Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Monday, December 30, 2019
France Clidat
Grave of France Clidat (1932-2012)
Cimetière du Père-Lachaise, (Père Lachaise Cemetery)
Quartier du Père-Lachaise, 20th arrondissement
Paris, July 2014
“France Clidat (Nantes, 22 November 1932 – Paris, 17 May 2012) was a French pianist renowned for her interpretations of the works of Franz Liszt, a great many of which she recorded, and Erik Satie, whose complete piano works she recorded.” (France Clidat, Wikipedia)
Sunday, December 29, 2019
Via della Pilotta
Via della Pilotta
Rome, September 2019
“However, this ‘secret garden’, concealed behind a high wall, is separated from the Palazzo Colonna by a street, Via della Pilotta. This name refers to a hall-game (as do the words patio and potions) and we know that this quiet street between naked walls - for the palace too turned its back on it - provided excellent opportunities tor games. The chronicler Valesio, mentions in 1740, that the game had become popular here again after an interval of forty years. Prince Colonna and his family naturally had to be able to get from their house to the garden without setting foot on the street and being molested by the sporting activities of young louts. For this reason, two bridges were built over the Via della Pilotta, one at each end of the palace; Don Filippo Colonna was given permission for this by Pope Innocent XII (1691-1700). lt was probably in the 1750's that two more bridges were added between the old ones. As can be seen from plate 92, which shows the one to the south at the entrance to the Via della Pilotta, the original arcades curved in a gentle arch and had a railing borne by balusters, all in straw—yellow travertine. The canting arms of the Colonna Family, a crowned column (colonna), can be seen carved on the plinth above the keystone of the arch.” (Rome: The Biography of Her Architecture from Bernini to Thorvaldsen by Christian Elling)
Saturday, December 28, 2019
Gare do Oriente
Gare do Oriente
Avenida Dom João II
Lisbon, April 2019
“Oriente Station is situated in an urban area of reclaimed industrial and abandoned buildings fronting the northern margin of the Tagus River, situated 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the city centre. Ambitious in its conception, the modernist station includes a Lisbon Metro station, a high-speed commuter and regional train hub, a local, national and international bus station, a shopping centre and a police station. The rail station was conceived with a multi-modal platform intersecting the cardinal axes for the various transport modes. With some influence from Gothic architecture, the station bears considerable resemblance to Santiago Calatrava's earlier Allen Lambert Galleria within Toronto's Brookfield Place. Calatrava's objective was to realize a new space with ample room and functionality providing multiple connections between various zones in the metropolitan area of Lisbon.” (Gare do Oriente, Wikipedia)
Friday, December 27, 2019
Dům U České orlice
Dům U České orlice (House at the Czech Eagle), 1897
Ovocný trh
Staré Město (Old Town)
Prague, September 2017
Thursday, December 26, 2019
Giovanni delle Bande Nere
Monument to Giovanni delle Bande Nere by Baccio Bandinelli, 1540
Piazza San Lorenzo
Florence, January 2018
“The Monument to Giovanni delle Bande Nere is a Reinaissance-style marble, outdoor sculptural group located in Piazza San Lorenzo in Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy. The statue was originally commissioned by Cosimo I de Medici in 1540 to commemorate his father, Giovanni delle Bande Nere, the successful condottiero from the Medici family. The sculptor was Baccio Bandinelli. The statue however was controversial from the start: it was debated whether a depiction of an armed soldier should serve as a monument in a church, however even if it was not displayed in a church, it was debated if it was appropriate for a warrior like Giovanni, who had marched against foes most of his life, to be immortalized while sitting down.” (Monument to Giovanni delle Bande Nere, Florence, Wikipedia)
Wednesday, December 25, 2019
Nathan Hale
Nathan Hale by Frederick William MacMonnies, 1890
City Hall Park
Civic Center, Lower Manhattan
New York, September 2007
“This graceful, 13-foot standing bronze figure, sculpted by Frederick MacMonnies (1863-1937), directly faces City Hall and honors the last moments of the 21-year-old American Revolution era spy, Nathan Hale (1755-1776). Disguised as a Dutch schoolteacher, Hale attempted to infiltrate New York’s British ranks to gather intelligence on the enemy’s Long Island military installations. The young man was captured, however, on the night of September 21, 1776 and hanged for treason the next morning on a gallows believed to have been erected near 63rd Street and First Avenue. Since no life portraits of the patriot spy exist, Frederick Macmonnies’s work offers a romantic interpretation of Hale. The bronze statue of the shackled and bound Hale is set upon a granite base and illustrates the hero’s last predawn moments. Though only 26 when he won the Nathan Hale Memorial Competition, Macmonnies’s sculpture brought him great renown in New York City and also won him a medal from the prestigious Paris Salon.” (Nathan Hale, NYC Parks)
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Fontána Sv. Juraja
Fontána Sv. Juraja / Fountain of Saint George
Primate's Palace courtyard
Staré Mesto (Old Town)
Bratislava, September 2017
Monday, December 23, 2019
Santa Maria Maggiore
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
(Basilica of Saint Mary Major)
Piazza di Santa Maria Maggiore
Rome, June 2019
“The Basilica of Saint Mary Major (Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore), or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Papal major basilica and the largest Catholic Marian church in Rome, Italy. The basilica enshrines the venerated image of Salus Populi Romani, depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary as the help and protectress of the Roman people, which was granted a Canonical coronation by Pope Gregory XVI on 15 August 1838 accompanied by his Papal bull Cælestis Regina. Pursuant to the Lateran Treaty of 1929 between the Holy See and Italy, the Basilica is within Italian territory and not the territory of the Vatican City State. However, the Holy See fully owns the Basilica, and Italy is legally obligated to recognize its full ownership thereof and to concede to it ‘the immunity granted by International Law to the headquarters of the diplomatic agents of foreign States.’” (Santa Maria Maggiore, Wikipedia)
Sunday, December 22, 2019
A Guerra dos Tronos
“A Guerra dos Tronos” (Game of Thrones)
Gare do Oriente
Parque das Nações
Lisbon, April 2019
“The eighth and final season of the fantasy drama television series Game of Thrones, produced by HBO, is scheduled to premiere on April 14, 2019. Filming officially began on October 23, 2017 and concluded in July 2018.Unlike the first six seasons that each had ten episodes and the seventh that had seven episodes, the eighth season only has six episodes. Like the previous season, it largely consists of original content not found in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series and adapts material Martin revealed to the showrunners about the upcoming novels in the series, The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring. The season was adapted for television by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss.” (Game of Thrones, season 8, Wikipedia)
Saturday, December 21, 2019
Friday, December 20, 2019
Santa Maria dei Ricci
Pipe organ by Chichi Rosario & Figli opus 168, 1989
Santa Margherita in Santa Maria de' Ricci
Via del Corso
Florence, January 2018
Thursday, December 19, 2019
Mould fountain
Detail of the Jacob Wrey Mould fountain
City Hall Park
Civic Center, Lower Manhattan
New York, September 2007
“In 1999 a $34.6 million project fully restored the park, adding a central walkway and gardens and replacing pavement with grass and trees. The Mould fountain with its original granite base was returned to the park with a reconstructed centerpiece and lighting fixtures. A circular tablet at the southern end of the park was added to educate visitors about the history of the site. At the park’s rededication, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani called the renovation ‘a final gift from the 20th century to New Yorkers of the 21st.’” (City Hall Park, NYC Parks)
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Chiostro
Chiostro (Cloister)
Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano
(Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran)
Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterano
Rome, June 2019
“Between the archbasilica and the city wall there was in former times a great monastery, in which dwelt the community of monks whose duty it was to provide the services in the archbasilica. The only part of it which still survives is the 13th century cloister, surrounded by graceful, twisted columns of inlaid marble. They are of a style intermediate between the Romanesque proper and the Gothic, and are the work of Vassellectus and the Cosmati.” (Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, Wikipedia)
Monday, December 16, 2019
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Miguel Ángel Asturias
Grave of Miguel Ángel Asturias (1899-1974)
Cimetière du Père-Lachaise, (Père Lachaise Cemetery)
Quartier du Père-Lachaise, 20th arrondissement
Paris, July 2014
“Miguel Ángel Asturias Rosales (October 19, 1899 – June 9, 1974) was a Nobel Prize-winning Guatemalan poet-diplomat, novelist, playwright and journalist. Asturias helped establish Latin American literature's contribution to mainstream Western culture, and at the same time drew attention to the importance of indigenous cultures, especially those of his native Guatemala.” (Miguel Ángel Asturias, Wikipedia)
Saturday, December 14, 2019
Friday, December 13, 2019
Potter Building
Potter Building, 1886
Park Row / Beekman Street
Financial District, Lower Manhattan
New York, September 2007
“The Potter Building is a building in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. The building occupies a full block along Beekman Street with the addresses 38 Park Row to its west and 145 Nassau Street to its east. It was designed by Norris G. Starkweather in a combination of the Queen Anne and neo-Grec styles, as an iron-framed structure. The Potter Building employed the most advanced fireproofing methods that were available when the building was erected between 1883 and 1886. These features included rolled iron beams, cast iron columns, brick exterior walls, tile arches, and terracotta. The Potter Building was also one of the first iron-framed buildings, and among the first to have a ‘C’-shaped floor plan, with an exterior light courtyard facing Beekman Street. The original design remains largely intact. The building replaced a former headquarters of the New York World, which was built in 1857 and burned down in February 1882. It was named for its developer, the politician and real estate developer Orlando B. Potter. The Potter Building originally served as an office building with many tenants from the media and from legal professions. It was converted into apartments from 1979 to 1981. The Potter Building was designated a New York City landmark in 1996 and is also a contributing property to the Fulton–Nassau Historic District, a National Register of Historic Places district created in 2005.” (Potter Building, Wikipedia)
Thursday, December 12, 2019
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Madonna di Loreto
Madonna of Loreto or Pilgrim's Madonna by Caravaggio, 1606
Basilica di Sant'Agostino
Rome, June 2019
“The Madonna of Loretto or Pilgrim's Madonna is a famous painting (1604–1606) by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio, located in the Cavalletti Chapel of the church of Sant'Agostino, near the Piazza Navona in Rome. It depicts the apparition of the barefoot Virgin and naked child to two peasants on a pilgrimage; or as some say it is the quickening of the iconic statue of the Virgin. In 1603 the heirs of marquis Ermete Cavalletti, who had died on 21 July 1602, commissioned for the decoration of a family chapel a painting on the theme of the Madonna of Loreto. Putting into practice the marquis's will, the Cavaletti's on 4 September 1603 purchased a chapel in the church of Sant'Agostino in Rome.” (Madonna di Loreto, Wikipedia)
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Serpents pectoral
Serpents pectoral (gold and enamel) by René Lalique, 1899
Calouste Gulbenkian Museum
Gulbenkian Park, Avenida de Berna
Lisbon, April 2019
“This pectoral is one of the paradigms of René Lalique’s jewellery production, not only for the mastery of its execution, as for the theme chosen. Reptiles were a source of inspiration to which Lalique returned throughout his life not only for jewellery, but also for his glass, bronzes, etc. The pectoral is made up of nine serpents entwined to form a knot from which the bodies of the other eight fall in a cascade, the ninth rising in the centre, at the top of the jewel. The reptiles, in the attack position, have their mouths open from which strings of pearls were hung as was apparently the case with a similar pectoral (the whereabouts of which are unknown), which was highlighted at the Paris Universal Exhibition in 1900 and reproduced in a publication of the period. The present piece is thus probably the only one in existence. Calouste Gulbenkian acquired it directly from the artist in 1908.” (Serpents pectoral, Calouste Gulbenkian Museum)
Monday, December 9, 2019
Kostol Loretánskej Panny Márie
Kostol Loretánskej Panny Márie (Uršulínsky kostol)
Ursulinska
Staré Mesto (Old Town)
Bratislava, September 2017
Sunday, December 8, 2019
Fishes
One of the medallions depicting fishing activities and the sea
Loggia del Pesce
Piazza dei Ciompi
Florence, January 2018
Saturday, December 7, 2019
Oxy-fuel cutting
Oxy-fuel cutting
Broadway / Canyon of Heroes
Financial District, Lower Manhattan
New York, September 2007
Friday, December 6, 2019
Thursday, December 5, 2019
MACRO Asilo
MACRO as MACRO Asilo
Museum of Contemporary Art
Via Nizza 138
Rome, June 2019
“1 Oct 2018-31 Dec 2019. MACRO on Via Nizza will be free to visitors for 15 months as part of an experimental art project, known as Asilo (meaning refuge), under the direction of curator Giorgio de Finis. Asilo opens with a party at 16.00 on 30 September and the first month of the project includes major names such as Michelangelo Pistoletto, Pablo Echaurren and Pietro Ruffo. MACRO Asilo will see the participation of 250 contemporary artists who will be given space to work, perform and interact with the public. The programme envisages the creation of 400 videoart works, 1,000 lessons, 60 Saturday night concerts and 900 self-portraits. De Finis, known to many as the founder of Rome's MAAM street art museum, says the traditional exhibition format will be abandoned with the goal of transforming MACRO into a ‘living museum.’ The series of 180 lectures will also feature international artists such as Claire Bishop, Mary Ann Caws, Don Thompson, Calum Storrie, Sally Price and Paul Werner.” (Rome's MACRO Asilo opens its doors for free, Wanted in Rome)
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Monday, December 2, 2019
Nativity scene
Nativity scene
Chiostro dei Morti (Cloister of the Dead)
Basilica di Santo Spirito (Basilica of the Holy Spirit)
Florence, January 2018
Sunday, December 1, 2019
Michel Petrucciani
Grave of Michel Petrucciani (1962-1999)
Cimetière du Père-Lachaise, (Père Lachaise Cemetery)
Quartier du Père-Lachaise, 20th arrondissement
Paris, July 2014
“Michel Petrucciani (28 December 1962 – 6 January 1999) was a French jazz pianist. From birth he had osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disease that causes brittle bones and, in his case, short stature. He became one of the most accomplished jazz pianists of his generation despite having pain in his arms.” (Michel Petrucciani, Wikipedia)
Saturday, November 30, 2019
Vivant Denon
Grave of Vivant Denon (1747-1825)
Cimetière du Père-Lachaise, (Père Lachaise Cemetery)
Quartier du Père-Lachaise, 20th arrondissement
Paris, July 2014
“Dominique Vivant, Baron Denon (4 January 1747 – 27 April 1825) was a French artist, writer, diplomat, author, and archaeologist. He was appointed as the first Director of the Louvre museum by Napoleon after the Egyptian campaign of 1798–1801, and is commemorated in the Denon Wing of the modern museum and in the Dominique-Vivant Denon Research Center. His two-volume Voyage dans la basse et la haute Egypte (Journey in Lower and Upper Egypt), 1802, was foundational for modern Egyptology.” (Vivant Denon, Wikipedia)
Friday, November 29, 2019
Tomb of Pope Gregory XIII
Tomb of Pope Gregory XIII by Camillo Rusconi, 1723
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City
Rome, June 2019
“Pope Gregory XIII is best known for his commissioning of the calendar after being initially authored by the doctor/astronomer Aloysius Lilius and with the aid of Jesuit priest/astronomer Christopher Clavius who made the final modifications. The reason for the reform was that the average length of the year in the Julian calendar was too long – as it treated each year as 365 days, 6 hours in length, whereas calculations showed that the actual mean length of a year is slightly less (365 days, 5 hours and 49 minutes). As a result, the date of the vernal equinox had slowly (over the course of 13 centuries) slipped to 10 March, while the computus (calculation) of the date of Easter still followed the traditional date of 21 March. This was verified by the observations of Clavius, and the new calendar was instituted when Gregory decreed, by the papal bull Inter gravissimas of 24 February 1582, that the day after Thursday, 4 October 1582 would be not Friday, 5 October, but Friday, 15 October 1582. The new calendar duly replaced the Julian calendar, in use since 45 BC, and has since come into nearly universal use. Because of Gregory's involvement, the reformed Julian calendar came to be known as the Gregorian calendar. The switchover was bitterly opposed by much of the populace, who feared it was an attempt by landlords to cheat them out of a week and a half's rent. However, the Catholic countries of Spain, Portugal, Poland, and Italy complied. France, some states of the Dutch Republic and various Catholic states in Germany and Switzerland (both countries were religiously split) followed suit within a year or two, Austria and Hungary followed in 1587.” (Pope Gregory XIII, Wikipedia)
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Ler Devagar bookstore
Ler Devagar bookstore
LX Factory
Rua Rodrigues de Faria
Lisbon, April 2019
“In 2008, Ler Devagar was invited to take up home in the then ‘Alcântara Cultural Industries Pole – Lx Factory’. On the 23rd April 2009, doors were opened on that which would come to be considered one of the 20 most beautiful bookshops in the world (or of the top 10 if the selection is limited to bookshops in restored buildings).That same year, Ler Devagar decided to close its ZDB and Cinemateca bookshops, and to temporarily abandon the FBP bookshop, concentrating its main activity in the LX Factory Ler Devagar.The LX Factory Ler Devagar occupies a large space, with nearly 600m2 of floorspace, 4 levels and a 14-metre high ceiling. It has a collection of over 40,000 new titles and nearly 10,000 used.The arrival of Ler Devagar proved to greatly help in placing the LX Factory on the cultural and tourist map of Lisbon. Different media, from within Portugal and abroad, from newspapers to magazines, guidebooks, books, radio, television, websites, etc. have made reference to the bookshop as one of city’s, and indeed country’s, best cultural projects of recent years.” (History, Ler Devagar)
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Monday, November 25, 2019
Old New York Evening Post Building
Old New York Evening Post Building
Vesey Street
Lower Manhattan
New York, September 2007
“The Old New York Evening Post Building is the former office and printing plant of the New York Evening Post newspaper located at 20 Vesey Street between Church Street and Broadway in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1906-07 and was designed by architect Robert D. Kohn for Oswald Garrison Villard, who owned the Post at the time, and is considered to be "one of the few outstanding Art nouveau buildings" ever constructed in the United States. The fourteen-story, stone-veneer building is "reminiscent of the buildings that line the boulevards of Paris", and was not copied from an existing building. It features three tall bays of cast-iron framed bow windows, separated by pale limestone piers. There is an elaborate copper-covered mansard roof, two stories high and four elaborate sculpted figures. The statues depict the Four Periods of Publicity; two are by Gutzon Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore, and two by the architect's wife, Estelle Rumbold Kohn. The New York Evening Post occupied the building until moving to the New York Evening Post Building in 1926. The building, which was later called the Garrison Building, was designated a New York City landmark in 1965, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The New York Landmarks Preservation Commission was headquartered in the building from 1980 to 1987.” (Old New York Evening Post Building, Wikipedia)
Sunday, November 24, 2019
Saturday, November 23, 2019
Largo di Torre Argentina
Largo di Torre Argentina
Rome, June 2019
“Largo di Torre Argentina is a square in Rome, Italy, with four Roman Republican temples and the remains of Pompey's Theatre. It is in the ancient Campus Martius. The name of the square comes from the Torre Argentina, which takes its name from the city of Strasbourg whose Latin name was Argentoratum. In 1503, the Papal Master of Ceremonies Johannes Burckardt, who came from Strasbourg and was known as ‘Argentinus’, built in via del Sudario a palace (now at number 44), called Casa del Burcardo, to which the tower is annexed.
The Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary is located in Temple D of the Largo di Torre Argentina. The cat shelter was founded in 1993, and offers sterilization and adoption programs that house an estimated 350 cats. The shelter operates as a no-kill shelter under Law no. 281, enacted by the Italian Parliament in 1991. These laws introduced: (i) the cats’ rights to live free and safe, (ii) institutionalization of cat caretakers. The shelter remains active, despite archaeologists protests to dismantle the shelter in favor of protecting the excavation.” (Largo di Torre Argentina, Wikipedia)
Friday, November 22, 2019
Rio Maravilha
Rio Maravilha
LX Factory
Rua Rodrigues de Faria
Lisbon, April 2019
“Rio Maravilha based in the LX factory is an amazing rooftop bar with outstanding and breathtaking views of the river Tagus and the 25th April bridge. The bar boasts a massive terrace, with a retro cool design and a female statue mirroring Christ the Redeemer on the opposite side of the river. During the summer months the terrace is a hot spot in Lisbon and often holds rooftop parties until 2am. The bar inside is equally as trendy, with a Brazilian theme prevailing. The bar tenders are fitted out in retro summer shirts and making tasty and refreshing cocktails.” (Rio Maravilha, Activities in Portugal)
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
South Cove
Raised metal tower
South Cove
Battery Park City
New York, September 2007
“South Cove is an unusual, meditative recess along the waterfront. Considered one of the country’s most significant public artworks, the work is the result of a unique collaboration between environmental artist Mary Miss, architect Stanton Eckstut and landscape architect Susan Child. South Cove encompasses everything from carefully sited rocks, natural plantings, and atmospheric blue lights along the Esplanade to the water-racked pilings and the large, arching wooden jetty at the southern corner of the cove that extends into the Hudson like a pier. The jetty gently curves inward, back toward shore, as if in mediation of the city from which it springs. Overlooking the view is a raised metal tower recalling the prow of a boat or the crown of the Statue of Liberty visible beyond. At once dramatic and serene, South Cove is a place where land and water, nature and metropolis, past and present, gently coalesce.” (South Cove, Battery Park City Authority)
Monday, November 18, 2019
Sunday, November 17, 2019
Via Condotti
Piazza di Spagna and Via Condotti
Seen from the Spanish Steps
Piazza della Trinità dei Monti
Rome, June 2019
“Via dei Condotti (named always Via Condotti) is a busy and fashionable street of Rome, Italy. In Roman times it was one of the streets that crossed the ancient Via Flaminia and enabled people who transversed the Tiber to reach the Pincio hill. It begins at the foot of the Spanish steps and is named after conduits or channels which carried water to the Baths of Agrippa. Today, it is the street which contains the greatest number of Rome-based Italian fashion retailers, equivalent to Milan's Via Montenapoleone, Paris' Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, Florence's Via de' Tornabuoni or London's Bond Street.” (Via Condotti, Wikipedia)
Saturday, November 16, 2019
Hotel Vila Galé Ópera
Hotel Vila Galé Ópera
Travessa Conde da Ponte
Lisbon, April 2019
“Right in front of the Tagus River, you will find the hotel Vila Galé Ópera, located near the Lisbon Congress Center and the leisure area of Docas. In just a few minutes, you will reach the monumental area of Belém and the historic center of the Portuguese capital. Designed by the renowned Portuguese architect Manuel Salgado, and renovated in 2014, the decoration of this themed hotel set in Lisbon was inspired by the opera and classical music. Featuring a modern decor, many of its rooms offer an unparalleled view of the Tagus River, an icon of the city.” (Vila Galé Ópera)
Friday, November 15, 2019
Luigi Cherubini
Grave of Luigi Cherubini (1760-1842)
Cimetière du Père-Lachaise, (Père Lachaise Cemetery)
Quartier du Père-Lachaise, 20th arrondissement
Paris, July 2014
“Luigi Cherubini (8 or 14 September 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the greatest of his contemporaries. His operas were heavily praised and interpreted by Rossini.” (Luigi Cherubini, Wikipedia)
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Vintage Necchi
Vintage Necchi sewing machine
Le Nove Botteghe (The Nine Shops)
Via Gioberti
Florence, December 2017