Le Hunter et Le Boulevardier

You may have noticed that Mr. Hunter has an affinity for busts and other sculptures of heads.  And when he encountered this fellow at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Mr. Hunter felt an even stronger kinship.  The pointed chins, the long noses... they could be cousins!

 

Mr. Hunter's new friend in the top hat is called Le Boulevardier, and he was created by the Polish-born American sculptor Elie Nadelman.

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

Los Angeles, California

March 2013

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Official LACMA page on Le Boulevardier - 

http://collections.lacma.org/node/249962

Official LACMA site - http://www.lacma.org/

The Parthenon Sculptures (aka the "Elgin Marbles")

At the British Museum, 

Mr. Hunter visited the Parthenon sculptures and friezes that have commonly

 and controversially been known as the Elgin Marbles. 

Mr. Hunter and some horsemen of the north frieze.

The figures on the right are the goddesses Hesta, Dione, and Aphrodite.

Room 18

British Museum

London, England

September 2011

Official site of the British Museum: http://www.britishmuseum.org/

Mr. Hunter and the Goddess Hathor

Some statues emanate particularly pleasing energy.  In the past, Mr. Hunter and I have been enraptured, transfixed, and transported by the truly lovely Venus de Milo and Michelangelo's astonishing David.  

After a much too short visit to the British Museum, we're adding this head and torso of the goddess Hathor to that list.  This smiling Hathor figure comes from the Mortuary Temple of Amenhotep III.

Mr. Hunter and I weren't the only ones to fall under the spell of Hathor.  The woman in this photograph below stood and meditated in front of Hathor for at least half an hour.

The woman who was entranced by Hathor.

Video of Hathor and her disciple:

Room 4

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