Regular blog postings begin on DECEMBER 26, Monday.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
16 December: This Day in Mystery
The second Sherlock Holmes film starring Robert Downey opens in the United States.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Art Terminology: Acanthus and Altarpiece
Because a lot of mystery novels have charcters who talk about art...
Acanthus
Architecture: A prickly plant of the Mediterranean region with large, deeply cleft and scalloped leaves which are freely imitated on the capitals of the Corinthian and Composite orders and often used, in varying degrees of abstraction, to ornament moldings, brackets, friezes and so on.
Altarpiece
Architecture: A painted or sculpted panel or shrine placed behind and above an altar, also called a "reredos" or "retable." 14th and 15th century altarpieces are often very complicated, consisting of several panels or separate groups of sculpture.
An altarpiece consisting of three panels is called a tryptych, when it has more than three panels it is called a "poylptych". Some altarpieces have a decorated base, or pedella, and have "shutters" or "wings" which can be opened to reveal a series of "transformations" or "stages" to reveal other paintings or sculptures. The shutters are usually painted in rather subdued colors on the outside - monochrome imitations of sculpture ("grisailles") being common in northern Europe - but when opened up for the feast days of the Church, they offer a brilliant and sumptuous display pf color.
____________
Bibliography
From Abacus to Zeus, A Handbook of Art History
James Smith Pierce, 1977
Acanthus
Architecture: A prickly plant of the Mediterranean region with large, deeply cleft and scalloped leaves which are freely imitated on the capitals of the Corinthian and Composite orders and often used, in varying degrees of abstraction, to ornament moldings, brackets, friezes and so on.
Altarpiece
Architecture: A painted or sculpted panel or shrine placed behind and above an altar, also called a "reredos" or "retable." 14th and 15th century altarpieces are often very complicated, consisting of several panels or separate groups of sculpture.
An altarpiece consisting of three panels is called a tryptych, when it has more than three panels it is called a "poylptych". Some altarpieces have a decorated base, or pedella, and have "shutters" or "wings" which can be opened to reveal a series of "transformations" or "stages" to reveal other paintings or sculptures. The shutters are usually painted in rather subdued colors on the outside - monochrome imitations of sculpture ("grisailles") being common in northern Europe - but when opened up for the feast days of the Church, they offer a brilliant and sumptuous display pf color.
____________
Bibliography
From Abacus to Zeus, A Handbook of Art History
James Smith Pierce, 1977
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Art Terminology: Abacus and Abbey
Because many mystery books feature descriptions of artwork - from architecture to sculpture.
Abacus
Architecture: The uppermost part of a capital, forming a slab on which the architrave rests.
Abbey
Architecture: A monastery governed by an abbot. The church of an abbey is called an "abbey church" and is usually planned to allow for the special requirements of the monks such as a deep choir or many altars.
____________
Bibliography
From Abacus to Zeus, A Handbook of Art History
James Smith Pierce, 1977
Abacus
Architecture: The uppermost part of a capital, forming a slab on which the architrave rests.
Abbey
Architecture: A monastery governed by an abbot. The church of an abbey is called an "abbey church" and is usually planned to allow for the special requirements of the monks such as a deep choir or many altars.
____________
Bibliography
From Abacus to Zeus, A Handbook of Art History
James Smith Pierce, 1977
Friday, November 25, 2011
25 November: This Day in Mystery
25 November 1899
W.R. Burnett is born in Springfield, Ohio.
Burnett is the author of Little Caesar (1929), High Sierra (1940), and The Asphalt Jungle (1949).
25 November 1947
Out of the Past, the "definitive existential noir film" starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas is released.
25 November 1952
Agatha Christie's play The Mousetrap opens at the Ambassador Theatre in London, with Richard Attenborough and Shela Sim. The Mousetrap is still running today!
W.R. Burnett is born in Springfield, Ohio.
Burnett is the author of Little Caesar (1929), High Sierra (1940), and The Asphalt Jungle (1949).
25 November 1947
Out of the Past, the "definitive existential noir film" starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas is released.
25 November 1952
Agatha Christie's play The Mousetrap opens at the Ambassador Theatre in London, with Richard Attenborough and Shela Sim. The Mousetrap is still running today!
Thursday, November 24, 2011
24 November: This Day in Mystery
24 November 1908
Harry Kemelman, whose detective hero Rabbi David Small is acclaimed the best clerical sleuth since Father Brown, is born in Boston. Small assists police chief Hugh Lanagan in solving crimes that happen on a daily basis: Friday the Rabbi Slept Late (1964), Tuesday the Rabbi Saw Red (1974).
24 November 1925
William F. Buckley Jr is born in New York City. Famed conservative commentator and editor of The National Review, Buckley also writes best-selling thrillers featuring Blackford Oakes, a Yale-educated CIA agent (Saving the Queen, 1976).
Harry Kemelman, whose detective hero Rabbi David Small is acclaimed the best clerical sleuth since Father Brown, is born in Boston. Small assists police chief Hugh Lanagan in solving crimes that happen on a daily basis: Friday the Rabbi Slept Late (1964), Tuesday the Rabbi Saw Red (1974).
24 November 1925
William F. Buckley Jr is born in New York City. Famed conservative commentator and editor of The National Review, Buckley also writes best-selling thrillers featuring Blackford Oakes, a Yale-educated CIA agent (Saving the Queen, 1976).
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
23 November: This Day in Mystery
23 November 1887
Boris Karloff, christened William Henry Pratt, is born in Dulwich, England. Karloff, an ex-truckdriver, receives his first good reviews for his roles as crimonals in such early talkie crime melodramas as The Criminal Code (1931) before going on to become one of Hollywood's best-known actors after his performance as Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein, 1931.
23 November 1910
Wife murderer Dr. H. H. Crippen is executed at Pentonville prison in England.
Boris Karloff, christened William Henry Pratt, is born in Dulwich, England. Karloff, an ex-truckdriver, receives his first good reviews for his roles as crimonals in such early talkie crime melodramas as The Criminal Code (1931) before going on to become one of Hollywood's best-known actors after his performance as Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein, 1931.
23 November 1910
Wife murderer Dr. H. H. Crippen is executed at Pentonville prison in England.
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