One of the statues at Vizcaya Museum in Miami #vizcaya #miami #statues #florida #blackandwhite #museums #gardens #photooftheday (at Vizcaya Museum & Gardens)
The Clemency of Augustus François André Vincent (French; 1746–1816) ca. 1787–88 Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over traces of red chalk; perspective lines in graphite The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The artist here depicts the concluding scene of Pierre Corneille’s 1641 play, Cinna
Binyangzhongdong or the Middle Binyang Cave, is carved in the Datang style on the west hill, on the northern floor. It was built by Emperor Xuanwun to commemorate his father Xiaowe, and also his mother. It is said that 800,000 workers created it over the period from 500 to 523. In the main wall of this cave, five very large Buddhist statues are carved all in Northern Wei style The central statue is of Sakyamuni Buddha with four images of Bodhisattvas flanking it. Two side walls also have Buddha images flanked by Bodhisatvas. The Buddhas, arranged in three groups in the cave, are representative of Buddha of the past, the present, and the future.
The Longmen Grottoes world heritage site is located at Luoyong, Henan Provence, China.
Binyangzhongdong or the Middle Binyang Cave, is carved in the Datang style on the west hill, on the northern floor. It was built by Emperor Xuanwun to commemorate his father Xiaowe, and also his mother. It is said that 800,000 workers created it over the period from 500 to 523. In the main wall of this cave, five very large Buddhist statues are carved all in Northern Wei style The central statue is of Sakyamuni Buddha with four images of Bodhisattvas flanking it. Two side walls also have Buddha images flanked by Bodhisatvas. The Buddhas, arranged in three groups in the cave, are representative of Buddha of the past, the present, and the future.
The Longmen Grottoes world heritage site is located at Luoyong, Henan Provence, China.
Binyangzhongdong or the Middle Binyang Cave, is carved in the Datang style on the west hill, on the northern floor. It was built by Emperor Xuanwun to commemorate his father Xiaowe, and also his mother. It is said that 800,000 workers created it over the period from 500 to 523. In the main wall of this cave, five very large Buddhist statues are carved all in Northern Wei style The central statue is of Sakyamuni Buddha with four images of Bodhisattvas flanking it. Two side walls also have Buddha images flanked by Bodhisatvas. The Buddhas, arranged in three groups in the cave, are representative of Buddha of the past, the present, and the future.
These Buddhas are located at the Longmen Grottoes world heritage site, Luoyong, Henan Provence, China.
The world famous Terracotta Warriors (otherwise known as terracotta army) can be found at the Ancient Capital of Xian. Each warrior is unique because every terracotta clay statue is modeled after a different soldier. The soldier’s had to model for the sculpture or face death. The Terracotta Warriors were an infamous rumor along with other claims that the Ch-in Dynasty (where the word China comes from) created a tomb complex under a mountain that contains China in miniature with molten lead rivers and all the famous sites of ancient China. When unearthed, this will be the archeological wonder of the 21st century. This is one of the China activities that you will not want to miss.
Remember way back at the end of 2015 when I said I drew a thing for a thing? Well, that thing is finally *almost* done. The fine folks at Mondo approached us back then about doing a Korrasami statue, and sent over a 2D concept by Eric Siebenaler. I did my revision pass, going for more of a tender moment, resulting in the black & white sketch above, which was used by sculptor Joe Jung. The photo at the top is the first pass on the paint, so there may be some tweaks before this is released. I’m pretty sure it will be on display at Mondo’s booth at San Diego Comic Con this week, and pre-orders will start soon. Thanks to Mondo for the cool project and to Nerdist for the SDCC preview!
Francis X. Bushman was once the biggest screen actor in the country, and he had ties to Baltimore. (Baltimore Sun files)
I like to tell visitors this: The guy who posed for the statue of Cecilius Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore, outside the the Mitchell Courthouse on St. Paul Street was a Baltimore-born actor who played the bad guy in the Hollywood epic “Ben-Hur” of 1925. His name was Francis X. Bushman, and 100 years ago, he was huge.
Bushman learned to drive a horse-powered chariot for that remarkable long-ago movie, and he somehow got through the filming of its famously brutal chariot race unscathed.
In fact, when Hollywood remade “Ben-Hur” in the late 1950s, the star of that production, Charlton Heston, was reported to have said, “The only man in Hollywood who can drive a chariot is Francis X. Bushman, and he’s too old!”
Bushman died 50 years ago this month in California.
Francis X. Bushman, left, as Messala opposite Ramon Novarro’s Ben-Hur in the 1925 film. (Chicago Tribune files)
Once upon a time, he was a matinee idol, the highest-paid screen actor of his era, known at the peak of his career as “the handsomest man in the world.” He built a mansion near Baltimore. His name was up in lights all over the country.
He took the role of Messala in MGM’s “Ben-Hur,” at $4 million the most expensive film of the silent age. It is an amazing work for its time. Bushman plays opposite another silent-movie beefcake, the Mexican-American actor Ramon Novarro, who had the title role.
I mention it because of the release Friday (Aug. 19) of a new “Ben-Hur,” starring Jim Huston as Judah Ben-Hur and Toby Kebbel as his former buddy, now arch-rival, the villainous Roman nobleman and commander, Messala.
Intoday’s episode of the Roughly Speaking podcast, film critics Linda DeLibero and Christopher Llewellyn Reed talk about the various productions of “Ben-Hur” over the years, and the long line of lavish movies rightfully called Hollywood epics. We trace that lineage back to “Ben-Hur” of 1925 and the buff Baltimore guy whose likeness jurors and judges pass whenever they enter the Mitchell Courthouse from the west.
To many, the statue is Calvert. To me, it’s Bushman.
Not to be outdone by the Rockefeller Center statues getting masked, Patience and Fortitude, the lions outside the New York Public Library main branch have gotten their own masks. According to the NYPL, the initiative is intended to “set an example and remind New Yorkers to stay safe and follow expert guidelines to combat the spread of COVID-19.” These masks are appropriately lion-sized at 3 feet wide and 2 feet tall.
New York Public Library President Anthony W. Marx says, “Patience and Fortitude are the perfect symbols for the strengths our City and our nation need now even more. Like them, New Yorkers are strong and resilient and can weather any storm. We will get to the other side of this public health crisis together. But to do so, we must remain vigilant, we must have patience and fortitude, and we must follow what experts tell us, especially as we continue to reopen our cities. The lions, protectors of knowledge and truth who have seen 109 years worth of history, are setting that example.”
Source: Michelle Young, Untapped New York, June 30, 2020
