Rucellai Sepulchre

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Rucellai Sepulchre, Rucellai Chapel
Deconsecrated church of San Pancrazio
Via della Spada
Florence, April 2015

“The Cappella Rucellai, also known as Santo Sepolcro, was quickly executed and concluded in 1467, as is attested to by the date inscribed in Latin above the entrance door, and is a scale copy of the building in Jerusalem (said to be Christ’s original tomb) which circulated in numerous drawings in the Renaissance. It was the modest tomb chapel of the patron, Giovanni Ruccellai, who was pretty much the second richest man in Florence at the time.” (Rucellai Chapel and Alberti’s Tempietto del Santo Sepolcro, ArtTrav)

Peace

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“Peace” by Ana Tzarev, 2014
Riverside Park Gardens, Millbank
London, September 2014

“Just up the road from the Tate Britain on London’s Millbank sits a giant purple flower! Overlooking the Thames and sitting near to Vauxhall Bridge it’s just the latest in a series of striking sculptures popping up around the World from Croatian artist Ana Tzarev. Titled ‘Peace’ it won’t be there forever in fact it was placed in it’s current location on Riverside Park Gardens just after this years Chelsea Flower Show and is mid way through a six month residency. Afterwards the four metre high fibreglass sculpture will no doubt move on to somewhere else, taking it’s message of Peace with it.” (Ana Tzarev's Love & Peace campaign, Inspiring City)

Victor Hugo

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Monument to Victor Hugo by Lucien Pallez, 1905
Piazzale Victor Hugo
Rome, September 2010

“In 1903 Emperor William II of Germany donated to the Italian State a Monument to Goethe by Gustav Eberlein; the poet is shown standing on a colossal Corinthian capital and is surrounded by statues portraying characters of his works Iphigenia in Tauris, Mignon and Faust. Two years later the Romans watched the arrival of a French reply to the German gift: a monument to Victor Hugo by Lucien Pallez; because the French writer's association with Rome was rather loose (he visited the city when he was six) the inscription quoted a speech he made to praise Garibaldi.” (Villa Borghese, A Rome Art Lover's Web Page)

Le Roi-Soleil

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Equestrian statue of Louis XIV by Pierre Cartellier and Louis Petitot, 1838
Place d'Armes
Château de Versailles (Palace of Versailles)
France, July 2009

“The return of the equestrian bronze statue of Louis XIV is excellent news. The location designated by the public establishment, in front of the Avenue de Paris, is indeed the best possible choice. Louis XIV will continue, to the chagrin of those who claim that this work is of no artistic value, to welcome visitors to Versailles. The group, first installed in 1836 between the Gabriel and Dufour pavilions (at the site of the royal grill destroyed at the end of the 18th century), is made up of two distinct elements originally. The horse, sculpted by Pierre Cartellier, was to be used in the production of an equestrian monument to Louis XV commissioned by Louis XVIII in 1816 for the Place de la Concorde in Paris, replacing Bouchardon’s which was destroyed during the Revolution. It was finally founded in 1829 by Charles Crozatier and completed with a Louis XIV produced by Louis Petitot, Cartellier’s son-in-law, then finished in bronze by Crozatier. Severely damaged, the group was removed from its original location to make room for the mediocre modern grill which claims to restitute the one by Hardouin-Mansart.” (The Louis XIV sculpture returns to Versailles, The Art Tribune)

Palazzo Venier dei Leoni

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Peggy Guggenheim Collection
Palazzo Venier dei Leoni
Seen from the Canal Grande (Grand Canal)
Venice, September 2013

“Palazzo Venier dei Leoni was probably begun in the 1750s by architect Lorenzo Boschetti, whose only other known building in Venice is the church of San Barnaba. It is an unfinished palace. A model exists in the Museo Correr, Venice. Its magnificent classical façade would have matched that of Palazzo Corner, opposite, with the triple arch of the ground floor (which is the explanation of the ivy-covered pillars visible today) extended through both the piani nobili above. We do not know precisely why this Venier palace was left unfinished. Money may have run out, or some say that the powerful Corner family living opposite blocked the completion of a building that would have been grander than their own. Another explanation may rest with the unhappy fate of the next door Gothic palace which was demolished in the early 19th century: structural damage to this was blamed in part on the deep foundations of Palazzo Venier dei Leoni.” (The Palace, Peggy Guggenheim Collection)

Miranda

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The DUKW “Miranda” of London Duck Tours
London, October 2009

“All our Ducks are named after female Shakespearean characters: Mistress Quickly, Beatrice, Desdemona, Titania, Miranda, Elizabeth, Portia, Rosalind. Four of our Ducks took part in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Pageant on Sunday 3rd June 2012. Desdemona featured in the film ‘Nativity 2’ starring David Tennant. The ‘minions’ from the Movie ‘Despicable Me’ have enjoyed a tour. Rosalind was used in the hit US TV series ‘Band of Brothers’” (Quirky Facts, London Duck Tours)

See aso: Cleopatra

Jekyll & Hyde Club

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Facade of the former Jekyll & Hyde Club
Sixth Avenue at 57th Street
New York, October 2008