Rembrandt
Philosopher In Meditation, 1632.
Scanned from Paintings In The Louvre by Lawrence Gowling
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Not that this reminds me of anybody in my house.
Wednesday, March 9, 2005
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The thumbnail is almost more compelling than the full image, where the shape of the stair is about all one reads, giving a hint of syllogism to his cogitations with its as-above-so-below form.
The preceding day’s A&J was good too, with the volcano-through-the-roof when Dad opened the mail.
A tree came down back of the labyrinth last night (another creekside pine with too-shallow roots), but another pine snapped in half and crushed the neighbor’s backyard shed about 8:30 — made a hell of a noise……….
Comment by lost in thought — March 9, 2005 @ 8:28 am
That Zits cartoon reminds me that someday soon, we may blow our corks too when Katie’s Savilla cell phone bill comes due. We only know about her calls to us (which, of course we love), but is she calling all her friends in the US, too? Nah. She wouldn’t, would she?
Does lost.in.thought have any pictures of that fallen tree? (We bloggers love pictures of natural destruction.)
Comment by rakkity — March 9, 2005 @ 9:50 am
As lost.in.thought noted, the thumbnail of the Gowling painting does indeed, make some things more evident than the enlargement.
What I see at first glance is a spiral vortex, running from the floor, up the staircase, across the ceiling, and down the window, and up through the philosopher, ending with his head — the convergence point of his meditations. Is this what Gowling intended?
Comment by rakkity — March 9, 2005 @ 12:03 pm
Now there’s a thought — taking a picture…… Why didn’t I think of that? Honestly, the downed trees didn’t look like much in the morning light — we were just glad to know the source of the gigantic crashings in the night. But with a destroyed shed and all…… If I get something worthy, I’ll post it. Assuming I can remember how to use a camera……….
Comment by lost my thought — March 9, 2005 @ 12:39 pm
What I see is one cool painting, but I have to apologize for the confusion. Gowing is the art historian who selected more than 800 European masterpieces for inclusion in this art book ( a birthday gift from Ginger to Diane) – Paintings in the Louvre. The Philosopher in Meditation is indeed by Rembrandt.
Now, about that crushed shed… .
Comment by michael — March 10, 2005 @ 6:22 am
No confusion here, though I hadn’t pegged it as Rembrandt Harmenszoon von Rijn, either. It’s got the chracteristic identifiable-constrained-light-source and inky-shadow things going on, for sure, but the bricks & boards feel sketchy and tentative to me, almost cartoony. Early Rembrandt?
Comment by unconfused — March 10, 2005 @ 8:05 am