“At stake [in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second city,] is not one building or artefact but the entire central junction of the city as it existed in late Roman times: a covered, colonnaded space where carriages once rattled past, and copper-smiths, jewellers and silk-merchants did a roaring trade.” – The Economist
Category: visual
Michelangelo And The “Architectural Project From Hell”
In the early years of the 16th century, Pope Julius II had initiated renovations when it became clear that the ancient basilica, completed around AD 360 on the site believed to be St Peter’s tomb, was at serious risk of collapse. At first, almost no one proposed remaking it entirely. The new St Peter’s took shape slowly, and for all its spiritual symbolism it was the architectural project from hell. Imagine a century of Grand Designs specials with one pope after another playing the despairing client and you get the picture. – Literary Review
Klimt Painting Stolen 23 Years Ago Found Hidden In Gallery Wall
“The location of Portrait of a Lady, one of the world’s most sought-after missing artworks, has been a mystery since it was stolen in 1997. On Tuesday, a gardener clearing up ivy on an exterior wall of the Ricci Oddi modern art gallery, in the northern city of Piacenza, discovered a metal panel which, when opened, revealed a cavity with a painting in a bag.” – The Guardian
Turns Out Lord Elgin Actually Did A Bit Of Good With The Parthenon’s Marble Friezes
Yes, he looted much of the statuary at the ancient Greek monument (his booty now sits in the British Museum), but he also had Athenian craftsmen take plaster casts of much of what he left in Athens. Now those casts reveal a lot of detail that has since been worn away by the corrosive effects of air pollution. – The Guardian
Portrait Of Zapata, Naked And In High Heels, Outrages Mexican Protesters
“Protesters stormed the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City on Tuesday over a painting showing revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata striking an unconventional pose. They shouted ‘burn it, burn it’, arguing that the painting, which shows Zapata in high heels and a pink hat, naked on an aroused horse, is offensive. … The work by Fabián Cháirez, called La Revolución (The Revolution), is part of an exhibition commemorating the 100th anniversary of Zapata’s death.” – BBC
That Art Basel $120K Banana – This Is Where We Are Now
Sebastien Smee: “What happened to “Comedian” after it became a media sensation sums up our collective disorder — a kind of media-based bulimia — exquisitely. First, at lunchtime on Saturday, David Datuna, a little-known and well-fed-looking performance artist wanting to become better known, showed up at the gallery, took the banana off the wall and, claiming to be a “hungry artist,” ate it.” – Washington Post
Serpentine Taps LA Art Star As Next Chief Exec
Bettina Korek, who currently runs the Californian outpost of the Frieze art fair, will start work in March and team up with the gallery’s artistic director Hans Ulrich Obrist in time for next year’s 50th anniversary. – London Evening Standard
St. Petersburg Museums Struggle With Surge Of Chinese Tourists
Visits by Chinese citizens to Russia have been growing by 20% a year, and that rate will likely increase in 2020, when electronic visas become available. The extra crowds have caused particular problems at the Hermitage and, especially, at the Catherine Palace in nearby Tsarskoe Selo, where there are wait times of up to four hours as Chinese groups flock to see the famous Amber Room. – The Art Newspaper
Teenager Who Threw Six-Year-Old From Tate Modern Balcony Pleads Guilty To Attempted Murder
“Jonty Bravery, who turned 18 in October, … told the police he had to prove a point ‘to every idiot’ who said he had no mental health problems … As well as having an autistic spectrum disorder, Bravery has an obsessive compulsive disorder and is likely to have a personality disorder.” – The Guardian
Why Are Ireland’s Archeological Sites Disappearing?
About 15,000 new archaeological sites have been discovered over the past two decades. But where are they? The truth is that most have been physically removed. Are we to believe, therefore, that they were not worth keeping? That thousands of sites deserved nothing more than a dusty report on a shelf? – Irish Times