In Which I Discover a Treasure from Christian Culture

 I am surprised I spotted them.

And even then I hesitated, leaning forward to peer into the yellowed plastic before gingerly plucking them from amongst all the other knick-knacks on the dimly-lit thrift store shelf.

Carefully, carefully I pried open the sides of the brittle package.

Oh, my goodness! No yellowing here! 

The gorgeous dancing couple dressed in vibrantly-hued traditional European costumes delighted my eye and blessed my soul.

I marveled at the details. 

Her flower wreath and long blond braid. His cap with the multi-colored tassels on one side. The netting overlay on her skirt and the jaunty belt cinching his long vest.

I looked for the price tag: $10

Confident that I had already received $10 worth of value from the charming pair, I purchased it and hurried home.

I looked forward to removing them from the ugly packaging and examining them closer. It was only when I tried to free them that I realized the dancers' feet were permanently attached to the base. I turned it upside down and for the first time noticed that it had a label.

And it was in Polish.

I had no idea what it said. 

Nevertheless, a thrill of joy leapt through me as I thought how perfectly the couple would look displayed in my hutch with all my Polish pottery. I hurried over and found them a spot, center stage, my daily reminder that life is beautiful.

In the Spirit of Fraternal Encouragement: A Music Detox

John Cuddeback, a philosophy professor at Christendom College, has invited his Bacon From Acorns blog readers to join him in listening to only a select few "classical" music pieces for two weeks.   I think it is a grand idea!  It offers a reset of our emotions and an opportunity to get to know several beautiful pieces intimately.  Read his post linked above to get his list of recommended pieces, overflowing with musical antioxidants.

Mr. Cuddeback does not include any Gregorian chant because of its intended use as liturgical prayer, but here I must lovingly disagree.   Are we not to pray without ceasing?  And is not the home our domestic church?  I think it would add greatly to the efficaciousness of the "fast" to listen to one piece of chant every day for the two weeks, especially if you did it first thing in the morning to help set the tone for the rest of your day.  Aside from the graces to be gained,  it would also give our parasympathetic nervous systems, so overloaded with the stimuli of modern culture, a rest, as Gregorian chant appeals directly to the intellect, not the passions.

Need more inspiration?  Here are two things I read today that I found immensely edifying.

Twelve Latin Chants Every Catholic Should Know:  This is great for narrowing down the choices, and it gives a little background with each chant.  Well, actually I lied.  It didn't help me narrow the choices.  With each description I was sure that I would finally decide on THAT piece, only to read the next description and decide that it was THE ONE.  Maybe I shall start at the top of the list and listen to each piece for two weeks until I have absorbed each one into my being.

Feeding Our Children Liturgical Garbage:  Jeff Ostrowski, who holds a Bachelor's degree in Music Theory, explains in a short Views from the Choir Loft blog post why we should listen to the best music and provide it for our children.  He shares some stellar quotes, too.

Four Angels Round My Bed

Crib of the Infant Jesus, 15th Century.  Metropolitan Museum of Art

Every night when I put my mom to bed, I say this prayer:

God bless this house from roof to floor
The twelve apostles guard the door.

Four great angels round my bed
Two my feet and two my head.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
Bless the bed that I lie on.

Sometimes I am really tired and say the meal blessing without realizing it, which prompts my mother to giggle, which makes me laugh, which makes it harder to remember the prayer I am supposed to be saying.  Usually she'll prompt me after I make a few false starts.

Anyway, in trying to learn more about the prayer, I discovered that the most common version goes like this:

Four corners to my bed,

Four angels round my head;

One to watch and one to pray

And two to bear my soul away.

Apparently the one I am saying is an amalgamation of several different prayers, but we like it that way, so I am okay with that.  The way I learned it from a children's prayer book includes this ending:

Now I lay me down to sleep, 

I pray the Lord my soul to keep, 

If any danger come to me, 

Sweet Jesus Christ deliver me.

And if I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

The Crib of the Infant Jesus photo above reminded me of the prayer.  I saw it in the Met's twitter feed and was immediately enchanted.  Here's the description of the crib from the museum's web site:

Miniature cradles for the Christ Child were popular devotional objects in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and were venerated, especially in convents, where they were often presented to women taking their vows. This splendid cradle comes from the Grand Béguinage of Louvain, Belgium, established for lay women in the twelfth century. It is decorated with carved representations of the Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi on either end. The biblical family tree of Christ is illustrated on the embroidered coverlet.

There are eight other photos, including close-ups of the head and foot board carvings.  Take a look.

Feast of the Most Holy Rosary




Feast of the Rose Garlands by Albrect Durer

 
I am continually amazed by the great beauty that the Catholic faith has inspired in the world.  I have been studying this one painting off and on for the last two days in preparation for today's feast.  The image I enventually settled for is inadequate, but if you will follow the Culturekiosque link below, you will be rewarded with a large and lovely one.

According to Culturekiosque:

"Considered a landmark work in the transition between the late Gothic and the Renaissance, The Feast of the Rose Garlands was created during Dürer’s sojourn in Venice in 1506. It was commissioned by German merchants, settled around the commercial center known as the Fondaco dei Tedeschi in Venice, as the altar painting for their chapel in the parish Church of San Bartolomeo. The commissioners selected the theme: the painting depicts an ideal congregation of the Brotherhood of the Rosary. The Virgin with the Infant Christ, Saint Dominic and the angels dispense on the gathering of the faithful a symbolic blessing in the form of rose garlands. To the left are representatives of the clergy with the Pope at their head, while on the right the representatives of secular power receive the blessing. "

Today is Marc Chagall's Birthday

I and the Village

I love Chagall's work. This is unusual for me because generally I don't like modern art. His paintings, though, spoke to me the first time I saw them and continue to do so. I adore the vibrant color, the farm animals, the lovers floating on air. It is like Chagall looked inside my heart and painted what he saw there.

Monsters, Chimeras, and Hybrids.

The Birthday

The Artist With the Very Big Heart

Earlier this week I used an illustration by James Mayhew for my post, "Too Much Information". I loved its dreamlike quality, which I believed to be the perfect match for my subject: the imagery that Emma enjoyed while playing the music of Prince Igor. Since I was writing about her experience I wanted her approval of the picture. I showed it to her, and she loved it too. I was so glad. What I wanted to express in my writing would not have been as clear without this picture. And it helped me give something back to Emma. She went back to the Prince Igor theme again this week. I know she probably won't see what she used to, but I hope that the beautiful painting will work as a catalyst from which new imagery may grow.

Today I received the most wonderful comment from Mr. Mayhew which kindled in me a great affection for this generous soul. I want to share it with you:

Hi, I found your blog because I saw my illustration online. It;'s an older piece so I was slightly intrigued. I loved your post - it is so true. Very often movies destroy books and the populisation of classical music is heartbreaking. How many kids know the galop from the William Tell overture from ads or TV shows or Movies? Ditto Peer Gynt, 1812 etc etc. Every year I do a concert for children, in the UK, where I tell the ORIGINAL stories and then illustrate them while the orchestra plays the music. I think it's helpful to have something to go on with music, but agree the imagination has to have room to enjoy. I've posted about all of this on my blogs... do have a look if you have time! And thanks for choosing my picture!

I could not believe that he thanked me for choosing his picture when he received nothing in return. Instead, I am the one who is so in his debt! Tears rushed to my eyes. He provided me a link to his blog called Katie's Picture Show. My affection grew further still when I read his bio:

Born in Stamford, Lincolnshire in 1964, James Mayhew grew up in the Dickensian village of Blundeston in Suffolk. After completing a Foundation Course at Lowestoft College, he studied illustration at Maidstone College of Art, graduating in 1987 with First Class honours. His first book for children was Katie's Pictures Show, (Orchard Books 1989) establishing the long running series about a child's adventures in an art gallery. Many of his books have a cultural agenda and James is passionate about introducing children to art, music, opera, ballet and traditional tales.

He has published over 60 books, and illustrated and written for many other colleagues including Philippa Pearce, Martin Waddell and Jackie Morris.

As a storyteller he has devised and performed a series of sell-out concerts for children with the de Havilland Philharmonic Orchestra, and has participated in prom performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

He has also created designs and illustrations for the Kirov Mariinsky Opera of St Petersburg and in 1994 won the New York Times award for one of the ten best illustrated books of the year (The Boy and The Cloth of Dreams).

He has made regular appearances at the National Galleries in Edinburgh and London and visits many schools, and arts and literary festivals.

James is a member of the Art Worker's Guild and the Society of Authors.

Here is a link to Mr. Mayhew's Amazon page.


With Gratitude

I just ordered two of Mr. Mayhew's books from Amazon. I'm hoping I'll be generous enough to donate them to my local library. If I find that I can't part with them, I will enjoy them myself and then pack them away with all the other beautiful children's books that I am saving for my future grandchildren!

I ordered The Kingfisher Book of Tales from Russia in a library edition. That leaves one in stock for some lucky person.

And I ordered a hardback copy of Ella Bella Ballerina and Cinderella.

Happy Easter

Holy Saturday

Good Friday

Annunciation Inspiration on Palm Sunday

On the Feast of the Annunciation last week, I re-installed my Mixpod player in my sidebar.   I've arranged the playlist to begin with several beautiful Marian pieces, and I wanted them to be playing while visitors read my post featuring a picture of Da Vinci's Annunciation.  However, I never got it finished due to some technical difficulties. I was disappointed, sure that my opportunity was past.   Then I found this post on The Blue Lantern, which talks about how the Annunciation is still the subject of great art and has lovely photos of some 20th-century pieces, one of them by a Swiss Jew!  So even though it's Palm Sunday, I've found a way to get back to where I left off on Thursday morning.  Deo gratias!

To Enthrall or Edify, That is the Question

This is my favorite illustration of Keats' poem, La Belle Dame Sans Merci. My heart goes out to the poor knight, held "in thrall" by the "faery song" of the beautiful lady without mercy.

Not just in the world of faery but in real life too, young ladies wield much power over young men, for good or ill. The way girls dress plays a big role in this determination. It is relatively easy to meet the minimum requirements of modesty with off-the-rack clothing. It is when young ladies try to go to the next level and wear clothes that edify others that dressing gets much more difficult. Yet the edifying part is worth striving for, because when she accomplishes it, it lifts young men up.


"To a great extent the level of any civilization is the level of its womanhood. When a man loves a woman, he has to become worthy of her. The higher her virtue, the more her character, the more devoted she is to truth, justice, goodness, the more a man has to aspire to be worthy of her. The history of civilization could actually be written in terms of the level of its women.”-- Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen


"A woman’s heart should be so lost in God that a man needs to seek Him in order to find her."--Author unknown


Credits: Both quotes were found on A Trail of Flowers.

Art: The Missal by John William Waterhouse

Behold Thy Mother, Knitting

"During the Fourteenth Century, paintings of the Madonna and Child began to introduce imaginative suggestions of the domestic background of the Holy Family. A few of them show Mary knitting."

So begins an excerpt from A History of Hand Knitting by Richard Rutt, that is featured in the spring edition of Knitting Traditions. This publication overflows with wonderful articles on historical knitting. I especially enjoyed the story of a 16th-century glove that was knitted by a princess and given as a token to her true love. But "A Mother's Care: The Knitting Madonnas" is my favorite. It is illustrated with a stunning photograph of Ambrogio Lorenzetti's "The Holy Family", taken by Christoph von Virag.

The copy below does not come near von Virag's quality in depicting the painting's rich color. It also does not show the top of the frame, which forms a gable over the Holy Family's home.

The Holy Family by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, c. 1345
Abegg-Stiftung Collection, Riggisberg, Switzerland
"Mary knitting in the round with four needles."

I longed to see all the examples that the author mentions. Here's what I found:


Madonna dell'Umiltà by Vitale degli Equi, c. 1353
Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan
"Mary is shown knitting a floral pattern in two colors, three or more needles."


Altarolo by Tommaso da Modena, before 1349
Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna
"Mary knits in the round on five needles."
According to the museum's English translation, the knitting Madonna is the third scene in the central area of the piece. See a detail photo here.

The Buxtehude Altar by Master Bertram of Minden c. 1400,
It's from the right wing of the altarpiece painted for the Benedictine nuns of Buxtehude.
"Mary is knitting a crimson shirt on four needles."

Seeing these Knitting Madonna paintings reminded me that Mary is not only our Mother, she is our model for domestic happiness as expressed so perfectly in this poem:

The Housewife's Prayer

by Blanche Mary Kelly

Lady, who with tender word
Didst keep the house of Christ the Lord,
Who didst set forth the bread and wine
Before the Living Wheat and Vine,
Reverently didst make the bed
Whereon was laid the Holy Head
That such a cruel pillow prest
For our behoof, on Calvary's crest;
Be beside me while I go
About my labors to and fro.
Speed the wheel and speed the loom,
Guide the needle and the broom,
Make my bread rise sweet and light,
Make my cheese come foamy white,
Yellow may my butter be
As cowslips blowing on the lea.
Homely though my tasks and small,
Be beside me at them all.
Then when I shall stand to face
Jesu in the judgment place,
To me thy gracious help afford,
Who are the Handmaid of the Lord.

Expressions of Our Catholic Faith

Princess Henrietta Maria of France, painted by Anthony Van Dyck, 1632

"Like his Continental masters, Rubens and Titian, and like the King's spouse, Henrietta Maria of France, van Dyck was a Catholic. Even if a Puritan could be a painter, never could he rejoice as does van Dyck in the play of light upon gorgeous fabrics, or portray costumes still more fanciful than they were in reality, like van Dyck's ballooning sleeves."--Bishop Richard Williamson, "Kings Insufficient"

I am fascinated by the difference between Catholicism and Puritanism, and the preceding quote by Bishop Williamson stayed on my mind after I read it, popping up at the oddest moments: "Even if a Puritan could be a painter. . ." It really brought home to me how our Faith shapes us.

The Art of Mexican Culture

In honor of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe tomorrow, I want to share this "guided tour" of artwork by Carmen Lomas Garza. Just click the arrow at the bottom right of the first guided tour picture to view the next one in the collection. I am especially fond of "Tamalada" (pictured above), showing a family making tamales together, a wonderful Christmastime tradition. I have never made them, but Lisa at Homesick Texan has this great how-to-make-tamales post.

I am always saddened by the way the Mexican culture is portrayed in America. I have come to admire it very much, especially from reading Elizabeth Borton de Trevino's My Heart Lies South and At Home in Mexico. I hope Ms. Garza's work helps dispel some of the misconceptions. Her artist's statement includes this information:

The Chicano Movement of the late 1960s inspired the dedication of my creativity to the depiction of special and everyday events in the lives of Mexican Americans based on my memories and experiences in South Texas. I saw the need to create images that would elicit recognition and appreciation among Mexican Americans, both adults and children, while at the same time serve as a source of education for others not familiar with our culture.

Julio Marsella

Did he study in Paris? Did he show incredible talent at a young age? Did he suffer poverty while waiting to be discovered?

These were the kinds of questions I had about Julio Marsella. He was one of the jewelry designers that I learned a little bit about in my recent costume jewelry study. His delicately beautiful necklace and earrings set made from pink Mayorka glass is one of my favorites. It is featured on page 297 of Collecting Costume Jewelry 101.

An article by Cheri Van Hoover answered most of my questions. It is full of juicy details like this: Mr. Marsella possessed a great tenor voice and played opera music in his shop in Providence, RI. Read it all HERE.

A Beautiful Book, A Lovely Hobby

Collecting Costume Jewelry 101, by Julia C. Carroll, is a great beginner book for costume jewelry collectors. It clearly explains how to start, build, and upgrade a costume jewelry collection. It is thorough, including chapters on how to repair and clean pieces, catalog a collection, and store and insure a collection. Packed with luscious color photos, all taken by the author's husband, the book is a real treat to look through, even if you never read a word.

I found the original advertisements which are sprinkled throughout the book very interesting as they clearly placed the jewelry within the wider culture of the time. One stood out especially. It is done primarily in shades of blue and features a touching mother-daughter scene. The text says, "Mothers of every age love Jewels by Trifari". The capital "T" in Trifari is done in gold and is a stylized cross. The rest of the Trifari letters are black.

Reading about the designers and the history of the jewelry companies provided a glimpse into a fascinating world I never even considered before. Many of the the companies did not survive the 1980s, when casual clothes became the rule for most Americans. Some, like Eisenberg, shifted their focus to take advantage of the Christmas jewelry market, where rhinestones are still popular.

Overall this is a great book. Anyone who has any interest in fashion ought to enjoy it, whether they want to collect costume jewelry or not.

Exaltation of the Holy Cross

This is a stained glass panel depicting St. Helena presenting the True Cross and nails to Emperor Constantine.
It was featured in the Sept. 2007, Vidimus, an online stained glass magazine. Read more about stained glass and St. Helena here.

Need a Graduation or Wedding Present?

Thanks to New Liturgical Movement for bringing this to my attention:

Catholic artist Daniel Mitsui is selling prints at reduced prices to pay hospital expenses related to his wife's difficult delivery of their first child. Here is a link to the page that features his Crucifixion print, which can be purchased for $135. Of special interest is the link he provides to a separate page that explains the rich symbolism contained in the work.

Tasteful Labels

When I was shopping for wine for opera night, the grocery store's wine manager assisted me. He is quite knowledgeable and does not snub inexpensive wines if they are comparable to the more pricey ones. From previous confession, he knows that my wine knowledge is minimal, so like a good professor, he tries to broaden my education whenever I enlist his help.

In this regard, he confided to me that he was shocked to discover that some people choose wine based on the label artwork.

"Really?" I asked incredulously. Then I shyly showed him a bottle that I had already stashed in my cart; I'm sure you have already guessed how I chose it. He approved the selection, and I happily tucked it back in amongst the arugula, kale, and romaine.

The label proved to be a good history and art research lesson for me. This is what I learned: It features a detail from a fresco painted by Pinturicchio for the Piccolomini Library in Siena. It is one of ten depicting significant events in the life of Pope Pius II that were commissioned in 1502 by Cardinal Francisco Piccolomini.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia: "These frescoes are fifteenth-century tableaux vivants in which people of all conditions are represented." In the one used on my wine bottle, Pope Pius II is introducing Emperor Frederick III to Princess Eleanor of Portugal. This site has pictures of all ten frescoes.

And the connection between the artwork and the wine? The description on the back of the bottle says that "This historic painting shares its Tuscan heritage with the wine of the region, Chianti Classico."

Beauty in the Kitchen

Emma and her friend Scarlett spent Friday afternoon baking chocolate meringue pies and making little apple tarts for the Keepers at Home picnic. Emma thought I should photograph the egg yolks and the meringue because they were so beautiful. You can't tell it from the photo, but she said that the meringue shimmered like mother of pearl.