#ix art ╱ belongs in the louvre

[visvivae]

THE ECSTATIC HEAT DEATH‼️

[george-steel-armours]

In the 16th century, fine weaponry became popular in the great courts of Europe. The helmet and shield belonging to Charles IX were made circa 1555-1560 by the goldsmith Pierre Redon. They are among the few surviving examples of fine weaponry from the French Renaissance.

In the center of the shield is a medallion depicting a battle scene, with soldiers on horseback in combat outside a besieged citadel and a camp. This is a depiction of the final battle between Marius (157–86 BC) and Jugurtha (160–104 BC), as the Latin inscription indicates. The choice of this scene is a reminder of the influence of Greek and Roman antiquity on the Renaissance.

Both the shield and the helmet are outstanding examples of the goldsmith's art. The shield is made of embossed iron, plated with gold and decorated in places with enamels in translucent green, red, and blue and opaque white. The enameled ornamentation is applied in light touches on the raised parts of the embossed shield. The reverse side is covered in crimson velvet embroidered with arabesques of gold thread.

© RMN - Grand Palais (Musée du Louvre) / Stéphane Maréchalle.

[rolandfontana]

Thieves and Art: Why Protecting World Treasures Needs Higher Priority

Heist movies like “Ocean’s 8” and “The Italian Job” are fun to watch, but as we start the new year, audiences might be forgiven for wondering whether the most famous pieces of art and jewellery are vulnerable to highly skilled, real-life master thieves.

Most are safer than you might think.

The Mona Lisa, a masterpiece by Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci which was crafted between 1503 and 1517, is one of the most recognizable pieces of art in the world. Its insurance value, which has risen from $100 million in 1962 to over $821 million in 2018, reflects its significance as a symbol of Western civilization—as well as its potential worth to enterprising criminals.

The painting which hangs today in the Louvre in Paris, was actually stolen in 1911. The culprit was Vincenzo Peruggia, a former employee at the museum. Although he was caught two years later when he tried to sell the painting to an art gallery in Florence, he is still regarded as the architect of one of the greatest art thefts of the 20th century—and, according to some, is partly responsible for the painting’s position as one of the most-viewed artworks in the world.

Vincenzo Peruggia staged one of history’s most notorious art thefts in 1911. Photo via Wikipedia.

Peruggia, it turned out, removed the piece from the wall where it was hanging during working hours, hid it in a broom closet, and waited until after hours to walk out of the museum with the painting positioned under a coat that he carried casually under his arm.

The painting was returned to Paris in 1914. Peruggia, sentenced to a year and 15 days in jail, served just seven months behind bars—a reflection of the fact that many of his compatriots noting his claim that he wanted to return the masterpiece to its Italian homeland considered the theft an act of patriotism.

Peruggia’s ‘walk-in’ theft would be impossible today. The painting sits behind bulletproof glass that is almost two centimetres thick, and is enclosed in a special sealed box to protect it from vibrations and humidity. A barrier separates the public from the piece.

But those are just the most visible aspects of a state-of-the-art security system that the Louvre has since put in place for all its art treasures.

Within the 70,000 square meters that make up the museum, you can find access control systems, intruder-detection equipment including video analytics, and a 24-hour surveillance of closed-circuit TV cameras. They all help to protect some of the finest pieces of art in the world.

The Mona Lisa is not the only example of the world-class treasures that are now protected by state-of-the-art security.

Anyone who has studied English history is aware that the United Kingdom is home to some of the most stunning pieces of craftsmanship owned by Britain’s royal family, such as the Sovereign’s Orb and the Imperial State Crown. With 23,578 delicate stones and over 140 objects, putting an exact price on the jewels has been difficult, but some estimates put it closer to three billion pounds (or US $3.8 billion at current exchange rates).

Even a single jewel pried loose from the objects would earn an enterprising thief millions if he or she could get away with it.

But there’s little chance of that happening.

CCTV cameras and a 22-strong army detachment guard Britain’s Crown Jewels

The royal collection is locked away in the Jewel House at the Tower of London, and protected by bombproof glass. Although the Tower is open to the public, the collection is monitored by more than 100 hidden CCTV cameras.

And if that weren’t enough, a 22-strong Tower Guard, a detachment of the British Army, has the sole mission of protecting the Crown Jewels on behalf of the UK Ministry of Defense.

On the few special occasions when the Crown Jewels appear in public, such as coronations and openings of Parliament, armed police officers must be present.

But the fact remains that no one should underestimate the risk to the priceless objects stored in museums and other venues. Sometimes, the guardians of national treasures fail to take advantage of the security that modern technology can offer.

Sweden is a sad example. In August 2018, two crowns and a royal orb that belonged to King Charles IX of Sweden and his wife Christina of Holstein-Gottorp were stolen from Strängnäs Cathedral in eastern Sweden, in what looked like an amateur heist.

Theft by Bicyle

The 400-year-old jewels had been on public display. Two men walked into the cathedral around midday and smashed the glass where the contents were held. That caused alarms to go off around the building, but the duo still managed to escape undetected from the crime scene by bicycles and then by a motorboat along Lake Malaren, entering Stockholm’s archipelago.

Sweden’s police force were able to successfully track down one suspect because of blood left at the crime scene; some of the jewels were recovered. To track down the second culprit and the artifacts that had not been found, authorities carried out house searches, according to Swedish media outlets.

In November, the second thief was detained, but the stolen regalia is still reported to be missing.

Although the thieves were hoping for success, even if they had got away with the heist they would have had a tough time profiting from the jewels, which are worth roughly £43,000 (or nearly US $55,000).

It isn’t the first time that Sweden’s Crown Jewels have been stolen. In 2012, a 19-year-old refugee who claimed to be a friend of a member of the royal family, stole £73,700 (approximately US $94,000) worth of jewels. He sold them to a drug dealer for £730 (about $932) to buy marijuana.

As further proof of his lack of acumen in financial (and jewelry) matters, he reportedly threw another part of his haul, a tiara worth £30,350 (nearly US $39,000), off a bridge.

Sweden’s security failure was the result of failing to balance the national interest of keeping the Crown Jewels on display with the need for top-level protection. The thieves should have been detected as they walked in. Walk-through security door frames and regular visitor searches could have helped prevent this event.

Peter Houlis

The price to pay for an in-depth security audit and the implementation of such systems is considerably less than the cost of orchestrating an international manhunt — and this is something that many art hosts fail to understand.

For many older establishments that lack technological integration, it’s time to wake up.

The risk of not doing so isn’t worth taking.

Peter Houlis is Managing Director of 2020 Vision, a security management firm based in the UK. He welcomes comments from readers.

Thieves and Art: Why Protecting World Treasures Needs Higher Priority syndicated from https://immigrationattorneyto.wordpress.com/

[lavotha]

Unveiling masterpieces over 25 centuries

The monumental Egyptian exhibition The Gold of the Pharaohs, was inaugurated at the Grimaldi Forum (GF) in Monaco on July 6, 2018 in the evening, in the presence of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco, exposing 25 centuries of goldsmith trade in ancient Egypt, gathering 150 masterpieces from the Egyptian Museum presenting a series of prestigious ensembles discovered in the royal and princely tombs of the pharaohs of Egypt. The exhibition is open to the public from today July 7 until September 9, 2018, under the auspices of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco and the Egyptian government. Ten years earlier the GF featured the exhibition “Queens of Egypt,” that was highly successful.

Egyptian authorities gave a brief presentation to the Media earlier in the morning before a private tour conducted by the exhibition’s curator Christiane Ziegler.

(Photo: Sylvie Biancheri (GFM), Sahar Talaat Mostafa, Ihab Badawi, Khaled El-Enany, Rania Al-Mashat, Osama Heikal, Christiane Ziegler @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha)

Khaled El-Enany, Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities from 2001, spoke about his plans to enhance Egypt’s heritage profile, and this exhibition in Monaco proves his commitment on that direction. El-Enany completed his doctorate in Egyptology in 2001 at Montpellier III University in France, writing about ancient Egyptian royal names. Also present was Osama Heikal, Head of Parliament’s Media, Culture and Antiquities Committee. 

Sahar Talaat Mostafa, chairperson of the tourism and aviation committee of parliament in Egypt, said that the coming period will witness the development of the legal and legislative framework that will add more structure to the tourism sector, done in cooperation with the government and the private sector. Ihab Badawi, Ambassador of Egypt to France and permanent delegate to the UNESCO, supports cooperation between Egyptian and French and Monaco authorities, in the fields of protecting world cultural heritage and boosting cultural relations. Alumna Rania Al-Mashat, newly appointed Minister of Tourism, is the first woman to hold this position since the ministry was established more than five decades ago. This new title suits the young and successful Egyptian leader, who has always emphasized being driven by a sense of responsibility to serve her country.  “Every international and domestic post or recognition along my career path better equips me to competently serve my country,” said Al-Mashat. “That’s my lifelong goal.”

The curator for this exhibition is no other than the celebrated Christiane Ziegler, Honorary director of the Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the Louvre Museum, Director also for the publication of the archeological Mission of the same museum in Saqqara, Egypt, and President of the Archeology Center in Memphite.

The creative scenography developed by the Grimaldi Forum staff, successfully recreates the ambiance of the ancient Egyptian tombs, with wall-to-wall carpeting that really brings to mind the desert and gives the impression of walking on sand, plus the use of intense  blue. “This color was excessively used by the ancient Egyptians in everything they used to create. I was pretty much keen on making all the exhibition’s visitors feel that they are inside a real ancient Egyptian tomb,”said William Chatelain who visited Egypt to get ideas for the scenography.

(Photo: William Chatelain exhibition scenographer & guide Cecilia Auber during the Press visit @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha)

Highlights of the exhibition

An Egyptian Eldorado – The myth of the Egyptian Eldorado goes very far back in time. The deserts surrounding the Nile valley were rich in minerals and precious stones highly prized for their vivid colors, the blue of lapis lazuli, the green of Sinai turquoise, the blood-red of cornelian, with gold deposits far richer than those of neighboring countries, others arrived by commercial routes.

Furthermore, with the establishment of the Egyptian empire, the pharaoh charged heavy tributes that engrossed the royal treasure and those of the grand temples, in particular the temple Amon in Karnak that received annually 250kg of gold to the temple under the reign of Thoutmosis III.

Pharaohs were the king or queen of Egypt. Most Pharaohs were male, but some famous pharaohs were female, such as Nefertiti and Cleopatra. A Pharaoh was the most important and powerful person in the kingdom. He or She was the head of the government and high priest of every temple. The people of Egypt considered the Paraoh to be half-human, half-god.

An area in Egypt has all the markings of a real Eldorado. It is located between the Nile and the Red Sea and has been named the “Golden Triangle” due to its somewhat triangular shape and development potential.

Goldsmith techniques – For the first time an exhibition is committed to presenting the jewels fabrication stages and techniques used by the Egyptian casters, goldsmiths and jewelers.  The craftsmen organized themselves in workshops in the pharaoh’s palace, residences of princes and governors, as well as in the temples, in a complex ranking system. In the tombs they depict the delivery of precious metals, the weighing, different stages of the creation process and presentation of the finished items. Their professional secrets were passed from father to son or master to apprentice.

Instruments for fabrication of jewels using precious stones @CelilnaLafuentedeLavotha

Bracelet on behalf of Chechonq 1er., Cairo Egyptian Museum @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Artesans depiction @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Carnelian or chalcedony, a Quartz variety, Mineralogy Museum in Paris @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Copper @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Lapis-lazuli, Minerology Museum in Paris Tech. @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

The jewelers’ art reached its zenith during the Middle Kingdom with a style of infinite elegance and perfection. The New Kingdom allowed for more elaborate decoration, while the Third Kingdom period was known by its return to the simplicity of earlier times.

The ransacking of the tombs – For the first time ever, this exhibition unveils and documents the pillage of the royal tombs to get hold of the gold of the dead, since ancient times probably dating back when the practice of burying the dead began, that explains why very few treasures are still available.  A 6min long animated film specially produced for this exhibition is based on fact: the grave-robbing case during the reign of Ramses IX and the transfer of royal mummies to more securely hidden tombs. (Photo: Papyrus journal describin the robberies and ttrials of the accused @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha)

The jewelry that embellished the bodies of the living also was offered to the gods in lavish quantities and buried with them in their tombs. These luxury items were evident coder markers of identity revealing the user’s social role and tell the story of the upper class. For the ancient Egyptians metals and precious stones were divine emanations with magical powers, specially gold known as “the flesh of the gods”, reason why it was used in abundance for burial masks and royal sarcophagi that raised the owner to divine status, preserved his body and enabled his rebirth. The use of gold fingerstalls or sandals on mummies was believed to restore the deceased’s use of his hands or ability to move about. To no surprise organized robberies were common as people wanted to get hold of those luxury items accumulated in the great pyramid and the tombs in the sacred site of the Valley of the Kings.

The chronological itinerary of the exhibition in images

Ancient Kingdom(circa 2700-2200) – The ensemble belongs to Kehops mother Hetepheres, discovered by Americans in 1926 in Giza, including sumptuous jewelry. From this same period is an emblematic statue of King Mykerinos, surrounded by statues of high society members wearing their jewels, plus other statues that illustrate daily life. At that time the dead were surrounded by servants who would assist them in the other life like they had done during their life on Earth.

King Sesostris 1er, XII dynasty, Egyptian Museum Cairo @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

La dame Hekenou, Known to the king, beginning of V2 dynasty, Cairo Egyptian Museum @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Stele du roi Qaa, 1st dynasty, Cairo Egyptian Museum @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Middle Kingdom (circa 2033-1710 BC) – At the end of the 6thdynasty Egypt entered the First Intermediate period, a phase not known as conductive to creative activity, characterized by social unrest and foreign incursions. Towards 2030 BC it was reunified by Mentuhotep and there followed the Middle Kingdom considered in art and literature as Egypt’s Classical Age.  There is a beautiful statue of King Sesotris 1sst that marks the entrance to this period. Several bracelets were recovered from their tombs. The jewelry from this period correspond to our contemporary taste characterized by delicacy, purity of lines and sobriety.

View of one of the rooms dedicated to the Middle Kingdom @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Grand Necklace of princess Ita-ouret in gold, coraline, lapis-laxuli and amazonite, Egyptian Museum Cairo @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Grand Necklace of Princess khenemet, XII dynasty, Egyptian Museum Cairo @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

New Kingdom (circa 1550-1069) – In the New Kingdom Egypt reaches its zenith, with a politic of conquering towards the south, the Nubian desert of Sudan and the Middle East.  It is a time of extraordinary wealth as the victorious sovereigns send the tributes to the pharaohs, such as horses but most of all precious metals.

Sculpture of Ramses II, XIX dinasty, Kingdom of Ramses II (2)@CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

View of sarcophage in gold @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Third Intermediate Period (circa 1075-664) – The treasures of the pharaohs of the third intermediate period were discovered in their tombs located in the delta in Tanis. There are relatively modest, not comparable to the Valley of the Kings.  The more prestigious tomb was that of King of Psousennes, and exhibition of the funeral mask of King Psousennes 1er, that is no other than the second Egyptian royal mask after the one of Toutankhamon.

Gold Mask Pharaoh Psousennes 1er, Tanis XXI dynasty @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Five gold covers protecting the toes of the mummy of Pharaoh Psousennes 1er @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Practical information

Space Ravel Grimaldi Forum, 10 Avenue Princess Grace, Monaco

Site:www.grimaldiforum.com

Tickets:ticket@grimaldiforum.mc

Dates: July 7 to September 9, 2018

Times: Open everyday from 10:00 to 20:00 & Thursdays till 22:00

Today’s Quote

“When we look back at the Mayans or ancient Egypt, we look at their art.” Robert Wilson

Spectacular Egyptian exhibition The Gold of the Pharaohs inaugurated in Monaco Unveiling masterpieces over 25 centuries The monumental Egyptian exhibition The Gold of the Pharaohs, was inaugurated at the Grimaldi Forum (GF) in Monaco on July 6, 2018 in the evening, in the presence of H.S.H.

[visvivae]

sketch of tachyon 1986

[visvivae]

some fighting sketch haha

[visvivae]

All the world will be your enemy, Prince of a Thousand enemies. And when they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you; digger, listener, runner, Prince with the swift warning. Be cunning, and full of tricks, and your people will never be destroyed.

[visvivae]

ladies never start fights, but they sure can finish them ~ <3

i've been afflicted with "i love my wife" disease and i dont want to be cured. anyways, mutuals feel free to rb teehee

[visvivae]

god. i draw such pretty ladies.

[visvivae]

you can meet me at my hotel ~

MUTUALS FREE TO RB. <3