Sunday, November 8, 2026

de VOS's sketch of IGNIS or FIRE, and the finished engraving by Adriaen COLLAERT ... from a set of the four elements that were widely believed to form the material world until chemist invented and discovered chemistry ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maerten_de_Vos

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adriaen_Collaert

ANTOINE WATTEAU: EMBARKATION FOR CYTHERA ... two versions

Louvre Version, Painted in 1717

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Embarkation_for_Cythera

The Wikipedia article mentions FRIVOLITY ...

I am not sure if Human Pleasures, Human Love, and Romantic Idealism are entirely frivolous subjects.

Where would humanity be without them ?

Berlin Version, Painted in 1718 / 1719

Sunday, November 1, 2026

a mandala scrapbook ...

Mandala of Jnanadakini

Tibet, late 1300s

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/37802

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcH-5Py3Jbc&t=645s

Chakrasamvara Mandala

Nepal, c.100

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/38021

Mandala of the Sun God Surya

Kitaharasa

likely 1379

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/78197

Mandala of Chandra, God of the Moon

Nepal (Kathmandu Valley)

late 14th–early 15th century

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/38344

Hevajra Mandala

Tibet

15th century

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/692123

Buddha Amoghasiddhi with Eight Bodhisattvas

Central Tibet ca. 1200–50

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/37966

Vajrabhairava and Consort

https://www.si.edu/object/vajrabhairava-and-consort:fsg_S1999.5

... to be continued ... as & whenever ...

REMEDIOS VARO ... top museum conservators discuss their analysis of the painter's techniques ... "the TAXONOMY OF TECHNIQUES"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs1NJUj1G_A

the book of the exhibition, so to speak ...

https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300273212/remedios-varo/

and there is another long conversation about the painter here ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZx9aswvpPk&t=2656s

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

satyrs and centaurs ... the drawings by GIOVANNI DOMENICO TIEPOLO ... a discussion with ChatGPT to get started ...

https://chatgpt.com/s/t_6ae18d5378508191b76ece613aed3c4c

Chat GPT offered me several excellent sources ...

first ...

Jean Cailleux, “Centaurs, Fauns, Female Fauns, and Satyrs among the Drawings of Domenico Tiepolo” (1974)

The Burlington Magazine, vol. 116, no. 855, June 1974, pp. i–xxviii.

i haven't been able to read Cailleux's work online ... the Burlington Magazine guard their territory well and the minimum price of access is £25

second ...

George Knox and Adelheid M. Gealt, Domenico Tiepolo: Drawings, Prints, and Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1997)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, vol. 54, no. 3, Winter 1996–97.

this 70 page article with a profusion of illustrations is free to download as a pdf

https://www.metmuseum.org/met-publications/domenico-tiepolo-the-metropolitan-museum-of-art-bulletin-v-54-no-3-winter-1996-97

third ...

Samantha De Vitis, “Satiri e centauri nell’opera di Giandomenico Tiepolo” (2022)

In Segni d’artista: Masterpieces for a Collection, pp. 18–25.

this shorter article is a very good introduction, shown in italian with an english translation on the same page

https://maurizionobile.com/usr/library/documents/cataloghi/maurizio-nobile-segni-d-artista-tefaf-maastricht-2022-35th-anniversary-celebration.pdf

fourth ...

George Knox, “Drawings by Giambattista and Domenico Tiepolo at Princeton” (1964)

Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 2–28.

fifth ...

Petra Kayser, “Centaur carrying off a female faun,” National Gallery of Victoria (2025).

https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/essay/centaur-carrying-off-a-female-faun

as there are no proper art history libraries in West Wales, i am doubly-tripley grateful for the ChatGPT introduction to these sources

... to be continued ...

Franz Brun's Nine Muses at / from Princeton

I worked on a blog titled MY NINE MUSES which is dated 28 July 2023 ... just now I discover another set of the nine made by FRANZ BRUN around 1570 ... not particularly elegant depictions of supremely gifted demi-goddesses, nor refined printing with regards to block cutting technique ... but notable for their earthbound humanity despite the artist taking away their shoes and giving them robust wings ...