Gorgeousness

Once more with the documentary watching … oh I know, but cold weather does induce such indulgences.

This thing of beauty caught my eye.

screen shot from documentary

It’s thought to be the crown of the wife of Richard II, and the only known English crown surviving from the medieval period. Now it’s called the ‘Crown of Princess Blanche‘.

screen shot from documentary

So delicate and gorgeous.

Yes … I’d like one … thank you.

 

How did you get there?

Today I was watching an art documentary … you know, as I like to do.

During said passive education I was presented with a painting, a collaboration no less, between Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens : specifically, ‘Hearing‘ (1617-18) in their ‘The Five Senses‘ series.

Hearing ; from Prado Museum in Madrid ; click on image for original source

Look a bit closer at this little birdie …

cropped from above image

Unless I’m very much mistaken, and I absorbed nothing from my Grandma’s copy of ‘Complete Book of Australian Birds‘, that is a sulfur-crested cockatoo. This raucous little feathered fellow is native to Australia and New Guinea.

So … this was painted in 1617-18.

Mmm … time for me to check my history.

The Dutch apparently were visiting Australia’s coast line (north-west) from 1606 – though most of these visits seem to have been accidents of incorrect navigation and quite a proportion perished.

It seems more likely that perhaps the bird was brought back instead from New Guinea – considering the Portuguese and Spanish were gadding about there from the mid 1500s.

Or perhaps they were traded by Indonesians in touch with New Guinea, who in turn were trading with the Dutch and others.

Oh. I was hoping for a strange story.
This isn’t strange but actually quite reasonable.
Best you go about your day.

Silver tankard

Once again I’ve been indulging in documentaries. Watching one I’ve watched, and written about, before … I was stunned by the silver tankard in this painting.

Look at that handle! It could be 1920s Art Deco.

screen shot from documentary

(cropped) screen shot from documentary

And how on earth is that silver plate with the lemon even staying there without toppling over … to my eye the centre of gravity of the lemon is barely in line with the edge of the table. Ah you amazing Dutch still life painters!

Willem Kalf, Still Life with Ewer, Vessels and a Pomegranate, mid 1640s.

Gold of The Hochdorf Prince

Documentaries … they’re just the best, right?

Recently I was indulging in my wont to watch documentaries on art and history, particularly a new BBC show ‘The Celts: Iron, Blood and Sacrifice … with Alice Roberts and Neil Oliver‘, and my eyes have been opened to the amazing Hochdorf Prince (from the Iron Age, about 550BCE).

Look at his shoes!

Not strictly shoes as we know it, but decoration on (what are assumed to have been) leather shoes. Too gorgeous.

screen shot of documentary

screen shot of documentary

Naturally I searched the internets for more information …

• he’s famous for the many other artefacts (including a rather massive cauldron) he was buried with, many of which are shown in reproduction at a museum near where he was uncovered
• of course, Wiki ; though it’s a bit light-on to be frank
• most fabulously, another documentary covering similar territory – but this one is from the mid-80s and has dated poorly; the moustaches in the reenactments had me in giggle fits

from Wiki; click on image for original source (image credit: Rosemania, see Wiki for more details)

There just isn’t enough gold shoe-decorations nowadays.
Or massive cauldrons.