I’m not sure I agree with her. But it’s an interesting question:
Comments
Open thread 2/16/24 — 46 Comments
One of he early sources of information on Biden crime family was indicted by the FBI yesterday. And the Left is making much about this — as though one piece of evidence in the the House Committee’s headed James Comer and Jim Jordan inquiry’s taints the effort completely.
My best source for context and earnest earnest sorting out the law and politics is John Solomon’s account, published last night: “Another ‘trusted’ FBI informant discredited, renewing concerns over bureau’s vetting“.
Alexander Smirnov is charged with making false statements as an FBI confidential human source.
Solomon’s sub-headline makes the issue clearer: In the two most politically sensitive FBI criminal cases since Watergate, the Justice Department has concluded the bureau’s confidential human sources had serious flaws that went undetected for years by the agents handling them.”
EXCERPT:
Three separate DOJ investigations have now found evidence that has discredited handling of FBI informants Christopher Steele and Igor Danchenko in the Russia collusion case and Smirnov in the Biden inquiry.
Wray has tried to assure his overseers – most recently Special Counsel John Durham last year – that he has made reforms that solved the problem. But Smirnov’s indictment as laid out by Weiss strongly suggests otherwise.
Three separate DOJ investigations have now found evidence that has discredited handling of FBI informants Christopher Steele and Igor Danchenko in the Russia collusion case and Smirnov in the Biden inquiry.
Wray has tried to assure his overseers – most recently Special Counsel John Durham last year – that he has made reforms that solved the problem. But Smirnov’s indictment as laid out by Weiss strongly suggests otherwise.
Democrats crowed, suggesting the alleged implosion of the informant’s story was grounds to end the whole impeachment inquiry by Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan against Joe Biden.
“Chairman Jim Jordan has said that the ‘best example’ and ‘most compelling evidence’ of wrongdoing by POTUS are the Burisma allegations that relied solely on an FBI source’s info,” Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., tweeted on X. “Today, that FBI source was indicted for lying about Burisma. Time to end this sham impeachment.”
Republican won’t do that because they have evidence from official government documents that Joe Biden changed U.S. policy when he forced the firing of the Ukraine prosecutor back as vice president in 2015-16 and testimony from Biden family insider that Joe Biden met with his son’s foreign clients from China, Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan around the time the first family was getting paid.
“To be clear, the impeachment inquiry is not reliant on the FBI’s FD-1023,” Comer said. “It is based on a large record of evidence, including bank records and witness testimony, revealing that Joe Biden knew of and participated in his family’s business dealings. … President Biden continues to lie to the American people about this matter and the American people demand the truth.” https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/frianother-trusted-fbi-informant-discredited-renewing-red-flags
But what is Smirnov’s alleged motive for fabricating a tale around the Biden’s and Burisma in Ukraine? Prosecutor David “Weiss alleged Thursday, Smirnov made up the allegations because he disliked Joe Biden running for president.”
That’s all. This story is developing.
Beautiful painting. Surprising they don’t know the subject, or the artist.
At about 1:00 in the narrator says the word, “clothes.” I don’t recall ever hearing the “th” pronounced, but hearing her say it, I get it now. “Cloth/clothes.”
(And, speaking of clothes. Of course, when you report to work at the National Gallery, especially on a day when you will be on camera to film an explanation of a brilliant painting and that recording will be seen by, perhaps millions of people over the years… What do you wear? Jeans. It’s depressing how far our elite institutions and those who represent them have sunk. She seems like a nice enough woman, but it’s a testament to Western Culture that she wouldn’t think to outfit herself in clothing [there’s that “th” again] befitting her surroundings.)
Interesting presentation. I have been to the gallery several times, hope to be able to go again. If so, will look for this painting. Not a “Masterpiece by a Master Artist” but just looking at the detail makes this a masterpiece.
Like Neo, not sure I agree with her on why the Fly is there. Yes, it could be an “inside” joke that the sitter and the person commissioning the painting know.
OK, so if this informant is compromised, how come the FBI didn’t know it sooner. Well the FBI is incompetent that’s why. And yes bring it out now to try to quash the investigation into the very corrupt Biden family (and others).
Smirnov worked for burisma which had a stranglehold on the ukrainian govt largely in the rada and strong influence on zelensky he wanted to keep his cards close to the vest since 2020 other player like akmatov have become predominant
Flies have a long history in Western art. Dating back to Medieval times, the bug’s appearance in an artwork was used to symbolize death or rot of the flesh and soul.
From being an artist, i would say the meaning varies from artist to artist from subject to subject… is it the inclusion in the perfect diamond creating more beauty by adding a flaw? a joke? a message?
Musca depicta
Musca depicta (“painted fly” in Latin; plural: muscae depictae) is a depiction of a fly as a conspicuous element of various paintings. The feature was widespread in 15th- and 16th-century European paintings, and its presence has been subject to various interpretations by art historians.
The painting in question:
Portrait of a Woman of the Hofer Family(circa 1470) by an unknown Swabian artist
Also seen in:
Petrus Christus, Portrait of a Carthusian (1446). Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Caravaggio, Fruit Basket (circa 1599). Collection of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan
Carlo Crivelli, Madonna and Child (circa 1480). Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Salvador Dalí, The Hallucinogenic Toreador (1969–70). Collection of the Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida.
Frans van der Mijn, Lady With a Fly on her Shoulder (circa 1596).
Barthel Bruyn the Elder, Vanitas (1524). Collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum. [one of my favs, as there are a lot of paintings with skulls in them that have more meaning than flies and some of them are hidden using cylinders and other object reflections]
Master of Frankfurt, Self-portrait of the Artist with His Wife (1496). Collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp.
Damien Hirst, Fly Painting (1997).
Clara Peeters, Still Life with Venetian Glass, Roemer and a Candlestick (1607). Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Carlo Crivelli, St Catherine of Alexandria (circa 1491–94). Collection of the National Gallery, London.
Ambrosius Bosschaert II, Dead Frog with Flies (1630).
The first known Flemish painting with fly is the Portrait of a Carthusian by Petrus Christus from 1446, now at the MET in New York
A small fly rests on a shiny grape in Still Life by Louise Moillon from 1630, now at The Art Institute of Chicago
=======================
One of my most rewarding shows, I had the pleasure to be unknown and could listen and talk about the art with others and so on… it was a lot of fun given the range of people, their “expertise”, and even their magical psychological dissertations.
Rufus – I’ve watched the British version of “Ghosts”, a tv show with a wide variety of ghosts bugging the new home owner. The circumstances of their death is reflected in how they look – plague victims have awful scabs, the soldier has a bloody uniform, the man who died having an affair has on a shirt and boxer shorts, and so on.
After watching the season, I saw an interesting meme – “Every time you get dressed.. remember if you die, that is your ghost outfit forever.”
Another assessment of Tucker Carlson, russophilia?
Is the fly a prospective apology for the vainglory? “I am wealthy and privileged beyond belief, but I realize that I am also ultimately mortal and destined to be buried and decayed like the most common of men.”
OM, maybe the love affair some on the Right have with Carlson is getting tarnished. I have always believed that he is an Isolationist and that he knows little about Foreign Affairs. So he thought the supermarket in Moscow was Awesome. I can go to number in the town near me (one of several) that have an abundance of goods for sale.
Maybe he should have visited an average, not the elite, hospital. I don’t think he would like the medical care that he would receive on average in Moscow, or in many other places either.
You’d have to ask the artist and the artist is not available.
As I’ve said before , I do hyperrealism (in the sense of schools-of) in most of my paintings. The color ‘swatching’ you see in any links is because I reduce the ‘resolution’ on pictures I store for general public viewing. The swatching is especially noticeable on this one but I’ll guarantee that if you view the original, you’ll see every friggin’ pearl reflects the tone shapes of it’s surroundings and aside from under-layers, her hair falls were painted on almost one hair at a time. I do that by customizing a 000 sable point down to three hairs. It takes a while.
I’d guess the fly is there to show off skill, just like the pin heads she spoke of and the hairs on my paintings. A fingernail buffing instead of a joke. You can’t see it on the jpg but I put one broken hair on the violin bow.
You can’t trick a fly into “thinking” the headdress is real, they don’t see that way.
The scale of the painting (~50%) argues against the idea of tricking a viewer into thinking the fly is real as it’s pretty damn small. Concerning the viewer’s reaction, I’d put money on wanting a “Wow, that’s good!” instead of thinking it was a real fly.
You can count one hand those who have investigated the plantados of panem and now break their arms congratulating themselves
As this kangaroo tribuni expands
Yes dan goldman was so much egg on his face a pterodactyl dropped it
I don’t think he would like the medical care that he would receive on average in Moscow, or in many other places either.
Yes, just ask Navalny.
Mayhap the sitter’s wealth arose from cattle, as the fly is an ever-present coincident component of such an occupation?
I get so impatient. Chat, please summarize:
________________________________________
In this introduction, Francesca, an Associate Curator at the National Gallery, discusses a portrait of a woman from the Hofer family, dated around 1470. She explores the mystery of why there is a fly painted on the woman’s head and what it reveals about the artist’s intentions.
The portrait is a rare and expensive form of commemoration from a time when having one’s likeness captured was a luxury. The artist and the identity of the woman remain unknown, though she is believed to be from the Hofer family, a common surname in Southwestern Germany.
The woman is portrayed in her finest attire, indicating her wealth. The details in the painting, from her smooth complexion to the intricate patterns of her brocade dress and the fur lining, all emphasize her status. The forget-me-nots she holds could symbolize love or remembrance, adding another layer of meaning to the portrait.
The headdress is a focal point, showcasing the artist’s skill in painting white fabric and creating a sense of volume and texture. The inclusion of the fly is seen as a playful element, a joke that tricks both the fly and the viewer into thinking the headdress is real. This trickery harks back to the origins of painting, where the goal was to create lifelike illusions that could deceive the eye.
Francesca suggests that the woman in the portrait was likely in on the joke, taking pride in the painting’s ability to trick viewers. The portrait’s journey to the National Gallery is framed as a love story, having been gifted by Prince Albert to Queen Victoria, who then gifted it to the nation.
Overall, the portrait is valued not for its size or importance but for its ability to engage viewers and remind us of the artist’s ability to keep us guessing.
Why the fly?
Painting was done in outback Australia.
Flies are everywhere all over everything.
If she had little corks hanging from her hat there’d be no flies.
Shunryu Suzuki was a Japanese Zen monk who came to San Francisco and founded the first official Zen school in America. He wrote the classic “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind” which IMO really launched American Zen Buddhism as a serious endeavor.
ZMBM is a beautiful book in message and in production. Here’s a question I’ve lived with and found no solid answer:
In “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind” why is there a realistic pencil drawing of a fly on page 69, which is otherwise empty?
One is reading merrily away to the end of p. 67, then one turns the page and p.68 is entirely blank and p.69 is blank except for that fly.
Must be a koan or something.
The Fani Willis hearing continues to amaze and amuse. Her father testified and probably didn’t help her case much.
She’s got another vid where she’s expounding on why the artist painted a portrait in black and white. Her take is it’s a “painting pretending to be a print”.
Go here zoom all the way and look at the strokes. Those are not print techniques. Not for now and moreso not for the time.
Aside from the biographical information most docent’s come across that way. Like time fill with ‘what if’. The bolded sentences in huxley’s post are pertinent as they’re conjecture, not what is (“seen as”, “harks back”, “suggests”.
It’s interesting parlor think but that’s it.
…
OK, I got why it bugs me. It makes the presumption that the viewer is a low grade moron and can be tricked into thinking a painting is a real thing.
I’d put money on that in all the centuries not one person has tried to shoo the fly off the one half sized flat lady with the nice hat.
I’m surprised no one has gotten the answer. This lady has a fly on her headdress because the artist used to be a men’s tailor.
Navalny didn’t Epstein.
Tucker got out, although Vlad considers him a dangerous person.
Fani had her dress on backwards!? Really? Who is writing this show?
Ray Van Dune; Artfldgr:
That’s my theory on the fly also.
John Guilfoyle:
🙂
She wasn’t wealthy enough for all the corks needed.
There may have been a few flies Saxony too, although how he got one to sit still for the portrait is another question not answered by the docent.
OK, we are suppose to have cash on hand for emergencies, it isn’t a Black Thing. But somehow I just don’t see her having cash let along that much cash on hand all the time.
Fathers lie all the time for their Daughters, and this Daughter has been taught to lie to White People.
ArtfldgrsShadow @ 10:58 am,
Thanks for that explanation and the rundown of other paintings from that era featuring mosca depicta.
Unbelievable this was not mentioned in her presentation! Hardly so strange knowing now that it was a bit of a fad at the time.
Speaking of death and corruption, I was reminded of the famous painting, “The Ambassadors” by Hans Holbein (1533).
_____________________________________
The most notable and famous of Holbein’s symbols in the work is the distorted skull which is placed in the bottom centre of the composition. The skull, rendered in anamorphic perspective, another invention of the Early Renaissance, is meant to be a visual puzzle as the viewer must approach the painting from high on the right side, or low on the left side, to see the form as an accurate rendering of a human skull. While the skull is evidently intended as a vanitas or memento mori, it is unclear why Holbein gave it such prominence in this painting. A simple explanation is that “memento mori” was de Dinteville’s motto,[9][better source needed] while another possibility is that this painting represents three levels: the heavens as portrayed by the astrolabe and other objects on the upper shelf, the living world as evidenced by books and a musical instrument on the lower shelf, and death signified by the skull.
Artists often incorporated skulls as a reminder of mortality.
That was a lame interpretation. This looks like a job for … Sister Wendy!
___________________________________
Wendy Mary Beckett[1] (25 February 1930 – 26 December 2018), better known as Sister Wendy, was a British religious sister and art historian[2] who became known internationally during the 1990s when she presented a series of BBC television documentaries on the history of art.[3] Her programmes, such as Sister Wendy’s Odyssey and Sister Wendy’s Grand Tour, often drew a 25 percent share of the British viewing audience.[4] In 1997 she made her debut on US public television, with The New York Times describing her as “a sometime hermit who is fast on her way to becoming the most unlikely and famous art critic in the history of television.”…
In 1970, health problems forced Beckett to abandon teaching and to return to England. She obtained papal permission to leave her congregation and to become a consecrated virgin and hermit. She began living in a caravan on the grounds of a Carmelite monastery at Quidenham, Norfolk, and her caravan was later replaced by a mobile home. Besides having received the Carmelite prioress and a nun who brought her provisions, she dedicated her life to solitude and prayer, but allotted two hours of work per day to earn her living.
I can’t believe you are a hyper-realist painter!! This is an incredible coincidence! I’m not sure I know why, but for as long as I recall seeing you comment here I have imagined you as the character Rabo Karabekian in the Vonnegut novel, “Bluebeard.” Karabekian was a hyper-realist painter!
How strange that I thought of that character when reading your comments.
Re: “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind”
Reconsidering page number, 69, on which the lone fly appears, I was concerned that it might be some naughty mischief.
But no, the last page of the Epilogue is page 138, so page 69 is exactly halfway through.
I guess I see the fly is that constant, unpleasant irritation of real life intruding and one’s learning to accept the the fly in all its beauty and inevitability for life and consciousness. Life, the Buddha tells us, is suffering.
Maybe I’ll get back to my Zendo down the road.
No basis for this suggestion beyond observation, but perhaps it really was intended as a “memento mori” comment on a wealthy, attractive woman who may have have had a serious illness — possibly a heart disorder — which would have been a death sentence. You can always refine too much on painted details, but if you look at those exquisitely rendered hands, what stands out to me is the nails, shadowed at all the margins in greyish tones, not a healthy pink. If it was an accurate rendition it is an indication of extremity circulation trouble — the tissues farthest from the heart are not getting oxygenated blood because the heart can’t pump it strongly enough. The adults of her family would have known, and the painter (eye for detail) would have as well.
Of course, she may have been perfectly healthy, and the grey tinge just a whim of the artist. But the effect is odd — a woman so impeccably got-up for her sitting, who showed up with grimy fingernails, or didn’t mind the painter giving that impression of her. All I can say is that was one of the things we looked for when making a field diagnosis, and I can recognize the appearance of it across the centuries in this portrait.
Megaera:
Wow. I know that you don’t know and you know it, but that was a classy comment.
Redolent of “To a Louse” by Robert Burns, to wit:
“Ye ugly creepin’, blastit wonner,
Detested, shunned, by saunt an’ sinner,
How dare ye set your fit upon her,
Sae fine a lady!”
And:
“O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!”
OT and all that…
I’m halfway through a French YouTube series on Joan of Arc. Mon Dieu!
I will go to France.
I will go to Paris and see the Eiffel Tower.
I will sip coffee on the Champs-Élysées.
Then I will go north to Domrémy where she was born.
I will go to Rouen where she burned.
Kneeling will be involved.
_________________________________
Joan, you are our only hope
From Heaven up high, deign hear our voices
Come down to us, come and convert France
Come save it a second time
Regarding zen and the fly. Although I have certainly been pestered by one more than once in my life, I find flies quite beautiful. They are amazingly complex creatures for their size. Perhaps, as you suggest, its presence in that blank section of the book is to spoil the otherwise clean, white pages. A fly in the ointment, perhaps. Similar to the theme of Nicolas Poussin’s painting, “Et in Arcadia ego.”
However, maybe it’s singled out there to encourage one to ponder on the wonder of the fly, to see it in a new light. Even the lowly fly is amazing beyond wonder and deserves reverence?
A fly in the ointment, perhaps.
Rufus:
Oh, you’re good!
The commenters at the link generally agree with Megaera and ArtfldgrsShadow .
@ Rufus > “Unbelievable this was not mentioned in her presentation! Hardly so strange knowing now that it was a bit of a fad at the time.”
Indeed.
And the jeans.
Maybe she didn’t know there would be filming that day.
As long as we’re on the subject of art, another post for huxley.
The videos at the post are truly amazing.
Gonna be a lot of animators out of jobs soon.
AesopFan @ 2:21am,
Holy jamoley! That last video that includes the prompts is unbelievable. Imagine what film directors are thinking as they see that? The Storyboarding step is now the actual process of making the final cut.
Gonna be a lot of animators out of jobs soon.
AesopFan:
Yes. Sora is big news. There’s a lot of big AI news. Beaucoup.
Gonna be a lot of people out of jobs. Actually, it’s already happening, but, like Bidenflation, it’s being downplayed.
One of he early sources of information on Biden crime family was indicted by the FBI yesterday. And the Left is making much about this — as though one piece of evidence in the the House Committee’s headed James Comer and Jim Jordan inquiry’s taints the effort completely.
My best source for context and earnest earnest sorting out the law and politics is John Solomon’s account, published last night: “Another ‘trusted’ FBI informant discredited, renewing concerns over bureau’s vetting“.
Alexander Smirnov is charged with making false statements as an FBI confidential human source.
Solomon’s sub-headline makes the issue clearer: In the two most politically sensitive FBI criminal cases since Watergate, the Justice Department has concluded the bureau’s confidential human sources had serious flaws that went undetected for years by the agents handling them.”
EXCERPT:
Three separate DOJ investigations have now found evidence that has discredited handling of FBI informants Christopher Steele and Igor Danchenko in the Russia collusion case and Smirnov in the Biden inquiry.
Wray has tried to assure his overseers – most recently Special Counsel John Durham last year – that he has made reforms that solved the problem. But Smirnov’s indictment as laid out by Weiss strongly suggests otherwise.
Three separate DOJ investigations have now found evidence that has discredited handling of FBI informants Christopher Steele and Igor Danchenko in the Russia collusion case and Smirnov in the Biden inquiry.
Wray has tried to assure his overseers – most recently Special Counsel John Durham last year – that he has made reforms that solved the problem. But Smirnov’s indictment as laid out by Weiss strongly suggests otherwise.
Democrats crowed, suggesting the alleged implosion of the informant’s story was grounds to end the whole impeachment inquiry by Comer and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan against Joe Biden.
“Chairman Jim Jordan has said that the ‘best example’ and ‘most compelling evidence’ of wrongdoing by POTUS are the Burisma allegations that relied solely on an FBI source’s info,” Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., tweeted on X. “Today, that FBI source was indicted for lying about Burisma. Time to end this sham impeachment.”
Republican won’t do that because they have evidence from official government documents that Joe Biden changed U.S. policy when he forced the firing of the Ukraine prosecutor back as vice president in 2015-16 and testimony from Biden family insider that Joe Biden met with his son’s foreign clients from China, Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan around the time the first family was getting paid.
“To be clear, the impeachment inquiry is not reliant on the FBI’s FD-1023,” Comer said. “It is based on a large record of evidence, including bank records and witness testimony, revealing that Joe Biden knew of and participated in his family’s business dealings. … President Biden continues to lie to the American people about this matter and the American people demand the truth.”
https://justthenews.com/accountability/political-ethics/frianother-trusted-fbi-informant-discredited-renewing-red-flags
But what is Smirnov’s alleged motive for fabricating a tale around the Biden’s and Burisma in Ukraine? Prosecutor David “Weiss alleged Thursday, Smirnov made up the allegations because he disliked Joe Biden running for president.”
That’s all. This story is developing.
Beautiful painting. Surprising they don’t know the subject, or the artist.
At about 1:00 in the narrator says the word, “clothes.” I don’t recall ever hearing the “th” pronounced, but hearing her say it, I get it now. “Cloth/clothes.”
(And, speaking of clothes. Of course, when you report to work at the National Gallery, especially on a day when you will be on camera to film an explanation of a brilliant painting and that recording will be seen by, perhaps millions of people over the years… What do you wear? Jeans. It’s depressing how far our elite institutions and those who represent them have sunk. She seems like a nice enough woman, but it’s a testament to Western Culture that she wouldn’t think to outfit herself in clothing [there’s that “th” again] befitting her surroundings.)
Interesting presentation. I have been to the gallery several times, hope to be able to go again. If so, will look for this painting. Not a “Masterpiece by a Master Artist” but just looking at the detail makes this a masterpiece.
Like Neo, not sure I agree with her on why the Fly is there. Yes, it could be an “inside” joke that the sitter and the person commissioning the painting know.
OK, so if this informant is compromised, how come the FBI didn’t know it sooner. Well the FBI is incompetent that’s why. And yes bring it out now to try to quash the investigation into the very corrupt Biden family (and others).
Smirnov worked for burisma which had a stranglehold on the ukrainian govt largely in the rada and strong influence on zelensky he wanted to keep his cards close to the vest since 2020 other player like akmatov have become predominant
Flies have a long history in Western art. Dating back to Medieval times, the bug’s appearance in an artwork was used to symbolize death or rot of the flesh and soul.
From being an artist, i would say the meaning varies from artist to artist from subject to subject… is it the inclusion in the perfect diamond creating more beauty by adding a flaw? a joke? a message?
Musca depicta
Musca depicta (“painted fly” in Latin; plural: muscae depictae) is a depiction of a fly as a conspicuous element of various paintings. The feature was widespread in 15th- and 16th-century European paintings, and its presence has been subject to various interpretations by art historians.
The painting in question:
Portrait of a Woman of the Hofer Family(circa 1470) by an unknown Swabian artist
Also seen in:
Petrus Christus, Portrait of a Carthusian (1446). Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Caravaggio, Fruit Basket (circa 1599). Collection of the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan
Carlo Crivelli, Madonna and Child (circa 1480). Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Salvador Dalí, The Hallucinogenic Toreador (1969–70). Collection of the Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida.
Frans van der Mijn, Lady With a Fly on her Shoulder (circa 1596).
Barthel Bruyn the Elder, Vanitas (1524). Collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum. [one of my favs, as there are a lot of paintings with skulls in them that have more meaning than flies and some of them are hidden using cylinders and other object reflections]
Master of Frankfurt, Self-portrait of the Artist with His Wife (1496). Collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp.
Damien Hirst, Fly Painting (1997).
Clara Peeters, Still Life with Venetian Glass, Roemer and a Candlestick (1607). Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Carlo Crivelli, St Catherine of Alexandria (circa 1491–94). Collection of the National Gallery, London.
Ambrosius Bosschaert II, Dead Frog with Flies (1630).
The first known Flemish painting with fly is the Portrait of a Carthusian by Petrus Christus from 1446, now at the MET in New York
A small fly rests on a shiny grape in Still Life by Louise Moillon from 1630, now at The Art Institute of Chicago
=======================
One of my most rewarding shows, I had the pleasure to be unknown and could listen and talk about the art with others and so on… it was a lot of fun given the range of people, their “expertise”, and even their magical psychological dissertations.
Rufus – I’ve watched the British version of “Ghosts”, a tv show with a wide variety of ghosts bugging the new home owner. The circumstances of their death is reflected in how they look – plague victims have awful scabs, the soldier has a bloody uniform, the man who died having an affair has on a shirt and boxer shorts, and so on.
After watching the season, I saw an interesting meme – “Every time you get dressed.. remember if you die, that is your ghost outfit forever.”
Another assessment of Tucker Carlson, russophilia?
https://pjmedia.com/davidhasanyi/2024/02/16/tucker-carlson-is-wrong-about-moscow-n4926486
Is the fly a prospective apology for the vainglory? “I am wealthy and privileged beyond belief, but I realize that I am also ultimately mortal and destined to be buried and decayed like the most common of men.”
OM, maybe the love affair some on the Right have with Carlson is getting tarnished. I have always believed that he is an Isolationist and that he knows little about Foreign Affairs. So he thought the supermarket in Moscow was Awesome. I can go to number in the town near me (one of several) that have an abundance of goods for sale.
Maybe he should have visited an average, not the elite, hospital. I don’t think he would like the medical care that he would receive on average in Moscow, or in many other places either.
You’d have to ask the artist and the artist is not available.
As I’ve said before , I do hyperrealism (in the sense of schools-of) in most of my paintings. The color ‘swatching’ you see in any links is because I reduce the ‘resolution’ on pictures I store for general public viewing. The swatching is especially noticeable on this one but I’ll guarantee that if you view the original, you’ll see every friggin’ pearl reflects the tone shapes of it’s surroundings and aside from under-layers, her hair falls were painted on almost one hair at a time. I do that by customizing a 000 sable point down to three hairs. It takes a while.
I’d guess the fly is there to show off skill, just like the pin heads she spoke of and the hairs on my paintings. A fingernail buffing instead of a joke. You can’t see it on the jpg but I put one broken hair on the violin bow.
You can’t trick a fly into “thinking” the headdress is real, they don’t see that way.
The scale of the painting (~50%) argues against the idea of tricking a viewer into thinking the fly is real as it’s pretty damn small. Concerning the viewer’s reaction, I’d put money on wanting a “Wow, that’s good!” instead of thinking it was a real fly.
My POV.
So all of them
https://twitter.com/manniefabian/status/1758452361498869910
Where are the rest of the hostages
You can count one hand those who have investigated the plantados of panem and now break their arms congratulating themselves
As this kangaroo tribuni expands
They always go there
https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/1758536578664722800
Well warnock hamas and castro fanboi is in good standing perhaps witness protection
https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2024/02/15/biden_staffer_who_mishandled_china_iran_secrets_retains_high-security_pentagon_job_1011073.html use farsi or mandarin terms
“Ghosts” is getting a remake on CBS. A cheap rip off, right down to the arrow through the scoutmaster’s neck.
The British series wasn’t that bad, but I can’t understand why anyone would watch the American rip-off.
Some good news for flipping the Senate to Republican:
Rosendale drops out of the Montana race a few days after he entered after Trump endorses Sheehy.
Hogan is polling pretty well in the Maryland senate race. He either beats or ties the two Democrats in the race.
https://news.yahoo.com/poll-hogan-tops-ties-top-124118335.html
Yes dan goldman was so much egg on his face a pterodactyl dropped it
I don’t think he would like the medical care that he would receive on average in Moscow, or in many other places either.
Yes, just ask Navalny.
Mayhap the sitter’s wealth arose from cattle, as the fly is an ever-present coincident component of such an occupation?
I get so impatient. Chat, please summarize:
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In this introduction, Francesca, an Associate Curator at the National Gallery, discusses a portrait of a woman from the Hofer family, dated around 1470. She explores the mystery of why there is a fly painted on the woman’s head and what it reveals about the artist’s intentions.
The portrait is a rare and expensive form of commemoration from a time when having one’s likeness captured was a luxury. The artist and the identity of the woman remain unknown, though she is believed to be from the Hofer family, a common surname in Southwestern Germany.
The woman is portrayed in her finest attire, indicating her wealth. The details in the painting, from her smooth complexion to the intricate patterns of her brocade dress and the fur lining, all emphasize her status. The forget-me-nots she holds could symbolize love or remembrance, adding another layer of meaning to the portrait.
The headdress is a focal point, showcasing the artist’s skill in painting white fabric and creating a sense of volume and texture. The inclusion of the fly is seen as a playful element, a joke that tricks both the fly and the viewer into thinking the headdress is real. This trickery harks back to the origins of painting, where the goal was to create lifelike illusions that could deceive the eye.
Francesca suggests that the woman in the portrait was likely in on the joke, taking pride in the painting’s ability to trick viewers. The portrait’s journey to the National Gallery is framed as a love story, having been gifted by Prince Albert to Queen Victoria, who then gifted it to the nation.
Overall, the portrait is valued not for its size or importance but for its ability to engage viewers and remind us of the artist’s ability to keep us guessing.
Why the fly?
Painting was done in outback Australia.
Flies are everywhere all over everything.
If she had little corks hanging from her hat there’d be no flies.
Shunryu Suzuki was a Japanese Zen monk who came to San Francisco and founded the first official Zen school in America. He wrote the classic “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind” which IMO really launched American Zen Buddhism as a serious endeavor.
ZMBM is a beautiful book in message and in production. Here’s a question I’ve lived with and found no solid answer:
In “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind” why is there a realistic pencil drawing of a fly on page 69, which is otherwise empty?
One is reading merrily away to the end of p. 67, then one turns the page and p.68 is entirely blank and p.69 is blank except for that fly.
Must be a koan or something.
The Fani Willis hearing continues to amaze and amuse. Her father testified and probably didn’t help her case much.
https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2024/02/16/watch-fani-willis-fathers-testimony-is-almost-as-wild-as-hers-n2170212
She’s got another vid where she’s expounding on why the artist painted a portrait in black and white. Her take is it’s a “painting pretending to be a print”.
Go here zoom all the way and look at the strokes. Those are not print techniques. Not for now and moreso not for the time.
Aside from the biographical information most docent’s come across that way. Like time fill with ‘what if’. The bolded sentences in huxley’s post are pertinent as they’re conjecture, not what is (“seen as”, “harks back”, “suggests”.
It’s interesting parlor think but that’s it.
…
OK, I got why it bugs me. It makes the presumption that the viewer is a low grade moron and can be tricked into thinking a painting is a real thing.
I’d put money on that in all the centuries not one person has tried to shoo the fly off the one half sized flat lady with the nice hat.
I’m surprised no one has gotten the answer. This lady has a fly on her headdress because the artist used to be a men’s tailor.
Navalny didn’t Epstein.
Tucker got out, although Vlad considers him a dangerous person.
Fani had her dress on backwards!? Really? Who is writing this show?
Ray Van Dune; Artfldgr:
That’s my theory on the fly also.
John Guilfoyle:
🙂
She wasn’t wealthy enough for all the corks needed.
There may have been a few flies Saxony too, although how he got one to sit still for the portrait is another question not answered by the docent.
OK, we are suppose to have cash on hand for emergencies, it isn’t a Black Thing. But somehow I just don’t see her having cash let along that much cash on hand all the time.
Fathers lie all the time for their Daughters, and this Daughter has been taught to lie to White People.
ArtfldgrsShadow @ 10:58 am,
Thanks for that explanation and the rundown of other paintings from that era featuring mosca depicta.
Unbelievable this was not mentioned in her presentation! Hardly so strange knowing now that it was a bit of a fad at the time.
Speaking of death and corruption, I was reminded of the famous painting, “The Ambassadors” by Hans Holbein (1533).
_____________________________________
The most notable and famous of Holbein’s symbols in the work is the distorted skull which is placed in the bottom centre of the composition. The skull, rendered in anamorphic perspective, another invention of the Early Renaissance, is meant to be a visual puzzle as the viewer must approach the painting from high on the right side, or low on the left side, to see the form as an accurate rendering of a human skull. While the skull is evidently intended as a vanitas or memento mori, it is unclear why Holbein gave it such prominence in this painting. A simple explanation is that “memento mori” was de Dinteville’s motto,[9][better source needed] while another possibility is that this painting represents three levels: the heavens as portrayed by the astrolabe and other objects on the upper shelf, the living world as evidenced by books and a musical instrument on the lower shelf, and death signified by the skull.
Artists often incorporated skulls as a reminder of mortality.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ambassadors_(Holbein)
@F – That’s funny.
That was a lame interpretation. This looks like a job for … Sister Wendy!
___________________________________
Wendy Mary Beckett[1] (25 February 1930 – 26 December 2018), better known as Sister Wendy, was a British religious sister and art historian[2] who became known internationally during the 1990s when she presented a series of BBC television documentaries on the history of art.[3] Her programmes, such as Sister Wendy’s Odyssey and Sister Wendy’s Grand Tour, often drew a 25 percent share of the British viewing audience.[4] In 1997 she made her debut on US public television, with The New York Times describing her as “a sometime hermit who is fast on her way to becoming the most unlikely and famous art critic in the history of television.”…
In 1970, health problems forced Beckett to abandon teaching and to return to England. She obtained papal permission to leave her congregation and to become a consecrated virgin and hermit. She began living in a caravan on the grounds of a Carmelite monastery at Quidenham, Norfolk, and her caravan was later replaced by a mobile home. Besides having received the Carmelite prioress and a nun who brought her provisions, she dedicated her life to solitude and prayer, but allotted two hours of work per day to earn her living.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Beckett
___________________________________
Count me as an ambivalent ex-Catholic, but there are some really interesting people within that tradition.
https://twitter.com/TaraBull808/status/1756380006744232392
Oligonicella,
I can’t believe you are a hyper-realist painter!! This is an incredible coincidence! I’m not sure I know why, but for as long as I recall seeing you comment here I have imagined you as the character Rabo Karabekian in the Vonnegut novel, “Bluebeard.” Karabekian was a hyper-realist painter!
How strange that I thought of that character when reading your comments.
Re: “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind”
Reconsidering page number, 69, on which the lone fly appears, I was concerned that it might be some naughty mischief.
But no, the last page of the Epilogue is page 138, so page 69 is exactly halfway through.
I guess I see the fly is that constant, unpleasant irritation of real life intruding and one’s learning to accept the the fly in all its beauty and inevitability for life and consciousness. Life, the Buddha tells us, is suffering.
Maybe I’ll get back to my Zendo down the road.
No basis for this suggestion beyond observation, but perhaps it really was intended as a “memento mori” comment on a wealthy, attractive woman who may have have had a serious illness — possibly a heart disorder — which would have been a death sentence. You can always refine too much on painted details, but if you look at those exquisitely rendered hands, what stands out to me is the nails, shadowed at all the margins in greyish tones, not a healthy pink. If it was an accurate rendition it is an indication of extremity circulation trouble — the tissues farthest from the heart are not getting oxygenated blood because the heart can’t pump it strongly enough. The adults of her family would have known, and the painter (eye for detail) would have as well.
Of course, she may have been perfectly healthy, and the grey tinge just a whim of the artist. But the effect is odd — a woman so impeccably got-up for her sitting, who showed up with grimy fingernails, or didn’t mind the painter giving that impression of her. All I can say is that was one of the things we looked for when making a field diagnosis, and I can recognize the appearance of it across the centuries in this portrait.
Megaera:
Wow. I know that you don’t know and you know it, but that was a classy comment.
Redolent of “To a Louse” by Robert Burns, to wit:
“Ye ugly creepin’, blastit wonner,
Detested, shunned, by saunt an’ sinner,
How dare ye set your fit upon her,
Sae fine a lady!”
And:
“O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!”
OT and all that…
I’m halfway through a French YouTube series on Joan of Arc. Mon Dieu!
I will go to France.
I will go to Paris and see the Eiffel Tower.
I will sip coffee on the Champs-Élysées.
Then I will go north to Domrémy where she was born.
I will go to Rouen where she burned.
Kneeling will be involved.
_________________________________
Joan, you are our only hope
From Heaven up high, deign hear our voices
Come down to us, come and convert France
Come save it a second time
–Chant for Saint Joan of Arc (english and french Lyrics)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI2v4FckAuw
_________________________________
Amen.
huxley,
Regarding zen and the fly. Although I have certainly been pestered by one more than once in my life, I find flies quite beautiful. They are amazingly complex creatures for their size. Perhaps, as you suggest, its presence in that blank section of the book is to spoil the otherwise clean, white pages. A fly in the ointment, perhaps. Similar to the theme of Nicolas Poussin’s painting, “Et in Arcadia ego.”
However, maybe it’s singled out there to encourage one to ponder on the wonder of the fly, to see it in a new light. Even the lowly fly is amazing beyond wonder and deserves reverence?
A fly in the ointment, perhaps.
Rufus:
Oh, you’re good!
The commenters at the link generally agree with Megaera and ArtfldgrsShadow .
@ Rufus > “Unbelievable this was not mentioned in her presentation! Hardly so strange knowing now that it was a bit of a fad at the time.”
Indeed.
And the jeans.
Maybe she didn’t know there would be filming that day.
As long as we’re on the subject of art, another post for huxley.
https://notthebee.com/article/a-year-ago-ai-gave-us-nightmare-video-of-will-smith-eating-pasta-the-next-generation-is-here-and-the-videos-are-blowing-my-mind
The videos at the post are truly amazing.
Gonna be a lot of animators out of jobs soon.
AesopFan @ 2:21am,
Holy jamoley! That last video that includes the prompts is unbelievable. Imagine what film directors are thinking as they see that? The Storyboarding step is now the actual process of making the final cut.
Gonna be a lot of animators out of jobs soon.
AesopFan:
Yes. Sora is big news. There’s a lot of big AI news. Beaucoup.
Gonna be a lot of people out of jobs. Actually, it’s already happening, but, like Bidenflation, it’s being downplayed.
Everyone is afraid, even the folks in C-suites.
Continuing down the primrose path with AI – does this surprise anyone?
https://babylonbee.com/news/amazing-new-technology-sure-to-advance-mankind-to-the-next-level-of-consciousn—never-mind-theyre-just-using-it-to-make-porn-again