It seems to be a good idea to start New Year with a page from a calendar; let’s take a look at a certain interesting motif which appeared in medieval calendar pages dedicated to January. Medieval books of prayers, psalters and books of hours, started with calendar, which included a list…
Did Michelangelo forge Laocoön?
The Laocoön Group is one of the most famous ancient sculptures, depicting mythical Laocoön and his sons being killed by the snakes. The statue was discovered in Rome in 1506 – it was unearthed in the vineyard of certain Felice De Fredis. Immediately Giuliano da Sangallo was called to the site…
Venus and wine
And so it’s September again, that is the time of the grape harvest. I will again write about wine in art, but this time it will not be related to the Biblical stories (previously I wrote about Noah and Lot). Today I am going to focus on the ancient mythology…
Drunken Mysteries
At the turn of December and January Ancient Greeks celebrated so called Rural Dionysia, which was a feast of the first tasting of a new wine from latest harvest. Greek Dionysus was a very important but also mysterious god – the Dionysian Mysteries were a ritual considered by the scholars…
Forgotten Story
It’s time to talk about another painting from the collection of York Art Gallery. This time we will focus on a subject that is rather forgotten today, but used to be quite popular in the art of Renaissance and Baroque. Nowadays it might seem to be a little bit disturbing:…