#allegory of justice and peace

[allegorypaintings]

Allegory of Peace and Justice

Artist: Corrado Giaquinto (Italian, 1703-1766)

Date: 1753-1754

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain

Description

This allegorical work, signed on the column lying on the ground in the center of the composition, shows two women in Roman garb sitting on clouds. Representing Justice and Peace, they embrace and seem about to kiss each other. This pictorial motif could be used to express political peace or, as is the case here, to allude to the peaceful policies that characterized the reign of Ferdinand VI , for whom this work was painted. It also relates to Psalm 85, which announces eternal peace between God and humankind, or salvation, implying the warning that peace should be consolidated on earth as well: Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.

Justice manifests his great authority with a crown and sceptre. She is also inspired by Divine Justice, symbolized by the white dove of the Holy Ghost . The customary attributes alluding to Justice's most essential characteristics are also present, including the ostrich, whose symmetrical feathers signify fairness, and a fasces and a column, which symbolize severity and fortitude, at her feet. Her sword evokes the separation of good from evil, an act also associated with the scales lying on the ground. The prone figure surrounded by pieces of armor represents discord or war, which has been dutifully vanquished by Justice. It is also the target of one of Cupid's arrows, which is stored in a box and symbolizes reconciliation. The god of love is accompanied by two other cherubs who operate a bellows in front of the Temple of Peace , fanning the flames that will be used to burn the armor.

Peace bears an olive branch, transmitting the idea that it is the result of Justice, which leads to the well-being symbolized by a horn of plenty at her feet, and by the wheat and fruit on the tree to the right being harvested by cherubs. The lion and the lamb, symbolizing meekness and strength, also allude to God's coming as announced by the Psalm 85. Specifically, these animals refer to the characterisations of Christ as the Lion of Judea and the Lamb of God that appear at the beginning of the Book of the Seven Seals that marks the beginning of the Last Judgment and the establishment of Paradise . With this combination of secular allegory and religious references, Giaquinto sought to ennoble the reign of Ferdinand VI by comparing it to the Kingdom of God .

[lesbianarthistory]

Carlo Giuseppe Ratti – Allegory of the thirteen values of the republic: the Peace embracing the Justice (after 1783)

[tragediambulante]

Justice and peace, Corrado Giaquinto, 1753-54

[glitchy-creations]

Astraea is known as the goddess of justice, innocence, purity and precision and lived amongst humanity during the golden age. She was later driven away by humanities growing lawlessness by the Bronze Age and was placed in the sky as the constellation Virgo.

I recently made myself a new sketchbook using a cover less journal I had bought years ago (it was pretty much a journal made with the paper above with a piece of leather as the back cover but here was no front cover. It was just a strip of leather that covered the perforation of the paper pad). I had been watching OverlySarcasticProductions’ recent video on Astraea the other day and thought she would be fun to draw!

I used Antonio Canova’s plaster sketch of his sculpture “Allegory of Peace” (shown under the cut) as my pose reference! I just changed up the position of the hands a little so it looked more natural since I didn’t give Astraea anything to hold. I also really liked the fluffy “Eda Clawthorne” hair Red had used for her Astraea, so I used it in my version as well lol.

[7pleiades7]

Study for ‘Justice, Peace, and Truth’ (ca. 1672) by Giovanni Battista Gaulli (1639-1709)

[moe-broey]

*pulls out a crumpled up piece of paper*

My transfemme Fire Emblem Headcanons. Include:

> Rosado, transfemme non-binary, most likely to use neopronouns or multiple sets of pronouns (fae/faer, she/he, never let 'em know your next move)

> Forrest, has been on estrogen for years but still says "I'm a prince" if asked and insists on using he/him pronouns (may be closeted, may be in denial, may do so out of a sense of obligation, may be a case of pronouns being "indicative of but not exclusive to gender identity", may also just have an exceedingly complicated relationship with the gender)

> Loki, a shapeshifter, chooses to look Like That (and she's so based for it)

> Gullveig. Just. Everything Seidr/Heidr/Kvasir and Gullveig have going on. Is so transgender. To me

And on vibes alone

> Triandra

[ivygorgon]

I see the strings that control the system,

But everyone gives me full resistance.

[unityrain24]

ok people here's my essay. (also note that this was for my english class so it is written in a different style than i usually would. it had to be all formal and grammatically correct and such)

2212 words, analytical essay

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: A Queer Allegory for Religious Trauma

ND Stevenson’s She-Ra and The Princesses of Power is an animated Netflix original series rebooting the classic 80s show Shera: Princess of Power. This time, however, the show is chalk-full of diversity, varied body types, queer representation, pleasing colour palettes, and a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers lesbian romance. The first four seasons follow Adora (aka She-Ra) and the princesses of Etheria’s fight against the Evil Horde, using their magic to try bringing peace and justice to the planet. A portal is opened at the end of the fourth season, however, bringing the planet of Etheria out of the isolated dimension of Despondos. No longer separated from the rest of the universe, Horde Prime arrives at Etheria- not only bringing higher stakes than any season preceding it, but an entirely new layer of symbolism to the series. The final season was a clear allegory for religious trauma, an especially relevant topic for the show’s majorly queer audience.

When his armada arrives at Etheria, Horde Prime sends his army of clones and robots down to take the planet by force. Unlike the Evil Horde that had been trying to take the planet before Prime’s arrival, who were disorganized, messy, and industrial, everything under Prime is sleek, elegant, efficient, and most importantly: white. Horde Prime’s ships are white, Horde Prime’s robots are white. Horde Prime’s skin is white, his hair is white, his clothes are white, as are all his clones. Pure, unblemished white, with only sparing accents of grey or green.

In colour theory, white has a few meanings. The colour can represent purity, cleanliness, innocence, and even righteousness. This colour theory is heavily incorporated into biblical verses, metaphors, and artwork (and some might even argue that our modern idea of white comes from the Bible). In art, God and angels are almost always depicted wearing white, as is Jesus in his resurrection. Halos of white or light yellow are shown adorning holy figures' heads. Several bible verses use white robes or other white objects as a metaphor of the wearer’s purity. White is still used in several Christian rituals/customs today, such as weddings, baptisms, and more. White is one of (if not the) most important colour in Christian lore. Even in instances where pure white isn’t used, there is a clear correlation between light versus dark and good versus evil. 

White has more than one meaning, however- on the opposite side of the coin, white can also represent coldness, blankness, emptiness, and loneliness. The most interesting thing about the show’s use of white is that it encapsulates both facets of its representation. Horde Prime uses white to represent his purity and perfection, but to the people of the colourful, messy world Etheria, this is a cold, eerie colour. As are Horde Prime’s ideals. His perfection and purity is synonymous to coldness. The white represents both- not only simultaneously, but as the same thing.

Horde Prime’s empire being entirely white is no coincidence- neither in-story by Prime, nor in real life by the writers. Horde prime uses white to represent everything he stands for, and the writers use white to represent everything Christianity stands for.

Horde Prime is a being that has lived an amount of lifetimes beyond comprehension- every time his body starts to grow old and fail, he selects a new clone of his to insert his memory and very essence into. So even though he has a new body, he is still him. And the reason for this? To fulfill his self imposed purpose of bringing peace and perfection to the universe. To thousands of planets he has been, one at a time, to reach this. Horde Prime believes there is only one right way to do things, and that humanity cannot be trusted to govern themselves.

Every planet he takes goes the same: he arrives with his ships, and slowly implants chips into the neck of each and every being on a planet. These chips take away the autonomy of the host, and they are left blank. No personality, no choices, no person. All their actions are perfectly automated and controlled by a hive mind, and Horde Prime can take specific control of and see through the eyes of any individual at any given time. With Horde Prime in control, there is no war, no famine, no pain. There is only peace, perfection, and purity. And anyone who does not conform, does not accept his gracious rule, are dealt with accordingly. Entire planets have been left desolate and barren, entire peoples subjected to genocide for not accepting Horde Prime. All dead in the name of peace.

These ideals upheld by Horde Prime are strikingly similar to Christianity. Perfection and purity are two of the main ideals of Christianity, in hand with righteousness. Christians strive to “be like Jesus,” to be their idea of a good person, to be loyal to their religion, and to make it into Heaven. Several rituals to “repent” exist when they feel they have not upheld these standards correctly- including prayer, confessionals, sacrament, and baptism. Even though true perfection, purity, and righteousness are typically seen as unattainable to everyone but the Godhead, it is common belief that constant trying will at least get you as close to it as possible. Conformity is another key aspect of Christianity, though it is not advertised, and to the exact extent it is upheld depends on the sect. In general, though, Christianity pressures every one of its followers (and even those who aren’t) to behave a certain way, to think a certain way, and to only associate with others among themselves.

Horde Prime’s way of upholding these ideals isn’t dissimilar to Christianity’s either. Much like Horde Prime’s Galactic Empire, Christianity has had a long history of forced assimilation. From the Spanish conquistadors to the pilgrims and other colonial settlers of North America, death and pain has come in the wake of the spread of Christianity for hundreds of years, amongst various sects of the religion. Native peoples have been murdered for their loyalty to their “savage” non-Christian ways, land has been stolen, and indigenous religions and other important cultural traditions have been changed past recognition or completely erased, all in the name of “saving,” all in the name of “love,” all in the name of “what’s right,” all in the name of God. Christianity is the only right way, Horde Prime is the only right way.

Its likeness to Christianization isn’t the only resemblance Horde Prime’s ways share with Christianity, however. When Horde Prime arrives at Etheria, three people are brought aboard his ship- Queen Glimmer, one of the Etherian rebels that had been fighting against the Evil Horde (and now the Galactic Empire), Catra, a high-ranking member of the Evil Horde that had been taking over Etheria before the Galactic Empire arrived (but is in love with Adora, who is one of the rebels), and Hordak, the leader of the Evil Horde. Hordak was a clone of Horde Prime’s that had been stranded on Etheria, which was in an isolated dimension. He spent his time in isolation trying to take the planet so that if he was ever reunited with Horde Prime, he would be seen as “worthy”. Horde Prime, however, is displeased by Hordak’s actions- claiming that Hordak was trying to take the planet for selfish reasons rather than for Horde Prime, and for giving himself a name. As such, Hordak must be “purified.”

In this purification process, Hordak’s mind is wiped, and he begs for forgiveness and to complete the process. He is then dressed in white and walks into a circular pool with liquid that reaches his waist. The liquid is electrified for several moments, and his screams can be heard, and then it stops. He is left blank, and Horde Prime and the other clones watching praise him for being the purest among them. Later, Catra is subjected to the same process against her will, and is now a mindless servant of Horde Prime as well. This process is almost identical to the Christian concept of Baptism. While exactly how baptism is carried out varies between sects (full submersion under water versus just a sprinkling, infant versus child, etc), the purpose remains the same- to purify past sins.

A more abstract similarity between Horde Prime’s empire and Christianity is the use of titles. Prime’s clones refer to each other as “brother” (and to Catra as “sister,” once she has been “purified”), and Horde Prime as “big brother.” Not all sects of Christianity use such titles to refer to each other, but some do; notably Catholic nuns or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons). But even those sects who do not refer to each other as brother and sister often view Jesus as their “older brother” and God as their “heavenly father.” 

Horde Prime himself has many more titles than simply “brother” or Emperor of the Galactic Horde, however. Other titles given to him include Ruler of the Known Universe, Regent of the Seven Skies, He Who Brings the Day and the Night, Revered one of the Shining galaxies, and Promised one of a Thousand Suns. In Christianity, Jesus also is referred to by many names. The Saviour, the Redeemer, the Son of God, the Son of Man, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Prince of Peace, the Lamb of God, and several more. In addition to titles, some of the phrases in general used by Christians and the Galactic Empire are common. Both use the word “rejoice” when telling of their faith. Amongst Christians, “glory to God in the highest” and “[God] is the same yesterday, today, and forever” are not uncommon phrases. “Glory be to Horde Prime” is a common phrase expressed by the clones, and even more so, the infamous mantra “Horde Prime sees all, Horde Prime knows all” repeated so many times throughout the season.

The titles used for each other perpetuate a feeling of conformity and a feeling of “otherness” concerning those who do not conform. The titles used for their leaders perpetuate subservience, power imbalances, respect, and devotion. The phrases used in relation to their leaders perpetuate devotion and omnipotence. These are true of both Horde Prime’s Galactic Empire and Christianity.

Horde Prime was a genuinely disturbing villain who represented every painful thing Christianity is made of- toxic perfectionism and purity, conformity, obedience, control, and omnipotence. Loss of expression and individuality. The fear of being constantly watched. These are things that anyone with religious trauma may deal with, but it’s especially true of queer people. Queer people have had a long history of oppression at the hand of Christianity (and colonialism in general). From outright murder to conversion therapy and other abuses, from abandonment to dismissal, Christianity has perpetuated all of it for centuries. And it’s still something that happens today.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power has a majorly queer audience, due to both the creative process of the show and the representation within the series itself. Not only is the creator of the series (ND Stevenson) queer, but so was practically every character- whether they were a main character, side character, or background character with only a few seconds of screen time. One of the main plots of the show is the complicated lesbian romance between Adora and Catra. As such, the series attracted a good number of queer fans, and religious trauma (or at the very least, religious fear) is a topic that hits uncomfortably close for many.

Other pieces of media that incorporate religious imagery have a tendency to be unclear about how it is framed. Is the imagery shown to be wrong and the victim is right and prevails? Is the imagery shown to be right, and the pained victim in terrified denial? Is the imagery shown to be truly wrong but inevitably triumphant anyways, no matter what the victim tries? It is so muddy in so many pieces of media. The important thing about the fifth season of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power was how it was framed. Perhaps it was because it was a kids show, or perhaps it was the queer creators’ spirit and defiance, but the series was clear in their framing of Horde Prime. The perfect white make the audience uneasy. Horde Prime’s retelling of his victories fill the audience with dread and then hollowness. The “baptisms” of Hordak and Catra are disturbing. Every aspect of Horde Prime and everything he stood for was presented as wrong. Without any doubt.

 And even more importantly, the people of Etheria were able to prevail. She-Ra and the other princesses were able to defeat Horde Prime and his empire, and free those forced into subservience by his chips. Catra (and Hordak) were saved. The ships were destroyed. The people of Etheria were allowed to be free and express themselves and be people. This message was something very important to the queer audience. Not only was the fifth season an expression of queer pain, but an expression of queer hope. Neither thing should be ignored. Pain is valid. Hope is needed. To be healthy, both need to be recognized. To have a series that expressed both, and in such a queer way, was extremely important to so many people.

[transgamerthoughts]

a night at poe's masquerade

Last night I made a quick tweet about how I think Persona games (particular from Persona 3 onwards) tend to be fundamentally conservative games. In worlds filled with magic powers, shadow selves, and literal gods there's an understanding that many of the most villainous people you can know are folks in positions of social/political power who weaponize their status in order to prey on those beneath them. This is a particular focus of Persona 5 but it extends even back to back to a game like Persona 2 and characters like Tatsuzou Sudou. Although these games acknowledge the social structures that lead to particularly vicious kinds of abuse, there is tendency for our protagonist to then fold themselves into those power structures. In games that focus less on real-life political allegory, there's still pattern of protagonists eventually accepting the societal roles that they're initial chafing against. It's a very common occurrence in the series. clockwork!

Persona 4 is the chief culprit here. Yukiko struggles with the idea that her presumed inheritance of the Amagi Inn is an imposition on her life but makes peace with that fact and eventually prepares herself for that role. Chie confronts Adachi, shocked that anyone who chose to be a police officer would do so for selfish reasons or betray the ideal image she holds of that job. Though confronted with the ways in which the system enabled Adachi's murders, she ultimately decided that she wants to become a police officer. Just as some examples. there's more. it's a fraught game in many ways

(I'm not gonna talk about Naoto. That's a minefield. as a trans critic people ask what I think about Naoto quite often. my answer is I like Naoto quite a bit and while I appreciate the queer read I don't need her story to be actually about transness. my tongue in cheek deep position here is that I think she's the damn coolest thing in the Dancing All Night opening movie. absolute fire!)

Persona fans are totally reasonable human beings. by which I mean that they might be the most electric and fuckin' absurd fandom I've ever encountered. While some people agreed with my read of the series, many others swarmed in. Which is fine enough. That's just what happens when you're visible on Twitter. I don't really have an interest in outlining the series in gross detail although, contrary to many accusations, I have played all the mainline games. One thing that can never be hurled my way is a suggestion that I don't play videos games. This criticism doesn't arise out of nowhere though I admit I didn't exactly expect it to become a trending topic floating in the "For You" tab. I was tweeting before bed.

Lesson learned! this fandom is wild! So it goes!

I've been thinking about people's responses and I want to venture into fraught territory to talk about a particularly bad habit I see from many fans. Which I think can be extended to things like ongoing debates about localization as much as they can apply to this little tempest in a teapot. Which is that I've grown somewhat concerned with he ways in which RPG fans (intentionally or not) exoticize Japan as a means to defend their favorite games from critique. It's kinda bad!

and I'm gonna risk a ramble exploring the topic… and I wonder how tumblr in 2024 will compare in reaction to hellscape of twitter

Something you often encounter in these discussions is an implication (sometimes a direct suggestion) that it is impossible to really engage with Japanese media as a westerner. That there's too many layers of nuance and too many centuries of ingrained tradition for anyone who has not engaged in lengthy study on the topic to penetrate. Often, this is framed as a desire to simply put things in cultural contexts. respect it and give due seriousness! Which is fine. I absolutely think if you wanna talk about something like the portrayal of the Japanese justice system in Judgement, it probably helps to… y'know… know details about the Japanese justice system. If you want to talk about how a game approaches gender, an understanding of certain social mores is important. No one debates this; it's important to understand art as arising from specific material conditions and places.

This is not really the approach people take however. Instead there is an insistence that the cultural difference between Japan and western nations is essentially insurmountable. Which has some bad implications. I think people are well meaning when they're like "hey, you gotta watch this YouTuber talk about Shintoism and JRPG boss fights for over an hour" but it comes at the cost of painting the culture as something of a puzzle to solve. and make no mistake: I'm glad anyone is doing the work but there's a bit of strangeness at play when folks are like "well you're American" and then tell me to watch criticism also made by Americans. especially since I do have a educational background that includes the study of world religions. i've studied plenty of this! and it's not impossible for me to have grasped.

the world is beautiful and nuanced and specific and full of vibrancies. but these things are not so singular that we can't connect with them or come to know them. and those nuances and specifics and vibrances don't create a protective ward around works. if anything, they're invitations to explore something new. if I walk away from Persona with a position that you don't agree with I promise that it's not something that's happened in haste. It used to be my job to think about games. and I've thought about Persona a lot! it's not inaccesible.

When we start to paint a culture as being particularly foreign we inherently exoticize it. We drape a degree of mystery over it which implies there is no universal connections found in art. Of course the concept of "police" is different in Japan to some extent as is the expectations that go into inheriting a family business. yes, the social nuances of a classroom differ. But Japan is not so alien to the western critic that we can't look at popular fiction and spot patterns. I certain don't need a 17 anime consumer to write me an essay on honne and tatemae or whatever in order to understand what's going on in the Midnight Channel. It's an easily observable truth that Persona often identifies issues within Japan society while also (particularly in Persona 5's case) concluding that these problems are not a consequence of specific power structures but rather moral failings of certain bad individuals. That's the text. Even when it wants to suggest otherwise.

Here's a little snippet from Persona 5. On face value, it seems to contradict what I'm saying. "Harper, how can you say that it only cares about individuals when it outright says that society itself needs to be addressed!?" DO YOU EVEN PLAY THESE GAMES YOU BITCH?! The answer is that the game does not have a model or idea of what it means to change society except vaguely to inspire people to more individual action. be nicer. stand up for yourself, speak your truth, do things for your own reasons. which has a radical element to it in the context to be sure but we've spent a huge portion of the game seeing how the abuse of power, particularly power placed in certain positions and social strata

a change of mindset is good but… is that sufficient? I'm not entirely convinced. not if this game want to truly deliver on everything it has explored. (side note, a lot of folks were like "why are you focusing on p5 so much here?" and the answer is that it's recent, representative of the series' values from the last decade or so, and because I'm a tired adult in their 30s who has stuff to do and isn't obligated to make a 300 tweet long thread breaking down multiple scripts. if you want me to do that labor, you better pay me for my time. otherwise I don't care to appease fan who have no plans of truly entertaining what I'd do anyway. no breakdown I do could please them)

but you fight Yaldabaoth Harper! You kill the collective gestalt representative of the status quo!. okay sure but the metaphorical battle falters as the game ultimately imagines many of our heroes (for instance Makoto, who also decides to become a cop even after her sister leaves the profession to become a defense attorney) are content to slide into the power structures as they exist. they've simply become "good apples" in the same basket that held the bad ones What does it matter if you kill the metaphor when you don't carry through elsewhere? It's not simply some vague human desire to be exploited that created the various monstrous villains we face throughout the game. There's real material circumstances, systems and long-held powers that gave them the carte blanche that enabled their abuses! Be they financial, political, or even sexual.

We might layer nuances on top of this of course. Notions of reticence to change or valuing of tradition, attitudes towards elders. But when we do so it's important be careful. When fans imply impenetrabilities in the works by virtue of cultural difference, there's a risk of veering into a kind of Orientalism. One which mystifies the culture and turns it into a kind of "other." Distant, strange. This sometimes comes paired with a kind of infantilization of creators but that's a different though similarly fraught topic that I think is particularly best left in the hands of the creators themselves. I'm not the person to talk about that!

Nevertheless, a frustrating part of the response to my tweet today has been a rush to say "This work functions that makes it necessarily elide your ability to critique it."

I'll be an ass and generalize. It's mostly people with Persona avatars making this suggest. That Persona, as a Japanese work, is imbued with an ineffable quality that magically allows it to side-step what's ultimately a pretty timid conclusion. Many of these folks are younger players, self-identified as such in profiles, who clearly have a deep connection to the series. It means something to them. But I'd rather they simply say "hey, I found this thing particularly moving at an important moment in my life" rather than conjure an impassable ocean between myself (or really anyone) and the work in the event they find flaws.

Otherwise, you just get this:

Stories are not merely about what happens on the journey. The destination does matter. It means something when the king grabs his shining sword and fights off the orc invaders or whatever. A value system is suggested Similarly, it does means something when Chie becomes a cop. (This is just a shorthand example mind you! But you hopefully get the idea!)

I don't think games or any work of art need us to defend them. The trap of fandom is that you often turn to any possible means to justify what you love. For Persona, a series which does have the decency to explore cultural issues, that same cultural specificity is often weaponize by fans (largely western fans even!) to deflect certain problems. This process inadvertently portrays that culture as a mystery, a shrouded thing that we cannot ever criticize. It's one thing to dig into some of those contextual specifics but it's another all-together to imply these specifics provide a mean to abrogate certain analyses. and I think navigating the line between due deference and something deeper and stranger seems to be something many of the fans reacting to me... have not managed. I had a peer talk to me about this situation and their feeling was that the animated members of the fandom that were coming at me, many of whom are self-identified as young and western, were kinda treating Japan like it was a land of elves. which it's not! it is a place on Earth and yes we need to take strides to understand and respect certain specificities... but we can't mystify an entire people. especially if the purpose is to turn those people and their culture into a shield. a means to justify and validate the specialness you see in a franchise.

I call Persona conservative because it cannot imagine a world in any other shape that what we have right now. God dies but nothing actually changes. I don't think it's enough to say "well, they defeated the god! and they needed the collective strength of society to do it! people did change because without that change of heart, the heroes wouldn't have the magical juice to fight the Kabbalah monster!" to toss Makoto's words back at the series: victory against a single god is meaningless if the true enemy is society.

If you can't show me what that grand spiritual change means for society, then I think you've kinda failed. you've certainly failed if the conclusion is that the world after that change is functionally the same and it doesn't really matter to me if "they talk about this in Strikers or whatever" because you can't offload your thematic snarls to side games. if the main stories you tell can't resolve this tension, that's a problem. these are often very beautiful games. they certainly have amazing structure and systems. but I don't think it's controversial to say they often hedge their bets at the end. and there's no impenetrable cultural wall surrounding the games that leaves the criticism off the table.

that's just What Happens. and it's fine for us to acknowledge flaws in even in things that contain beauty or meant something to us

really. it's fine.

[ourstaturestouchtheskies]

Peace and Justice – Pompeo Batoni // Allegory of Music – Alessandro Turchi // Allegory of Poetry – Alessandro Turchi // The Tortured Poets Department – Taylor Swift

[giatamatiatoukosmou]

The Kiss of Peace and Justice

Above: Laurent de La Hyre, The Kiss of Peace and Justice, 1654 Below: Corrado Gianquinto, Allegory of Justice and Peace, 1753

[allegorypaintings]

Allegory of Justice and Peace

Artist: Corrado Giaquinto (Italian, 1703-1766)

Style: Rococo

Genre: Allegorical art

Date: 1753-1754

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain

Description

This allegorical work, signed on the column lying on the ground in the center of the composition, shows two women in Roman garb sitting on clouds. Representing Justice and Peace, they embrace and seem about to kiss each other. This pictorial motif could be used to express political peace or, as is the case here, to allude to the peaceful policies that characterized the reign of Ferdinand VI , for whom this work was painted. It also relates to Psalm 85, which announces eternal peace between God and humankind, or salvation, implying the warning that peace should be consolidated on earth as well: Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.

Justice manifests his great authority with a crown and sceptre. She is also inspired by Divine Justice, symbolized by the white dove of the Holy Ghost . The customary attributes alluding to Justice's most essential characteristics are also present, including the ostrich, whose symmetrical feathers signify fairness, and a fasces and a column, which symbolize severity and fortitude, at her feet. Her sword evokes the separation of good from evil, an act also associated with the scales lying on the ground. The prone figure surrounded by pieces of armor represents discord or war, which has been dutifully vanquished by Justice. It is also the target of one of Cupid's arrows, which is stored in a box and symbolizes reconciliation. The god of love is accompanied by two other cherubs who operate a bellows in front of the Temple of Peace , fanning the flames that will be used to burn the armor.

Peace bears an olive branch, transmitting the idea that it is the result of Justice, which leads to the well-being symbolized by a horn of plenty at her feet, and by the wheat and fruit on the tree to the right being harvested by cherubs. The lion and the lamb, symbolizing meekness and strength, also allude to God's coming as announced by the Psalm 85. Specifically, these animals refer to the characterizations of Christ as the Lion of Jude and the Lamb of God that appear at the beginning of the Book of the Seven Seals that marks the beginning of the Last Judgment and the establishment of Paradise . With this combination of secular allegory and religious references, Giaquinto sought to ennoble the reign of Ferdinand VI by comparing it to the Kingdom of God .

[thegeminisage]

i guess it star trek update time. last night we watched ds9's "armageddon game" and tng's "sub rosa."

armageddon game (ds9):

this one was so fun and evil. i LOVE when obrien and julian are besties and yes they fought once but they were besties in most of this

NIGHTMARE scenario for keiko. im glad they actually put her in this instead of it happening offscreen but im sad there was no reunion :(

keiko realizing the recording had been tampered with bc of the coffee thing and then finding out that wasnt true is actually lowkey terrifying. they came THIS CLOSE. what a twist ending

quark's toast was like...strangely sweet. good for him.

i cant believe DAX was gonna keep julians journals instead of sending them back to his parents?? i also cant believe julian kept a diary for years and then decided to hand all of his diaries to his crush lol like he is insane

julian foot fetish also. don't think i forgot. i didn't. what a loser <3

these aliens being so committed to peace they'll kill people is actually kind of funny. you missed the point by lightyears

i liked how serious sisko was in this episode. he was wearing his very very very serious face. he was not fucking around. i also liked that he believed keiko INSTANTLY. on tng picard would have offered 1000000 other reasons why keiko was out of her mind bc in fairness she does sound fucking nuts but sisko believed her right away and immediately started an investigation because he trusts his people and also by extension their spouses. ugh i love him SO MUCH sisko for PRESIDENT

sub rosa (tng):

wow. wow wow wow wow wow

where do i even. BEGIN. with sub rosa

so, i knew there was a sex ghost in this episode and i was sort of aware that the sex ghost fucked or wanted to fuck beverly. but i had NO IDEA what i was truly in for

firstly, let's get this out of the way, this is a FAMILY SEX GHOST. "all the howard women have green eyes" "nana was over 100 and had a lover!" can you IMAGINE having like a family vibrator. the same vibrator your grandma used. getting off to her erotic diary entries. getting off, i repeat, to your grandma's stories about your grandma HAVING SEX with the SAME SEX GHOST who is chatting you up. beverly is INSANE

deanna took all this with so much good sportsmanship. first of all, i'm so thrilled that they're the kind of girlfriends who can share their wet dreams with one another in GRAPHIC detail. secondly, her fucking face journeys when beverly was talking about this shit in ten forward I REPEAT IN PUBLIC SHE WAS LIKE YEAH I WAS GETTING OFF TO MY GRANDMA'S DIARY

picard SOOOO put off that beverly would leave his ass to fuck a 30yo with long hair. JUSTICE! who's skipping breakfast now bitch. run around on her one more time i fucjing dare you. you WILL respect the woman you impregnated with the affair baby

speaking of affair babies, when beverly was like yeah all my family members have green eyes except mom and me i was like......is SHE the affair baby? sadly, no. but i know she had one

beverly looked the most beautiful she's ever been by the way. real bodice ripper shit. picard you blew it so bad

speaking of bodice ripper, there is a version of this where it's very serious and an allegory for abuse and the sex was dubiously consensual etc etc etc. this has happened to deanna so many times and it was so icky because it was obviously a male fantasy which objectified her. fortunately i don't think anyone can be expected to take a story seriously when it involves your grandma's sex ghost so i was perfectly happy to have a good time

WHEN THEY EXHUJED THE BODY. BY SIMPLY BEAMING IT OUT OF THE GROUND.

nana who looked not even a little bit dead sitting up in her coffin bc she was possessed and zapping the daylights out of geordi and data. PLEASE.

also, sorry, i nearly forgot, but picard walking in on her while she was quite literally fucking the sex ghost. ohhhh i KNOW he was sick

OH YEAH AND. the gravestones saying vader and mcfly. set designers i love you forever

anyway, hands down the funniest and perhaps my favorite tng episode of all time. that was the first real laugh i've had in almost a week

TONIGHT: ds9's "whispers" and tng's "lower decks."

[flowerandthesongstress]

"Orion and the Dark" is about writing. It’s like "Adaptation." 2.0 This Time For All Audiences, whoah.

I mean, of course it is an allegory of writing. Kaufman makes movies about making movies, Kaufman writes about writing, and that is all that Kaufman does. Even "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" is about creativity. Y’all think it’s a love story? Sure, on the surface it is. But ju-ust below the surface it is an allegory too. It's about letting go of unwritten ideas, whether because you're not ready or not equipped to write them and give them justice or they're just too out-there for the Current You; it's about killing your darlings — and about putting them to sleep, as well. About how these ideas fade from your life and your memory, and how soul-crushing it is when they do, and yet keeping them in your memory is soul-crushing, too, because their presence is unhealthy right now, it's a torment, it impedes you from moving on and paralyzes your creative progress and your growth as a writer and a human being.

Anyway, “Orion and the Dark” is about writing. Nope, it's not about generalized anxiety, it's not about overcoming your existential fears. At its core, “Orion and the Dark” is about one specific fear: losing your integrity and authenticity as a person and as a writer via stepping out into the spotlight.

Truly writing 'for yourself' means writing for an audience of one. The ruthless beast that is capitalism, and the devaluing and self-hatred it brings upon each of us, is what pushes so many people into asking the heartbreaking question: "what even is the pOinT of creatiViTy without an audiEnCe?!" I.e. in the context of the movie "what is the point of the Dark?!" The not-straightforward answer is in this movie. The very-very personal and exasperated — and straightforward — answer is: Creativity itself. Keeping one’s mind sharp. Learning a language. Processing trauma. Celebrating a memory. Savoring a memory. Cementing a memory. Honoring a friend’s memory. Fighting back the tide of existential dread. Making peace with yourself, your past, or your future. Debating a moral dilemma with yourself. Comforting your inner child. Soothing your inner teenager. Bleaching your brain. Introspection. Self-compassion. Self-actualization. Building a structural-support frame around yourself to brace against a crippling fear; for instance, the fear of death, or the fear of losing a loved one — by creating stories or worlds where we could be together forever and nobody gets sick or dies, because we can do magic there.

Dark has many quirky, industrious, and unique companions. They are his companions. They do not belong with the Light, they are distorted in the light. Fear of the Dark (in the movie, super cleverly ‘the Fear that Dark Experiences’ and not only ‘the fear that Orion experiences as a stand-in for The Author’) is: ‘Am I truly a writer if my voice will never be heard and my word will never be read?’ (psst, spoilers: yes) but also ‘Will I be able to retain my true self, the love I hold for my creativity, and the internal benefits I reap from my creativity if/when I share the result of my creativity with others?’ and ‘Will I burn to cinders / fade into nothing / lose the drive to create when/if my creativity is rejected or misunderstood?’ and ‘If I am misunderstood, will this misunderstanding inflict lasting harm? Will the responsibility of doing this harm be my burden to bear? And just how guilty will I feel for what I did?’

The unending tug-o-war between creativity for the sake of creativity, for the sake of you — and the desire to have your voice heard. The inner conflict between your yearning for an audience — and hating your yearning for an audience (or even hating the audience itself/the audience that you get, but welp, that's often projection, albeit no-o-ot always). The conflict between looking for a genuine connection with other like-minded humans — and the desire to be admired, borne long ago in a sandbox on a playground. Between striving to keep your integrity and self-respect, to stay true to yourself — and the learned urge to please, conform and placate, because you want to fit in and/or because you can see that popularity often equals conformity and that you may never get your voice heard in any capacity if you don't conform.

Sometimes it feels like the healthy balance between the two can’t ever be achieved, that they can never overlap, should not; that it should be either one or the other.  

Btw you know who else recently expressed this inner fight super well while also hiding the subtext under a whole pile of distracting 'entertaining' and 'comedic' text? Bo Burnham in his exquisite and poignant and heart-wrenching Kanye Rant. 🙏 🌯

The truth is frighteningly simple, and the truth is frighteningly hard to remember, and the truth is simply hard to stay true to, because the glimmer of the spotlight somewhere far ahead is too blinding, and its veneer is too distracting and enticing. The truth is: separate your damn laundry the purpose of writing should be Writing. That's it. Creativity is about creativity. Writing should be in the moment. Writing should not take into account anyone else other than the writer themself. The purpose of writing is the writing; this process should be free of any and all outside influences. Night and Day, Dark and Light should remain apart at all times. Writing is not about/for sharing that writing. Not about obtaining the strangers' praise for that writing. Not about placating and pleasing an ephemeral 'reader'. Not about the junkie rush to obtain some dopamine hits through getting patted on the head by strangers via pleasing them 'correctly'. None of these things are related to writing, none of these things should matter, and it's tragic that they do matter so much and to so many, and it's tragic that they have taken over so many minds so fully and so quickly, replacing and pushing out the bliss of the Simple Truth. Well... Capitalism is tragic. Every aspect and consequence of it, direct or indirect. At times, capitalism and its reach and scope feel like a void of hopelessness.

Even before consciously realizing the metaphor, I was bawling my eyes out when Orion was fighting to save the Dark, when he was grieving the Dark. This is one of my biggest fears too: losing my authentic self by succumbing to the enticing brightness of daylight. In the fight against this fear, I was doing, and continue doing, all of the irrational and oftentimes harmful things Orion does, and more: hole up, bristle up and snarl, push away, erect defenses, withdraw, and even fawn, etc. Mostly withdraw.

Only when we embrace the essence, the joy of sheer creativity — embrace the Dark, make the Dark our friend — when we discard everything superficial, when we forgive ourselves for our weaknesses and learn self-compassion, only then can we remember why we're writing, why we started writing, what we write for, and only then can we create unimpeded. The struggle itself towards the heights There's so much peace in the Dark. Truth is, this balance can rarely be achieved in reality; life is not a story, and humans are infinitely flawed. Truth is, the fight remains a constant fight, with good and bad moments, with losses and wins, and the fight persists for decades, throughout our lives. But that's why fairy tales exist, right? Why children's stories exist. In them, there's magic and blasters and time machines and everything is simple and everything is always resolved.

I love every manifestation of Kaufman’s creative mind and I loved this movie. The script is based on a picture book of the same name that is a thing on its own.

P.S. In light of the above, might I also suggest "Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise" by Katherine Rundell.

[hildegardavon]

Corrado Giaquinto, 1703-1766

Allegory of Justice and Peace, ca.1753/84, oil on canvas, 216x325 cm

Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid Inv. P000104

[undead-knick-knack]

Just Girly Things™️

(painting is “Allegory of Justice and Peace” by Theodoor van Thulden)