The Renaissance-poet Philip Sidney considered the epic or “heroical” genre to be the “most accomplished kind of poetry.” What could possibly substantiate such a claim? In his famous essay, “The Defense of Poesy,” he defined the epic hero as one who “stirs and instructs the mind” with moral doctrine, who “doth not only teach and move to…
‘Les Belles-Soeurs’: Ingres Portraits of the Royal Sisters
Two celebrated belles of mid-19th century Parisian society were Louise de Broglie, Countess d’Haussonville, and Joséphine-Éléonore-Marie-Pauline de Galard de Brassac de Béarn, Princesse de Broglie. They were “les belles-sœurs,” sisters-in-law, and each was immortalized in spectacular portraits by the renowned French painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. These paintings now reside respectively at The Frick Collection and The…
‘Les Belles-Soeurs’: Ingres’s Portraits of the Royal Sisters
Two celebrated belles of mid-19th century Parisian society were Louise de Broglie, Countess d’Haussonville, and Joséphine-Éléonore-Marie-Pauline de Galard de Brassac de Béarn, Princesse de Broglie. They were “les belles-sœurs,” sisters-in-law, and each was immortalized in spectacular portraits by the renowned French painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. These paintings now reside respectively at The Frick Collection and The…
Morality, Politics, and Decline, Part 2: Freedom or Victimhood
Freedom of the will is something we all know; it’s obvious when we have acted freely, or when we have been under some sort of compulsion. At least, we can recognize freedom until we are so saturated in the streams of compulsion that we no longer see our own pitiable, enslaved state. In Part 1 of…
Looking for Wisdom Behind Beauty’s Mask
We all love to see beautiful things. What would our lives be without beauty? Yet there’s always the chance that beauty adorns and accompanies harmful things. How do we discern when something is truly beautiful or when beauty merely masks the detrimental? In this penultimate part of this series, we continue to extract wisdom from…
Profiles in History: Charles M. Russell: Artist of the American West
Charles Marion Russell (1864–1926) was born in St. Louis and grew up with a hankering for the cowboy life. By the time he was born, America had been undergoing a massive expansion westward since the Mexican-American War victory and the discovery of gold in California, both taking place in 1848. By the time he turned…
Power Portraits of Tudor Monarchs
The Tudor monarchs, via their art, are on a year-long royal progress of the United States with the exhibition “The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England,” currently on view at the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) until May 14, 2023. This show debuted at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and will travel later this…
Rewind, Review, and Re-Rate: ‘Julius Caesar’: Do Commoners or Kings Decide the Common Good?
NR | 1 h 46 min | Drama | 1950 David Bradley is probably better known for having directed former First Lady Nancy Reagan in “Talk About a Stranger.” But he’s also the one who helped Hollywood discover Charlton Heston as a natural in the sword-and-sandal world of epics. Bradley doesn’t deviate from the overly…
Tennyson’s ‘Ulysses’: To Yield or Not to Yield?
“To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” These simple words from “Ulysses” by Alfred Lord Tennyson became one of the most famous lines in poetry, and with them the acclaimed poet assumes the rousing eloquence which Homer’s epic hero might have had. Written in 1833, the poem presents us with a portrait…
IN-DEPTH: Trust in Tradition: Composer Says Identity Politics Not the Answer to Classical Music’s Woes
The challenges facing classical music institutions worldwide have been well-publicised. Declining audiences and tightening revenue streams are a constant in the industry—only exacerbated during the pandemic years. Many large-scale performing arts groups cannot survive purely off ticket sales and rely on government handouts, grants, and philanthropy to prop up their finances. One young composer says…
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