1. The gargoyle at Giusti Garden in Verona
The dramatic cypress avenue leads to a cave full of stalactites and subsequently to Palazzo Giusti. Created at the end of the fifteenth century by a knight of the Venetian republic. Talk about taking a grotto to another level.
Discover the garden here.
2. “All I know is you put the hairy end of the plant in the garden”
3. This surrealist artist’s take on antique botanical drawings
By Beto Val – shop the artist’s work here.
4. Jacqueline Roque, Picasso’s final and most prominent muse wearing a necklace he made
Jacqueline Roque was Picasso’s final and most prominent muse. They met at Madoura Pottery Plant in Vallouris, where Picasso would end up producing much of his work. Jacqueline stayed with Picasso until his death in 1973 and was the most featured woman in his career, with more than 400 paintings dedicated to her image alone.
Picasso was infamous for his dubious views on women. He met Jacqueline while he was still with Françoise Gilot, the mother of his two children. He persuaded Jacqueline to go out with him by bringing a rose to her job every day, which — surprisingly — led to their eventual marriage in 1961. Picasso had several muses during his lifetime, most of them coming from romantic relations. His granddaughter, Marina Picasso, had a few things to say on the matter, in her memoir ‘Picasso: My Grandfather’.
Marina wrote: “He submitted them to his animal sexuality, tamed them, bewitched them, ingested them, and crushed them onto his canvas. After he had spent many nights extracting their essence, once they were bled dry, he would dispose of them.”
I found this artist recreating the necklace.
5. A whole documentary of Sophia Loren vibing around Rome in 1964
6. This 1950s inspired Secret Fridge
Made by Blockhouse Build (via).
7. This New Yorker cartoon had me chuckling
Found on The New Yorker.
8. Just a three-storey 7th Century Cave
In Maharashtra, India, the Ellora Caves is one of the largest rock-cut monastery-temple cave complexes in the world, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, featuring Buddhist, Hindu and Jain monuments, and artwork, dating from the 600-1000 CE period. There are over 100 caves at the site, all excavated from the basalt cliffs in the Charanandri Hills, 34 of which are open to public
Found on the British Library.
9. Why Ancient Ruins are on Time
10. France’s “Wine Hospitals”
In Strasbourg’s Hôpital civil, a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape would be prescribed for bloating, while a Côtes de Provence rosé was used to treat obesity.
In modern times, we’re generally taught to drink in moderation, but in France, which traces its viticulture back to the 5th Century BCE, ‘à votre santé’ – or ‘to your health’ – was a toast that still rang true until the turn of the 21st Century.
You can visit the Strasbourg hospital’s historic wine caves today. Full article found on the BBC.
11. French Cancan boots from the early 1900s
Found on the Metropolitan Museum’s collections (not on view).
12. The Queen of Bohemia (who danced nude on Montparnasse café tables)
Nina Hamnett (1890 – 1956) was a Welsh artist and writer, and an expert on sailors’ chanteys, who became known as the Queen of Bohemia. Flamboyantly unconventional, and openly bisexual, Hamnett once danced nude on a Montparnasse café table just for the “hell of it”. She drank heavily, was sexually promiscuous, and kept numerous lovers and close associations within the artistic community. Very quickly, she became a well-known bohemian personality throughout Paris and modelled for many artists. She went on to have a love affair with Brzeska, and later with Amedeo Modigliani and Roger Fry.
Found on Wikipedia.
