Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • Catch of the Week 23: Fornasetti

    Fornasetti,Piero (1913-1988), ‘With horns’, no 263 in the series ‘Tema e Variazioni’, porcelain, d. 26 cm. This plate is made by Piero Fornasetti with the iconic female face he used in over 500 variations. It depicts the soprano Lina Cavalieri, a face he found in a 19th-century magazine. She wears horns, so who is she.…

  • Catch of the Week on Tour: Prague

    In Prague I did not meet a sphinx sculpture in the street. But I did notice a huge announcement for the exhibition of the Belgium Symbolist Jean Delville in the City Gallery and recognized the sphinx right away. It actually depicted a poster that Delville made in 1892, to promote the ‘Salon pour l’art’in Brussels.…

  • Catch of the Week on Tour: Weimar 2 HAAB

    In the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek I had the opportunity to see a sketch of Johann Heinrich Meyer (1760-1832): for my research on the sphinx, I found three sketches of Oedipus and the Sphinx he made. But when I arrived, I was not only warmly welcomed, there were 13 sketches available to research, to my…

  • Catch of the Week on Tour: Weimar

    Klauer, Martin Gottlieb 1(1742-1801)   ‘Sphinxgrotte’ (sphinx cave) 1786, sandstone in travetin cave architecture, Park an der Ilm, Weimar (replica, original in the Roman House) foto: Klaas Herman Knol A sphinx in a grotto. It is part of the eighteenth-century tradition in Weimar where a park of 48 hectare was realized. In order to give a…

  • Catch of the Week 22: Battle of the Pyramids

    Mastroianni, Domenico (1876-1962), ‘Bataille des Pyramides’ (Battle of the Pyramids) 1798, postcard after a clay relief It is 21 July 1789. After having landed in Egypt, Napoleon Bonaparte headed south with his army. During a glooming sunrise, they met the silhouettes of the pyramids. It was nice and beautiful, but less nice was the, by…

  • Catch of the Week 21: Summer parasol / Summer umbrella

      Hungarian, ‘Rohitsi  Tempelforras’ 1900-1910, chromo litho on card board (advert card) 12,8 x 6,1 cm. It is summer. It is holiday. But where this antique tourist setteled under a red parasol, we currently have to hide under an umbrella. Egyptian weather versus Dutch weather. But the drink is equally enjoyed. Cheers!

  • Catch of the Week on Tour: Bath

    Above the ‘King’s and Queen’s Bath I found them. A pair of sphinxes in the tympan:  two females lay flat on the belly with upraised wings and a poshly curled tail. These features reveal its 18th century origin (in this case the Georgian era: 1714–1837), in which the mythical creature evoked ancient times, in this case the…

  • Catch of the Week 20: A la science

    Bottee, Louis Alexandre (1852-1941), ‘Dux et lux’ verso ‘A la science’ ca. 1900, bronze medal, d. 5 cm. http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=950062&partId=1

  • Catch of the Week 18: Sophia Loren between protecting sphinx paws

    UP, ‘Wow! Said the sphinx’ 23 oktober 1957 In 1953 (published in 1957), Sophia Loren is seated between two sphinx claws, the year she plays the starring role in ‘Two Nights with Cleopatra’, and after her breakthrough as the pharaonic Aïda. The sphinx as a throne is closely related to other feline-themed thrones, the earliest…

  • Catch of the Week 17: Male desert

    ‘Discover Camel Lights satisfaction’ voor Camel Cigarettes november 1979 magazine print ad, 27,5 x 20,5 cm. Field & Stream magazine.p.115. Opposing the female ‘desert dry’, the male can also be related to the desert. Smoking. It is after all a camel- low tar- the animal can be seen outlined against the flaming sky on the…

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