What’s not interesting about a statue depicting a Greek hero triumphantly holding the severed head of a creature that turns people into stone statues!? (My how the tables have turned….) Antonio Canova had the right idea when he did exactly that! Let’s look… Read More
We’re all finding different ways of coping with being stuck at the home during the lockdown. Some people are nurturing new passions for crafts, from knitting to felting to jewellery-making. Others are taking to the kitchen, discovering new… Read More
If you scrolled through social media over the weekend, you can’t have missed that last Sunday was Mother’s Day. Or at least, over in the US (and most other countries) it was (here in the UK we celebrate… Read More
In Ancient Greek mythology, Nike was the Goddess who personified Victory. Personifications weren’t rare in Greek religion. For example, Arete was the Goddess of excellence and virtue, and Aeltheia was the spirit of truth. Sister of Kratos (Stregth),… Read More
THATKid Tuesday is a monthly dose of Art History for kids, which will usually be posted on the first Tuesday of the month. In this series we’ll be blogging about different terms from the THATKid glossary we’ve created… Read More
THATKid Tuesday is a monthly dose of Art History for kids, posted on the first Tuesday of each month. In this series, we’ll be blogging about different terms from the THATKid glossary we’ve created to help kids understand… Read More
Introducing one of the most amazing Mesopotamian artefacts, The Lamassu. Meaning “protective spirit” in Akkadian, he is one of a pair who was usually found flanking the doorways to Assyrian palaces. Winged bulls or lions with human heads,… Read More
Till our next visit to the Louvre, this will be my penultimate highlight concerning last weekend’s visit to the Near Eastern antiquities wing. It’s been tricky to choose what to profile since El Argentino and I had so… Read More
The Three Graces The Graces, according to Seneca, stand for the 3-fold aspect of generosity the giving, receiving and returning of gifts of benefits. Three daughters of Zeus, some identified them as Beauty, Charm and Joy. Many myths… Read More
In our most recent THATMuse post we lingered on an introduction to the Borghese Collection at the Louvre. Though necessary, it was honestly a bit sober. So in developing this story line (before getting to the actual crux — an… Read More
Last time we wound our way from considering the Prado and Spain in the general, to zeroing in on a contemporary replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. In our last post we shamelessly lingered on poor Leonardo’s sex life (with the weak… Read More
The other day I touched on Spain’s Span Across Europe in the general. It’s true that Spain’s reach was just so broad that it’s hard to know what to focus on at the Prado (the royal collection reflecting the… Read More
