Tag Archives: lawrence Alma-Tadema

the opportunist

It was early evening. The sun had just set after the assassination of Pertinex. Rome was at dinner. In the imperial courtyard a body lay without a head. The head of the emperor was a few hundred yards outside the … Continue reading

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the kids are alright?

The spiritual in art. Is it important? Is innovation and form enough? Traditional images had outworn their time, but did it mean that a maturing spiritualsm had to be discarded as well? That an invisible, transformative energy had to be … Continue reading

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we need the pillows : sleeping on “waning skepticism”

From the mouth of Harold Bloom. From his quill to god’s scribe. He represents the archetype of the Gnostic personality. If there is a gnostic personality disorder Bloom is a carrier, transmitter and is chronically infected. Or as he puts … Continue reading

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moses: the comic within the cosmic

Theologians as well as philosophers, have long analyzed  Truth and Goodness. Theology though,  unlike philosophy, has neglected serious scrutiny of the study of Beauty and Aesthetics, and has grappled, disconcertingly, with humor. The biblical figure of Moses cuts across the … Continue reading

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dionysus: an ecstatic death with a directed soul

So now, as always, Dionysus shows himself in his traditional forms- alluring,pansexual; madness reigns, an urge to dance comes over people, a trance inducing beat can be heard from the mountains, and the wine is uncorked. But if Dionysus is … Continue reading

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free fall: pax americana?

The idea of decadence is hardly novel, in fact it has been carry on luggage since expulsion from the Garden. But what exactly constitutes decadence, and whether we are, in our time suffering its effects is not so easy to … Continue reading

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WHO SPIKED THE PUNCH

When discussing the fall of Rome, there is a desire to latch onto the shortest, the most accessible, and the most direct and dramatic answer to the question lurking in many minds: mind: what does it actually mean for a … Continue reading

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SCHOOLBOY IN VICARIOUS DISGRACE

”His brief stint at the Blacking Factory haunted him all of his life — he spoke of it only to his wife and to his closest friend, John Forster — but the dark secret became a source both of creative … Continue reading

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