Sandro Botticelli (1445 – May 17, 1510) was an Italian painter of the early renaissance. Here, he paints Jesus’ mother, Mary, teaching the infant Jesus to read. Mary is teaching him from a Book of Hours. This is a Christian devotional book used to pray the canonical hours and was a popular illustrated manuscript in medieval times. I think this painting is exceptionally moving. It speaks of motherhood, learning, holiness and purity.
Symbolizing the Passion of Christ, the Christ Child is holding the three nails of the cross, and the crown of thorns. These are probably later additions, added to make the message more explicit. This is the conventional representation in the Christian iconography. In addition, the fruit in the bowl has an emblematic meaning. The cherries represent the blood of Christ or are an allusion to Paradise, plums indicate the tenderness between Mary and the Child, and the figs are characteristic of the Resurrection. Wikipedia
Mary looks down on her writing while the infant Jesus, distracted, clings to His mother, looking up at her adoringly. She is clothed her in her halo, clothed in what appears to be light or transparent silk. Mary is clothed in blue, which, historically, was a most expensive dye. Stones such as lapiz lazuli and sapphire, which were expensive, were used by Renaissance artists to depict the Virgin Mary. Blue and purple are expensive dyes and therefore used to show honour and reverence. This painting is replete with reverence and awe.
Supposedly inspired by Filippo Lippi’s Madonna and Child with an Angel, which is in the Hospital of the Innocents in Florence, this piece is one of extraordinary beauty. I like in particular the look Jesus is giving to his mother. Meeting some of Charlotte’s married friends recently, who have had kids recently, I understand the look which Botticelli has captured here. That love, respect and awe is something which all children have for their mother. In a similar way, this is the way that Catholics and many Christians look on Mary. This is the mother of our Lord who gave life to Him who granted us salvation. We ought to look up at her thus, and follow her example.
Another breathtaking masterpiece by the Renaissance master.
The concept of Hot 7 is simple enough. One enters through the front door, and sits down at a table with their spouse or friends. Then things get a bit more complicated.You have to pick a soup or two in the first instance, this is the broth which forms the basis of the hot pot. After this, you pick which fillings you want. These will arrive raw, and you cook them in the boiling broth, which sits in a gap in the table with a heat source coming from below it.
With such items on the menu as fresh brain and pigs intestines, it can be difficult to pick your fillings. However, there are some truly delicious items on offer. We ordered a plethora this time including tofu, fried dough sticks (to die for), pork belly, beef with egg and some dry noodles.
The broth we chose was the mushroom one and the tomato one. I love the concept of this restaurant. You can choose your own broth and cook it too. There is not much to be said in the way of reviewing, when one is the chef! However, I do recommend this place. It is very clean, interesting conceptually, central and has a wide variety of wonderful ingredients.
I came here with Charlotte on a date some months ago. We arrived on a Friday so we could not have any meat but the options were so varied that we were able to eat abundantly and yet somehow not emerge too full. An excellent option for a central dinner.
Welcome to this month’s edition of Three Favourites, where we discover three album covers which, in the words of Stephen Fry ‘have been intriguing me rather’. Perhaps I should have picked some spooky options but I suppose I see Halloween more as a day in the way of the Solemnity of All Saints, rather than an opportunity to get cavities.
David Bowie – Low (1977)
Bowie is a polymorph, both vampiric and elvish. But, if you have seen Labyrinth, he is also a tights model. In the cover of this awesome album, Mr David Bowie is taken en profile, wearing a rather informal coat / hoodie. He looks the picture of cool, with his coiffed hair and one blue eye showing. If you have not already, I highly recommend listening to this album.
Nick Drake – Made To Love Magic (2004)
This was a posthumous compilation album of some different versions of Mr Drake’s outtakes and some unreleased material. It features a previously unreleased solo acoustic version of “River Man”, dating from early 1968, and the song “Tow the Line”, a previously unheard song from Drake’s final session in July 1974. The cover itself is quite calm, with Drake standing tall at 1 metre 91, next to an unsuspecting normal height couple. There is something quite magical about this photograph.
Ozzy Osbourne – Patient Number 9 (2022)
Finally for this month, Ozzy’s latest. While the vocals now need a slight electronic tuning aid to get the best out of our Brummie hero, he needs no help in the cover art department. A provocative bat brooch, painted nails, cane, steampunk metal background and shock of white hair, this is an excellent and rather piercing cover, and quite spooky!
On this blog, I talk a lot about the more joyous mysteries and events of the faith. I am enamoured of the Virgin Mary and the magic which followed her through her birth, life, motherhood, dormition and assumption. Naturally I tend to shy away from the less pleasant aspects of the faith, physically. On Tuesdays and Fridays we pray the sorrowful mysteries of the Holy Rosary. These comprise the agony in the garden of Gethsemane, the scourging at the pillar, the crowning of thorns, the carrying of the cross and the crucifixion. Meditating on these helps us to come closer to Christ’s suffering and enable us to recognise what he has truly suffered for our sake. This deeply affecting piece of art by da Messina considers the second sorrowful mystery – the scourging at the pillar or the flagellation of Christ. Christ is portrayed here in the middle of pain, his suffering at the hands of his captors had just begun. The expression on his face is deeply human.
I am continually amazed by the quality of Christian art produced in the Middle Ages. This painting was rendered in 1476-78. Da Messina has payed extraordinary attention to the details in the painting. He has captured the skin tone, rope twine and shadow, sweaty hair, prickling thorns, and the first drops of blood from Christ’s head. He has even added in crystal clear tears. Christ’s eyes are turned upwards, presumably meant to echo his upcoming final words “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” found in both Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34. The pain and suffering in this moment is almost unbearable. The sorrowful mysteries help us to reflect on what Christ undertook, knowingly, for the defeat of death and salvation of the world.
What shall I render the Lord for all his bounty to me?” Psalm 116
God did not send his only son to this Earth to do away with suffering, but to do away with death. In Le Heurtoir, Paul Claudel wrote: “God did not come to do away with suffering; He did not even come to explain it. He came to fill it with His presence.”. God joins Jesus in his suffering. The mystery of Christ’s suffering, which is engraved onto his body, is one which should fill us with wonder. The weight of this suffering is never clearer than when physically represented in works such as this one.
George Michael’s gorgeous album Listen Without Prejudice turns 32 this month. It is his second solo album after leaving Wham! in 1986, at the height of the band’s success. Michael then went on to release Faith, an exquisite album which he wrote the music and lyrics for. Michael had some big expectations for his second solo venture and he did not disappoint. The second album could not be more different from the first.
In late October 1987, one short year after Michael decided to leave Wham! and all its global success, the singer’s debut album Faith made its way into the world. Proving that he was no one-hit wonder dependent on the success of a duo, Michael wrote and composed all of Faith’s tracks, proving that he was so much more than just the sex symbol that he had become synonymous with. Faith ended up spending twelve weeks at number one and went on to sell a whopping twenty-five million copies globally. Any shackles that Michael needed to shake from his “teenybopper group” had well and truly been smashed and the newfound solo incarnation that Michael had dreamed about since childhood had finally arrived. Albumism
The album opens with Praying For Time, a timeless (ho ho) classic in my view. It examines social injustices and how we have been conditioned by society into not being caring for one another. I imagine Michael is talking about the global receptions to the AIDS crisis. The whole of the album is more sombre than its predecessor and deals with a number of serious issues. George Michael did not come out as gay until 1998, so he could not be explicit about the meaning behind some of these tracks, but they are evident to us now with modern ears.
Freedom ’90 is a splendid punchy pop track which was designed to appeal to his straight female fan base. In the music video, we see a collection of the world’s most famous supermodels at the time, including Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz, Christy Turlington and Cindy Crawford lip syncing to his lyrics. Freedom itself is perhaps the resounding theme of the album.
…it was abundantly clear that this album was about escaping a reality that had been created both by the singer himself and those around him whose vested interest lied more in the monetary side of things rather than the creative. Ibidem.
“Freedom!,” a house-inflected dance number in which Michael, again in high dudgeon but chipper about it, declared war on MTV and the system that forced him to look devastating in a leather jacket and stubble. Not giving a damn, MTV played the hell out of the video anyway—how could they not? The concept was novel: the besieged superstar out of sight, in his place a menagerie of supermodels. Disgusted with ubiquity, tired of his face, George Michael wanted to vanish. Pitchfork
Cowboys and Angels is a song about a love triangle of unrequited affection. It is influenced by Michael’s obsession with Stan Getz. The influence of this track is explored at length in Older, Michael’s 1996 offering.
Listen Without Prejudice, Vol.1 was the follow-up that Faith demanded; in this new incarnation, it’s a miscellany unruffled by notions of coherence, an attempt to make art out of George Michael’s quarrels with himself. Never again would these quarrels work to such bounteous ends. Pitchfork
Michael wrote, in Freedom 90′ ‘today the way I play the game is not the same’. The rest of this album is a testament to this. This is an album of honesty, introspection and candour on a level we have not yet seen from the artist. He is done with pop for pop’s sake and seeks to re-invent himself as a serious artist who does not pander to his record executives’ whims. He seeks to go beyond chart pop and give his listeners something special which, he hopes, they might receive without prejudice.
Listen Without Prejudice Vol.1 was—and remains—an honest appraisal about the tradeoffs inherent within fame, and the sadness and isolation it can spawn. Thirty years later and with so many people clamoring for attention via social media, this album might just be what the doctor ordered for those desperate to be validated by the invisible “friend.” Albumism
Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré completed this oeuvre in 1868. He was best known for his wood engravings, of which he completed 241 depicting scenes of the Bible. The below is either a painting or a wooden engraving which has been coloured. It depicts Christ’s dominion over pagan gods. I was inspired by the Apostle’s Creed to search for depictions of Christ in Hell, where He went after dying on the cross to free the sinners who were condemned to Hell prior to His life on Earth. This is and event Catholics profess in the shorter creed each day before praying the rosary. I have included a portion of the Apostle’s Creed below (emphasis added):
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
Two realms are shown in a dramatic scene. Christ has come to a place almost resembling Hell (complete with red Zeus and Satan flying) to exert His dominion over them. The kingdom of Heaven is the only kingdom which we should aspire to enter. This scene shows this belief in action: Christ has come down with a host of angels to cast away previous gods and those which were worshipped in antiquity. I like in particular the crown in the centre of the lower portion of the work, which is a further reinforcement of Christ’s dominion and primacy.
I found a very useful version of this on Reddit which is labelled:
You can almost hear the sound of Christ appearing with the host, a great boom! As Cardinal Sarah writes in The Power of Silence, “the voice of God resounded in the realm of death. The unimaginable occurred, namely, Love penetrated “hell””. While not the same event, the reflection is the same. Believing in Catholicism is opening oneself to love. Anything else is just noise. Christ is very much the truth and He loves us in a way that we cannot possibly comprehend. So much so that God sent Christ to liberate us from our sinful nature and to set an example for us. I can say without hesitation that I have never been happier than when attempting to follow HIs example.
I felt the same dramatic awakening as depicted in this work when truly opening myself us to the Church.
