The Shah-Nama is an epic poem from Persia written over a thousand years ago and was the subject of my dissertation, submitted today for the University of Warwick – Yippee. So back to other exhibitions now. The Book of Kings, the literal translation of Shah-Nama which, traces the line of Persian rulers from the beginning of…
Category: Comment
Artlords – Afghanistan
Art galleries are still out of bounds to me at the moment so I thought a little trip into the news would be enjoyable. Not coronavirus of course, or Huawei but deeper down in the stories. I came across Artlords, which is a play on words commonly attributable to Afghanistan and Kabul; warlords or druglords….
Botticelli – Pentecost
Pentecost – it seems so strange celebrating Pentecost and the giving of the Holy Spirit with all our churches closed. Anyway we enjoyed a beautiful service filmed in our local church of St Mary Magdalene, in Adlestrop, complete with a special appearance from Buster the Adlestrop cat. It was a triumph for those who produced…
L. S. Lowry. VE Day
Hope you are having a street party to celebrate VE Day 75. We have set up ours on our own (boo hoo) and hope to miss the thunderstorms forecast later. Thousands of ant-like people are seen thronging the streets of this city to celebrate the end of the Second World War in Europe. The industrial…
Easter Day – St Giles Oxford
Welcome everyone to a very sunny Easter in lockdown. I thought a modern painting might be appropriate. I have always recommended to people to see The Menorah if they are visiting Oxford. Roger Wagner, like Giotto seven hundred years earlier, chose to represent this most Christian of images using contemporary language. The cooling towers, which…