Jul 27
In honor of the opening of the Olympics today, I’ve picked out three of my favorite images of Nike from the ancient Mediterranean. I’ve always been amused by the iconography of the Goddess Nike – flying off in a flurry or racing away, arms and legs shown mid-stride.
Classical Greek Nike from the Ancient Agora in Athens
Everyone knows Ephesus and its iconic library. Maybe you even know Troy or Alexander the Great’s Pergamon. These are wonderful archaeological sites, but if you are in Turkey and love classical ruins, you absolutely have to visit Aphrodisias. A mere side-note in most guidebooks, I found that Aphrodisias had some of the most impressive architectural and sculptural pieces in Turkey and was completely devoid of tourists when we visited.
Major archaeological sites in central western Turkey: Aphrodisias (A), Pamukkale/Hierapolis (P) and Ephesus (E) (Adapted from Google)
When I started searching through Fliegende Blatter, my goal was to find the story that accompanied my own Wahle painting. I’ve also naturally found other Wahle’s each with their own stories. It is very clear that for these illustrations, their context matters.
Friedrich Wahle – “Der Galante Offizier (The Gallant Officier)” sold in 2003
Above is “Der Galante Offizier (The Gallant Officer)” which was sold at auction in Munich in 2003. A gentleman sits adjusting his lapel flower while a woman looks away. It’s a lot clearer in the print version below. It’s a pity the painting image isn’t clear because I like the use of colors in the purple flowers, red uniform collar and green tone in the woman’s gown.
Friedrich Wahle – “Beim Einkauf (When Shopping)”, sold in Munich in 2005
If you haven’t been following along, I’ve embarked on a little research project to create a catalog raisonne and biography for the German illustrator Friedrich (Fritz) Wahle – mainly because I bought one of his paintings and couldn’t find any information about him. Many of his paintings appeared in the humor magazine Fliegende Blatter and so I’ve been going through digitized copies looking to correlate print images with auction records and to identify new painting. Here is the first match I found!
Valens Aqueduct running through Istanbul (Photo: Daydream Tourist)
Last week I wrote about the incredible Basilica Cistern in the heart of the Sultanahmet, or historic center, of Istanbul. All the water needed to fill that and other cisterns in Constantinople was brought in through an extensive aqueduct network which partially survives today. The most significant portion is the Valens Aqueduct constructed by Emporer Valens in the 4th century AD. It is about 95 feet high with about a 13 foot arch span which now allows cars to drive through the Byzantine aqueduct.
Daydream Tourist 