Theme #37 Letters

52 in 2016 Challenge

Letters build powerful words.

Take note politicians - you could learn from this passage by author Gavriel Savit! Anna and the Swallow Man, is a great read for young adults and adults!

Book review: flic.kr/p/Equ7fw

Leica M6 TTL 0,72 Elmarit-M 1:2,8/21 mm ASPH.Nikon coolscan 5000ed. Developer Ilford ID-11 1+1. Delta 100 asa.

ONLY PERSONAL COMMENTS. NO LOGOS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING

🔴Leica my point of view.

Wetzlar, Deutschland.

Leica-CL 1974 Rangefinder

Leica-M 6 TTL 0.72 1998 Rangefinder

Leica-M6 TTL 0.85 2001 Rangefinder

Nikon Super Coolscan 5000 ED, Film Scanner.

Maastricht Limburg Nederland

The Netherlands.

Understanding

happy to pose together for me and they look with such an understanding and sympathy too! the photo speaks not only of their humanity and warmth but also our interactions

- those are selling the very colourful battles of oils -

...in a different understanding.

"Hydrangea represents friendship, devotion, perseverance, and understanding."

~ Author Unknown

memories, memories, memories...

from near my car park...

Thanks for stopping by

and God Bless,

hugs, Chris

Materials exchange with Elisabeth Taudière, France.

6x6 Collage Group

Miscellaneous papers, string.

Heute in ZOOM Erlebniswelt Gelsenkirchen.

“People who understand everything get no stories.”

Bertolt Brecht

A series of AI-generated pictures of the extremely rare Donkiger (Asinus altaica) in the wild.

To be continued.

Pictures made with Midjourney.

I'm always happy to accept invites to groups as long as I can see their content. Should I see "this group is not available to you", my photos won't be made available to that group. Thanks for your understanding.

Merton begins this transitional section by clearly indicating that while vows are an essential element of religious profession, they are not the only or even the most important dimension of that profession. First in significance is the commitment to ongoing conversion, to “putting on” Christ, to following Christ, to sharing in the mystery of Christ. Then comes incorporation into the religious community, to be understood not just in a juridical context, as a contractual arrangement, but as participation in a supernatural family that is a manifestation of Trinitarian mutual love. “In this society of love,” Merton writes, “what matters is not the assertion of rights and the enforcement of obligations, but mutual trust and love” (157), which should then radiate out from the community to embrace the entire Church. Without this family spirit, religious life is reduced to “organized hypocrisy” (158). Consecration to God by vow is thus “but the third in importance of the three essential elements of religious profession” (158).

Merton then goes on to consider the nature of religious profession in general and of making vows in particular from both canonical and theological perspectives. The validity of profession depends on the fulfillment of various external factors (age, valid novitiate, explicit public declaration, etc.) but most fundamentally on free and full consent. The theological foundation of profession, traced through the successive diverse acts that constitute consent according to Thomistic analysis, is the will to obligate oneself, the free decision of the entire person, involving intelligence, senses and emotions, and the will. Thus to make a vow is not to renounce one’s freedom but to exercise it in an act of worship, the definitive offering of oneself to God. “Only to such a One can we give our liberty without debasing it. Only to such a One can we give our liberty and become yet more free by doing so” (185).

-The life of the vows : initiation into the monastic tradition 6 / by Thomas Merton ; edited with an introduction by Patrick F. O’Connell ; preface by Augustine Roberts.

Story :

Other : Complete

Value in box :

I don't sell my dolls. Thank you for your understanding !!!

Don't repost without my permission ☠

All rights reserved ©

Brenton Elisberg, left, and Ryan Jamison look through a piece of cracked laminate glass, an example of how brittle materials can fail. Brenton and Ryan are part of Sandia’s Brittle Materials Assurance Prediction Program (BritMAPP), which is studying brittle materials in three ways: through stress and loading; fracture mechanics to see how cracks start and develop; and the relationship between material properties and structure.

Learn more at bit.ly/2ky5WCc.

Photo by Randy Montoya.

Tienes las respuestas en tu mente. Lo has olvidado conscientemente. Así trabaja la mente humana, cuando algo es demasiado desagradable o vergonzoso para que lo recordemos, lo rechazamos. Lo borramos de nuestra memoria. Pero siempre queda una huella.

El dolor que te atenaza. El miedo que te ciega. Me dan vida, nos la dan a los dos. Vergüenza que idolatramos, para cegarlos de lo que somos en realidad. Por favor, no tengas miedo cuando la oscuridad se vaya. El amanecer romperá el silencio que reina en nosotros.

Echada a tu lado. Escuchándote respirar. La vida que fluye dentro de ti arde dentro de mí. Me retiene y me habla de un amor sin sonido. Dime que sobrevivirás a esto y moriré por ti; no me dejes, dime que estarás conmigo, para que yo sepa que esto no puedo soportarlo sola.

Pero la huella siempre queda ahí. Nada se olvida realmente para siempre.

Full understanding for Pu er tea

Xishuang Banna (西双版納) as a famous pu-erh tea production area

Xishuang Banna is situated on the Southern end of Yunnan and it is located at the borders of Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos. The name of “Xishuang Banna” is originated from Thai language. The ancient route of Tea and Horse started from the Southern end of Xishuang Banna, a town called Yiwu (易武), and it continued up to the North. Tea was once stocked and gathered at a town called pu-erh (普洱) which is the hub for pu-erh tea trading and logistics. This is why the minorities’ tea was named as pu-erh.

ripe puer tea

Pu’er ripe tea is fermented in heaps, under the action of enzymes, producing many new nutrients which are beneficial to you health,.

raw puer tea

Raw puer tea is suitable for long storage. Classic raw pu’er tea tastes bitter, especially at first, has has a sweet and fragrant aftertaste.

Yiwu Zhengshan tea cake

Yiwu Zhengshan Pu Er tea cake is produced from tea leaves harvested from Yi Wu Zheng Shan,in southeast Yunnan province. The word Zheng means original, and only tea leaves harvested from Yi Wu town (only a few sq km in size) can be considered as such. The infusion yields a strong liquor that is slightly bitter but finishes with a sweet aftertaste. Aged in the Shou, cooked style, this pu-erh has already settled into a rich and versatile flavor profile.

Sheryl hz.aliexpress.com/store/1852188

Email, heteapuerh@gmail.com

kmhetea@yahoo.com

Skype, heteapuerh@sheryl

Contact, sheryl Lynnlee

Shuttle358

⚫️

Book :

New Order

Retro

London Records

2008

Photography . Nick Knight

Art Direction . Peter Saville

CD :

Pinkcourtesyphone

Elegant & Detached

ROOM40

RM451

Music & Design . Richard Chartier

iTunes :

New Order

Sub Vulture

Factory

FAC133

Sir GMAttenborough ...

Portrait of a young woman - DVSC03948a-zw

The Luxury of being yourself

We have selected pictures on our website, but can always add more depending on the requests we do get and the current trend in the world of luxury fine art:

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We tend to celebrate light in our pictures. Understanding how light interacts with the camera is paramount to the work we do. The temperature, intensity and source of light can wield different photography effect on the same subject or scene; add ISO, aperture and speed, the camera, the lens type, focal length and filters…the combination is varied ad multi-layered and if you know how to use them all, you will come to appreciate that all lights are useful, even those surrounded by a lot of darkness.

We are guided by three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, our longing to capture in print, that which is beautiful, the constant search for the one picture, and constant barrage of new equipment and style of photography. These passions, like great winds, have blown us across the globe in search of the one and we do understand the one we do look for might be this picture right here for someone else out there.

“A concise poem about our work as stated elow

A place without being

a thought without thinking

creatively, two dimensions

suspended animation

possibly a perfect imitation

of what was then to see.

A frozen memory in synthetic colour

or black and white instead,

fantasy dreams in magazines

become imbedded inside my head.

Artistic views

surrealistic hues,

a photographer’s instinctive eye:

for he does as he pleases

up to that point he releases,

then develops a visual high.

- M R Abrahams

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In our galleries you will find some amazing fine art photography for sale as limited edition and open edition, gallery quality prints. Only the finest materials and archival methods are used to produce these stunning photographic works of art.

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WS-281-351285944-9607332-4833563-8102021093504

GWBPC Engage Event Understanding the Boarder. Photo by Grant Miller Photography

Leipziger Buchmesse 2015

2015-03-13 (Friday)

2015_023

2015#146

Naenia (Lea) 244435 as Merida from Brave

One of the most beautiful cosplay girls I've ever taken photos of. While most cosplayers wear wigs, what you see here is her natural hair.

Thank you for any group invites which I'd be glad to accept. However, if I can't check the content of such groups ("This group is not available to you") I'd rather not add any of my photos. Thanks for your understanding.

Educational Classroom Poster for teaching elementary math. This one help students understand the concepts and units of Metric Lengths.

Available in letter size and now 11"x17".

I have struggled with understanding, especially in the last couple years since I received my promotion. I struggle more so not in my understanding of things or of others, but in getting others to understand me and my world. It’s hard to explain why I work the hours I do and to get others to understand why yes, it is very difficult in my day to find time just to go to the bathroom or find a minute to eat something. One of my supervisors asked me the other day, “Do you eat? I never see you eat.” I just smiled on the outside and said “Of course I eat, can’t you tell??” but when the laugh faded, inside I was crumbling…

Sure, there’s the psychological side that says “Maybe that’s the way I want my life to be. I built my life to be this way on purpose for _______ reason….”, but I don’t quite buy that. No- correction: I don’t buy that whatsoever.

I wish I had a better means to bring understanding of my world and of my mind to those close to me: what I am going through, what my world is like, what millions of thoughts race through my mind. I wish I had the time to explain, be transparent, and be understood. But I have the feeling I will be chasing that elusive understanding for some time…

Theme: Musings And Ramblings

Year Six Of My 365 Project

Humanity's direction shall always be towards a more loving and peaceful life...for younger generations and future generations to be born...

explord # 229

Thanks for visiting ~

Portrait on London streets, a street worker looks back to me with understanding. This looks of human understanding remain so important for me.

I asked him, almost as I arrived in London, they were having a pause, "may I take a photo of you?" and he answered "Why? I am old" then I pointed to myself and said "And me? I am not still interesting, because of my age? I am older then you."

That is the look, telling me, "yes, take a photo"!

We were not so different after all and he felt also interesting.

I do remember, looking at these photos again, when Judy Carter told us "SEE the others" around you, tell them you see them.

Photo taken less then a month after my arrival in UK.

During my first photo stroll in London centre.

My set "no more a stranger" of photos of people I did not know

No more stranger set

Old Vieux Öreg set

OLD Vieux Öreg set

Bikers must start somewhere.

Pictured: A Schwinn S500 Electric Scooter

P1370317 (2)

Royal Navy And Royal Netherlands Navy Signing A Memorandum of Understanding. Picture:LA(Phot) Alex Knott

2SL, Vice Admiral David Steel CBE signing the Memorandumof Understanding on behalf of the Royal Navy.

2SL, Vice Admiral David Steel CBE signed the Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the Royal Navy. Pictured is the Second Sea Lord Vice Admiral David Steel CBE and Vice Admiral Borsboom of the Royal Netherlands Navy whilst the two respective Navies sign the Memorandum of Understanding, aboard HMS Victory in HMNB Portsmouth.

The Ajanta Caves (Ajiṇṭhā leni; Marathi: अजिंठा लेणी) in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India are about 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 or 650 CE. The caves include paintings and sculptures described by the government Archaeological Survey of India as "the finest surviving examples of Indian art, particularly painting", which are masterpieces of Buddhist religious art, with figures of the Buddha and depictions of the Jataka tales. The caves were built in two phases starting around the 2nd century BCE, with the second group of caves built around 400–650 CE according to older accounts, or all in a brief period of 460 to 480 according to the recent proposals of Walter M. Spink. The site is a protected monument in the care of the Archaeological Survey of India, and since 1983, the Ajanta Caves have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The caves are located in the Indian state of Maharashtra, near Jalgaon and just outside the village of Ajinṭhā 20°31′56″N 75°44′44″E), about 59 kilometres from Jalgaon railway station on the Delhi – Mumbai line and Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line of the Central Railway zone, and 104 kilometres from the city of Aurangabad. They are 100 kilometres from the Ellora Caves, which contain Hindu and Jain temples as well as Buddhist caves, the last dating from a period similar to Ajanta. The Ajanta caves are cut into the side of a cliff that is on the south side of a U-shaped gorge on the small river Waghur, and although they are now along and above a modern pathway running across the cliff they were originally reached by individual stairs or ladders from the side of the river 35 to 110 feet below.

The area was previously heavily forested, and after the site ceased to be used the caves were covered by jungle until accidentally rediscovered in 1819 by a British officer on a hunting party. They are Buddhist monastic buildings, apparently representing a number of distinct "monasteries" or colleges. The caves are numbered 1 to 28 according to their place along the path, beginning at the entrance. Several are unfinished and some barely begun and others are small shrines, included in the traditional numbering as e.g. "9A"; "Cave 15A" was still hidden under rubble when the numbering was done. Further round the gorge are a number of waterfalls, which when the river is high are audible from outside the caves.

The caves form the largest corpus of early Indian wall-painting; other survivals from the area of modern India are very few, though they are related to 5th-century paintings at Sigiriya in Sri Lanka. The elaborate architectural carving in many caves is also very rare, and the style of the many figure sculptures is highly local, found only at a few nearby contemporary sites, although the Ajanta tradition can be related to the later Hindu Ellora Caves and other sites.

HISTORY

Like the other ancient Buddhist monasteries, Ajanta had a large emphasis on teaching, and was divided into several different caves for living, education and worship, under a central direction. Monks were probably assigned to specific caves for living. The layout reflects this organizational structure, with most of the caves only connected through the exterior. The 7th-century travelling Chinese scholar Xuanzang informs us that Dignaga, a celebrated Buddhist philosopher and controversialist, author of well-known books on logic, lived at Ajanta in the 5th century. In its prime the settlement would have accommodated several hundred teachers and pupils. Many monks who had finished their first training may have returned to Ajanta during the monsoon season from an itinerant lifestyle.

The caves are generally agreed to have been made in two distinct periods, separated by several centuries.

CAVES OF THE FIRST (SATAVAHANA) PERIOD

The earliest group of caves consists of caves 9, 10, 12, 13 and 15A. According to Walter Spink, they were made during the period 100 BCE to 100 CE, probably under the patronage of the Satavahana dynasty (230 BCE – c. 220 CE) who ruled the region. Other datings prefer the period 300 BCE to 100 BCE, though the grouping of the earlier caves is generally agreed. More early caves may have vanished through later excavations. Of these, caves 9 and 10 are stupa halls of chaitya-griha form, and caves 12, 13, and 15A are vihāras (see the architecture section below for descriptions of these types). The first phase is still often called the Hinayāna phase, as it originated when, using traditional terminology, the Hinayāna or Lesser Vehicle tradition of Buddhism was dominant, when the Buddha was revered symbolically. However the use of the term Hinayana for this period of Buddhism is now deprecated by historians; equally the caves of the second period are now mostly dated too early to be properly called Mahayana, and do not yet show the full expanded cast of supernatural beings characteristic of that phase of Buddhist art. The first Satavahana period caves lacked figurative sculpture, emphasizing the stupa instead, and in the caves of the second period the overwhelming majority of images represent the Buddha alone, or narrative scenes of his lives.

Spink believes that some time after the Satavahana period caves were made the site was abandoned for a considerable period until the mid-5th century, probably because the region had turned mainly Hindu

CAVES OF THE LATER OR VAKATAKA PERIOD

The second phase began in the 5th century. For a long time it was thought that the later caves were made over a long period from the 4th to the 7th centuries CE, but in recent decades a series of studies by the leading expert on the caves, Walter M. Spink, have argued that most of the work took place over the very brief period from 460 to 480 CE, during the reign of Emperor Harishena of the Vakataka dynasty. This view has been criticized by some scholars, but is now broadly accepted by most authors of general books on Indian art, for example Huntington and Harle.

The second phase is still often called the Mahāyāna or Greater Vehicle phase, but scholars now tend to avoid this nomenclature because of the problems that have surfaced regarding our understanding of Mahāyāna.

Some 20 cave temples were simultaneously created, for the most part viharas with a sanctuary at the back. The most elaborate caves were produced in this period, which included some "modernization" of earlier caves. Spink claims that it is possible to establish dating for this period with a very high level of precision; a fuller account of his chronology is given below. Although debate continues, Spink's ideas are increasingly widely accepted, at least in their broad conclusions. The Archaeological Survey of India website still presents the traditional dating: "The second phase of paintings started around 5th – 6th centuries A.D. and continued for the next two centuries". Caves of the second period are 1–8, 11, 14–29, some possibly extensions of earlier caves. Caves 19, 26, and 29 are chaitya-grihas, the rest viharas.

According to Spink, the Ajanta Caves appear to have been abandoned by wealthy patrons shortly after the fall of Harishena, in about 480 CE. They were then gradually abandoned and forgotten. During the intervening centuries, the jungle grew back and the caves were hidden, unvisited and undisturbed, although the local population were aware of at least some of them.

REDISCOVERY

On 28 April 1819, a British officer for the Madras Presidency, John Smith, of the 28th Cavalry, while hunting tiger, accidentally discovered the entrance to Cave No. 10 deep within the tangled undergrowth. There were local people already using the caves for prayers with a small fire, when he arrived. Exploring that first cave, long since a home to nothing more than birds and bats and a lair for other larger animals, Captain Smith vandalized the wall by scratching his name and the date, April 1819. Since he stood on a five-foot high pile of rubble collected over the years, the inscription is well above the eye-level gaze of an adult today. A paper on the caves by William Erskine was read to the Bombay Literary Society in 1822. Within a few decades, the caves became famous for their exotic setting, impressive architecture, and above all their exceptional, all but unique paintings. A number of large projects to copy the paintings were made in the century after rediscovery, covered below. In 1848 the Royal Asiatic Society established the "Bombay Cave Temple Commission" to clear, tidy and record the most important rock-cut sites in the Bombay Presidency, with John Wilson, as president. In 1861 this became the nucleus of the new Archaeological Survey of India. Until the Nizam of Hyderabad built the modern path between the caves, among other efforts to make the site easy to visit, a trip to Ajanta was a considerable adventure, and contemporary accounts dwell with relish on the dangers from falls off narrow ledges, animals and the Bhil people, who were armed with bows and arrows and had a fearsome reputation.

Today, fairly easily combined with Ellora in a single trip, the caves are the most popular tourist destination in Mahrashtra, and are often crowded at holiday times, increasing the threat to the caves, especially the paintings. In 2012, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation announced plans to add to the ASI visitor centre at the entrance complete replicas of caves 1, 2, 16 & 17 to reduce crowding in the originals, and enable visitors to receive a better visual idea of the paintings, which are dimly-lit and hard to read in the caves. Figures for the year to March 2010 showed a total of 390,000 visitors to the site, divided into 362,000 domestic and 27,000 foreign. The trends over the previous few years show a considerable growth in domestic visitors, but a decline in foreign ones; the year to 2010 was the first in which foreign visitors to Ellora exceeded those to Ajanta.

PAINTINGS

Mural paintings survive from both the earlier and later groups of caves. Several fragments of murals preserved from the earlier caves (Caves 9 and 11) are effectively unique survivals of court-led painting in India from this period, and "show that by Sātavāhana times, if not earlier, the Indian painter had mastered an easy and fluent naturalistic style, dealing with large groups of people in a manner comparable to the reliefs of the Sāñcī toraņa crossbars".

Four of the later caves have large and relatively well-preserved mural paintings which "have come to represent Indian mural painting to the non-specialist", and fall into two stylistic groups, with the most famous in Caves 16 and 17, and apparently later paintings in Caves 1 and 2. The latter group were thought to be a century or more later than the others, but the revised chronology proposed by Spink would place them much closer to the earlier group, perhaps contemporary with it in a more progressive style, or one reflecting a team from a different region. The paintings are in "dry fresco", painted on top of a dry plaster surface rather than into wet plaster.

All the paintings appear to be the work of painters at least as used to decorating palaces as temples, and show a familiarity with and interest in details of the life of a wealthy court. We know from literary sources that painting was widely practised and appreciated in the courts of the Gupta period. Unlike much Indian painting, compositions are not laid out in horizontal compartments like a frieze, but show large scenes spreading in all directions from a single figure or group at the centre. The ceilings are also painted with sophisticated and elaborate decorative motifs, many derived from sculpture. The paintings in cave 1, which according to Spink was commissioned by Harisena himself, concentrate on those Jataka tales which show previous lives of the Buddha as a king, rather than as an animal or human commoner, and so show settings from contemporary palace life.

In general the later caves seem to have been painted on finished areas as excavating work continued elsewhere in the cave, as shown in caves 2 and 16 in particular. According to Spink's account of the chronology of the caves, the abandonment of work in 478 after a brief busy period accounts for the absence of painting in caves such as 4 and 17, the later being plastered in preparation for paintings that were never done.

COPIES

The paintings have deteriorated significantly since they were rediscovered, and a number of 19th-century copies and drawings are important for a complete understanding of the works. However, the earliest projects to copy the paintings were plagued by bad fortune. In 1846, Major Robert Gill, an Army officer from Madras presidency and a painter, was appointed by the Royal Asiatic Society to replicate the frescoes on the cave walls to exhibit these paintings in England. Gill worked on his painting at the site from 1844 to 1863 (though he continued to be based there until his death in 1875, writing books and photographing) and made 27 copies of large sections of murals, but all but four were destroyed in a fire at the Crystal Palace in London in 1866, where they were on display.

Another attempt was made in 1872 when the Bombay Presidency commissioned John Griffiths, then principal of the Bombay School of Art, to work with his students to make new copies, again for shipping to England. They worked on this for thirteen years and some 300 canvases were produced, many of which were displayed at the Imperial Institute on Exhibition Road in London, one of the forerunners of the Victoria and Albert Museum. But in 1885 another fire destroyed over a hundred paintings that were in storage. The V&A still has 166 paintings surviving from both sets, though none have been on permanent display since 1955. The largest are some 3 × 6 metres. A conservation project was undertaken on about half of them in 2006, also involving the University of Northumbria. Griffith and his students had unfortunately painted many of the paintings with "cheap varnish" in order to make them easier to see, which has added to the deterioration of the originals, as has, according to Spink and others, recent cleaning by the ASI.

A further set of copies were made between 1909 and 1911 by Christiana Herringham (Lady Herringham) and a group of students from the Calcutta School of Art that included the future Indian Modernist painter Nandalal Bose. The copies were published in full colour as the first publication of London's fledgling India Society. More than the earlier copies, these aimed to fill in holes and damage to recreate the original condition rather than record the state of the paintings as she was seeing them. According to one writer, unlike the paintings created by her predecessors Griffiths and Gill, whose copies were influenced by British Victorian styles of painting, those of the Herringham expedition preferred an 'Indian Renascence' aesthetic of the type pioneered by Abanindranath Tagore.

Early photographic surveys were made by Robert Gill, who learnt to use a camera from about 1856, and whose photos, including some using stereoscopy, were used in books by him and Fergusson (many are available online from the British Library), then Victor Goloubew in 1911 and E.L. Vassey, who took the photos in the four volume study of the caves by Ghulam Yazdani (published 1930–1955).

ARCHITECTURE

The monasteries mostly consist of vihara halls for prayer and living, which are typically rectangular with small square dormitory cells cut into the walls, and by the second period a shrine or sanctuary at the rear centred on a large statue of the Buddha, also carved from the living rock. This change reflects the movement from Hinayana to Mahāyāna Buddhism. The other type of main hall is the narrower and higher chaitya hall with a stupa as the focus at the far end, and a narrow aisle around the walls, behind a range of pillars placed close together. Other plainer rooms were for sleeping and other activities. Some of the caves have elaborate carved entrances, some with large windows over the door to admit light. There is often a colonnaded porch or verandah, with another space inside the doors running the width of the cave.

The central square space of the interior of the viharas is defined by square columns forming a more or less square open area. Outside this are long rectangular aisles on each side, forming a kind of cloister. Along the side and rear walls are a number of small cells entered by a narrow doorway; these are roughly square, and have small niches on their back walls. Originally they had wooden doors. The centre of the rear wall has a larger shrine-room behind, containing a large Buddha statue. The viharas of the earlier period are much simpler, and lack shrines. Spink in fact places the change to a design with a shrine to the middle of the second period, with many caves being adapted to add a shrine in mid-excavation, or after the original phase.

The plan of Cave 1 shows one of the largest viharas, but is fairly typical of the later group. Many others, such as Cave 16, lack the vestibule to the shrine, which leads straight off the main hall. Cave 6 is two viharas, one above the other, connected by internal stairs, with sanctuaries on both levels.

The four completed chaitya halls are caves 9 and 10 from the early period, and caves 19 and 26 from the later period of construction. All follow the typical form found elsewhere, with high ceilings and a central "nave" leading to the stupa, which is near the back, but allows walking behind it, as walking around stupas was (and remains) a common element of Buddhist worship (pradakshina). The later two have high ribbed roofs, which reflect timber forms, and the earlier two are thought to have used actual timber ribs, which have now perished. The two later halls have a rather unusual arrangement (also found in Cave 10 at Ellora) where the stupa is fronted by a large relief sculpture of the Buddha, standing in Cave 19 and seated in Cave 26. Cave 29 is a late and very incomplete chaitya hall.

The form of columns in the work of the first period is very plain and un-embellished, with both chaitya halls using simple octagonal columns, which were painted with figures. In the second period columns were far more varied and inventive, often changing profile over their height, and with elaborate carved capitals, often spreading wide. Many columns are carved over all their surface, some fluted and others carved with decoration all over, as in cave 1.

The flood basalt rock of the cliff, part of the Deccan Traps formed by successive volcanic eruptions at the end of the Cretaceous, is layered horizontally, and somewhat variable in quality, so the excavators had to amend their plans in places, and in places there have been collapses in the intervening centuries, as with the lost portico to cave 1. Excavation began by cutting a narrow tunnel at roof level, which was expanded downwards and outwards; the half-built vihara cave 24 shows the method. Spink believes that for the first caves of the second period the excavators had to relearn skills and techniques that had been lost in the centuries since the first period, which were then transmitted to be used at later rock-cut sites in the region, such as Ellora, and the Elephanta, Bagh, Badami and Aurangabad Caves.

The caves from the first period seem to have been paid for by a number of different patrons, with several inscriptions recording the donation of particular portions of a single cave, but according to Spink the later caves were each commissioned as a complete unit by a single patron from the local rulers or their court elites. After the death of Harisena smaller donors got their chance to add small "shrinelets" between the caves or add statues to existing caves, and some two hundred of these "intrusive" additions were made in sculpture, with a further number of intrusive paintings, up to three hundred in cave 10 alone.

A grand gateway to the site, at the apex of the gorge's horsehoe between caves 15 and 16, was approached from the river, and is decorated with elephants on either side and a nāga, or protective snake deity.

ICONOGRAPHY OF THE CAVES

In the pre-Christian era, the Buddha was represented symbolically, in the form of the stupa. Thus, halls were made with stupas to venerate the Buddha. In later periods the images of the Buddha started to be made in coins, relic caskets, relief or loose sculptural forms, etc. However, it took a while for the human representation of the Buddha to appear in Buddhist art. One of the earliest evidences of the Buddha's human representations are found at Buddhist archaeological sites, such as Goli, Nagarjunakonda, and Amaravati. The monasteries of those sites were built in less durable media, such as wood, brick, and stone. As far as the genre of rock-cut architecture is concerned it took many centuries for the Buddha image to be depicted. Nobody knows for sure at which rock-cut cave site the first image of the Buddha was depicted. Current research indicates that Buddha images in a portable form, made of wood or stone, were introduced, for the first time, at Kanheri, to be followed soon at Ajanta Cave 8 (Dhavalikar, Jadhav, Spink, Singh). While the Kanheri example dates to 4th or 5th century CE, the Ajanta example has been dated to c. 462–478 CE (Spink). None of the rock-cut monasteries prior to these dates, and other than these examples, show any Buddha image although hundreds of rock-cut caves were made throughout India during the first few centuries CE. And, in those caves, it is the stupa that is the object of veneration, not the image. Images of the Buddha are not found in Buddhist sailagrhas (rock-cut complexes) until the times of the Kanheri (4th–5th century CE) and Ajanta examples (c. 462–478 CE).

The caves of the second period, now all dated to the 5th century, were typically described as "Mahayana", but do not show the features associated with later Mahayana Buddhism. Although the beginnings of Mahāyāna teachings go back to the 1st century there is little art and archaeological evidence to suggest that it became a mainstream cult for several centuries. In Mahayana it is not Gautama Buddha but the Bodhisattva who is important, including "deity" Bodhisattva like Manjushri and Tara, as well as aspects of the Buddha such as Aksobhya, and Amitabha. Except for a few Bodhisattva, these are not depicted at Ajanta, where the Buddha remains the dominant figure. Even the Bodhisattva images of Ajanta are never central objects of worship, but are always shown as attendants of the Buddha in the shrine. If a Bodhisattva is shown in isolation, as in the Astabhaya scenes, these were done in the very last years of activities at Ajanta, and are mostly 'intrusive' in nature, meaning that they were not planned by the original patrons, and were added by new donors after the original patrons had suddenly abandoned the region in the wake of Emperor Harisena's death.

The contrast between iconic and aniconic representations, that is, the stupa on one hand and the image of the Buddha on the other, is now being seen as a construct of the modern scholar rather than a reality of the past. The second phase of Ajanta shows that the stupa and image coincided together. If the entire corpus of the art of Ajanta including sculpture, iconography, architecture, epigraphy, and painting are analysed afresh it will become clear that there was no duality between the symbolic and human forms of the Buddha, as far as the 5th-century phase of Ajanta is concerned. That is why most current scholars tend to avoid the terms 'Hinayana' and 'Mahayana' in the context of Ajanta. They now prefer to call the second phase by the ruling dynasty, as the Vākāţaka phase.

CAVES

CAVE 1

Cave 1 was built on the eastern end of the horse-shoe shaped scarp, and is now the first cave the visitor encounters. This would when first made have been a less prominent position, right at the end of the row. According to Spink, it is one of the latest caves to have been excavated, when the best sites had been taken, and was never fully inaugurated for worship by the dedication of the Buddha image in the central shrine. This is shown by the absence of sooty deposits from butter lamps on the base of the shrine image, and the lack of damage to the paintings that would have been happened if the garland-hooks around the shrine had been in use for any period of time. Although there is no epigraphic evidence, Spink believes that the Vākāţaka Emperor Harishena was the benefactor of the work, and this is reflected in the emphasis on imagery of royalty in the cave, with those Jakata tales being selected that tell of those previous lives of the Buddha in which he was royal.

The cliff has a more steep slope here than at other caves, so to achieve a tall grand facade it was necessary to cut far back into the slope, giving a large courtyard in front of the facade. There was originally a columned portico in front of the present facade, which can be seen "half-intact in the 1880s" in pictures of the site, but this fell down completely and the remains, despite containing fine carving, were carelessly thrown down the slope into the river, from where they have been lost, presumably carried away in monsoon torrents.

This cave has one of the most elaborate carved façades, with relief sculptures on entablature and ridges, and most surfaces embellished with decorative carving. There are scenes carved from the life of the Buddha as well as a number of decorative motifs. A two pillared portico, visible in the 19th-century photographs, has since perished. The cave has a front-court with cells fronted by pillared vestibules on either side. These have a high plinth level. The cave has a porch with simple cells on both ends. The absence of pillared vestibules on the ends suggest that the porch was not excavated in the latest phase of Ajanta when pillared vestibules had become a necessity and norm. Most areas of the porch were once covered with murals, of which many fragments remain, especially on the ceiling. There are three doorways: a central doorway and two side doorways. Two square windows were carved between the doorways to brighten the interiors.

Each wall of the hall inside is nearly 12 m long and 6.1 m high. Twelve pillars make a square colonnade inside supporting the ceiling, and creating spacious aisles along the walls. There is a shrine carved on the rear wall to house an impressive seated image of the Buddha, his hands being in the dharmachakrapravartana mudra. There are four cells on each of the left, rear, and the right walls, though due to rock fault there are none at the ends of the rear aisle. The walls are covered with paintings in a fair state of preservation, though the full scheme was never completed. The scenes depicted are mostly didactic, devotional, and ornamental, with scenes from the Jataka stories of the Buddha's former existences as a bodhisattva), the life of the Gautama Buddha, and those of his veneration. The two most famous individual painted images at Ajanta are the two over-life size figures of the protective bodhisattvas Padmapani and Vajrapani on either side of the entrance to the Buddha shrine on the wall of the rear aisle (see illustrations above). According to Spink, the original dating of the paintings to about 625 arose largely or entirely because James Fegusson, a 19th-century architectural historian, had decided that a scene showing an ambassador being received, with figures in Persian dress, represented a recorded embassy to Persia (from a Hindu monarch at that) around that date.

CAVE 2

Cave 2, adjacent to Cave 1, is known for the paintings that have been preserved on its walls, ceilings, and pillars. It looks similar to Cave 1 and is in a better state of preservation.

Cave 2 has a porch quite different from Cave one. Even the façade carvings seem to be different. The cave is supported by robust pillars, ornamented with designs. The front porch consists of cells supported by pillared vestibules on both ends. The cells on the previously "wasted areas" were needed to meet the greater housing requirements in later years. Porch-end cells became a trend in all later Vakataka excavations. The simple single cells on porch-ends were converted into CPVs or were planned to provide more room, symmetry, and beauty.

The paintings on the ceilings and walls of this porch have been widely published. They depict the Jataka tales that are stories of the Buddha's life in former existences as Bodhisattva. Just as the stories illustrated in cave 1 emphasize kingship, those in cave 2 show many "noble and powerful" women in prominent roles, leading to suggestions that the patron was an unknown woman. The porch's rear wall has a doorway in the center, which allows entrance to the hall. On either side of the door is a square-shaped window to brighten the interior.

The hall has four colonnades which are supporting the ceiling and surrounding a square in the center of the hall. Each arm or colonnade of the square is parallel to the respective walls of the hall, making an aisle in between. The colonnades have rock-beams above and below them. The capitals are carved and painted with various decorative themes that include ornamental, human, animal, vegetative, and semi-divine forms.

Paintings appear on almost every surface of the cave except for the floor. At various places the art work has become eroded due to decay and human interference. Therefore, many areas of the painted walls, ceilings, and pillars are fragmentary. The painted narratives of the Jataka tales are depicted only on the walls, which demanded the special attention of the devotee. They are didactic in nature, meant to inform the community about the Buddha's teachings and life through successive rebirths. Their placement on the walls required the devotee to walk through the aisles and 'read' the narratives depicted in various episodes. The narrative episodes are depicted one after another although not in a linear order. Their identification has been a core area of research since the site's rediscovery in 1819. Dieter Schlingloff's identifications have updated our knowledge on the subject.

CAVE 4

The Archeological Survey of India board outside the caves gives the following detail about cave 4: "This is the largest monastery planned on a grandiose scale but was never finished. An inscription on the pedestal of the buddha's image mentions that it was a gift from a person named Mathura and paleographically belongs to 6th century A.D. It consists of a verandah, a hypostylar hall, sanctum with an antechamber and a series of unfinished cells. The rear wall of the verandah contains the panel of Litany of Avalokiteśvara".

The sanctuary houses a colossal image of the Buddha in preaching pose flanked by bodhisattvas and celestial nymphs hovering above.

CAVES 9-10

Caves 9 and 10 are the two chaitya halls from the first period of construction, though both were also undergoing an uncompleted reworking at the end of the second period. Cave 10 was perhaps originally of the 1st century BCE, and cave 9 about a hundred years later. The small "shrinelets" called caves 9A to 9D and 10A also date from the second period, and were commissioned by individuals.

The paintings in cave 10 include some surviving from the early period, many from an incomplete programme of modernization in the second period, and a very large number of smaller late intrusive images, nearly all Buddhas and many with donor inscriptions from individuals. These mostly avoided over-painting the "official" programme and after the best positions were used up are tucked away in less prominent positions not yet painted; the total of these (including those now lost) was probably over 300, and the hands of many different artists are visible.

OTHER CAVES

Cave 3 is merely a start of an excavation; according to Spink it was begun right at the end of the final period of work and soon abandoned. Caves 5 and 6 are viharas, the latter on two floors, that were late works of which only the lower floor of cave 6 was ever finished. The upper floor of cave 6 has many private votive sculptures, and a shrine Buddha, but is otherwise unfinished. Cave 7 has a grand facade with two porticos but, perhaps because of faults in the rock, which posed problems in many caves, was never taken very deep into the cliff, and consists only of the two porticos and a shrine room with antechamber, with no central hall. Some cells were fitted in.

Cave 8 was long thought to date to the first period of construction, but Spink sees it as perhaps the earliest cave from the second period, its shrine an "afterthought". The statue may have been loose rather than carved from the living rock, as it has now vanished. The cave was painted, but only traces remain.

SPINK´S DETAILED CHRONOLOGY

Walter M. Spink has over recent decades developed a very precise and circumstantial chronology for the second period of work on the site, which unlike earlier scholars, he places entirely in the 5th century. This is based on evidence such as the inscriptions and artistic style, combined with the many uncompleted elements of the caves. He believes the earlier group of caves, which like other scholars he dates only approximately, to the period "between 100 BCE – 100 CE", were at some later point completely abandoned and remained so "for over three centuries", as the local population had turned mainly Hindu. This changed with the accession of the Emperor Harishena of the Vakataka Dynasty, who reigned from 460 to his death in 477. Harisena extended the Central Indian Vakataka Empire to include a stretch of the east coast of India; the Gupta Empire ruled northern India at the same period, and the Pallava dynasty much of the south.

According to Spink, Harisena encouraged a group of associates, including his prime minister Varahadeva and Upendragupta, the sub-king in whose territory Ajanta was, to dig out new caves, which were individually commissioned, some containing inscriptions recording the donation. This activity began in 462 but was mostly suspended in 468 because of threats from the neighbouring Asmaka kings. Work continued on only caves 1, Harisena's own commission, and 17–20, commissioned by Upendragupta. In 472 the situation was such that work was suspended completely, in a period that Spink calls "the Hiatus", which lasted until about 475, by which time the Asmakas had replaced Upendragupta as the local rulers.

Work was then resumed, but again disrupted by Harisena's death in 477, soon after which major excavation ceased, except at cave 26, which the Asmakas were sponsoring themselves. The Asmakas launched a revolt against Harisena's son, which brought about the end of the Vakataka Dynasty. In the years 478–480 major excavation by important patrons was replaced by a rash of "intrusions" – statues added to existing caves, and small shrines dotted about where there was space between them. These were commissioned by less powerful individuals, some monks, who had not previously been able to make additions to the large excavations of the rulers and courtiers. They were added to the facades, the return sides of the entrances, and to walls inside the caves. According to Spink, "After 480, not a single image was ever made again at the site", and as Hinduism again dominated the region, the site was again abandoned, this time for over a millennium.

Spink does not use "circa" in his dates, but says that "one should allow a margin of error of one year or perhaps even two in all cases".

IMPACT ON MODERN INDIAN PAINTINGS

The Ajanta paintings, or more likely the general style they come from, influenced painting in Tibet and Sri Lanka.

The rediscovery of ancient Indian paintings at Ajanta provided Indian artists examples from ancient India to follow. Nandlal Bose experimented with techniques to follow the ancient style which allowed him to develop his unique style. Abanindranath Tagore also used the Ajanta paintings for inspiration.

WIKIPEDIA

Coretta Scott King, wife of U.S. Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King, Jr., receiving the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding for the year 1966 on behalf of her husband, from Dr. Zakir Hussain, President of India, on January 24, 1969.

Source: US Embassy India

Students present their DOLs to peers and faculty showcasing areas of growth and understanding they've gained over the semester at The Island School.

Photo captured via Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm F/1.7 lens. In the city of Redmond. King County, Washington. Late October 2015.

Exposure Time: 1/200 sec. * ISO Speed: ISO-800 * Aperture: F/2.8 * Bracketing: None

Understanding Napoli, in Italy.

Thiago Jacinto @ 2013

Martin Creed

Work No. 2630 UNDERSTANDING, 2016

Red Neon, Steel

Approx dims: 21 3/5 x 50 x 2 1/8 ft / 658.6 x 1524 x 66 cm. Base 25 x 25 feet at top / 33 x 33 feet at bottom

Presented by Public Art Fund, May 4 – October 23, 2016 at Pier 6, Brooklyn Bridge Park

Courtesy the artist, Gavin Brown’s enterprise New York/Rome, and Hauser & Wirth

Photo: Jason Wyche, Courtesy Public Art Fund, NY

© Martin Creed 2016

As a child I loved looking at the covers and the illustrations within my dad's old science magazines. I didn't actually read any, just looked at the pictures. It's still absolutely inspirational stuff.

"Mortdecai is very unique and special. It's very different from anything I have done before. We haven't seen that type of caper movie for a number of years. If you go back and watch movies, like The Pink Panther or some of the wonderful French films with Louis de Funes, there's really something great about those caper films that teeter toward farcical. – Johnny Depp on Mortdecai

Who is Mortdecai?

Based on the novel Don't Point That Thing at Me by Kyril Bunfiglioli, Mortdecai stars Johnny Depp as an aristocratic art dealer, who is drowning in debt and denial. When his old friend and rival, Inspector Martland (Ewan McGregor), ropes him into helping to search for a stolen painting, he becomes bogged down by Russians, a terrorist, and other troubling inconveniences. With a beautiful but unhappy wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) at home, Charlie Mortdecai at least still has his trusty man servant Jock (Paul Bettany) always nearby to take care of everything. But will everything turn out all right in the end?

I tried to tame my anticipation.

Ewan McGregor has always been one of my favorite actors, but – unlike my Johnny Experience – I'm not sure how or when my love for Ewan McGregor began. I don't always know what movies he'll be in or when they're coming out, but I see them all. I love catching him on talk shows, but I never think to check for his name on the schedules ahead of time. I've even read his books about his motorcycle trips around the world, and I don't even like motorcycles.

So, when I found out that Ewan McGregor signed on to co-star in Mortdecai with Johnny, I was thrilled. Then, when the Mortdecai previews came out, they made me laugh out loud. I was really excited about the director, David Koepp, who directed Johnny in Secret Window, and the rest of the cast, which included Paul Bettany, Gwyneth Paltrow, Olivia Munn, and Jeff Goldblum. Then, one day, it occurred to me that I was setting this thing up for failure: No pressure, everyone, I just want this to be the best movie ever.

So, I went back to trying to ignore it was happening. It wasn't too hard because I was distracted by an endless string of colds that I was trying to expel from my body with Sudafed and sleep.

There's a first time for everything.

By the time Mortdecai opened, my most recent persistent cold had dragged my mood back down to blahville, and I kept putting off seeing Mortdecai during opening weekend. Because I was indecisive about when I had to leave my apartment, I ended up scanning the theater schedules on Fandango, where I couldn't help being shocked by Mortdecai's cumulative critics' score of 12 out of 100. So I did what I never do – looked at what critics had to say. I didn't actually read the reviews, but saw some short, memorable takeaways, like:

– "Charmless, mirthless, witless, this waste of time is another black mark on Depp's card, while his co-stars fare little better. Even low expectations won't help you here."

– "Mortdecai is an anachronistic mess that never succeeds..."

–"What a frantically dull spectacle this vanity project is."

– "Johnny Depp's done so much for us over the years; let's forget this movie ever happened." (I don't think this one was from Fandango, but it's my favorite.)

Come on, it can't be that bad, I thought. Yet, by the time I got out of the house to see Mortdecai that Sunday afternoon, I approached it like an errand.

And I hated it! I couldn't believe how much I hated it so immediately. I sat, stunned and annoyed by Johnny's wimpy character, pleading in my head to him to talk normally and slower and just be more Johnny-like. When that didn't work, I searched frantically for something good to say about Mortdecai. What about his co-stars, the sets, the direction, and the story? What was even going on in this story? I couldn't follow it. Why were the jokes so stupid? How many times were they going to refer to that horrible mustache? I finished my popcorn and began falling asleep – another troubling first. In the theater, though, one person kept me awake: A big black guy, who sat a few rows in front of me, cracked up at everything! Does that guy represent the audience for this movie?, I wondered. I left the theater bewildered, disappointed, and very panicked that I got nothing out of what I just saw; did this mean the end of Johnny Kitties?

"Johnny doesn't have to make awesome movies every time," my dad said when I told him my horrible news. But he does and he has, I disagreed unreasonably in my head. Clearly, I was under the influence of nagging illness, Sudafed, and mean critics when I first saw Mortdecai. (My advice to everyone is don't read reviews before seeing a movie and make up your own mind.) Still, I worried while waiting for the movie to be released on DVD. What if, after my cold is gone, Mortdecai is still completely awful?

Relax, I'm over it.

I may have been recovering from something still when Mortdecai arrived from Netflix. I had to restart it a few times because I kept falling asleep. Maybe it was leftover trauma from my first viewing, my fear of a second reaction, or maybe I was just really tired. My unplanned naps were a good thing: the more times I had to start the movie over to watch it again, the funnier it got. It turns out that I actually like Mortdecai after all!

Still, this isn't my favorite of Johnny's roles. His accent, which didn't bother me at all in the commercials, sometimes gets on my nerves after a while; other times, I can't even understand what he says. Also, this character bumbles around a lot. When trouble brews, he just asks his man servant what he should do and waits around for someone else to fix his situation. This helplessness takes me out of the movie at times because, obviously, Johnny can take care of himself. In some moments, I just want him to be cooler, as I know Johnny can be. Johnny's above some of this movie's humor, in my opinion, which I just don't always find funny or clever. Maybe I'll get there after more viewings.

In any case, Johnny explained himself in a DVD featurette, which helped me appreciate everything about Mortdecai more. Someone gave him the book that Mortdecai is based on, which he describes as "one of those books that makes you laugh out loud. It's just so beautifully irreverent and insane, but it's one of those stories, you're thinking, it translates to cinema only if you go to the extreme." He describes his character as pure and honest, someone who never thinks about what others are thinking. Charlie Mortdecai always assumes things will work out, despite whatever chaos is surrounding him, and whatever he says he believes to be true. Knowing that, I found everything about this character funnier and even a little endearing. Maybe I need to read the book for a full understanding.

By the fourth and final time I restarted and watched Mortdecai, I found plenty to like about it. Before the movie came out, everyone involved was comparing it to The Pink Panther movies,directed by Blake Edwards and starring Peter Sellers. Comparing this or any new movie to any classic, like The Pink Panther, is not a good idea; why put that standard in people's heads? However, I know why they all made the comparison, even if it's an unequal match. I see what they were going for with the performances and David Koepp's slick direction. From the opening credits on, you get the light-hearted, comedic feel for what's to come.

Johnny's performance may be distracting in some moments, but it's brilliant in others. The rest of the cast is wonderful too. My favorite is Paul Whitehouse – who's shown up in several of Johnny's movies, like Finding Neverland, Alice in Wonderland, and Corpse Bride. His brief appearance here as Spinoza makes me laugh out loud every time. I'm also happy to see Olivia Munn in this movie because she always makes me laugh too. Paul Bettany, who previously co-starred with Johnny in The Tourist and Transcendence, makes an impressive, funny tough guy. Gwyneth Paltrow is great, as usual (and in an equally great wardrobe), and Ewan McGregor is, of course, awesome.

Timing is everything in this movie, and this cast not only gets it right but seemed to have a blast working on it. "It's the most fun I've ever had on set," Johnny says. His kissing scene with Gwyneth Paltrow, in which she's too repulsed by his new mustache and which was in all of the commercials for Mortdecai, apparently took 15 or so takes because they couldn't stop laughing. "Most of my energy on set has been spent trying not to laugh," Paul Bettany admits.

These high spirits come through in the final product. I suspect they might even be contagious; as I said, I laughed more and more with each viewing. And, again, I saw some critic reviews without even trying – this time noting the DVD release – saying that Mortdecai is worth another look. But don't take their fickle word for it. I promise, Mortdecai will grow on you, so give it a chance!

These are my two favorite kitties!

I was really worried about finding something to draw for Mortdecai at first; it's one of the reasons I had to watch it four times. Since the most exciting thing about this movie to me was the prospect of Johnny and Ewan working together, I limited my options to the scenes they shared. Unfortunately, they don't have many. (They'll make up for it by working together again someday, right, casting directors?) Luckily, however, I realized eventually that one of their scenes is the key to everything.

In this scene, Inspector Martland (Comet) reveals the plot when he enlists Charlie Mortdecai (Gordon) to help him find a stolen painting. In return, his host offers him some rancid cheese. This scene not only tells you the plot, but captures Charlie Mortdecai's posh lifestyle and past, these characters and their rivalry, and even secret treasures. I stuck Jock (Norman) in there too because he really is always around to save the day.

What's next?

Johnny hears my illness-induced complaints and sinks his teeth into a serious drama, playing mobster Whitey Bulger in Black Mass. I haven't seen the previews yet and am afraid of the violence in store, but I'm very excited just the same. See it September 18th! A Johnny Kitties tribute will follow its DVD release.

To see photos from Mortdecai or other Johnny Kitties tributes, visit my original blog post (melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/2015/07/johnny-kitties-celeb...) on Melissa's Kitties or the Melissa's Kitties' Johnny Kitties page (melissaconnolly.blogspot.com/p/johnny-kitties-celebrating....) Thanks for visiting!

September 13, 2009 | Lined up the grass in the background for an unbroken expanse of creamy green bokeh. I threw on a bit of my couch texture and borealnz's ttv layer

HBW!

A cathedral without a bishop: St. Stephan in Vienna

In order to fully fulfill the function of a capital in its medieval understanding, Vienna lacked a decisive factor: Vienna was indeed a major city, but not the seat of a bishopric, but was subordinate to the Prince-Bishop of Passau in ecclesiastical matters. St. Stephen, the most important church in the city, had only the rank of a parish church.

Therefore, the first attempts to found a diocese in Vienna date back to the time of the Babenbergs. Also the under Ottokar II Přemysl after the fire of 1258 begun generous new building of the Saint Stephen's church in the late Romanesque style pursued this goal.

The Habsburgs' representational aspirations also focused on St. Stephen after they had taken control of Austria. Albrecht I began in 1304 with the construction of a new choir. The highlight, however, was reached under Duke Rudolf IV. This ambitious Habsburg wanted to turn Vienna into an important royal residence and St. Stephen as the "Capella regia Austriaca" into the court church of the Austrian sovereign princes, the sacral center of the country.

The background for this lay in the competition with the dynasty of Luxembourg: Emperor Charles IV was just about to expand his residence Prague to a metropolis of European importance. One of his measures was the elevation of Prague to the Archbishopric of 1344, which prompted the great expansion of St. Vitus' Cathedral on Prague's Hradcany.

Rudolf's plan to make St. Stephen the seat of a bishop failed because of the resistance of Passau, because the bishop rightly feared a reduction of his diocese. Nevertheless, Rudolf found a way to give St. Stephan a special rank. In 1359 he obtained the papal confirmation for the founding of a collegiate, an association of 24 dressed in cardinal red robes priests, which was headed by a provost in a bishop-like costume. By subordinating the collegiate directly to the Pope, it was beyond the Passau influence. Thanks to complicated ecclesiastical chess moves he finally succeeded in 1365 to transfer his foundation to St. Stephen, which increased the importance of the church.

This was also reflected in the structural design of the church. In 1359 Rudolf IV began with a large-scale expansion, which was to bear all the symbols of a ruling church: a princely gallery above the west portal was framed by two-storey Duke's chapels, in which the relic treasure was kept. A princely tomb was erected as the tomb of the rulers of the country and finally four towers were planned, which was actually a building prerogative of a bishop's church. By integrating parts of the late Romanesque predecessor building (the main portal and the westwork called "Giant Gate") into his concept, Rudolf gave his building program historical depth.

With the death of Rudolf, the interest of the Habsburgs in St. Stephen palpably came to an end, and the citizens of Vienna took the initiative for the further expansion of the church. Only with Frederick III., who saw his example in Rudolf IV, did a Habsburg take part in the expansion of the church. Friedrich ordered the beginning of the work on the north tower. However, his high tomb in the Apostle Choir of the Dome, which is another notable example of the dynastic program of the Habsburgs in the late Middle Ages, is particularly reminiscent of this Habsburg.

Frederick III. finally managed to bring the prestige matter of his ancestor Rudolf to a successful end: 1469 Frederick III succeeded in to bring about the Pope to elevate Vienna to a diocese. Although the Viennese diocese initially had only a minimal extension - it was smaller than the current urban area - but the Habsburgs had imposed their own will: The Cathedral of St. Stephen had finally a bishop.

Eine Kathedrale ohne Bischof: St. Stephan in Wien

Um im mittelalterlichen Verständnis die Funktion einer Hauptstadt vollends zu erfüllen, fehlte Wien eine entscheidende Sache: Wien war zwar eine bedeutende Großstadt, aber nicht Sitz eines Bistums, sondern unterstand in kirchlichen Belangen dem Fürstbischof von Passau. St. Stephan, die wichtigste Kirche der Stadt, hatte nur den Rang einer Pfarrkirche.

Daher datieren die ersten Versuche einer Bistumsgründung in Wien bereits in die Zeit der Babenberger. Auch der unter Ottokar II. Přemysl nach dem Brand von 1258 begonnene großzügige Neubau der Stephanskirche im spätromanischen Stil verfolgte dieses Ziel.

Auf St. Stephan konzentrierten sich auch die Repräsentationsbestrebungen der Habsburger, nachdem sie die Herrschaft in Österreich übernommen hatten. Albrecht I. begann bereits 1304 mit dem Bau eines neuen Chores. Der Höhepunkt wurde jedoch unter Herzog Rudolf IV. erreicht. Dieser ehrgeizige Habsburger wollte Wien zu einer bedeutenden Residenzstadt und St. Stephan als “Capella regia Austriaca”, als Hofkirche der österreichischen Landesfürsten, zum sakralen Zentrum des Landes machen.

Der Hintergrund dafür lag in der Konkurrenz mit der Dynastie der Luxemburger: Kaiser Karl IV. war gerade dabei, seine Residenz Prag zu einer Metropole europäischer Geltung auszubauen. Eine seiner Maßnahmen war die Erhebung Prags zum Erzbistum 1344, was den Anstoß gab für den großartigen Ausbau des Veitsdomes am Prager Hradschin.

Rudolfs Plan, St. Stephan zum Sitz eines Bischofs zu machen, scheiterte zwar am Widerstand Passaus, denn der Bischof fürchtete zu Recht eine Verkleinerung seiner Diözese. Dennoch fand Rudolf einen Weg, St. Stephan einen besonderen Rang zu verleihen. 1359 erwirkte er die päpstliche Bestätigung für die Gründung eines Kollegiatstiftes, einer Vereinigung von 24 in kardinalsrote Gewänder gekleideten Priestern, denen ein Probst in bischofsähnlicher Tracht vorstand. Indem er das Kollegiat direkt dem Papst unterstellte, war es dem Passauer Einfluss entzogen. Dank komplizierter kirchenrechtlicher Schachzüge gelang es ihm schließlich 1365 seine Stiftung auf St. Stephan zu übertragen, was die Bedeutung des Gotteshauses erhöhte.

Dies schlug sich auch in der baulichen Gestalt der Kirche nieder. 1359 begann Rudolf IV. mit einem groß angelegten Ausbau, der alle Symbole einer Herrscherkirche tragen sollte: Eine Fürstenempore über dem Westportal wurde von doppelstöckigen Herzogskapellen eingerahmt, in denen der Reliquienschatz verwahrt wurde. Eine Fürstengruft als Grablege der Herrscher des Landes wurde angelegt und schließlich waren vier Türme geplant, was eigentlich ein bauliches Vorrecht einer Bischofskirche war. Indem Rudolf Teile des spätromanischen Vorgängerbaues (das als “Riesentor” bezeichnete Hauptportal und das Westwerk) in sein Konzept integrieren ließ, gab er seinem Bauprogramm historische Tiefe.

Mit dem Tod Rudolfs erlosch das Interesse der Habsburger an St. Stephan spürbar, die Wiener Bürgerschaft übernahm die Initiative für den weiteren Ausbau der Kirche. Erst mit Friedrich III., der in Rudolf IV. sein Vorbild sah, beteiligte sich wieder ein Habsburger am Ausbau der Kirche. Friedrich veranlasste den Beginn der Arbeiten am Nordturm. An diesen Habsburger erinnert vor allem jedoch sein Hochgrab im Apostelchor des Domes, ein weiteres bemerkenswertes Beispiel für das dynastische Programm der Habsburger im Spätmittelalter.

Friedrich III. gelang es schließlich auch, die Prestigeangelegenheit seines Ahnen Rudolf zu einem erfolgreichen Ende zu bringen: 1469 erreichte Friedrich III. beim Papst die Erhebung Wiens zum Bistum. Die Wiener Diözese hatte zwar zunächst nur eine minimale Ausdehung – sie war kleiner als das heutige Stadtgebiet – aber die Habsburger hatten ihren Willen durchgesetzt: Der Dom zu St. Stephan hatte endlich einen Bischof.

Martin Mutschlechner

www.habsburger.net/de/kapitel/eine-kathedrale-ohne-bischo...

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

Alexander Martin Lippisch (November 2, 1894 – February 11, 1976) was a German aeronautical engineer, a pioneer of aerodynamics who made important contributions to the understanding of flying wings, delta wings and the ground effect.

Anyway, the Li 383's overall impact was not significant. Production numbers remained low, and all in all, only a total of 80-100 machines were completed and made operational when the hostilities ended.

General characteristics:

Crew: one

Length: 7.78 m (25 ft 5 1/2 in)

Wingspan: 12.67 m (41 ft 6 in)

Height: 3.86 m (12 ft 8 in)

Wing area: 46.8 m² (502.1 ft²)

Empty weight: 4,600 kg (10,141 lb)

Loaded weight: 6,912 kg (15,238 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 8,100 kg (17,857 lb)

Powerplant:

1× BMW 018A turbojet, 25kN (5.200 lb)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 977 km/h (estimated) (607 mph) at 12,000 meters (39,000 ft)

Service ceiling: 16,000 m (estimated) (52,000 ft)

Rate of climb: 22 m/s (estimated) (4,330 ft/min)

Wing loading: 147.7 kg/m² (20.2 lb/ft²)

Thrust/weight: 0.34

Armament:

4× 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 cannons around the air intake with 75 RPG

2x underwing hardpoints for two 300l drop tanks or 2x 250 kg (550 lb) bombs;

alternatively, various weapon sets (Rüstsätze) were available, including racks for 8× (R1) or 12× (R3)

R 65 “Föhn” or for 24x R4M unguided missiles (R2), or for 2× Ruhrstahl X-4 Wire Guided AAMs (R4)

The kit and its assembly:

This fictional Luft ’46 aircraft was inspired by the question what a further developed Ta 183 could have looked like, and it was also influenced by the many tailless Lippisch designs that never left the drawing board.

From the hardware perspective, the design is more or less the salvage of the most useable parts of the PM Model Horten IX/Go 229 kit – namely the outer wing sections. The PM Model Ta 183 is only marginally “better”, and I had one of these in the stash (Revell re-boxing), too. So, why not combine two dreadful kits into something …new?

Well, that was the plan, and building was rather straightforward. In the cockpit, I added simple side consoles, a dashboard, some oxygen flasks, a different seat and a pilot figure (seatbelts simulated with tape strips) – the kit would be finished with closed canopy.

An exhaust pipe was integrated and the air intake filled with a better compressor fan (from an Airfix D.H. Venom, IIRC, fits perfectly). The inner walls of the landing gear wells (well, they are not existent) were cut away and replaced with leftover jet engine parts, so that there was some structure and depth. The landing gear was taken OOB, though, I just used slightly bigger wheels, since the “new” aircraft would have considerably more mass than the Ta 183.

The highly swept, long Ta 183 tail was cut off and replaced by a surplus Me 262 fin and tail section (Matchbox). Despite the different shape and size, and the resulting side view profile reminds strangely of the Saab 29?

The original Ta 183 wings were not mounted and their attachment points on the fuselage cut/sanded away. Instead, I used the outer wing sections from the Go 229, with clipped wing tips for a different shape.

When I held the wings to the fuselage, the whole thing looked …boring. Something was missing, hard to pinpoint. After consulting some Luft ’46 literature I adapted a trick for better stability: a gull wing shape. This was achieved through simple cuts to the wings’ upper halves. Then the wings were bent down, the gap filled with a styrene strip, and finally PSRed away. Looks very dynamic, and also much better!

Another late addition was the underwing armament. I was about to start painting when I again found that something was missing… The new wings made the aircraft pretty large, so I considered some underwing ordnance. Anyway, I did not want to disrupt the relatively clean lines with ugly bombs or drop tanks, so I installed a pair of racks with six launch tubes for R 65 “Föhn” unguided AAMs into the lower wing surfaces, in a semi-recessed position and with a deflector plate for the rocket exhausts.

Painting and markings:

As a high altitude interceptor and late war design, this one was to receive a simple and relatively light livery, even though I stuck with classic RLM tones. The Li 383 was basically painted all-over RLM 76 (Humbrol 247), onto which RLM 75 (from Modelmaster) was added, in the form of highly thinned enamel paint for a cloudy and improvised effect, applied with a big and soft brush. On top of the wings, a typical two-tone scheme was created, while on the fuselage’s upper sides only some thin mottles were added.

In order to lighten the scheme up and add a unique twist, I added further mottles to the flanks and the fin, but this time with RLM 77. This is a very light grey – originally reserved for tactical markings, but also “abused” in the field for camouflage mods, e. g. on high-flying He 177 bombers. I used Humbrol 195 (RAL 7035), again applied with a brush and highly thinned for a rather cloudy finish.

The air intake section and the intake duct were painted in aluminum, while the engine exhaust section as well as the missile racks and the areas around the gun ports were painted with Revell 99 (Iron Metallic) and Steel Metallizer.

The cockpit interior became dark grey (RLM 66) while the landing gear, the wells and the visible engine parts inside became RLM 02.

The kit was lightly weathered with a thin black ink wash and some dry-brushing.

The markings were puzzled together; due to the light basic tones of the model, the upper crosses became black, with only a very small cross on the flanks due to the lack of space, and for the wings’ undersides I used “old school” full color markings in black and white. The red color for the tactical code was basically chosen because it would be a nice contrast to the bluish-grey overall livery.

Finally the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish and some gun soot stains added with grinded graphite, as well as some traces of flaked paint on the wings’ leading edges and around the cockpit.

Well, the attempt to bash two mediocre (at best) kits into something else and hopefully better worked out well – the Li 383 does not look totally out of place, even though it turned out to become a bigger aircraft than expected. However, the aircraft has this certain, futuristic Luft ’46 look – probably thanks to the gull wings, which really change the overall impression from a simple kitbash to a coherent design which-could-have-been. The livery also fits well and looks better than expected. Overall, a positive surprise.

Exploring mountains and wilderness provides me a liberating sense of freedom - midwest Norway mountains

Oughterard show 2013