#James Ruskin

[saaammmnn]

Maybe my favorite mix I've made. Militant, cold, emotionally driven techno, tribal rhythms and acrid noise.

[iamlisteningto]

James Ruskin’s Point 2

[electronicka]

James Ruskin - Before sunset

[radiophd]

james ruskin -- the divide

[miwhotep]

Beside the famous canon Sherlock Holmes characters who appeared in Yuumori, there are also other ones - beside the fandom-wise more well-known Fred Porlock or Herder - who can seem original characters first, but are actually part of the canon, even if only by just one mention.

Watson mentions Professor Moriarty's brother at the start of The Final Problem.

Professor Moriarty's younger brother is mentioned by Holmes in the second chapter of The Valley of Fear.

(AU where Louis is a station master!!)

Inspector Patterson is mentioned in Holmes' "last" letter to Watson at the end of The Final Problem. It seems Patterson was the one who dealt with the Moriarty case in the canon.

Holmes mentions that Milverton has a secretary who is really devoted to him at the middle of the original story (the name Ruskin however inspired by the English writer John Ruskin who was friends with the art-dealer Charles Augustus Howell who was Conan Doyle's real life inspiration for Milverton).

[indaiwilo]

They are just a bunch of little guys.

I tried doing some chibis as a treat. I hope they are cute as I never did them much. I don't know if I'll do more at a later date, there's still some work in my personal life to be done.

[jamesnorthcotefanblog]

Daniel Crossley as John Ruskin, and James Northcote as John Everett Millais in 'Lizzie Siddal' (Arcola Theatre 2013)

[athenaergatis]

all my homies hate john ruskin

[damnghouligans]

This is the pettiest thing I’ve ever researched and tbh it was a fun read

[fancyfeathers]

Dr. Darling Anon here!

okay, so what if hypothetically, before she grew close with William, Milverton was the closest to getting her hands in marriage? He wasn’t working with her uncle, he has nothing to blackmail her with and he’s been seen with her in public multiple times, but before he could start the official courting process, she met William? Oh he’d be mad. And it took so long because she noticed Milverton’s off putting aura and just kept trying to keep him arms length.

and another scenario, Dr. Darling has a good immune system and is very careful about injuries, so when William sees she has a huge jagged scar on her back (from the middle up to the shoulder) and assumes milverton has a hand in it because he hasn’t received any notice of her being injured but she reveals she shielded a child from a drunk man with a broken bottle while studying in America and the doctors there were so horrible she fears becoming one of them and fears them in general because they were slime balls

idk if that made sense I’m tired from the week of university lol.

I was fed yet again with this, I really need to make a masterlist for this now because I love this concept so much.

Okay by default I think Milverton would be a yandere, like that man is to crazy canonically not to be. So when her father died and she inherited everything and returned to England from America it is only natural that the newspapers report on such a thing, a beautiful, intelligent, rich, and titled young lady, and he is immediately intrigued the moment the words reach his ears.

When he meets her, Milverton immediately sets his mind into making her his wife. His first approach into doing this would obviously be blackmail but when she literally has nothing on her, nothing, perfect record, nothing that she would be ashamed of or that could ruin her. So he would have to resort to actual courting, but that takes time and building trust and no one trusts Milverton’s, he is known as the King of Blackmail for a reason. So it would take months for him to get her to trust him, and it would no doubt slow his business, having to hold back on utilizing extortion so nothing current could be linked to him. He puts on an act of kindness, helping her get away from suitors that are working with her extended family at parties, printing positive news about her company in the papers, and while he won’t directly blackmail anyone he will indirectly threaten, after all he still has a reputation, subtle dropping a mention of a secret gambling addiction one of her suitors has in conversation with said suitor, or asking about another’s company that had recently fallen into bankruptcy and has not yet been released to the public, he scares most of them away…

Keyword; most…

It’s when she actually lets her guard down around him, laughing and smiling when talking to him, that he knows he can acs begin to court her now that he’s proved he’s on her side. But a reputation is still a reputation, so it is only natural that it takes practically nothing for a talented mathematics professor to suggest a marriage proposal to seemingly only benefit her out of the kindness of his heart. Milverton is absolutely fuming when the engagement of William James Moriarty is announced to the woman that should be his. His staff, even Ruskin, does not even approach him the day the announcement is made because Milverton will lash out at anyone of anything. Then it is only after he is recovered from all the stages of grief he went through does he act upon the final one; revenge. Everything he has worked for in courting her goes out the window and he will do anything to anyone to find what he needs to bring William James Moriarty to his knees.

Meanwhile William marries his darling and before she even notices his yandere tendencies, there is the wedding night. He sees her hesitation and immediately knows why when he see horrific marks on her back. Now William is not the type to jump to conclusions but he knows Milverton’s reputation and thinks he was the one to do this at first before his mind calms, though Milverton would never have to hurt his darling to get what he wants from them, and immediately demands who did this. When his darling makes him calm down he finally gets to process how old the scar is, at least five years old, there would be no way for the news tycoon to do such a thing. When his darling explains it all adds up, truly she never had changed since they were children (though William would have been er told her it was him at the orphanage until she finds out he is the Lord of Crime since that could expose him). It honestly reminds him why he adores her so, she is far too pure for this horrible and disgusting world, she should not have to be stained with the horrors of it.

He has to protect her.

Then of course as time goes on, his darling finds out about William’s identity and her world becomes far more limited as she becomes for more isolated from the outside world and of course Milverton would notice he absence from the business world and the high society of England. Then when Milverton finally spots William during the Jack the Ripper incident as the Lord of Crime it all makes sense and he finally has exactly what he needs to trace William back to that orphan boy and his little brother who would get help from a little aristocrat girl would would one day take over England’s biggest medical company…

It would practically take nothing for him to sweep in and marry her after exposing the Lord of Crime and free her from her isolation inflicted upon her by him. After all it would be the least she could do after he saves her.

[aimeedaisies]

The Princess Royal’s Official Engagements in June 2024

04/06 As Master of the Corporation of Trinity House, attended the Trinitytide Anniversary Annual Court Meeting, Church Service and Luncheon. 💼⛪️🍽️

As Colonel-in-Chief, The Royal Corps of Signals, this afternoon inspected The Queen’s Gurkha Signals Regiment on public duties at St James’s Palace. 🫡

As Chairman of the International Olympic Committee Members Election Commission, held a Members Election Commission Meeting at St James’s Palace. 💼

05/06 With Sir Tim As Colonel-In-Chief of The Royal Regina Rifles, unveiled a statue and attended a Reception at 10 Place des Canadiens, Thue et Mue, Bretteville. 🇬🇧🇫🇷🇨🇦

With Sir Tim Attended a service of commemoration and reception to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day Landings at Bayeux War Cemetery. 🪦🪖

With Sir Tim As President of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, attended the Annual Service in Bayeux Cathedral to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day Landings. ⛪️

With Sir Tim As President of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, attended a service to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings at Bayeux War Cemetery. 🪦🕯️

06/06 With Sir Tim Attended the Annual Founder’s Day Parade at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. 💂

As Colonel of The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons), attended a Household Cavalry Council Meeting at Hyde Park Barracks. 🐎

07/06 Opened Forest of Dean Community Hospital. 🏥

Visited Ruskin Mill Trust in Nailsworth. 🏫

09/06 Attended the Bramham International Horse Trials Prize Giving, on its 50th anniversary. 🏇🏼

11/06 Opened Mercator Media Limited’s 25th Anniversary Seawork Marine Exhibition in Southampton. ⛴️

As Patron of the British Nutrition Foundation, visited the British Armed Forces Nutrition Programme at The Royal Logistic Corps Regimental Museum in Winchester. 🍏🍊

As Patron of Farms for City Children, and Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Butchers, attended a Festival of Learning at Butchers’ Hall. 🥩🥓🍖

Unofficial Sir Tim attended a reception at the King Edward VII Hospital and unveiled a plaque dedicated to Sir Jameson Boyd Adams. 🍾

With Sir Tim As Royal Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, attended The Prince Philip Fund Commemoration Dinner at Prince Philip House. 🍽️🍾

12/06 On behalf of The King, held an Investiture at Windsor Castle. 🎖️

As Chancellor of the University of London, attended the School of Advanced Study 30th Anniversary Reception at Senate House. 📚📖

As President of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Commonwealth Study Conferences, attended a Dinner. 🍽️🗺️

13/06 As Patron of Transaid, visited the Multimodal 2024 Exhibition. 🛻

As Patron of the Townswomen’s Guilds, attended the Annual General Meeting. 💼

As Patron of the Foundation for Future London, attended the UK Cultural Exchange launch. 🇬🇧🗺️

With Sir Tim As President of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, attended a President’s Panel Discussion and Dinner. 🎤🍽️

14/06 Presided over a conference attended by the Colonels of the Regiments of the Household Division. 💂

Cavalry Regiments

Blues and Royals - Princess Anne

The Life Guards - Non - Royal

Footguards

Grenadier Guards - Queen Camilla

Coldstream Guards - Non - Royal

Scots Guards - Prince Edward

Irish Guards - Catherine, Princess of Wales

Welsh Guards - Prince William

Reserves

London Guards - Prince Edward

15/06 With Sir Tim Trooping the Colour

17/06 With Sir Tim Attended a chapter of the Most Noble Order of the Garter in the Throne Room, Windsor Castle. 🏰

With Sir Tim Attended a luncheon, hosted by the King, at Windsor Castle. 🍽️

With Sir Tim Attended an Installation Service was held in St George’s Chapel at which The Duchess of Gloucester was installed as a Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. 🪽🎖️

18/06 unofficial Attended day one of Royal Ascot. 🏇🏼

19/06 unofficial Attended day two of Royal Ascot. 🏇🏼

20/06 unofficial With Sir Tim Attended day three (Ladies Day) of Royal Ascot. 🏇🏼

21/06 With Sir Tim Attended the RNLI Beating Retreat, Reception and Dinner at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. 🛟🥂🍽️

22/06 With Sir Tim As Patron of the Eric Liddell 100, attended a Service in St Giles’ Cathedral, followed by a Reception to commemorate 100 years since Eric Liddells Olympic gold medal win. 🥇

~ Engagements cancelled due to hospitalisation ~

Total official engagements for Anne in June:

2024 total so far:

Total official engagements accompanied by Tim in June:

2024 total so far:

FYI - due to certain royal family members being off ill/in recovery I won't be posting everyone's engagement counts out of respect, I am continuing to count them and release the totals at the end of the year.

[whencyclopedia]

Interview: Pre-Raphaelites: Modern Renaissance

Pre-Raphaelites: Modern Renaissance marks the first multidisciplinary exhibition in Italy to examine the profound impact of Italian Renaissance art on the Pre-Raphaelite movement, which flourished in Victorian and Edwardian Britain (c. 1840-1920).

Displayed throughout the hallowed halls of the San Domenico Museum, a restored 13th-century Dominican convent in Forlì, Italy, are over 300 works of art, which juxtapose and highlight the revolutionary creativity and intensity of two important artistic eras. In this exclusive interview, James Blake Wiener speaks to Mr. Peter Trippi, a co-curator of the exhibition and an expert of Victorian art, about the exhibition.

JBW: Peter, thanks so much for speaking to me and introducing us to a most gorgeous exhibition.

I have always seen the Pre-Raphaelite artists as rebels and innovators. Their rejection of Victorian complacency and industrial materialism, as reflected in their works, shocked segments of the British public. Looking to the distant past to find a more natural vision, Pre-Raphaelite artists embraced that which was ordinary while still applying innovation to technique and treatment of form in novel ways.

What was it that made the revolt of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood so enduring and yet so profound in its immediate impact?

PT: The earliest paintings exhibited by members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood electrified their contemporaries in the late 1840s and early 1850s for several reasons. Visually, they were completely out of step with everything around them at London's crowded major exhibitions: their brilliant coloring stood out from the drab browns and greys used by most artists at the time; their draftsmanship and paint handling was precise rather than "sloshy" (the term they used to criticize their older colleagues); their compositions were willfully naïve and sometimes even jarring, ignoring the polite post-Raphaelite conventions that the Royal Academy promoted; and they were depicting narratives that were unexpectedly high-minded (such as the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary) or gruesomely passionate (such as the run-up and aftermath of Lorenzo's murder in John Keats's Romantic poem Isabella and the Pot of Basil). Viewers could see these were young men with talent and something fresh to say, but they were not quite sure what to do with it. It was not until 1851, when the prestigious critic John Ruskin came to their defense, that the British public began to accept these innovations.

The continuing power of those innovations was demonstrated in 1986 when I was sitting in an art history lecture hall at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. As an American exchange student, I had never even heard of the Pre-Raphaelites (who were little known in the U.S. then). But I sat up straight in my chair as their brilliantly colored, oddly composed, and often erotic images came up on the screen. 175 years after its launch, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's power to fascinate is still evident. Once they start, people cannot stop looking.

JBW: Highlights on display within the exhibition include celebrated paintings and drawings by the great Italian masters, including Botticelli, Lippi, Verrocchio, Michelangelo, Veronese, Titian, and even Guido Reni. These are juxtaposed with major works by British artists including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais, William Holman Hunt, John Ruskin, and J. W. Waterhouse, among others. The pairing of Renaissance Italian antecedents with Pre-Raphaelite masterpieces affords visitors a rare opportunity to compare and contrast across time and space.

What new perspectives can the visitor learn with regard to Pre-Raphaelites as a result of this exciting pairing?

PT: The exhibition at Forlí has a light touch; it is almost poetic in the way it allows the Italian Old Masters and their British admirers to converse with each other in the same rooms, without striving to show direct influences or replications. A great example is the large room of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's mature paintings, most of which show women in bust-length portrait formats, as if sitting at a window. These images (of such sitters as Jane Morris and Fanny Cornforth) have become famous around the world, but never before have we seen them hanging side by side, literally interspersed, with the Madonnas, Florentine noblewomen, and Venetian courtesans to which Rossetti was responding. It is only in an art-rich country like Italy that a museum can make this case so visibly. In the UK, for example, there simply are not enough of the Italian prototypes available to lend them to a show about 19th-century British art. My co-curator Liz Prettejohn and I knew that this opportunity might never come again and so we pounced on it. Once visitors leave that Rossetti room, they will never see his famous woman-at-the-window the same way; suddenly her backstory has become clear.

JBW: Aside from paintings and drawings, sculptures, prints and photographs, to furniture, ceramics, glass, metalwork, tapestries, wallpaper, illustrated books, and jewelry are also displayed within Pre-Raphaelites: Modern Renaissance.

Many Pre-Raphaelites artists believed that the way art was produced could shape wider cultural values. Is this reflected within the exhibition, and if so, how?

PT: Our curatorial team was eager to show how the Pre-Raphaelites' innovative ideas about the power and romance of Italian Renaissance art were transmitted not only through "fine art" (paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints) but also through the applied (decorative) arts. We invited Dr. Charlotte Gere, the London-based scholar of decorative arts, to join the team, and she selected most of those artworks, primarily from the Victoria and Albert Museum, Fitzwilliam Museum, and British Museum, but also from other UK collections. One of her aims was to show that the "second generation" of Pre-Raphaelites – especially Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris – were determined to bring their aesthetic into immersive environments ranging from churches to the dining rooms at the Victoria and Albert Museum. They also made objects in every possible medium that individuals could buy and live with, often on the expensive side, but not always. By 1870, their worldview had morphed into the Aesthetic Movement (the so-called Cult of Beauty), which impacted every aspect of visual culture in the UK and, by extension, its empire and the United States. The most dramatic examples of immersive decoration in our show are the huge Holy Grail tapestries designed in the 1890s by Edward Burne-Jones and hand-woven by William Morris's team for a wealthy collector's baronial hall near London.

JBW: Pre-Raphaelites: Modern Renaissance additionally explores the important and often overlooked contributions made by accomplished female artists to the Pre-Raphaelite movement.

What can you tell us about these Victorian talents, and how are they differentiated from their male colleagues within the show?

PT: We are pleased to have 15 women artists represented in our exhibition through 26 different works. In order of appearance, they are Elizabeth Siddal, Christina Rossetti, Maria Rossetti, Eliza Jameson Strutt, Evelyn De Morgan, Christiana Jane Herringham, Constance Phillott, Maria Cassavetti Zambaco, Marie Spartali Stillman, Julia Margaret Cameron, Beatrice Parsons, Marianne Stokes, Phoebe Anna Traquair, Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale, and May Cooksey. Over the past quarter-century, scholars have proven that women were fully involved in the Pre-Raphaelite movement as it evolved over time, but usually, their stories have been ignored or even erased by subsequent generations. That injustice is certainly not unique to art history, but it is time to rectify it, and we were delighted that so many relevant loans were approved.

Some of these women have been thoroughly studied (such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti's wife and collaborator, Elizabeth Siddal) while others still need to be investigated (such as the enigmatic May Cooksey). We have scattered them throughout the show rather than placing them in a female "ghetto," and we are especially proud to have six major examples of mature work by Evelyn De Morgan. Her parents wanted her to marry a rich man and start a family, but with the help of her artist-uncle J. R. Spencer Stanhope (also in our show), she pursued formal artistic training and ultimately exhibited her large symbolist canvases at London's prestigious Grosvenor Gallery right alongside starry male colleagues like Edward Burne-Jones. I would argue that she surpassed her uncle in quality and ambition.

JBW: I was intrigued to learn that over time, the Pre-Raphaelites and their admirers shifted their attention to other periods in Italian art, including 16th-century Venetian art.

Could you tell us more about this transfer in focus, and how that is revealed within the exhibition?

PT: Because the period we are studying is so long (1840s through 1920s), it is inevitable that the British artists would shift in their predilections for Italian art. In the beginning, the Pre-Raphaelite Brothers had little original Italian art to study in person in London, so they consulted prints and illustrated books. One of their heroes was Fra Angelico, not only for his seemingly naïve compositions and handling (naïve as compared with Raphael) but also because he was a monk – a man of faith who expressed his devotion through art, something the Brothers felt was lacking in British art of the 1840s. Our co-curator Cristina Acidini (former head of the Museums of Florence) selected a superb Angelico, which is now displayed at one end of the huge church that serves as our exhibition's first gallery. At the other end, she has placed Botticelli's famous Pallas and the Centaur so that they face each other. This is a brilliant and quite poetic juxtaposition; back in 1848, when the Brotherhood launched, no one was talking about Botticelli at all. By the 1870s – thanks in large measure to British scholars and collectors getting interested in him – Botticelli was all the rage and was particularly influential on Edward Burne-Jones, whose Holy Grail tapestries are shown just beyond Pallas and the Centaur.

We have many moments of transition like this throughout the show. The gallery devoted to Frederic Leighton is a key example, with its insertion of Lotto, Veronese, and Reni – a disparate trio of heroes! Again, such a loan list could only happen in an art-rich country like Italy. No British or American museum could deliver these prototypes in such quantity or quality.

JBW: One can say that the convent, itself, is another star of the show.

How was it chosen as the venue for Pre-Raphaelites: Modern Renaissance, and why is it the perfect venue to showcase Pre-Raphaelite and Renaissance masterpieces?

PT: It was only in 2021 that director Dr. Gianfranco Brunelli conceived this theme as a logical extension of the series of superb loan exhibitions he has been mounting at the Museo San Domenico. (Most of them have focused on Italian and Continental art, including specific masters and themes such as Mary Magdalene. This is the first one to encompass British art.) He brought in Cristina Acidini (see above) and Francesco Parisi (an independent scholar based in Rome) and then Liz Prettejohn and me. In 2022, we began requesting loans from museums and individuals around the world, and by February 2024, we were opening the show! That is a comparatively quick development process, and I think one reason it worked so well is that many lenders were intrigued by the idea of their British-made, Italian-inspired artworks being shown in Italy to modern Italian audiences.

This theme has previously been tackled in a few exhibitions (e.g., London, San Francisco), but with only a few Renaissance prototypes on view – never so many as we have now. Moreover, the fact that the Museo San Domenico is a renovated medieval monastery adds visual power and meaning to the visitor experience; this is especially notable in the former refectory now devoted to Edward Burne-Jones. In many of his paintings we see scrolling foliage that he borrowed from Renaissance art, and painted on the ceiling above in the Middle Ages are those same scrolling forms. The outer walls are lined with Burne-Jones's art, while the middle of the room features major prototypes by such forerunners as Bellini, Mantegna, and Michelangelo.

JBW: Many readers may agree with me that the Pre-Raphaelite artists remain so compelling because of the exuberance, naturalism, and luminosity found in their works. The Pre-Raphaelites' love affair with the art of the Italian Renaissance allowed them to drive innovation within artistic creation.

What then is the legacy of the Pre-Raphaelites? Moreover, why do you believe visitors come to see this exhibition?

PT: I think that many museums today underestimate the ability of visitors to connect the visual dots for themselves. We are often "spoon-fed" curatorial arguments because our own grasp of art history is slim, and that is OK because it is better to do this than appear exclusive or intimidating. In Italy, however, all young children in public and private elementary schools are taught art history and studio art (and this continues right through high school). And, of course, they are literally surrounded by Italian Renaissance art, which they see not only inside churches and museums but also in public spaces such as piazzas. This means that the visitors in Forlí (95% of whom are Italian) are already familiar with the Italian Renaissance art on view, and therefore eager to learn about the British artists who revered it and adapted it to their own ends.

The response we are getting (through the Italian media and conversations occurring inside the exhibition galleries) is one of surprise (e.g., "How did we not know about these terrific British artists before?") and also of mutual respect: this show is about a profound love and admiration that British artists felt for Italy, and in the final room we even show examples of how late 19th-century Italian artists integrated British approaches into their own work.

We hope that all our visitors will choose to learn more (perhaps by visiting major collections of Pre-Raphaelite art at venues like Tate Britain and the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery), and ultimately see how imagery and ideas travel across eras and places that are seemingly disparate. Artists play a special role in society by transcending superficial boundaries and looking – really looking – at their colleagues' creations with respect and insight.

Art made by Italians at the end of the nineteenth century

JBW: Peter, on behalf of World History Encyclopedia, I thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us! I thank you so much for your time, consideration, and expertise. PT: Thank you for taking the time to ask these important questions!

Pre-Raphaelites: Modern Renaissance remains on display, at the San Domenico Museum Piazza Guido da Montefeltro, in Forlì, Italy, until June 30, 2024.

Peter Trippi is editor-in-chief of Fine Art Connoisseur, the national magazine that serves collectors of contemporary and historical realist art, and president of Projects in 19th-Century Art, a firm he established to pursue research, writing, and curating opportunities. Based in New York City, Peter recently completed a six-year term as president of the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation, which supports and raises awareness of the American Institute for Conservation, the country's leading society of conservation and preservation professionals. Peter previously directed the Dahesh Museum of Art (New York City), headed development teams at the Brooklyn Museum and Baltimore Museum of Art, and has created (with Prof. Liz Prettejohn, University of York) international touring exhibitions and publications devoted to the 19th-century British painters J.W. Waterhouse and Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Their latest curatorial project, the exhibition Pre-Raphaelites: Modern Renaissance, is on view in Forlí (near Bologna, Italy) through June 30. It is accompanied by a 600-page catalogue in Italian.

Continue reading...

[dynafire]

Everything I Found from House Of Leaves Appendix B: "Bits"

Going through this book has been a nightmare I never want to wake up from. At the point where we read Appendix B during Holloway's (his name sounds so much like hallway) rampage, I read the appendices as embedded, and I've made some interesting discoveries about the lines included in Appendix B no one's pointed out, including historical and architectural knowledge. Disclaimer, I'm no expert, just a girl who loves this book.

I will go in order by date. Some of these will be obvious, others not so much.

Jan 18, 1955

"Art with a capital A" could refer to Arthur D Simmons, an army special forces colonel that trained recruits at an air force base during the time period, and likely could've trained Zampamó.

Aug 29, 1960

Joseph Kittinger, Command Pilot, set the world record for highest skydive from a service plane at that time.

Apr 29, 1975

Operation Frequent Wind was a mass evacuation via airlift in Saigon, Vietnam, signaled over radio to begin by the song White Christmas. From April 29th to April 30th. STOP is telegram formatting.

Mar 18, 1989

M.A could reference Military Assistance Command Vietnam, usually MACV, a joint army, navy, and airforce service in Vietnam.

Oct 11, 1990

Günter Nitschke is an author on East Asian architecture. See author bio here. Norberg-Schulz is an architect who wrote architectural theory and is also quoted at the start of chapter six. Glas is a book by French Philosopher Jacques Derrida, which MZD once worked on a documentary about. 1974 is year of original publication. John P Leavey Junior and Richard Rand are English translators of the book. Z seems upset he cannot get the original French edition.

May 26, 1991

According to the House of Leaves forum this translates to "What are you watching?" "Nothing, sir.". Thread includes speculation on what this could mean. Thank you sutrix.

Apr 9, 1996

Parlipomena means "things omitted from a work and added as a supplement".

Oct 2, 1996

The Seven Lamps of Architecture is an essay by John Ruskin, listing demands for architecture to be considered "good", many of which fit thematically with House of Leaves.

Sacrifice: Architecture should be done to please God.

Truth: Refers to honesty (in book in reference to materials and structure).

Power: "Buildings should be thought of in terms of their massing and reach towards the sublimity of nature by the action of the human mind upon them and the organization of physical effort in constructing buildings."

Beauty: Aspiration towards God

Life: "Buildings should be made by human hands."

Memory: "Buildings should respect the culture from which they have developed"

Obedience: Pre-existing English architectural values should be followed.

The lamps have a clear connection to the House, but lamp number seven is fascinating in context with colonialism and the war Z was fighting in when he wrote this.

Dec 18, 1996

James D Redwood is a Vietnam vet who wrote Love Beneath the Napalm, stories about the war and it's after effects. Z probably had contact with him during the war.

Interesting stuff. As for any other mysteries in Bits, I have no idea. Hopefully this can be of help to someone getting through HOL.

[scotianostra]

The Scottish painter William Dyce died on February 14th 1864 in Streatham.

Born at 48 Marischal Street in Aberdeen to a well off family William was educated at the Royal Academy schools, and then travelled to Rome for the first time in 1825. While he was there, he studied the works of Titian and Poussin.

Dyce was highly cultured and widely talented (he was an accomplished musician and wrote learned essays on antiquities and a prize-winning paper on electromagnetism), but initially he was successful mainly as a rather conventional portraitist in Edinburgh.

In 1837 he moved to London to work for the newly founded Government School of Design (which developed into the Royal College of Art) and he made a tour of state art schools in France and Germany to study their methods. His report on his findings led to his appointment as superintendent (director) of the School in 1840. He resigned in 1843, but he remained a central figure in the art world—indeed ‘there was no major [artistic] undertaking in mid nineteenth-century Britain in which he did not play either an executive or advisory role’.

In particular he was a key figure in the revival of fresco painting, which was stimulated mainly by the mural decoration (begun 1843) of the new Houses of Parliament. Dyce’s own work there has deteriorated badly, but his Neptune Resigning to Britannia the Empire of the Sea is one of the best preserved of all Victorian frescos. This was one of several royal commissions for Dyce, who was a favourite of Prince Albert. In addition to murals, he produced a varied range of easel paintings, from high-minded religious scenes (he was a devout Christian) to the delightfully sentimental Titian’s First Essay in Colour his Pegwell Bay, Kent is considered one of the most remarkable of all Victorian landscapes.

Dyce’s strong colours, firm outlines, naturalistic detail, and thoughtful sincerity of approach formed a bridge between the Nazarenes and the Pre-Raphaelites, and Ruskin said that it was Dyce who gave him his ‘real introduction’ to the Pre-Raphaelites when, at the 1850 Royal Academy exhibition, he ‘dragged me literally up to the Millais picture of the Carpenter’s Shop, which I had passed disdainfully, and forced me to look for its merits’.

He was working on the frescoes in Westminster when he collapsed, and later died at his home in Streatham on 14 February 1864. He was buried at St Leonard’s Church, Streatham. A nearby drinking fountain, designed in the neo-Gothic style by Dyce, was subsequently dedicated to him by the parishioners.

Pics are a bust of the artist, Sir James McGrigor, Life Study (Head of Christ), A highland Ferryman and the grave of William Dyce.

[arthistoryanimalia]

BookRecommendation for #BirdDay:

Bird: Exploring the Winged World (2021)

“This visually stunning survey of birds, chronicling their scientific and popular appeal throughout the ages and around the world, showcases the remarkable diversity of species in the avian kingdom, from tiny hummingbirds to ostriches taller than humans, and icebound penguins to tropical macaws.

With its content curated alongside an international panel of ornithologists, art historians, wildlife photographers, conservationists, and curators, this extraordinary book includes illustrations and artwork of all styles, with works by a diverse and often surprising range of creators from many different backgrounds, including: John James Audubon; Robert Clark; Mark Dion; Charley Harper; Barbara Kruger; Edward Lear; Ustad Mansur; John Ruskin; Joel Sartore; Sarah Stone; and Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe.

Arranged in thoughtfully paired juxtapositions, it reveals how artists, illustrators, ornithologists, and photographers - from ancient Egypt to the present - have captured the spirit, likeness, character, and symbolism of birds. Including Tweety pie paired with the Twitter bird; birds as 300-foot desert carvings or 2-inch-tall ivory statuettes; bird bones, bird bank notes, sculptures and birds shaped as beds, the book's three hundred visually stunning entries span four thousand years of fine art, photography, ornithological drawings, popular culture, and scientific discovery from all corners of the globe to create the ultimate celebration of the winged world.”

[miwhotep]

I once mentioned that I think that Ruskin is quite similar to Louis - at least, in the way how they act when it comes to their beloved people, William and Milverton. We sadly don't see too much about Ruskin, but beside loyally following Milverton everywhere and going after to save him despite the burning house - which are also similar to Louis' love for William, it is interesting to compare the two omake below (I know omake is for the funzies, but they can tell a lot about the characters, too):

William, asking them to audition for the role of the distrupter during Whiteley's speech in White Knight. Louis really wants to be useful to William and he ends up overdoing it due to his too much enthusiasm what leaves William utterly confused.

In Two Criminals, Milverton asks Ruskin to do something to Sherlock's violin. He suspects that Ruskin will break it and ends up fully embarrassed over seeing his secretary decides to literally piss on it. We don't learn what's in Ruskin's mind but his face expression is the same as Louis' on the other omake. Ruskin wants Milverton to be satisfied with him and he ends up overdoing it, because even after Milverton already made a scene in the room, pissing was too much for him, too.

Ruskin's way of caring for Milverton is really similar to Louis' way of caring for William. And this goes on the other way around, too: while we don't get to see Milverton being emotional, he indeed trusts Ruskin the most and fully, like William with Louis: when William is working, the only one who can come in his room is Louis, just like Ruskin is the only one who can come in Milverton's office anytime. Both William and Milverton compliments them over little things like making tea or getting documents. William goes with Louis only to kill the Jack the Ripper revolutionists and Milverton only takes Ruskin in Sherlock's office, so both want specifically Louis and Ruskin to accompany them on the important missions.

The similarity between Louis and Ruskin and their relationship to Liam and Milverton is just another paralell William and Milverton has - but this time, it's an actually wholesome paralell.