David Jones, artist and poet (1895-1974) begins his PREFACE TO THE ANATHEMATA :

'I have made a heap of all that I could find.' (1) So wrote Nennius, or whoever composed the introductory matter to Historia Brittonum. He speaks of an 'inward wound' which was caused by the fear that certain things dear to him 'should be like smoke dissipated'. Further, he says, 'not trusting my own learning, which is none at all, but partly from writings and monuments of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the Romans and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Hieronymous, Prosper, Eusebius and from the histories of the Scots and Saxons although our enemies . . . I have lispingly put together this . . . about past transactions, that [this material] might not be trodden under foot'. (2)

(1) The actual words are coacervavi omne quod inveni, and occur in Prologue 2 to the Historia.
(2) Quoted from the translation of Prologue 1. See The Works of Gildas and Nennius, J.A.Giles, London 1841.


08 August 2016

Las Kesminas

            
Another Op'nin', Another Show
from Kiss Me, Kate (1948)
by Cole Porter
             
Another op'nin', another Show Another op'nin', another show In Philly, Boston or Baltimoe, A chance for stagefolks to say "hello" Another op'nin', another show. Another job that you hope, at last, Will make your future forget your past...
click image to enlarge  
 Las Meninas by Diego Velázquezi, 1656, Museo del Prado, Madrid.
         
Another verso another show :
mysterious future portrait revealed         
    
Following the recent clear exposure of an earlier portrait of a woman beneath the present surface of Degas' Portrait de femme (c.1876–80), scientists have again used synchroTAR imaging to revealed another such. In so doing, they have added a further layer of intrigue to one of the world's most famous Theatre of the Actors of Regard tableau, Las Meninas, painted by Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez in 1656. 

It now appears that Velázquez has playfully 'concealed in plain sight' a mystery future portrait painted with permanent pigments craftily mixed under and over and through the fugitive pigments of his own portrait.
                 

courtesy SynchroTAR Imaging  
The future portrait is not yet visible to the unaided eye as the fugitive pigments used by Velázquez are not expected to disappear for another 5-600 years.
           
Las Meninas is usually translated as The Ladies-in-Waiting. In his writings about this complex work, Velázquez refers to the then immediate project as Las Meninas whereas when he mentions it in the future tense it is as Las Kesminas - a differentiation that has long puzzled art historians. Who or what is or will be The Kesminas?
          

courtesy SynchroTAR Imaging  
 detail
 A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/
 someone looks at something...
         
 LOGOS/HA HA