Totems in The British Museum

After he'd basked in the presence of a genuine Easter Island moai, Mr. Hunter noticed some more tiki-ish figures in the corner, including this totem, which may be of Inuit origin.

No Mr.  Hunter in this photo,
but we admired this housepost from Papua New Guinea.

Room 24

The British Museum

London, England

September 2011

Mr. Hunter and Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise, Part One

The Baptistery in Florence is home to Lorenzo Ghiberti's famous Gates of Paradise doors, which feature bronze panels that illustrate various Bible stories.  The doors on the Baptistery itself are now replicas, and the original panels can be seen nearby in the lovely Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.  

Here's Mr. Hunter admiring the replica doors.

We'd paused to take these photos on our way to the Accademia.  Earlier that morning, we'd caught a bit of a parade for the Festa di San Giovanni and the Calcio Storico.  When we got to the Accademia, we realized that we had plenty of time before our reservations to go see Michelangelo's astonishing David, so we headed back toward the Duomo and the Baptistry to see if we could catch more parade action.  When we got there, another part of the parade was in full swing, and the Gates of Paradise were wide open!

Here's a snippet of the Festa di San Giovanni parade.

Battistero di San Giovanni

Piazza del Duomo

Florence, Italy

June 24, 2008