Jan 1
With the start of each new year, people generally reflect and reset priorities for the coming year. I hope 2015 brings you some art and travel adventures! Nothing enriches one’s life like experiencing beautiful, historical and culturally significant places, cities, and works of art. To get you started thinking about your future plans, I put together some of my favorite quotes with beautiful pictures for a little bit of New Years inspiration.
Not all the churches in the Holy Lands are old. The Church of the Shepherds’ Fields in Bethlehem was constructed in 1954 over some small caves on the outskirts of the city. Traditional holds that these caves were used by Shepherds even in ancient times hence the connection of this site to the Nativity story. The Church has a simple, contemporary ascetic, but by far has the best impromptu choir I’ve ever heard.
Exterior angel from the Church of the Shepherds’ Fields
As I listened to “O Little Town of Bethlehem” on the radio yesterday, for the first time in my life I didn’t picture huts and palm trees like some cartoon Christmas TV special. I thought back to the actual Bethlehem in the West Bank which I visited in the Spring. The old stable of my imagination has been replaced by a drafty Byzantine basilica and the straw by Orthodox icons and lamps. The shepherds and wise men in the Bible story are now an equality diverse group of international visitors. But with all that, the Church of the Nativity still maintains some of the midnight atmosphere and anxious stillness of the first Christmas which is remembered here.
Interior of the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, before restoration began. (Photo: Nick Thompson, flickr)
The monthly ArtSmart Roundtable brings together some of the best art-focused travel blogs to post on a common theme. This month we are discussing Art and Nature. Check out all the stories below!
One of my favorite William Morris designs, “Strawberry Thief,” 1883 (Photo: Victoria & Albert Museum)
Nature has inspired some of the most amazing art – from the representational, majestic landscapes of the Hudson River School to the stylized, curling flowers of the Art Nouveau. A painted landscape was one way to bring the environment back into our homes. The Arts & Crafts movement went one step further and sought to bring the beauty of nature inside and incorporate it into our furnishings and decorations. No one did more to turn parlors into romantic gardens like the British designer William Morris.
We take it for granted that paintings should be shown behind glass, watched by security, and protected in museums. However, for centuries a piece of art was just another personal possession. Someone could have a painting altered just as easily as having pants hemmed. Even pieces by the great masters were not immune to harsh treatment. Even an incredible painting by the Renaissance genius Leonardo da Vinci was carved up and nearly lost.
Leonardo da Vinci “Saint Jerome in the Wilderness (unrestored)”, Vatican Museums (Pinacoteca), Rome (Photo: Wikimedia)
Daydream Tourist 