prey to pretty dreams pretty miserable light

vivien ☤ 19 ☤ they/them

[cabinetcard]

aroace, neutral nonbinary (tme), u.s. american, white.

lifelong late 19th century world history enjoyer + recent ancient mediterranean (and adjacent) history enjoyer. 🌝

reblogs are all queued.

musicboard | letterboxd | storygraph | my visual art @namevase (posts will come someday)

[cabinetcard]

i often internally refer to others as my enemies or i otherwise internally refer to people as being in a conspiracy against me &c. and it is all jokes but i have never said any of this aloud because due to my history of genuine persecutory delusions i think i'll just sound like i have some severe problems

[yanguang]

[lizholmes]

oh he would have loved having a blog

[savouryduck]

Official Siku Quanshu Post!

[some kind of sparkly banner]

This post has been Certified as a Treasure by the Old Man of Ten Great Campaigns!

[links to his carrd and askbox]

[another sparkly banner]

[cabinetcard]

[ID: South China Morning Post article titled ‘Stamp boy’: sealing passion of China emperor criticised for harming artistic integrity.

Subheading reads: When Qianlong came across paintings and calligraphy he admired, he would place his seals on those artworks multiple times.

Body text reads: The Qianlong Emperor (reigned 1735–1796, died 1799) was exceptionally long-lived even among rulers, and he is celebrated for ushering in a prosperous era alongside his father, Yongzheng, and grandfather, Kangxi.

Additionally, he is famous for his enthusiasm for art and literature. Not only did he compose over 40,000 poems, but he also sponsored the monumental encyclopaedia Siku Quanshu, or Complete Library of the Four Treasures.

A well-known narcissist, Qianlong referred to himself as the “Old Man of Ten Great Campaigns” in 1792, lauding the 10 significant victories from the battles he initiated to resolve border conflicts.

This narcissism extended to his passion for art. When Qianlong encountered paintings and calligraphy that he favoured, he would stamp his seals repeatedly on those artworks.

After the body text is a work of painting and calligraphy covered in stamps from various seals. /End ID]

[cabinetcard]

the fact that ancient nubia/kush is as understudied as it is is so evil..... especially because well we all know why there is less scholarly interest in it than in other ancient civilisations.

[cecilias-cool-stuff]

Never stop hating

[cabinetcard]

[ID: Excerpt from a Wikipedia article which reads: Chalmel de Vinario recognised that bloodletting was ineffective (though he continued to prescribe bleeding for members of the Roman Curia, whom he disliked), and said that all true cases of plague /End ID]

[orpheuslament]

im the person they keep adding gratuitous & unnecessary violence & sex in movies for. im running every studio executive ragged asking for even more cock & gore in cinema they simply cant keep up

[consulships]

A 1964 illustrated Satyricon, translated by William Burnaby and illustrated by Antonio Sotomayor

[cabinetcard]

[ID: Pages of the Satyricon illustrated in shades of red. The first is the title page, with a head crowned with grapes and grape leaves; the second features an illustration of Giton and Encolpius kissing in bed, as described by the surrounding text; the third is a double-page spread depicting Trimalchio's dinner party. /End ID]

[cabinetcard]

HIIIIII OMG missed you

hi <3 it is good to be back 🌝 with a fresh start. though i expect my posts to be approximately the same as ever...

[scribl1ta]

Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse's illustrations for Petronius' Satyricon trans. Laurent Tailhade, 1910

More info and sources below the cut

Image credits: I II III IV V

You can read the full translation here.

I love these paintings so much!! This edition would be so beautiful to have, although I think I would get distracted if I tried to actually read it😅Rochegrosse also did some gorgeous smaller illustrations throughout the text, which I did my best to edit together from the scan linked above:

[cabinetcard]

[ID: Four large colorful illustrations of various Satyricon characters and scenes: Giton, the mock wedding of Giton and Pannychis, the dinner party of Trimalchio, and the beating of Encolpius' genitals with nettles by Oenothea while Proselenos watches.

The fifth image is of the open book, showing the page borders which match the large illustrations.

The remaining images are small illustrations, primarily of ancient Roman decorative art. /End ID]

[consulships]

the Consuls have declared to the roman people: get nasty get freakayy