FRANCIS, FREDERICK, IGNATIUS

“Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat.” - Robert Frost
 

January 29 is for Roman Catholics St Francis de Sales’ Feast Day, while the Greek Orthodox faith celebrates the Removal of the Relics of Ignatius the God-bearer (Ignatius of Antioch).
 

It is the anniversary of the birth of:
Daniel Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (1700);
Thomas Paine, writer (1737);
William McKinley, 25th president (1897-1901) of the USA (1843);
Anton Chekhov, writer (1860);
Frederick Delius, English composer (1862);
Romain Rolland, French writer (1866);
Vicente Blasco Ibàñez, Spanish novelist (1867);
W. C. Fields (William Claude Dukinfield), comedian (1879);
Ernst Lubitsch, film-maker (1892);
Victor Mature, US actor (1915);
Paddy (Sidney) Chayevsky, writer (1923);
Abdus Salam, Pakistani physicist (1926);
Leslie Bricuse, composer (1931);
Sacha Distel, French singer/songwriter (1933);
Germaine Greer, feminist (1939);
Katherine Ross, actress (1943);
Tom Selleck, actor (1945);
Greg E. Louganis, diver, Olympic medal winner (1960);
Athena Onassis, Greek heiress (1985).
 

Begonia, Begonia semperflorens, is the birthday flower for today.  The genus is named in honour of the 17th century Governor of French Canada, Michel Bégon.  Semperflorens means that it is ever flowering, a good description for these freely blooming perennials originally from Brazil.  The plant symbolises dark thoughts.
 

Francis de Sales (21 August 1567 – 28 December 1622) was a Bishop of Geneva and is honoured as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. He became noted for his deep faith and his gentle approach to the religious divisions in his land resulting from the Protestant Reformation. He is known also for his writings on the topic of spiritual direction and spiritual formation, particularly the Introduction to the Devout Life and the Treatise on the Love of God.
 

Ignatius of Antioch (Ancient Greek: Ἰγνάτιος Ἀντιοχείας, also known as Theophorus from Greek Θεοφόρος “God-bearer”) was born about 42 AD and died about 105 AD) was among the Apostolic Fathers. He was the third Bishop of Antioch, and was a student of John the Apostle. En route to Rome, where according to Christian tradition he met his martyrdom by being fed to wild beasts, he wrote a series of letters which have been preserved as an example of very early Christian theology. Important topics addressed in these letters include ecclesiology, the sacraments, and the role of bishops.
 

Frederick Delius (1862–1934) was an English composer of German parentage. He was influenced by Grieg and combined romanticism and impressionism in music characterized by a loose structure and richness in chromatic harmony. His best-known works include “Brigg Fair” (1907), “On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring” (1912), and “North Country Sketches” (1914). His operas include “A Village Romeo and Juliet” (1907). Here is "A Song of Summer":

On this day, the following notables died:
In 1119, Gelasius II (John of Gaeta), Pope of Rome.  George III, king of England in 1820 in London on this day. At that time he was the longest reigning (59 years) and longest lived (81 years) English monarch. Edward Lear, British poet and illustrator in 1888. Alfred Sisley, French artist in 1899. H.L. Mencken, US man of letters in 1956. Fritz Kreisler, the Austrian violinist in 1962. Robert Frost, US poet in 1963. Jimmy Durante US actor in 1980.

WHERE I'M AT

“What makes the desert beautiful,” said the little prince, “is that somewhere it hides a well…”

'The Little Prince' – Antoine de St Exupéry
 
Poetry Jam this week has suggested that we write about where we live, where we are at, telling something that people may not know. I live in Australia, the Great Land Downunder, the island continent!
 
Occupying the entire continent of some 7.6 million square kilometres, Australia is the sixth largest country in the world. Its ocean territory is the world’s third largest, spanning three oceans and covering around 12 million square kilometres. Nearly seven million square kilometres, or 91 per cent of Australia, is covered by native vegetation. Although this figure may seem high, many of Australia’s desert landscapes are covered by native plants such as saltbush, albeit sparsely.
 
Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth, with the least amount of water in rivers, the lowest run-off and the smallest area of permanent wetlands of all the continents. One third of the continent produces almost no run-off at all and Australia’s rainfall and stream-flow are the most variable in the world.
 
Human activity continues to exert pressure on the environment, land as well as marine. Pollution is the most serious problem and the vast majority of marine pollution is caused by land based activities—soil erosion, fertiliser use, intensive animal production, sewage and other urban industrial discharges.
 
Here is my poem about one of Australia’s perennial enemies – drought. Especially relevant as we are in the midst of a hot and dry Summer.
 
The Iron Sunflower
 
The sun bakes the red earth
And sky above is blue as blue bottles can be
With light streaming through them.
 
Drought, and the only noise of midsummer noon,
Is the hum of the machine and the smell of diesel
As water is pumped from deep secret caverns, below.
 
The bluebottle fly buzzes lazily, imitating the pump,
Sated on her feast of rotten thirsty carcass,
With her eggs safely secreted therein.
 
The listless children drone in the schoolhouse,
Overcome by heat, repeating by rote the lesson in chorus
Reminiscent of a dirge of Greek tragedy.
 
The precious water, hard-won by efforts of man and machine
Is stored, as treasured things are, safely locked up,
In corrugated iron tank, not to be wasted on useless things – like flowers.
 
The head of one of past seasons’ large sunflowers
With a few black, shiny seeds hangs up deep in the dark recesses of the shed,
Strung up high, safe from rodents and birds, a sad souvenir of old times.
 
The sun bakes the earth and cracks it, breaks its spirit:
No touch of green, no sunflowers this year,
And the wind blows, only to lift great clouds of red dust.
 
Fallen by the wayside an old mill-head rusts away mirroring the dusty soil.
Its sails are petals of an iron sunflower – the only flower this year.
As the monotony of the pump numbs the ear,
And the stench of petrol deadens the nose,
The rusting iron flower is a reminder of gentler times,
When machines were driven by wind, and their creaks were musical
And the air carried only the faint smell of fresh sunflowers –
Water could be spared then for useless things…

MOVIE MONDAY - GIRDAP

“Surely the hypocrites strive to deceive Allah. He shall retaliate by deceiving them.” – Qur’an 4:142
 

We watched quite an interesting Turkish film at the weekend. It was the 2008 Talip Karamahmutoglu movie “Girdap”(meaning “Whirlpool”), starring Rahman Altin, Ufuk Bayraktar and Ozan Bilen. The film was essentially a morality tale highlighting some of the problems arising out of religious fundamentalism in secular political systems. It may be worthwhile to put the action of the film in perspective by considering firstly, the politics and religion of Turkey.
 

The political system of Turkey is a strictly secular parliamentary representative sytem operating in a democratic republic. The Prime Minister of Turkey is the head of government, and the head of the ruling party in a multi-party system. The President of Turkey is the head of state who holds a largely ceremonial role but with substantial reserve powers. Turkey’s political system is based on a separation of powers. Executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers. Legislative power is vested in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
 

As a secular state, Turkey has no official state religion with the Turkish Constitution providing for freedom of religion and conscience. Nevertheless, Islam is the dominant religion of Turkey, exceeding 99% if secular people of Muslim background are included. The most popular sect is the Hanafite school of Sunni Islam. The highest Islamic religious authority is the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Turkish: Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı), it interprets the Hanafi school of law, and is responsible for regulating the operation of the country's 80,000 registered mosques and employing local and provincial imams. Academics suggest the Alevi population may be from 15 to 20 million. According to Aksiyon magazine, the number of Shiite Twelvers (excluding Alevis) is 3 million (4.2%). There are also some Sufi practitioners.
 

According to the KONDA Research and Consultancy survey carried out throughout Turkey in 2007: 9.7% defined themselves as “a fully devout person fulfilling all religious obligations” (fully devout); 52.8% defined themselves as “a religious person who strives to fulfil religious obligations” (religious); 34.3% defined themselves as “a believer who does not fulfil religious obligations” (believer); 2.3% defined themselves as “someone who does not believe in religious obligations” (non-believer/agnostic); and 0.9% defined themselves as “someone with no religious conviction” (atheist).
 

The plot of the film centres on Umut (Ozan Bilen), a young man in his twenties, who is accepted to study economics in Istanbul University. When he moves to Istanbul he needs to find accommodation and through a billboard at his University’s café finds two flatmates and a flat. Umut is the son of a middle class Turkish family from a provincial city, who at the very beginning of his university days has an apolitical view of the world and is relatively non-religious. The film traces his transformation to a staunch believer and his increasing politicisation.
 

Umut and his other two flatmates experience some supernatural events in the flat that they live in. Ideed, initially one may be misled into thinking that this is going to be a supernatural horror story. These supernatural experiences cause Umut to be drawn towards Islam and the neighbourhood Hodja (spiritual leader) as a way of finding answers. Umut discovers religion and enjoys this new life style of Islam, joining Friday prayers in the mosque and discussing religion with his fellows and spiritual leaders. Everything goes well for him, but stress develops in his relationship with a fellow student who finds it difficult to accept Umut’s change and the new way he wants structure their relationship.
 

His new life brings new friends and a completely new environment, which push him towards a more political religious view of the world; as a result of this, Umut’s religious life is not just limited by the Qu’ran or pure religious requirements, but rather he becomes politicised and changes to an Islamic fundamentalist. This transformation into a fanatic forces Umut to extreme behaviour and a causes a complete upheaval in his life with tragic consequences.
 

The film is a well-made cautionary tale, albeit of a moralistic tone, which nevertheless manages to drive home the point of the dangers naïve young men face when proselytised by fanatics of any sort. The story is well constructed and all events are explained in the end, even the seemingly irrelevant ones. We enjoyed watching this movie and we were interested in the way that it portrayed the relationship between religion and politics in Turkey.

AUSTRALIA DAY ART - ARTHUR STREETON

“Australia is a nation of compassion. Courage and compassion. And the third of these great values: resilience.” - Kevin Rudd
 
As it is Australia Day today, Art Sunday is devoted to an Australian artist. Arthur Streeton was born on the 8th April 1867, at Mt Duneed, Victoria, Australia. Streeton is one of Australia’s best known landscape painters and member of the ‘Heidelberg school’. He studied at the National Gallery School from 1884 to 1887. He was apprenticed as a lithographer with Troedel and Cooper, Melbourne, until 1888 when he left to take up painting full-time.
 
During the 1880s Streeton was one of a group of young Australian artists who took up the French tradition of painting outdoors. He produced direct works that were believed to capture the distinctive qualities of the Australian sunlight. Later paintings created images of Australia that were widely regarded as embodying the essence of national character.
 
Anxious for success overseas, Streeton left Australia for Europe in 1897. When the First World War broke out he was living in London. Since he was too old for military service he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and worked as an orderly at the 3rd London General Hospital, Wandsworth, alongside other Australian artists, including Tom Roberts, A. Henry Fullwood and George Coates.
 
After his discharge as medically unfit, Streeton lobbied for the establishment of an Australian war art scheme. He was offered a commission by the Canadian government but declined, preferring to work for Australia. He was appointed an official war artist in May 1918, sent to France and attached to the 2nd Division AIF.
 
Streeton worked mostly around the Somme battlefields until mid-August 1918, when he returned to London. His drawings, watercolours and paintings show the AIF headquarters at St Gratien, Glisy and Heilly, the dressing stations at Villers-Bretonneaux, landscape studies and scenes of wrecked machinery. In October and November Streeton returned to France, again with the 2nd Division. This time his works concentrated on the destruction around Peronne.
 
Back in London, Streeton completed his contract as an official war artist with The Somme valley near Corbie, a large landscape showing the opening stages of the third battle of the Somme. With a peaceful rural landscape dominating the foreground and an artillery barrage set in the far distance, the painting embodies Streeton’s observation, (in a letter to Sir Baldwin Spencer) that: “True pictures of Battlefields are very quiet looking things. There's nothing much to be seen - everybody & thing is hidden & camouflaged - it is only in the Illustrated papers one gets a real idea of Battle as it occurs in the mind of the man whose never been there”.
 
Streeton returned to Australia in 1920, a famous and popular artist. He made painting trips to many Australian sites and in 1928 was awarded the Wynne prize for landscape for “Afternoon Light: the Goulburn Valley”. In his later years Streeton became a national institution. He continued to paint sunny, pastoral landscapes, but many were mannered, fluent and facile, and devoid of the inspiration of his radical early work. Leading critics, particularly J. S. MacDonald and Lionel Lindsay, extolled his art which (with that of Roberts and McCubbin) was to some extent appropriated by the art establishment in the cause of a conservative, isolationist nationalism. Most responded to the optimism of Streeton’s romantic blue and gold vision of a pastoral Australia. He was knighted for his services to art in 1937 and died at Olinda, Victoria, on September 1st, 1943.
 

The painting above, painted in 1895, is: “Sunlight (Cutting on a hot road)” - oil on canvas (Height: 305 mm; Width: 458 mm; National Gallery of Australia.

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Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, it marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, and raising of the Flag of Great Britain at that site by Governor Arthur Phillip. In contemporary Australia, celebrations reflect the diverse society and landscape of the nation, and are marked by community and family events, reflections on Australian history, official community awards, and citizenship ceremonies welcoming new immigrants into the Australian community.

The meaning and significance of Australia Day have evolved over time. Unofficially, or historically, the date has also been variously named “Anniversary Day”, “Invasion Day”, “Foundation Day”, and “ANA Day”. 26 January 1788 marked the proclamation of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia (then known as New Holland). Although it was not known as Australia Day until over a century later, records of celebrations on 26 January date back to 1808, with the first official celebration of the formation of New South Wales held in 1818.
 

On New Years Day 1901, the British colonies of Australia formed a Federation, marking the birth of modern Australia. A national day of unity and celebration was looked for. It was not until 1935 that all Australian states and territories had adopted use of the term "Australia Day" to mark the date, and not until 1994 that the date was consistently marked by a public holiday on that day by all states and territories.
 

In contemporary Australia, the holiday is marked by the presentation of the Australian of the Year Awards on Australia Day Eve, announcement of the Australia Day Honours list and addresses from the Governor-General and Prime Minister. It is an official public holiday in every state and territory of Australia, unless it falls on a weekend in which case the following Monday is a public holiday instead. With community festivals, concerts and citizenship ceremonies, the day is celebrated in large and small communities and cities around the nation. Australia Day has become the biggest annual civic event in Australia.

MUSIC SATURDAY - VIVALDI'S CELLO CONCERTOS

“When I started learning the cello, I fell in love with the instrument because it seemed like a voice - my voice.” - Mstislav Rostropovich
 
For Music Saturday, the complete Cello Concertos by Antonio Vivaldi, performed by Ofra Hanoy and the Toronto Chamber Orchestra.
 
They are the following concertos:

Concerto for Cello, RV 405 in D minor

Concerto for Cello, RV 401 in C minor 10:23

Concerto for Cello, RV 423 in B-flat 22:34

Concerto for Cello, RV 399 in C 32:45

Concerto for Cello and Bassoon, RV 409 in E minor 41:18

Concerto Movement for Cello, RV 538 in D minor 50:15

Concerto for Cello, RV 403 in D 53:51

Concerto for Cello, RV 424 in B minor 1:02:23

Concerto for Cello, RV 422 in A minor 1:12:32

Concerto for Cello, RV 402 in C minor 1:23:54

Concerto for Cello, RV 412 in F 1:34:20

Concerto for Cello, RV 414 in G 1:43:18

Concerto for Cello, RV406 in D minor 1:56:58

Concerto for Cello, RV 411 in F 2:07:16

Concerto for Cello, RV 404 in D 2:13:47

Concerto for Cello, RV 420 in A Minor 2:21:29

Concerto for Cello, RV 407 in D Minor 2:34:31

Concerto for Cello, RV 417 in G Minor 2:44:38

Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra, RV 544 in F 2:55:07

Concerto for Cello, RV 418 in A-Minor 3:06:21

Concerto for Cello, RV 408 in E-Flat 3:17:46

Concerto for Cello, RV 416 in G Minor 3:28:58

Concerto for Cello, RV 419 in A Minor 3:38:44

Concerto for Cello, RV 413 in G 3:48:03

Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra, RV 547 in B-Flat 3:59:09

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741), nicknamed il Prete Rosso (“The Red Priest”) because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, Catholic priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Recognised as one of the greatest Baroque composers, his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe. Vivaldi is known mainly for composing instrumental concertos, especially for the violin, as well as sacred choral works and over forty operas. His best known work is a series of violin concertos known as "The Four Seasons".
 

Many of his compositions were written for the female music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for abandoned children where Vivaldi had been employed from 1703 to 1715 and from 1723 to 1740. Vivaldi also had some success with stagings of his operas in Venice, Mantua and Vienna. After meeting the Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi moved to Vienna, hoping for preferment. However, the Emperor died soon after Vivaldi's arrival and Vivaldi himself died less than a year later.
 

Though Vivaldi’s music was well received during his lifetime, it later declined in popularity until its vigorous revival in the first half of the 20th century. Today, Vivaldi ranks among the most popular and widely recorded of Baroque composers, second only to Johann Sebastian Bach.

FOOD FRIDAY - CAMEMBERT OMELETTE

“I’d like an omelette named after me.” - Rufus Sewell
 

When I lived in Europe I often had this omelette for breakfast in the Winter as it was a good start for the cold day ahead and tided me over till the substantial lunch I used to have. Then dinner was very light, some yoghurt or fruit.
 

CAMEMBERT OMELETTE
 

Ingredients
3 eggs
60 g (more or less) of butter
3/4 of a cup of condensed milk
2 tablespoonfuls of water
Salt, pepper
Pinch of curry powder (optional)
Pinch of nutmeg
Dill, oregano, mixed herbs to taste
Several slices of camembert cheese at room temperature
A slice or two of brown bread
 

Method
Beat the eggs with the milk, water, herbs and spices.  Melt the butter in a flat omelette skillet and heat until it is sizzling and turning brown.  Fry both sides of the bread in the butter until golden. Put the bread on a plate and add some more butter to the pan if there is not enough there to cook the omelette.
 

Cook the egg mixture well in the pan, turning over once.  Put the cheese on the surface of the omelette and heat gently to melt it (can be done as a last step in the microwave oven directly in the serving dish).  Put the omelette on top of the fried bread and garnish with a sprig of parsley.

This post is part of the Food Friday meme,

and also part of the Food Trip Friday meme.

THE WORLD OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS

“Change your thoughts and you change your world.” - Norman Vincent Peale
 
The ancient Greek poets believed the earth to be flat and circular, their own country occupying the middle of it, the central point being either Mount Olympus, the abode of the gods, or Delphi, so famous for its oracle. Delphi, in fact, was the place where the “Omphalos” (= “navel”) stone was housed. Most accounts locate the Omphalos in the holy of holies of the temple near the seer, Pythia. The stone itself is in the Delphi museum and has a carving of a knotted net covering its surface, and a hollow center, which widens towards its base.
 
The circular disk of the earth was crossed from west to east, and divided into two equal parts by the sea, as they called the Mediterranean, and its continuation the Euxine Pontus (Black Sea). Around the disk of the earth flowed the River Oceanus, its course being from south to north on the western side of the earth, and in a contrary direction on the eastern side.  It flowed in a steady, equable current, unvexed by storm or tempest.  The sea, and all the rivers on earth, received their waters from this great and wide “river”.
 
The northern portion of the earth was supposed to be inhabited by a happy race named the Hyperboreans (this word meaning “those who live beyond the north” from the word “hyper”, =beyond, and “boreas”, =the north wind). These people lived in everlasting bliss and eternal Spring, beyond lofty mountains whose caverns were supposed to send forth the piercing blasts of the north wind, which chilled the people of Hellas (Greece).  The Hyperboreans’ country was inaccessible by land or sea. They lived exempt from disease or old age, from toils and warfare.
 
On the south side of the earth, close to the stream of Oceanus, dwelt a people as happy and virtuous as the Hyperboreans.  They were named the Aethiopians.  The gods favoured them so highly that they were wont to leave at times their Olympian abodes, and go to share their sacrifices and banquets.
 
On the western margin of the earth, by the river of Oceanus, lay a happy place named the Elysian Plain, where mortals favoured by the gods were transported without tasting of death, to enjoy an immortality of bliss.  This happy region was also called the “Fortunate Fields”, and the “Isles of the Blessed”.
 
These very old myths point out that early ancient Greeks knew very little of any real people living far away from them, except those to the immediate east and south of their own country, or near the coast of the Mediterranean.  Their imagination peopled the western portion of this sea with giants, monsters, and enchantresses. They placed around the disk of the earth, which they probably regarded as of no great width, nations enjoying great favour of the gods, and blessed with happiness and longevity.

POETRY JAM - CLOUDS

“Shining through tears, like April suns in showers, that labour to overcome the cloud that loads 'em.” - Thomas Otway
 
Poetry Jam this week has given us the theme of clouds as a means of stimulating creative literary endeavours. Here is my poem:
 
Winter Song
 
The song of parting Winter is a dirge
Murmured by bitter mouths through pursed lips;
The first Spring days mourn, bedecked in black,
Under grey cloudy skies, murky with free flowing tears.
 
As days dilate, the night is slowly strangled,
Sunlight lingers on palely, lengthening twilight time.
A hesitant warmth pervades the bony leafless twigs
And I can hear the sap begin to flow anew.
 
The first few flowers blooming snowy white
Adorn the corpse of Winter, deathly cold,
While clouds dark and brooding are loath to go,
With pale petals scattering in persistent drizzles.

ST AGNES & THE VIRGIN OF ALTAGRACIA

“Drunkenness is simply voluntary insanity.” - Seneca
 

January 21st is Altagracia Day in the Dominican Republic. This is a day commemorating “Our Lady of Altagracia”, patronal image and protector of the people of the Dominican Republic. It is a Feast Day and annual public holiday. “Our Lady of Altagracia” is a devotional image of the Virgin Mary painted in the 16th century, to depict the patron saint of the Dominican Republic. The portrait is kept in The Basilica of Our Lady of Altagracia in the city of Salvaleón de Higüey. The festival was originally held on August 15, but was moved to January 21 to celebrate victory over the French in 1690.
 

Today is the anniversary of the birth of:
John Batman, Melbourne City founder (1801);
John Charles Fremont, explorer (1813);
Stonewall Jackson, Confederate general (1824);
Oscar II, Swedish/Norwegian king (1829);
Henri Duparc, composer/painter/writer (1848);
R. Irwin, talking books pioneer (1892);
Cristóbal Balenciaga, fashion designer (1895);
Christian Dior, fashion designer (1905);
Igor Moiseyev, ballet master (1906);
Paul Scofield, actor (1922);
Benny Hill, comedian (1925);
Telly (Aristotle) Savalas, actor (1925);
Steve Reeves, actor (1926);
Jack (William) Nicklaus, golfer (1940);
Placido Domingo, tenor (1941);
Martin Shaw, actor (1945);
Geena Davis, actress (1957).
 

The birthday plant for this day is Artemisia abrotanum, southernwood.  It is also known as lad’s love, maiden’s ruin and old man’s tree.  The herb is named after Artemis, the Greek goddess of the moon and the hunt.  The plant was credited with aphrodisiac properties, hence the alternative common names.  In order to “provoke men to multiplying of their kind”, the plant was placed under their pillows.  Southernwood was a strewing herb and also was included in posies, both due to the aromatic smell of the plant.  The herb symbolises jest and bantering. Astrologically, it is under the dominion of Mercury.
 

Today is also the Feast Day of St Agnes, who is the patron saint of young virgins and her name in Greek means “pure”.  The Christmas rose, Helleborus niger, is dedicated to St Agnes. She was martyred at the age of thirteen in third century Rome for refusing to renounce Christianity. Young girls in England made cakes on this day to commemorate her martyrdom. In some villages, once the cakes were made, the young women took one and climbing the stairs backwards, prayed to St Agnes then eating the cake. This ritual was meant to reveal in a dream the man the young woman was to marry.
 

Died on this day in 1118, Paschal II (Rainerius), Pope of Rome. On this day in 1793, Louis XVI, king of France was guillotined after having been found guilty of treason. His wife, Marie Antoinette would suffer the same fate on the 16th of October 1793. Also dying on this day: Lenin, the famous Russian revolutionary in 1924; George Orwell, the English novelist of Animal Farm fame, in 1950; Cecil B(lount) de Mille, film-maker, in 1959.

MOVIE MONDAY - MOONRISE KINGDOM

“Distance not only gives nostalgia, but perspective, and maybe objectivity.” - Robert Morgan
 
A few days ago we watched an enjoyable and rather quirky film, Wes Anderson’s 2012 “Moonrise Kingdom” starring Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton and Frances McDormand. Essentially a coming of age film, it is also a nostalgic look backward to more innocent times and in its way is also a statement on the problems faced by children who are or feel neglected.
 
The film is set on an island off the coast of New England in 1965, in September, as a severe storm approaches. At an island camp, a Khaki Scout has gone missing. It is 12-year-old Sam, 12 (Gilman), a bespectacled misfit and an orphan. Ward (Norton), his enthusiastic scoutmaster, organises a search after calling Captain Sharp (Willis), the local policeman. Sam is running away with Suzy (Hayward), his pen pal. She is the taciturn oldest child in a quirky and unhappy household of two lawyers (Murray and McDormand, the latter having an affair with Sharp).
 
Sam and Suzy are well-organised and camp in the great outdoors, but need to sort through their own issues. They nevertheless manage to stay a step ahead of the searchers, while the storm gets closer. Social Services is called in and the representative (Swinton) suggests Sam may need electroshock therapy and afterwards to be confined in an orphanage. Various factions of the town mobilise to search for the missing children and the town is turned upside down, which might not be such a bad thing.
 
The film is a tender and nostalgic love story. As the screenplay is written by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, I suspect that it may be a little autobiographical, once again influenced (as is evident in some of his other films) by the sixties of Anderson’s youth. This film has a superficial childlike innocence and simplicity, but it treats the problems of childhood and puberty with candour and seriousness. The result is an accurate and deeply heartfelt memoir.
 
The two children play their roles wonderfully and Gilman especially, does a sterling job in bringing the wayward Sam to life. Bruce Willis as the policeman and the parents of Suzy (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand) play in an understated manner that supports the main story very well, but at the same time allows the subplot of the unlikely torrid love affair to work its humour through. Edward Norton who plays the dorky scout master is fantastic and Tilda Swinton as “Social Services” has a lot of fun with her brief, villainous role.
 
The film is quietly humorous, whimsical and almost like a modern-day (well, sixties…) fairy tale. There seems to be some affinity with Anderson’s “The Royal Tennenbaums”, but also dwells on a nostalgic view of the past and achieves a certain haunting beauty as the tale develops and concludes. We enjoyed it greatly and would recommend it highly. It is good to keep in mind, however, that the film polarised critics and public, with some viewers detesting it with a vengeance. Wes Anderson does have that effect on the viewing public.

ART SUNDAY - PAUL CEZANNE

“When I judge art, I take my painting and put it next to a God made object like a tree or flower. If it clashes, it is not art.” - Paul Cezanne
 
The French painter Paul Cézanne (1839–1906), who exhibited little in his lifetime and pursued his interests increasingly in artistic isolation, is regarded today as one of the great forerunners of modern painting, both for the way that he evolved of putting down on canvas exactly what his eye saw in nature and for the qualities of pictorial form that he achieved through a unique treatment of space, mass, and colour. Cézanne was a contemporary of the impressionists, but he went beyond their interests in the individual brushstroke and the fall of light onto objects, to create, in his words, “something more solid and durable, like the art of the museums.”
 
Cézanne was born at Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on January 19, 1839. He went to school in Aix, forming a close friendship with the novelist Emile Zola. He also studied law there from 1859 to 1861, but at the same time he continued attending drawing classes. Against the implacable resistance of his father, he made up his mind that he wanted to paint and in 1861 joined Zola in Paris. His father’s reluctant consent at that time brought him financial support and, later, a large inheritance on which he could live without difficulty. In Paris he met Camille Pissarro and came to know others of the impressionist group, with whom he would exhibit in 1874 and 1877. Cézanne, however, remained an outsider to their circle; from 1864 to 1869 he submitted his work to the official Salon and saw it consistently rejected.
 
His paintings of 1865-70 form what is usually called his early “romantic” period. Extremely personal in character, these works deal with bizarre subjects of violence and fantasy in harsh, sombre colors and extremely heavy paintwork. Thereafter, as Cézanne rejected that kind of approach and worked his way out of the obsessions underlying it, his art is conveniently divided into three phases. In the early 1870s, through a mutually helpful association with Pissarro, with whom he painted outside Paris at Auvers, he assimilated the principles of colour and lighting of Impressionism and loosened up his brushwork; yet he retained his own sense of mass and the interaction of planes, as in “House of the Hanged Man” (1873; Musee d’Orsay, Paris).
 
In the late 1870s Cézanne entered the phase known as “constructive”, characterised by the grouping of parallel, hatched brushstrokes in formations that build up a sense of mass in themselves. He continued in this style until the early 1890s, when, in his series of paintings titled “Card Players” (1890-92), the upward curvature of the players’ backs creates a sense of architectural solidity and thrust, and the intervals between figures and objects have the appearance of live cells of space and atmosphere.
 
Finally, living as a solitary in Aix rather than alternating between the south and Paris, Cézanne moved into his late phase. Now he concentrated on a few basic subjects: Still lifes of studio objects built around such recurring elements as apples, statuary, and tablecloths; studies of bathers, based upon the male model and drawing upon a combination of memory, earlier studies, and sources in the art of the past; and successive views of the Mont Sainte-Victoire, a nearby landmark, painted from his studio looking across the intervening valley. The landscapes of the final years, much affected by Cézanne’s contemporaneous practice in watercolor, have a more transparent and unfinished look, while the last figure paintings are at once more somber and spiritual in mood.
 
By the time of his death on Oct. 22, 1906, Cézanne’s art had begun to be shown and seen across Europe, and it became a fundamental influence on the Fauves, the cubists, and virtually all advanced art of the early 20th century. Apparently, Cézanne was not an easy man to love, but professors and painters adore him. Art critics lavish him with superlatives, including “a prophet of the 20th century”, “the most sensitive painter of his time”, “the greatest artist of the 19th century”, and “the father of modern art”. But he’s not quite a household name, and his posters have never been best-sellers at museum shops around the world. In fact, most non-professionals wouldn’t stand a chance of recognising a Cézanne unless it was clearly labelled. Even then, there’s no guarantee of popular appeal…
 
The painting above is “The Card Players”, 1890–92, exhibited in the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This is the largest version and is the most complex, with five figures on a 134.6 x 180.3 cm canvas. It features three card players at the forefront, seated in a semi-circle at a table, with two spectators behind. On the right side of the painting, seated behind the second man and to the right of the third, is a boy, eyes cast downward, also a fixed spectator of the game. Further back, on the left side between the first and second player is a man standing, back to the wall, smoking a pipe and presumably awaiting his turn at the table.
 
It has been speculated Cézanne added the standing man to provide depth to the painting, as well as to draw the eye to the upper portion of the canvas. As with the other versions, it displays a suppressed storytelling of peasant men in loose-fitting garments with natural poses focused entirely on their game. Writer Nicholas Wadley described a “tension in opposites”, in which elements such as shifts of colour, light and shadow, shape of hat, and crease of cloth create a story of confrontation through opposition. Others have described an “alienation” displayed in the series to be most pronounced in this version.

MUSIC SATURDAY - FAURÉ'S REQUIEM

“For death is no more than a turning of us over from time to eternity.” - William Penn
 
For Music Saturday, the “Requiem” by Gabriel Fauré. Gabriel Fauré, in full Gabriel-Urbain Fauré   (born May 12, 1845, Pamiers, Ariège, France—died Nov. 4, 1924, Paris), was a composer whose refined and gentle music influenced the course of modern French music. Fauré’s musical abilities became apparent at an early age. When the Swiss composer and teacher Louis Niedermeyer heard the boy, he immediately accepted him as a pupil. Fauré studied piano with Camille Saint-Saëns, who introduced him to the music of Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner. While still a student, Fauré published his first composition, a work for piano, Trois romances sans paroles (1863).
 
In 1896 he was appointed church organist at the church of La Madeleine in Paris and professor of composition at the Paris Conservatory. In 1905 he succeeded Théodore Dubois as director of the conservatory, and he remained in office until ill health and deafness forced him to resign in 1920. Among his students were Maurice Ravel, Georges Enesco, and Nadia Boulanger.
 
Fauré excelled not only as a songwriter of great refinement and sensitivity but also as a composer in every branch of chamber music. He wrote more than 100 songs, including “Après un rêve” (c. 1865) and “Les Roses d’Ispahan” (1884), and song cycles that included La Bonne Chanson (1891–92) and L’Horizon chimérique (1922). He enriched the literature of the piano with a number of highly original and exquisitely wrought works, of which his 13 nocturnes, 13 barcaroles, and 5 impromptus are perhaps the most representative and best known.
 
Fauré’s Ballade for piano and orchestra (1881; originally arranged for solo piano, 1877–79), two sonatas for violin and piano, and Berceuse for violin and piano (1880) are among other popular works. Élégie for cello and piano (1880; arranged for orchestra, 1896), and two sonatas for cello and piano, as well as chamber pieces, are frequently performed and recorded.
 
Fauré was not especially attracted to the theatre, but he wrote incidental music for several plays, including Maurice Maeterlinck’s Pelléas et Mélisande (1898), as well as two lyric dramas, Prométhée (1900) and Pénélope (1913). Among his few works written for the orchestra alone is Masques et bergamasques (1919). The Messe de requiem for solo voices, chorus, orchestra, and organ (1887) did not gain immediate popularity, but it has since become one of Fauré’s most frequently performed works.
 
Although he had deep respect for the traditional forms of music, Fauré delighted in infusing those forms with a mélange of harmonic daring and a freshness of invention. One of the most striking features of his style was his fondness for daring harmonic progressions and sudden modulations, invariably carried out with supreme elegance and a deceptive air of simplicity. His quiet and unspectacular revolution prepared the way for more sensational innovations by the modern French school.
 
Here is the Requiem, with Victoria de los Angeles, soprano; Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone; Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire; André Cluytens; conductor, recorded in 1963.
 

Introit et Kyrie

Offertoire

Sanctus

Pie Jesu

Agnus Dei

Libera me

In Paradisum

FOOD FRIDAY - GRAPEFRUIT

“One that would have the fruit must climb the tree.” - Thomas Fuller
 
The last of the grapefruit are hanging on our tree in the back yard and they are deliciously sweet and ripe, just as the new, small green ones are beginning to grow. With the heat, we have been enjoying them as a simple and refreshing dessert.
 
DRUNKEN GRAPEFRUIT
Ingredients
 
4 grapefruit (may use pink or yellow, one for each person)
2 fruit yoghurt (each 100 g), citrus flavour
4 dessertspoonfuls of gin
4 dashes of angostura bitters
1 pomegranate, seeded, for decoration (if desired)
 
Method
Segment the grapefruit according to the instructions here:

Put the grapefruit segments in a bowl and drizzle them with the gin and bitters. Mix gently and put in the freezer for 30-45 minutes.
 
When ready to serve, put 50 g of yoghurt in each serving bowl, add the grapefruit segments and garnish with pomegranate seeds (if desired).

This post is part of the Food Friday meme,
and also part of the Food Trip Friday meme.

YARROW & ST PETER'S CHAINS

“He that is good at making excuses is seldom good at anything else.” - Benjamin Franklin
 
The anniversary of the birth of:
André Michelin, French first tyre mass producer (1853);
Edward Gordon Craig, theatre designer (1872);
Robert Service, poet (1874);
Laura Riding, poet (1901);
Diana Wynyard, actress (1906);
Alexander Knox, actor (1907);
Ethel Merman (Zimmerman), actress/singer (1909);
William Kennedy, writer (1930);
Susan Sontag, writer (1933);
Marilyn Horne, US opera singer (1934);
Sade, singer (1960).
 
The plant for today’s birthdays is yarrow, Achillea millefolium.  The herb is named after Achilles, the ancient Greek hero who fought in the Trojan War.  When the Greeks landed near Troy, some Trojans, led by Telephus, one of King Priam’s sons-in-law tried to stop the Greeks.  Achilles wounded Telephus with his spear, helped by Dionysus, god of wine.  Telephus had been told by an oracle that Achilles would both wound and cure him. He promised Achilles to lead the Greeks to Troy if only he would cure his wound. Achilles scraped rust from his spear and applied it to Telephus’s wound. The filings from the spear fell to the ground and yarrow sprang from them.
 
Yarrow symbolises heartache and cure.  Astrologically, this is a herb of Venus.  An older name of the herb is Venus-tree and several love oracles are based on this plant.  It was said that if the stem was cut across the initials of one’s future husband would appear.  An ounce of yarrow wrapped in a piece of yellow flannel and placed under one’s pillow would enable one to dream of one’s future spouse.  Eating yarrow at a wedding feast, ensured that the bridal couple would love one another for seven years.
 
The Greek Orthodox Church today venerates the Chains of St Peter the Apostle. The Veneration of the Honourable Chains of the Holy and All-Praised Apostle Peter relates to the following: In about the year AD 42, on the orders of Herod Agrippa, the Apostle Peter was thrown into prison for preaching about Christ the Saviour. In prison he was held secure by two iron chains. During the night before his trial, an angel of the Lord removed these chains from the Apostle Peter and led him out from the prison (Acts 12:1-11).
 
Christians who learned of the miracle took the chains and kept them as precious keepsakes. For three centuries the chains were kept in Jerusalem, and those afflicted with illness and approached them with faith received healing. Patriarch Juvenal (July 2) presented the chains to Eudokia, wife of the emperor Theodosius the Younger, and she in turn transferred them from Jerusalem to Constantinople in either the year AD 437 or 439.
 
Eudokia sent one chain to Rome to her daughter Eudoxia (the wife of Valentinian), who built a church on the Esquiline hill dedicated to the Apostle Peter and placed the chain in it. There were other chains in Rome, with which the Apostle Peter was shackled before his martyrdom under the emperor Nero. These were also placed in the church. On January 16, the chains of St Peter are brought out for public veneration.

HEAT WAVE IN MELBOURNE

“If you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?” - Steven Wright
 
Presently in Southern Australia we are experiencing an extreme heat wave. Melbourne is set to sizzle through 44˚C on Thursday as temperatures are on course to peak above 40˚C for four consecutive days for the first time in 100 years. On Friday the temperature is predicted to rise to 42˚C before a cool change in the evening. I went out briefly today and it was quite unpleasant.
 
Extreme heat causes more deaths in Australia than floods, cyclones, and lightning combined. Children, the elderly, people who have certain medical conditions, and people who spend time outside have the greatest risk of suffering from heat exposure. However, getting overheated can cause high body temperatures, brain damage, organ damage, and death in anyone, not forgetting pets and household animals.
 
It pays to take steps to protect yourself and your family from heat-related disorders:

• Stay inside, especially between 10 am and 5 pm, which is the hottest part of the day.
• Stay in air conditioned rooms.
• Dodo not leave pets outside for extended periods and if possible take them with you in air conditioned rooms. Ensure you provide enough drinking water for your pets.
• Walk dogs only for short periods and do so in the cooler parts of the day (early morning, evening and night).
• If you must be outside, stay in the shade as much as possible and ensure you put on sunscreen.
• Dress in breathable, light clothing.
• Use lightweight, breathable covers when sleeping.
• Avoid drinking alcoholic beverages, carbonated beverages, and caffeinated beverages that can dehydrate you.
• Drink plenty of water, iced tea and fruit juices.
• Close your blinds and curtains to block the sun and heat during the day.
• Exercise in an air-conditioned gym or exercise early in the morning or in the evening once it is cooler outside.
• Supervise children playing outside and ensure they often are drinking cold water.
• Visit your community swimming pool to cool off.
• Remember that car seats and metal clasps for seatbelts can reach temperatures high enough to cause a burn. Avoid driving, especially if your car is not air-conditioned.

If your home is not air conditioned, consider going to a public place which is air-conditioned (shopping centres, public libraries, local council rooms that may be made available). Otherwise, at home:

• Stay downstairs or in your basement where it is coolest.
• Keep pets with you in cool locations.
• Use a fan and position it to blow in the room and out a window instead of from outside to inside.
• Avoid using your oven and stove; use small appliances such as slow cookers and tabletop grills.
• Eat cool meals such as cold soups, salads, and fruit.
• Drink iced water and other cool, nonalcoholic beverages
• Never leave children, pets, or people in a car on a warm or hot day!
• Check on older, vulnerable family members and friends on hot summer days.
• See your doctor immediately if you have cramps, become nauseous, or you start to vomit.

POETRY JAM - REFRIGERATE

“The story of life is quicker then the blink of an eye, the story of love is hello, goodbye.” - Jimi Hendrix
 
Poetry Jam this week is influenced by the cold weather that has paralysed Northern America over the past few days. "The challenge this week, is the word refrigerate and/or refrigerators. How can you use the word refrigerate loosely in a poem?"
Here is my poem:
 
Les Adieux
 
Fusing cascades of raindrops
Make of the window a distorting lens,
And I behind it look
At fractured, ever-changing images
Refracted, strangely broken and re-melded
As if through weeping eyes beheld.
 
The sombre, sober colours
Of winter’s limited palétte
Run, mix and separate again
Through my prismatic window.
Each hue with purest liquid mixed
Becomes translucent,
Each raindrop a note of colour in a chromatic fantasy.
 
Smelling of citrus tang
In wan, short, wintry afternoon,
The sun, tart, like an unripe orange
Appears, shines dully on wet cobblestones
And every lemon, yellow-green is its reflection
Shattered as it were
By every raindrop clinging to the window glass.
 
The ailing sun swathed
In sheets of leaf-green clouds
Expires, leaving a mauve remembrance
Heir to the cold starry realm of night.
Frigid, relentless, old mistress of silence,
Moon Lady rises, killing
Even the memory of sun with a refrigerated kiss.
 
Shining stabs of light
The stars rend the frozen atmosphere
And penetrate the window pane,
Burning their starlight tracks on my transfixed gaze.
Winter comes early this year
And Spring long gone and well away –
Unlike her, nevermore will you return.

MOVIE MONDAY - GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS 2014

“My invention, (the motion picture camera), can be exploited... as a scientific curiosity, but apart from that it has no commercial value whatsoever.” - Auguste Lumière
 
The Golden Globe Award is an American tribute bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) recognising excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign. The annual formal ceremony and dinner at which the awards are presented is a major part of the film industry’s awards season, which culminates each year with the Academy Awards. The 71st Golden Globe Awards, honouring the best in film and television for 2013, were presented on January 12, 2014, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, where they have been held annually since 1961.
 
The awards originated in 1943 when a group of writers banded together to form the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and created a generously distributed award called the Golden Globe Award. The first Golden Globe Awards, honouring the best achievements in 1943 filmmaking, were held late in January 1944, at the 20th Century-Fox studios. Subsequent ceremonies were held at various venues throughout the next decade, including the Beverly Hills Hotel, and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
 
Profits from the annual ceremony have enabled the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to donate millions of dollars to entertainment-related charities, as well as funding scholarships and other programs for future film and television professionals. The most prominent beneficiary is the Young Artist Awards, presented annually by the Young Artist Foundation, established in 1978 by late Hollywood Foreign Press member, Maureen Dragone to recognize and award excellence of young Hollywood performers under the age of 21, and to provide scholarships for young artists who may be physically and/or financially challenged
 
The Golden Globe Awards are as follows:
Motion picture awards
Best Motion Picture – Drama
Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Best Director
Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture
Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
Best Screenplay
Best Original Score
Best Original Song
Best Foreign Language Film
Best Animated Feature Film (since 2006)
Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement in Motion Pictures
 
Television awards Awarded since 1956
Best Drama Series
Best Comedy Series
Best Actor in a Television Drama Series
Best Actor in a Television Comedy Series
Best Actress in a Television Drama Series
Best Actress in a Television Comedy Series
Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television
Best Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television
Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television
Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television
Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture made for Television
 
In terms of the winners for the best movies this year, the best drama movie winner was “12 Years a Slave” which concerns the true story of Solomon Northup. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent slave owner, portrayed by Michael Fassbender), as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist (Brad Pitt) will forever alter his life. I certainly look forward to seeing this movie.
 
The best comedy or musical movie winner was “American Hustle”. This is a fictional film set in the alluring world of one of the most stunning scandals to rock the USA. American Hustle tells the story of brilliant con man Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), who along with his equally cunning and seductive British partner Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) is forced to work for a wild FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that’s as dangerous as it is enchanting. Jeremy Renner is Carmine Polito, the passionate, volatile, New Jersey political operator caught between the con-artists and Feds. Irving’s unpredictable wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) could be the one to pull the thread that brings the entire world crashing down. This one is less appealing to me.
 
The best foreign language film award went to the Italian film “The Great Beauty”. It concerns journalist Jep Gambardella, who has charmed and seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades. Since the legendary success of his one and only novel, he has been a permanent fixture in the city's literary and social circles, but when his sixty-fifth birthday coincides with a shock from the past, Jep finds himself unexpectedly taking stock of his life, turning his cutting wit on himself and his contemporaries, and looking past the extravagant nightclubs, parties, and cafés to find Rome in all its glory: A timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty. This one I shall definitely have to watch!
 
In terms of best director, the honour goes to Alfonso Cuarón for the film “Gravity” a science fiction flick, which tells of medical engineer and an astronaut work together to survive after an accident leaves them adrift in space. This one I would like to watch also.

The full list of awards can be seen on the HFPA site. Now that the buzz is over for the Golden Globes, the film industry is anticipating the Oscars, which may come up with a few surprise winners this year.

MAGPIE TALES - STEADFAST

“A fallen lighthouse is more dangerous than a reef.” - Navjot Singh Sidhu
 
“La Jument, off the coast of Brittany”, a photograph by Jean Guichard, is this week’s visual stimulus to followers of her blog for all sorts of creative writing pieces, as hosted by Magpie Tales. Here is my offering:
 
Steadfast
 
To stand firm,
While all around me wild storms rage,
When furious winds make oceans roil,
That is my purpose.
 
To send out light,
While darkest night quickly falls,
When even hope drowns in inky blackness,
That is my role.
 
To sound my horn,
While fog rolls in, enveloping all in cottonwool stillness,
When clouds come down to drown in stormy seas,
That is my function.
 
To be there,
While all betray you, and you feel unloved,
When none it seems has need of you, none wants you,
That is my reason for existence.
 
To be steadfast,
When all is lost, when you’re deserted,
While night falls and stars are all extinguished:
My love, a lighthouse steadfast,
There for you – a safe haven in stormy seas.

ART SUNDAY - PIETER BRUEGEL

“Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.” - Khalil Gibran
 

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (ca 1520 – 1569) was a South-Netherlandish painter and father of Jan Bruegel. His contemporaries dub him 'Boeren-Bruegel' (Farmer-Bruegel) for his skilful sketches of country-life, a nickname that does not do justice to either his work or his talent. In addition to the famed ‘Wedding’ and ‘Kermis’ paintings, Bruegel creates landscapes, devout works and impressions of Hell in a confident and expressive style with great flair for composition and space. Much of his work is clearly inspired by Jeroen Bosch. What is unusual about his religious work is the setting: The landscape and figures in many of his works are Flemish, not Middle Eastern, and Saul’s conversion takes place in the Alps – most likely a remnant of Bruegel’s most recent trip to Italy.
 

Bruegel was probably born in the village of Brogel (also: Breugel or Brugel) in the Kempen. Until 1550 he studied with Pieter Coecke. In 1552-1553 he travelled to Italy, where he was introduced to the works of, among others, Michelangelo. For the development of his style, the landscapes he painted on the way were of greater significance than the impressions Italy made on him. Once back in Antwerp and after his marriage to his tutor’s daughter (1563) he settled in Brussels, where he died in 1569. He signs his work as ‘Brueghel’ until 1559. Later he leaves out the H, and signs as ‘Bruegel’.
 

The 1564 painting above is “The Procession to Calvary”, painted on wood, 124x170cm. This is the second-largest known painting by Bruegel. It is one of sixteen paintings by him which are listed in the inventory of the wealthy Antwerp collector, Niclaes Jonghelinck, drawn up in 1566. It was Jonghelinck who commissioned ‘The Months’ from Bruegel and he may also have commissioned this work. Jonghelinck’s Bruegels passed into the possession of the city of Antwerp in the year in which the inventory was made. In 1604 it was recorded in the Prague collections of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, then transferred to Vienna, and in 1809 (until 1815) in Paris, requisitioned by Napoleon Bonaparte as part of his war booty.
 

For Bruegel the composition is unusually traditional. Perhaps because he was treating such a solemn religious event, he adopted a well-known scheme, used previously by the Brunswick Monogrammist and Bruegel’s Antwerp contemporary, Pieter Aertsen. Christ’s insignificance among the crowds is a familiar device of mannerist painting (it recurs in the ‘Preaching of John the Baptist’, as well as ‘The Conversion of Paul’), as is the artificial placing of Mary and her companions in a rocky foreground, which is deliberately distanced from the dramatic events taking place behind them.
 

The procession to Calvary comes to a dead halt when Jesus collapses under the weight of the Cross (centre). Calvary is a different name for the Golgotha hill. To the right in the foreground a small mournful crowd has gathered around Mary and John the Evangelist. The composition consisting of several small groups vaguely calls to mind the work of Jan van Eyck. The landscape is more Flemish than Palestinian - if it wasn’t for the strange mountain the windmill stands on. Some think Bruegel may have tried to compare Flanders and Palestine: Flanders was governed by Spain, and Palestine was occupied by the Romans. Both were aspiring for freedom. In 2011 a motion picture premiered about this painting: “The Mill and the Cross”.