tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post599711489458188301..comments2024-02-11T03:50:53.613-05:00Comments on Counterlight's Peculiars: The Creation of Christian Art; The Atlantic West meets the Mediterranean WestUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post-29975901624547577532009-09-28T12:16:39.217-04:002009-09-28T12:16:39.217-04:00pps And not forgetting, while I'm about it, th...pps And not forgetting, while I'm about it, the clear Carolingian book hands developed under his patronage - the clearest, most legible letter forms, to our eyes, between the Classical period and the Renaissance, whose "Roman" type-faces were largely based on Carolingian examples mistakenly believed to be of Classical date.Lapinbizarrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07686990585795363001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post-22354709291844084252009-09-28T11:48:29.476-04:002009-09-28T11:48:29.476-04:00ps I was bowled over by the Utrecht Psalter when I...ps I was bowled over by the Utrecht Psalter when I encountered it as a school boy. To this day I am still astonished every time I see it by the amazing sense of movement its drawings convey.Lapinbizarrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07686990585795363001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post-31186223607855120242009-09-28T11:32:53.223-04:002009-09-28T11:32:53.223-04:00Lapin,
Indeed, you are right; and Greek at a time...Lapin,<br /><br />Indeed, you are right; and Greek at a time when it is becoming forgotten in the West.<br /><br />Thanks.Counterlighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14345956180434795401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post-41249025984654698042009-09-28T10:05:58.904-04:002009-09-28T10:05:58.904-04:00Minor point concerning Dark Ages monks and alien t...Minor point concerning Dark Ages monks and alien tongues, the descriptive text around the portrait of St Matthew in the Lindisfarne Gospels is in two alien languages, Latin and Greek - "imago hominis O Agios Mattheus". Continue to be bowled over and to enjoy. Glad you're on the mend.Lapinbizarrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07686990585795363001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post-36485051391053054602009-09-28T08:59:26.765-04:002009-09-28T08:59:26.765-04:00"I would wish you a long illness if the above..."I would wish you a long illness if the above is the result of your suffering."<br /><br />MP, you can be just so amazingly nice sometimes.<br /><br />Thanks.<br /><br />And thanks for remembering me on your blog the other day.Counterlighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14345956180434795401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post-48675938269009952472009-09-28T08:46:29.310-04:002009-09-28T08:46:29.310-04:00rick allen,
I'm sorry your wife feels that wa...rick allen,<br /><br />I'm sorry your wife feels that way about Sir Kenneth. I suppose his television appearances made him an easy target for humor, but he was a very great writer on art. Even the great Leonardo scholar Martin Kemp concedes that no one has yet written a better book on Leonardo da Vinci than the one Clark wrote about 70 years ago. His book The Nude was always a favorite book of mine (anticipating a Madpriest snark here).<br /><br />That passage from Civilization (which I watched religiously when I was a boy) does indeed anticipate what I plan to do. The Santa Sabina doors and the Gero Cross will be featured.Counterlighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14345956180434795401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post-14742398300566368272009-09-28T08:34:00.750-04:002009-09-28T08:34:00.750-04:00My wife was an art history major, and so was used ...My wife was an art history major, and so was used to making fun of Kenneth Clark. Still, I have always enjoyed the man's writing, and will offer this in anticipation of your next (since I could lift it from another post at another place unchanged):<br /><br />"We have grown so used to the idea that the Crucifixion is the supreme symbol of Christianity, that it is a shock to realize how late in the history of Christian art its power was recognized. In the first art of Christianity it hardly appears; and the earliest example, on the doors of Santa Sabina in Rome, is stuck away in a corner, almost out of sight. The simple fact is that the early Church needed converts, and from this point of view the crucifixion was not an encouraging subject. So, early Christian art is concerned with miracles, healings, and with hopeful aspects of the faith like the Ascension and the Resurrection. The Santa Sabina Crucifixion is not only obscure but unmoving. The few surviving Crucifixions of the early Church make no attempt to touch our emotions. It was the tenth century, that despised and rejected epoch of European history, that made the Crucifixion into a moving symbol of the Christian faith. In a figure like the one make for Archbishop Gero of Cologne it has become very much what it has been ever since--the upstretched arms, the sunken head, the poignant twist of the body....I am reminded of the most famous lines in Virgil, that great mediator between the antique and the medieval world. They come when Aeneas has been shipwrecked in a country that he fears in inhabited by barbarians. Then as he looks around he sees some figures carved in relief, and he says: 'These men know the pathos of life, and mortal things touch their hearts'." <br /><br />--Kenneth Clark, Civilisation, 1969<br /><br />Sorry to hear you've been feeling bad, and had it compounded by being ambushed by your insurance. You're not alone, bud. I can't help but think, though, as this continues to happen, it has to have some public effect. But the power of false guilt is strong as well.rick allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07612435616018593956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post-91509442645601462122009-09-28T07:41:41.071-04:002009-09-28T07:41:41.071-04:00If I was a more selfish man I would wish you a lon...If I was a more selfish man I would wish you a long illness if the above is the result of your suffering.MadPriesthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15120376342802143188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post-3581763569267727922009-09-28T07:11:12.913-04:002009-09-28T07:11:12.913-04:00"You must be feeling better, then."
I h..."You must be feeling better, then."<br /><br />I had nothing else to do all weekend, a long one due to the Jewish holiday. I was too sick to do anything else.Counterlighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14345956180434795401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post-40959731474701837842009-09-28T03:14:59.353-04:002009-09-28T03:14:59.353-04:00Wow. You must be feeling better, then.Wow. You must be feeling better, then.MadPriesthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15120376342802143188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post-29068327891846698312009-09-28T01:47:45.796-04:002009-09-28T01:47:45.796-04:00Wow. This is a massively wonderful post. Practic...Wow. This is a massively wonderful post. Practically a thesis in itself, and a whole treasure trove of art.<br /><br />I keep coming back to "Wow!"Kirkepiscatoidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02651684515435040529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2343439372519556254.post-68641554728784764182009-09-27T21:45:56.282-04:002009-09-27T21:45:56.282-04:00 Such a wonderful post! I hope this means you... Such a wonderful post! I hope this means you're feeling better!<br /><br /> Honestly, Doug, I really think you should turn all this into a book. I would stand in line to buy it! This is too incredible for just blog posting!Rick+https://www.blogger.com/profile/03322574092020268536noreply@blogger.com