CORNER GORGON
Am I the only one? To see a screaming owl-faced nymph playing her wings like a lyre, confronting a monumental beast! —TriciVenola 2023
Another trip to Istanbul Archeological Museum reveals… — Not a nymph but a Gorgon! A frightful, desiccated corner Gorgon from the 6th Center BCE. Found in Didyma on the Aegean…— What luxury to live near the museum, so I can check on stuff like this.
ARCHAIC GORGON
All these wonders are Archaic Greek… — 6thC BCE Corner Gorgon —- Kore eye — She is carved ‘round a corner — Was this tiny pig a toy? Or a charm or altar offering for a bountiful farm? — If this small stone leaping lion was mine I would never let it go; I would take it to the grave – perhaps someone did — Tiny stone lion 7-6thC BCE — Tiny pig 7-6C BCE — Kore – Archaic Greek = 7-6C BCE – Over life-size — She is still beautiful – even though her nose is completely gone from age — A giant clawed beastie also guards this edifice – Now nothing is left but the Guardians – Didyma on the Aegean. — TriciVenola 2023 — Nothing remains of the building that the Gorgon and the Beast were guarding save the Guardians. I’ve run across stuff like this in my own psyche.
CHILD & TWO LIONS
This child was carved in translucent marble in the Second Century CE. I can see the old man he became – if he ever grew up. From Aydin (Tralles) — TriciVenola 2023
He looked so easy to draw —>NOT! — I am humbled by the skill of ancient artists – this tiny lion is 27 centuries old! —7C BCE A rooster? FALCON — From the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (Bodrum) 350 BCE <— This huge old lion still has his jaw- very rare! <— — TriciVenola 2023 — More gleanings from Istanbul’s Archeological Museum.
TINY HANDED ARCHER
Tiny exquisite lions flank a gutter spout — Here is what the ancients had rather the electricity, antibiotics & mobile phones
Tiny-handed archer <—> kneels on this tile from 6 centuries BCE. It’s just about this size: 12 x 12 cm. — Can you see the arrows in his quiver? — Istanbul Archeological Museum 2023 — TriciVenola 2023 — Yes they only lived half as long as we do, yes they kept slaves like we have plumbing & electricity, yes anyone could be enslaved, but damn, this everyday stuff is beautiful.
UNCEASING PRACTICE
Giant lion’s eye — Sidon tomb griffin — Boukoleon — Goddess or nymph <— At Istanbul’s Archeological Museum — Sidon Tomb Griffin — Corners of a tomb from Sidon carved fro a single block <— Somewhere in Anatolia — “Without unceasing practice nothing can be done.” —Wm Blake — TriciVenola 2023 — Robert Crumb once sent me a postcard with that Blake quote on it. I took it to heart. It’s the reason we keep working even when nobody is looking. So, keeping my hand in at Istanbul Archeological. The center lion/bull is in Anatolia, from a photo taken there in 2007.
THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS
From the sublime to the ridiculous — Ham-fisted sculpture here — TriciVenola 2023 — Exquisite carving of someone’s angelic lover as Dionysius, god of wine, theater, gambling and chaos, up top, while below is a rendering of a bad sculpture of ugly old Silenus, tutor and wine scholar to Dionysius. If ever there were two faces of wine…
