La Liberté Guidant le Peuple - Eugène Delacroix

Happy Halloween!

All Hallows' Eve and the Harvest is Splendid!

Nice, tall pumpkins from the field and

 a market of color and shapes just waiting for faces.

Jan Lievens

Jan Lievens, a Dutch painter, the son of a tapestry worker, was born on October 24, 1607 in the city of Lieden, Dutch Republic.  He began a formal study of art at the age of eight and was apprenticed to Pieter Lastman two years later.  Lievens began working and making a living as an artist at the age of twelve.  This early display of talent made him a celebrity and brought him attention from influential political figures.

Self Portrait of Jan Lievens

From 1626 to 1631 Lievens collaborated with Rembrandt van Rijn, sharing models, subject matter, and possibly a studio.  Lievens painted several portraits of Rembrandt.  His work has often been confused with that of Rembrandt; it was only in the twentieth century that "The Feast of Esther," long attributed to Rembrandt, was finally determined to be the work of Lievens.

The Feast of Esther

Jan Lievens

North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC

Lievens subjects ranged from formal portraits and character studies to classical mythology, Biblical scenes, and landscapes.

Landscape with Hagar and the angel

Jan Lievens

Musée de Beaux-Arts, Rouen, France

At the age of 31 Lievens was invited to the British court.  Later he served as a court painter in The Hague and in Berlin.  He returned to Amsterdam in 1655 and died there in 1672.

The Blue Moon Rising

      The moon doesn't make its appearance above our neighbors' rooftop until about 35 minutes after moonrise.  
     Tonight's full moon fits the modern definition of a "blue moon."  That means it's the second full moon within a month.  An older way of defining a "blue moon" notes that it is the third full moon out of four in a season.
     Is it possible to have only only two full moons within three months?  Go to earthsky.org for questions and answers about blue moons and full moons.

Three Hundred and One Years Ago

 I could have announced a tricentennial if only I had started to read this book (for the ... tenth? time) in July of last year.  Instead, I note that today marks three hundred and one years since that fateful day in Thornton Wilder's literary imagination.

"On Friday noon, July the twentieth, 1714, the finest bridge in all Peru broke and precipitated five travelers into the gulf below. ... The bridge seemed to be among the things that last forever: it was unthinkable that it should break.  The moment a Peruvian heard of the accident he signed himself and made a mental calculation as to how recently he had crossed by it and how soon he had intended crossing by it again."

Thornton Wilder,  TheBridge of San Luis Rey

This well-thumbed paperback has a very early review of the book on its first page noting that "THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY has its setting in Peru nearly two centuries ago."

A Summertime Feast for the Eyes

Giovanna Garzoni was a successful artist of the early 17th century.  This is her 'Chinese Porcelain Bowl withCherries.'