Literature
The Lady and the Unicorn and ‘Millefleurs’ Style Tapestries
In the late medieval period of the fifteenth century the now famous millefleurs tapestries first appear characterized by their backgrounds made of hundreds of tiny flowers. The most well known in this style are known as La Dame á la Licorne, or the Lady & the Unicorn. A group of six tapestries they are woven from a combination of woolen, silk and gold thread and have exercised an almost universal fascination on all those who have encountered them for hundreds of years.
Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Harmony of Courtly Love
From the 11th to the 13th century in England and Europe expressing personal feelings in relation to the beauty and bountiful joys of women became the province of troubadours, who were both composers and performers of lyrical poetry set to romantic music. They roved about the countryside visiting castles and their communities to deliver the latest ditties going about in song. The themes they favoured the most were those of chivalry and courtly love.
Alan Bennett Playwright – a Class Act like No Other
‘You are a rent boy. I am a poet. Over the wall lives the Dean of Christ Church. We all have our parts to play’ It seems to me that it is always a perfect time of year for an Alan Bennett celebration. England’s local hero highly acclaimed author and playwright Alan Bennett (1934 – [...]
Ancient Greek Art – A Meeting of the Human with the Divine
Greek sculpture was the first, the only ancient art to break free from conceptual conventions, for that of representing men and animals. Artisans wanted to explore consciously how art might imitate nature, or even improve upon it. There was no conscious striving towards realism at first, especially until it was understood to be a possible and desirable goal. This began six centuries before the Christ event.
Reading Aloud Rocks – Benefiting Children by Sharing the Joy
A book for everyone for Christmas is surely the way to go. And, if you read it aloud to children you can be sure that you are providing many benefits, including sharing the joy around.
Tapestry Tales, heavy with meaning and intention
A commission of six tapestries for William Knox D’arcy’s Dining Room at Stanmore Hall in Middlesex illustrates the story of the Holy Grail quest, as told in Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte d’Arthur. They took five years to weave and are considered among the most significant works made during the nineteenth century when romanticism was at its height and they paint a beguiling picture of lovely maidens and dashing knights in a style that was very appealing.
Arts & Crafts Movement – William Morris the Art that is Life
In England, during the second half of the nineteenth century, painter, writer, textile designer and social activist William Morris (1834-1896) became the spiritual leader of a revival in arts and crafts that encompassed all the visual arts, including architecture and interiors.
Three Wise Men – Achieving Celebrity Status
January 6 the climax of the Christian Twelve Days of Christmas celebrates The Epiphany when three wise men brought gifts of Gold Frankincense and Myrrh to the baby Jesus. But why?
Horace Walpole’s Legacy at Strawberry Hill nearby the Thames
At the time of Jane Austen’s birth on the sixteenth day of December 1775, Horace Walpole, 4th Earl Orford (1717- 1797) was using decorative ornament inspired by a literary and pictorial interest in Gothic architecture at Strawberry Hill, his villa nearby the Thames at Twickenham in the London borough of Richmond.
A ‘Compleat’ Gentleman, more than a leader of style
In London much of the development in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century was in the hands of aristocratic landowners. But were they ‘compleat’ gentlemen?
Fry’s Planet Word – Words are How the World Works
It is easier for a majority of people in the world of words to dwell on the well-catalogued and recorded past, rather than live in the present, which is truly teaming with the more quickly evolving life of words via phone texts and twitter. Fry’s Planet Word celebrates the complexity, variety and ingenuity of language.
Kafka’s Letters of Consequence & Culture at Oxford in Autumn
The Bodleian Libraries at Oxford in England have announced the newly acquired letters of renowned Czech author Franz Kafka (1883 – 1924) to his favourite sister Ottla, who died in the death camp at Auschwitz during World War II, are on public display for the first time.
Treasures of the Bodleian and Humankind – Cherishing Wisdom
Searching for hidden treasure is a continuing theme in fiction, fantasy and fact; real-life treasure hunters do exist and seek lost gold and wealth for a living. What makes a treasure in the 21st century is a debate that the Bodleian Libraries is inviting the public to take part in during their major autumn exhibition entitled Treasures of the Bodleian.
Martha Nussbaum’s Call – Hug the Dragon for Social Profit
American Philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics in the Philosophy Department, Law School, and Divinity School at the University of Chicago. In her short and powerful new book called Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities she makes a passionate case for the importance of the liberal arts at all levels of education. She challenges us all to strive be truly human – ‘to remain childlike, to keep an open mind, to refine an ability to remain humble, to eschew pride and arrogance and to be reverent towards other people and towards the natural world’.
Archaeology, uncovering the past to help invent the future
“Everything around…the dark passages, the lifelike figures surviving from an older world… would conspire to produce a sense of the supernatural. It was haunted ground, and then, as now, “phantasms were about. The later stories of the grisly king and his man-eating bull sprang, as it were, from the soil, and the whole site called [...]
CLASSIC: Artists & Artisans – Renaissance to Restoration
Classic – is the SECOND part of our four (4) segment course the Evolution of Art, Design & Style. It is available in video, ebook or podcast format and can be watched, read or listened to on your computer, iPad, Kindle or iPod.
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