By Jess Taylor – Setting The Minoan civilization often evokes thoughts of myths of the bull-headed Monitor and his labyrinth, images of the ruins of the Knossos palace, with its red, tapered columns and advanced multi-storied architecture, their early written languages, the untranslated Linear A and translated Linear B as […]
Freemasonry Lodge in Vienna, 1789 (courtesy of Wienmuseum) By Pauline Chakmakjian – My publisher Markosia in the UK recently released my trilogy: The Sphinxing Rabbit: Her Sovereign Majesty, The Sphinxing Rabbit: Book of Hours and The Sphinxing Rabbit: Clubs and Societies. All three books in the series from a publisher noted for graphic novels make […]
Quadrilingual Funerary Inscription – Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Arabic – in Palazzo Normanni, Palermo, 12th c. (photo P. Hunt). By Anthony Klein – The island of Sicily in the 12th century has long been portrayed as a golden age of multi-cultural amity resulting in spectacular wealth and a flowering of syncretic art […]
Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) image in public domain. By Patrick Hunt – Any history of the opium poppy, in this case Papaver somniferum or the “sleep-bringing” poppy, must be replete with its known medical use and perhaps equally its less scientific lore. Why it has been known as the “sacred […]
Bayeux Tapestry Norman Ships with Dragon Prows as “Figureheads” (image public domain) By Timothy Demy – The carving and painting of eyes, faces, and figures on boats and ships is an ancient practice that continues around the globe in the present day. Whether the eyes were decorative, religious, or believed […]
Image courtesy of J.C. Scull, Mental Illness – History and Ancient Treatments, Invisible Illness, 2022 By Walter Borden, M.D. – In the Dark Ages of Greek ancient history (before writing), mental illness and seizure disorders were considered as demonic possession of one kind or another. Mysticism was the prevailing explanation of all unknowns. […]
Emma Bridgewater Figs (Photo P. Hunt) By Patrick Hunt – If asked what the oldest cultivated fruit might be, how surprised would anyone be to know it could be the fig (represented by the botanical specimen of Ficus carica), apparently cultivated through the long Early Neolithic at least back to […]
Cover of Eugene Field and Maxfield Parrish, Poems of Childhood, 1904 By P. F. Sommerfeldt – If you had a favorite book as a child, depending on how old – or young – you were, this book is not unlikely to look fairly battered if you’ve still had it long […]
Domaine de Beaurenard, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Sept. 2023 (Photo P. Hunt) By Patrick Hunt – Regardless how many times I’ve had a wine degustation in Chateauneuf-du-Pape over three decades, it never fails to excite when driving over the regional road D-68 from the north into the vineyards and then finally see the […]
By Patrick Hunt – Sometimes there are portraits that are so gripping you cannot move on for a long time. As a prelude I spend time in Bergen, Norway, every year and my visits always include the Kode Bergen Art Museum, especially the collection in the four white buildings along […]