I entered college with a year of Latin, three years of French, and writing skills that earned me a National Council of Teachers of English scholarship. What to take instead…
Elijah Boardman (1760-1823) In 1790, when Elijah was thirty years old, John Ramage painted his two-inch high portrait on ivory. From it, you'd probably recognize Elijah if you met him on…
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In college, I had a poster of Autumn Landscape on my wall. It's much better on a computer screen, which provides some of the glow that the back-lighting does at the…
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On my one and only, very brief visit to Rome, I didn't have time to visit the Borghese. Here's why I mind. Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1577-1633) and the Borghese Collection…
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art keeps all the works in this post in the American Wing, on the west side of the second floor (Gallery 706). Among the unforgettable images…
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This essay is adapted from Chapter 36 of Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide. I’ve kept cross-references to other chapters in the book. Sculptor: Jeronimo Suñol. Pedestal: Napoleon Le Brun.…
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This essay is adapted from Chapter 35 of Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide. I’ve kept cross-references to other chapters in the book. Sculptor: Gaetano Russo. Dedicated: 1892. Medium and size:…
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Available as a printable PDF and as a video. In the past few months, sculptures in Charlottesville, Baltimore, New York, and elsewhere have been lightning rods for love and for hate…
I've often wished I could skip the first watching of an opera, and go straight to the second. Opera is a multi-media spectacle, but I'm a word-oriented person. On my…
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This essay is adapted from Chapter 28 of Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide. I’ve kept cross-references to other chapters in the book. Sculptor: Paul Manship. Dedicated: 1934. Medium and size:…
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