Category Archives: Art

Grace and Humility

I am grateful that the French/German channel ARTE provides footage of the concert of Brian and Roger Eno at the Acropolis in Athens of August 4. The circumstances, in times of Covid, the most terrifying heat wave in Athens since … Continue reading

Posted in Art | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Is Salvator Mundi Leonardo’s?

Earlier this week, a new record was set for an artist’s painting. Four-hundred million bucks plus fees for (allegedly) Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi (about 1500) were offered by a (yet) unknown bidder in the Postwar and Contemporary (sic) Art … Continue reading

Posted in Art | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bazm wa Razm

Update below I have written about the two Kharraqan towers before, see here. Both had been heavily damaged in a 2002 earthquake. They are located about one km west to the village of Hisar-i Valiasr and 33 km west to … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Iran, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

By Compass and Straightedge

Update below. Readers may have noticed that I have attributed considerable recreational time on this blog to conceive and convey quasi-periodic patterns on ancient Islamic buildings. Following a first visit of Esfahan’s Darb-i Imam shrine in the old city in … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Iran, Islam | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Depiction of the Prophet Muhammad Under Mongolian Occupation

A hardly deniable cultural and, in particular, intellectual decline in the Islamic World began when, in 1258 CE, Baghdad had been sacked by the Mongolian Emperor Hülegü Khan (d. 1265), grandson of Chengis Khan. Hülegü was the brother of Möngke Khan … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Iran | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment