#john pemble

[oupacademic]

“In 1793, while the Terror was still at its height, French military commanders in Holland and Belgium were already justifying the expropriation of important works of art, and the Louvre was being extensively adapted and refurbished in anticipation of further acquisitions. After taking their pick from the collections of Modena, Parma, Piacenza, and Bologna, the commissioners had arrived in Rome in July 1796 and, in accordance with treaties entitling France to a hundred works of art from the pope, raided the Capitoline and Vatican museums.

In July 1798, still in their packing cases, the Italian art treasures were paraded through Paris in a triumphal procession, organised to celebrate the inauguration of the city as capital of the sciences and the arts. The festivities and formalities lasted two days, during which choirs chanted an anthem composed to proclaim that Rome was no longer in Rome, but in Paris.”

P. 25- The Rome we have Lost by John Pemble

[oupacademic]

“In the sixteenth century the French poet Joachim du Bellay described how Rome was always and ever more divinely recreating itself by quarrying the fabric of its own buried past. Three centuries later Anglo-Saxon visitors were claiming that since Rome had always lived by devouring its own past, it was never more truly itself than in these years of ruthless demolition and reconstruction.”

P.11- The Rome we have Lost by John Pemble.

[aivideopromptmagic]

Source: Flickr

[catrocketship]

Today Hella selfies Last night saw Sylvan Esso and Flock of Dimes at Wooly's with Joey and Ben 👍 Cleaned houses today. I fell in love with the one with flowers. Ate soup in the tub and was delighted to be with my old friend. Got photos back from Laura's wedding. I am wearing a jumpsuit to everything from now on. Slept with Madeleine. Been thinking about taking things one step at a time. A while back I read an article in Forbes or Inc about habits that "highly productive" CEOs have. One was that they plan several steps ahead, like a game. I have long been in the habit of looking over the possible outcomes but mainly keeping my focus on the ground, directly in front of me. It's a habit highly resilient people have; when you're staring down difficulty, planning for all the possible outcomes is impossible and overwhelming. Hope and confidence are tantamount in times of difficulty, and exhausting your ego in superfluous decision making will do no good. This month a climbed a mountain. I like to say it like that; it sounds more like I summited Denali and less like I walked up 4 miles of maintained trail. But to me it felt like summiting a major peak; I hike a lot, just across mostly flat lands with no slippery rocks. A third of the way into the hike I wanted to quit. I carried all the water for the hike and the extra weight was a challenge. We stopped to rest every fifteen minutes. My heart pounded and I couldn't catch breath. It's hard to remember now what even made it feel so bad, but I remember clearly the feeling that I wanted to stop, turn around, and go home. It was terrible and I might not make it and then I'd be disappointed in myself. Instead, we took a long break and drank half the water. And in coming back from the break I realized I'd been looking up the mountain and taking huge steps as if I was skipping steps in a stair case. Like I'd get their faster and that was better. When we started walking again, I kept my eyes in the ground a few feet in front of me, never farther. It didn't matter if my partner got ahead of me; I didn't lengthen my stride. And suddenly the hike was easy again, because I'd set my own pace and gone from thinking about the climb up the entire mountain to thinking only one step at a time. Thinking one step at a time saved me, but examining all the possibilities was important too; I researched the hike thoroughly. Because I took notes and drew a map, we did not get lost at tricky points in the trail many others had trouble navigating. I thought about how much water we'd need, what to carry it in, and remembered that Scott didn't do as well as I do with carrying supplies on a hike. I brought a perfect compliment of snacks. That's all I've got. Eyes closing involuntarily. Thoughts collected. Good night.

[j2parman]

History is all more or less fictitious. We all write legends.

James Anthony Froude, quoted by John Pemble, "Resurrecting the Tudors," a review of Ciaran Brady: James Anthony Froude, Oxford, 2013, London Review of Books, 23 May 2013, page 13.

[j2parman]

Men who make history don't write news.

John Pemble, "The Only True Throne," a review of W. Sydney Robinson, Muckracker, a biography of W.T. Stead, a 19th-century journalist, London Review of Books, 19 July 2012, page 9. Winston Churchill is one exception.

[j2parman]

The Victorians cherished privacy and detested secrecy. What consenting adults did in private was their own affair. 'The only part of the conduct of anyone, for which he is amenable to society,' John Stuart Mill said, 'is that which concerns others.' What was done in secret was another matter. 'Everything secret,' Lord Acton said, 'degenerates.'

John Pemble, "Gaslight and Fog," a review of Haia Shpayer-Makov, The Ascent of the Detective, Oxford, 2011, London Review of Books, 26 January 2012, page 21. "Nothing is hidden," according to Dogen Eihei.

[j2parman]

The law is a bigger racket than crime.

George Orwell, 1944, quoted by Pemble, LRB, 26 January 2012, page 22.