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weavingthetapestry · 5 years ago

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Historical Objects: The Trinity Altarpiece

(Click image for better view. Inside panels are on the right, outside on left. Source- wikimedia commons)

The Trinity Altarpiece is one of the most remarkable objects to have survived from mediaeval Scotland. Produced by Hugo van der Goes in the 1470s, this triptych would have occupied pride of place on the high altar of Trinity Collegiate Kirk in Edinburgh. Though the centre panel is now lost, the wings survive including depictions of the Holy Trinity, angels and saints. Perhaps of more interest are the contemporary historical figures depicted: on the outside of the left-hand panel is pictured the provost of Trinity kirk, Edward Bonkil; on the inside left-hand panel King James III (r.1460-1488), accompanied by a boy who may be the future James IV; and on the inside right-hand panel James III’s queen Margaret of Denmark. A precious survival from a country where only a small percentage of mediaeval art survived the iconoclasm of the Reformation, and centuries of Anglo-Scottish, religious, and civil wars, the Trinity Altarpiece gives a rare glimpse into the vibrant cultural networks of a small European kingdom and the interests of its elites.

This impressive piece was probably created by the Flemish painter Hugo van der Goes, who was born in the mid-fifteenth century in the great city of Ghent, then a major European centre. Goes was first mentioned in 1467, the same year he was admitted to the painters’ guild of Ghent. Over the next decade he frequently undertook painting work (both practical and artistic) in Ghent and further afield. He served as both juror and dean of the painters’ guild during the mid-1470s, but by 1478 had retired to the Roode Klooster near Brussels, where he lived for the rest of his life. In later years one of his fellow novices at the Roode Klooster, Gaspar Ofhuys, wrote an account of Goes’ time there, which provides a valuable insight into his life and character. Goes often received visitors, including Maximilian, Archduke of Austria and other notable figures. He was also occasionally allowed to leave the monastery to undertake commissions and travel to some of the region’s cities. While returning from one such trip to Cologne, however, he suffered a fit of madness and attempted suicide. He briefly recovered only to die shortly afterwards, in 1482, tormented towards the end of his life by the thought of not finishing his art. Nevertheless he is now recognised as one of the most significant and talented Flemish painters of his time, despite his short career- and the difficulty of identifying his work.

Most identifications of Hugo van der Goes’ paintings rest on similarities with the Portinari Altarpiece, the only work confidently attributed to him. Thus many of his purported works- which include the ‘Lamentation of Christ’ (now in Vienna), the ‘Adoration of the Kings’ (or the Monforte Altarpiece, now in Berlin), and others which only survive in copies made by his followers- cannot be certainly attributed, though as yet there is no real reason to doubt the Trinity Altarpiece. In any case the Trinity panels are clearly of the highest quality and represent an important contribution to Northern Renaissance art. Moreover, their existence sheds light on the networks of artistic patronage in mediaeval Europe and the links of one particular Scottish churchman and his royal patrons.

(The Portinari Altarpiece, also by Hugo van der Goes. The centre panel flanked by the inside of two wings gives some idea of how the Trinity Altarpiece would have looked when open, before the centre panel was lost. Source Wikimedia Commons)

While they are now appreciated primarily for their artistic value, these mediaeval altarpieces also had a practical purpose. As portable religious items they helped direct the spiritual devotions of their owners, while they also had worldly usefulness, prominently displaying the patron’s political, spiritual, and social networks. In triptychs, patrons and their family members were usually represented on the inside wings, like the royal figures in the Trinity Altarpiece. Here the king and queen of Scots- James III and Margaret of Denmark- are portrayed in rich costume, accompanied by Saints Andrew and George, and a young boy who probably represents their eldest son, James, Duke of Rothesay. Despite the prominence of the royal family however, the Altarpiece may owe its origin to a very different individual. When a triptych was not in use, the inner wings would usually close over a larger centre panel (the Trinity Altarpiece’s appears to have been lost) and the outside panels were often decorated with less showy ‘grisaille’ paintings. In the Trinity Altarpiece, however, these outer panels tell us even more about the work’s provenance. Portrayed on the left outer wing is the Holy Trinity (father, son, and holy spirit) and, on the right wing, kneeling in supplication before the Trinity, a churchman whose coat of arms identifies him as Edward Bonkil, first provost of Trinity Collegiate Church in Edinburgh- the man who probably commissioned this expensive work of art.

Trinity College Kirk, which stood beneath Calton Hill, was founded in 1460 as the pet project of Mary of Guelders, queen consort to James II of Scotland (1437-1460). Mary was not just the daughter of Arnold, Duke of Guelders but also the great-niece of Philip the Good, the powerful Duke of Burgundy, and as Mary was raised at her uncle’s court her marriage to James II strengthened Scotland’s traditional commercial and cultural ties with the Low Countries. A formidable woman, Mary headed the government after her husband’s premature death in 1460, as regent for her young son James III. She also had some reputation as a builder (her other major project was Ravenscraig Castle, the first castle in Scotland built specifically to withstand artillery fire, and she contributed to works elsewhere too). Though work on the church may have begun in her husband’s lifetime, it was chiefly Mary’s project and from 1460 onwards she took a keen interest in the foundation. Besides paying for its endowment and construction, she may have personally contributed to the creation of the college rules, stipulating that all the canons and boys should be capable of reading and singing in plain chant and descant, laying the foundations of Trinity’s reputation as a prestigious choral institution. Following her early death in 1463, she was also buried in the church, probably near the high altar, where the altarpiece likely stood and it has been theorised that the missing middle panel could have included a representation of the queen dowager herself, drawing attention to the church’s royal associations. However the altarpiece was painted after her death, and indeed the responsibility for commissioning this costly piece of art may not have lain with the royal family at all, although Mary’s son James III and his queen feature prominently on its inner panels. It has been argued by Lorne Campbell that we should instead look to the provost of Trinity, Edward Bonkil, portrayed on the right-hand outer panel of the altarpiece.

(Bottom left- Trinity College Kirk, as it appeared in the nineteenth century. Source- Wikimedia Commons)

Edward Bonkil had been a close servant of the late Mary of Guelders, having been personally promoted to the position of provost of her lavish foundation. After the dowager’s death, however, he seems to have gradually fallen out of favour at court and it is suggested by Campbell that he may have commissioned the altarpiece partly with a view to currying favour with the young James III. Whether this is accurate or not, it seems highly probable that Bonkil was the main driving force behind the commission- not only does he occupy a privileged position on the outer wing of the altarpiece, but his features are much more detailed and exact than those of the royal family, suggesting that they were painted from life. As a member of a prominent Edinburgh merchant family, and having possibly served on embassies to Guelders and Burgundy, Bonkil had close connections with the Low Countries. Moreover he is not recorded in Scotland between 1473 and 1476, around the time that the altarpiece may have been painted, and so he could have travelled to Flanders personally to sit for the artist. Though it did not bring him renewed royal favour, if the altarpiece was commissioned by Bonkil it not only secured his legacy but has provided us with a rare and invaluable glimpse into the tastes and cultural connections of late mediaeval Scotland’s clerical elite.

Much of the altarpiece, including the likeness of Bonkil, is believed to have been painted in Flanders by Goes, and certain sections are even adapted from other works by Flemish artists, such as the ‘Madonna in the Church’ by Jan Van Eyck, which forms the backdrop to Bonkil’s panel, and a lost work by Robert Campin which influenced the representation of the Trinity. The faces of King James III and Queen Margaret however, may have been painted over by an unknown artist upon the altarpiece’s arrival in Scotland, to lend them some realism, though they are not of such high quality as the depiction of Bonkil. The portrayal of the young Duke of Rothesay- the future James IV- is probably even less true to life, as portrayals of children in late mediaeval art were more often symbolic than realistic and it is probable that Rothesay was an infant at most at the time of the painting’s creation. His appearance may allow us to tentatively date the work however, as he was born in 1473 and described as James III’s ‘only son’ until 1478-9, and neither of his younger brothers are portrayed in the painting. This place the period of production in the mid-1470s- a rare survival then, from an otherwise shadowy period in late mediaeval Scottish history.

(Edward Bonkil, Provost of Trinity Collegiate Church, who probably commissioned the altarpiece. Source- wikimedia commons)

Despite having been painted almost a century and a half earlier however, the panels from the Trinity Altarpiece were only recorded in written sources for the first time in 1617, when they were included in an inventory taken of the possessions of Anne of Denmark, queen of James VI of Scotland (James III’s great-great grandson and by now James I of England also). The inventory of Queen Anne’s belongings was taken at the royal residence of Oatlands in Surrey, and it has been suggested that the Trinity Altarpiece was brought south after her husband’s last visit to Scotland earlier in 1617. It was to remain in England for many years thereafter, passing into the hands of Anne’s son, Charles I, by 1624, when it was erroneously described as a work by Jan van Eyck. The altarpiece was auctioned off during the Civil War but was reclaimed by the royal family after the Restoration, after which it was displayed in various English royal palaces, including Kensington and Hampton Court. In 1857, it returned to Scotland for the first time in over two hundred years when it was briefly transferred to Holyrood Palace during the reign of Queen Victoria. Over the next few decades it was shuffled around on several occasions, but was often on public display at Holyrood until 1912, when it was first briefly loaned to the National Gallery of Scotland, due to fears over its safety in the face of militant suffragette activity. In 1931, it again returned to the National Gallery, in whose care it remains today.

If anyone has a spare half an hour in Edinburgh some day, I highly recommend visiting the galleries, if only to see the Altarpiece. Flemish art of this period is both fascinating and beautiful and the Galleries are very fortunate to own a piece of such high calibre as the Trinity Altarpiece. As well as this, the culture of mediaeval Scotland has left few traces in the modern day: even the impressive Trinity Collegiate Church, the original home of the altarpiece, was largely demolished in the Victorian period to make way for Waverley Station, while many other pieces of art, books, buildings, music and historical sources have been lost to the ravages of war, iconoclasm, and time. The survival of such a beautiful and costly work as the Trinity Altarpiece, therefore, stands testament to a fascinating and complex past, as culturally vibrant as that of any other corner of mediaeval Europe, and just waiting to be uncovered.

(Source - Wikimedia commons)

Selected Bibliography:

“Charters and documents relating to the Collegiate Church and Hospital of the Holy Trinity, and the Trinity Hospital, Edinburgh, A.D. 1460-1661″, ed. J.D. Marwick

“Rotuli scaccarii regum Scotorum: the Exchequer Rolls of Scoltand”, eds. John Stuart and George Burnett, volumes 6, 7, & 8

“Hugo van der Goes and the Trinity Panels in Edinburgh”, C. Thompson and L. Campbell

“Hugo van der Goes’s Altarpiece for Trinity College in Edinburgh and Mary of Guelders, Queen of Scotland”, T. Tolley

“She is But a Woman: Queenship in Scotland, 1424-1463″, Fiona Downie

National Galleries of Scotland

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jimmychile · 5 years ago

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PALOMA MAMI - FINGIAS from 2001 on Vimeo.

Directed by 2001 - @somos2001 Productor Ejecutivo - Isabel Arriagada Produced by - Cinemagica Director de Fotografía - Miguel Bunster Color grading - Ty Roth / Company 3 @company_3 Director de Arte - Eduardo Jara Director de Producción - Daniel Garriga Jefa de Producción - Maria Paz Guzman Asistente de dirección: Fernanda de la Maza Productora de Linea - Silvina Coda Asistente de Producción - Marcelo Arrochas 2do Asistente de dirección – Andrea Castillo Make up & Hair - Cristian Quitral Asistente de Maquillaje 1 - Gaila Saa Urra Asistente de Maquillaje 2 – Julio Olguin Productor de Moda: Helaman Palavecino Asistente de Vestuario - Omar Gallardo Páez Asistente de Vestuario - Evelyn Prieto Castro Diseño de Vestuario – Matias Hernan Locacionista - Rodrigo Barril Researcher - Andrés Piña Ambientadora - Loreto Godoy Decorador Club de la unión – Mauricio Herrera (AMA) Operador Movi / Steadycam - Felipe Lanzarotti Operador Movi – Miguel Bunster Grip – Pablo Duque 1er Asistente de Cámara - Francisco Campos 2do. Asistente de Cámara - Piero Leiva Data Manager / Video Asist - Israel Espinoza Productor Técnico - Elias Arratia Jefe Eléctrico - Guillermo Gutierrez Eléctrico 1 - Juan Vejar Eléctrico 2 - Sergio Catalan Visuales e instalaciones lumínicas – Diego Miranda y Sole Aguila Operador HMI - Jimmy Rodriguez Sonidista - Alexis Weiss Asistentes decoración club de la unión: Willi Cabrera Davan , Jorge Cabrera, Davan, Aldimar Blas Florista Club de la unión – Ana Vitalia Silva Asistentes decoración: Willi Cabrera Davan , Jorge Cabrera Davan, Aldimar Blas Runner de Arte - Matias Rueda Runner de Arte - Victor Muñoz Escenografo Caja luminosa – Carlos UtrerasFoto fija – Noli Provoste Asesor Creativo- Nicolas Briceño Coreografa: Ana Albornoz Pardo Asistente de Vestuario - Omar Gallardo Páez Asistente de Vestuario - Evelyn Prieto Castro Casting – Felipe Ramirez WELOVE Extras - Andres Dañobeitia Catering – Alma Montajista - Marco Rojas Postproduccion - Kaleido Postproductor - Carlos Espinoza Dibujante - Carlos Sepulveda Foto fija - Hugo Provoste Asistente Foto Fija 1 - Jose Luis Noli Asistente Foto Fija 2 - Francisco Finat Rental - Movie Center Gráficas - Alvaro Rojas Making of - Matias Vial

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sciencespies · 5 years ago

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Both Sides Now: Looking At Two-Sided Paintings With X-Rays And AI

https://sciencespies.com/news/both-sides-now-looking-at-two-sided-paintings-with-x-rays-and-ai/

Both Sides Now: Looking At Two-Sided Paintings With X-Rays And AI

Art and conservation experts regularly rely on X-ray imaging to find out what’s going on underneath the surface of a painting. It allows them to learn more about the paint used, the technique, or the painted surface. Now, researchers have found a way to improve this technology with artificial intelligence.

Restorers of the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage working on the Ghent Altarpiece. Some of the X-ray images of this work have now been further analysed using artificial intelligence. (Credit: JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images)

AFP/Getty Images

Even though X-ray imaging is an effective way to study the hidden layers of a painting, it doesn’t discriminate between the actual layer of interest and everything else. The X-rays go right through the entire object. That means that the resulting image might include details that aren’t always relevant. For example, it can show the wooden structure of a canvas frame, which can make it more difficult to look at details of the painting itself in the X-ray image.

This gets particularly challenging if the painting is double-sided. An X-ray image of either side of it will show details of both painted sides, merged together. To distinguish the different images in such a merged X-ray picture, engineer and art experts have now turned to artificial intelligence.

Researchers from University College London and Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, used the visible images from either side of a painted panel to train a neural network to recognize individual images in the mixed X-ray image.

With this technique, they have successfully managed to separate images from a merged X-ray image of panels from the 15th-century Ghent Altarpiece at the St Bavo’s Cathedral in Belgium. The original artists, the brothers Van Eyck, painted these panels on both sides to show different images depending on whether certain sections of the piece were open or closed.

The two double-sided panels from the Ghent Altarpiece along with their x-ray images which include the combined contributions from both sides of each panel.

Saint-Bavo’s Cathedral, www.lukasweb.be – Art in Flanders; photos: Hugo Maertens (interior view; Adam & Eve), Dominique Provost (exterior view), KIK-IRPA (x-ray)

The tidied X-ray images have been included as part of a larger conservation project of the altarpiece that started in 2012.

This AI method of tidying up X-ray images isn’t limited to two-sided paintings. It can also be useful in cases where an artist has reused a canvas by painting over an older work, which is quite common. In that case, the training set for the neural network would be different, as the underlying image is not known, but other than that it would use the same principles.

According to Hélène Dubois, Head of the Conservation Project of the Ghent Altarpiece at the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA), “This new development of the use of the traditional x-ray has great potential for countless applications in conservation of irreplaceable works of art.”

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#09-2019 Science News #Physics/Space/Nature/Humans/History #Science #Science News #News

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haitilegends · 7 years ago

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IDA FAUBERT ÉCRIVAIN ET MILITANTE FÉMINISTE HAÏTIENNE (1882 - 1969) Par Natasha Tinsley Fille unique du président haïtien Lysius Salomon et de Florentine Potiez, Ida Salomon Faubert est née à Port-au-Prince le 14 février 1882 et passe sa petite enfance dans le palais présidentiel à Turgeau. Mais en 1888 sa famille s'exile en France, où la jeune fille fera ses études. Après un premier mariage avec Léonce Laraque elle donne naissance à une fille, Jacqueline, décédée très jeune. Ses poèmes témoignent de cette douleur. Ida revient à Port-au-Prince vers 1903 pour épouser André Faubert et donner naissance à un fils, Raoul Faubert, né en 1906. Fleur à peine éclose de l'élite haïtienne, Ida Salomon Faubert brille dans son nouveau milieu. C'est « une grande dame de la haute société de Port-au-Prince » qui, selon Léon Laleau, « allait d'un cocktail à un thé, à une sauterie. Que ce fût à pied, le visage auréolé de son ombrelle aux teintes égayantes et tournantes ; que ce fût dans sa voiture tirée par cet allègre cheval qui, à la promener, semblait au comble de la fierté ; toujours sa grâce aduste et tropicale laissait auprès elle, telle la traîne d'une robe de cour, un long sillage de frémissante admiration. Ida Salomon Faubert devient un personnage éblouissant non seulement dans la vie mondaine de Port-au-Prince, mais aussi dans sa vie littéraire. Ayant regagné son pays natal, Ida Faubert se lance dans la renaissance de la littérature haïtienne qui s'annonce au début du vingtième siècle. Elle fait partie de la génération de La Ronde et de la première génération de poétesses haïtiennes. Ses premiers poèmes paraissent en 1912 dans la revue Haïti littéraire et scientifique, dirigée alors par Edmond Laforest, et ils figurent parmi les premiers vers publiés par une femme en Haïti sans la dissimulation d'un nom de plume. En 1913, l'université des Annales couronne la jeune poétesse d'un prix pour son sonnet « Pierre Loti ». Malgré ses succès sociaux et littéraires, Ida Faubert a du mal à s'adapter à l'esprit conservateur de l'élite haïtienne. Le « libéralisme, l'indépendance de caractère d'Ida ont du mal à supporter l'étroitesse des cadres et des idées de sa Patrie », précise la critique Madeleine Gardiner À la recherche d'une liberté personnelle qu'on pourrait qualifier de féministe, Ida Faubert s'établit définitivement à Paris en 1914. Peu après son retour en France, elle divorce d'André Faubert et s'installe dans un appartement de la rue Blomet, où les rythmes antillais du Bal Nègre font bouger le quartier entier tous les samedis. Il s'y trouve également les ateliers des artistes surréalistes (qui fréquentent aussi les bals), y compris André Desnos et Juan Mir��. Ida Faubert se lance dans la scène littéraire et artistique qui l'entoure. Elle fréquente les galeries et les conférences à la mode, et elle établit son propre salon littéraire où elle reçoit des artistes et des écrivains les jeudis. Ce salon se trouve au carrefour de plusieurs cultures littéraires qui s'entrecroisent à Paris pendant les Années Folles. Membre essentiel du cercle des Haïtiens littéraires à Paris, Ida Faubert reçoit les visites de Léon Laleau et de Jean- Price Mars, lequel dédie un chapitre de sa Vocation de l'élite à la poétesse. Elle fréquente également de grands écrivains parisiens tels que Jean Richepin et Jean Vignaud, et entre dans la coterie des écrivains féministes et lesbiens de la Rive Gauche grâce à ses relations avec Anna de Noailles. Ses poèmes se publient en Haïti et en France pendant cette période. En 1920, Louis Morpeau choisit ses poèmes pour son Anthologie haïtienne de la poésie contemporaine, et ses poèmes paraissent aussi dans Les annales politiques et littéraires, La Gazette de Paris, Le journal du peuple, Lisez-moi Bleu et dans des journaux littéraires italiens. Finalement, ses poèmes se réunissent dans le recueil Coeur des îles, publié en 1939 par les Éditions René Debresse, et ce début littéraire lui vaut le prix Jacques Normand de la Société des Gens de Lettres. « La poésie d'Ida Faubert, c'est l'élan passionné du coeur, l'abandon, la langueur... », écrit Christophe Charles dans La poésie féminine haïtienne (27). Le recueil Coeur des îles nous offre trois genres de ce qu'on pourrait appeler « la poésie du coeur ». On y trouve une poésie maternelle, des poèmes mélancoliques écrits à sa fille Jacqueline, morte très jeune (voir « Pour Jacqueline ») ; une poésie musicale, des rondels et chansons dédiés à ses amies ; et une poésie érotique, des sonnets sensuels qui souvent décrivent une scène d'amour dans un jardin tropical, et qui s'adressent souvent à des amant(e)s de sexe ambigu. Prenons l'exemple de son érotisme fleuri et ambigu dans le sonnet « Je voudrais demeurer... » : Je voudrais demeurer une heure auprès de vous, Au jardin merveilleux que mon esprit suppose... Le soleil s'éteindrait, là-bas, au couchant rose, Et les jasmins s'effeuilleraient sur nos genoux. (Coeur des îles 33) En 1959, Salomon Faubert publie un recueil de récits, Sous le ciel caraïbe, qui esquisse la vie quotidienne d'Haïti. Elle vivra à Paris jusqu'à sa mort en 1969 (à Joinville-le-Pont), qui donne suite à un hommage respectueux dans les journaux de son pays. Fille d'un président haïtien, elle reste finalement une fille d'Haïti. Natasha Tinsley, de l'Université de Minnesota Ida Faubert : Chronologie Le 14 février 1882 naissance d’Ida à Port-au-Prince (Haïti). Fille du président Louis Lysius Félicité Salomon et de Florentine Félicité Potiez, ( Première Dame d’Haïti ) elle passe sa petite enfance dans une ambiance douillette au sein du palais présidentiel. Le 10 août 1888, le président Salomon, chassé du pouvoir par les opposants, s’expatrie en France avec sa famille. Ida, adolescente, fait ses études à Paris au collège des Sœurs de l’Assomption et sa première communion. Le 19 octobre 1888, Louis Lysius Salomon est décédé à Paris, XVIe arrondissement (3, avenue Victor Hugo). Les parents d’Ida sont décédés et reposent au cimetière de Passy dans le caveau familial ; âgée de 20 ans, revient sur sa terre natale et gère le patrimoine familial, comme le Turgeot Club à Port-au-Prince. Séduisante, belle et pleine de charmes, elle ne manque pas de prétendants. Elle épouse Philippe Joseph Léonce Laraque. Ce mariage ne durera pas, néanmoins elle a donné naissance à son premier enfant, une fille prénommée Jacqueline, décédée prématurément. La mort du bébé lui arrachera des cris de douleurs et marquera profondément ses poèmes. Ida divorce de Laraque. Le 1er janvier 1906, en France, rue Blomet à Paris, Ida met au monde Raoul Faubert, solide garçon, qui évoluera dans le milieu littéraire de sa mère auprès des écrivains de l’époque, tel que Colette. Ida épouse André Faubert, le père de Raoul, le 24 mars 1906. En 1913, la libération revoit les salons littéraires et décernent un prix à Ida pour son sonnet à Pierre Loti. Elle reçoit les palmes académiques ainsi que le Prix Jacques Normand de la Société des gens de lettres pour son recueil de poèmes Cœur des Iles. En 1914, Ida Faubert retourne définitivement à Paris où elle tient son propre salon, et fréquente les écrivains féministes de la rive gauche. Après son installation à Paris, elle divorce d’André Faubert. A la veille de la première guerre mondiale, Ida et Raoul font un voyage transatlantique en Haïti. Plus tard, jeune homme, Raoul voyage de nouveau, seul, pour rendre visite à son père. Le journal Le Temps du 7 mars 1915 écrivait ceci : « Jeanne Provost de la Comédie Française vient leur dire des vers, avec un sonnet de Mme Ida Faubert «Aux morts de 1914 ». Elle sait leur communiquer une émotion qui les laisse silencieux quelques minutes, mais qui s’exprime par la vigueur de leurs applaudissements. » Ida écrit des nouvelles paraissant dans les journaux parisiens, Lisez-Moi Bleu , Paris Presse l’Intransigeant, et les traductions de ses contes paraissent dans des revues Italiennes Augusta, Olimpo. En 1937, elle est heureuse d’accueillir Raoul, sa femme Germaine, et son petit-fils, Pitit mwen, Pitit mwen, Jean Faubert, dans son grand appartement de la rue de Châteaudun à Paris. Éclate la guerre 1939-1945, Raoul se retrouve au front, Ida est sur Paris avec ses problèmes de survie, Jean et sa maman sont dans la Sarthe à l’abri des incidents majeurs. Ida ne cesse d’écrire ses poèmes et ses histoires d’Haïti dans un Paris occupé. La Grand-mère qu’était Ida, ne manquait pas de rendre visite régulièrement à son petit fils Jean, interne dans un collège de Versailles, depuis le décès de sa Maman en 1946. En novembre 1953 et janvier 1954, elle est interviewée sur les ondes du Poste parisien dans le cadre d’une émission culturelle sur la poésie et Haïti. De 1955 à 1964, elle garde un étroit contact avec ses amis d’Haïti Jean Price-Mars notamment. Ida Faubert est décédée en 1969, entourée de sa famille à Joinville-le-Pont (Paris). Les journaux d’Haïti lui firent un hommage. En 2007, Mémoire d’encrier, avec la complicité agissante de son petit-fils, Jean Faubert, reprend ses écrits (poèmes et récits) sous le titre Anthologie secrète.

#ida faubert #haiti legends #hugo valcin

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ao3feed-brucewayne · 27 days ago

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Batman Intimidation

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/jIpk1mZ by JosephFrostsGhost This is a story taking place between Batman ’89 and Batman Returns. Yes, I’m quite aware of Batman Resurrection, and I’ve been reading it. I’m half way through the book, and I’m rather disappointed in what’s been given. However, I was working on what I call regularly a script series called “The Sandwich Trilogy”, which was a trilogy of scripts that took place between those two Tim Burton movies long before Batman Resurrection was even considered a potential thing, and as such, I’ve decided to adapt my scripts into a novel or series of novels. This, unlike Resurrection, completely ignores Sam Hamm’s Batman ’89 and Echoes comic series. I do, however, utilize Sam Hamm’s old Batman 2 screenplay from years ago for aspects of this story. Words: 1274, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Batman (Movies 1989-1997) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Bruce Wayne, Vicki Vale, Jack Napier/Joker, Alexander Knox, Jonathan Crane, Harvey Dent, Max Shreck, Charles "Chip" Shreck, Jason Todd, Gilda Dent, Solomon Grundy (DCU), The Organ Grinder, The Poodle Lady, Alfred Pennyworth, James Gordon, Crispus Allen, Harrison Provost, Carl Grissom, Harleen Quinzel, Fred Atkins, Janice Porter, Thomas Wayne, Willis Todd, Catherine Todd, Mike Sekowsky, Mayor Borg, Hugo Strange Relationships: Vicki Vale & Bruce Wayne, Gilda Dent & Harvey Dent read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/jIpk1mZ

#IFTTT #bruce wayne #batman #the caped crusader #the dark knight #dcu #ao3 #ao3feed

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ao3feed-harleyquinn · 27 days ago

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Batman Intimidation

by JosephFrostsGhost This is a story taking place between Batman ’89 and Batman Returns. Yes, I’m quite aware of Batman Resurrection, and I’ve been reading it. I’m half way through the book, and I’m rather disappointed in what’s been given. However, I was working on what I call regularly a script series called “The Sandwich Trilogy”, which was a trilogy of scripts that took place between those two Tim Burton movies long before Batman Resurrection was even considered a potential thing, and as such, I’ve decided to adapt my scripts into a novel or series of novels. This, unlike Resurrection, completely ignores Sam Hamm’s Batman ’89 and Echoes comic series. I do, however, utilize Sam Hamm’s old Batman 2 screenplay from years ago for aspects of this story. Words: 1274, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Batman (Movies 1989-1997) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Bruce Wayne, Vicki Vale, Jack Napier/Joker, Alexander Knox, Jonathan Crane, Harvey Dent, Max Shreck, Charles "Chip" Shreck, Jason Todd, Gilda Dent, Solomon Grundy (DCU), The Organ Grinder, The Poodle Lady, Alfred Pennyworth, James Gordon, Crispus Allen, Harrison Provost, Carl Grissom, Harleen Quinzel, Fred Atkins, Janice Porter, Thomas Wayne, Willis Todd, Catherine Todd, Mike Sekowsky, Mayor Borg, Hugo Strange Relationships: Vicki Vale & Bruce Wayne, Gilda Dent & Harvey Dent via https://ift.tt/79Foc4M

#IFTTT #harley quinn #harleen quinzel #dc #dcu #ao3 #ao3feed

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mortimers-cross · 7 years ago

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"'Gentlemen,' said she, 'sergeants! one word! There's a thing I must tell you. She is my daughter, do you see - my darling little daughter, whom I had lost. Listen; it is quite a story. You must know that I am very well acquainted with messieurs the sergeants. They were always good to me in those times when the little boys used to throw stones at me because I was a girl of pleasure. So you see, you will leave me my child when you know all! I was a poor woman of the town. It was the gypsy-women who stole her away from me. I have kept her shoe these fifteen years. See! here it is. She'd a foot like that. At Reims, La Chantefleurie, Rue Folle-Peine. Perhaps you know all that. It was I. In your youth, in those days, it was a merry time, and there were merry doings. You will have pity on me, won't you, sirs? The gypsy-women stole her from me. They hid her from me for fifteen years. I thought she was dead! Only think, my good friends; I thought she was dead! I've passed fifteen years here, in this cave, without fire in the winter. 'Tis hard, that! The poor dear little shoe! I cried so much that at last God Almighty heard me. This night He has given me back my daughter. It is a miracle of God Almighty's. She was not dead. You will not take her from me, I am sure you will not. If it were myself, now, I would not say no; but to take her, a child of sixteen! Let her have time to see the sun. What has she done to you? Nothing at all. Nor no more have I. If you did but know that I have but her, that I am old, that she is a blessing sent down to me by the Holy Virgin! And then, you are all so kind! You did not know it was my daughter, but you know now. Oh, I love her. Monsieur the great provost, I would rather have a hole in my side than a scratch upon her finger! You look like a good, kind gentleman. What I tell you now explains the thing to you, doesn't it? Oh, if you have had a mother, sir! You are the captain, leave me my child. Only consider that I am praying to you on my knees, as they pray to Christ Jesus! I ask nothing of anybody. I am from Reims, gentlemen; I've a little field there, left me by my uncle, Mahiet Pradon. I am not a beggar. I want nothing, but I must have my child. Oh, I wish to keep my child. God Almighty, Who is Master of all, has not given her back to me for nothing. The king - you say the king. It can't be any great pleasure to him that they should kill my little girl. And then, the king is good. It is my daughter, it is my daughter; mine; she's not the king's, she's not yours! I want to go away from here, we both want to go; and when two women are going, mother and daughter, you let them go quietly. Let us go quietly. We belong to Reims. Oh, you are kind sergeants. I love you all. You'll not take my dear little one from me; it is impossible. Is it not, now, quite impossible? My child! my child!' "We shall not attempt to give an idea of her gesture, her accent, the tears which she drank while speaking, the clasping and the wringing of her hands, the heartrending smiles, the appealing looks, the sighs, the moans, the agonising and piercing cries which she mingled with these wild, incoherent and rambling words. When she ceased, Tristan l'Hermite knit his brows, but it was to conceal a tear that was dimmed in his tigerish eye. However, he overcame his weakness, and said, with brief utterance: 'It is the king's will.' "Then he whispered in the ear of Henriet Cousin: 'Get done quickly.' It might be that the redoubtable provost felt his own heart failing him - even his. "The executioner and the sergeants entered the cell. The mother made no resistance; she only dragged up to her daughter and clasped her madly. When the gypsy-girl saw the soldiers approaching, the horror of death revived. 'My mother!' cried she, in a tone of indescribable distress; 'oh, my mother! they are coming; defend me!' "'Yes, my love, I am defending thee!' answered the mother, in a faint voice; and clasping her close to her arms, she covered her with kisses. To see them both thus upon the ground, the mother guarding the daughter, was truly piteous." -Hugo, Notre-Dame de Paris

#Notre-Dame #Victor Hugo #Just about time for a re-read

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harryandmeghan0-blog · 6 years ago

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UPDATED: The Duchess Attends ACU Education Event at King's College London

New Post has been published on https://harryandmeghan.xyz/updated-the-duchess-attends-acu-education-event-at-kings-college-london/

UPDATED: The Duchess Attends ACU Education Event at King's College London

The Duchess of Sussex joined university leaders, academics and international scholarship students for an event hosted by the Association of Commonwealth Universities at King’s College London to discuss higher education opportunities for young people all over the world. Discussion focused on the role of universities in addressing human trafficking and modern slavery, gender equality and inclusion, peace and reconciliation, and climate change and resilience.

The ACU shared a photo of the Duchess during the meeting taking notes.

The ACU reported attendees included:

Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics and Political Science

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester

Professor Paul Boyle, Vice Chair of the ACU Council and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leicester

Professor Edward Byrne, Principal of King’s College London; Professor Shearer West, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham

Dr Dame Nicola Brewer, Vice-Provost (International) of University College London

Professor Funmi Olonisakin, Vice-Principal (International) of King’s College London

Professor Shaun Ewen, Chair of the ACU Peace and Reconciliation Network and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous) of the University of Melbourne

The Association of Commonwealth Universities said: “HRH the Duchess of Sussex attended the event and took part in discussions, following her first official speech to students at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji in October 2018.” During the speech in Fiji, Meghan announced two new grants awarded to the University, allowing them run workshops to empower female staff and to support students during their education, provided by the Association of Commonwealth Universities.

During the speech in Fiji, Meghan said: “I am fully aware of the challenges of being able to afford this level of schooling for many people around the world – myself included. It was through scholarships, financial aid programmes and work-study where my earnings from a job on campus went directly towards my tuition – that I was able to attend university. And, without question, it was worth every effort. Everyone should be afforded the opportunity to receive the education they want, but more importantly the education they have the right to receive. And for women and girls in developing countries, this is vital.”

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Following the meeting experts and groups shared tweets.

The ACU said they were “honoured” to be joined by Meghan.

Professor Laura Hammond noted the group had an “excellent” discussion.

Established in 1913, the Association of Commonwealth Universities is the world’s first international university network, and remains the only accredited organisation representing higher education across the Commonwealth. Founded to lead ‘common action in matters of common interest’, the ACU is governed by its member institutions through an elected council. A UK-registered charity, it received a royal charter in 1963 and, in 1986, Her Majesty the Queen became its patron. I suspect at some point in the not too distant future we’ll see this patronage passed on to Meghan. Education is incredibly important to her and will form a key part of her future work.

The Duchess wore a cocoon coat, black short-sleeve sweater and skirt for the meeting.

Meghan’s coat is the $350 Artizia Wilfred Cocoon Coat in ‘petale’ (with many thanks to the Meghan’s Mirror team).

The talented Elizabeth from Meghan’s Fashion identified the top as the Hugo Boss Filonka Short-Sleeve Sweater. It’s on sale at Saks Fifth Avenue.

It’s fascinating to get a glimpse into Meghan’s private work and the research she’s undertaking ahead of the announcement of her patronages and future projects. It’s also interesting to see her work with the ACU in Fiji and now London. The Commonwealth encompasses a plethora of diverse nations. I expect it’s important to Meghan to focus on work that can impact across member nations in addition to the UK.

Source: http://madaboutmeghan.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-duchess-attends-acu-education-event.html

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hardcore-gaming-101 · 4 years ago

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Moldorian

Moldorian, published by Sega in 1994, is one of the best turn-based RPGs on a 8-bit handheld, and one of the only good ones (Defenders of Oasis, also for the Game Gear, is another). “Published” by Sega, because though that’s the only company name that shows up in the game or on the packaging, it was really developed by a company named Rit’s, headed by the late freelance illustrator Kensuke Suzuki. Under his real name and his alias Hiroshi Kajiyama, Suzuki contributed graphics and character designs to most of Camelot’s output, from the classic Shining Force series to Golden Sun and beyond. While Moldorian was never released officially outside of Japan, it received a quality fan-translation in 2019.

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lzteach · 6 years ago

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Lindas Book Obsession Interviews Lynn Hugo, Author of “The Testament of Harold’s Wife”

What inspired you to write “The Testament of Harold’s Wife?

I was inspired to write the book by a number of unrelated experiences that stuck in my mind—they must have sort have smashed together like atoms and exploded into an insistent story. First, my sister, to whom I am very close, was nearly killed by a driver who crossed center line and hit her head on. He was unpunished by the law (even though he was driving an unregistered, uninsured car). She was in the hospital and we never found out if he was drunk or on drugs, but that was our impression at the time. The second experience occurred when I was at a traffic light one slushy December twilight. I saw a decal on the back of a big black SUV. It was white, in the shape of angel wings, had a name, “Nicholas,” dates of birth and death—which told me he’d been a teenager—and said, in stylized script, “A Grandfather Never Forgives.” I was so dumbfounded by that last part that I abandoned my trip to the grocery store and followed the SUV. Not for long—I don’t know what I thought I was going to do! Interrogate the driver?—but I so wanted to know what that grandfather couldn’t forgive. I guess writers find their stories in the world by seeing things that intrigue them, but don’t worry, I didn’t stalk the SUV more than a few blocks; I came to my senses and went on to the grocery store. Then, in the spring of that same year, the third experience started: a friend of mine who’s a university provost (we live in a college town) lost her mind and brought home four baby chicks. Yes, live ones. No, she doesn’t live on a farm, and no, she didn’t know anything about raising chickens. Well, the learning curve was steep and it was great fun watching all the mistakes she made (for one, mistaking the chicken that was actually a rooster for a hen–it’s illegal to have a rooster within city limits for the obvious reason, and she wanted hens anyway because she likes eggs!). I couldn’t let all that accidental learning I’d done go to waste; I had to use my new expertise about chickens in a novel. Although I was smart enough to make the setting something sensible, like a farm. If you read THE TESTAMENT Of HAROLD’S WIFE, you’ll be able to see how subtly each of these real-life events got transformed into story.

What would you like your readers to take away from your stories?

I would like my readers to feel uplifted and hopeful, to have laughed heartily, and to have experienced what Booklist called “a blend of humor and heartbreak” which is what I think we need to find to get through life with sensitivity and compassion.

What is a typical day in the life of Lynne Hugo?

A typical day in my life includes going to the gym for water aerobics, working on the next novel for most of the day, a late afternoon hike out in the forest with my yellow Lab, Scout, throwing a tennis ball ahead so that he runs probably ten miles to my two miles hiked. A fabulous retriever, he also specializes in finding disgusting things to roll in so that I will have to get him down to the little singing river that runs through our woods and throw the ball in six or seven times; he loves to swim for it, which gives him a de facto bath. After the hike, I come home and have a glass of wine with my photographer husband—who by then will have come home from his studio. He may or may not have done the hike with the Scout…and then one of us will make dinner and the other does the clean up. (My standards on the clean up are, shall we say, somewhat higher than my husband’s since they include actually washing the pots and pans.)

What do you like to do in your downtime?

4.In my downtime, I read–mostly literary fiction. I watch the news, because world affairs are important to me and I’m particularly concerned about the environment. I love to get together with friends, dinners and movies, and lively discussions. My husband and I enjoy the hikes in the woods with the dog refresh my spirit, and I love the water aerobics especially since the instructor plays songs from the seventies. I hate to admit how many of the lyrics I can sing. Not well, but I sing them anyway. I’m definitely a nature-lover (especially my home turf,Cape Cod but natural settings in general) and I’m sure that shows in my fiction. And I love, love, love, spending time with my kids and grandchildren, the lights of my life.

How would you like readers to connect or get in touch with you?

If readers would like to get in touch with me, they can connect via my website, LynneHugo.com. (I’d love to invite subscribers to my very infrequent blog posts, too!) I’m on Facebook, Lynne Hugo Reader’s Page. Also Twitter @LynneHugo and Instagram, LynneHugoAuthor, although that latter needs updating badly, and I’m going to try to get to it this weekend. But I’m immersed in writing the next novel, which is a stand-alone follow-up to THE TESTAMENT OF HAROLD’S WIFE, meaning it’s not a sequel but it has the same characters. The working title is THE BOOK OF CAROLSUE, but just yesterday I started considering changing that to THE BOOK OF SMALL GRACES. Obviously, it’s very much a work in progress. I love to hear from readers and am very good about responding. Thank you so much for being interested and caring.

Thank you Lynn for such an informative and enjoyable interview!!!!

Lindas Book Obsession Interviews Lynne Hugo Author of “The Testament of Harold’s Wife” Lindas Book Obsession Interviews Lynn Hugo, Author of “The Testament of Harold’s Wife” What inspired you to write “The Testament of Harold’s Wife?

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murroyilodel · 8 years ago

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THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (ORIGINAL TITLE: NOTRE DAME DE PARIS)

INTRODUCTION

I get asks from time to time about the differences between the book and the movie, so I figured maybe a post will help? Behind “Read More” is a revision of a write-up I did yearrrrrrs back, and covers both Victor Hugo’s book and the Disney movie. There are also links to old HoND shows in Disneyland back in the day like whoa.

P.S. I don’t claim to be an expert on the material or Victor Hugo. I’m just a big fan, so please let me know if there are any errors here. This post is also not meant to be comprehensive, I just hope it gets more people interested. :)

THE BOOK

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is usually depicted today as a love story, about a deformed bellringer and a beautiful Roma girl. But that’s not the whole story. Indeed, the original title given by Victor Hugo, Notre Dame de Paris, suggests that there is no one main character, and no one main hero or villain as well. This is a sprawling melodrama set around the cathedral, a building that Hugo loved and inspired him to write the book. All the characters contribute in their respective ways, and each faces a type of tragedy in the end. In the preface, Hugo claims that while visiting or, rather, rummaging about Notre Dame, he found, in an obscure nook of one tower, the following word, engraved by hand upon the wall, and implies that it is this that propelled him to write the story:

ANArKH. [Fate]

Another romantic reason for writing the story was that Notre Dame was dilapidated and Hugo found it a shame. In the end, the book was attributed for helping start restoration efforts (let me point to this excellent post here). On the flip side, Hugo had a practical reason for finishing his book quickly - money. With the publisher’s deadline nearing, and a term forfeiting a thousand francs for every week of delay loomed, all Hugo had was loads of research material and nothing to show for it.

The story comprises of eleven “Books”. Purists may give me the side-eye for this (sorry XD), but first-time readers unused to long descriptions may wish to skip Book Three, which is basically Hugo’s thesis on the cathedral, and also Chapter Two of Book Five, in case they become bored and stop reading. Which will be a shame I feel!

CHARACTERS

Pierre Gringoire

“Will what they say be fine?” inquired Gisquette, timidly. “Very fine, Miss,” replied the unknown, without the slightest hesitation. […] “It is an entirely new play, which has never been performed before.” “Then it is not the same as the one performed two years ago, in which three handsome maids performed-” “As sirens,” said Liénarde. “And all naked,” added the young man. Liénarde lowered her eyes modestly. Gisquette glanced at her and did the same.

Gringoire is one of the first characters introduced. His lovely background is that his father was hanged by Burgundians and his mother disemboweled by the Picards. Gringoire grew up alone in Paris. He didn’t know how to steal, and survived on whatever charity people gave him. At sixteen, Gringoire wanted a profession, but found himself qualified for nothing. He tried to be a woodcutter, but he wasn’t strong enough. A soldier, but he wasn’t brave enough. A monk, but he wasn’t devout enough and couldn’t hold his liquor.

Hence, Gringoire became a poet.

Now in his twenties, and having written a play for the Festival of Fools, Gringoire sets out to prove his worth. Unfortunately, the play is disrupted, and a severely disappointed Gringoire finds himself on the streets without food and money, again. He meets Esmeralda, and follows her to the Court of Miracles. There, he is deemed an intruder, and is saved because Esmeralda agrees to marry him.

Gringoire is a self-professed philosopher. He takes things as they come and becomes a juggler. He accepts that Esmeralda does not love him, and becomes fonder of Esmeralda’s goat, Djali, lamenting how pretty Djali will be hanged when he sees Esmeralda and Djali prosecuted for sorcery at a trial. Gringoire values his life for “a thousand reasons”, like the air, morning, evening, three great books to write, blah, blah, blah. When captured and presented to the king, Gringoire denies being part of a mob that is attacking the cathedral to rescue Esmeralda, who is seeking refuge inside, though he is the one who concocted the plan to avoid sacrificing himself to save Esmeralda in turn.

Fate: He does escape with his life, and Djali, and goes on to reach a certain level of success with tragedy plays.

La Esmeralda

“Do you know what friendship is?”

“Yes,” replied the g****, “It is to be brother and sister; two souls meeting without mingling, two fingers on the same hand.”

“And love?” pursued Gringoire.

“Oh! Love,” she said. Her voice trembled, and her eye beamed. “That is to be two and yet one. A man and a woman joined as into an angel. It is heaven.”

Well liked by everyone for “her gaiety, daintiness, dances, and songs”, Esmeralda is a mysterious and beautiful Roma girl of sixteen, who arrived in Paris a year ago. She dances in the streets and teaches her goat, Djali, tricks to entertain the public. These earn the ire of a monk and a recluse.

During an rendezvous with Phoebus, a captain who rescued her from an attempted abduction and whom she fell in love with, Esmeralda is willing to give up her virginity for him. She always protects her virtue because she is told that the amulet she wears will not work to find her parents if she loses it. At that moment, however, Phoebus is seriously wounded, and Esmeralda is charged with sorcery. At trial, the public exclaims in fear when a witness testifies how a coin has turned into a leaf, and Esmeralda is forced to confess under torture.

She is rescued from execution by Quasimodo and finds sanctuary in Notre Dame. Although Esmeralda is grateful, she cannot get past Quasimodo’s ugliness, and is insensitive towards him.

Esmeralda is arguably the most innocent character here. That’s not to say that Esmeralda has no flaws or bite. She won’t hesitate in using her dagger to protect herself from harm, which includes Gringoire’s initial advances. Her love for Phoebus is blind, even when she knows he does not intend to marry her and is no longer interested in her. When Quasimodo puts out two vases, Esmeralda deliberately chooses the withering flower in the beautiful, but cracked, vase that leaks water, over the fresh flower in the unbroken, but plain, vase.

Fate: She is ultimately captured again and hanged at the pillory.

Claude Frollo

“Reverend,” replied Tourangeau, “I am ill, very ill. You are said to be great Æsculapius, and I have come to ask your advice in medicine.”

“Medicine!” said the archdeacon, tossing his head. He seemed to meditate for a moment, and then resumed, “Tourangeau, turn your head, you will find my reply already written on the wall.”

Tourangeau obeyed, and read this inscription above his head: “Medicine is the daughter of dreams.-JAMBLIQUE.”

Meanwhile, Doctor Jacques Coictier […] whispered in Tourangeau’s ear, softly enough not to be heard by the archdeacon, “I warned you that he was mad.”

Known as the antagonist, it might surprise first-time readers that Frollo has the most detailed background and in-depth psychoanalysis. It is also through Frollo that Hugo introduces several themes, including ‘Anarkh’.

Intelligent as a boy, Frollo seemed to have only one aim in life: learning. He mastered every subject in Collège de Torchi, where he was always “biting his pen, scribbling on his threadbare knee, and, in winter, blowing on his fingers.” An alarming reality check came when Frollo’s parents died from a plague, and Frollo realised he had a baby brother, Jehan. Frollo dedicated himself to looking after Jehan, and an adopted child, Quasimodo. He became a priest; then, archdeacon.

Frollo starts off full of compassion and enthusiasm. However, by age thirty-six, he is bitter and discouraged. Jehan behaves dishonourably; Quasimodo turns deaf. So Frollo finds comfort by, well, studying even more. He gains a formidable reputation which attracts illustrious visitors, who consult him on subjects like alchemy.

Frollo is obsessed with Esmeralda. His efforts to forget her, by denouncing sorcery and forbidding Roma near Notre Dame, prove useless. Seeing Esmeralda with Phoebus, Frollo stabs Phoebus. When Esmeralda is in prison, Frollo confesses his purported love and gives an ultimatum: be his or die. Esmeralda rejects him. As her execution takes place, Frollo wanders the streets, delirious, despairing, but ultimately unrepentant. After learning that Esmeralda’s still alive, his obsession continues.

In a story with no real heroes or villains, Frollo is depicted rather sympathetically. But he is clearly flawed. Whether it is cowardice or desire to protect his reputation or something, he avoids the pillory where Quasimodo is punished for a crime instigated by himself, and swears jealously that no one else shall have Esmeralda.

Fate: Quasimodo throws him off the top of the cathedral, and Frollo’s body is not buried in consecrated ground.

Quasimodo

The provost addressed him sternly, “What have you done to be brought here?“

The poor devil, supposing that the provost was asking his name, broke his habitual silence, and replied, in a harsh and guttural voice, "Quasimodo.”

The answer was so little related to the question that the spectators began laughing wildly. Messier Robert exclaimed, “Are you mocking me?”

“Bellringer of Notre Dame,” replied Quasimodo, thinking this time he had been asked his trade.

“Bellringer!” returned the provost, who had woken early enough to be in a sufficiently bad temper […] “I’ll make them ring a peal of rods on your back through every street of Paris.”

“If it is my age that you wish to know,” said Quasimodo, “I think I shall be twenty next Martinmas.”

On Quasimodo Sunday, 1467, a four-year-old child was left on a wooden board, and everyone marvelled in horror and glee at the monster. Frollo, who overheard the conversation, adopted the child and named him Quasimodo.

Quasimodo lives in Notre Dame and knows the whole place intimately. At fourteen, he was ecstatic to be appointed bellringer. Sadly, constant exposure to the loud ringing of bells turned Quasimodo deaf. He became more miserable and withdrawn. Nevertheless, Quasimodo’s love for his bells remains. While people believe Quasimodo to be Notre Dame’s demon, Hugo notes that he is, in fact, its soul.

During the Festival, Quasimodo is elected Pope by virtue of his ugliness. In his confusion, Quasimodo is happy that people are cheering for him. Later, when Quasimodo kidnaps Esmeralda, under Frollo’s orders, he is caught by Phoebus. After a farcical trial where a deaf magistrate questions a deaf Quasimodo, Quasimdo is sent to the pillory. Whipped and humiliated by the masses, Quasimodo is stunned that the only person who heeds his request for water is Esmeralda. He seems to first love Esmeralda for her kindness. In a laugh that is “the most heartbreaking thing”, he tells her that he never understood his ugliness until he saw her.

Quasimodo isn’t a likeable protagonist, with his menacing ways. He shows no apparent compunction in killing people (ooh, molten lead, I likey). However, his humanity gradually unfolds. He is completely faithful and grateful to Frollo, and is selfless in his devotion towards Esmeralda. Hugo comments that Quasimodo’s malevolence is, perhaps, not innate, but stems from the hatred surrounding him.

Fate: After the deaths of Esmeralda and Frollo, and lamenting that he has lost all that he has ever loved, he disappears. Eighteen months or two years later, it is heavily implied that it is his skeleton that is found embracing Esmeralda’s, and when his skeleton is detached from the other, it fell to dust.

Phoebus de Châteaupers

“Phoebus,” she said, with an expression of infinite love, “instruct me in your religion.”

“My religion!” exclaimed the captain, bursting with laughter, “I instruct you in my religion! Corne et tonnerre. What do you want with my religion?”

“That we may be married,” she replied.

The captain’s face assumed an expression of mingled surprise, disdain, carelessness and libertine passion.

“Why should one marry?”

Phoebus is a captain of the King’s archers, and is betrothed to Fleur-de-Lys. When he visits Fleur-de-Lys, he feigns interest in what she does. He is clearly uncomfortable in the presence of nobles and their classy manners, even though he, too, comes from a noble family.

This is because Phoebus has spent most of his life in the countryside with the military. He is more used to the commoners and their supposedly cruder ways. He is extremely vulgar (but the swear-words are mild by today’s standards. Pope’s belly? Blood and thunder? Phoebus, you can do better.). He watches his tongue when he is with Fleur-de-Lys, but feels free to talk however he likes with Esmeralda.

Whilst Fleur-de-Lys is depicted as a typical noblewoman, elegant and non-confrontational, she is aware that Phoebus is not interested in her. When Esmeralda enters the picture, she and her friends recognise a threat and seek to belittle Esmeralda. Phoebus, however, is amused, and openly expresses his admiration for Esmeralda’s beauty.

The book is a story of contradictions, and Phoebus, whilst being very handsome, is also very shallow. His friends include Jehan, and they visit taverns and prostitutes. Phoebus uses his looks to charm women. He does not love them, and Esmeralda is no exception.

After Esmeralda’s alleged assassination, Phoebus tries to forget her and returns to Fleur-de-Lys, who is safer. He lies that he received his wound from a dispute. Later, Fleur-de-Lys witnesses Esmeralda being brought to the gallows, and sees that Phoebus is disturbed. Not knowing the real reason, she forces Phoebus to watch the procession with her.

Fate: To quote the book, “Phoebus de Chateaupers also came to a tragic end. He married.”

OTHER NOTABLE CHARACTERS

Clopin Trouillefou

“By the devil’s claws,” interrupted Clopin, “your name, knave, and nothing more. Listen. You are in the presence of three powerful sovereigns. […] You have violated the privileges of our city. You must be punished unless you are a […] thief, a beggar, or a vagabond. Are you anything of that sort?”

“Alas,” said Gringoire, “I have not that honour. I am the author-”

“That is enough,” Trouillefou interrupted, without permitting him to finish. “You will be hanged.”

There is more to Clopin than meets the eye. He feigns disabilities while begging for money. He auditions for Pope of Fools, and “God knows what intensity of ugliness his visage could attain”. Later, he reveals himself to be leader of the Court of Miracles. He attempts to hang Gringoire, but then remembers a custom of asking if any woman will marry Gringoire.

When Esmeralda disappears, Clopin is genuinely worried. After learning where Esmeralda is, he gathers the Truands to besiege Notre Dame. He yells that Esmeralda is falsely condemned. Unfortunately, Quasimodo thinks that the Truands are going to harm Esmeralda, and attacks them. Louis XI also sends his soldiers to subdue them, and Clopin is described as severing men’s limbs with a scythe.

Jehan Frollo du Moulin

“It’s Master Andry Musnier,” said one. “One of the four appointed booksellers to the University,” said another. “Everything goes by fours there,” cried a third; “four nations, four faculties, four holidays, four proctors, four electors, and four booksellers.” “Well,” began Jehan, “we must play four devils.” “Musnier, we’ll burn your books.” “Musnier, we’ll beat your lackey.” “Musnier, we’ll kiss your wife.” “That fine, big Mademoiselle Oudarde.” “Who is as fresh and gay as if she were a widow.” “Devil take you,” growled Master Andry Musnier. “Master Andry,” said Jehan, still clinging to the capital, “hold your tongue, or I’ll drop on your head.”

Although enrolled into Collège de Torchi like Frollo, Jehan left an entirely different reputation. Jehan got into mischief, and enjoyed leading student uprisings. Frollo often receives reports about Jehan’s unruly behaviour.

A disorderly man, Jehan frequently asks Frollo for money. With a shrewd and charming disposition, he disregards Frollo’s lectures. Jehan thinks that life is a joke and indulges in wine and a good uproar, and is usually present in scenes where Quasimodo is humiliated.

When Frollo gives up on him, Jehan scurries off and joins the Truands as they prepare to save Esmeralda. He revels in being an outcast on a fine expedition to pillage Notre Dame and rouses the Truands with his speech. “Long live mirth!”

Gudule

The recluse trembled, rose erect on her bare feet, and leaped at the window with eyes so glaring that Mahiette, Oudarde, and the other woman and the child recoiled […]

She cried, with an appalling laugh, “It’s the Egyptian who is calling me.”

No one in Paris knows who Gudule really is, until three women visit her and one recognises her. Her real name is Pâquette le Chantefleurie. She was a prostitute and gave birth to Agnes. Among other things, Pâquette made a pair of pink satin shoes for her beloved child.

Pâquette took Agnes to some gypsy women, who foretold that Agnes would be queen. Pleased, Pâquette went to inform her neighbour, during which time Agnes was kidnapped from their home. One shoe was left behind and in Agnes’s place was a “hideous little monster”.

Distraught, Pâquette led the authorities to the gypsies’ camp, but the gypsies had already left. It was surmised, from ribbons and blood found, that the gypsies had eaten Agnes.

Pâquette disappeared and came to Paris, with a shoe she worships and a hatred towards gypsies, especially Esmeralda.

Louis IX

“The day must come when there shall exist in France only one king, one lord, one judge, one headsman, as there is in paradise but one God!”

Although Louis XI is old and complains about his ailments, he is still sharp of mind.

He is also distrustful, malicious, and miserly. He moans about the Crown’s enormous expenses, ignores a prisoner who pleads his innocence of treason and laughs at his people’s audacity when sedition against the bailiff is reported. When it turns out that it is actually Notre Dame that is attacked, Louis XI freaks out. The cathedral is under his protection. An attack on Notre Dame is an attack on him.

One subject deduces (wrongly) that people are displeased because an impure witch resides in Notre Dame. Louis XI thus orders that the people be exterminated and the sorceress hanged.

STORY

The stage is set, literally, on 6th January, 1482, for a play in the Great Hall. Gringoire takes extreme pride in his play. However, hassled by Jehan and Clopin, the play fails to start.

Meanwhile, people contest to be Pope of Fools and display their ugliest expressions. When Quasimodo appears, everyone admires his remarkable grimace, and Quasimodo is elected.

Gringoire seeks the warmth of a bonfire and sees Esmeralda dancing for a captivated crowd. However, two people appear non-appreciative. Gudule curses Esmeralda while Frollo condemns the tricks that Djali performs. Later, Quasimodo kidnaps Esmeralda, but Phoebus intervenes and Esmeralda falls in love with her knight in shining armour.

Quasimodo is punished at the pillory, and onlookers turn nasty and blame Quasimodo for their misfortunes. When Quasimodo asks for water, Esmeralda takes pity and lets him drink from a gourd.

For all its seriousness, the book is funny in Hugo’s sardonic way. Still, passionate pleas, coincidences and events that spin out of control ensure that this is a story of Shakespearean proportion. Everyone is led inexorably to a climatic end.

In other words, people die. If they don’t, Hugo is considerate enough to give them a wallop of tragedy.

DISNEY’S THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME

Not having done as well in the US box-office as other animations, like The Lion King, have, Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame is now quite obscure. That said, it is considered by many to be one of the most underrated Disney animations and one of the last films in the Disney Renaissance. It’s been exactly ten years since the film premiered on screens worldwide in June, but fans have certainly not forgotten this film.

CHARACTERS

Quasimodo Voice: Tom Hulce

Quasi, as Quasimodo is affectionately called in the film, is a much gentler, sweeter and kinder character than his counterpart in the book. Animators have also succeeded in designing him to be supposedly ugly, but, nonetheless, adorable.

Unlike Quasimodo in the book, who walks the streets as and when he chooses, Quasi is forbidden to even step out of Notre Dame. Throughout his life, ever since he was a baby, Quasi has been abused psychologically by his guardian, Frollo, into thinking of himself as a monster and that his mother abandoned him a long time ago.

A submissive Quasi can only observe Paris and the citizens from above the bell-tower, and carve out of wood a miniature Paris of his own. His desire to be out there increases when the Festival of Fools approaches. Encouraged by his friends, the gargoyles, Quasi leaves Notre Dame and becomes caught in the frenzy of festivities. Quasi finds himself crowned the King of Fools, and is tremendously happy and touched. Soon after, however, he learns a harsh lesson in return.

“No one wants to stay cooped up here forever.”

Archdeacon Voice: David Ogden Stiers

The Archdeacon acts as the voice of reason and sympathy. He is the only character that Frollo pays any amount of respect to. The Archdeacon reprimands Frollo severely, after witnessing a gypsy woman die while trying to run away from Frollo. Frollo thinks that the bundle she is carrying is stolen goods, but it turns out to be a baby Quasimodo. The Archdeacon warns that Notre Dame is watching (it’s got eyes, yo) and successfully persuades Frollo to raise Quasimodo as penance.

The Archdeacon also protects Esmeralda when she finds her way into Notre Dame. He reminds Frollo of the sanctity of the Church and denies him the chance to capture Esmeralda. The Archdeacon then guides Esmeralda through the cathedral and cautions against her rashness.

Esmeralda: “No one out there’s going to help. That’s for sure.” Archdeacon: “Well, perhaps there is someone in here who can.”

Clopin Voice: Paul Kandel

Clopin is an enigmatic storyteller, and has a puppet whom he interacts with and bullies often. He opens the film by enchanting (or terrorising, it depends) children with a tale of “a man and a monster”, which is an important motif in the film. He is also the Master of Ceremonies for the Festival of Fools, and leads the public on in the celebrations and fun. This is the moment when Quasimodo first ventures out of Notre Dame, and all the principal characters collide, er, meet.

A mercurial and flamboyant character, Clopin is also dangerous and not to be trifled with. As the leader of the Court of Miracles, which is a secret haven for gypsies, Clopin watches out for spies and intruders, and is ready to kill anyone who finds his way in. That includes Quasimodo and Phoebus. The man does it in song and dance too, and isn’t too pleased when his puppet decides to intervene.

“We find you totally innocent, which is the worst crime of all.”

Phoebus Voice: Kevin Kline

Phoebus’s character is thoroughly changed here. He’s the good-natured cop around the block, complete with integrity, comic expressions and buffoonery. He does sometimes act like a goof, what with getting injured by other characters and not knowing how to read maps properly. But part of the goofiness is due to his ability to poke fun at himself. He also has a horse, Achilles, who is trained to sit on people.

A soldier who has been away in the battlefield for years, Phoebus returns to Paris a war hero, and becomes Captain of the Guard. He is instantly attracted to Esmeralda when he sees her dancing in the streets, and helps her escape two soldiers, the latter having presumed that the money she’s earned is stolen from someone else.

Unlike the other soldiers, Phoebus disapproves of the crowd’s humiliation of Quasimodo during the festival, and wants to stop it. Although Phoebus is initially respectful towards his employer, Frollo, he constantly shows his reservations towards Frollo’s methods.

“I was summoned from the wars, to capture fortune-tellers and palm-readers?”

Esmeralda Voice: Demi Moore; Heidi Mollenhauer (singing).

How do you turn an ethereal and dreamy creature into someone with supposedly more depth and whom the audience can relate to?

Disney’s Esmeralda is given a worldly awareness of the gypsies’ outcast status, something that Esmeralda in the book is unconcerned about. Disney’s Esmeralda does not have the same innocence and gaiety either. If anything, she is more jaded and mature than the Disney heroines before her. Nevertheless, Esmeralda is kind, independent, feisty, and, at times, vulnerable. She reveals her sadness for the gypsies’ plight when she finds solace in Notre Dame.

A dancer who survives on the streets, Esmeralda hides Djali and herself under a simple cloak to evade soldiers. During the Festival of Fools, she performs to the crowd’s applause and catcalls. Later, however, she silences that same crowd when she tends to a helpless Quasi, who is being tortured and humiliated, and openly defends Quasi. She and Quasimodo become friends and she teaches him that he is not a monster.

“What do they have against people who are different, anyway?”

Djali

Although a ‘she’ in the book, Djali is a ‘he’ here. He is Esmeralda’s companion and is protective of her, in his head-butting way. He has a propensity for wood and eats up Quasimodo’s miniature sheep and shepherd, when he and Esmeralda explore Notre Dame.

Phoebus: “I didn’t know you had a kid.” Esmeralda: “Well, he doesn’t take kindly to soldiers.”

Victor, Hugo, and Laverne (from left to right) Voice: Charles Kimbrough, Jason Alexander, and Mary Wickes (later, Jane Withers)

Following the serious tone of the film, the production team make certain to point out that, while they move and function on their own, these gargoyles are not magical creatures (although the fact that Djali can see Hugo raises some question). They are a figment of Quasi’s imagination, a manifestation of Quasi’s twenty years of isolation and loneliness. They are still when people are around, and come alive when Quasi is alone. Just like Calvin and Hobbes, actually.

Although the gargoyles’ humour is meant to be comic relief, it sometimes jars with the mood and pacing of the film, and many have described the gargoyles as a mistake. Still, the gargoyles serve to be Quasi’s friends and advisors. Victor is level-headed and snobbish, Laverne is the maternal one who is constantly irritated by pigeons which roost on her, and Hugo is the loud mouth who thinks he’s the “cute one”.

[As Quasi walks away.] Victor: “Aren’t you going to watch the festival with us?” Hugo: “I don’t get it.” Victor: “Perhaps he’s sick.” Laverne: “Impossible. If twenty years of listening to you two hasn’t made him sick by now, nothing will.”

Frollo Voice: Tony Jay

No longer an archdeacon but a Minister of Justice, Frollo is immediately presented as fearsome, arrogant and merciless, with a touch of wry humour thrown in. His zeal to destroy all gypsies can be attributed to religious fanaticism and his belief that gypsies represent all that is heathen and immoral.

Frollo detests the Festival of Fools, but has to attend it every year simply because it is required of him as a public official. This year’s festival turns out to be different though. After seeing Esmeralda for the first time, Frollo finds himself trapped in an inner conflict between the virtues he clings to and the undeniable lust he feels for her. He blames Esmeralda and concludes that she is a witch, who must burn in Hell or belong to him alone.

A more villainous figure in the film, Frollo truly believes that he is above the weak-minded common people and that his actions are just.

“You don’t know what it’s like out there. I do.”

TALE OF A MAN AND A MONSTER

From what I gather when the movie came out, I think effort was spent to make the film light-hearted, since people had come to expect a feel-good experience from Disney movies. There were the McDonald’s toys to promote the film, and the snappy slogan (“Come join the party!”) slapped across the posters. Still, after the film was shown, some people were led to wonder how it was that the film had managed to snag a ‘G’ rating. This is admittedly a more ‘adult’ animation than the usual Disney fare, dealing with issues of racism and religion, but also acceptance and forgiveness. The film is not without its anachronisms (Balloons! Tomatoes!) and plot-holes, and Disney does take liberties with Hugo’s story. But looking at other adaptations, one will realise that Disney is not the only one. *points to my other post showing that Victor Hugo himself memed his own meme in an opera.*

The film opens with Clopin singing about bells, bells, bells, bells, and more bells. In between is the story of how a group of Roma tries to enter Paris, only to be cornered by Frollo and his soldiers, and how Frollo comes to raise Quasi (because the Archdeacon guilts him to do it).

Twenty years later, Quasi is now bellringer of Notre Dame and yearns to see what life is like outside the cathedral. His venturing out, during the Festival of Fools, will trigger off a series of events that will lead Quasi to meet new friends, question the beliefs that he has been instilled with, and become an unlikely hero.

POSTSCRIPT

There have been two stage adaptations since the movie. The first version opened in 1999 in Berlin, and was entitled Der Glöckner von Notre Dame. The script was rewritten by James Lapin, who also directed the show. Some old songs and scenes were taken out, and some new songs and scenes were added in. The musical ran for three years and was a success, not just among the locals, but also the tourists.

The second version premiered in La Jolla Playhouse in 2014 and the Paper Mill Playhouse in 2015, and that version continues to play across the USA and now all across the world, from Denmark to Japan.

CONCLUSION

I hope this write-up helps! Any mistakes, please let me know! If you’re interested in old gems, below are stuff I dug up! I have also set out links to old English translations of the book if anyone is interested.

Disneyland: These are different performances which I wished I could travel back in time to watch! USA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpnNk4TCpZA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcOXslkwyOI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfPxpoGwx0s Paris https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpijTkwvcF4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QAXhhaciXM

Book http://www.bartleby.com/312/ http://www.classicbookshelf.com/library/victor_hugo/the_hunchback_of_notre_dame/ http://www.online-literature.com/victor_hugo/hunchback_notre_dame/

These versions are antiquated and contain typos. Online original French version: http://www.livresse.com/Livres-enligne/notredameparis/01-1ndp.shtml

Many, many thanks for reading! hond musical tag & hond movie tag

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