#composition of the century

[wallacepolsom]

Wallace Polsom, The Realm of Freedom vs. The Sphere of Necessity (27 Feb 2025), paper collage, 25.3 x 20.7 cm.

[chiropteracupola]

c. 1540 CE: a young man from Chalco, and his dragon.

[weirdlookindog]

Julius Bien (1826–1909)

Arrangements for Taking Composite Photographs of Skulls, 1886

source

[sclappin]

This was part of my undergrad illustration thesis, which was illustrations to accompany the text of Shakespeare's The Tempest, repurposing aesthetics and imagery from the rural New Hampshire village where I grew up.

Reposting this piece from May 2020, because it is now available as a print, and Tumblr is being weird about letting me edit the original post to add alt text and a link.

[arthistoryanimalia]

Deer-Crocodile Composite Creature (Astrological Sign of Capricorn)

c. 1810-20

Made in India (Kangra, Himachal Pradesh)

Opaque watercolor on paper

On display at Philadelphia Museum of Art 2010-1/6-1

“This Indian composite creature, which combines the head and front legs of a blackbuck (also known as the Indian ante-lope) with the torso and back legs of a crocodile and the tail of a fish, represents Capricorn, the tenth sign of the zodiac corresponding to December-January.

The astrological sign of Capricorn is sometimes depicted as a half-goat, half-fish creature originating from Greek myth but this particular image derives from the makara, a legendary creature in Hindu mythology.“

[dualdeixis]

[Image description: Two digital drawings. The first features Temenos Mistral and Aelfric in a medieval-style composition. The second features Kaldena and Temenos posing together in a study. There are full descriptions of both drawings under the cut. End image description.]

godsbride / goodwife

happy birthday @maverickflare <3

[Image description: In the first drawing, Aelfric sits on his stone pedestal outside the Flamechurch Cathedral at night. He wears a flowing white dress, a black long-sleeved undergarment, and a teal cloak. He also wears a gold belt and bracelet, and the medallion on his cloak depicts the Sacred Flame. His face is almost entirely eclipsed by a shining white halo; only the outlines of his narrowed eye, lofty smile, and long, curly hair can be seen. In one of his hands burns a blue flame, while the other hand cradles Temenos Mistral's face. Temenos looks up at Aelfric with an expression of dread and reverence, sweat beading on his cheek. The illustration has a border of gold and lapis lazuli that includes medallions at its corners and midpoints, which depict various other characters. At the top center is Crick Wellsley, holding up a red book so that it covers the lower half of his face; he looks directly at the viewer with a shadow over his eyes. On either side of him, as well as at the bottom center, are three angels with shackles around their necks. They smile placidly and hold their hands up in supplication as they gaze at Crick. At the middle left is Pontiff Jörg, looking tiredly off to the side. At the middle right is Roi Mistral, looking downwards with a troubled expression. All of them are drawn with blue haloes. The bottom left medallion shows Aelfric's hand reaching around Temenos's neck; his eyes are hidden, his face is flushed, and his mouth is slightly open. The bottom right medallion is shattered. Between each medallion, a poem is written in Orsterran script and framed by arabesques. The red background beyond the border, decorated with eight black, winged, haloed Sacred Flames, completes the poem. It reads: "THE FACE OF MY LORD / is a devouring fire / THE FACE OF MY LORD / is a destroying angel / THE FACE OF MY LORD / disturbs slumberers in the night / THE FACE OF MY LORD / menaces children at church / THE FACE OF MY LORD / does not appear / THE FACE OF MY LORD / cannot appear / THE FACE OF MY LORD / is a wreath of tears / THE FACE OF MY LORD / is a broken mirror"

In the second drawing, Kalenda sits at a desk in an intricately carved wooden chair. She wears a plum-purple tailcoat, wine-red waistcoat with a dotted pattern, black trousers, and a white shirt with ruffles at the wrist and a black ribbon at the collar. On her left hand, she wears three silver rings; on her right hand, she wears a gold ring on her ring finger. A flower-decorated bowl holding a pomegranate, plum, and grapes sits on her desk. In her right hand is a lychee. Temenos stands behind her, bracing his left hand on the chair and resting the other playfully on Kaldena's head, seemingly reaching for the lychee. He wears a white shirt, black waistcoat, yellow-green waistscarf, and teal trousers which are heavily embroidered with nature imagery. He also wears a pearl earring; a matching gold ring on his right ring finger; and a gold necklace with a pendant of Crick, who is haloed and holding his right hand up in a gesture of blessing. Kaldena and Temenos are both looking at the viewer and smiling. The simplistic background shows an entrance to another room as well as a tall bookcase, with the top shelf holding a vase and two figurines of a griffin and winged serpent. End image description.]

[acrosscenturiesandgenerations]

▪︎ Botanical Painting: Dianthus, Composite Flower and Geranium.

Date: ca. 1630

Place of origin: India

Medium: Opaque color on paper

[galleryofart]

Hindoo Architecture - A Composition

Artist: David Roberts (Scottish, 1796-1864)

Date: 1829

Medium: Oil on panel

Collection: National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland

[burningvelvet]

ATTENTION ROMANTICS, JANEITES, BYRONISTS, GEORGIANS, & OTHER 19TH CENTURY NERDS!

this website jane austen's music has resources all about the music jane austen composed by hand, like a link to this song captivity.

this website romantic-era songs has recordings of a bunch of music that was popular in the romantic era, including recordings of poetic works that were originally intended to be set to music. examples incl. lord byron's famous poems vision of belshazzar (a real banger!) & she walks in beauty (not what i expected having read it beforehand without it's music, but it was byron's own favorite to listen to). i really love this one the waters of elle by lady caroline lamb, also composed by isaac nathan. he was a famous jewish-english musician who later relocated to australia and introduced classical music there, & is thus sometimes called "the father of australian music" (apparently, according to his wiki, he was also the first person in the southern hemisphere to die in a tram incident after he got there... oddly specific factoid, but alright).

[daguerreotyping]

Tintype of a group of ladies enjoying a pleasant afternoon of dentistry with friends, c. 1880s

[uwmspeccoll]

Typography Tuesday

Specimen of Type Faces Monotype Linotype was produced ca. 1930 to display the range of typefaces used at the American Typesetting Corporation of Chicago, "the largest of its kind in the world," established in 1919. The plant operated 24 hours a day, offering day and night services. Their Monotype Department boasted ten keyboards and twelve casters, and their Linotype Department operated ten machines. The typefaces shown here are Goudy Old Style, Cloister Text (a Gothic face, not the Roman Cloister designed by Benton), Typewriter, Monotype Accents, and Copperplate Gothic.

View our other Typography Tuesday posts.

[batw1nggg]

Izuru is asked by Nagito (if set during the Tragedy—but Kaede might work better in any universe where she and Izuru cross paths) to play something on the piano.

Izuru, subconsciously feeling defensive of the “hollowness” with which he’s been told he plays, goes for a piece like Debussy’s Estampes I. Pagodes. The sheet music instructs you to play the movement presque sans nuance.

The person listening recognizes Izuru’s choice for what it is: a crutch.

^^presque sans nuance means almost without nuance — a strict tempo, unlike debussy’s other compositions, having lived during the romantic era (most famously clair de lune yes i know do not bring up v3 w me rn.)

UR GALAXY BRAIN UR GALAXY BRAIIINNNNN UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. izuru mistaking rigidness of tempo for lack of expression. or perhaps not mistaking, but knowing he’ll never be able to bring it to life as it was originally envisioned, yet being in denial. desperately hoping his audience will look at the composer’s instructions and excuse it.

but rigid doesnt mean soulless. by no means do u need rubato (tempo fluctuation) to make a piece expressive. pagodes is very rich musically because it makes use of ascending indonesian melodies to paint a picture of pagodas, tall oriental temples (which is cool because u dont see non-european influence in famous piano music often). the piece’s technical difficulty isn’t the impressive part — it’s the grandness of the sound. it just sounds cool to listen to a performer earnestly enjoy what theyre doing and being the original vision to life.

ive always hced komaeda as enjoying piano music, particularly from the romantic era (i actually have a scene in a fic where he geeks out abt it with kaede lol) so i’m sure he knows the story behind each movement. he’d absolutely be able to see izuru’s performance for what it is — a broken record player, helplessly mimicking every genuine performer before him. a forgotten memory of what music actually means.

[chic-a-gigot]

Composite and individual plates.

Journal des Dames et des Modes, Costume Parisien, 16 septembre 1797, (5): Toquet d'enfant garni en dentelle. Bride noire. Spencer. Robe Blanche, sur un Transparent. Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Netherlands

Left description:

'Toquet d'enfant' trimmed with lace. Spencer with black piping. White dress over a 'Transparent' (underskirt). Coloured stockings with contrasting rivets. Further accessories: brooch (?), fan, flat shoes with pointed toes. The print is part of the fashion magazine Journal des Dames et des Modes, published by Sellèque, Paris, 1797-1839. This print was previously published in the Journal des Modes et Nouveautés as number 5, with the caption 'Costumes'.

Right description:

Woman, walking to the right, wearing a 'toquet d'enfant' on her head, decorated with lace. She wears a spencer with black piping. White dress over a 'Transparent' (underskirt). Coloured stockings with contrasting rivets. Further accessories: brooch (?), fan, flat shoes with pointed toes. The print is part of the fashion magazine Journal des Dames et des Modes, published by Sellèque, Paris, 1797-1839. This print was previously published in the Journal des Modes et Nouveautés as number 5, with the caption 'Costumes'.

[amadea-nachtmusik]

Mozart's Così fan tutte, K. 588

(1790)

[mozartbachtoven]

Johann Sebastian Bach’s ‘The Art of Fugue’ Original Manuscript.

[arthistoryanimalia]

#WorldCamelDay:

Composite Camel with Attendant Iran, Khurasan, c. 1575-1600 Opaque watercolor & ink on paper Metropolitan Museum of Art New York

"While composite animals such as this one are known from earlier periods of Persian art, they gained in popularity toward the end of the 16th century. Here, comprising the overall shape of a camel, are found images of demons (divs), dervishes, embracing couples, rabbits, dragons, and even a Buddhist monk, sporting an earring and carrying a khakkhara (sounding) staff. The meaning of such images is open to interpretation, but many scholars believe them to have mystical significance—likely referring to the unity of all creatures within God."