture of this incident in 1732 which is now in the Louvre, but not on their website. Book V now comes to a close. The daughters of Pierus, who had challenged the Muses to a singing contest but refused to accept

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-13162131384740743742010-10-13T20:59:00.002+07:002010-10-13T21:08:39.369+07:00

The next story in Ovid’s Metamorphoses is that of Arethusa, a nymph who was turned into a spring by the goddess Diana to protect her from the river Alphaeus who was chasing her.(photo of Arethusa's spring in Syracuse copyright Giovanni Dall'Orto, used by permission) The Philadelphia Museum of Art has an Italian plate dated to 1531 showing Arethusa fleeing from Alphaeus. The above statue

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-55427612336414927442010-10-05T21:04:00.000+07:002010-10-05T21:04:27.412+07:00

Lindsey Davis’s series of mysteries starring Marcus Didius Falco, a private informer in Vespasian’s Rome, has now reached its 20th and probably final volume. Ms. Davis has not said that she won’t be writing any further Falco stories, but a Falco Companion has now been issued and certain plot points in “Nemesis” would mean some radical changes to the series if it were to continue. I’m going to

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-28748372678794072982010-09-19T14:49:00.000+07:002010-09-19T14:49:40.202+07:00

Welcome to follower Nam Hoai, a Vietnamese architect with two blogs: nhomthangmuoimot, about 19th and 20th century art from different parts of the world, and nguyenhoainamkts, which covers a miscellany of subjects, including architecture, photography, and music.

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-81612807269547698102010-09-18T14:01:00.002+07:002010-11-29T12:43:13.235+07:00

I’ve been reading Lindsey Davis’s Falco series, and as the Roman History Reading Group is due to read Last Act in Palmyra in December, I thought I’d blog a few items. (book cover copied from librarything) One reason for our hero travelling to the Eastern edges of the Empire is to track down a missing hydraulis player. The hydraulis or water organ is said to have been invented by Ctesibius

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-54508977462366149022010-07-22T16:10:00.000+07:002010-07-22T16:10:19.093+07:00

Welcome to H. Niyazi from Three Pipe Problem, the three pipes being art, history, and mysteries.

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-61283219930956442572010-07-21T20:51:00.000+07:002010-07-21T20:51:50.518+07:00

In my last post I talked about hemlock, but I’d forgotten that Gary Corby of A Dead Man Fell From the Sky also covered hemlock quite recently. We’ll continue by looking at some artistic depictions of Socrates’s death. Charles Alphonse Dufresnoy’s Death of Socrates was painted in 1650. It is now in Florence, some sites say in the Galleria degli Uffizi, others say in the Galleria Palatina.

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-46521110063792267912010-07-18T22:00:00.002+07:002010-07-18T22:02:25.121+07:00

The episode of House shown the other night was Knight Fall. The patient, Sir William, was a re-enactor who became ill during a mock-mediaeval joust. One of the possibilities put forward as the cause of his illness was hemlock poisoning. I was surprised by this as his sufferings were completely different to the image of hemlock poisoning I was familiar with from Plato’s description of the death

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-59564944212512755252010-07-08T20:30:00.000+07:002010-07-08T20:30:31.638+07:00

A belated welcome to new followers: Amalia T. of Good to Begin Well, Better to End Well, who writes on mythology and history Mufti G M of Lout de Chevalier, who writes in Indonesian about the oil industry, and has a great soundtrack William Wolfe Nachtigalle of Playground Canvas, who writes in German Fazleybayim Zsuzsi Just Another Sarah Georgia Memon

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-17762323408125906682010-07-04T20:30:00.000+07:002010-07-04T20:30:04.537+07:00

Having looked at Persephone in the 16th and 17th centuries, we now turn to 18th and 19th centuries. Our first picture, Psyche Obtaining the Elixir of Beauty from Proserpine is by Charles Joseph Natoire and dates from around 1735. It is now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In 1866 Swinburne wrote a poem called The Garden of Proserpine, an extract from which, accompanied by

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-10136286785644089442010-06-27T14:56:00.010+07:002010-06-27T15:31:29.230+07:00

In my last post we looked at the story of Persephone in the 16th century, when the rape (i.e., kidnapping) of Persephone was a popular theme from the story. We now move on to the 17th century, looking first at pictures of the rape and then a few pictures of Persephone in the underworld.In the first decade of the century, Hendrik van Balen painted Pluto and Persephone, which is now in the

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-88004900944157832382010-04-30T13:55:00.008+07:002010-04-30T15:02:16.194+07:00

Next in Ovid's Metamorphoses is the story of Proserpine, or as she is better known under her Greek name, Persephone. Paintings of Persephone in the 16th century concentrated on the Rape of Persephone ("rape" here meaning kidnapping). (picture of pomegranate from wikicommons used under creative commons licence. Other images are in the public domain and also come from wikicommons.)Our first

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-4931906392603777302010-01-26T20:28:00.006+07:002010-01-26T20:48:48.852+07:00

In 390 BC or rather more likely 387/6 BC, Gauls defeated a Roman army in a battle at the river Allia and occupied Rome itself, which had been more or less abandoned after the battle except for the Capitol. The stirring events surrounding this are told by Livy in Book 5, sections 34 to 50 of his History of Rome (scroll down). (licensed from wikicommons under GNU Free Documentation Licence)This

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-28338587639319130312010-01-25T21:23:00.005+07:002010-01-25T21:46:39.789+07:00

When Gary Corby of A Dead Man Fell From the Sky and I were chatting on Twitter the other day, he mentioned how much more attractive to the average male the addition of zombies made "Pride and Prejudice". I can't say I'd ever felt the lack before, but we kicked around a few titles which might increase the ancient world's visibility today.Purely by coincidence I can announce the translation of a

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-33039293922148712152010-01-17T14:01:00.002+07:002010-01-17T14:07:14.817+07:00

Ovid starts Book V of the Metamorphoses by continuing the story of Perseus. Phineus, who had been betrothed to Andromeda, starts a fight at Perseus and Andromeda's wedding feast. In my post Perseus and Andromeda: the 17th Century I embedded part of a TV production of Lully's Persée. Here is Phineus' petrification scene from a sound recording of the same opera:The picture shown to accompany the

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-66538956593519125612010-01-16T17:12:00.003+07:002010-01-16T17:18:28.404+07:00

Welcome to nina4176 and LK, who have joined this blog as followers, and also to Michael K. Smith of the book review blog Booksmith, who follows Matters Arising via NetworkedBlogs on Facebook.

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-89220954852175715582010-01-15T23:18:00.005+07:002010-01-15T23:38:32.040+07:00

Caroline Lawrence's The Roman Mysteries is a series of 17 detective stories set in the Roman Empire between June 78 and October 81 AD, i.e., basically in the reign of Titus. The detectives are a group of four children: Flavia Gemina, daughter of Marcus Flavius Geminus, sea captain; Jonathan ben Mordecai, her Jewish Christian neighbour; Nubia (formerly Shepenwepet), a Nubian slave bought by Flavia

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-14321015198479640112010-01-06T22:52:00.034+07:002010-01-07T00:31:59.591+07:00

The Roman History Reading Group's first read for 2010 is Rosemary Sutcliff's The Eagle of the Ninth, part of which is set in Calleva Atrebatum. As it's quite near where my parents live, I set out one cold and frosty morning to have a look at what remains of Calleva Atrebatum today. The remains are near the village of Silchester, not far from Reading.Calleva Atrebatum means something like "the

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-10393653630001637572009-12-15T15:28:00.005+07:002009-12-15T15:36:26.315+07:00

Appius Claudius, one of the decemvirs assigned the task of codifying Roman law in the 5th century BC, declared a freeborn young Roman woman called Verginia to be legally a slave of one of his clients in order to be able to rape her with impunity. Seeing no other way of keeping her out of Appius Claudius's clutches her father stabbed her to death. You can read Livy's version of the story here on

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-38253484046888907352009-12-05T06:14:00.015+07:002009-12-05T06:51:54.769+07:00

Last time we looked at Perseus and Medusa in the 16th and 17th centuries. I haven't found anything in the 18th century, so moving on to the 19th century, the 1806 statue on the left is by Canova and now in New York's Metropolitan Museum. An earlier version of this statue is in the Vatican Museum, but not on their website. (image used by permission of metmuseum.org)George Watts sculpted a head of

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-928901002036935932009-10-18T21:14:00.014+07:002009-10-18T21:56:35.403+07:00

After Perseus defeats the sea monster and rescues Andromeda, the Ethiopians hold a feast in his honour and he tells the story of how he defeated Medusa.Benvenuto Cellini's famous statue of Perseus with the head of Medusa is in Florence and dates from 1545-1554. John Singer Sargent produced a series of sketches and paintings of the statue, two of which are shown below, in the first decade of the

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-82331226816903454782009-10-08T06:36:00.003+07:002009-10-08T06:53:57.877+07:00

I've just received a comment on a review I posted in this blog. The comment basically agrees with what I said in my review but expresses itself much more harshly than I would. The comment is also anonymous, which makes me feel uncomfortable about publishing something that could be construed as an attack on somebody's professionalism. I've decided therefore that I'm not going to publish anonymous

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-59439517816783296202009-09-26T12:51:00.006+07:002009-09-26T13:06:21.287+07:00

One of the plot points in Michael Innes's Lord Mullion's Secret involves miniatures by Nicholas Hilliard, a painter or limner at Elizabeth I's court (Hilliard's self portrait left). Although miniatures are small, the word actually derives from the Latin 'minium', meaning red lead. Since red lead was mainly used for illuminated manuscripts and small portable paintings, the word gradually took on

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-46383342777710313382009-09-22T07:45:00.007+07:002009-09-26T13:08:28.082+07:00

Alcuin was born around 735 and grew up in York, where he attended the cathedral school. Encouraged by his teachers, one of whom became the Archbishop of York, he was appointed head of the school, where he was one of the key figures in preserving and enlarging the cathedral library. He gained such a reputation as a teacher that in 782 Charlemagne invited him to come to the continent to establish a

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-21901458897129007992009-09-16T10:37:00.002+07:002009-09-16T10:41:15.924+07:00

I'm starting a new blog called Elegant Extracts. It's basically just excerpts from books I'd like to share for various reasons. Do drop by. Matters Arising will continue. I'm currently gathering material for a post on Alcuin but work commitments are slowing things down.

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-33620332733530189052009-09-10T06:48:00.001+07:002009-09-10T06:57:57.423+07:00

Welcome to new followers Chris Ann Matteo, who runs a number of blogs related to teaching Latin in the United States, and David Powell, who blogs at studenda mira.

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-29415466549078392472009-09-06T14:25:00.010+07:002009-09-06T15:01:15.557+07:00

I have written before about the life of Coriolanus as told by Livy and Plutarch and about Shakespeare's use of Plutarch's Life of Coriolanus. Irene Hahn of Roman History Books and More has written about Coriolanus in the arts, something I'd like to expand on.Some time between 1495 and 1510 Michele da Verona painted Coriolanus Persuaded By His Family To Spare Rome, which is now in London's

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-22778753415256800682009-08-25T20:38:00.003+07:002009-08-25T20:44:22.239+07:00

to one of my followers, Julie Delvaux, whose blog Los Cuadernos de Julia, has been named a Blog of Note.

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-69388675309181989962009-08-22T08:20:00.004+07:002009-08-22T08:26:27.489+07:00

to another follower, Gary Corby, author of an eagerly awaited series of detective stories set in Periclean Athens, with Socrates's big brother Nicolaos as the detective. Gary's blog is called A Dead Man Fell From the Sky

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-2579577768724372352009-08-21T14:23:00.002+07:002009-08-21T14:29:41.488+07:00

We conclude our look at interpretations of the story of Perseus and Andromeda with a couple of examples from the 20th century.Odilon Redon's 1912 picture of Andromeda is now in Little Rock's Arkansas Art Center.In 1921 Jacques Ibert wrote an opera about Perseus and Andromeda.The Ray Harryhausen 1981 stop-motion film about Perseus and Andromeda, Clash of the Titans, is being remade, with the

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-73234220035531723722009-08-15T13:18:00.017+07:002009-08-15T14:02:38.009+07:00

We turn now to the 19th century in our exploration of the story of Perseus and Andromeda.Ingres's painting shown above was painted around about 1819. It is now in a private collection. (used under creative commons licence, courtesy of www.jeanaugustedominiqueingres.org)In 1840 Theodore Chasseriau produced the painting above, which is now in Paris's Louvre. (public domain picture from

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-13445036867486532642009-08-10T16:02:00.006+07:002009-08-10T16:22:58.680+07:00

We continue our exploration of the theme of Perseus and Andromeda, moving into the 18th century with a picture painted in 1723 by François Lemoyne and now in London's The Wallace Collection. A few years later in 1727 Charles-Antoine Coypel also painted Perseus Rescuing Andromeda, which is now in Paris's Louvre. It is not on the Louvre's website, but can be seen in the Joconde database of

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-88768467039772973122009-07-30T12:54:00.004+07:002009-07-30T13:00:57.816+07:00

In the early 1600s Carlo Saraceni, inspired by Giorgio Vasari's Perseus and Andromeda, which we looked at in my previous post, produced the picture below of Andromeda in Chains, which is now in Dijon's Musée des Beaux-Arts, but not on their website.(the picture of coral on the left was produced by the United States National Oceanic and Atmpospheric Administration and is thus in the public domain.

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-12119685509954404002009-07-24T14:13:00.013+07:002009-07-24T15:21:07.014+07:00

In my previous post, we looked at Burne-Jones's series of pictures based on the stories of Perseus, but now let's look at art based on the story of Perseus and Andromeda in more detail. It was a very popular subject(damsels in distress who are suffering from a variety of wardrobe malfunctions sold well we must assume), so again we'll take it century by century, starting in the 16th century. (

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-90075228271917689322009-07-22T14:39:00.012+07:002009-07-22T15:26:43.396+07:00

In my last series of posts based on Ovid's Metamorphoses, we looked at pictures of Danae. Let's turn our attention now to her son, Perseus. Ovid tells two main stories about Perseus in Book IV: Perseus and Atlas and Perseus and Andromeda, with the story of Perseus and Medusa told in flashback as a coda. Book V starts with a fight between the supporters of Perseus and the supporters of

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-76062581541624908262009-07-18T09:59:00.003+07:002009-07-18T10:38:47.327+07:00

The BBC alerts us to a legal spat between Wikimedia (the owner of Wikipedia and Wikicommons) and London's National Portrait Gallery. Wikimedia gives its arguments on its blog, but if the National Portrait Gallery is saying anything directly rather than through news media, I haven't been able to find it. No doubt intellectual property and IT lawyers are going to have a field day. But I thought

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-10161982680279088272009-07-16T13:49:00.003+07:002009-07-16T13:54:09.772+07:00

to two new followers: Julie Delvaux of Notebooks - Los Cuadernos de Julia and Mariana Pinheiro of Gatochy's Blog.

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-13604268695257468262009-07-15T12:54:00.003+07:002009-07-15T13:01:42.763+07:00

The emperor Tiberius left Rome in 26 AD never to return. For most of the rest of his life he stayed on the island of Capri, where he had 12 villas. Remains still exist of some of them. The best preserved of them is the Villa Jovis, or possibly Jonis, which was the largest. CapriWeb has four pages of text and some nice pics of the Villa Jovis, while Oebalus also has informative text and a floor

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-86829651981037397552009-07-11T19:24:00.003+07:002009-07-11T19:49:06.521+07:00

Today is Matters Arising's first birthday. The first post in this blog was a year ago today. And my next post will be my 100th.Thank you to those who have registered as followers:Shadows of shadows in stoneDonna Farley of HALIWERFOLCWilliam Hone Jr. of symbolpondIrene Hahn of Roman History Books and Morebeag_beranand отминал прах, a Bulgarian who has the linguistic advantage of me because I

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-29328477226757516782009-07-10T10:19:00.008+07:002009-07-10T10:50:33.781+07:00

Axel Munthe's The Story of San Michele is briefly mentioned in the introduction to Allan Massie's "Tiberius: The Memoirs of the Emperor", the Roman History Reading Group's current read. Munthe was a Swedish doctor who built a villa on Capri, on what was allegedly the site of one of Tiberius's villas, in the last years of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century. He left the house

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-1121786150566835812009-07-09T14:15:00.004+07:002009-07-09T14:52:15.685+07:00

Caroline Lawrence of the Roman Mysteries blog and associated novels draws our attention to the Royal Academy's J. W. Waterhouse exhibition, running until 13th September (so no chance of my seeing it, alas). In honour of the occasion she is blogging a series of posts on Waterhouse's work.Others who won't be in London over the summer can see his paintings on two online galleries devoted to his

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-74870741210540203362009-06-30T21:13:00.004+07:002009-06-30T21:26:38.222+07:00

This picture by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema was painted in 1867 and is now in a private collection. It illustrates the story in Livy which led to the expression "tall poppy syndrome" for the delight some people take in enforcing mediocrity by cutting those who excel down to size. (image from museumsyndicate is in the public domain)According to the story, when Sextus Tarquinius, who we've met before

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-55359987047845779742009-06-29T10:57:00.013+07:002009-06-29T19:51:33.431+07:00

These two pictures from the 19th century do not show the naked Danae and shower of gold we have seen in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. The picture on the left shows Danae watching the construction of the brazen tower where her father was to imprison her and was painted by Sir Edward Burne-Jones in 1888. It is now in Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, but not on their website. The

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-3493807393560095402009-06-26T11:30:00.000+07:002009-06-26T11:42:09.814+07:00

As we move on from the 16th and 17th centuries, our first painting of Danae is by Antonio Bellucci.It was painted from 1700-1705 and is now in the Italian Chamber of Deputies in Rome. (Image taken from the Chamber of Deputies website as it does not appear to be possible to link directly to the picture. The link will take you to the website's home page.)At the same time Paolo de' Matteis was

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-9605283197059716272009-06-24T05:38:00.009+07:002009-06-24T05:56:20.053+07:00

We start our look at Danae in the 17th century with a painting from the first years of the century by Joachim Wtewael called "Jupiter Entering Danae's Room", which is now in Paris's Louvre.At around the same time, in 1603, Hendrick Goltzius painted the above picture, which is now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.The two paintings above were painted a daughter and her father. The upper

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-65832307265340494262009-06-20T09:06:00.011+07:002009-06-20T09:44:57.605+07:00

Ovid does not tell the story of Danae in the Metamorphoses but alludes to it several times with reference to her son. Nevertheless, she has proved a popular subject for artists. Danae was the only child of Acrisius, king of Argos, who had been told by an oracle that she would have a son who would kill him. To avoid this, Acrisius locked Danae up in a room at the top of a tall tower. That randy

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-21656043134703493412009-06-16T11:25:00.008+07:002009-06-17T11:53:11.231+07:00

The story of the Egyptian gods Isis and Osiris, their brother Set, their child Horus, and the sun god Ra is well known from a mixture of native Egyptian texts and from texts written by the 2nd century AD Greek biographer and philosopher Plutarch, and the slightly later Roman novelist Apuleius.The Egyptian texts have been conveniently collected by reshafim. Scroll down on this page from the

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-19546847840149923402009-05-29T08:16:00.005+07:002009-05-29T08:31:02.908+07:00

Moving on to the 17th century, the Royal Collection has a series of paintings by Luca Giordano illustrating the story of Cupid and Psyche, which were painted in the mid 1690s. London's National Gallery has a picture by Claude Lorrain of Psyche outside Cupid's palace, painted in 1664. This picture from the late 1620s by Simon Vouet, showing Psyche spying on the sleeping Cupid, is in Lyon's Musée

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-50414647010508765302009-05-27T15:50:00.007+07:002009-05-27T16:36:39.905+07:00

The story of Cupid and Psyche from books 4-6 of Apuleius's The Golden Ass has been a favourite subject for artists down the years.San Francisco's Fine Arts Museums have a set of 37 engravings by Bernardo Daddi illustrating the whole story. A plaque (showing the old woman telling the story) and two plates (showing the adoration of Psyche by the people and Psyche being carried to Cupid's palace

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-24466331091997015322009-05-25T06:24:00.006+07:002009-05-26T09:00:10.658+07:00

25 May is the day the Anglican Church commemorates the Venerable Bede, patron saint of English historians. Here is the collect for the day:God our maker,whose Son Jesus Christ gave to your servant Bedegrace to drink in with joythe word that leads us to know you and to love you:in your goodnessgrant that we also may come at length to you,the source of all wisdom,and stand before your face;through

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-83333063356129096562009-05-17T20:37:00.002+07:002009-05-17T20:52:40.112+07:00

Apuleius, the 2nd century AD author of The Golden Ass, the next book in the calendar for the Roman History Reading Group, came from Madaurus in what is now Algeria ( photos).View Larger MapAfter he married a wealthy widow, he was accused by her family of having persuaded her to marry him by using black magic and his "Apology" or speech in his own defence against the charges still exists.

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-41246992487717821652009-05-16T10:51:00.004+07:002009-05-16T11:06:37.150+07:00

Ovid now resumes the story of Cadmus, which was the first story in Book III. Cadmus and his wife Harmonia (aka Hermione) are turned into snakes. (public domain picture of Candice Marie Johnson right taken from wikicommons)Faenza's Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche has a decorated dish painted around 1565 from the workshop of Virgiliotto Calamelli. It is not on their website but can be seen

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-82873147442320630032009-05-15T11:53:00.002+07:002009-05-15T11:57:25.030+07:00

Although Julius Caesar had planned to build a public library in Rome, he was assassinated before he could put his plan into operation. It fell to one of his adherents, Asinius Pollio, to build a public library in the Atrium Libertatis financed from the spoils of his 39 BC war against an Illyrian tribe, the Parthini. His library contained both Greek and Latin works, possibly in separate wings.

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-76121745766523865552009-05-08T07:11:00.005+07:002009-05-08T07:26:32.408+07:00

Donna Farley of Haliwerfolc draws our attention to a post by Michelle of Heavenfield on her other blog, Selah. The USA's Episcopal Church is considering amalgamating its celebration of the two Lindisfarne saints, Cuthbert (currently on 20 March) and Aidan (currently on 31 August) with a joint celebration on 31 August.

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-20286910774556570642009-05-07T20:22:00.003+07:002009-05-07T20:29:14.014+07:00

I've now finished listening to Patrick Hunt's series of lectures on Hannibal I referred to in my post on the Punic Wars. I thought the first few lectures in the series, on the history and cultural background to Carthage and on the first Punic War were the best, full of interesting information with insights from many different fields of study. The lectures on Hannibal's great battles and strategy

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-44174728347835591262009-05-05T14:35:00.003+07:002009-05-07T20:36:57.438+07:00

The Vespasian Psalter dates back to the first quarter of the 8th century and is now in the British Library. It is one of the earliest, if not the earliest, surviving manuscript with historiated initials. It also contains an Anglo-Saxon gloss on the Latin text and again is one of the earliest, if not the earliest, surviving examples of translation of part of the Bible into English. The Medieval

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-61319553347156526412009-05-02T14:39:00.007+07:002009-05-02T15:00:45.498+07:00

In my previous post I started looking at Juno's trip to the Underworld. In addition to the male villains we looked at last time, she also saw the Danaides.Salieri's opera Les Danaïdes was first staged in 1784. The YouTube extract below has the Danaides's entry after murdering their husbands.Liverpool's Walker Gallery has Rodin's Danaid, with extensive commentary and a downloadable gallery talk

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-67257187163514677442009-05-01T09:43:00.013+07:002009-05-01T10:32:27.675+07:00

In Ovid's next story, Juno gets angry with Ino, Semele's sister, and decides to punish her. This involves a trip down to the underworld, where she comes across some people being punished for their crimes on Earth. In this post we'll be looking at the punishments suffered by four of these people:Tityus, Tantalus, Sisyphus, and Ixion. (all of the images below are in the public domain and taken

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-541998295599750812009-04-18T09:33:00.005+07:002009-04-18T09:45:37.136+07:00

In his "History of the Kings of Britain", Geoffrey of Monmouth briefly tells the story of King Bladud, the founder of Bath:Next succeeded Bladud his son, in whose hands the kingdom remained for twenty years. He builded the city of Kaerbadon, that is now called Bath, and fashioned hot baths therein, meet for the needs of men, the which he placed under the guardianship of the deity Minerva, in

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-23103181116860868732009-04-11T16:33:00.014+07:002009-05-07T20:36:57.441+07:00

The island of Lindisfarne, or Holy Island as it is also known, is a tidal island on the East coast of England near the Scottish-English border.View Larger MapA Youtube slideshow of photos from Lindisfarne, with Era's Avemano as soundtrack:At the invitation of King Oswald of Northumbria, St. Aidan came from Iona to build a monastery at Lindisfarne to serve as a basis for the evangelisation of

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-26229751700687670622009-03-28T16:43:00.007+07:002009-03-28T17:10:46.946+07:00

By the rules of primogeniture as later observed in choosing monarchs in England and Britain, the successor to Henry I should have been his daughter Matilda or Maud (Matilda was her name in Latin, Maud in French). She was born in 1102 and married at the age of 12 to the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry V. After his death in 1125, she continued to be known as the Empress. Her brother having been killed

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-38020946963579186462009-03-27T20:09:00.004+07:002009-03-27T20:23:50.845+07:00

BBC Radio 4's In Our Time is discussing Raphael's 1508-1511 fresco "The School of Athens", which is in the Vatican, together with other frescoes also mentioned in the programme. The programme is downloadable until 2 April, after which you can still listen to it streamed from the website. (illustration from wikipedia in the public domain)

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-22727029798487039452009-03-14T07:42:00.006+07:002009-03-14T08:01:20.580+07:00

Having looked at Lucretia in the 16th century and 17th century, we now move on to some later pictures. Our first picture is by Mazzanti and dates from around 1730 and is in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Of the two 1750 paintings shown below, the upper one is by Casali and is in Budapest's Szépművészeti Múzeum, but does not seem to be shown on their website. However, another painting of

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-36741452245139588682009-02-28T17:47:00.015+07:002009-02-28T19:00:21.825+07:00

In my last post we looked at some 16th century art featuring the story of Lucretia. Roman History Books and More came up with another example by Raphael, which is now in New York's Metropolitan Museum. I've also found another two paintings from the 16th century: Il Sadoma's 1518 Death of Lucretia, now in Budapest's Szépmûvészeti Múzeum, but not on their website, and Tintoretto's 1578-80

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-29612969274970790302009-02-22T17:39:00.022+07:002009-02-22T18:30:35.690+07:00

Chapter IV in Saylor's book deals with the end of Rome's regal period and the beginnings of the Republic. The part of this story that has most inspired artists is the story of the rape of Lucretia by Sextus Tarquinius, the nephew of Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last king of Rome, and her subsequent suicide. Scenes from the story can be seen in almost strip cartoon fashion in the two

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-59633240375472012612009-02-14T16:41:00.004+07:002009-02-14T17:15:47.864+07:00

For some reason the Punic Wars seem to have been popping up rather a lot just recently. They naturally form the background to some of the action in Steven Saylor's Roma, which I am currently reading, though most of the military action in the wars takes place off stage. (public domain image of Hannibal as a child swearing eternal hatred of Rome, from the Comic History of Rome, via wiki commons)I

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-53809825496180279762009-02-12T12:15:00.010+07:002009-02-12T13:02:04.051+07:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, "rape" here means abduction or kidnapping rather than sexual assault. For those unfamiliar with the story, this song about the 'sobbing women' from the musical "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" gives a good summary:The above 1525 picture by Il Sodoma is now in Rome's Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, but does not appear to be on their website.Rubens's 1635-

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-61926145035278760772009-02-10T12:17:00.008+07:002009-02-10T12:58:12.017+07:00

I'm reading Steven Saylor's Roma in preparation for the Roman History Books Group's book chats on 19 February and 5 March. Chapter III is based on the story of Romulus and Remus, the foundation of Rome, and the Rape of the Sabine Women (this is what it's usually called, but to clear up any misapprehensions, "rape" here means kidnapping or abduction). Saylor is not of course the first person

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-64520946009612259582009-02-06T11:19:00.009+07:002009-02-06T11:43:42.239+07:00

In the life of Ceolfrith in his Lives of the Abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow, Bede says of Ceolfrith:For, among other arrangements which he found it necessary to make, during his long government of the monastery, he built several oratories increased the number of vessels of the church and altar and the vestments of every kind; and the library of both monasteries, which Abbot Benedict had so

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-65762859725690256182009-02-04T06:52:00.004+07:002009-02-04T07:24:01.132+07:00

Titian's "Diana and Actaeon" is to stay in the UK after the National Galleries of Scotland and London's National Gallery raised enough money to buy the painting from the Duke of Sutherland.The Guardian, The Scotsman, and the BBC have coverage. (public domain image from wiki commons)The Independent has a detailed discussion of the symbolism and artistic techniques used in the painting.

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-8321265910299955942009-02-01T15:59:00.003+07:002009-02-01T16:29:07.291+07:00

It seems I have acquired a follower. It rather makes me feel like I'm a Victorian maidservant liable to incur the wrath of her mistress at any moment, but never mind. My follower goes by the name of William Hone Jr. and is kind enough to describe Matters Arising as a wonder room. The description for his blog, symbolpond, reads "A journal in the spirit of William Hone about symbols, folklore,

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-8310725765396683722009-01-31T12:28:00.007+07:002009-01-31T13:27:26.086+07:00

Offstage during the Cadfael novels but exerting powerful influences are two magnates: Ranulf de Gernon, the earl of Chester, and Henry de Blois, the Bishop of Westminster. (leaf showing King David from the Winchester Bible, image in the public domain, via wiki commons)For information about Ranulf de Gernon I cannot do better than refer you to the excellent article at Chester Wiki, which quotes

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-45962378078872227752009-01-23T16:06:00.014+07:002009-01-23T16:58:00.640+07:00

Ovid's next story is told by Alcithoe. After rejecting other possibilities she settles on the story of Salmacis and Hermaphroditus. Hermaphroditus was a beautiful young man who a nymph called Salmacis fell in love with. He rejected her advances and then believing himself alone again decided to go for a swim in a pool. Salmacis fell even more in love when she saw his naked body and wrapping her

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-35414785685808934132009-01-17T21:13:00.004+07:002009-01-17T21:51:26.415+07:00

"Timor mortis conturbat me" is a quotation from the Latin version of the Roman Catholic office for the dead, and means something like afear of death troubles me. Morales's setting can be heard in the youtube video embedded below, and those who can read music can follow the score. This example of a 15th century book of hours contains the office of the dead (scroll down to the link for folio v116-

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-66319296425070681152009-01-12T17:23:00.003+07:002009-01-12T17:32:01.013+07:00

On January 12 Benedict Biscop is commemorated by the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. Benedict Biscop was the founder of the dual monastery of Monkwearmouth and Jarrow, where Bede lived, studied, and wrote. The monastery's church survived Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries and became a parish church. (picture domain manuscript illustration from wikipedia commons) As well as

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-36934985848994373912009-01-09T17:01:00.003+07:002009-01-09T18:29:24.056+07:00

The Toynbee Convector's recent post on Chinese Pilgrims reminded me of the wonderful comedy action TV series from the late 1970s Monkey, based somewhat loosely on Wu Cheng-En's classic Chinese novel The Journey to the West, which I then read in Arthur Waley's much abbreviated translation. The novel, in turn, was based on legends surrounding a real Chinese monk's pilgrimage to India to obtain

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-53431064059344561942009-01-07T03:20:00.002+07:002009-05-07T20:35:23.330+07:00

I went to see the exhibition Byzantium 330 - 1453 at London's Royal Academy yesterday (Monday). The exhibition covered the history from Constantinople's foundation by Constantine to its fall to the Turks in 1453, court life, domestic life, the church, icons, the Byzantine Empire's artistic interaction with Latin Christendom, its interaction with other cultures, and St. Catherine's monastery on

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-84318486597613173442009-01-02T22:06:00.002+07:002009-05-07T20:35:23.332+07:00

This podcast is a series of lectures on the Roman Republic given by Dr. Isabelle Pafford of Santa Clara University. The lectures take us from the founding of Rome down to the death of Julius Caesar. Unfortunately some of the lectures are missing due, I gather, to technical problems. It's the first time I've listened to the iTunes U, so I'm not sure how much of what I have to say is specific to

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-83721791450164039212008-12-14T19:43:00.011+07:002009-02-06T11:46:47.530+07:00

The Book of Durrow is an illuminated manuscript of the Latin translation of the four gospels of the New Testament, most likely written in the 7th century AD at the monastery at Durrow in Ireland founded by St. Columba. It is now in the library of Trinity College Dublin. Although most people probably think of the artistic style as "Celtic", it is more properly known as "insular" or "Hiberno-Saxon

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-18358316564415707132008-12-10T14:45:00.000+07:002008-12-10T14:47:43.211+07:00

Leuconoe, the sister of Arsippe, tells the next story. Venus and Mars were having an affair, and the Sun told Vulcan, Venus's husband, about it. Vulcan set a trap for the lovers, catching them in bed together with a net and inviting all the gods to come and see them. In revenge for her humiliation Venus caused the Sun to fall in love with Leucothea. This made Clytie, who some say was Leucothea's

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-49431633978558543222008-11-29T13:37:00.007+07:002008-11-29T14:00:56.415+07:00

The Oxford DNB has put up the Sutton Hoo ship burial as one of its biographies for the week (available till Thursday). An archaeological dig at Sutton Hoo in the 1930s found a ship burial with splendid grave goods from the early 7th century. (Steven J. Plunkett's picture of model of ship burial used under GNU Free Documentation Licence.) Location of Sutton Hoo (the site itself is quite visible

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-69380963998904527472008-11-23T15:23:00.010+07:002008-11-23T15:48:00.782+07:00

Having recently witnessed the death of Moguntiacum in Eagle in the Snow, the Roman History Reading Group returns there with Marcus Didius Falco in The Iron Hand of Mars. Falco is sent to Moguntiacum, ostensibly with a gift from the Emperor for Legio XIV Gemina, who are sharing quarters with Legio I Adiutrix, where Helena Justina's brother is serving. Falco's own military service was with Legio

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-20164556523521703982008-11-22T15:47:00.009+07:002008-12-14T20:34:31.121+07:00

Saint Columba (521 - 597) came to Iona from Ireland. It's not entirely clear why. Some accounts say that he was sent into exile after his side lost in a feud, others that he was simply called to be a missionary to the Picts. Be that as it may, he took Iona as a convenient base not too far from the lands of the Scots (who were confusingly enough an Irish people) in the south-west of today's

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-36642401950573599392008-11-18T15:59:00.004+07:002008-11-18T16:49:03.043+07:00

Adrian Murdoch of Bread and Circuses draws our attention to the opening of a Mithraic temple at Zeugma (near Doliche in modern Turkey - marked A in the map below).View Larger MapThe project's website includes these mosaics, but only thumbnail size, alas.

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-40456375980487234392008-11-15T09:22:00.003+07:002008-11-15T09:36:46.561+07:00

Update on my post about the Norman Kings. The Oxford DNB's biography of William Rufus is available online for one week from today. (public domain image from wikicommons)

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-48146340289690334622008-11-14T18:26:00.011+07:002008-11-15T00:31:40.919+07:00

As we move on into Book IV of Ovid's "Metamorphoses", Arsippe, one of the daughters of Minyas, tells Ovid's next story, Pyramus and Thisbe, a pair of lovers in Babylon whose parents forbid their marriage. They only way they can meet is by peering and whispering through a hole in the wall between their houses. They plan to elope. Thisbe arrives first at Ninus's tomb, their rendezvous point, but

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-37482557734685867842008-11-11T17:40:00.000+07:002008-11-11T17:42:20.929+07:00

Cadfael's sixth adventure The Virgin in the Ice opens with the fall of Worcester into the hands of a besieging army in 1139. The Chronicle of John of Worcester provides this contemporary account.(photo from geograph by Richard Webb used under Creative Commons 2.0 licenceMuch of the action of the story takes place on and around Titterstone Clee. The BBC provides a panorama from the top of

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-71030858916994562172008-11-04T19:33:00.006+07:002008-11-04T20:07:59.546+07:00

The Venerable Bede (672/3 - 735) was given to the monastery of Monkwearmouth and Jarrow by his parents as an oblate when he was seven years old. Apart from short trips he spent the rest of his life in the monastery. In a brief note about himself appended to his "Ecclesiastical History of the English People", Bede said... I was given, by the care of kinsmen, at seven years of age, to be educated

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-22363366241641094152008-10-29T14:30:00.005+07:002008-10-29T14:57:59.862+07:00

The BBC kicks off the celebrations for the 300th anniversary of the discovery of Herculaneum in 1709 with a slideshow accompanied by audio commentary. (public domain picture from wikicommons of photograph taken by Matthias Holländer)

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-78737319134113362492008-10-27T18:38:00.005+07:002008-10-28T07:26:25.347+07:00

Although the term "leper" is used as a metaphor for the ultimate in social exclusion and it has been argued that defining someone as a leper in medieval times was as much a form of social control and exercise of power as a medical diagnosis, it does appear from skeletons found in cemeteries attached to leprosaria such as the chapel of St. Giles (the patron saint of lepers) frequently visited by

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-74229426426555470612008-10-23T19:24:00.004+07:002008-10-23T20:01:41.109+07:00

One of the paintings we looked at in my post on Actaeon from the 15th to 17th centuries was Titian's "Diana and Actaeon" (left). Judith Weingarten of Zenobia: Empress of the East has brought to my attention The Archaeology Review's rather derogatory comment on the painting stemming from a BBC report that Titian's painting is now on display in London's National Gallery in an attempt to raise £50

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-38160699087947032472008-10-19T07:06:00.006+07:002008-10-19T07:15:21.663+07:00

Book III of the Metamorphoses concludes with the story of Pentheus, the king of Thebes who resisted the introduction of the worship of Bacchus and was torn to pieces by a group of Bacchic worshippers including his own mother. This is of course the plot of Euripides' "The Bacchae". Within this story is the story told by Acoetes of how Bacchus turned a shipload of sailors who wanted to kidnap him

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-42238419631573382192008-10-18T10:31:00.004+07:002008-10-18T11:02:32.712+07:00

London's Royal Academy will be holding a major exhibition on Byzantium from 25 October 2008 to 22 March 2009. I certainly plan to go during my Christmas trip to the UK. To go with the exhibition BBC Radio 3 will be broadcasting a programme on Byzantium tomorrow (19 October) at 20:00 BST (GMT +1), which presumably will be available for listening on the internet for one week. (picture of mosaic

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-90817405321715732262008-10-17T15:36:00.003+07:002008-10-17T15:58:07.062+07:00

Medieval fairs were held annually, usually on a particular saint's day or other special day in the church calendar. For general information on where and when medieval fairs were held, see The Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to 1516, especially the Basic Introduction and, of particular relevance to Cadfael enthusiasts, the entry for Shrewsbury ( the list of abbreviations will

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-32064286054983357232008-10-16T14:14:00.020+07:002008-10-16T16:28:12.926+07:00

Despite his key role in drama, the story of Tiresias has not really proved inspirational to artists. He puts in a rare appearance in this picture from a private collection, which links Tiresias's story to the next story, that of Echo and Narcissus with a prophesy of Narcissus's fate. The stories of Echo and Narcissus were originally two separate stories, which Ovid, as far as we know, was the

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-39623265414572849612008-10-13T06:24:00.004+07:002008-10-13T06:45:16.187+07:00

Rummaging in one of the DVD shops in Plaza Indonesia, I was happy to see that Diva has been re-issued. I was not so happy when I asked the price. All right, it's an imported DVD but what do they do, give it its own seat on the plane coming over? Definitely something for my trip back home at Christmas.I saw it twice when it first came out back in 1982 and thought it was wonderfully stylish. I saw

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-76398088354673733482008-10-07T15:25:00.003+07:002008-10-07T15:48:35.994+07:00

Paulinus Gaius Maximus, the narrator of Wallace Breem's "Eagle in the Snow" is a follower of Mithras, a god popular with Roman soldiers. Although a connection with Mithra, a god in the Persian pantheon, seems obvious at first sight and was the general scholarly consensus at the time Wallace Breem was writing, it now appears that although the name may have been taken from the Persian god, the

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2833555835738473062.post-67477484186380315732008-10-06T15:45:00.004+07:002008-10-06T16:53:17.638+07:00

The Church of England commemorates William Tyndale today. He is remembered as one of the first to make a translation of the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into English. He translated all of the New Testament and about half of the Old Testament, and his work was completed by Miles Coverdale. The Tyndale Society's website naturally has a life of Tyndale. The British Library has one of the only two

RWMGhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04271851970303022440noreply@blogger.com0