Something Beautiful

St. Anthony of Padua (Maso di Banco)

You'll need to get up close in order to appreciate this portrait of St. Anthony of Padua, c. 1340, by Maso di Banco, but I think it's worth taking the time.  

Regrettably, not many of di Banco's works have survived.  You can see some of them, however, by consulting his page at Artcyclopedia. 

 

Pierpont Morgan's Library (1906)

Here are four photographs of Pierpont Morgan's Library as it existed in 1906: East Room, West Room, North Room and Rotunda.  Simply sumptuous. 

Here's a different, perhaps better, approach:  East Room (with six photos); Rotunda; West Room (study); North Room. 

Monks

This painting of a Monk with a Book is by Titian. 

The Green House

I wouldn't say that this painting is beautiful. It is honest and striking and lovely, however. At least in one woman's opinion. It's "The Green House, St. John's Wood," c. 1918, by Robert Bevan.

Book of Hours (Huntington HM 1174)

The Book of Hours known as Huntington Library Manuscript HM 1174 is one of my favorites.  If you like, you can take a quick look at many of its images here, with thumbnails, brief descriptions and much larger images. 

The first twelve images are devoted to the typical medieval calendar.  Here's the description provided by the Huntington Library catalogue of these pages:  

Each month of the calendar written across an opening;
both sides with bracket borders in the outer margins so as to almost enclose the opening;
in the lower margins, framed by gold columns and arches are,
    - on the verso a monthly occupation; and
    - on the facing recto, a smaller occupation scene continuing the activity of the first; 
      divided by a column from the adjacent zodiac symbol.

Here are the twelve, divided up according to season: 

Winter:

December

January

February

Spring:

March

April

May

Summer:

June

July

August

Autumn:

September

October

November

More soon! 

Nature.

There are so many wonderful nature photographs at this Flickr group.  As you get deeper into the collection, you'll see more and more which will catch your eye. 

Jacob and Esau

This stained glass window depicting Jacob and Esau is just beautiful.  The colors are so rich, and the detail is wonderful.  

In case you want to brush up on the Old Testament story of these two brothers, the relevant portion is at Genesis 25:29-34. 

Six Tuscan Poets (Vasari)

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, owner of a favorite museum website, has joined the Google Art Project.   Looking over its 158 offerings there, I spotted the Six Tuscan Poets, 1544, by Giorgio Vasari.   One is Dante and another is Petrarch.   Who are the other four?  According to ArtsConnected, the six are, from left to right: Marsilio Ficino, Cristoforo Landino, Giovanni Bocaccio, Francesco Petrarch, Dante Alighieri, and Cavalcanti.  

Vasar is, of course, best known for his "Lives of the Florentine Artists."   He was, however, an artist himself and, as we can see from this work, quite a good one. 

Our task is to free ourselves (Einstein)

AM, author of the very fine blog Talking 37th Dream (rumors of peace), has quoted Albert Einstein in one of her comments here.  The quotation is too good not to share: 

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us "Universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.

Having described the problem, Einstein then continues:

Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.

 

Two old favorites

Both of these old favorites are owned by the Wadsworth Atheneum in Connecticut: 

Monet painting in his garden at Argenteuil, by Pierre-Auguste Renoir  

Jane Avril, by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec