Seen at Altes Museum: Cupid and Psyche

2023 By justmovingaround in Art and Artefacts, Photo Impressions Tags: archeology, artefacts, Berlin, Cupid, Germany, museum, mythology, Old Museum Berlin, Psyche, sculpture

A statue in Altes Museum: Cupid and Psyche. This one is a Roman Copy made around 150 AD, after a Greek original made in the 1rst century BC. A photo made in the Roman Collection of the Old Museum in Berlin.

ALTES MUSEUM Photo Gallery

Psyche, a mortal woman of extraordinary beauty, arouses the jealousy of Venus, the goddess of love. Venus sends her son Cupid to make Psyche fall in love with a monster as a punishment for her beauty. However, Cupid himself falls in love with Psyche but forbids Psyche to look at him. Cupid’s demand for Psyche not to see him is a way to ensure that her love is true and not based on his physical or divine appearance. Psyche disobeys and lights a lamp to see Cupid’s face as he sleeps. Cupid flees, feeling betrayed. Psyche, heartbroken, undertakes a journey to win back Cupid’s love. She has to complete a series of impossible tasks set by Venus. Her perseverance and dedication eventually lead to her being granted immortality by Jupiter, the king of the gods, and she is finally reunited with Cupid. Their marriage symbolizes the union of the love and sould (Cupid and Psyche).

Cupid and Psyche originally appeared in the ancient Greek storytelling. Later, the story was written in the 2nd century AD by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis

A postcard from Berlin. The head of singing Dionysus

2022 By justmovingaround in Art and Artefacts, Travel Notes Tags: Altes Museum Berlin, ancient Greece, artefacts, Berlin, Dionysus, Germany, mythology, Old Museum Berlin, sculpture

When you go to Berlin, it is Sunday (shops are not open), it is your first time in years in this city, your hotel is at a central location and the weather forecast says it will be raining, your first thought is to visit the famous Pergamon Museum. So, my first steps today were to the Museum Isle. In fact, you have everything there – a couple of museums, the Dome and the Berlin Palace. As I bought my ticket to the Pergamon, I was informed that I have to wait more than two hours to be allowed there. With plenty time to spare, I made myself to make some photos of the Dome and the palace. But I did not mange to reach them. Just round the corner, I noticed the entry to the Old Museum. It is not that popular with the tourist as the Pergamon, but the collection of ancient artifacts brought to Berlin by the German archaeologists is very impressive.

On the photo above, ‘the head of singing Dionyses’, one of the numerous sculptures you may admire in the Greek collection. The Head of the Singing Dionysus is a marble sculpture that dates back to the 1st century BCE. It is believed to be a Roman copy of a Greek original and is thought to have been part of a larger statue depicting the god Dionysus, the ancient Greek god of wine, fertility, and theater.

The Hermitage and the Fortune

2019 By justmovingaround in Sightseeing Tags: architecture, Belgium, Brussels, Grand Place, house of dukes of Brabant, Maison des Ducs de Brabant, mythology

The Brussels Grand Place is probably the most glamorous central square of Europe. It is surrounded by very representative buildings funded by numerous Brussels craft guilds. All of them are carefully decorated with busts, sculptures, reliefs, ornaments, and quite much gold leaf. Last month I spent maybe an hour, perhaps even longer on making solely detailed closeups. Now, I am having much fun in discovering the details and facts behind them.

There are thirty-nine houses in Grand Place. Besides the Town Hall, all buildings had been rebuilt from scratch, after a heavy French bombardment of 1695. As the city was very rich, the reconstruction of the square was completed only within five years. One of the most significant buildings is the so-called House of Dukes of Brabant. The name of the building derives from the busts of dukes of Brabant that decorate the facade. Duchy of Brabant was a historical duchy located in Low Countries. Today the title of the Duke of Brabant is only a dynastic one with no lands associated with it. However, the title seems to be of importance for it is nowadays given to the heir to the Belgian throne.

The Brussels Grand Place. The building at the front is called the House of Dukes of Brabant. It hosts seven houses including no. 14 & 15: The Hermitage and The Fortune.

The House of Dukes of Brabant hosts seven house numbers from no. 13 to no. 19. These are from right to left ‘The Fame‘ (La Renommée), ‘The Hermitage‘ (L’Ermitage), ‘The Fortune‘ (La Fortune), ‘The Windmill‘ (Le Moulin à Vent), ‘The Tin Pot‘ (Le Pot d’Étain), ‘The Hill‘ (La Colline) and ‘The Purse‘ (La Bourse).

The House of Dukes of Brabant was hosting several Brussels guildhalls, including those of carpet makers, tanners, millers, cartwrights, and masons. Several emblems or reliefs pointing to the guilds as well as other symbols are decorating the building facade. By some, you can recognize the crafts, although the symbolism is not apparent at first sight.

One of several guild symbols on the facade of the House of Dukes of Brabant.

If you take, a closer look, however, you will see some inconsistency in the decoration. There are three reliefs of a different style decorating the facade. Looking at the closeups I took recently, I could have easily associated one of them with the millers. But with two reliefs over doors to no. 14 & 15 Grand Place, I gave myself a header for several minutes. Till I realized that they are not about the crafts, but about the houses itself. One should keep in mind that the premises around Grand Place changed the owners through history. Guildhalls relocated. But, buildings kept their original names.

House No. 14 hosts the carpet makers and goes with the name ‘The Hermitage‘. The relief over its doors shows a hermit delved in reading. House No. 15 called ‘The Fortune‘ is marked by the blindfolded Fortune bouncing on a turning wheel and flashing coins all around. The Fortune house hosts the tanners.

The reliefs decorating the entrance to ‘The Hermitage’ and ‘The Fortune’.

Also, other house numbers of the House of Dukes of Brabant are marked by symbols reflecting their names. But only ‘The Windmill‘ is decorated by a relief. This one is unlike the others placed at a higher level to the right of the house entrance. The remaining houses are marked by less elaborate symbols made the same style as the guild symbols displayed at a higher level.