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JJ Merelo @jjmerelo.bsky.social · 18h

Art history in Western Universities only makes passing references to Eastern Art. At least in Spain (or Southern Spain anyway) we have a healthy dose of Islamic Art. But you would need another BA just for Japanese art

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Dr. Peter Paul Rubens @peterpaulrubens.bsky.social · 21h

Flatterers up the *ss of the rich man. Some things never change! Here in 1592 by Pieter Brueghel the Younger, whose day is today.

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JJ Merelo @jjmerelo.bsky.social · 19h

The moss is known as “Koke”, and is not casual but part of the whole concept. I wonder if it covers the positively hateful and asymmetric aspect of the original. It certainly makes the whole composition, with the two servants and lamps (doro), more symmetrical and maybe harmonic. But what do I know

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JJ Merelo @jjmerelo.bsky.social · 19h

There is a concept in Japanese aesthetics called “yugen”, profound grace. This symbiosis of art and nature, with a granite statue covered in moss, represents such a concept, and it’s created trough the action of devotes, who pour water on them to request protection form the “unmovable”

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JJ Merelo @jjmerelo.bsky.social · 19h

OK, I’m back. This is a temple of the Jodo-shu version of Buddhism, which means “pure land”. It was built in the Edo period, that is, when the capital moved away from Kyoto to the current Tokyo. Edo period was one of isolation www.metmuseum.org/es/essays/ar... giving rise to archetypical art forms

Art of the Edo Period (1615–1868) - The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In Japan’s self-imposed isolation, traditions of the past were revived and refined, and ultimately parodied and transformed in the flourishing urban societies of Kyoto and Edo.

www.metmuseum.org

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JJ Merelo @jjmerelo.bsky.social · 19h

This is the Hozenji temple in Osaka, and if you look really hard, you will realize that the bush is really a statue, Fudo-Myoo or Acala, covered in moss. As well as two servants?, one of them with a bib?
I really don’t know the first thing about this kind of art. Just stick around, will be back…

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JJ Merelo @jjmerelo.bsky.social · 1d

750 years of the guild of Viennese oven-makers, “Wiener-Hafners”. Ovens were made of ceramic tiles, so it’s a fitting representation of their craft.
I have no idea who made it; in some cases, public art is just made by city workers; it might be also something created by the guild. Beautiful anyway.

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Jo Locktov @jolocktov.bsky.social · 3d

The Four Deadly Seasons

The newest from @davidhewson.com
A thrilling Venetian mystery that ends in a crescendo of intrigue.

Music, myth & murder!

Free standard shipping today from @bookshop.org

#Vivaldi
#Casanova
#VeniceBooks
#venice

Jo Locktov @jolocktov.bsky.social · 17d

A centuries-old score. A city built on secrets. A melody that kills…..

@davidhewson.com brings back the reclusive archivist, Arnold Clover, in his thrilling Venetian mystery series.

A marvelous, musical mystery!
I loved it.

Available on @bookshop.org
#VeniceBooks #Venice #Vivaldi

The Four Deadly Seasons

Check out The Four Deadly Seasons - A centuries-old score. A city built on secrets. A melody that kills.When a celebrated music impresario is found dead in Venice-his...

bookshop.org

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Joni Askola @joniaskola.bsky.social · 2d

Sanctions work

Joni Askola @joniaskola.bsky.social · 3d

Putin often claims that sanctions hurt the West more than they hurt Russia, but he also keeps asking us to remove them. If that were really true, he’d be asking for more sanctions, not fewer

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JJ Merelo @jjmerelo.bsky.social · 2d

Nerja is a fishing town, and this mosaic represents the Savior preaching to the Apostles in a boat, posing as fishermen. It’s probably recent, from this century, but still it’s got the charm of folk art, the beautiful blue of the Mediterranean and the golden sand of the beaches.
A nice find.

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JJ Merelo @jjmerelo.bsky.social · 2d

Since it’s close to the main public space in the city, it’s got this clock in the tower, which was built by the end of the 17th century. So it’s got these little Baroque ornaments in the shape of window lintels, a rose window breaking the cornice, and a triangular façade finishing.

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JJ Merelo @jjmerelo.bsky.social · 2d

The church of El Salvador (our savior) in Nerja fits in perfectly with this whitewashed Andalusian town. Which was the first I visited after the lockdown and we would travel outside our province, BTW. This explains why there are no crowds. It looked really derelict, with international travel off

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JJ Merelo @jjmerelo.bsky.social · 3d

And maybe also Very Not Kirk, which is the True Church of Scotland. Ish. All Calvinist denominations, so we have a stark, simple building for teaching. Even the chimneys are simple, although they are grouped in threes to represent the Trinity, I guess. Same as the windows.

JJ Merelo @jjmerelo.bsky.social · 3d

And that was probably the intention; it was created by the Free Church of Scotland and later used by the United Free Church of Scotland. To be honest, I’m a bit amused by all these denominations and changes thereof. Basically what it means to me is: Very Not English.

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JJ Merelo @jjmerelo.bsky.social · 3d

The New College of the University of Edinburgh looks like a temple of wisdom, elevating its twin towers to heaven. Since it’s the “College of Divinity”, it’s wisdom for temples, so it goes full circle.
The strong buttresses that flank the towers make it look neo-Romanesque. Looks like a fortress.

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Dr. Peter Paul Rubens @peterpaulrubens.bsky.social · 3d

A marvelous Annunciation from 1440 by Filippo Lippi, who d. OTD in 1469. Wish I could say that frame was original but no, these were the wings of an altarpiece. Still look great!

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Dee Lilley @deelilley.bsky.social · 3d

Sunrise in Åsgårdstrand, Edvard Munch 1893

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JJ Merelo @jjmerelo.bsky.social · 4d

Romanesque architecture did not have such simple harmony and proportions, as well as an unified approach to the design of the façade, with mirroring triangles, repetition of motifs, and the white-and-gold color.
And it’s a small, unassuming place. Worth a visit, or just a small stop when passing by

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JJ Merelo @jjmerelo.bsky.social · 4d

There’s the nice element of the bouquet of Lillie’s over the rose Window, with 7 flowers symbolizing purity, and, apparently for Freemasons, moral rectitude. The ribbon says “Ave Maria”, a simple prayer.
The finials on top of the triangle topping the arch are also an unusual feature

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JJ Merelo @jjmerelo.bsky.social · 4d

I wouldn’t say there’s any Masonic symbology here, except for the repetition of motifs coming in threes, the absence of explicit religious images. But it’s a bit far-fetched. It’s using a neo-Romanesque vocabulary, including the Lombard blind arches over the door and below the cornice

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JJ Merelo @jjmerelo.bsky.social · 4d

This picture taken with a ultra-low cost grand-angular camera shows Our Lady of Montserrat, built by the namesake Juan Montserrat Vergés, the best modernist architect in Granada and possibly in Western Andalucía.
He was also a Freemason and he used their iconography, mainly in civil buildings.

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Dr. Peter Paul Rubens @peterpaulrubens.bsky.social · 5d

Today’s artist without a (known) birthday: Masolino da Panicale. Painter in Florence & Rome, master of perspective. As in this beautiful Annunciation from 1423.

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Jaime Gómez-Obregón @gomezobregon.com · 5d

🔴 La justicia ha impedido la utilización del derecho penal como herramienta de silenciamiento.

El juez ha sido contundente: la querella es «un perfecto dislate». 👇

Pretender que semejante crítica, en términos vagos y genéricos, supone un ataque a la reputación de la querellante, que no es ni nombrada, y que
además ese daño reputacional se puede valorar en 50.000 euros, según
“informe pericial” que se acompaña, es un perfecto dislate. El querellante
está en su perfecto derecho de denunciar una práctica que entiende
corrupta y que según él está generalizada en el sector de las licitaciones
tecnológicas, y no se entiende que la querellante pretenda que esas
afirmaciones, insisto en términos absolutamente genéricos, justifiquen la
existencia de un ataque a su honor de tal intensidad como para proponer la reacción penal. Por poner un equivalencia , eso es igual a que este
proveyente decidiera querellarse por injurias con alguno de los muchos
tuiteros que están diciendo todo el día en esa red que los jueces son todos unos prevaricadores.

En definitiva, los hechos narrados en la querella no pueden encuadrarse en el tipo penal de injurias, pues las expresiones están cubiertas por el
ejercicio del derecho fundamental a la libre expresión, vinculada con una
finalidad de la crítica política imprescindible en un Estado democrático, al
afectar a la contratación pública de un gobierno regional.

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Bobscratch Goldfarb 🫘💙🌊 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🇺🇦♿️ @bobscratchgfarb.bsky.social · 5d

This is how an authoritarian dictator talks.

apple.news/A4qPTqoL4S_G...

'Disgusting': Critics Rip Trump's Chilling New Threat Against Democrats — HuffPost

The president told thousands of members of the military that Democrats are

apple.news

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JJ Merelo @jjmerelo.bsky.social · 5d

I haven’t been able to visit it, just the cloister. Is it open every day or just for occassions?

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