| Description | Français : Museum Willet-Holthuysen, à Amsterdam |
| Date | 20 October 2012, 16:16:47 |
| Source | Own work |
| Author | Remi Mathis |
From Wikimedia Commons
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Aphrodite in post-antique sculpture, Museum Willet-Holthuysen, Amsterdam
Aphrodite in post-antique sculpture, Museum Willet-Holthuysen, Amsterdam
From Wikimedia Commons
From Wikimedia Commons
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Belief, John Lennon
I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?
- John Lennon (1940-1980)
Monday, October 5, 2009
Cnidus Aphrodite
Cnidus Aphrodite
From Wikimedia Commons
| Artist | English: Copy of Praxiteles; restorer: Ippolito Buzzi (Italian, 1562–1634) Français : Copié de Praxitèle; restaurateur : Ippolito Buzzi (1562-1634) |
| Description | English: Cnidus Aphrodite. Marble, Roman copy after a Greek original of the 4th century. Marble; original elements: torso and thighs; restored elements: head, arms, legs and support (drapery and jug). Français : Aphrodite de Cnide. Marbre, copie romaine d'après un original grec de Praxitèle du IVe siècle av. J.-C. Marbre, éléments originaux : torse et cuisses ; éléments restaurés : tête, bras, jambes et support (manteau et pichet). |
| Current location | National Museum_of Rome - Palazzo Altemps Ground floor |
| Accession number | Inv. 8619 |
| Credit line | Ludovisi Collection |
| Source/Photographer | Marie-Lan Nguyen (September 2009) |
| Licensing | the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. |
From Wikimedia Commons
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Statue of Venus (Sanssouci)
Statue of Venus (Sanssouci)
From Wikimedia Commons
| Description | Potsdam, Sanssouci, Plastik Venus von Pigalle Potsdam.- Sanssouci, Venus von Pigalle an der Großen Fontaine |
| Date | 12 December 2008 |
| Photographer | Max Baur (1898–1988) |
| Institution | German Federal Archives Nachlass Max Baur (Bild 170) |
| Accession number | Bild 170-710 |
| Source | This image was provided to Wikimedia Commons by the German Federal Archive (Deutsches Bundesarchiv) as part of a cooperation project. The German Federal Archive guarantees an authentic representation only using the originals (negative and/or positive), resp. the digitalization of the originals as provided by the Digital Image Archive. |
| Licensing | This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license. |
From Wikimedia Commons
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Aphrodite and the dolphin by Emil Wolf at the Hermitage
Aphrodite and the dolphin by Emil Wolf at the Hermitage
From Wikimedia Commons
| Description | English: Aphrodite and the dolphin by Emil Wolf at the Hermitage. |
| Date | 20 August 2008 |
| Source | Yair Haklai |
| Author | Yair Haklai |
| Licensing | This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. |
From Wikimedia Commons
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
The Spirits of Fountains and Trees top
The Spirits of Fountains and Trees top
The earliest Greeks seem to have bowed down in prayer before the great forces of nature-thunder and lightning, wind and rain, flood and earthquake.
"There are powers back o fall these things." said the Greeks. "Let us worship them."
So it was that they knelt to the Spirits of Fountains and Trees, of Caves and Mountains. They did not then speak of such gods as Zeus and Hera, Hades and Hermes. Trees were supposed to have a special sacredness. Certain one were thought sacred to certain god-powers.
Large caves were worshiped because of the mysterious darkness within. People tossed dice in front of a certain cave and thought that the god-power would make the dice fall in such a way as to answer questions. In time the Greeks became tired of not knowing how the gods looked. Statues were made as images of the spirits of gods. What shape did they give to their gods? The human shape. That was natural, for what other creature on earth could they think so nobly made? It was also natural that they should make their gods look like the most beautiful persons who could be found.
Even after the gods had been put into human shape, their homes were mountains, caves, trees and fountains. The home of the chief gods was Mount Olympus. Other gods were located here and there all over the land and sea. Statues of gods and goddesses were often placed under the branches of trees. This was to protect them from rain and snow, to give them shelter. Sometimes statues were placed in hollows made in tree trunks. The tree-home for the gods was the beginning of the temple. Later on the Greeks made marvelous temples to house their gods.
The earliest Greeks seem to have bowed down in prayer before the great forces of nature-thunder and lightning, wind and rain, flood and earthquake.
"There are powers back o fall these things." said the Greeks. "Let us worship them."
So it was that they knelt to the Spirits of Fountains and Trees, of Caves and Mountains. They did not then speak of such gods as Zeus and Hera, Hades and Hermes. Trees were supposed to have a special sacredness. Certain one were thought sacred to certain god-powers.
Large caves were worshiped because of the mysterious darkness within. People tossed dice in front of a certain cave and thought that the god-power would make the dice fall in such a way as to answer questions. In time the Greeks became tired of not knowing how the gods looked. Statues were made as images of the spirits of gods. What shape did they give to their gods? The human shape. That was natural, for what other creature on earth could they think so nobly made? It was also natural that they should make their gods look like the most beautiful persons who could be found.
Even after the gods had been put into human shape, their homes were mountains, caves, trees and fountains. The home of the chief gods was Mount Olympus. Other gods were located here and there all over the land and sea. Statues of gods and goddesses were often placed under the branches of trees. This was to protect them from rain and snow, to give them shelter. Sometimes statues were placed in hollows made in tree trunks. The tree-home for the gods was the beginning of the temple. Later on the Greeks made marvelous temples to house their gods.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Epic of Darkness (黑暗傳)
Epic of Darkness (黑暗传)
Alternative Names (異名):
黑暗传, Hēi Àn Zhuàn, Epic of Darkness
The Epic of Darkness (黑暗传; pinyin: Hēi Àn Zhuàn) is a collection of tales and legends of primeval China in epic form, preserved by the inhabitants of the Shennongjia (神農架林區) mountain area in Hubei (湖北). As such, it is the only such collection preserved by people classed as belonging to the Han nationality. It contains accounts from the birth of Pangu (盤古) till the historical era
History
On August of 1982, Hu Chongjun was given a songbook by an old local farmer. The booklet, written in brush and ink with about 3,000 lines of seven Chinese characters each. The Book is split into 4 sections; the beginnings of the Universe, the Birth of Pangu, The Great Flood, The birth of mankind till the beginnings of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Hu began to study and gather the manuscripts from accounts of old people living in Shennongjia.
Liu Shouhua, a professor at the Chinese Culture Department at the East China Normal University, read the ballad and believed that the Epic of Darkness may represent the Han chinese creation myth that has been handed down in oral form.
Yuan Ke, a scholar in Chinese mythology, carefully studied the original materials and supported Liu's suggestion that the Epic of Darkness is a folk epic. Yuan said that the discovery of "Darkness" could be regarded a historic event in the folklore history of the Han people. Yuan suggested some people should further study the different versions and rearrange with caution, the manuscripts into an integrated epic, without ruining its original flavor.
Hu was chosen to compile this massive epic.
It took him 9 years to finally finish the collection. With 5,500 lines, the new edition was selected as the best of many different versions, compiled after Hu skimmed through more than 30,000 lines of the original manuscripts. Liu, who has read most of the original material, said, "So far, the content of this edition is the richest one. Compared with other versions, this edition is more beautiful and is in the linguistic style."
In the same year, the Beijing-based Hualian Publishing House bought the copyrights to publish the Epic of Darkness. But due to financial problems, the publishing was delayed the publication of the book year after year.
In 2000, Zhou Baiyi, publisher of the Changjiang Arts Publishing House, persuaded Hu to end his former contract with Hualian Publishing House and gave rights to his publishing house.
In 2001, Hu signed a new contract with Changjiang Art Publishing House and went to Wuhan for some final editions. The final edition of The Story of Darkness would finally see the light of day.
Hu said that the mountains and nature have protected it from modernization and enabled "Darkness" to be handed down from one generation to the next and into the modern day.
Plot Summary
In the beginning, everything was a cloud of gas, chaos and darkness. After eons of effort, the first drop of water was created by a deity named Jiang Ku (江沽). However a god named Lang Da Zi (浪荡子) swallowed that drop of water and died. His body was split in 5 forms, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth. From the elements was born Pan Gu who split the heavens and the earth before he eventually died and his body became the Earth. However mankind has yet to be created at this time. From the 5 elements and animals were born demons and gods who fought each other until a great flood overcame the land. From this great flood, two dragons one black and one yellow fought a great battle. A goddess, Sacred Mother Wu Tien , helped the dragon defeat the black dragon. In gratitude, the yellow dragon laid 3 eggs which the Sacred Mother swallowed and gave birth to 3 gods, Heaven, Earth and Hell. Later from the flood came 5 dragons who found a gourd in the Eastern sea. Wu Tien opens the Gourd and found two humans, Fuxi and Nuwa, and tells them to copulate and thus humans were born after the flood waters recede.
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Hubei | Chinese mythology | Epic poems | Chinese mythology stubs
Alternative Names (異名):
黑暗传, Hēi Àn Zhuàn, Epic of Darkness
The Epic of Darkness (黑暗传; pinyin: Hēi Àn Zhuàn) is a collection of tales and legends of primeval China in epic form, preserved by the inhabitants of the Shennongjia (神農架林區) mountain area in Hubei (湖北). As such, it is the only such collection preserved by people classed as belonging to the Han nationality. It contains accounts from the birth of Pangu (盤古) till the historical era
History
On August of 1982, Hu Chongjun was given a songbook by an old local farmer. The booklet, written in brush and ink with about 3,000 lines of seven Chinese characters each. The Book is split into 4 sections; the beginnings of the Universe, the Birth of Pangu, The Great Flood, The birth of mankind till the beginnings of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Hu began to study and gather the manuscripts from accounts of old people living in Shennongjia.
Liu Shouhua, a professor at the Chinese Culture Department at the East China Normal University, read the ballad and believed that the Epic of Darkness may represent the Han chinese creation myth that has been handed down in oral form.
Yuan Ke, a scholar in Chinese mythology, carefully studied the original materials and supported Liu's suggestion that the Epic of Darkness is a folk epic. Yuan said that the discovery of "Darkness" could be regarded a historic event in the folklore history of the Han people. Yuan suggested some people should further study the different versions and rearrange with caution, the manuscripts into an integrated epic, without ruining its original flavor.
Hu was chosen to compile this massive epic.
It took him 9 years to finally finish the collection. With 5,500 lines, the new edition was selected as the best of many different versions, compiled after Hu skimmed through more than 30,000 lines of the original manuscripts. Liu, who has read most of the original material, said, "So far, the content of this edition is the richest one. Compared with other versions, this edition is more beautiful and is in the linguistic style."
In the same year, the Beijing-based Hualian Publishing House bought the copyrights to publish the Epic of Darkness. But due to financial problems, the publishing was delayed the publication of the book year after year.
In 2000, Zhou Baiyi, publisher of the Changjiang Arts Publishing House, persuaded Hu to end his former contract with Hualian Publishing House and gave rights to his publishing house.
In 2001, Hu signed a new contract with Changjiang Art Publishing House and went to Wuhan for some final editions. The final edition of The Story of Darkness would finally see the light of day.
Hu said that the mountains and nature have protected it from modernization and enabled "Darkness" to be handed down from one generation to the next and into the modern day.
Plot Summary
In the beginning, everything was a cloud of gas, chaos and darkness. After eons of effort, the first drop of water was created by a deity named Jiang Ku (江沽). However a god named Lang Da Zi (浪荡子) swallowed that drop of water and died. His body was split in 5 forms, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth. From the elements was born Pan Gu who split the heavens and the earth before he eventually died and his body became the Earth. However mankind has yet to be created at this time. From the 5 elements and animals were born demons and gods who fought each other until a great flood overcame the land. From this great flood, two dragons one black and one yellow fought a great battle. A goddess, Sacred Mother Wu Tien , helped the dragon defeat the black dragon. In gratitude, the yellow dragon laid 3 eggs which the Sacred Mother swallowed and gave birth to 3 gods, Heaven, Earth and Hell. Later from the flood came 5 dragons who found a gourd in the Eastern sea. Wu Tien opens the Gourd and found two humans, Fuxi and Nuwa, and tells them to copulate and thus humans were born after the flood waters recede.
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology
Hubei | Chinese mythology | Epic poems | Chinese mythology stubs
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