Safavid Courtiers Leading Georgian Captives
http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/451092
mille-fleurs motif
Safavid dynasty
I have erased the beginning of this post. It contained information on an event of extreme cruelty that led to severe losses and still causes episodes of disabling fatigue and life-threatening anxiety. During such episodes, I cannot write or look after myself properly. My blog suffers. It’s a short post.
A Seated Scribe by Gentile Bellini, (Isabella Stewart Gardner Collection)
http://www.gardnermuseum.org/collection/browse?filter=artist:3157
However, I have done more investigative work on Muslims, Armenians and the concept of nationhood. Religion is a factor in nationhood, but it is not as significant as the use of a common language. Even in the Islamic world, countries accepted plurality. The millet system is a proof of religious tolerance. For instance, in the case of the genocide of Armenians, the Ottomans feared Armenians would enter into an alliance with Christian Russia.
Nationhood is rooted in several factors, but langage overrides faith. State and speech is a product of the Renaissance and a result of Johannes Gutenberg‘s invention, in 1439, of the movable type printing press. Constantinople was defeated in 1453 and its Greek scholars fled to Italy carrying books. The printing press had just been invented when Byzantine scholars inaugurated the Renaissance. Literacy spread, creating a middle class, and it brought the validation of the vernacular, and the writing of songs in the mother tongue, or madrigals, but polyphonic, mixing voices. This is a subject we have covered, but not in the context of nationhood and nationalism.
A colleague told me about the Bellini knot, so I looked at the Metropolitan’s collection and found four Bellini rugs. I also found a Safavid dynasty tapestry or rug featuring the mille-fleurs motif. Keeping fabrics in good condition is difficult. Flanders may therefore have influenced the East. The Franco-Flemish lands were the cultural hub of ‘Europe’ before the Renaissance, in music especially, but tapestries and rugs were made in Flanders, as well as the illuminations of Books of Hours and other illuminated manuscripts. There were exchanges.
Venice and the Islamic World, 828 – 1797: Bellini carpets
Particularly interesting is the position of Venice. It was very close to the Ottoman Empire. Trading led to use the of a lingua franca. A simplified Italian was the lingua franca when Bellini travelled to Constantinople. In 2007, the Metropolitan had an exhibition on Venice and the Islamic World, 828 – 1797.
I will close here, but this discussion will be continued.
Love to everyone. ♥
Aram Khachaturian
David Oïstrakh plays Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto, mvt 1
© Micheline Walker
5 October 2016
WordPress
Micheline's Blog 
You clearly have been going through it. I hope life becomes settled soon.
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Derrick, that insurance case-manager broke my life and will never suffer the consequences. Her conduct was unethical and arrogant. She had three medical reports. Yes, I worked after presenting a doctor’s note, but my students did not have a teacher. The Dean would not hire a replacement. They wanted to get rid of me. I was asked to prepare a course on animals in literature during the sabbatical (2000-2001) I was devoting to writing my book. They broke rules and there was no point saying no. The Chair would have got very angry. I once fainted in his office. He wanted to concentrate on his research, which meant having me do various tasks. Under normal circumstances I could teach despite chronic fatigue syndrome. I went to bed early and taught in the morning. I had spread my classes over the five teaching days so I didn’t have to teach more than two classes a day with a break between the two classes. I will write a book describing everything. I did not fail them. They failed me. Why was I devoting summer months to the preparation of language lab components? My colleagues were not given such tasks. Quite frankly, they should make sure I buy or rent good living quarters. They could make my mortgage payments or pay the rent. That would seem reasonable. I cannot write my book for lack of resources. They took my career away. No, I didn’t do anything wrong. This story is about abuse and professional misconduct on the part of others. I am at liberty to tell and will. Thank you for writing Derrick. That was very kind of you. Micheline 🙂
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This puts the enormous amount of work we see in a even sharper perspective.
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Derrick, I’m trying to put everything in perspective and forget immense losses and pain. I had to make a rug to walk beyond. When my case manager investigated, she was told I made no sense in the classroom and entered the classroom looking as if I could not come up with material on animals in literature quickly enough. Every lecture was prepared before I taught the course. The problem was to cut the material down into a limited number of lectures. Thank you for writing Derrick. Best, Micheline
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Good grief
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I thank you Derrick. There was so much material a concepts: anthropomorphism, zoomorphism, a theory the “dire-sans-dire” (animals cannot speak and may therefore say anything), mythical & mythological animals, the “Panchatantra,” etc. “Reynard the Fox,” the fable tradition, animals in fairytales, etc. and the masterpiece: “The Wind in the Willows.” I would now add a few pages of Yann Martel’s “Life of Pi”, etc. I mentioned totemism, briefly (animal ancestry and symbolism). I also mentioned the “Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ (in werewolves and human condition), animals in the Bible. I could go on and on. I travelled to Hull (England) to give a paper linking “Tartuffe” and Reynard’s trial (a basic text in jurisprudence). The world’s foremost experts told me I had been assigned an impossible task… One offered to write to the Canadian government and complain on my behalf. How sweet! My best Derrick, Micheline 🙂
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Hope everything is returning to a more even keel.
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Thank you Gallivanta,
I’ll never recover fully, but I am now feeling a little better. Writing “A Short Note”, was my first activity. I didn’t phone my doctor for fear he would have me hospitalized, which would have been detrimental. I have a cat whose only duty is to make me follow a routine. If I were absent, he would not adjust and I would worry. So I don’t show feelings of grief. Waiting until next summer is not a bad idea. I want to make sure the apartment is in mint condition. I had to upgrade it: wiring, plumbing, etc. and he knows everything he has to know about this building. He has even had a talk with the manager. In fact, his daughter and her husband talked with the manager. He is a refugee from Colombia and he cannot speak French or English fluently. He and his wife visited and we spoke Spanish. It was an effort, but he is fully informed. He really likes the apartment. It has a furnished office and he is a writer. He has published several books. His wife loves the kitchen. There is room for a table and it is well designed. It doesn’t have a scratch. The apartment also has two full bathrooms: his and hers, as well as a laundry-room. It is air conditioned. I’ll be fine. I’m rather pleased they will not move in until next summer. I’ll need time to get organized. I thank you for writing Gallivanta. Micheline 🙂
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You should read my novel on the renaissance which has a big page about the franco-ottoman alliance and the role of Venice. Awesome fun and games !
I managed to find a link between Michael Angelo and Miramar Sinan via a creation of my own imagination ! Its in french (my french is bad but I love it like a mysterious woman of extraordinary charm. Like Belphegor! Le fantom du Louvre!). >
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That is a fine idea. Venice was the nexus and the Ottomans allowed Italian-speaking merchants to travel on their territory. I wrote a post on the fantôme of the Opera. https://michelinewalker.com/2013/06/23/le-fantome-de-lopera/
Don’t worry about your French. You should hear my Spanish and German. Miserable!
Venice is a moment in history, especially during the Renaissance when composers from the Franco-Flemish lands moved south, to teach polyphonic music to the Italians. Italians are born musicians. Love my dear. 🙂
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