Albanian Embroidery

Illustration: Albanian silk embroidery.

Albania was part of the Turkish Empire for over five hundred years. Therefore, it would be understandable if certain Turkish cultural and creative aspects were entwined with the craft skills and system of Albania.

Embroidery has always played a large part in Albanian life and was used extensively in costume. Traditionally both men and women were involved in the embroiderers craft, however, women were usually classed as amateurs and limited to that of a domestic base, while men organised themselves on a much more defined and professional base.

Albanian embroidery came in a number of guises and styles, but there were two main groups usually divided by language, with the Gheg to the north and the Tosk to the south. Work was often produced on linen, cotton and wool backgrounds. There was a strong emphasis on the use of gold and silver metal threads, which is said to have originated in Turkey itself. However, hand dyed yarns were also widely used although cotton for example, had to be imported as did silk, although there was a small amount of indigenous silk production.

Illustration: Satellite map of Albania.

Costume embroidery was produced for both men and women and was often produced in bands in order to attach them to different areas of jackets, bodices, shirts, trousers, skirts and aprons. Bands were also used to embellish various styles of hat.

As in many areas of the Balkans, embroidery design work, if not unique to specific local areas, at least gave a certain distinctive flavour of that particular area to a national style.

Albanian embroidery work and craft skills in general are much under-appreciated outside of the country. Admittedly this is partly due to the fact that Albania had self-imposed an isolationist attitude to the rest of the world for over half a century, but another reason is the general lack of detailed information and data concerning the traditional craft skills base of the country.

Illustration: Albanian embroidery using metal thread.

With the collapse of the communist system, many rural Albanians, particularly in the north of the country, found themselves without employment and so moved to the south and the main cities of the country, leaving their traditional craft skills behind them. The Albanian Traditional Embroidery Association (ATEA) was set up with the help of sympathetic groups in southern Italy, in order to maintain the unique embroidery skills and traditions of those northern Albanian migrants, but also of the embroidery skills of the country as a whole. It was hoped that this would be achieved by encouraging embroiderers, mostly women, into producing embroidery work for the international market, thus hopefully giving them some much-needed financial and economic help. Some of the work produced by embroiderers involved with ATEA can be seen here, while the ATEA site itself can be found in the Further reading links section below.

Further reading links:
Albanian Traditional Embroidery Association (ATEA)
Embroidery: Traditional Designs, Techniques, and Patterns from All over the World
Embroidered Textiles: A World Guide to Traditional Patterns
Albania 3rd (Bradt Travel Guide Albania)
Albania (Cultures of the World)
The Albanians: A Modern History
The Albanians: An Ethnic History from Prehistoric Times to the Present- 2 Vol. Set
Albanian Identities: Myth and History
Edward Lear in Albania: Journals of a Landscape Painter in the Balkans
Tribes and Brigands in the Balkans: A History of Northern Albania
Travels in European Turkey, in 1850: Through Bosnia, Servia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Thrace, Albania, and Epirus; with a Visit to Greece and the Ionian ... of Austria on the Lower Danube. Volume 2
George Castriot, Surnamed Scanderbeg, King of Albania
Travels in Greece and Turkey: Comprehending a Particular Account of the Morea, Albania, Etc.; a Comparison Between the Ancient and Present State of ... Geograhical Description of the Ancient Epirus

Of Mice and Snow

Last night my boys were going down after dark to put our cats in their basement room for the night. They have to walk right past our bird feeder along the way and this night they saw some kind of creature inside the feeder eating.

They ran back up and had me go outside to see and by the time I got out there the creature was climbing up the supporting rope and up into the tree. I got just a glimpse and I actually saw two critters climbing up. The boys were sure it was something like a possum or rat but I didn't think so from what I had seen.

We pulled out our mammal field guide and started paging through. What was the tail like? How was the head shaped? How big was it? What color was it? We went through all the pages and decided it had to be some kind of rodent.

I crept back to the door with the flashlight and quietly tiptoed out to the deck rail. I flipped on the switch and there in the feeder were the biggest mice I have ever seen. They looked straight at me a few seconds and then made a leap from the feeder to the tree, out onto a branch, and then hopped over to another tree and out of sight.

As long as they stay outdoors I can live with a few mice in my feeders.


This morning we woke up to snow on the ground and more coming down as daylight broke. I was so glad that I had gone out yesterday and cut a lot of my tulips and daffodils to bring inside. The ones left outdoors look so sad.


Our dog thinks this is perfect weather to be outdoors. It brings out the Labrador in her.

We are off to enjoy our very snowy day....I think hot cocoa is in order since this will more than likely be the last of our snow for the season.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Exploring Wellcome Collection: A Social History of Madness in Europe

What did it mean to suffer mental health problems in the past? How was madness understood and how were patients treated? Drawing on the rich holdings both in the Library and Wellcome Collection, this short course looks at the history of madness in Europe.

Operated in conjunction with our colleagues at Birkbeck College, the course will focus on different ways of classifying and treating insanity, as well as looking at the difference that gender and class made to treatment and diagnosis.

Topics explored include madness in medieval and early modern Europe; 'moral treatment' in the eighteenth century; the asylum age; hysteria and neurasthenia, degeneration and mental deficiency. This module also includes a special case study on alcoholism and madness.

More details can be found on the Birkbeck website.

Don't Bother Me

Just after a bit of peace and quiet. The others in here keep bothering me and now I have a camera in my face.
Grey skies and rain again. Bored bored bored.

Cherie Drives the Cube

Being the Editor of Aesthetica Magazine, does, at times, have its advantages. Last week, I was given the opportunity to preview the new Nissan Cube. Over the years, I’ve had many things come my way – mostly books (I love the art ones), CDs, tickets and a flight or two, so I was delighted to take this opportunity on board. It was an unusual experience for a number a reasons: 1.) I’m not really that in to cars, so as far as I’m concerned if it’s nice and it goes then I’m in. 2.) Well, really that’s the same as number one.


On the outside, the Cube is really intense. It has a beautiful shape and voluptuous contours. Paradoxically, although a bit boxy it’s round too. Everything was a bit oversized, at first appearing a bit wonky, take the wing mirrors for example, they’re massive, almost what you’d expect in a van, but actually I found that pretty convenient. The exterior colour of the one I drove was white, which in some respects gave it the appearance of a polar bear.

Anyway, when the Cube arrived, I took it for a little test drive around the office car park. One of the first things that you notice is how comfortable it is, and easy to drive (although most new cars are). Because of its unique design, there’s a lot of light in the car. I really like this aspect, especially the massive skylight, although, I was a little disappointed that it didn’t open! In hindsight, I can understand that it would be pretty distracting to drive with that much wind. And, what a great sound system, I did crank it all the way up, and somehow jazz, reggae and even pop sounded good streaming out.

There were several gadgets, like a camera to help with reversing, USB ports, Bluetooth, SatNav, auto lights and windscreen wipers, and even a key fob so that you almost magically open the door, oh and there was a button to start the car to boot. So, at first, I was thinking that perhaps this car was more geared towards men, but after a few days, I started to think that the car isn’t geared towards any gender, and it’s more about personalities.



Probably one of the best experiences I had was taking the Cube to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. I must admit, when I pulled into the car park, there were a few double takes, and we certainly attracted some attention, but I suppose in YSP, that’s the type of audience that will have an appreciation for aesthetics, and who will be looking at how design can enhance our built spaces. Needless to say, it was a good experience.

Not to mention, I love YSP, I think it’s just a great place to go to look at some world class sculpture, trek across a field, and end up at the Longside Gallery with their new show The Gathering (4 March –18 April), which is an Arts Council collection, curated by Robert Dingle, a recent graduate of Goldsmiths. The show features 31 works by 21 artists and with historical text and interviews; it traces seminal moments in the Collection’s history and captures the voices of the artists and selectors involved in the acquisition process. Artists represented include David Batchelor, Victor Burgin, Adam Chodzko, Keith Coventry, Tony Cragg, Martin Creed, Peter Doig, Gilbert & George, Richard Long, Mark Wallinger, Rebecca Warren, Catherine Yass and Bettina von Zwehl.

The Cube is a city car, with all the light you’re meant to take life slow and soak it up. All in all the Cube is a vibrant addition to the road, their marketing says something like, it’s for individuals and people who want to drive slow. I can’t argue with that.



After taking four of my team members for a drive – I asked for 50 words, and here’s what they said (we did leave the car park):

Sophie Gordon – Media Relations

Quirky details for modern city living including fantastic views from the glass roof panel, holders for takeaway bags, and a fantastic sound system make the Cube more practical and comfortable than you expect at first glance. Initially seeming like the car has unnecessary bulk from the outside, these are the eccentric curves you grow to love. The Cube has a fun mix of random aesthetics and innovative practicality that you don’t want to do without the more and more you experience the car. Comfortable and spacious inside, with a look entirely of its own on the outside – at least you’ll never lose it in the car park.

Bryony Byrne – Marketing

The new Nissan Cube is an odd little car. I’m not even sure that ‘little’ is the right word to describe it; it’s definitely a city car but it’s strangely bulky in the bodywork and is really quite tall. At first I thought it was small inside, given the large exterior, but it is actually incredibly spacious and this is more than just an illusion from the over sized skylight and windscreen. The doors, however, are narrow and the windows are shorter top to bottom than you’d expect. But I suspect that this may be the beauty of the Cube; nothing is as expected. I, for one, had expected to hate it but I may be falling for it instead.

Lucy Allen – Marketing

Though the exterior of Nissan’s Cube may seem at first a little strange, the panoramic views and spacious interior certainly make up for its curious shape. With plenty of light and height, the car is very comfortable and family friendly. Neatly disguised storage facilities, cup-holders and good boot-space contribute to the car’s practicalities and its large-frame and stable build offers security to the passengers. Remarkably, with the airy height and broad width of the car, there seems a puzzling lack of legroom so that a person 6ft 5in may in one sense feel very pleased with the head-room at the same time risking cramping in the legs! Overall, the car leaves a positive impact and includes an impressive, sensory unlocking system along with a revolutionary digital reversing system.

Dale Donley - Production & Design
He wanted to write something, but didn't submit in time, oh well, maybe next time Dale.


www.cubelist.co.uk

Sculpture first image: Nigel Hall Crossing (Vertical)
Sculpture second image - Sophie Ryder

Dominie Nash and Haunting Studies of a Dying Leaf

Illustration: Dominie Nash. Big Leaf Impromptu #8, 2008.

The Big Leaf series of textile art pieces by the artist Dominie Nash allows us to see both the robustness of the natural world along with the delicate and transient character that we often associate with particular aspects of nature. Leaves seem especially poignant to us with their ability to haunt us with ideas about decay and death. However, leaves should also be seen as an aspect of the cycle of life, dropped leaves in autumn only showing us part of that cycle.

Illustration: Dominie Nash. Big Leaf Impromptu #9, 2008.

Nash may well have been initially inspired to produce a series of textile art pieces using the construction, both delicate and robust, of a leaf, however the sequence of compositions that she has produced go a long way past any mere observational interest or aspect. These pieces have taken the most important features of the leaf from its complex colour tones to the emulation of the skeletal structure of the leaf through the use of hand stitching. All are portrayed within compositions that cover two very different aspects of fine art. On the one hand, is the analytical, almost medical approach to the anatomy of the leaf. Through that detailed analysis, comes an understanding of the anatomy of nature itself. However, another important aspect that Nash includes in all her work is the creative and inspirational character that underlies all of her work. The artist has an intrinsic understanding of colour tone and texture, which she uses with the confidence of compositional arrangement.

Illustration: Dominie Nash. Big Leaf Series #15, 2008.

To bring together the analytical, observational, compositional and creative features of her work while using the often difficult format of textiles, is a feat that Nash has managed to pull off. With these fascinating and at the same time haunting contained studies of both the dying leaf and the larger cycle of nature, the artist has managed to create for us a multi-focused compiled survey of the ever changing environment around us. In some respects, it is similar to one person stopping a moment in life's busy schedule, stooping down and picking a dead leaf up from the ground. That is the job of the creative, to allow us to observe a moment in time that they themselves have captured.

Illustration: Dominie Nash. Big Leaf Series #16, 2008.

Dominie Nash has exhibited her work across the US, as well as in the UK. She has a comprehensive website where much more of her work can be found. The link to her site is as always, in the reference links section below.

Illustration: Dominie Nash. Big Leaf Series #17, 2008.

All images are used with the kind permission of the artist.

Reference links:

Dominie Nash website

Spring This and That From Our Yard

Maybe it is in anticipation of starting the Spring Series of Outdoor Hour Challenges, but I am very much alert to the signs of spring around us. Mr. A and I were in the backyard doing some clean up and we noticed the winged parts of the sweet gum tree for the very first time ever. How could we have this tree in our yard for over a decade and not notice them before?

Does anyone know what these actually are?

Edit to add 3/31/10: After a few comments and some investigation on my part, I have come to the conclusion that this is not a sweet gum as we thought but a maple. I would like to thank those of you who commented about it being a maple this morning and helping me.

Here is what I wrote to Amy in an email:
I guess what has stumped me about this particular tree is that my husband is dead set that he planted a row of four sweet gums. I was thinking that this tree had the sticky balls on it but after going outside this morning, I might have been wrong. The other three in the row still have remnants of the sticky balls but this one doesn't. This one is the only one with the helicopter seeds on it and the other three still have buds and no leaves. I still never noticed the helicopter seeds before so it just shows how we really don't "see" until we stop and take the time to really "see".


My most favorite things in the garden right now are my blueberry bushes. We planted three bushes last fall and they are bursting out with blossoms right now. I have never had blueberries growing in our yard and it is something that I have wanted to try for a very long time.


The tulips are in full bloom right now as well with their pretty colors all in a row. These are definitely going into my nature journal again this year.


Aren't they pretty? We started this tulip garden last year with ten bulbs and I added ten more this last fall. There is a row of pansies behind it and when the tulips die back the pansies fill in for the summer.


This is a volunteer plant from seeds blown in from another part of the yard. We call it Money Plant but it is actually called Annual Honesty. It is really easy to grow and it has wonderful pods at the end of the season.


One more photo that is not from our yard but still really fun.

This turtle was on the loose at the flower nursery last week. My hubby and I were getting some garden inspiration by browsing the aisles of plants and this guy was walking down one side. There is a pond at the nursery and somehow he had taken a wrong turn and ended up in the wrong place. One of the nursery workers picked him up and carried him safely back to his pond and friends.

Tomorrow the weather man has predicted some light snow. I can hardly believe it. I am hoping he is wrong and we just get some much needed rain to water our garden flowers. I didn't get a photo of my climbing rose that is just beginning to bloom so I will make another post as soon as I can get back outdoors to capture it. Oh, I forgot to take a photo of our strawberries blossoming too. So much going on outdoors right now in our little yard. I suppose that will give me something to post about tomorrow.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Waterfall

This lovely waterfall was taken on the day I explored the park at Crystal Palace. I loved the way the light caught the water as it hit the rock, matching the shape of the grass.

On the last leg of my journey home now. Next post I'll really be back in London.

Great Sunflower Project 2010

Guess what I got in the mail???


We participated in the Great Sunflower Project last year and it was a wonderful experience. I encourage all who can grow and observe sunflowers to participate. I know it seems early to start thinking about growing sunflowers, but this is really the time of year to start the planning aspect of the garden.


Get more information about this fun summer activity here: Great Sunflower Project.

Barb-Harmony Art Mom

Greenbriar Attends MGM's 25th Anniversary Workshop --- Part One

Do you have the DVD set of That’s Entertainment? If so, find the extra devoted to raw newsreel footage of MGM’s 25th Anniversary luncheon. It runs about ten minutes and is riveting. Parts were used years ago in an ABC special, Hollywood: The Dream Factory (1972), but there’s lots more here. I decided to time tunnel back to that event ... call it April fooling ... in the guise of a company field representative, to join 700 revelers on enormous studio stage 30 (the studio’s biggest). My instrument is set for Thursday, February 10, 1949. No, scratch that. I’m timing my arrival for the previous Sunday, February 6. That’s when Metro’s army begins checking in at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, where the company’s Preview Of Product kicks off its week-long series of meetings to coordinate all facets of the company’s activities to make the world conscious of MGM’s anniversary. It won’t be like the last showman’s party they threw in 1937. This one’s a new efficiency version, according to The Motion Picture Herald. No more of those well-lubricated transcontinental junkets with compliant Hollywood starlets to greet us on arrival. This time it’ll be Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, and George Murphy laying out welcome mats (what … no Ava Gardner?). Sounds more like business, says the Herald, and sure enough this confab is plenty subdued beside the blowout we enjoyed twelve years ago. Back then, Louis B. marched through rains of confetti in a parade way better than what Shriners put on, and promised lotsa beautiful girls to show us a good time. From what I hear though, things got bad out of hand when one of us … well, maybe it’s better to let David Stenn tell you about that sordid mess in his documentary, Girl 27. I’m just out here to have a good time, even if that comes minus starlets.

I’m checked in the Ambassador with eighty-one guys from all over the country. We’re the home office executives, sales managers, district and branch managers, and field assistants to the sales managers. They’re driving us out to Culver City first thing Monday morning to start the meetings. A great big conference room awaits (that’s it and us below) where we get to spend the week listening to Mayer, Dore Schary and others give looong speeches. At least there’s screenings to break monotony. They want us to look at the stuff we’re expected to sell exhibitors back home. Personally, I don’t think the Metro product’s been all that hot lately, but for my job’s sake, I’ll keep mum about it. All the execs are hot for Take Me Out To The Ball Game, so much so that they’re switching its March release with an apparent dud entitled Caught, which was originally tabbed for May. That one’s directed by someone named Max Ophüls. So what’s he done for the boxoffice lately? Just heard too that Herbert Stothart died on February 1. Where’s Metro going to get background music now that this guy’s gone? The next we’re looking at is The Secret Garden. My theatres back home will figure it for small pox. Long time since Margaret O’Brien had a hit. Are they going to keep using the kid until she’s doing Ethel Barrymore’s stuff? I say put her with Beery again and give us another Bad Bascomb. One thing I’m not liking is head dog sales manager William F. Rodgers warning us not to violate the new anti-trust laws. He’s making with lots of will not tolerates and living up to court dictates talk. They didn’t use to be so fussy about how we booked their seasons. Rodgers is really trying to throw a scare into us. Remember, he says, the company can’t go to jail, but you may if you are found to be in contempt of the court. Way to throw a wet blanket on my working vacation, Bill.

Dore Schary’s a particular drag to listen to. All that optimism jazz goes down ragged on hard chairs. He’s blabbing about plans to do Quo Vadis again. Only a studio with our vast resources would dare contemplate bringing to the screen and to the audiences of the world a picture with the size and shape … blah and blah. And what’s Mayer going to say when he reads Sunday’s New York Times (February 6) where they interview MGM’s recently installed Production Head? … Schary right now is very probably the most important man in the movie industry, it says. If what I hear about LB is half true, there’s going to be H to pay for this squib. Mayer’s telling us about how he’s giving up his racing stables to devote more time to Metro operations. Some guys during the break wondered if we might be better off with him spending more time at the track rather than less. They feel that Mayer’s behind the times. Is this what’s making it so tough for us to sell MGM nowadays? You bosses can say the future looks bright indeed, but that doesn’t make it so. Schary claims they’re going to get out 67 features for 1949-50. There were only 24 in all of 1948. Are we supposed to calculate our groceries on this? The show we watched Wednesday was The Barkleys Of Broadway, with Astaire and Ginger Rogers together again. Now that makes sense from a money perspective, but then they sat us through something called The Great Sinner, which made me figure the greater sin was MGM’s making this stinker. You’ll pardon me, Metro, for doubting assurances that no other medium could create such entertainment. When it comes to product like The Great Sinner, would any of them want to? I guess to console us, Schary brought up another one they’ve got coming for the anniversary year, something about Clark Gable as a big shot gambler: If we can’t make money with this one, fellows, we all better go back to vaudeville, said he to group laughter. Well Dore, if you don’t start upgrading his vehicles, it may be Gable going back to vaudeville.

Director of advertising and publicity Howard Dietz went through some flotsam about new frontiers of selling, whatever that means. Then they announced a featurette in preparation called Some Of The Best. It’s said to be a compilation of MGM highlights going back to 1924 when they stated. The studio’s advertising director, Frank Whitbeck, says it will cost $25,000 to put together the forty-minute film, and that it will be available free to exhibitors. Audience reaction is expected to guide them as to which oldies should be reissued. Some of those have done all right, by the way. A Night At The Opera and San Francisco were back in circulation last year and sold. So did a couple of Tarzans from seven or eight years back. Finally, we got to visit some sets for Madame Bovary and The Forsyte Saga, both of which were costume-types, plus a modern thriller-looking something called Border Incident about sneaking Mexicans across US lines (wonder if much of that really goes on). The screenings dragged along with Neptune’s Daughter (looks OK) and The Stratton Story (little worried about Jimmy Stewart getting his leg blown off --- might scare away women and kids). By now it’s Thursday morning and four days into these workshops. I’d hoped to sneak off and see Busch Gardens, but too many supervisors are watching. Our big reward for listening to so much chin music is a luncheon they’re throwing on Stage 30. We’ve been promised a lavish feed and every star on the lot to shake our hands. They’re even serving chocolate ice cream in the shape of Leo The Lion.

Wellcome Library Insight: Facing Up to the Past

This week's free Wellcome Library session - on Thursday 1st April - offers both a chance to explore face reading through the collections of the Wellcome Library and also to learn about the life and death masks collected by Sir Francis Galton, and which are now part of the Galton Collection, UCL.

Speakers:
Natasha McEnroe, Grant Museum of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy
Danny Rees, Assistant Librarian, Wellcome Library

This Thursday's session is from 6pm-7.30pm, and tickets are available on the day from the Wellcome Collection Information Desk from 4.30pm onwards.

For more details, see the Wellcome Collection website.

(Image shown: Life mask of Sir Henry Wellcome, c.1902).

Rubbish

These carts and their drivers are what saves us from wading through a rubbish tip every day.

Ever tried to find a rubbish bin in London? Rare as hens teeth they are. Something to do with terrorists. We have these laws that put us all under suspicion of what I'm not sure. Councils however use these laws to see what we do with our rubbish.
You are encouraged to send photos of anyone you see littering, flytipping (that's colloquial for putting your rubbish in someone else's bin) and other such activities. Councils themselves have been known to clamber up ladders to keep an eye on the elderly in case an apple core or two makes into Joanna Smith's bin. An excellent use of anti terrorist law. We have plenty to fear from apple core vandals.

Discussion is also taking place about putting chips in our bins to analyse what we do with our waste. Did you put that council flyer in the recycle bin or did you burn it creating unnecessary co2 emissions.

Couldn't we just have a few more bins on the streets guys?

New Wellcome Library online subscriptions

The Wellcome Library has recently taken out a subscription to Oxford Art Online, which offers the ability to access and search the vast content of Grove Art Online and Oxford art reference works in one location. The resource covers all aspects of the visual arts from prehistory to the present day, from art and architecture to ceramics and photography, and is available to readers through PCs in the Wellcome Library.

In other subscription news, the following resources are now available remotely to Wellcome Library readers:

John Johnson Collection
(Provides access to thousands of items selected from the John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera at the Bodleian Library, and offers unique insights into the changing nature of everyday life in Britain in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries).

House of Commons Parliamentary Papers
(Provides access to over 200,000 House of Commons sessional papers from 1715 to the present day, with supplementary material back to 1688. HCPP delivers page images and searchable full text for each paper, along with a detailed subject index).

British Periodicals, Collections I & II
(Provides access to the searchable full text of hundreds of periodicals from the late seventeenth century to the early twentieth).

Peridicals Archive Online: JISC Collections selection
(An archive of hundreds of digitised journals published in the arts, humanities and social sciences, dating from 1891 to 2000).

These titles add to the other resources to which our readers already have remote access, a complete list of which is available on the Library’s website.

"The doctor's dream"

Engraving by Albrecht Dürer. Wellcome Library no. 570763i.

Albrecht Dürer's engraving traditionally called "The doctor's dream" is thought to be an early work, dating from his late twenties, i.e. circa 1497-1498. It shows a man sleeping by a hot stove as a devil blows evil thoughts into his ear. His thoughts are perhaps visualised in the figure of Venus, who gestures towards the stove, and Cupid, who learns to walk on stilts in the foreground. The print was already known in 1609 as "Der traümende Doctor" (The dreaming doctor). The man is certainly sleeping and he does look somewhat like the traditional representation of the scholar.

The subject has been compared (by Erwin Panofsky) with the description of the sin of sloth in Sebastian Brandt's Ship of fools (1494), which, as Panofsky says, "might well serve as a caption to Dürer's engraving":

A sluggard is no use except to be a hibernating dormouse and to be allowed a full measure of sleep. To sit by the stove is his delight … But the Evil One takes advantage of laziness and soon sows his seeds therein. Laziness is the root of all sin. It caused the children of Israel to grumble. David committed adultery and murder because he lolled in idleness [1]

Some of the ingredients of the composition, such as the costume of the man and the ceramic stove, are recognizable features of material life in Germany around 1500, but almost every item shown has some connotations over and above what it literally represents. The apple resting on a ledge of the stove, for instance, is both an apple and the cause of the Fall of Man. In the same room as the "real" sleeping man we see Venus and Cupid, who are imagined entities (deities), based on human woman and children but seen only in the mind's eye. In the same room again as those nude pagan deities is the half-hidden monstrous Devil of Christian lore, described in the Apocalypse. When beings from at least three different worlds are brought together in one composition, the resulting mixture of object and connotation, realism and allegory, was calculated to spark off a rich array of thoughts and feelings in the prepared mind. [2]

Left: the elements, qualities, humours, seasons, and ages of man. Airbrush by Lois Hague, 1991. Wellcome Library no. 114i.

For instance sloth (acedia) is one of the seven cardinal sins, but Galen says in chapter XXII of his Art of medicine that people whose brains are of a wet and cold temperament are inclined to heavy sleep and drop off easily; the humours that correspond to the quality cold are phlegm and melancholy; melancholy is an occupational disease of scholars (as in Dürer's print Melencolia I); scholars are acquainted with the supernatural beings described in ancient literatures ... and so on. The unified thought-systems of the time permitted and encouraged such leisurely mental promenades.

Nowadays impressions of this print come on to the market with increasing rarity. Already in 1803 it was described by the connoisseur Adam Bartsch as "du nombre des rares". A very fine impression belonging to a collector called Robert Balmanno and sold by him at Sotheby's in 1830 (yes, 1830) was re-sold at Sotheby's in London on 6 July 2001 (lot 20) for £33,850, which probably seemed a large sum at the time, and even more so a couple of months later. However the same impression was re-resold at Christie's in London on 5 December 2006 (lot 36) for £66,000.

Now, by coincidence, two somewhat less fine impressions than Balmanno's are being offered by Sotheby's and Christie's in London on two successive days in 2010. Sotheby's sale on 30 March (lot 18) has what they describe as "a good impression" with an estimate of £4,000-£6,000 (€4,550-6,900), while in Christie's sale on 31 March, lot 17, described as a Meder d/e impression, with some defects, has an estimate of £7,000-£10,000 ($11,000-15,000). Not a huge amount for a five hundred year old work by a man considered to be Germany's greatest visual artist. However, given the unpredictability of auctions, anything could happen. Whoever bids will not be competing against the Wellcome Library, as the Library already has a respectable impression.

[1] Erwin Panofsky, The life and art of Albrecht Dürer, Princeton 1955, pp. 71-72

[2] Jeroen Stumpel, 'The foul fowler found out: on a key motif in Dürer's Four witches', Simiolus, 2003, 30: 143-160 (citing some of the earlier literature)

Post Card from New Zealand

Moments after the storm these kite surfers took advantage of the strong winds and choppy sea.

I'm on the return journey now. The latest in London soon.