JJ Merelo

Here’s the description in the database basedatospatrimonio.ugr.es/objeto-artis... Apparently it’s not attributed to Bocanegra, but to someone in his circle. But it was effectively restored by the UGR.

The putti escort is amazingly dynamic, and there’s even a wild landscape in the background. I’m not totally sure about this, but it was probably restored and set in place by the great people of Heritage UGR, who are doing a amazing job cataloguing, restoring and conserving all the great stuff.

Immaculate Conceptions and Assumptions were all the rage, and iconography is remarkably similar, except Assumptions seem to be flying upwards and the Virgin does not look like an adolescent, but a mature woman. With deft strokes and adding to her beauty, Bocanegra pulls it off pretty well here.

Pedro Atanasio Bocanegra is one of the Baroque painters based in Granada; like Tintoretto in Venice, you can find one of his works in almost every church… And also in the Hospital Real, the main administrative building of the University of Granada, a remarkable Gothic-Renaissance civil building

"Breaking Off" by Remedios Varo features a solitary figure in flowing robes descending a staircase, surrounded by architectural elements and ethereal, bird-like forms. The artwork reflects Varo's signature style, characterized by mystical themes and dreamlike landscapes, capturing the surreal exploration of individuality and transcendence.

Breaking off
https://botfrens.com/collections/69/contents/19441

What we see in this style is a shallow superposition of Renaissance elements over earlier Gothic structures: in this case we see a round arch, a frieze which look classical… but also a variety of decoration, like the niches over the frieze, and the crosses corresponding to a religious order.

Long story short, historiography in Spain is lately getting rid of anything that is nationalist. Be that as it may, this church of the Assumption in Oropesa, in the province of Toledo boasts one of the most characteristic elements of this period: the baluster column, which look like chandeliers.

One of the classes I’m taking this year is called Art of the Modern Age in Spain, meaning basically from late Gothic to late Baroque; and in the transition from Gothic to Renaissance there’s a style that can be called (or not) Plateresco (silversmith-like) that is quintessentially (or not) Spanish.

As a matter of fact, the legend says that it was Philip IV himself who drew it after Velázquez died. Velázquez fought all his life for entering nobility through the Santiago order… and there’s a long and very Spanish story about why it took so long and how he pulled it off.

Dressed as a pilgrim, with the Stetson and the walking stick, it’s probably a Baroque representation, just as the frame he’s in, although the church was built much earlier, at least 100 years before. When was this portal built? You only need to look at the lintel over the saint… upside down: 1602

Santiago, Saint James is, of course, a nationalist symbol of the fight against the invader “Santiago y cierra España” (Saint James and shut Spain down, I know, makes no sense) was the war cry in the civil war against the Muslims, and it’s often represented riding a horse with a sword. Not here…

Not only is Santiago in the niche over the portal, but there is also the mark of the military order of Santiago in the frieze over it. You might remember the sign for seeing in the breast of Velázquez in Las Meninas; after Granada was taken it was essentially a mark of nobility.

The church of Santiago is one of the many shuttered historic buildings we have in Granada. Many reasons why this happens, but the main one is the “Desamortización”, a law in the early 19th century that took property from the church and religious orders and either put it up for sale or took it.

Saint Michael’s message of good vs. evil resonated with Counterreform as well as with the times when this church was built, soon after James I the Conqueror, king of Aragon, got the island back from the Muslims. The fresco hammers it home, with Saint Michael fighting a horde of devils with red fuzz

Palma of Majorca is a beautiful place even if you don’t intend to sunbathe or go on a bender. This Saint Michael church is mostly Gothic, but Majorca kept being a wealthy trading port well into the Modern Age, well able to fund Baroque frescoes like this one by Jaume Morey, a mostly unknown artist

Substituting mosques for churches, occupying the same estate, happened all over Spain, but there were differences on the advocation of the church. While in Andalucía and Granada the Incarnation was very common, Majorca and many other territories opted for Saint Michael, represented in this fresco

The Jesuits were expelled from Spain in the 18th century, so it’s no longer hosting them. This coat of arms, places just under the arch, could be of whoever funded it. The crown indicates it might be a duke. Anyway, Jesuits didn’t really have trouble to find a grant to start their churches.

Although the portal is quite classical, it uses columns for decoration and as a support of the pinnacles, not in any meaningful, structural way. It’s also the support for the altar-like decoration on top, covered by a segmental arch and an oculus. The pilasters and embedded arches are pure Baroque

This church was originally designated Saint Theodemir, who happened to be the saint patron of the city of Carmona, in Seville, where its placed. It was built (although not completely, see the tower) by the Jesuits, which places it squarely in the Baroque style.

Portrait of a doge, c. 1460, by Gentile Bellini. Today is his day.

Gift of the artist's family

Janet Sobel, Milky Way, 1945
https://botfrens.com/collections/14377/contents/1136043

Romans didn’t know about pointed arches, so it’s clear that this version is more modern, possibly from the Middle Ages. But there was a bridge during the Roman Empire; the foundations might still be there. It was in the route from Linares to Guadix, important cities back then, and crossed the Betis

This bridge over the river Guadalquivir, although close to its source, is called “La Puente Vieja”, the (female) Old Bridge. No bridge is female in Spain; apparently some local dialects used the female for them; maybe this area of Úbeda and Jódar was one of those.

I haven’t shown too many bridges here, if at all, but after all the rain of these past weeks, people are speaking all over again about them; over all, how “Roman” bridges are able to stand flows that occur once every hundred years. Well, most don’t, the ones we see do… Also, they’re not Roman

Trains delayed and cancelled after wall collapses onto stretch of railway line Lines are closed while repair work is carried out

Settle-Carlisle:
Trains delayed and cancelled after wall collapses onto stretch of railway line in Cumbria
Lines are closed while repair work is carried out
www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news...

Fourteen years ago today, on February 22, 2012, the Assad regime assassinated American journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Rémi Ochlik in a targeted attack in Homs, Syria.

At the time, they had been working to share the stories of Syrian civilians living under siege in Homs.

A futuristic illustration of a city built upwards, with buildings on top of buildings, and a railroad wrapping around it all.

A Victorian's vision of the future - by Grant E. Hamilton for Judge Magazine in 1895. What will people say of our predictions in 100+ years?

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York The Hilla Rebay Collection

Eiffel Tower by Robert Delaunay, 1926
https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137492

Is that going to be enough to support opposition within Iran? Or, as usual, the US will just be playing with its toys not giving a damn about the actual oppressed people on the ground?

Fried or grilled?