The Library of Alexandria: With its 700,000 books, the Library of Alexandria was one of the world’s most important libraries. Despite the myth that it was destroyed in a single big fire, it actually suffered a general decline for centuries. It was first damaged when Caesar laid siege to Alexandria and set fire to his fleet in the nearby harbor. A few centuries later, the rest of its contents was lost during the taking of the city by Emperor Aurelian.
Barnum’s American Museum, New York City, USA, July 1865: The fire burned away the museum’s impressive collection of taxidermy — monkeys, lions, elephants, zebras — and, more tragically, of live animals — snakes, pigs, dogs, even a kangaroo, an alligator, and two whales. Most perished in the flames, although a few escaped into the streets, some never to be found again. For years after, people mourned the loss of Barnum’s collection, one of the greatest in New York City up until that time.
The Garden Palace, Sydney, Australia, September 1882: This iron and glass architectural masterpiece was built for the Sydney International Exhibition of 1879. After the exhibition closed, the palace became the first mining and technological museum. 3 years later, a fire totally consumed the building and the artifacts it contained, in just 40 minutes.
Portuguese Language Museum, Sao Paulo, Brazil, December 2015: The museum “which translated the soul of the Brazilian people” according to São Paulo governor, Geraldo Alckmin, was one of Sao Paulo’s most popular landmarks. A major fire damaged the building and killed one firefighter. The installations were restored and are to reopen in 2019.
National Museum of Natural History, New Delhi, India, April 2016: The fire destroyed rare specimens of flora and fauna, including a 160-million-year-old dinosaur fossil. Prakah Javadekar, India’s environment minister, called the accident “tragic” and the museum “a natural treasure".
Museum of History, Aberdeen, USA, June 2018: The flames damaged a cultural landmark in Kurt Cobain’s hometown of Aberdeen. It included items from the Nirvana singer’s early life. In the words of Aberdeen Fire Chief Tom Hubbard, “The museum was just a little gem, people would travel from all over to see it.”
War Museum, Chania, Greece, July 2018: The blaze deprived Chania, considered one of the most beautiful cities of Crete, of one of its historic buildings. “We have lost a rare architectural monument which was of great value to the city” said Hania Mayor Tassos Vamvoukas.
Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 2018: the country’s most important museum and its collection of 20 million objects have been consumed by fire. This represents “incalculable loss for Brazil”, according to its President Michel Temer.
Want to prevent history from repeating itself? These are the signs to look out for:
Political leaders aren’t putting enough money into their country’s museums and buildings:
Prior to the National Museum of Natural History burning down, buildings in India had long been plagued by aging infrastructure. In the month leading up to the fire, two other buildings had already collapsed.
Since 2014, the Museu Nacional hadn’t received its full annual $128,000 maintenance budget; this year, it received only $13,000. The museum’s curators had to crowdfund repairs to termite damage in one of the most popular exhibit halls. In fact, the country continues to slash research budgets. In 2017, cut science fundings were cut by 44 percent.
The museum’s safety conditions are poor:
The fire of New Delhi’s Natural History museum was likely worse than it needed to be. Inoperable pumps in the building meant firefighters had to rely on the water in their tanker trucks for the first two hours of the blaze.
There are less and less visitors and/or staff members:
Ever since the Library of Alexandria, cultural landmarks being less and less populated has been a sign of their decay. In 2015, the Museu Nacional, which burned down last month, was forced to close its doors temporarily because it could no longer pay its cleaning and security staff.
when male academics constantly refer to men by their surnames and women by their first names
like you’d never go to a lecture expecting shakespeare to be referred to as “william” but it’s not at all uncommon to sit through an entire lecture in which jane austen is referred to constantly as “jane”
it’s such a petty thing but it just really rubs me the wrong way, like it has a real suggestion of respect and admiration/lack thereof
We’ve had two President Roosevelts, no one refers to them as Roosevelt and Franklin. Even newspaper headlines from the times called them simply Roosevelt
We recently had two President Bushes. Bush Sr. was still alive when Bush Jr. was running and in office, and news agencies still referred to him as Bush
America was able to read this headline and hundreds like it and know which Bush it was talking about. When the news mentioned a Bush vs Gore debate we all knew that it wouldn’t be the ex-president debating
There was even a Bush running against Trump in the primaries and no one said Jeb vs Trump
Question: isn’t that preferable though? Last names are also impersonal. First names are referring directly to the person and usually are used to show a sense of intimacy and personal connection. So isn’t it more powerful to use the first name to show you connect with the person, empathize with them?
I’ve asked myself this question as well after hearing a lot of people calling women artists by their first name or full name (Artemisia or Artemisia Gentileschi and Sofonisba or Sofonisba Anguissola) and then calling male artists by last name (Botticelli, Caravaggio, Velazquez)
However, I think its important to point out that a lot of celebrated male artists are also called by their first names (Michelangelo, Donatello [his first name was Donato, Donatello just means little Donato], Titian/Tiziano, Giotto, Raphael/Raffaello).
I’m not sure what the pattern is! I’m not saying women aren’t often discredited in their fields (just think of what we consider art vs craft and what gender dominated those categories), but its obviously not a black and white argument.
Flames Consume the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The palace-turned-museum is the home of many priceless artifacts, chronicling the anthropological and natural history and landscapes of Brazil, the Americas, and beyond. Its collection holds specimens as ancient as dinosaur fossils to recent examples of fauna and flora. Beyond the inestimable value of its collection, the building itself was once the home to Portuguese royalty.
News outlets worldwide are reporting the damages done to the museum, which truly holds a comprehensive outline of world history.
Images from the scene show the building engulfed in flames. Although many artifacts are still being destroyed by the fire as I write this, no injuries have yet been reported.
Some of the pieces trapped within the inferno include vast collections of artifacts from the Olmec, Inca, and other American civilizations. The museum also holds numerous mummies, sculptures, pottery, and artifacts from Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Pterosaurus, Titanosaurus, and Spinosaurus specimens, among other fossils and ancient meteorites, also decorate the halls of this museum.
Just over a year ago, 3 paintings on loan from the Louvre were also destroyed in a fire while on loan at Tatihou’s Maritime Museum.
Damage reports have slow in coming in, because the building is still dangerous and unstable, but the likely losses include the type specimens of several pterosaurs, the sauropod Maxakalisaurus and the spinosaurid Oxalaia; multiple native American cultural artifacts; a Roman fresco that survived the destruction of Pompeii; the oldest human fossil ever found in South America; the greater part of the museum’s collection of Egyptian artifacts; and the greater part of the museum building itself, which was left in ruins by the fire.
The loss of so much knowledge and of Brazil’s cultural heritage is heartbreaking. It’s awful to think of how much history, science and culture have been destroyed so quickly and so irrecoverably. I cannot imagine what blow this has been to Brazil’s people.
Some material, at least, survived. Some items were evacuated before the fire overtook the rooms where they were stored, and the Bendegó meteorite – an iron-rich meteorite, and the largest ever found in Brazil – also survived the fire relatively unscathed.
The cause of the fire appears to have been tied to the museum being severely underfunded – its staff has commented that the building itself was in need of renovation and a new fire prevention system, and they had just finished a deal with a state-run bank to obtain the funds for this when the fire struck.
Further, the two closest fire hydrants to the museum weren’t working, which forced the firefighters to siphon water from a lake some distance away.
I would like to add that a BBC article I was just reading told of how a curator was running into the burning building trying to save specimens.
Apart from the loss of such irreplaceable knowledge and insight into the past, so many students, professors, curators, and researches have lost potentially their life's work. How many projects were based on the specimens and artifacts destroyed?
My heart goes out to the people of brazil that have lost such an important national treasure and to all those whose research has perished in the fire.
The fact that proper funding might have avoided this makes me livid. I hope we take this tragedy and learn to do better to protect humanity and earth's history.
Flames Consume the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The palace-turned-museum is the home of many priceless artifacts, chronicling the anthropological and natural history and landscapes of Brazil, the Americas, and beyond. Its collection holds specimens as ancient as dinosaur fossils to recent examples of fauna and flora. Beyond the inestimable value of its collection, the building itself was once the home to Portuguese royalty.
News outlets worldwide are reporting the damages done to the museum, which truly holds a comprehensive outline of world history.
Images from the scene show the building engulfed in flames. Although many artifacts are still being destroyed by the fire as I write this, no injuries have yet been reported.
Some of the pieces trapped within the inferno include vast collections of artifacts from the Olmec, Inca, and other American civilizations. The museum also holds numerous mummies, sculptures, pottery, and artifacts from Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Pterosaurus, Titanosaurus, and Spinosaurus specimens, among other fossils and ancient meteorites, also decorate the halls of this museum.
Just over a year ago, 3 paintings on loan from the Louvre were also destroyed in a fire while on loan at Tatihou’s Maritime Museum.
Flames Consume the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The palace-turned-museum is the home of many priceless artifacts, chronicling the anthropological and natural history and landscapes of Brazil, the Americas, and beyond. Its collection holds specimens as ancient as dinosaur fossils to recent examples of fauna and flora. Beyond the inestimable value of its collection, the building itself was once the home to Portuguese royalty.
News outlets worldwide are reporting the damages done to the museum, which truly holds a comprehensive outline of world history.
Images from the scene show the building engulfed in flames. Although many artifacts are still being destroyed by the fire as I write this, no injuries have yet been reported.
Some of the pieces trapped within the inferno include vast collections of artifacts from the Olmec, Inca, and other American civilizations. The museum also holds numerous mummies, sculptures, pottery, and artifacts from Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Pterosaurus, Titanosaurus, and Spinosaurus specimens, among other fossils and ancient meteorites, also decorate the halls of this museum.
Just over a year ago, 3 paintings on loan from the Louvre were also destroyed in a fire while on loan at Tatihou’s Maritime Museum.
Pompeii was an ancient Roman city near modern-day Naples in Italy, which was wiped out and buried under 6 meters of ash and pumice following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. It is an eerie feeling to walk the empty streets of Pompeii and to view shops and homes left virtually untouched for nearly two millennia. One home still contains a complete loaf of bread sitting in the oven, perfectly preserved by a coating of ash. Now everyone has the opportunity to walk the streets and peer inside homes thanks to a detailed 3D digital reconstruction of an entire Pompeian city-block.
Les Peintres de la Renaissance Florentine: Masaccio, Fra’ Filippo Lippi, Benozzo Gozzoli, Verrocchio; Ghirlandaio, Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Piero di Cosimo; Michelangelo, Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo, Rosso Fiorentino
The ‘Mud Angel’ volunteers rescue artworks in the Piazza della Signoria, Florence, 1966
“Overnight on 4 and 5 November 1966, the River Arno broke over its banks and flooded Florence, leaving one ton of mud for every person in the city and devastating the Renaissance city’s artistic and historical treasures. Churches, museums and libraries, all filled with works of art, were inundated with mud, to a depth in some places of 22ft. Young people, arriving from across the Continent, immediately began showing up to help. They became known to the Florentines as gli angeli del fango, ‘the Mud Angels’.
Throughout the winter of 1966-67, young volunteers kept arriving to help clean up Florence. Many of these were Italian, but a significant number came from further afield. They cleaned mud out of the Basilica di Santa Croce, carried priceless paintings out of the Uffizi galleries and brought food and fresh water to the elderly Florentines trapped in their upper-floor apartments. These youthful workers were not organised, nor had they been recruited. They simply turned up. Young Europeans dropped what they were doing and boarded trains or drove south. Many had already been on the road, backpacking around Europe, and simply rearranged their itinerary to spend time in Tuscany.
There was a tremendous turnover in the winter months. Some Mud Angels stayed a few days, others a few weeks. They listened to the latest music while working, smoked cigarettes on their breaks and had only a little energy left for carousing at night. Because of the polyglot nature of the young workers, the archivists and preservationists had to devise a colour-coded card system to track and process each item. It is unclear just how many Mud Angels there were in total, or even exactly where they had come from. There were probably only a few thousand of them at most, yet, given their mythic status in Italy, one would think the number was ten times that.
Mireille Bazin from the northern French city of Reims came down with 30 other art students during their holiday break. Another French visitor, William Michaut, commented that ‘despite the language barrier, we lived in intense communion’. Ignacio Serrano Garcia from Valladolid in Spain said that he and the other Mud Angels came to Florence out of a sense of duty to its great cultural heritage, while Riccardo Lanza from Milan recalls the harmony among the young cohorts:
‘It was something already present in our generation … with more or less means, [we] had travelled in Italy and abroad and had often relied on the solidarity between us.’
The Mud Angels of 1966 were an expression of the internationalist instincts, transnational travel and generational solidarity that had developed out of the new-found postwar mobility of the youth of western Europe. In the decade and a half after the Florentine Mud Angels, mass youth travel in Europe developed into the kind of cultural form of travel that flourishes today, complete with rail passes, guidebooks and backpacks. Contact between young Europeans grew, helping to build new connections across borders.” [source]
Now that I’ve gotten used to my new surroundings, I’ve taken the time to truly explore Florence and its surroundings. Classes have taken off too, so I’ve had the opportunity to supplement classroom lessons with visits to museums and churches with the class. There’s a massive advantage to not only remembering facts, but also truly understanding what you are learning when you are able to see it in person.
For more pictures of my experience in Florence, visit my other blog!
Monday, 22/1: In my Feminism in Art class, we focused on “The Claim”, or the first wave of feminist artists. Some of the artists we discussed were Judy Chicago, Martha Rosler, and Mary Kelly. I’ve always been interested in the “other” in art, or, the artists and subjects that are often excluded from art and from museums. I find this course especially interesting because it explores the motivations and methods used by these artists to make their struggles, frustrations, and oppression visible and widespread. Our professor praises and celebrates these artists but also correctly points out the lack of women of color in the early feminist movement. Unfortunately, many of the forces they fought against are still restricting women today.
Wednesday, 24/1: Our Renaissance art history professor took us to San Lorenzo to learn about Brunelleschi. One of the upsides of studying in Florence is that the city is our classroom! What better way to learn about an artist and their work than viewing the work in person? My first impression was that the building was much larger than it had looked on PowerPoint slides in class. The plain exterior, which has never been completed and therefore is not adorned with the same marble façade as other Florentine churches, betrays the stunning architecture of the interior. After weaving our way through the nave and the old refectory, we exited the church and went to the crypt of the Medici chapels that stretches out underneath the church. While important figures like Cosimo de Medici (the Elder) and Donatello are buried there, the one that stuck with me the most was a statue commemorating Anna Maria Luisa de Medici, the last Medici, who is largely responsible for keeping much of the art Florence is now famous for within the city.
Friday, 26/1: Today we visited San Gimignano! We began by touring the city and learning about its history with our tour guide, Stella. After lunch, we were able to explore the city on our own, and a few of us decided to climb to the top of Torre Grossa. After squeezing through the last opening of the steep staircase, we got to enjoy a stunning view of the medieval city and the Tuscan hillsides. Before leaving, we also got to visit the Galleria Continua, a contemporary art exhibition space which also has branches in Beijing, Les Moulins, and Habana.
Sunday, 28/1: A small group of us decided to enjoy the wonderful weather by hiking to the nearby Monte Ceceri. One of my favorite aspects of Florence so far is the proximity of the historic city center to the forests and farms of the surrounding hills. In a few minutes, we were out of the hustle and bustle of the city and had entered the calm of the countryside. We followed a CAI trail and weaved through thick forests and mountainsides carved by man and time. We were rewarded with an unmatchable view of the surroundings from the top of the mountain, where we ate lunch, napped, and played cards. From that same piazza, 500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci launched his flying machine.
Monday, 29/1: We began the Feminism in Art class by listing some of the words and phrases which highlight discrimination against women. A few of the ones we came up with are: Hysteria, which comes from the Greek uster, or uterus. There is no such thing as househusband. Women are defined by their marital status (miss, mrs) but men are not (mr).
Tuesday, 30/1: With my Michelangelo, Caravaggio, & Bernini class, we visited the Bargello Museum. Walking past the gift shop and into the main courtyard felt like stepping back in time. It felt like more of a sculpture garden than a museum, but with our professor there to give us an in-depth explanation of everything I still felt like I learned a lot. The Bargello houses two David sculptures by Donatello, including his famous bronze one, and another well-known David by Verrocchio. I still get blown away when I see works of art that I’ve studied in so many of my art history classes, and seeing both bronze Davids there really left an impression. The building itself, along with its history, is also very interesting. The palace’s different uses throughout its lifetime complemented the history of the art it houses. That afternoon, in my 14th-century Italian literature class, we began reading the first canto of Dante’s Inferno. I have wanted to read the Divine Comedy for a long time, if only to fit in with the rest of my Italian family who all seem to have it practically memorized, but it seemed like such a daunting task that I always put it off. After all, something that is still being debated and studied 700-odd years after its completion must be a challenging work to read. This was actually the main reason I signed up for this class. Although we are not reading the entire work, which obviously takes more than a couple months to analyze properly, I will at least gain a better understating of the work, and hopefully will be able to finish it on my own.
Wednesday, 31/1: Our Renaissance art history class took us to Santa Maria Del Fiore, otherwise known as “il Duomo”. We took shelter from the rain inside and walked around the (freezing) nave, learning about some of the frescoes and history of the cathedral. My favorite anecdote was about Paolo Uccello, whose equestrian portrait of John Hakwood is visible near the entrance of the cathedral. His obsession with linear perspective caused his wife to say that he loved it more than he loved her (at least, according to Vasari).
Thursday, 1/2: I spent my morning at Museo 900, where I helped out in two of the workshops for kids and schools. Unfortunately, I decided to wear a brand new pair of shoes (my old boots had literally fallen to pieces), and by the time I got back to my apartment my feet were bleeding. I stocked up on band-aids and joined my 14th-century Italian literature class at Casa di Dante, the museum dedicated to the legendary poet. We learned about the political and social conditions leading up to the creation to the Divine Comedy and some of the details on how the world Dante created is structured.
Friday, 2/2: The university organized a trip to Bologna to visit the ArteFiera, a convention of contemporary art. As I am not a huge fan of more modern art, I can’t say I was too excited to go, but I was pleasantly surprised by some of the works and artists we saw there. After the fiera I headed home to Ferrara to spend the weekend with my family, and there I was surprised by a visit from my great aunt and uncle!
Saturday 3/2: We headed to Comacchio, a beautiful and criminally underrated city east of Ferrara, near the coast. The dark, rainy day could not mask the picturesque beauty of the city, which boasts canals similar to those in Venice and a beautiful bridge, the Ponte dei Trepponti, which actually consists of three bridges that span over two canals that merge into one.
Sunday 4/2: Today was a long day! I took the train from Bologna to Firenze early in the morning, then ran to Palazzo Vecchio for my internship. The first tour that I shadowed was probably the most interesting and answered a curiosity I’ve had a for a few years. It was centered around the experience blind visitors have when visiting Palazzo Vecchio. In addition to creating a tour which allowed anyone to enjoy the palace through touch and sound, it also encouraged seeing visitors to understand and empathize with the experiences of visitors who can’t see. Half of the group was blindfolded, then, halfway, the other half was. The half that could still see was tasked with guiding the others through the palace, not only to keep them from slipping or falling on the steep stairs, but also to help them enjoy what they were not able to see. We saw one technique in the Salone dei Cinquecento, where the visitors walked along a path which was the equivalent of the size of one of the smaller paintings which hung on the walls. The second tour was meant to teach kids about UNESCO and what being a world heritage site means. After lunch, we headed to Santa Maria Novella, where I shadowed a tour of the Capitolo degli Spagnoli, adorned with frescoes by Andrea del Buonaiuto.
For more pictures of my experience in Florence, visit my other blog!
I have always dreamed of living in Florence, and studying abroad here was a must from me from as soon as I started thinking about college. It seems unreal that this moment has finally arrived. As much as I love Milwaukee and already miss all my friends there (and, of course, my cat Salem), I’m taking a break from the freezing temperatures of Wisconsin to spend this spring semester in the city that gave birth to the Renaissance. There were several reasons for choosing this particular city. As an art history major interested in 16th and 17th century art, there was no better place to go. Here, I get to walk the same streets as the artists I’ve studied. Secondly, I get to be close to a very large portion of my family that I don’t get to see that often. I’m contractually obligated to say I’ll miss my mom, brother, and stepdad (and Salem), but I’m very happy to be spending time with my sister, dad, grandmothers, aunts, and uncles. Lastly, I’ve always wanted to reconnect with my roots and practice my Italian (which I have to admit has been rusting since I moved to the US). It’s wonderful to go down to the local bar and order a pastina with my cappuccino, eat a decent pizza, and visit any grocery store and find things like speck. It’s the little things that I’ve missed the most.
For more pictures of my experience in Florence, visit my other blog!
Monday 8/1: I arrived in Florence! We had a bit of a crazy time making our way to my apartment (I may have over packed), so I spent the rest of the day getting groceries, unpacking, and relaxing.
Tuesday 9/1: We had our first orientation (I am studying abroad through SRISA), then went on a walking tour. One of the professors took us down Via de’ Ginori, through Piazza San Lorenzo, Piazza del Duomo, Piazza della Repubblica, and across the Ponte Vecchio, ending in front of the Palazzo Pitti. She guided us around the Oltrarno neighborhood, where we got to see one of the quieter areas of downtown Florence. We crossed the Arno on Ponte Santa Trinità and stopped to take pictures of the sunset casting beautiful colors on the famous Ponte Vecchio.
Saturday 13/1: Our school organized a hike from Settignano to Fiesole. We walked along the beautiful Tuscan hilltops through small unnamed roads, beautiful forests, and picturesque olive groves. My asthma gave me some troubles in the earliest part of the hike, but the view of Florence stretching out before us, with Brunelleschi’s dome dominating the skyline, was well worth it.
Monday 15/1: Today was the first day of classes! I only had one today, Feminism in Art, since my internship doesn’t start for a couple weeks. The feminism course focuses on women in the contemporary art industry (we started the class with the Guerrilla Girls women in the Met poster). Although my interests in art history are the 15th-17th centuries in Italy, specifically Venice, Ferrara, and Mantova, and I want to study the impact women had on art (as artists, patrons, and muses) during that period, I’m excited for this course nonetheless.
Tuesday 16/1: Another early day! I started with a course called Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and Bernini, which recounts the transition between early Renaissance and Baroque Italian art through the three titular artists. Once the sun set, we headed to the Rinascente store in Piazza della Repubblica. On the very last floor, there is a beautiful café with a stunning view of the Duomo.
Thursday 18/1: Tonight, we organized an apartment hop! Everyone in our study abroad program prepared finger foods and drinks, and we spent the evening going from one place to another and enjoying each other’s company. It was a great way to get to know each other and make our new homes seem more welcoming and comfortable.
Friday, 19/1: We woke up before dawn to catch a train to Venice. This impromptu weekend trip was spurned by our desire to see the floating city, but also by our want to explore the town before the tsunami of tourist hit. We spent the day basking in the sunshine and walking along the canals. Although there is an endless number of museums and sites to visit, we were pretty worn out, so we retreated to our Airbnb to catch up on some sleep. Once the sun set, we headed to Piazza San Marco to admire the lights and sea in the dark.
Saturday, 20/1: We took the train out to the Colli Euganei, which in the chillier winter months are mostly deserted. Apart from the occasional couple walking their dog or cyclists brave enough to take on the mud, we had the trails to ourselves. After resting in a clearing under a stunning white bluff, we sat on the top of one of the eastern hills and relished in a stunning view of the plains beyond as the sun set behind us.
Sunday, 21/1: Our last day in Venice was spent weaving through the museums of Piazza San Marco. We started in the Museo Correr, where we saw the imperial apartments, an abundance of statues, and a beautiful library. This then led us to the archeological museum and ended up in the Vestibolo. We rushed out to make sure we had enough time to grab a bite and not rush through the Palazzo del Doge. The latter was well worth the trip. Although I grew up close to Venice and visited it often, I had never actually been inside the palace. Entering the courtyard is awing in itself-it seems so odd that a space so large should fit in a such a tightly packed city. The further you make your way through the rooms of the palace, the more this effect intensifies. Each time I entered a new room, I wondered how something so massive could fit inside the palace. Every time I thought we had reached the furthest extremes of the building, there stood another immense hall. My personal favorite was the Sala del Maggior Consiglio, the largest room of the complex. It was definitely the most impressive, and the most unexpected. The tour of the palazzo ended with a walk through the jails and across the Ponte dei Sospiri, where we saw carvings and drawings made by some of the prisoners.
For more pictures of my experience in Florence, visit my other blog!
I have posted this a few times in the past few weeks and sadly had no response. I have had one donation of $6 from a good friend which was encouraging :).
I think people feel spooked by donating because they think it needs to be a hefty amount. That could not be more true. I know everyone works hard and very few earn what they deserve. I am asking for any support. I have managed this blog for 7 years now and grown to have an awesome following of art history loving people. If every single one donated just $1/£1/1€ that would be enough to realize my dreams that all of your have so kindly supported until now.
We’re in a time where humanities & the arts run the risk of being forgotten and where beautiful monuments, buildings, art pieces and historical sites are left in ruin. My entire heart and soul is going into the preservation, awareness and revival of such places and with your help I can get there sooner.
Indian Jewels Stolen in Venice’s Iconic Ducal Palace
The Ducal Palace in Venice, Italy, is famous for having housed the Doge and the seat of the Republic of Venice. The world-famous Gothic structure was finished in 1340, and has become the symbol of Venice. This past fall, from September 9th to January 3rd, the palace hosted an exhibition called “Tesori dei Moghul e dei Maharaja”, or, “Treasures of the Moguls and the Maharajas”, which featured Indian gems and jewels. The rich and unique history of India and its rules is manifested in this exhibition through the nearly 300 pieces displayed. Dazzling rubies, sapphires, and emeralds, encased in silver and gold, display the religious, political, and social aspects of the Indian society, patrons, and craftsmen who produced them.
Tourists and history lovers were not the only ones drawn to the exhibitions, however. During the morning January 3rd, two thieves stole several pieces from a display case in the Sala dello Scrutino, which held jewelry from Sheikh Al Thani. Although the declared value of the missing goods is €30,000, the price could quickly rise into the millions. The theft occurred around 10 AM that morning, and the shutdown of the palace caused long lines of tourists to amass outside its doors. To give the alarm was a security officer, who noticed that the sealed display case was empty. The officer saw two men approach the display case, who soon hurried away alongside two other men. It was then that the alarm went off and the officer noticed the case was open and empty.
For those who don’t know about this painting, the artist was the Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi.
Gentileschi was a female painter in a time when it was very largely unheard of for a woman to be an artist. She managed to get the opportunity for training and eventual employment because her father, Orazio, was already a well established master painter who was very adamant that she get artistic training. He apparently saw a high degree of skill in some artwork she did as a hobby in childhood. He was very supportive of her and encouraged her to resist the “traditional attitude and psychological submission to brainwashing and the jealousy of her obvious talents.”
Gentileschi became extremely well known in her time for painting female figures from the Bible and their suffering. For example, the one seen above depicts the story from the Book of Daniel. Susanna is bathing in her garden when two elders began to spy on her in the nude. As she finishes they stop her and tell her that they will tell everyone that they saw her have an affair with a young man (she’s married so this is an offense punishable by death) unless she has sex with them. She refuses, they tell their tale, and she is going to be put to death when the protagonist of the book (Daniel) stops them.
So that painting above? That was her first major painting. She was SEVENTEEN-YEARS-OLD. For context, here is a painting of the same story by Alessandro Allori made just four years earlier in 1606:
Wowwwww. That does not look like a woman being threatened with a choice between death or rape. So imagine 17 year old Artemisia trying to approach painting the scene of a woman being assaulted. And she paints what is seen in the x-ray above. A woman in horrifying, grotesque anguish with what appears to be a knife poised in her clenched hand. Damn that shit is real. Who wants to guess that she was advised by, perhaps her father or others, to tone it down. Women can’t look that grotesque. Sexual assault can’t be depicted as that horrifying. And women definitely can’t be seen as having the potential to fight back. Certainly not in artwork. Women need to be soft. They need to wilt from their captors but still look pretty and be a damsel in distress. So she changed it.
What’s interesting to note is that she eventually painted and stuck with some of her own, less traditional depictions of women. However, that is more interesting with some context.
(Warning for reference to rape, torture, and images of paintings which show violence and blood.)
So, Gentileschi’s story continues in the very next year, 1611, when her father hires Agostino Tassi, an artist, to privately tutor her. It was in this time when Tassi raped her. He then proceeded to promise that he would marry her. He pointed out that if it got out that she had lost her virginity to a man she wasn’t going to marry then it would ruin her. Using this, he emotionally manipulated her into continuing a sexual relationship with him. However, he then proceeded to marry someone else. Horrified at this turn of events she went to her father. Orazio was having none of this shit and took Tassi to court. At that time, rape wasn’t technically an offense to warrant a trial, but the fact that he had taken her virginity (and therefore technically “damaged Orazio’s property”. ugh.) meant that the trial went along. It lasted for 7 months. During this time, to prove the truth of her words, Artemisia was given invasive gynecological examinations and was even questioned while being subjected to torture via thumb screws. It was also discovered during the trial that Tassi was planning to kill his current wife, have an affair with her sister, and steal a number of Orazio’s paintings. Tassi was found guilty and was given a prison sentence of…. ONE. YEAR……. Which he never even served because the verdict was annulled.
During this time and a bit after (1611-1612), Artemisia painted her most famous work of Judith Slaying Holofernes. This bible story involved Holofernes, an Assyrian general, leading troops to invade and destroy Bethulia, the home of Judith. Judith decides to deal with this issue by coming to him, flirting with him to get his guard down, and then plying him with food and lots of wine. When he passed out, Judith and her handmaiden took his sword and cut his head off. Issue averted. The subject was a very popular one for art at the time. Here is a version of the scene painted in 1598-99 by Carivaggio, whom was a great stylistic influence on Artemisia:
This depiction is a pretty good example of how this scene was typically depicted. Artists usually went out of their way to show Judith committing the act (or having committed it) while trying to detach her from the actual violence of it. In this way, they could avoid her losing the morality of her character and also avoid showing a woman committing such aggression. So here we see a young, rather delicate looking Judith in a pure white dress. She is daintily holding down this massive man and looks rather disgusted and upset at having to do this. Now, here is Artemisia’s:
Damn. Thats a whole different scene. Here Holofernes looks less like he’s simply surprised by the goings ons and more like a man choking on his own blood and struggling fruitlessly against his captors. The blood here is less of a bright red than in Carrivaggio’s but is somehow more sickening. It feels more real, and gushes in a much less stylized way than Carrivaggio’s. Not to mention, Judith here is far from removed from the violence. She is putting her physical weight into this act. Her hands (much stronger looking than most depictions of women’s hands in early artwork) are working hard. Her face, as well, is completely different. She doesn’t look upset, necessarily, but more determined.
It’s also worth note that the handmaiden is now involved in the action. It’s worth note because, during her rape trial, Artemisia stated that she had cried for help during the initial rape. Specifically she had called for Tassi’s female tenant in the building, Tuzia. Tuzia not only ignored her cries for help, but she also denied the whole happening. Tuzia had been a friend of Artemisia’s and in fact was one of her only female friends. Artemisia felt extremely betrayed, but rather than turning her against her own gender, this event instilled in her the deep importance of female relationships and solidarity among women. This can be seen in some of her artwork, and I believe in the one above, as well, with the inclusion of the handmaiden in the act.
So, I just added a million words worth of information dump on a post when no one asked me, but there we go. I could talk for ages about Artemisia as a person and her depictions of women (even beyond what I wrote above. Don’t get me started on her depictions of female nudes in comparison to how male artists painted nude women at the time.)
To sum up: Artemisia Gentileschi is rad as hell. This x-ray is also rad as hell and makes her even radder.
I’m reblogging this again to add something that I also think is important to know about Artemisia Gentileschi.
Back in her time and through even to TODAY, there are people who argue that her artworks were greatly aided by her father…. As in he either helped her paint them or just straight up painted them himself. Hell, there are a number of works only recently (past several years or so) that have been officially attributed to Artemisia because people originally saw the signature with “Gentileschi” in it and automatically attributed it to Orazio.
So, not only was Artemisia Gentileschi an amazing artist and amazing historical figure, but I don’t want it to be ignored that there are people over 400 years later who still won’t give her the credit she deserves, just because she’s a woman and obviously women can’t paint like she did.
‘Um’ indeed. I’ve been so angry about other things that I’d forgotten about this. Someone has nearly half a billion dollars to spend on an artwork that we all know they probably don’t even remotely appreciate for itself. For them it’s a trophy piece, or an investment (both). Meanwhile there’s literally billions of people the world over without enough food, clean water, proper or any housing, healthcare or any quality of life - and all because of the very tiny group of people who can afford something like this.
Also…
It’s cheapens what is a significant work of art, which apart from anything else should be in a public museum.
On October 29th, the revolutionary art historian Linda Nochlin passed away at the age of 86. Many art history students will know her from her elucidating covering Realism, Orientalism, or women in art. Many of her works, including “Why Have There Been No Great Female Artists?” have had a profound impact on my own studies, and reading her essays often lead me to question standards and assumptions I was led to make by the more established art historical canon.
“Why Have There Been No Great Female Artists?”, published in 1971, is probably her most famous work. It challenged the use of the word genius and its connotation to male artists and the male-centered system of academies or father-son relationship of masters and apprentices that kept women from entering the world of fine arts.
Apart from her extensive work on feminist art history, Nochlin also explored Orientalism. We read an essay called "The Imaginary Orient” in one of my art history classes. What especially struck me from this particular work was her insistence that we must study all parts of history, even those that we might be ashamed of. Orientalism is largely founded on racism and a fascination with the “other”, in this case the titular Imaginary Orient, but even if we now disagree with the misrepresentation of African, Asian, and Middle Eastern cultures and Regions by artists like Gerome and Delacroix, it is still crucial to study them in order to gain insight into the French society out of which they formed. Art truly functions as a window into the past, but not on the subject as much as on the artist and patron that produced it. While what we see is likely altered and biased, it reveals the creator’s intentions, as well as the influences of the society it was created in.
Nochlin challenged the art historical canon, centered on the views and writings of white men, and has influenced many art historians to revise art history as a field and look beyond the normalized view.
