Masters and mentors

Raphael’s Rooms is a series of rooms in the Vatican Palace richly decorated by Raphael .

Instead of presenting a bigger gallery from this place, for now, I selected only a small fraction of this masterpiece that unlike many others, is of civic nature. It is called the School of Athens. 

Liberty leading the people

Believe this or not. But this sequence is one of the most visited on my blog, even if my coverage is just about this painting and recuperation of the events that took place in France to liberate the People. Longue vie à la France. Today it is rather about: Longue vie à le Peuple.

A couple who came from England

During our two-week stay in New Zealand, we once visited a town that seemed totally deserted. In high season it was popular with surfers. But with a heavy storm on approach, there was not a soul around us. It was like we would have reached the end of the world. The name of the town was Collingwood. 

Written in the Norman city of Rouen

Patria, in commemoration of 1830

Pro Patria, the monument at the Martyrs’ square in Brussels, commemorating the events of 1830. The female figure carved from Carrara marble in 1838 by Guillaume Geefs represents Belgium standing on the chains of oppression after years under foreign rule. Patria is an originally Latin word meaning one’s native country or homeland.

Other reads and photos

A short note on slavery in Middle Age Europe

One day, as I was driving home at a late evening hour, with the radio on for a moment, I was listening to the beautiful Gladiator theme by Hans Zimmer. Somehow, by association, my first thought was of the Don Quixote and Sancho Panza monument, or actually two twin monuments I photographed at Spain squares, one in Madrid and the other in Brussels.

Yes, an association that seems to be a bit far-fetched at first sight. On the second thought, however, the link between the two pictures is not that impossible at all. 

Ich bin ein Berliner