The Tapestries
"The seven individual hangings known as the Unicorn Tapestries are among the most beautiful and delicately crafted artworks from the Middle Ages. Cautiously woven in the finest wool and silk, with silver and gilded threads, the Tapestries continue to whisper the story of the hunt for the elusive unicorn five hundred and thirteen years after they were created." The tour guide paused. He was well aware that only a select few in the large crowd in front of him were paying attention to what he was saying. Sighing, he gave up and began to wait until it was time for the group to proceed to the next exhibition. Of the two million artworks in the Metropolitan Museum of New York, he found this collection to be the most insipid.
She didn't. Standing timidly in the middle of the crowded gallery, her gaze was bold. The warm studio lights of the museum ignited hidden golden threads in the tapestries, and they beckoned her forward - an invitation to explore their silken fibres and listen to their silent story. She was eager. Her fingers found their way to the coppery crucifix hanging between her collarbones like a silent watcher,
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She knew something that she had suppressed and ruthlessly ignored for a large portion of her life was beginning to resurface, irritated and angered by the penetrating roots of the pomegranate tree. Something was digging its way up into her consciousness with malicious intent. It was now becoming evident that she had ignored the serpents in the tapestries. She had turned a blind eye to the death flowers and stinging nettles in the shadows, and the dangers lurking in the dark forest beyond her garden fence were an imminent threat to the rose bushes she had spent such a long time nurturing. The pomegranate tree was blooming now, with ripe red fruits and fragrant sanguine flowers, and it took only the drop of a petal to light the fuse she had been so carefully
In “Sacrality and Aura in the Museum: Mute Objects and Articulate Space,” Joan R. Branham argues about the experiences art viewers have in museums based on their surroundings. Her points include how a person is to completely understand and feel a ritual object if it is taken out of its natural context or how someone is able to fully appreciate of work of art if they can’t see it where it truly belongs.
It was a spring afternoon in West Florida. Janie had spent most of the day under a blossoming pear tree in the back-yard. She had been spending every minute that she could steal from her chores under that tree for the last three days. That was to say, ever since the first tiny bloom had opened. It had called her to come and gaze on a mystery. From barren brown stems to glistening leaf-buds; from the leaf-buds to snowy virginity of bloom. It stirred her tremendously. How? Why? It was like a flute song forgotten in another existence and remembered again.
The Unicorn Tapestries sometimes appear to be paintings when they are seen from a distance and even when they are seen in photographs. They are known for their charm, richness of...
With the different styles of artists’ works planned to be showcased in this exhibition I hope viewers will be able to see what sorts of artworks were being done during the Renaissance that do not consist of works done by Michelangelo, da Vinci, Donatello, or Raphael. With a topic not usually covered when studying about Renaissance artist, I hope viewers will be able to not only learn about the interesting stories of famous Martyrdoms, but also learn about some of the lesser known Renaissance artists and their styles. Paintings of angles and landscapes from the Renaissance may look pretty but with these different and shocking pieces I hope to create an exhibition that will not soon fade away from visitor’s memories after they leave the National Gallery.
When one arrives in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, he or she may be surprised, as I was, by its grand entrance. Upon entering this large pillared building, one is almost overwhelmed by the immense collection. Although very extensive, the museum undoubtedly concentrates on the grouping and placement of paintings and sculptures within the building. Through chronological and thematic paths, the museum takes the viewer through the major contributors to the advancement of art, from around the world. Separated by only a marble floor, the room containing Salomon Van Ruisdael’s Landscape with Cattle and an Inn, differs greatly from that of Claude Monet’s, Railroad Bridge at Argenteuil. These two paintings, when surrounded by the art of their contemporaries, create an environment for the viewer that parallels their original context.
I could hear the car engines roaring to life, horns honk above me. Tiny footsteps echo throughout the tunnel as I leant up against a brick wall. The tunnel seemed to carry on forever like there was no ending. Yellow dimmed lights lead through the path of the tunnel. I tried to control my breathing which got heavier by the second.
The Creature That Opened My Eyes Sympathy, anger, hate, and empathy, these are just a few of the emotions that came over me while getting to know and trying to understand the creature created by victor frankenstein in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. For the first time I became completely enthralled in a novel and learned to appreciate literature not only for the great stories they tell but also for the affect it could have on someones life as cliché as that might sound, if that weren’t enough it also gave me a greater appreciation and understanding of the idiom “never judge a book by its cover.” As a pimply faced, insecure, loner, and at most times self absorbed sophomore in high school I was never one to put anytime or focus when it came time
As medieval historian William Tyler puts it: “Magnificent as decoration, tapestries reflected the taste and preference in the subject matter of the most wealthy and powerful elements in the land. In turn they influenced the ideas and values of those who lived among them and saw them day after day.” The Unicorn Tapestries in Metropolitan Museum in New York are finest artworks of late middle ages. With the liveliness of the figures, individualization of faces and the texture of costumes, and the refined fauna, it is considered one of the best among remaining tapestries from fifteenth to sixteenth centuries.
According to the tour guide, during the Middle Ages, the tapestry industry flourished and approximately one-third of the population in Brussels participated in this business. Individuals used tapestries to demonstrate their wealth and prestige. The tapestries on display depict various scenes of a unicorn. One tapestry illustrates the unicorn purifying the drinking water, which has been poisoned by a snake, with his horn. In another tapestry, several men with spears surround the unicorn and attempt to attack it. A virgin woman tamed the unicorn in a different tapestry. A further tapestry shows the unicorn constrained by a chain and a fence surrounded by wild orchids and a pomegranate tree to indicate the animal’s tameness. The guide suggested that this themes of these tapestries are marriage, procreation, righteous, and tameness. Moreover, the guide suggested that these tapestries and the unicorn frequently symbolize Christ. Overall, I found this exhibit the most fascinating because the historical significance of unicorns and their horns is not widely
He said: “Yes, He’s got a father, but you can’t never find him these days. He used to lay drunk with the hogs in the tanyard, but he hain’t been seen in these parts for a year or more.” (Ben Rogers/Ch 2/Huckleberry Finn) It is known by the town that Finn's father is no father figure, as such Finn was never really brought up to know right from wrong. Yet despite this, he still understands what is fair and grows a great sense of morality.
There are three statues in the room, each of the larger points pointing at one of them. The first one is a statue of a man, Arâr, made of marble with touches and highlights of gold. He’s wearing a robe that exposes only his midriff, and all the delicate folds carved into the rock are topped with gold where it comes to a point, which forms the look of a delicate gold chain encasing him. I step towards him, to see the closer details of his face, and slide my hand against the wall which is so polished it feels like velvet. The face is carved with such intricate details it seems he could take a breath at any moment, and I wouldn’t be surprised.
As the sun slowly settled, darkness began to overcome the Earth. Sickness—had come. The sickness slowly but readily crept into each home. It was the Midnight Theft. The destructive plague stole during midnight—it stole lives. Deep in the heart of Tukenasville, people were dying, and the whole country was beginning to perish. The flowers withered as they bloomed. The mountain peaks crumbled under steer weight. Animals fled to holes to live out the final moments of their life. People were distraught, and chaos was invading every planet in the macrocosm. People called me Nikolaou Gonfalon. I was the last of the Warriors of Phos. Long ago, the Sisters of Moiré ordained my doomed fate. I tried to bargain with them to change it, but in the end, I captured them and locked them up in a repository on a cliff. I was to lead the expedition to find the cure for the Midnight Theft. That, however, was not the reason why I would go on this journey. My best friend, Tolem, was dying of a rare illness called Takigifeay. It was causing the slow built up of lactic acid on his bones. I knew that death would come to him soon. Legend spoke about a necklace that can bring life to anyone or thing. It was said to have been belonged to an Oceanian, one of the water people. The Lost Jade Necklace of Serenity was what it was called, and it could bring healing to the Earth. Nonetheless, it could be the obliteration of mankind, also. I began to pack since my journey was to start at that moment.
Built at the edge of an enormous island, the Kingdom of Veritas was a pure display of wonder and glory matched by the backdrop of clear blue skies and a sun that always shined brightly during the day without ever letting a single cloud conceal it. Even when it rained or snowed in the winter, the snowflakes melted in one's mouth and the rain felt cool and soothing. Lovely buildings both high and low decorated the inside of the city along with several markets selling all kinds of foods, clothes, and jewelry. Stones were what most of the buildings in this city were made of. Wood was not used when building homes for fear of an accidental fire starting and consuming the city in a matter of minutes.
When I stepped into the museum I had no idea what to expect. I hadn’t read about it before or given much thought to it. All I knew was the location and that friends I cherish cherished going there. I went with an open mind and an ignorant innocence.
The artists engagingly bring into focus and question what a museum is and what its role is in contemporary society. The hovering, glowing statements light up the surrounding walls and ask us to contemplate the ways in which museums function to tell our stories. They ask us to think about the role of the museum in the production and storage of cultural and personal knowledge, how it acts to document and reflect social changes and how, as an institutional site, it mediates the relationship between personal and collective memories.