From: Amara Graps (amara@amara.com)
Date: Thu Mar 07 2002 - 14:24:33 MST
>Very fuckin' cool. 10k maps per year? Bring it on! --MMB
> http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,50785,00.html
> http://www.davidrumsey.com/
I agree. This is very very cool.
We've talked about old maps here before. Some folks like the
different projections or, if assuming their accuracy, seeing the
movement of peoples over time. If one relaxes that constraint of
accuracy, I enjoy the maps as an inside head-view of humans' value
systems at particular times in history. The older cartographers were
often artists too, shading and coloring the maps to enhance social,
geographical and political topologies.
My favorite collection of maps, so far, is located in the long
hallway of the Musei Vaticani (*) leading towards the Sistine Chapel.
"La Galleria Delle Carte Geografiche". [Sorry: I've not succeeded
to locate good pics or information on the Web]
Here, the walls of the long hall are covered with frescoed maps
painted by an 'average' Italian painter:Girolamo Danti,(born in
Perugia in 1547, died in 1580). The maps are supposed to represent
the holdings by the Pope at that time in history, so they covered
one portion of the world. Because the land holdings were smaller
than the lands covered by those golden Renaissance maps that we are
usually familiar with, more attention is given to details. For
example: On the 'higher altitude' maps, one often sees trees and
houses and farmland given a subtle, shaded 3D perspective. Not too
much to be an exaggeration, but enough to give the map character and
personality, sometimes humor. Other maps are painted as if flying at
a height of a helicopter, so we see much more detail of the terrain,
i.e. large schooners sailing into bays and lagoons, etc. The colors
are typically rich greens and blues with a lively energy and
movement.
(*) The Vatican Museums.
Some people might be surprised to discover that near the center of
Roman Catholic faith houses one of the world's great collections of
Classical art. Egyptian and Assyrian art, Etruscan art, Greek and
Roman art, Medieval art, and Renaissance art. I find it ironic that
within the Pope's living vicinity are symbols of goddesses and gods
of every kind, from Greek, Egyptian, Etruscan times. These are not
just small rooms either, but major museums. Have you seen a mummy
with your own eyes? If not, you will find two there. The Greek vases
alone encompass about 400 pieces, perhaps the largest collection in
the world.
Since the Attic vases were my 3rd favorite item in the Museums after
Raphael's works (The School of Athens ...) and the Gallery of Maps,
I'll show you a couple pics:
Red-figured bell krater - 125K
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/vaticano/ET2b-Krater.jpg
Obverse, Zeus, Alkmene, Hermes; reverse, two youths
Provenience: Paestan; attributed to the Aestas
Date: c. 350-325 B.C. Aestas painted a scene from a phlyax farce:
Zeus carries a ladder in an attempt to visit one of his loves. The
scene on this vase probably represents Zeus visit to Alkmene, wife
of Amphitrion, who appears at a window. Hermes holds up a lamp at
the right. Phlyax plays are peculiar to the Greek settlements in
Southern Italy.The actors, dressed in humorous costume, burlesque
the adventures of gods and heroes. The scene is bordered with a
geometric pattern. Another vase by the same painter (in the British
Museum) shows the sequel: Zeus is actually climbing the ladder.
White-ground calyx-krater - 207K ;
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/vaticano/ETb-Calyx.jpg
Obverse, Hermes, the infant Dionysos; reverse, a seated Muse playing
the lyre, between two standing Muses
Provenience: Attic; attributed to the Phiale Painter
Date: c. 440-430 B.C. This splendid krater, painted in polychromy on
a white engobe (or slip), is the work of the Phiale painter- the
pupil of the Achilles painter. Like his teacher, he did much work on
lekythoi, continuing the tradition of his master. Hermes brings the
infant Dionysos to Papposilenos; a nymph follows him. The scene of
the presentation of Dionysos is exquisite. The krater is bordered
with floral and geometric patterns. Dionysos was raised by the
nymphs of Nysa and his schooling began very early, as we learn from
a neck-amphora by the Eucharides painter, on which Zeus himself
carries his infant son to a nymph, who is shown with lyre, flute
case and writing tablet.
Greek vases are extra special because they were the first time in the
entire history of art (according to my art history text) that
clearly defined personalities were seen on art pieces.
The Vatican is a sovereign country in and of itself, encompasses
some 108 acres and is completely surrounded by Rome. It includes
St. Peter's Basilica (the largest church on earth at over six acres)
and the Vatican Museums with over 4-1/2 miles of corridors. As you
might guess, The Pope is *big business*: The Vatican has its own
bank, newspaper, etc etc
Amara
P.S. A few extropes were captured on film (and the extropian
photographer not on film), in the Vatican too:
http://www.amara.com/VaticanExtropes.jpg
That's Anubis the Dog King, on my right, who, in Egyptian times,
supervised the embalming process and guided those to the underworld,
so then the first 'cryonicist' ! He also used to guard souls of
dead people and give mirth and fun to living people.
-- ******************************************************************** Amara Graps, PhD email: amara@amara.com Computational Physics vita: ftp://ftp.amara.com/pub/resume.txt Multiplex Answers URL: http://www.amara.com/ ******************************************************************** "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." --Anais Nin
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 02 2002 - 09:12:49 MST
