Leda Atomica

Leda Atomica, Salvador Dali circa 1949

 

 

The oil on canvas painting by Salvador Dali, Leda Atomica was done in 1949. Leda Atomica is Dali's way of interpreting the Annunciation. Leda plays a mortal woman visited by a metamorphosis god  in order that she might  bear his child, acts, thereafter, a conduit through which her son's mortal counterparts may regain access to the god that gave them birth. "A figure of intercession , an agent of mediation between rational man and state beyond the rational, she is both the child-woman and woman with child" because she is a virgin, based on the Christian-Catholic divinity belief. Gala, in a sense is a god's muse, and is close to those incarnations of the surrealist muse "Gala is being the supreme example" according to Dali, who owe their pictorial and literary identity to the activity of their men. The muse is the object of "desire, of love and G_d is, famously, love itself", according to Dali's philosophy. Dali's transformation of Mary is the result of love as if he created his love of Gala, like G_d to Mary.

 Courtesy of World ClassicGallery
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 Okay, now for a maybe,not quiet so analytical (hopefully) summary :

 Leda Atomica depicts the Spartan queen Leda, with a swan. Leda is the frontal portrait of Salvador Dali's wife, Gala, who is seated on a pedestal  with a swan suspended behind and to the left of her. Different objects such as a set square, a book, two stepping stools and an egg float around the main figure. In the background on both sides of Cap Norfeu ( cape on the south-eastern end of the Catalonia region of Spain) .

 Leda Atomica is housed at the Dali Theatre and Museum in Figueres, Dali's birthplace.

The Nine Muses

Parnassus, Andrea Mantegna 

Daughters of the Head of the Greek gods, Zeus and Mnemosyne, Titan goddess of memory and remembrance and the inventor of language and words. Zeus slept with Mnemosyne for nine nights which resulted in their nine daughters.The Muses were born in Pieria. They were brought to life to make the world forget the evil and to relieve the sorrows and to praise the gods, especially the Olympian gods victory over the Titans.

When the Muses were born they were given by their mother to the the Greek god Apollo and the nymph Eufime to be raised.As a result they grew up showing tendencies toward the arts, that was taught by Apollo himself. And because of their dedication to the arts instead of everyday human life, Apollo took the Muses to beautiful Mount Helicon, which is now modern day Mount Elikonas where the older temple of Zeus used to be.

 

In accordance to Greek mythology, two Muses invented theory and practice in learning, three Muses invented the musical vibrations in the lyre, four Muses invented dialect in the language known at the time- Aeolian, Attica, Dorian and Ionian- and five of the muses the five human senses. Seven Muses developed the seven chords of the lyre, the seven vocals of the Greek alphabet, the seven planets and the seven celestial zones.

Nine Muses Dancing with Apollo- Baldassare Peruzzi 

The Nine Muses are

 NAME   DOMAIN  SYMBOL

1.  Callipoe  Epic poetry  Writing tablet
2. Clio  History  Scrolls      
3. Erato  Erotic poetry   Cithara ( a small lyre) 
4. Euterepe  Song & Elegiac poetry  Aulos ( double flute)
5. Melpomene  Tragedy  Tragic Mask
6. Polyhymnia  Hymns  Veil
7. Terpsichore   Dance   Lyre
8. Thalia   Comedy   Comic Mask
9. Urania  Astronomy  Globe and Compass

Venus de Milo

Venus de Milo or Aphrodite of Milos is a marble statue of one of the most famous ancient Greek sculpture. And with her,Greek art gave birth to the Western art's female nudes. Because of some stylistic details it is indicated that it was created sometime between 130 and 100 B.C. and  her naked torso it enabled the statue to be identified as the Greek goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite (Venus to the Romans).However, her elongated silhouette, position in space and a very realist nudity, link this work to the Hellenistic era (323-331 B.C.), the last great era in Greek history. She stands at 6ft 8 in (203 cm). Her arms and original pedestal, with the original inscription attributing her to be the work of Alexandros of Antioch, have been lost to eternity. Venus de Milo is on display at the Louvre  in Paris, France.

The Venus de Milo was discovered on April 8, 1820, in a buried niche,  in the ancient city ruins of Milos on the Aegean Island of Milos by a farmer. She was found with the upper torso and draped legs along with several pillars topped with heads, fragments of the upper left arm and the left hand holding an apple and an inscribed pedestal. A French naval officer, Olivier Voutier, was exploring the island and with the help of the young farmer, proceeded to dig around the ancient ruins. Within a few hours Voutier uncovered Venus de Milo. Ten days later another French naval officer, Jules Dumont  d'Urville, recognized the statues significance and arranged for its purchase by the French ambassador to Turkey.

  However, news of her discovery took longer than expected to reach the French ambassador. Because of this the farmer grew tired of waiting and was also pressured to sell it to the Grand Dragoman of the Fleet, who was working as the translator for the Sultan Mahmud II in Constantinople, Turkey. But the representative of the French ambassador arrived just in time, because the statue was being loaded on a ship bound for Turkey and seized the statue and talked the chief citizens of Milos to annul the sell.

Upon the arrival of the statue to Louvre, it was reassembled, but the fragments of the left hand and arm were initially dismissed as a later restoration because of rough workmanship. Now it's accepted that the left arm and hand holding the apple were actually original to Venus de Milo but was not of the same quality of workmanship as the rest of her.

 In the autumn of 1939, in anticipation of war breaking out, Venus de Milo was crated up  and moved to a safer location in the French countryside by the Comedie-Francaise. During World War II the statue , along with Michelangelo's "Slaves" and " winged Victory of Samothrace were kept safe in the Chateau de Valencay.

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The Three Graces

  Raphael painted this oil on panel, of "The Three Graces", from 1501-1505. It is housed at the Musee Conde in Chantilly, France.

 

  This Neoclassical marble statue of "The Three Graces" was done by Antonio Canova, it was created from 1814-1817. The sculpture is housed in the Knight's Hall at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The Three Graces, also known as the Charities, are the Greek goddesses of beauty, charm and joy. Euphrosyne, Thalia and Aglaia are the daughters of Zeus, the head of the Greek gods, and Eurynome an Oceanid, an ocean nymph. The Three Graces presided over sociable events like dances and banquets and brought joy and goodwill to both mortals and gods. They were also the attendants of Aphrodite and Eros and along with their companions, the Muses, they sang for the gods on Mount Olympus and when accompanied by the god Apollo on his lyre, they would also dance for the gods.

The Birth of Venus

 "The Birth of Venus" was painted by Sandro Botticelli in 1486 in Florence, Italy.

 This is probably my favorite painting for the simplistic reason that I am more comfortable where water is concerned. I think this is because when I was nine weeks old my father carried me into the Gulf of Mexico and salt water has been in my blood ever since. The ocean and its smell can be calming for me and I can get almost the same feeling when I look at this painting. Now don't get me wrong I'm not foolish when it comes to the ocean with hurricanes and such,I have a healthy respect for the ocean and its creatures.