Merry Christmas week! Celebrating the 12 days of Christmas, here’s a little enjoyment of what Christmas in Italy would be like — if I were only there. Click on this link to download the power point presentation. There are so many pictures that it takes three and a half playings of Andrea Bocelli’s “Blanco Natale“ to see them all but well worth it. Christmas is a time to slow down the pace and enjoy anyway.
Merry Christmas! Here’s an appropriate video that hopefully will bring laughter and joy in the spirit of the season and Kick Start your weekend.
Check Monday’s upcoming post for a few more scenes from the blizzard that hit us early last week and stranded my son in the Nashville airport. Surprisingly, my husband was able to make it back from Copenhagen. I later learned that they were only allowing international flights to land. My older son will be back by the time of this post and fortunately we’ll have our family together for Christmas. That’s a very good gift right there.
As I was clearing out stuff I ran across this image. Angels sing on high. I thought it was a wonderful print. It’s from artwork and the National Cathedral.
I’ve long been a fan of Janet Shearer’s beautiful artwork. Here’s a most recent and fitting example of her trompe l’oeil Nativity mural on the wall in Blisland Inn & Pub in Cornwall, England. Beautiful!
Hope your Christmas is filled with joy of the season.
The nativity scene is a way to visually recall the Christmas story and why we celebrate Christmas afterall. I thought this one was unusually interesting in that it is carved out of one piece of wood. Clicking on this link gives you a little history behind the Nativity scene.
This was another interesting Old World Style one:
We usually put one up every year and like its meaningful message lends simple pleasure to our Christmas decor. Ours is made of terracotta and in the style of South American Santos figurines. It was given to us by my father-in-law, who is an Episcopal priest.
Back in the day, when I had time on my hands I guess, I needle pointed our custom Christmas stockings below and those are handmade tiles in the backgound around the fireplace. In this link you’ll see a previous post with these tiles and a tribute to my art teacher(s). Sadly, Carolyn Boone passed away recently.
Another great patron and arts supporter has also passed away, Evelyn Nef. She had the only Chagall mosaic in her backyard in Georgetown. It was a known landmark. She’s bequeathed it to the National Gallery. That’s great. She has left us all something to see.
Art in grandscale can be somewhat ostentatious when it’s so overdone — when it overly exudes with the tremendous and exclusive amount of wealth it took to purchase it. It still captivates our attention, however. Here it is displayed in the decor of the Vanderbilt Mansion in Hyde Park, New York compete with multiple murals and every surface has some flamboyance.
In these thrifty economic times it does’t go over well to be so over the top. I like simplicity and practical things myself. I think a little bit goes a long way but it’s still intriguing to see how the other side lives. Click on the link above to see more interior views and where to take the tour of this and other gilded age mansions. Many are decorated and open for the holidays. I’m just glad I’m not the one taking all that stuff down when the holidays are over.
One of my favorite places to visit during the holidays is Winterthur.
