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June 24, 2015

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Pantheon in Rome

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Exhibition Jan Veth

Jan Veth is a Dutch artist, painter, and art critic who lived from 1864-1925. He was also a professor in art history and was one of the people who founded the Rembrandt museum in Amsterdam. In short, he was a very divers and versatile man and highly appreciated by other artists in his time. He was mostly specialized in portraits. Last week I saw an exhibition about his work and I was blown away by how absolutely beautiful his works are. It is amazing to see his attention to details. Spectacular! I did not know Jan Veth very well, perhaps I read his name here or there, but after last week I am a fan. So here are a few examples of his paintings. Selfportrait Portrait of his father Portrait of a woman Portrait of a laborer, Portrait of a woman on her sick-bed The exhibition: The eye of Jan Veth can be seen in the Dordrechts museum in Dordrecht until September.

Beach cat

A cat on the beach, what does he want? Why does he risk getting sand between his toes? He is looking at some birds, sitting near the seaside. The birds do not know the cat is there, but the moment he starts running towards them, they all fly up The cat walks back, trying to look like this is what he has been planning all along. The other cats are not fooled, and learn their lesson. Stay off the beach.

SPQR, Mary Beard

We all known the story of Rome; the small village on the hills near the river Tiber that grew into a huge Empire. Sometimes we think that maybe we can see the ending of the Roman Empire in its beginning, but of course there was never a plan behind the forming of the empire. We are constantly fascinated by Rome, and we know their culture, philosophy and politics influence us until today. Thousands of books have been written about Rome, but can a new book give us new information? Yes, fortunately, it can. SPQR by Mary Beard does nog only tell us the well-known story of Rome, but does this with new insights. She does not only look at the events in Rome, but also how the Romans described these and what that says about the Romans. Just as the way we look at Rome tells something about how we see ourselves. The myths the Romans told about their beginnings are looked at, but also questions are answered like why Caesar was murdered, why Cicero’s court cases still fascinat...

The waters of eternal youth, Donna Leon

As always I was very happy when the new book by Donna Leon was translated into Dutch last month. In The waters of eternal youth Brunetti is asked by an old friend of his mother in law to look into the accident when her granddaughter almost drowned, fifteen years ago. The young woman suffered brain damage and has the mental capacity of a seven year old and she cannot answer questions about what happened. Brunetti takes up the case but does not expect to find anything. Only when he wants to interview an eyewitness of the event, the witness gets murdered. And this alerts Brunetti that there must have been more to the accident than he first thought. The commissario Brunetti series by Donna Leon is one of my favorites. I love the atmosphere of Venice in these books, the way Guido Brunetti ponders life and the future of Venice and the way food plays a role. Are there a few cliches here and there? Yes, there are, but not in such a way it bothers you while you read it. You...

Nobody's boy, Hector Malot

My childhood version. The Dutch title translates as: Alone in the world When I was little, my parents had a big blue book on their bookshelves with beautiful drawings. I loved the story of the young orphan Remi who was sold by his mean stepfather when he was ten years old to a musician, Vitalis, who travelled around with Joli-Coeur the little monkey and the dogs Capi, Dolce and Zerbino. Nodoby’s boy is a beautiful story and I read it many times. Only later did I find out this was a world famous French classic, translated into many languages. The story is probably known: Remi is an orphan and that is why he does not belong to anybody. But fortunately for him he does encounter many people who help him, sometimes for a short while, but often for a longer period of time. Vitalis is a good man, but during a cold winter’s night when they could not find shelter, he dies. Gardener Alcuin takes Remi into his family, but when a heavy storm destroys the gl...

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