#scenes pittoresques

[vapaus-ystavyys-tasaarvo]

Digne in the era of Les Misérables

An engraved print of a scenic view of the city of Digne-les-Bains from a traveller's guide published in 1838

A coloured military map of Digne with the buildings marked from between 1820 and 1866

The old episcopal palace of Digne, a postcard from 1898 to 1900

An old photo of the old Place de l'Évêché

An early 20th century map of Digne, showing a lot more detail but way too new for our purposes, dated 1921

An old photograph of Digne

An old photograph of a sloping street with archways through buildings

A screenshot from Les Misérables 1925 showing another narrow sloping street surrounded by small houses

A view of the Cathedral St. Jérôme with its strange wire dome, photograph from 2007 by Denis Champollion

Digne in the late 14th / early 15th century, an artist's impression by Jean-Claude Golvin

Digne-les-Bains (or Dinha dei Banhs in the local Occitan language) is a small city in Province, in southeastern France. Centered on top of a hill, it’s surrounded by mountains on all sides and the river Bléone (Blèuna) flows past it (or nowadays rather through it as the city has spread on the other side of the river).

The 1925 movie adaptation of Les Misérables actually filmed the Digne scenes on location in Digne which is a great opportunity to see some authentic views of the city! (The movie is available in the Internet Archive.)

More under the cut:

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find contemporary maps of Digne, except for this one from a Carte générale de la France (Cassini de Thury) that is luckily from exactly the right year (1815) but doesn’t really help much because it doesn’t really show much detail of the city and it’s also very difficult to read:

The Carte de l’état-major 1820-1866 is much more vague in terms of date, but I find it more useful:

I would be willing to guess that it’s probably still fairly close to Digne in 1815. Aside from the lack of walls, which I don’t think you can see on this map, but definitely would have been there in 1815. Hugo even mentions the walls:

He retraced his steps; the gates of Digne were closed. Digne, which had sustained sieges during the wars of religion, was still surrounded in 1815 by ancient walls flanked by square towers which have been demolished since.

I was also able to find a map from 1921, which is over a century later, but it’s the oldest proper map of the city I could track down: (Here zoomed in to focus on the old city)

From something too recent to something much too old: an artist’s impression of medieval Digne, which actually shows the city walls:

There would have been more roads and streets and buildings outside of the walls in 1815, including the Boulevard Gassendi, which Hugo also mentions, as well as a bridge over the Bléone, but honestly it seems like the city actually hadn’t grown that much over the centuries.

It would grow over the course of the 19th century, though.

I’ll talk a little bit more later about the cathedral, the episcopal palace, etc. This post is getting too long!

Image Sources:

Digne-les-Bains official website (Jean-Claude Golvin)

Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons (photographs by Denis Champollion, Szeder László)

Carte générale de la France (Cassini de Thury) from BNF Gallica

Guide pittoresque du voyageur en France (Eusèbe Girault de Saint-Fargeau) from BNF Gallica

Carte de l’état-major 1820-1866 from Géoportail (Institut national de l’information géographique et forestière)

Carte de la Provence (1921) : Digne (Les Guides bleus, Hachette, édition 1922)

Présentation de Digne-les-Bains from France Geo

dignois . fr / Digne-vieux

Les Misérables (1925)

[edisonblog]

Black People in the Basement - the work of the German Johann Moritz Rugendas - exposes the inhumane and unhealthy conditions of black people.

Published in the book Voyage Pittoresque dans le Brésil (Picturesque Journey Through Brazil), from 1835.

The work depicts the scene from the hold of a ship that transported slaves between Africa and America, in the 19th century. In the painting, the living conditions (and transportation) of black people who were brought as slaves are exposed.

The author's collection of lithographs contributed to the abolition of slavery, especially through the painting Negroes no Fundo do Porão

Description

The lithograph of Negros no Fundo do Porão is 35.5 centimeters high by 51.3 centimeters long.

The scene depicted in the painting takes place in the hold of a slave ship. The only entry of light is an opening in the basement ceiling (hatch), which illuminates the central elements of the painting. The place is crowded: there are about thirty black people and three white people. However, the scene does not seem to contain the marks of what really happened in the slave trade - as appears in Castro Alves' poem, O Navio Negreiro.

The white people in the scene, two men and a woman, are close to shelves that were used as beds to save space when transporting slaves - which reveals, despite the author's softening, the conditions and number of people who shared that space .

One of the white men, who has his back to the viewer and dressed in a white shirt, green vest and brown pants, points his finger in the face of one of the black men, who is sitting on the floor with his arms crossed, looking away.

The other white man, dressed in a suit and hat, is right behind the first, holding a kerosene lantern, which dimly illuminates the dark basement.

With them there is a girl, who has her hair tied up and wearing a white shirt, and helps carry a black man who appears to be unconscious - something that was common, since mortality on slave ships could reach up to 50%, depending on the distance. of the trip.

Around the three, there are black men and women, sitting on the floor and on shelves.

They all appear naked or with little cloth covering their private parts. While those in the background appear sitting or leaning against the walls of the ship, those in the front of the painting remain lying face down and one of the women is seated, carrying a child.

In the left part of the painting, there are some black people covering themselves with a white fabric and one of them is lying on something hanging like a hammock.

Right next to him, in the center of the screen, a black man is standing, on his toes, with his arms raised to reach for something they are handing him from the basement opening.

#edisonmariotti

edison’s Substack

.br

Negros no Mundo do Porão - obra do alemão Johann Moritz Rugendas - escancarar as condições desumanas e insalubres dos negros.

Publicada no livro Voyage Pittoresque dans le Brésil (Viagem Pitoresca Através do Brasil), de 1835.

A obra retrata a cena do porão de um navio que transportava escravos entre a África e a América, no século XIX. Na pintura, ficam exposta as condições de vida (e transporte) dos negros que foram trazidos como escravos.

A coletânea de litografias do autor contribuiu para a abolição da escravatura , especialmente pelo quadro Negros no Fundo do Porão

Descrição

A litografia de Negros no Fundo do Porão tem 35,5 centímetros de altura por 51,3 de comprimento.

A cena retratada na pintura acontece no porão de um navio negreiro. A única entrada de luz é uma abertura no teto do porão (escotilha), que ilumina os elementos centrais do quadro. O local está lotado: há cerca de trinta negros e três brancos. Porém, a cena não parece conter as marcas do que realmente se passava no tráfico negreiro - como aparece no poema de Castro Alves, O Navio Negreiro.

Os brancos que estão na cena, dois homens e uma mulher, estão perto de prateleiras que eram usadas de cama para economizar espaço no transporte de escravos - o que revela, apesar da amenização do autor, as condições e quantidade de pessoas que dividiam aquele espaço.

Um dos homens brancos, que está de costas para o espectador e vestido com uma camisa branca, colete verde e calças marrons, aponta o dedo no rosto de um dos homens negros, que está sentado no chão de braços cruzados, desviando o olhar.

O outro homem branco, vestido com um terno e chapéu, está logo atrás do primeiro, segurando uma lanterna de querosene, que ilumina vagamente o porão escuro.

Com eles há uma moça, que está de cabelo preso e camisa branca, e ajuda a carregar um homem negro que parece estar desacordado - algo que era comum, uma vez que a mortalidade nos navios negreiros podia chegar a até 50%, dependendo da distância da viagem.

Ao redor dos três, há homens e mulheres negras, sentados no chão e em prateleiras.

Todos eles aparecem nus ou com poucos panos cobrindo suas partes íntimas. Enquanto os que estão ao fundo aparecem sentados ou encostados nas paredes do navio, aqueles que estão na parte da frente do quadro permanecem deitados de bruços e uma das mulheres, sentada, carregando uma criança.

Na parte esquerda do quadro, há alguns negros se cobrindo com um tecido branco e um deles está deitado em algo pendurado como uma rede.

Logo ao lado dele, no centro da tela, um homem negro está de pé, na ponta dos dedos, com os braços levantados para alcançar algo que estão lhe entregando da abertura do porão. @edisonblog

[toutplacid]

Café des sports — huile sur toile, 2017 Collection Arnaud Baumann (version inachevée ici)

[cma-drawing]

Cliffs by the Sea at Cézembre, Brittany, Eugène Isabey , c. 1830, Cleveland Museum of Art: Drawings

Isabey was primarily known for his watercolors and paintings of marine and beach scenes. As a young artist, he met and befriended Eugene Delacroix and Richard Parkes Bonington and traveled with them to England in 1825 where he was able to study the work of J. M. W. Turner and the English watercolorists. Isabey was one of the first French painters to work en plein air, or directly from nature. He proved to be an important French landscapist whose life spanned almost the entire 19th century. He contributed illustrations to the Voyage pittoresques et romantiques and became a sought-after watercolorist and painter of historical landscapes. Size: Sheet: 25.8 x 35 cm (10 3/16 x 13 3/4 in.) Medium: watercolor and gouache with black chalk

https://clevelandart.org/art/1993.218

[josefavomjaaga]

Albrecht Adam, scene from "Voyage pittoresque et militaire de Willenberg en Prusse jusqu'à Moscou fait en 1812"

Painter Albrecht Adam accompanied Eugène de Beauharnais' 4th corps to Russia and returned with an abundance of drawings and sketches. This is a scene from the march to Moscow: The wife of a Bavarian officer, accompanying the army, had born a baby on the march and was breastfeeding it while on horseback. Eugène (who had left his wife pregnant in Milan and most likely had not learned the birth of his own daughter yet) stopped and even called an interpreter in order to inquire after the baby's health and ask all the usual questions (how old, boy or girl, etc), then gave some money to the mother and hurried of before she could say thank you.

[art-now-usa]

The Florist, Carole Nataf

I painted this scene from a photography I took of my next door florist in Paris, France. The florist was arranging and wrapping up white Orchids. The floral background, showing plants and flowers in pots accumulating on the shelves form a pittoresque setting I wanted to capture. I also wanted to recreate the sense of action as the florist absorbed in her work manipulated the flowers, just as usual, in a charming atmosphere.

https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-The-Florist/879145/3421578/view

[africandiasporaphd]

Masque de fer blanc que l'on fait porter aux nègres (See also https://twitter.com/jmjafrx/status/1258396705302740992?s=20) White Iron Mask that One Makes Negro Wear" (caption translation). This image shows an enslaved man wearing an iron mask over his face. He was carrying a large ceramic jar on his head. Brazilian masters compelled slaves who were prone to eat earth or dirt to wear such masks. This illustration does not appear to have been published in Debret's, Voyage Pittoresque et Historique au Bresil (Paris,1834-39), although another slave, wearing such a mask, is illustrated in vol. 2, plate 10, captioned une visite a la campagne (a visit to the country). The engravings in this book were taken from drawings made by Debret during his residence in Brazil from 1816 to 1831. For watercolors by Debret of scenes in Brazil, some of which were incorporated into his Voyage Pittoresque, see Jean Baptiste Debret, Viagem Pitoresca e Historica ao Brasil (Editora Itatiaia Limitada, Editora da Universidade de Sao Paulo, 1989; a reprint of the 1954 Paris edition, edited by R. De Castro Maya. For a description of this mask in Brazil, see image ewbank3. Source A water color by Jean Baptiste Debret. Held by a museum in Rio de Janeiro. Published in Ana Maria de Moraes, O Brasil dos viajantes (Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, 1994), image 469, p. 93. Also published in Jean Baptiste Debret, Viagem Pitoresca e Historica ao Brasil (Editora Itatiaia Limitada, Editora da Universidade de Sao Paulo, 1989), p.128, a reprint of the 1954 Paris edition, edited by R. De Castro Maya. Creator Debret, Jean Baptiste Description and source via slaveryimages.org See also https://twitter.com/jmjafrx/status/1258396705302740992?s=20 #ADPhD #slaveryarchive https://instagr.am/p/B_7EHRpAIWr/ Follow #ADPhD on IG: @afrxdiasporaphd

[alanswann]

Vinyl Session: Massenet Le Cid-ballet music Scenes Pittoresques The last Sleep Of The Virgin - City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (limited edition) https://www.instagram.com/p/ChSNV_kgzP7/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[gardenofkore]

“Palermo, Thursday, April 5, 1787.

[...] S. Rosalia, the patron saint of Palermo, is so universally known, from the description which Brydone has given of her festival, that it must assuredly be agreeable to my friends to read some account of the place and the spot where she is most particularly worshipped.

Monte Pellegrino, a vast mass of rocks, of which the breadth is greater than the height, lies on the north-west extremity of the Bay of Palermo. Its beautiful form admits not of being described by words; a most excellent view of it may be seen in the Voyage Pittoresque de la Sicile. It consists of a gray limestone of the earlier epoch. The rocks are quite barren, not a tree nor a bush will grow on them; even the more smooth and level portions are but barely covered with grasses or mosses.

In a cavern of this mountain, the bones of the saint were discovered, at the beginning of the last century, and brought to Palermo. The presence of them delivered the city from a pestilence, and ever since S. Rosalia has been the Patron Saint of the people. Chapels have been built in her honour, splendid festivals have been instituted.

The pious and devout frequently made pilgrimages to the mountain; and in consequence a road has been made to it, which, like an ancient aqueduct, rests on arches and columns, and ascends zigzag between the rocks.

The place of worship is far more suitable to the humility of the saint who retired thither, than are the splendid festivities which have been instituted in honour of her total renunciation of the world. And perhaps the whole of Christendom, which now, for eighteen hundred years, has based its riches, pomps, and festival amusements, on the memory of its first founders and most zealous confessors, cannot point out a holy spot which has been adorned and rendered venerable in so eminent and delightful a way.

When you have ascended the mountain, you proceed to the corner of a rock, over against which there rises a high wall of stone. On this the Church and the monastery are very finely situated.

The exterior of the church has nothing promising or inviting; you open its door without any high expectation, but on entering are ravished with wonder. You find yourself in a vast vestibule, which extends to the whole breadth of the church, and is open towards the nave. You see here the usual vessel of holy water and some confessionals. The nave is an open space, which on the right is bounded by the native rock, and on the left by the continuation of the vestibule. It is paved with flat stones on a slight inclination, in order that the rain water may run off. A small well stands nearly in the centre.

The cave itself has been transformed into the choir, without, however, any of its rough natural shape being altered. Descending a few steps, close upon them stands the choristers' desk with the choir books, and on each side are the seats of the choristers. The whole is lighted by the daylight, which is admitted from the court or nave. Deep within, in the dark recesses of the cave, stands the high-altar.

As already stated, no change has been made in the cave; only, as the rocks drop incessantly with water, it was necessary to keep the place dry. This has been effected by means of tin tubes, which are fastened to every projection of the rock, and are in various ways connected together. As they are broad above and come to a narrow edge below, and are painted of a dull green colour, they give to the rock an appearance of being overgrown with a species of cactus. The water is conducted into a clear reservoir, out of which it is taken by the faithful as a remedy and preventative for every kind of ill.

As I was narrowly observing all this, an ecclesiastic came up to me and asked whether I was a Genoese, and wished a mass or so to be said? I replied upon this that I had come to Palermo with a Genoese, who would to-morrow, as it was a festival, come up to the shrine; but, as one of us must always be at home, I had come up to day in order to look about me. Upon this he observed, I was at perfect liberty to look at everything at my leisure, and to perform my devotions. In particular he pointed out to me a little altar which stood on the left as especially holy, and then left me.

Through the openings of a large trellis work of lattice, lamps appeared burning before an altar. I knelt down close to the gratings and peeped through. Further in, however, another lattice of brass wire was drawn across, so that one looked as it were through gauze at the objects within. By the light of some dull lamps I caught sight of a lovely female form.

She lay seemingly in a state of ecstasy—the eyes half-closed, the head leaning carelessly on her right hand, which was adorned with many rings. I could not sufficiently discern her face, but it seemed to be peculiarly charming. Her robe was made of gilded metal, which imitated excellently a texture wrought with gold. The head and hands were of white marble. I cannot say that the whole was in the lofty style, still it was executed so naturally and so pleasingly that one almost fancied it must breathe and move. A little angel stands near her, and with a bunch of lilies in his hand appears to be fanning her.

In the meanwhile the clergy had come into the cave, taken their places, and began to chant the Vespers.

I took my seat right before the altar, and listened to them for a while; then I again approached the altar, knelt down and attempted to obtain a still more distinct view of the beautiful image. I resigned myself without reserve to the charming illusion of the statue and the locality.

The chant of the priests now resounded through the cave; the water was trickling into the reservoir near the altar; while the over-hanging rocks of the vestibule—the proper nave of the church—shut in the scene. There was a deep stillness in this waste spot, whose inhabitants seemed to be all dead-a singular neatness in a wild cave: the tinsel and tawdry pomp of the Roman Catholic ceremonial, especially as it is vividly decked out in Sicily, had here reverted to its original simplicity. The illusion produced by the statue of the fair sleeper—which had a charm even for the most practised eye:—enough, it was with the greatest difficulty that I tore myself from the spot, and it was late at night before I got back to Palermo.”

Johan Wolfgang von Goethe, Travels in Italy

September 4th - Feast of S. Rosalia

[josefavomjaaga]

Oh, oh, for once I can say something about a military scene! I know that first drawing because Eugène is in it (just cut off, because, as usual, totally uninteresting 😛). It’s from Albrecht Adam’s “Voyage pittoresque” about the Russian campaign, and it shows Napoleon going on reconnaissance with some Bavarian cavalry on July 24, after the crossing of the Dwuina.

Different snippet from the same drawing, with Eugène in the background, the whole thing is here: Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte, Bilder vom Kriege

It looks like Napoleon telling Murat to charge the enemy at Eylau or Jena. From pinterest.

[sistemabibliotecariomilano]

Guide autosciatorie

F. Lenhart, Sports invernali in Italia, manifesto, 100x70, Cortina, Officine Grafiche B. V. Levi, ca. 1932

Sul finire degli anni Trenta, il Reale Automobile Club d’Italia della provincia di Milano pubblicava una serie di fascicoli ricchi di informazioni generali, planimetrie, strutture alberghiere per le principali località sciistiche italiane di allora: Sestriere, Claviere, Breuil Cervinia, Gressoney-La-Trinitè, Cascate del Toce, Passo del Tonale, Madesimo, Tonale, Presolana, Santa Caterina Valfurva, Boscochiesanuova, Madonna di Campiglio, Passo Rolle, Passo Sella, Selva di Val Gardena, Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Cortina d'Ampezzo (Belluno) / testo e compilazione del R. Automobile Club d'Italia, sede provinciale di Milano, Bergamo, Istituto italiano d'arti grafiche, 1939

Il titolo della serie Neve in montagna risulta tuttavia meno significativo del suo complemento: Guide autosciatorie, nell’ indicare i due caposaldi di quello che è stato definito “modernismo alpino”: la pratica dello sci e i collegamenti automobilistici, ormai alla fine della fase pionieristica e agli albori del turismo di massa. Il carattere individuale dei nuovi veicoli aveva in effetti aperto la possibilità, a partire da inizio Novecento, di raggiungere, rispetto ai rigidi tracciati ferroviari, luoghi impensabili, dei quali le competizioni ciclistiche e automobilistiche sfruttarono la valenza di palcoscenico simbolico e insieme di laboratorio tecnico.

F. Lenhart, Bolzano-Gries. Dolomites, manifesto, 97x62, Bolzano, G. Linke, 1930

Ma soprattutto automobili e funivie determinarono un’inedita percezione del paesaggio alpino in cui è evidente la connessione con le ricerche delle avanguardie artistiche coeve (futurismo, cubismo): “La sequenza progressiva dei quadri e delle scene del voyage pittoresque attraverso le Alpi […] viene sostituita da uno spasmodico susseguirsi di immagini e di emozioni, che si sovrappongono in modo istantaneo e simultaneo, e dove la moltiplicazione e la compresenza di punti di vista, le immagini in movimento, assumono valore centrale”. [A. De Rossi, La costruzione delle Alpi. Il Novecento e il modernismo alpino (1917-2017), pp. 78-79]. Gli arditi tracciati delle nuove strade offrivano ai pionieri del volante l’immagine di curve serpeggianti, dallo Stelvio alla Spluga, in perfetta sintonia con il paesaggio a differenza dell’artificialità della strada ferrata. Sarà tuttavia un’impressione di breve durata, se già per gli anni di pubblicazione dei dépliant dell’ACI, un saggio dedicato al viaggio automobilistico sulle Alpi era pervaso di nostalgia: “[…] non posso non far riferimento all’epoca,  non così remota, in cui si usava l’auto per vedere la regione. Ormai è diventata una scatola a chiusura ermetica che serve solo ad andare a mangiare lontano, a ballare lontano e a far altro, sempre lontano”. [P. Guiton, Le livre de la montagne. Essai d’une esthétique du paysage, Grenoble-Paris, Arthaud, 1943, p. 165, cit. in La costruzione delle Alpi, pp. 85-86]

Il dibattito sullo sci, pratica secolare presso le popolazioni di montagna, inteso come disciplina sportiva, è invece leggermente retrodatato. Già nel 1893 Conan Doyle descriveva con toni entusiasti una discesa verso Davos lungo pendii nevosi dove non si notava traccia di vita al di fuori di impronte di volpi e camosci. Questo piacere estetico fu presto condiviso da un numero crescente di sciatori al punto da mettere in discussione l’alpinismo come sport privilegiato con cui vivere la montagna. 

Claviere : [guida autosciatoria] / testo e compilazione del Reale automobile club d'Italia, [Bergamo : Istituto italiano d'arti grafiche], 1939

A inizio Novecento si era comunque già avviato un confronto destinato fino ad oggi a non interrompersi. Alla posizione del professor Wilhelm Paulcke, tesa a enfatizzare la natura individuale e romantica dello sci, a diretto contatto con la natura, riformulata su toni simili nelle varie riprese dello scialpinismo, si contrapponeva Mathias Zdarsky, pioniere dello sci, ma soprattutto dell’intuizione di un paesaggio alpino reso accessibile a fasce sempre più ampie delle popolazione, con capacità sportive molto differenti, in virtù dei nuovi mezzi tecnici. In effetti le Alpi, da spazio disabitato nel cuore dell’Europa, si trasformarono in una Neuland, dove sperimentare la nuova dimensione dell’inverno, fatta di gioia, bellezza, giovinezza e salute proprio per l’intreccio tra esperienza modernista e natura ancestrale. Anche in questo caso la permanenza nell’Eden sarà di breve durata come registrato nel saggio di Antonio De Rossi attraverso la penna di un altro pioniere dello sci, il britannico Arnold Lunn:  “Le ferrovie e le funicolari montane non sfuggono alla legge secondo cui ogni progresso meccanico è bilanciato da un regresso spirituale: lo sci, che era una cultura, sta degenerando in una civiltà”. E prosegue: “Lo sci ha attraversato il ciclo spengleriano. È cominciato come una cultura a contatto con la Natura. […] Oggi sgomitiamo in téléphériques e funicolari affollate come i bassifondi delle megalopoli delle nostre civiltà, e la superficie su cui sciamo è dura e pressoché artificiale come il selciato cittadino che cela la benevola terra”. [ A. De Rossi, La costruzione delle Alpi, pp. 96-97].

Gressoney la Trinité (Aosta) : [guida autosciatoria] / testo e compilazione del R. Automobile Club d'Italia, sede provinciale di Milano : Bergamo : Ist. italiano d'arti grafiche, [1939]

La querelle riprende oggi a partire dalla spietata concorrenza fra comprensori sciistici, sempre più tecnologici e artificiali, ma anche da un innevamento ormai sporadico e limitato alle alte quote dai cambiamenti climatici in atto, che ha imposto a partire dagli anni Novanta a molte località la chiusura del ciclo del modernismo alpino, lasciando sui pendii scheletri di impianti di risalita, rovine di colonie e alberghi, villaggi-vacanza divenuti città fantasma. Contemporaneamente si sono riaffermate accanto allo sci industriale da discesa, assumendo nel nuovo quadro una valenza inedita, lo sci alpino e l’escursionismo, indicatori più che di una nuova mentalità del riemergere di un motivo soccombente rispetto a quello della “continuità futurista” fra città e montagna. 

Tonale : guide autosciatorie / Testo e compilazione del R. Automobile Club d'Italia (sede provinciale di Milano), Bergamo, Istituto italiano d'arti grafiche, 1939

Risulta allora più che mai attuale la testimonianza del soggiorno di Ernest Hemingway nel Vorarlberg austriaco: “A Schruns non c’erano né skilift né funicolari, ma c’erano i sentieri dei boscaioli e i sentieri dei mandriani che conducevano su per le piccole valli di montagna fino all’alta montagna. Salivi a piedi portandoti gli sci e più in alto, dove la neve era troppo profonda, salivi con le pelli di foca che attaccavi sotto gli sci. Al sommo delle piccole valli c’erano i grandi rifugi del Club Alpino per gli scalatori d’estate dove potevi dormire pagando per la legna che usavi”. [E. Hemingway, Festa mobile, Milano, Mondadori, 2011, p. 86]

[vapaus-ystavyys-tasaarvo]

Blog recap post for 2017

Or whatever it was that I’ve been calling these.

It’s been kind of a quiet year for me, I haven’t done as much as usual. Some general notes first: I’ve been in two readalongs this year but didn’t finish either of them. The first one being the new Brick readalong and the other one the Count of Monte Cristo one. I really do want to finish the latter at some point! (For the record I’m leaving my CoMC posts out of this list because I’m a bit lazy but you can check the CoMC17 tag if you’re interested.)

I’ve also still more or less kept the Les Mis group watch going although it’s been a bit more difficult this year because we kinda ran out of adaptations that already had subtitles and because I’ve been busier on weekends lately. I already posted about it earlier.

I made a back up blog which I should definitely update again one of these days: https://vapausystavyystasaarvo.wordpress.com

Anyway, onto the posts! (apologies for the length, I’m kind of trying to prove to myself that I’ve been productive this year despite the major slump I’ve been having for the last few months, so I ended up including a lot of stuff that probably isn’t really worth including)

Brick Locations / map posts:

Faverolles, Valjean’s home village

Some houses in Faverolles that could be Valjean’s home

Valjean’s sister’s apartment in Paris

Meaux, Lesgle’s home town (as in “Lesgle de Meaux”)

The Necker Hospital (where Combeferre interned) (also check out this post)

Montreuil-sur-Mer (not really mine but I just found this video)

Real life barricades in the Les Mis barricade area and some map nerdery

Cour des Miracles and the Saint-Merry barricade (reply to an ask)

Late night rambling about Lutetian limestone aka the main building material in Paris

Why you can’t find Café Musain in Assassins Creed Unity

Saint-Merry:

- The church (videos)

- Saint-Merry map posts (sorry, I’m getting too lazy to list them all separately... apologies to mobile users)

Map resources:

- Petit Atlas Pittoresque de Paris (1835)

- Catacombs of Paris

- Fan-makers in Paris in 1829

- (see also this post with a link to the addresses of the printers and this one about the Société d’Horticulture)

Other Research:

Canon era letters and addresses (this is not a great post but I decided to include it anyway since it is informative at least)

On the significance of colours in Les Mis from The Novel of the Century: The Extraordinary Adventure of Les Misérables By David Bellos

A translated excerpt from the Saint Merry trial transcript

Combeferre, the dictionary definition of “polytechnique”

Charles Jeanne resources post

Les Mis Adaptation stuff:

Le Théâtre de la Jeunesse and its Les Mis episodes:

- About the adaptation & first episode recap

- TdlJ clip: the Gorbeau affair (subtitled)

- TdlJ clip: Éponine and the Triumvirate visit Marius (subtitled)

- related to above: an explanation of the Marius/Cosette plot in this series

- TdlJ clips: Montparnasse scenes (no subs)

- TdlJ clip: Corinthe (subtitled)

- TdlJ clip: Preliminary Gayeties p1 (subtitled)

- TdlJ gifs: Les Amis

- TdlJ gifs: Montparnasse [p1] [p2]

Les Mis ‘82:

- Myriel’s intro from Les Mis 1982: part 1 & part 2 (Greek subs)

- The “yellow” passport in Les Mis ‘82

- The colour palette in Les Mis ‘82

- Les Amis death scene from Les Mis ‘82

Other French adaptations:

- Guillaume stanning for Thénardier from Les Mis 1995 (subtitled but not by me (the post includes my commentary tho))

- Les Amis in Les Mis ‘34 (this was supposed to be a series of posts but... uh... it didn’t happen)

- Les Amis in Les Mis 2000 (I guess this is almost like a continuation of the series... kinda)

- Actors who have been in multiple Les Mis adaptations: Dominique Zardi & Lucien Nat

- liveblogging the 1979 cartoon

- some ‘72 silliness

- more of a parody than an adaptation but here’s “Les Miséroïdes” with subtitles

English language adaptations:

- Les Mis 1978 covers and their weird obsession with ~Vengeance~

- Monsieur Madeleine’s office in English language adaptations

- The Basic Anglophone Les Mis Adaptation Formula (+an addendum about the ‘78 film)

- Vampire Commie Enjolras from Les Mis 1935

- Gifs from Les Mis 1935 (Marius and Enjolras comparison)

Other adaptations:

- The translated character names from the 1950 Japanese movie

- List of film adaptations that are online and where to find them (I should update this post btw NOTE TO SELF)

- My ideal adaptation (I need to work on this too)

- Original 1980 French version of the musical (link post)

- The original duet between Marius and Éponine from the above and some discussion about it

Hernani:

La Bataille d’Hernani subtitles 

My review (or something) of Hernani

My not overly serious descriptions of Hernani characters

More Hernani “commentary”

More Hernani nonsense

Fanfiction (ish):

Trailing the Awkward Bonapartist (a Fallen London / Echo Bazaar AU) [p1] [p2] [p3] [p4] [all parts together]

Feuilly and Grantaire apartment hunting

Art (?):

Les Mis in Space

Random Hijinks:

Chalk graffiti in front of the School of Life

Toto

The Sock Debacle [p1] [p2]

[anotherplaceandtime]

Doisneau, Robert (1912 - 1994) Brought up in Paris’s suburbs, Robert Doisneau excelled in the depiction of the humble, bringing beauty, humour and tenderness to dull anonymous landscapes and scenes. Moved by men’s pains but also by the simple pleasures of everyday life, the French photographer captured all that illustrated France from its pittoresque workers, playful children, affectionate lovers to celebrities such as Le Corbusier, Brigitte Bardot or Yves Saint Laurent - ‘All my life, I had fun, I created my very own little theatre’. Eager to portray tragedy without showing cruelty nor violence, Robert Doisneau never captured a dying man and refused to represent the shaven women of Paris’ Liberation. He was the kind of man, as Jacques Prévert once told, who, when he had come across a shepherd and his flock and dogs and witnessed a truck knocking down most of the flock and all his dogs, preferred to comfort the shepherd rather than seize the tragic sensational scene. Quite an irony for the photographer who could stay still for hours waiting for the perfect anecdote to steal, to be mostly remembered today for a fabricated image commissioned by Life magazine, that of the ‘Hotel de Ville Kiss’. Yet this picture seems to sum his whole work up: the anonymous lovers, the fleeting moment captured in the crowd’s buoyancy, Paris and those other walkers unaware of the iconic scene happening right before them.

[toutplacid]

Fin de marché – huile sur toile, 2016 « Scènes pittoresques, huiles sur toile 2015-2017 », dernier jour aujourd'hui de 15 heures à ce soir tard, galerie Corinne Bonnet, 63, rue Daguerre, 75014 Paris.

[cma-drawing]

Cliffs by the Sea at Cézembre, Brittany, Eugène Isabey , c. 1830, Cleveland Museum of Art: Drawings

Isabey was primarily known for his watercolors and paintings of marine and beach scenes. As a young artist, he met and befriended Eugene Delacroix and Richard Parkes Bonington and traveled with them to England in 1825 where he was able to study the work of J. M. W. Turner and the English watercolorists. Isabey was one of the first French painters to work en plein air, or directly from nature. He proved to be an important French landscapist whose life spanned almost the entire 19th century. He contributed illustrations to the Voyage pittoresques et romantiques and became a sought-after watercolorist and painter of historical landscapes. Size: Sheet: 25.8 x 35 cm (10 3/16 x 13 3/4 in.) Medium: watercolor and gouache with black chalk

https://clevelandart.org/art/1993.218

[solenelanza]

Guess what? We are not men! I mean, we won’t have no doubt if you ever have the chance to meet us but while browsing the urban setting of the Oasis second album, I was not sure anymore. Told you it was not Blur!

Êtes-vous au courant : nous sommes de femmes ! Vous ne vous poseriez pas la question si vous aviez déjà eu l’occasion de nous rencontrer mais dans le décor urbain du second album d’Oasis, le doute est permis. Je vous avais prévenus que ce n’était pas Blur ! 

Sometimes my mates just hate me. Well they are too cute and over polite but I know that look in the deep dark eyes between boredom and annoyance, especially on a very early Sunday morning. Let me explain. You might have an idea about how close I want to match this with reality and historical facts #journalism Well after the hard long photo shooting nights for Blur, we had to be back in the area for Oasis. Yes I know how touchy it is to fuel the fire of the Britpop match.

Parfois, mes amis me détestent. Ils sont trop charmants et polis mais tout le monde connaît ce regard noir plein d’ennui et d’énervement surtout le week-end. Ok, explication. Vous voyez, depuis un petit moment, que j’aime faire chanter la réalité et les faits historiques #déformationprofessionnelle Et bien, après la longue nuit expérimentale de Blur, nous avons affronté de nouveaux les pavés de Soho pour Oasis. Oui, je sais, c’est mal de jeter de l’huile sur le feu du combo Britpop. 

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Une semaine avant les #britawards Londres Mag revient sur ces lieux de la musique #madeinengland. Retour sur le célèbre groupe britannique @oasis et sa pochette d’album Morning Glory toujours présente à Soho ! #Soho #britawards #oasis #music

A post shared by Londresmag (@londresmag) on Feb 12, 2019 at 11:07am PST

I told them 5am. They didn’t have time to laugh because they were exhausted to try their Gallagher outfit. If we wanted to feel their reality, we should be on stage in the dawn of the off day. It was a « no » answer. So by 8am, on a Sunday morning, we drove our way to Soho. You can’t imagine how beautiful Carnaby street is it without any soul walking by! But our destination was Berwick street in the middle of the recreation of the new face of the charming area.

Je leur avais dit 5h du matin. Elles n’ont pas eu le temps de dire ouf qu’elles étaient déjà épuisées à l’idée de suivre les pas des frères Gallagher. Si nous voulions être près des faits, il fallait être sur le pont  dès l’aube… un jour férié. La réponse a été un non sans appel. Finalement, à 8h du matin, un dimanche, nous revoilà à Soho. Vous ne pouvez pas imaginer la beauté de Carnarby sans aucune âme (ni touriste) qui vive. Mais notre destination était Berwick street, épicentre du remodelage du quartier charmant et pittoresque. 

Everyone knows this Oasis sounding like the meeting of two dead souls in an unusual over sunny London day. This blurry picture, not far from our Blur playground, freezes the ghosts of the 90s. And it might be a sign but it is the part of the best seller British albums with Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and The Greatest Hits by Queen. Well it was just made by musicians early in the morning. We are not musicians, but you should have an idea that we have a musical teeth.Well recreating this picture was not that easy. First, the empty street had to be … empty. And how can you ask to the crowd to stop living in the center of the city? Secondly, rhythm is the key to blow our faces and feel this evanescence of casual life. Then, details are not cherry on the cake but the ultimate way to pay tribute to the music and the creators.

Tout le monde connaît la pochette d’Oasis, cette rencontre de deux fantômes par un dimanche ensoleillé et terriblement contrasté. Cette photo toute floue, si proche de notre terrain de jeu Blurien, a cristallisé à jamais les spectres des années 90. Etait-ce un signe mais cet opus fait partie des meilleures ventes des albums britanniques avec Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band et The Greatest Hits de Queen. Alors que l’image avait juste été faite par des musiciens, au petit matin et nous ne sommes que des mélomanes. Et recréer cette imaginaire n’était pas simple comme bonjour. D’abord la place devait être… vide. Et avez-vous déjà demandé à la foule londonienne d’arrêter de vivre dans le centre ville ? Ensuite le rythme est la clé de la photo, avec un  flou des visages comme un appel à l’evanescence du quotidien. Ensuite, les détails ne sont pas secondaires mais la meilleure façon de rendre hommage à la musique et à ses créateurs. 

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If you have the chance to touch the opus, it should be surprising opening the sleeve. Calm, stress-free and agreements-free can be the qualifications of these studio photos. Found of this kind of space outside, in Central London is quite of impossible. But as we are French, we are unstoppable. And, thanks to the opening of new trendy gastropubs, the Blue Posts lost a bit of the popular atmosphere, that would have be loved by the Gallagher Brothers from Manchester, but adds a lovely style, a touch of elegance and a shade of Blue that was perfect for our profile picture background. Thanks Ollie Dabbous, you had such a wonderful taste.

Si vous avez déjà eu l’album entre les mains, vous savez qu’en ouvrant l’opus, la surprise est encore là. Car le calme, le stress oublié mais aussi les relations cordiales étaient les maîtres mots des photos de studios. Trouver un tel espace, en extérieur dans le Londres si bruyant était presque impossible. Impossible pas Français. Et, les gastro pubs si élégants du quartiers nous ont bien aidées.Le Blue Posts n’est plus cette adresse tradi qu’auraient adorée les frères Gallagher de Manchester mais est devenue ce bar élégant, adorable avec ces 50 nuances de Bleu sur lesquelles nous avons sauté. Merci encore au chef Ollie Dabbous d’avoir un aussi bon goût … esthétique ! 

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Picking the Yellow screen was the last challenge and browsing this Soho, where time seems to forget to last, we had the chance to encounter this yellow door. Perfect for my new short cut hair, Kelly’s new manicure and my Uke. But it sounded to me as well that it would be the best spot for a picture on social media or an Instagram post. You have no idea how London is the new Instagram scene, I mean like picturesque streets of Paris and bridge view points of New York are. Were Oasis the first bloggers? Who knows?

Trouver le fameux fond jaune était le dernier pari, et dans le vieux Soho, le temps semble s’être arrêté , et c’est là où nous avons eu le coup de foudre avec LA porte jaune. Parfait décor pour ma coupe de cheveux, la manucure (pas vraiment French mais totalement franche) et mon ukulélé. Parfait décor de photo shoot d’artiste ou d’instagrammeurs. Vous n’avez pas idée comment Londres sied bien à l’application photo, enfin autant que les ruelles de Paris ou les vues imprenables sur Brooklyn Bridge. Alors Oasis était-il le premier des bloggers? Vous avez une heure ! 

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Then it was the last step of this crazy British morning with the back cover. The man leaving became a woman, queen Kelly. With a large top, boyfriend style, male pants. Watching this very feminine lady drove me a bit disgruntled. Nor she was unpretty or disgraceful but it wasn’t a thing to be dressed like a man to feel closer to a rockstar. Arguing for feminism in the musical scene, we took the last pic where Soho started to be destructed. Transforming something beautiful in something modern and new.

Please come after the whole city will lose her whole identity.

Pour le dernier plan, il fallait retourner le quartier et l’album. L’homme de dos sur le départ est devenu une femme, et pas n’importe laquelle : Kelly. Avec mon haut bien trop grand pour elle, sa silhouette masculine, son style. « boyfriend », la voir partir au loin me contraria un peu. Elle perdait en charme ou en style, mais était-ce alors si obligatoire de voler les frusques d’un homme pour se sentir rock star ? Retour aux questions féministes sur la scène musicale dans le lieu où Soho commence à être détruit. Transformer quelque chose de jolie en un décor moderne et nouveau.

Venez-donc nous rendre visite avant que la ville entière ne finisse sa mutation ! 

Texts: Solène L. Model+Editing: Kelly Pictures by ©Alice Menguy 

Pour d’autres histoires musicales à Londres, suivez-moi ou contactez-moi 😉

  What’s the story of our Morning Glory ?  Guess what? We are not men! I mean, we won’t have no doubt if you ever have the chance to meet us but while browsing the urban setting of the…