Slopes of Etna
I took this picture a couple of weeks ago on the flanks of the famous volcano of Mount Etna on Sicily. There were many cinder cones–in total, there are over 400 on the mountain’s slopes–in this area, some tinged rust with high iron content and others dark gray with pumice. There was even signs of old lava flows emanating from a couple of them. The scale is made evident when you notice the people in the distance. It’s one of the most impressive mountains of the world.
At the Races
This picture is of a detail of a Byzantine ivory in the Bargello Museum in Florence. It’s from the 5th century CE. In the whole piece, an emperor stands above this scene of the chariot races in the hippodrome in Constantinople. He’s embraced by an allegorical figure representing, I think, a city. You can see four teams of four-horse chariots zooming around the track, which is marked by the ‘spina’ or ‘spine’ at the ends of which are the metae or turning posts (they resemble bowling pins). At the end, the emperor declares a winner. If you look closely at the chariot drivers, their torsos are hatched with horizontal lines, indicating the cords they wrapped around their tunics to keep them from fluttering in the wind but also helped protect their ribs if they had an accident.
Carrara
This may seem like a nice landscape picture, but it has some connection to art and architecture. What at first seems like it might be snow is in fact marble. These are the quarries of Carrara, the most famous marble quarries in the world. Look closely and you’ll be able to see them. From here the stone for Michelangelo’s masterpieces came, as did the material for Bernini’s stunning sculptures and many other works of art from ancient Roman times to the present. Of course, today kitchen counter tops are also made from the beautiful stone. Michelangelo might have been angered that such fine material was used for such a purpose.
Ancient Agrigento
The city of Agrigento, ancient Akragas, is on the south coast of Sicily. In the 4th and 5th centuries BCE great temples were built there in the Doric style, and today their impressive ruins can be seen in the legendary ‘Valley of the Temples’. This picture shows the Temple of Hera in the distance, but also shows the arched niche of an early Christian tomb that was carved into the cliffs that also served as part of the city’s defenses. The Christians carved so many tombs, however, that the cliff walls began to break apart and fall, as this one did, down the hillside.
Greek Figures
I took this picture in the Archaeological Museum of Agrigento, in Sicily, of a detail of a Greek vase where a warrior is killed. That’s his soul escaping in the upper left. The painter of this vase made a nice echo in the composition, making the little soul figure in ‘red’ figure (never sure why they always say that; it’s clearly orange) and the warrior on the shield in black figure. They’re almost mirrors of each other. Ancient Greek vases began with black figures on an orange (terra cotta) background, then later vases were ‘red’ figures on a black background. Some transitional vases were ‘bilingual’ with both techniques. So many Mediterranean museums are filled with them, but the museum in Agrigento has a few real masterpieces.
Rondanini Pieta
Everyone knows Michelangelo’s famous Pieta in Rome, in St Peters in the Vatican, but the sculptor worked on another of the same theme near the end of his life, from around 1555 to his death in 1564 at the age of 88. It was great to see it, for the first time, a couple of days ago in the Castello Sforza in Milan. The sculpture is unfinished and gives the impression of a three-dimensional sketch in marble. This image shows the faces of Mary and Christ, just roughed out and displaying the chisel marks of the work. By this time the artist must have had pain in every one of his joints. Perhaps he hoped that the same pity evoked in the statue would be extended to him when his soul was judged.
Portofino
Portofino, a picturesque little harbour on the Ligurian Coast of Italy (Genoa is the principal city), is the best known of the scenic little spots of the ‘Cinque Terre’ or ‘Five Lands’. It’s the heart of the Italian Riviera. This is, I suppose, the ‘classic’ view, taken from the Castle Brown, which was built by an English Consul in the 1800s. The super-rich anchor their yachts here and take in the sunshine, which was plentiful today. In September the Italians, and others who come here, are taking what’s left of summer on the beaches and rocks. The waters are crystalline and have all those appealing and radiant Mediterranean hues. The name of Portofino is a corruption, taking place over the centuries, of the Roman name for the port: Porto Delphino, or ‘Port of the Dolphins’, which got shortened to the modern form.
Names of the Dead
At the sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi there is a retaining wall below the temple upon which the Athenians inscribed the names of those who died at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE. Many people walk by the wall and don’t see the inscriptions. They’re so weathered after 2500 years they’re hard to see. Those of you who know the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC now know where the inspiration came from: the names of the Marathonomachoi, or heroes of the Battle of Marathon.
Roman Mosaics, Sicily
The best collection of Roman mosaics in any single place in the world is in Sicily, at a place called Piazza Armerina. The mosaics belong to the vast flooring of a single Roman villa that may have belonged to the Emperor Maxentius or some very wealthy land owner who may have supplemented his income by the exportation of wild African animals for the gladiatorial shows in Roman towns. Every room in the huge complex has mosaic flooring.
Revisiting: Athens
On the Acropolis of Athens there’s a small ionic temple called the Temple of Athena Nike, dedicated to Athena the Victor. Around the temple was once a balustrade with various relief sculptures of the goddess. This is an image of one of the best preserved. Athena reaches down to undo the straps of her sandal, to enter the sacred space of her own temple. The drapery is extraordinary, a spectacular example of the high classical style with the drapery both clinging to the skin and falling in deep folds. Years ago I recall seeing a picture of this relief in an art history book. From that moment on I dreamed of seeing it. Today it’s in the Acropolis Museum in Athens, just below the acropolis itself. In fact, you can see the Temple of Athena Nike from the windows of the museum.
Revisiting: Cyprus
I was walking though some fields in the early spring, about 5 miles east of Famagusta, Cyprus, heading towards a building I was later to write an article on: the Trapeza church (see my articles page on this website). I looked down at one point to see thousands of caterpillars feasting on the new wheat. They were a voracious, writhing mass of colour, devouring the fresh shoots. I wondered what butterflies they were going to become.
Revisiting: Algeria
I’ve never had much luck shooting pictures from a bus, though other people I know are real masters at it. This picture was one exception. I was heading to a Berber village in the mountains of Algeria, south of Algiers, when these two girls came into view. They looked up at the window and smiled and the one girl put her arm around her friend (of sister) and I took the picture. Their friendship seemed so perfectly expressed in their mutual ‘reverse embrace’, looping them together. The smaller girl’s smile was so spontaneous and beautiful and the older girl seemed to have a more serious look, indicating her protectiveness.
Revisiting: Monopoli in Puglia
I travel a lot in ‘olive lands’ and so I see a LOT of olive trees. I think the experts say that the oldest tree is on Crete, outside of Chania (Vouves village), but I’ve never seen any olive trees anywhere as impressive as the ones in the region just south of Monopoli in Puglia, Italy. They must be 2000 or 2500 years old. What that means is that these trees were planted by the ancient Greek colonists who first built cities along this lesser-known coast of Italy on the Adriatic in the 5th century BCE. They’re still producing olives and olive oil is still pressed from them after all these centuries. If you’ve never been to Basilicata or Puglia, or some of the other southern Italian provinces, you’re really missing out.
