Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day

Cupid the Honey Thief by Albrecht Dürer
1514

Once thievish Love the honeyed hives would rob,

When a bee stung him: soon he felt a throb

Through all his finger-tips, and, wild with pain,

Blew on his hands and stamped and jumped in vain.

To Aphroditè then he told his woe:

'How can a thing so tiny hurt one so?'

She smiled and said; 'Why thou'rt a tiny thing,

As is the bee; yet sorely thou canst sting.'


Theocritus, Idyll XIX

Monday, February 13, 2012

Images of Early Modern Life

It's About Time is a wonderful art history blog that clusters images and essays around social, cultural, and academic themes. The author often features posts on sixteenth century themes (Women--Reading and publishing books, Fashion--Furs for warmth, Families, Marketing and cooking, among others) as well as about specific women (Catherine de Medici, Elenora di Toledo). A recent post explored the Renaissance fashion of sporting zibellini, animal pelts with jeweled heads! The site is marvelous for the quality and quantity of the works reproduced. Start to browse and you'll quickly lose track of time.