A future special exhibit at noteworthy museums, after the jump …
But first: Top Comments appears nightly, as a round-up of the best comments on Daily Kos. Surely ... you come across comments daily that are perceptive, apropos and .. well, perhaps even humorous. But they are more meaningful if they're well-known ... which is where you come in (especially in diaries/stories receiving little attention).------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Send your nominations to TopComments at gmail dot com by 9:30 PM Eastern Time nightly, or by our KosMail message board. Please indicate (a) why you liked the comment, and (b) your Dkos user name (to properly credit you) as well as a link to the comment itself.
Last October, my Top Comments diary focused on the amazing tale of a museum that suffered the most costly art theft of all time. The Isabella Stewart Gardner (ISG) museum in Boston still has much to offer (besides paintings there is silver, tapestries, furniture and other treasures) and continues to have some rather prized paintings … the thieves who stole $500-m worth of art left some more valuable works that you can still see today. And one of them is by the Venetian Renaissance painter Titian.
You can read the original essay at this link.
Now …... an update.
The ISG will be the only US showing of a reunion of five paintings by Titian — beginning in London next March and reaching the Gardner museum in February 2021 (a year from this coming February). It will be the first time these five paintings will appear together in over 315 years.
Titian, born Tiziano Vecelli (circa 1490 — 1576) was the most famous Venetian painter of the 16th Century and was commissioned by King Phillip II of Spain to paint a series ... of whatever struck his fancy. He chose the Roman poet Ovid’s epic-length narrative poem Metamorphoses— published about the year 8 AD — and between 1551-1562, Titian produced six paintings. Referring to them as his “Poesies” — the “visual equivalents to poetry” — they were meant to be viewed as a series. Then in 1704 the Spanish Court began selling these paintings and today they are housed in six different collections. They include:
Diana and Actaeon as well as Diana and Callisto are jointly owned by the National Gallery in London and the Scottish National Gallery:
Diana and Actaeon (painted circa 1556-1559) — jointly owned in England & Scotland Diana and Callisto — (painted circa 1556-1559) — jointly owned in England & ScotlandThe Prado Museum in Madrid owns Venus and Adonis— which was sent to the Spanish prince in London, the scene of his marriage to Mary Tudor. It arrived in a damaged state, about which Philip even complained of in a letter.
Venus and Adonis (painted circa 1553-1554) — owned by the Prado Museum in Madrid, SpainAnother is Danaë— one of six versions painted by Titian — this one was produced in 1553 for presentation to Philip and is owned by the Apsley House in London.
Danaë — painted in 1553 (and owned by the Aspley House in London)The fifth is one that is housed in the Gardner museum, as was shown in my previous essay. While Isabella Stewart Gardner had several restrictions in her museum’s collection — they do not preclude loans to other galleries.
The Rape of Europa — circa 1560Sadly, one in the series that cannot be loaned out is Perseus and Andromeda— housed at the Wallace Collection in London — because when it was donated to that gallery the restrictions specified that the museum’s holdings “shall be kept together unmixed with other works of art”. For those who will be attending the showing of the other five paintings in London — one could next visit the Wallace Collection (two miles away) and thus see all six of the original series that day.
Perseus and Andromeda (painted 1554-1556) and owned by the Wallace Collection in LondonAnd so these five paintings will appear in London’s National Gallery (March-June 2020), Scotland’s National Galleries (July-September 2020), the Prado in Madrid, Spain (October 2020 — January 2021) and finally at the Gardner Museum in Boston (February-May 2021). That such a small group of works have generated so much interest so far ahead of time ….. indicates how the art world views this.
Let’s close with the same classical work that I used in my previous essay — and one that Emerson, Lake & Palmer helped revive in the 1970’s — because when visiting the Alte Pinakothek Museum in Munich, Germany back in 1999, a docent alerted visitors to the 5:00 PM closing time by carrying a portable tape recorder .. that played this introduction to Modest Mussorgsky’s work.
x xYouTube VideoNow, on to Top Comments:
From peregrine kate:
Ooops! Nomination of a comment made yesterday evening. :) In the diary by macknacat58 from last Sunday, about white nationalist Nazi-sympathizers — I really enjoyed reading this comment made by Billjohn, an original "Antifa" who is still here at 97 ... holding true to his values.And from Ed Tracey, your faithful correspondent this evening ........
In the front-page story about the sacrificial lamb GOP candidate (to run against Ilhan Omar) having multiple shoplifting charges - Captain Frogbert (in response to a question) explains the commission of felonies.
In the diary by mastergardner2k — about Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX) deciding not to seek re-election next year — after receiving a strong 2018 challenge from Sri Preston Kulkarni (w/extensive language outreach that Kulkarni spoke of at Netroots Nation) — Centrist Dem likens Olson to a former California congressman and in response, gf120581 offers a more organizational explanation.
And in the front-page story about Susan Collins bemoaning the effect of dark money in her re-election campaign, forthebirds highlights a Twitter post noting just nine years ago, she had a golden opportunity….. to do something about it.And lastly: yesterday's Top Mojo - mega-mojo to the intrepid mik ...... who rescued this feature from oblivion:
1) She literally said if the subpoenas go nowhere t … by GBCW +181 2) Priceless! … by Elizabeth NYC +151 3) It’s not about the money, it’s about the cruelty … by ricky63 +149 4) “Send her back” to congress for many many years … by Huskers +145 5) I’m curious if that lady would stand up and ask … by rudewarrior +134 6) By golly, evidence of resistance with humor. Lov … by Milret2 +124 7) Damned idiot gets owned. And Mueller steps outsi … by Bobs Telecaster +123 8) I feel the same way about all converts on this s … by The Octopus +121 9) I think there have been MULTIPLE offers to help … by zenbassoon +119 10) Loving it! … by dmhlt 66 +110 11) You didn’t actually watch the press conference, … by northleft +105 11) LOL “whose name I have forgotten” As had we all. by subtropolis +105 13) Dick Tuck has left us, but his spirit lives on. … by stevemb +103 14) Exactly … It seems as though the stonewalling an … by northleft +100 15) The word "títere" means "puppet”. … by Yamaneko2 +98 16) Oh, she remembers. Which makes what she said all … by puakev +95 17) Dear Jeff: First, spill the beans on pResident d … by GANJA +92 18) If it is a suicide attempt watch his lawyers fil … by ontheleftcoast +90 19) This isn't a frigging entertainment event, Chuck … by mlarson59 +84 20) lol Saw the golf clubs right off, but had to loo … by FarWestGirl +81 20) I am happy to hear that at least some of these k … by sweetthesound +81 22) It would have been nice if there some fireworks … by News Corpse +79 23) From Guy McPherson: … by Pakalolo +78 24) It’s a pretty good mind-fuck when you can get pe … by leonard145b +72 24) The thing is, we have reached a point where ever … by Captain Frogbert +72 26) Well said. And like the flocks of #NeverTrump we … by ontheleftcoast +71 26) I wish they'd can him. I can't stand him...on an … by LaPinturaBella +71 26) The double header was the first thing I noticed, … by zoom314 +71 26) Here is the quote I believe speaks toward impeac … by shopkeeper +71 26) Classic! by lmcl1950 +71