#Landscape language

[sayitaliano]

Valerio Minato's photo that won the Astronomy Picture of the Day Contest by NASA on December 25th, 2023.

In the picture: the moon, the Monviso Mount and the Basilica of Superga (on the Superga hill) outside Turin are all aligned. it took him 6 years to take this shot (and I take it as an example to never give up on your dreams).

[kemetic-dreams]

[thesilicontribesman]

David Harding's 'Henge', Glenrothes, Scotland

[miraenart]

Forget Me Not.

[noosphe-re]

Stone erratics. Transcending time, eclipsing distance. Shipwrecked monoliths that sail across the empty landscape. As natural markers and ports of call, they have been worshipped as loci of divine power since time immemorial. They have formed the focal points for human wonder and wish fulfilment. And being untethered from their place of origin, they are a kind of pilgrim – commuting across the ancient byways and migrating from ancestral grounds of stone. The root of 'erratic' is in the Latin errare which means to wander. As they wander through the immensities of time and space these giant rocks become witnesses to the earth's internal monologues. They are the eavesdroppers of the sediments.

Paul Prudence, Figured Stones: Exploring the Lithic Imaginary

[des-vanecido]

— Love languaje.

[worldtalks]

Which skyline is this? (don't check tags)

[rebirthofdiana]

the type of love that i crave 💕😔

[useless-catalanfacts]

View of the Pedraforca mountain, in the Pyrenee mountain range. Central Catalonia.

When there's a small layer of snow like this, in the Catalan language we call it an "enfarinada", whose literal translation would be "sprinkled flour", because it looks like the top, thin layer of flour on a bread.

Video by Visit Pedraforca (Instagram, Facebook).

[virromanus]

How the Renaissance Shaped the Italian Language

The Renaissance, a period of immense cultural, artistic, and intellectual growth in Europe, played a crucial role in the development of the modern Italian language. This era, spanning the 14th to the 17th century, witnessed a revival of interest in the classical art, literature, and learning of ancient Greece and Rome, significantly influencing the evolution of the Italian language.

Dante Alighieri's Contribution:

Dante Alighieri, often referred to as the "Father of the Italian language," was instrumental in establishing the Tuscan dialect as the standard for the Italian language. His most famous work, "The Divine Comedy" ("Divina Commedia"), written in the early 14th century, was one of the first major works of literature written in the vernacular, i.e., the local Tuscan dialect, instead of Latin. Dante's choice of the vernacular over Latin marked a pivotal moment in the development of Italian as a literary language.

Dante's works demonstrated the expressive and aesthetic possibilities of the Italian language, elevating its status and proving it could be used for serious, high literary pursuits, a domain previously reserved for Latin.

Petrarch's Influence:

Francesco Petrarca, known as Petrarch, further solidified the use of the vernacular in literature. He is best known for his Italian sonnet sequences, which focused on themes of love, personal reflection, and the human experience. Petrarch's poetry, particularly his "Canzoniere" (Songbook), greatly influenced Italian literature and language. His refined use of the vernacular and his development of the Italian sonnet format set a standard for lyrical poetry in Italian.

Boccaccio's Contributions:

Giovanni Boccaccio, another key figure of the Italian Renaissance, also contributed significantly to the development of the Italian language. His most famous work, "The Decameron," is a collection of novellas written in the vernacular. It not only had a profound impact on Italian literature but also helped to shape the Italian language by demonstrating its suitability for both serious and more lighthearted, secular topics.

Impact on Standardizing Italian:

The works of these authors were essential in the standardization of the Italian language. Their choice of the Tuscan dialect, particularly that of the Florentine region, as their literary medium contributed to its status as the basis of standard modern Italian.

Legacy and Continued Influence:

The Renaissance's focus on humanism and the return to classical sources also played a role in shaping the Italian language. This period encouraged a deeper exploration of the human condition, emotion, and intellect, aspects that were deeply integrated into the Italian language through literature and art.

In sum, the Renaissance was a period of reawakening that not only rediscovered the riches of classical antiquity but also set the foundation for the development of the modern Italian language. The works of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio were not just literary masterpieces but also linguistic milestones that established the prestige and potential of the Italian vernacular, leading to its evolution into the modern Italian language we know today.

[athenaismdb]

[thesilicontribesman]

Last day of the Robert McFarlane and Jackie Morris Exhibition, 'Lost Spells, Lost Words: Beyond & Before' Exhibition today at Rheged, Cumbria. A great journey home!

[eopederson]

Beignets et café, Krispy Kreme, Montréal, 2023.

Beignets = greasy doughnuts?

[sigulary]

October Commission

Scenery illustration requested by Rune_CH (twitch)

For more information about commissions, see here

[nickiisthings]

”上有天堂，下有苏杭”

(shàng yôu tiān táng, xià yôu sūháng”

Suzhou and Hangzhou are considered so beautiful that the chinese created a proverb for the two places meaning: in the sky we have heaven and on earth we have Suzhou and Hangzhou.

[dragonomatopoeia]

while i love learning new things and reading about the formation of genres it does mean i end up having to look up even more things for context. neverending. anyway the first widely-read Gothic Novel was apparently printed as marketing material for the author to sell tickets to the cool house he remodeled to be a scary haunted mansion