Da Vinci In The News II

Did Leonardo da Vinci Copy his Famous 'Vitruvian Man'?

By Natalie Wolchover | LiveScience.com – Tue, Jan 31, 2012

Leonardo da Vinci's drawing of a male figure perfectly inscribed in a circle and square, known as the "Vitruvian Man," illustrates what he believed to be a divine connection between the human form and the universe. Beloved for its beauty and symbolic power, it is one of the most famous images in the world. However, new research suggests that the work, which dates to 1490, may be a copy of an earlier drawing by Leonardo's friend.

Another illustration of a divinely proportioned man — the subject is Christ-like, but the setting is strikingly similar to Leonardo's — has been discovered in a forgotten manuscript in Ferrara, Italy. Both drawings are depictions of a passage written 1,500 years earlier by Vitruvius, an ancient Roman architect, in which he describes a man's body fitting perfectly inside a circle (the divine symbol) and inside a square (the earthly symbol). It was a geometric interpretation of the ancient belief that man is a "microcosm": a miniature embodiment of the whole universe. Leonardo and other scholars revived this vainglorious notion during the Italian Renaissance.

After decades of study, Claudio Sgarbi, an Italian architectural historian who discovered the lesser known illustration of the Vitruvian man in 1986, now believes it to be the work of Giacomo Andrea de Ferrara, a Renaissance architect, expert on Vitruvius, and close friend of Leonardo's. What's more, Sgarbi believes Giacomo Andrea probably drew his Vitruvian man first, though the two men are likely to have discussed their mutual efforts. Sgarbi will lay out his arguments in a volume of academic papers to be published this winter, Smithsonian Magazine reports.

The key arguments are as follows: In Leonardo's writings, he mentions "Giacomo Andrea's Vitruvius" — seemingly a direct reference to the illustrated Ferrara manuscript. Secondly, Leonardo had dinner with Giacomo Andrea in July 1490, the year in which both men are thought to have drawn their Vitruvian men. Experts believe Leonardo would have probed Giacomo Andrea's knowledge of Vitruvius when they met. And though both drawings interpret Vitruvius' words similarly, Leonardo's is perfectly executed, while Giacomo Andrea's is full of false starts and revisions, none of which would have been necessary if he had simply copied Leonardo's depiction.

Other scholars find the arguments convincing.

"I find Sgarbi's argument exciting and very seductive, to say the least," said Indra McEwen, an architectural historian at Concordia University who has written extensively about the works of Vitruvius. "But [I] would opt for the view that Giacomo Andrea and Leonardo worked in tandem, rather than Leonardo basing his drawing on Andrea's."

Rather than competitors, the two Renaissance men were colleagues working together to bring a beautiful, ancient idea back to life. "Whose was the 'original' drawing is a non-question as far as I'm concerned. Much as it is a preoccupation of our own time, I don't think it would have been an issue in Leonardo's day," McEwen told Life's Little Mysteries, a sister site to LiveScience.

Patrice Le Floch-Prigent, an anatomist at the University of Versailles in France who has analyzed the anatomical correctness of Leonardo's famous work, noted that, for both drawings, "the source is Vitruvius."

Furthermore, regardless of their chronology, Leonardo's work is an improvement on Giacomo Andrea's, McEwen said: "Leonardo is by far the superior draftsman, with a far superior understanding of anatomy."

Leonardo's is also more faithful to the text, she explained. "Nowhere does Vitruvius say that the man is positioned inside the circle and the square at the same time. A man lying flat on his back, can be circumscribed by a circle if his hands and feet are outstretched," writes Vitruvius. "Similarly, his height is equal to his arm span, 'just as in areas that have been squared with a set square.'" Giacomo Andrea's figure has only one set of arms and legs, which are simultaneously circumscribed by a circle and outlined by a square, while "Leonardo deals with [the two propositions] by having the position of his man's arms and legs change. That, I would have to admit, makes his drawing a closer approximation to the textual description than Giacomo Andrea's," McEwen wrote.

One thing is certain. The better Vitruvian man gained international fame, while the simpler, but possibly more original, one was left to languish in a library for five centuries. That may have to do with the very different fates met by Leonardo and Giacomo Andrea. When the French invaded Milan in 1499, the former fled to safety and went on to achieve eternal renown. The latter stayed in Milan and was hanged, drawn and quartered by the French, and largely forgotten by history — until now.

Origin of Jade in Ancient Tool Stumps Scientists

First word that came to mind after I finished this article was "Jomon."  That was before I read the comments...  It is absolutely ridiculous for the scientists conducting the study to have assumed that it was unlikely that people transported this particular jade across the ocean from Baja to Emirau Island (off the coast of New Guinea), based on what we KNOW has been generally reported in popular press reports over the past several years!  Don't these dudes read the news?   

From Live Science

Origin of Ancient Jade Tool Baffles Scientists

Jennifer Welsh, LiveScience Staff Writer
Date: 26 January 2012 Time: 04:37 PM ET

The discovery of a 3,300-year-old tool has led researchers to the rediscovery of a "lost" 20th-century manuscript and a "geochemically extraordinary" bit of earth.

Discovered on Emirau Island in the Bismark Archipelago (a group of islands off the coast of New Guinea), the 2-inch (5-centimeters) stone tool was probably used to carve, or gouge, wood. It seems to have fallen from a stilted house, landing in a tangle of coral reef that was eventually covered over by shifting sands.

The jade gouge may have been crafted by the Lapita people, who appeared in the western Pacific around 3,300 years ago, then spread across the Pacific to Samoa over a couple hundred years, and from there formed the ancestral population of the people we know as Polynesians, according to the researchers.

Jade gouges and axes have been found before in these areas, but what's interesting about the object is the type of jade it's made of: it seems to have come from a distant region. Perhaps these Lapita brought it from wherever they originated.

Green rocks

Jade is a general term for two types of tough rock — those made of jadeite jade and another group of nephrite jade. The stones are both greenish in color, but nephrite jade is slightly softer, while jadeite jade is scarcer, mostly found in cultures from Central America and Mexico before Europeans arrived.
"In the Pacific, jadeite jade as ancient as this artifact is only known from Japan and its usage in Korea," study researcher George Harlow, of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, said in a statement. "It's never been described in the archaeological record of New Guinea."

Researchers from American Museum of Natural History studied the artifact with X-ray micro-diffraction, which bounces a small beam of X-rays off the specimen in order to find its atomic structure, and in turn, the minerals within the rock. A rock's mineral composition varies depending on what chemicals are in the ground when it forms. The signatures are so specific researchers can sometimes pinpoint the origin of rocks.

Surveying stone

"When we first looked at this artifact, it was very clear that it didn't match much of anything that anyone knew about jadeite jade," Harlow said. The artifact's chemical composition "makes very little sense based on how we know these rocks form."

The jadeite in the rock is different from the jadeite jades found in Japan and Korea at the time. It's missing certain elements and has more-than-expected amounts of others; the stone came from another geological source, but the researchers aren't sure where. The only chemical match the researchers knew of was a site in Baja California Sur, Mexico.

The researchers don't think it's likely that Neolithic people of thousands of years ago could have transported it across the Pacific, but they couldn't find any other explanations for its composition. [DOH!] That is, until they came across an unpublished 20th-century German manuscript.

The manuscript's author, C. E. A. Wichmann, collected some curious rocks from Indonesia in 1903 — about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) from the site where the jade tool was found — and the chemical properties he reported seem very similar to that of the artifact. Researchers are now investigating those samples to see if modern techniques can prove that the tool came from Indonesia.

The jadeite jade source, if found, would be "something geochemically extraordinary," the authors write in the paper, to be published in an upcoming issue of the European Journal of Mineralogy.

Orkney Isles Complex Older Than Stonehenge

Is this an effigy of a "boy?"  Or a game piece?  People were playing board games in 3200 BCE...

From The National Geographic News Online

Stonehenge Precursor Found? Island Complex Predates Famous Site
Scottish site also home to northern Europe's oldest painted walls.

James Owen

for National Geographic News

Published January 27, 2012

On an island off Britain's northern tip, new discoveries suggest a huge Stone Age ritual complex is older than Stonehenge.

But age is only the half of it. Researchers say the site may have in fact been the original model for Stonehenge and other later, better-known British complexes to the south.

First discovered in 2002, the waterside site—called the Ness of Brodgar ("Brodgar promontory")—lies on Mainland, the largest of Scotland's Orkney Islands (map).

According to recent radiocarbon dating of burned-wood remains, the Ness was first occupied around 3200 B.C. and went on to include up to a hundred buildings within a monumental walled enclosure.
By contrast, the earliest earthworks at Stonehenge date to about 3000 B.C. And it would be roughly another 500 years before the first of the famous stones were set on Salisbury Plain. (Interactive time line: "Stages of Stonehenge.")

In addition, ritual gatherings at the Ness of Brodgar may have foreshadowed feasts Stonehenge and similar sites such as Avebury.

"Orkney is one of the keys to understanding the development of Neolithic religion," said site director Nick Card of the Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology.

Massive Final Feast

The idea of Orkney as a font of Stone Age culture isn't completely new.

It's been suspected, for example, that so-called grooved-ware pottery, which became dominant in Neolithic Britain, originated in Orkney and spread south. According to Card, it now appears that the crockery style may have ridden a cultural wave that included notions of stone circles and henges—ritual grounds enclosed by low earthwork "walls".

Despite its apparent influence, the Ness wouldn't last in this incarnation forever.

The dating of animal bones found around the finely crafted temple indicates that a huge feast ceremony was held in about 2300 B.C., after which the temple was effectively "decommissioned," Card said.

"We are perhaps looking at the remains [almost exclusively shin bones] of 600 individual cattle, which in anybody's book is a massive feast."

The Height of Stone Age Decor

The new date is based on excavations at the Ness of Brodgar in 2011, when researchers made a slew of discoveries inside the complex's temple, which was first unearthed in 2008.

The 82-foot-long (25-meter-long) building, which has 16-foot-thick (5-meter-thick) outer walls, contains an "inner sanctum," where Card's team found stone shelved furniture, or "dressers," placed against each wall.

"We have four of these stone dressers, which are almost at the cardinal points of the compass," Card said. "They probably functioned like an altar."

Made of red and yellow sandstone, the Stone Age furniture was "beautifully finished" and represented "the very top end of the market" for their time, the archaeologist noted.

The 2011 excavation also found further examples of mysterious geometric stone carvings that decorate the complex as well as evidence for the production of paints. Traces of orange, red and yellow paintwork were first detected on walls in 2010.

"There's a small chamber where there was evidence of different colors of ochre and little grinding stones with little hollows in them, where the pigment had obviously been ground up," Card said.
"I think we've always envisaged that Neolithic man would have used color, maybe as a makeup or for dying clothes, but this is the oldest evidence in northern Europe of the use of color on the walls of buildings," he said.

Other major finds from 2011 include an extremely rare, crudely wrought Neolithic human figure fashioned from clay.

"It's got a head with two eyes and a body and has been nicknamed the Brodgar Boy," Card said. "It was in the rubble of one of the smaller structures."

World Heritage Site

Bounded by a 13-foot-thick (4-meter-thick) stone wall, the Ness of Brodgar is located between two other important monuments, the Ring of Brodgar and the Standing Stones of Stenness—all part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney UN World Heritage site.

Archaeologist Mark Edmonds thinks that thousands of years ago, the Ness was a place where Orkney's Neolithic farming communities gathered in large numbers for seasonal rituals and to commemorate the dead—a pattern likely later repeated farther south.

"What begins to happen at these sites in the later part of the Neolithic does seem to reflect the influence of ideas that are first brought into focus in Orkney," said Edmonds, of the University of York, who wasn't part of the 2011 excavation.

The Ness, Stonehenge (pictures), Avebury, and so on "are clearly ceremonial centers that bring lots of people together on a scale that you just wouldn't see at any other time and place" in late Stone Age Britain, the archaeologist added.

The complexes also all appear to share a common layout, roughly speaking.

"We get the impression that they not only have places where the dead are congregated and where the ceremonial events take place, but there are also places where the living congregate," he said.

The Ness of Brodgar "has the potential to transform our understanding of the later Neolithic in Britain," Edmonds added.

"I think it will help us to understand the nature of belief systems at the time," he said. "It will give us a far better insight into the social and political context in which these ceremonies and rituals took place."

Site director Card agreed, and pointed out that less than 10 percent of the Ness complex has been excavated.

"We're still really just scratching the surface," he said.

2012 Tradewise Gibraltar Chess

Nigel Short wins in play-offs 1.5 - 0.5 against Hou Yifan, but is suffering from cramps...  Photo © Ray Morris-Hill. | http://www.rmhphoto.eu
Coverage of the play-offs at The Week in Chess.

It's in the books, people.  All results are for the Masters, unless otherwise stated.  My apologies to any chess femmes I may have left out of the final standings - it was inadvertent because I did not recognize your name.

Final Ranking after 10 Rounds

Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1
1	GM	Hou Yifan	CHN	2605	8.0	2872.0
2	GM	Short Nigel D	ENG	2677	8.0	2838.0

14

GM

Polgar Judit

HUN

2710

7.0

2693.0

29	GM	Zhu Chen	QAT	2472	6.5	2598.0
30	GM	Cramling Pia	SWE	2491	6.5	2591.0
31	IM	Muzychuk Anna	SLO	2580	6.5	2586.0

34

GM

Stefanova Antoaneta

BUL

2523

6.5

2571.0

38 IM Muzychuk MariyaUKR2483 6.5 2525.0

40	IM	Zatonskih Anna	USA	2506	6.5	2502.0
41	GM	Kosintseva Nadezhda	RUS	2537	6.5	2498.0

46

GM

Dzagnidze Nana

GEO

2535

6.0

2620.0

50

GM

Koneru Humpy

IND

2589

6.0

2572.0

58

GM

Zhukova Natalia

UKR

2426

6.0

2491.0

63

WGM

Soumya Swaminathan

IND

2280

6.0

2428.0

77	IM	Khurtsidze Nino	GEO	2444	5.5	2464.0
78	IM	Krush Irina	USA	2467	5.5	2450.0

IM

83 Melia Salome

GEO

2398

5.5

2399.0

89	WGM	Vojinovic Jovana	MNE	2359	5.5	2335.0
90	IM	Houska Jovanka	ENG	2414	5.5	2332.0

92

WIM

Seps Monika

SUI

2182

5.5

2326.0

99 WGM

Borosova Zuzana

SVK

2284

5.5

2290.0

108

De Seroux Camille

SUI

2076

5.5

2211.0

115

IM

Javakhishvili Lela

GEO

2454

5.0

2404.0

139	WIM	Benmesbah Natacha	FRA	2228	5.0	2102.0
140		Kakulia Shalva	GEO	2133	5.0	2094.0

145

WIM

Dolgova Olga

RUS

2206

4.5

2213.0

151

WIM

Agrest Inna

SWE

2189

4.5

2192.0

174

Fransson Angelina

SWE

1967

4.5

2070.0

194

WFM

Yurenok Maria S

ENG

2109

4.0

1978.0

206

Leimeister Winfried

GER

1918

4.0

1877.0

219

Forsa Elise

NOR

1770

3.5

1926.0

241

Neumanova Monika

CZE

1696

3.0

1750.0

247

Lochte Szilvia

HUN

1956

2.5

1837.0

254

Chidi Lovinia Sylvia

GER

1821

1.0

1683.0

256

Kazmierczak Ewa

POL

1477

1.0

951.0

Let's talk about prize money!  For securing clear second place overall, GM Hou Yifan takes home 12,000 British Pounds.  Nice pay day, girl!  If I am reading the "Prizes for best relative rating achievement" table correctly, Hou Yifan was closed out since her starting rating was above 2599 -- but I may be wrong about that.

After Hou Yifan, GM Judit Polgar was the top finishing female -- she ran out of games to gain ground before the end.  As the top female finisher (after Hou Yifan, who qualified for the higher Masters prize of second place money), she takes home 10,000 British Pounds.  Overall she finished in 14th place and would otherwise have been out of the money.  I assume she qualified for the women's prize, of course!

The other women's prizes (all in British Pounds):

22,500 is divided 7 ways among GM Zhu Chen, GM Pia Cramlin, IM Anna Muzychuk, GM Antoaneta Stefanova, IM Mariya Muzychuk, IM Anna Zatonskih (USA's current women's champion), GM Nadezhda Kosintseva, (2-8th place money), all tied with 6.5/10.

Final prize winners of women's prizes split 1,000 among these players who all scored 6.0/10:  Dzagnidze; Koneru; Zhukova; and Soumya Swaminathan.  Not much for a lot of effort!

There was also a 5,000 British Pounds Commonwealth Prize on the line to eligible players. I wans't clear that a player who had already won a prize would be precluded from also winning this prize.   If that's the case, GM Nigel Short won this prize.  A VERY nice payday for Nigel.  I believe he got over his cramps very soon, as I saw another photograph of him accepting his accolades and he had a very large smile (unless he took some Midol and a few shots of Glen Fiddiche before climbing up on stage to accept his praises).  25,000 British Pounds.  Wooo wooo!

This Gibraltar will probably be talked about for years to come, given Hou Yifan's performance.  Let's see if she continues to progress.  No reason for her not to do so but, well, call me somewhat skeptical.  I hope I AM wrong.  I would like nothing better than to see a female player consistently kick butt of the top male players in the world, and take their prize money home instead.  I want to see a female World Champion without the tag/negative epitaph "Women's" hung in front of it.  Judit Polgar wasn't able to win that title.  Can Hou Yifan?

Hou Yifan hasn't really been tested yet.  Not like Judit has been tested.  Judit's day may be past, but it may not yet be a new dawn for a chance at a female world champion.

2012 Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival

GM Hou Yifan is on a roll!  I wasn't able to check the standings yesterday, so here are the standings after Round 9.  Prepare yourselves, chess dudes!  Here are the top female players out of 256 players:

Rank after Round 9

Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1
1	GM	Hou Yifan	CHN	2605	7.5	2892.0
2	GM	Adams Michael	ENG	2724	7.0	2826.0
3	GM	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	AZE	2747	7.0	2808.0
4	GM	Short Nigel D	ENG	2677	7.0	2807.0
5	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	IND	2700	7.0	2776.0
6	GM	Bologan Viktor	MDA	2680	7.0	2740.0

17	GM	Polgar Judit	HUN	2710	6.0	2668.0
18	GM	Dzagnidze Nana	GEO	2535	6.0	2658.0

27

GM

Zhu Chen

QAT

2472

6.0

2604.0

31

GM

Cramling Pia

SWE

2491

6.0

2595.0

34

GM

Stefanova Antoaneta

BUL

2523

6.0

2565.0

46

GM

Koneru Humpy

IND

2589

5.5

2588.0

48

IM

Muzychuk Anna

SLO

2580

5.5

2560.0

53	IM	Muzychuk Mariya	UKR	2483	5.5	2501.0
54	GM	Zhukova Natalia	UKR	2426	5.5	2480.0
55	IM	Zatonskih Anna	USA	2506	5.5	2470.0
56	GM	Kosintseva Nadezhda	RUS	2537	5.5	2467.0

60 WGM	Soumya Swaminathan	IND	2280	5.5	2427.0
61	IM	Melia Salome	GEO	2398	5.5	2424.0

66 WGM Vojinovic JovanaMNE23595.52358.0
67 IM Houska JovankaENG24145.52353.0

Interesting results from R9:

2

7

GM

Shirov Alexei

2710

6

0 - 1

6½

GM

Hou Yifan

2605

25

10

31

GM

Kulaots Kaido

2581

5½

½ - ½

5½

GM

Polgar Judit

2710

6

(Judit gives a draw to an under 2600 rated player?  Oy!)

12

12

GM

Vachier-Lagrave Maxime

2699

5½

½ - ½

5½

GM

Dzagnidze Nana

2535

41

17	56	GM	Cramling Pia	2491	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Brunello Sabino	2581	30
18	29	GM	Koneru Humpy	2589	5	½ - ½	5½	GM	Zhu Chen	2472	59

30

77

IM

Quillan Gary

2409

5

0 - 1

5

GM

Stefanova Antoaneta

2523

46

44

65

IM

Khurtsidze Nino

2444

4½

0 - 1

4½

WGM

Soumya Swaminathan

2280

110

The final round is tomorrow (February 2, 2012).  Here are the top pairings for the final game:

1	25	GM	Hou Yifan	2605	7½		7	GM	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2747	2
2	14	GM	Bologan Viktor	2680	7		7	GM	Adams Michael	2724	3
3	11	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	2700	7		7	GM	Short Nigel D	2677	15
4	10	GM	Movsesian Sergei	2700	6½		6½	GM	Svidler Peter	2749	1
5	21	GM	Gustafsson Jan	2643	6½		6½	GM	Almasi Zoltan	2717	4
6	22	GM	Negi Parimarjan	2641	6½		6½	GM	Le Quang Liem	2714	5
7	23	GM	Erdos Viktor	2634	6½		6½	GM	Sutovsky Emil	2703	9
8	27	GM	Howell David W L	2603	6½		6	GM	Shirov Alexei	2710	7

I don't think Yifan is good enough to defeat Mamedyarov, but who knows?  At this point, anything could happen.  Has Hou Yifan "arrived?"  Personally, I'm not convinced.  But hey, what do I know?

The Virgin (Our Lady) from the Battle of Lepanto

Well, when we were in Madrid a few weeks ago Mr. Don sort of wanted to go see the Naval Museum, but I said - do you think there would really be anything of interest in there for us?  He didn't press, and we never toured the museum.

Now I learn they are restoring this incredible statue.  Never heard of her until I read about her tonight.  she's awesome - take a look at her, and if that blue eye isn't enough to send shivers up and down your spine I don't know what ever would!

Information in English:
Statue of Our Lady at 1571 Battle of Lepanto comes to light!

Posted on 26 January 2012 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

 

Article in Spanish:

From ABC.es

La Virgen que vio Lepanto

El Museo Naval recupera la talla que iba en la Galera Real durante la decisiva victoria de 1571

MANUEL DE LA FUENTE / MADRID

Día 25/01/2012

 

Solo para que se hagan una idea... ¿Han visto los portaaviones de la VI Flota que patrullan en el Estrecho de Ormuz? Pues algo así era ella aquel 7 de octubre de 1571, cuando los buques de la Liga Santa, de los que era la nao capitana, se zurraron la badana contra el Turco en Lepanto.

Ella, la Galera Real, era el buque más formidable de su tiempo, y además de reunir toda la tecnología punta del momento, era en su zona de popa un auténtico palacete, diseñado por un gran humanista y afamado poeta en su época, Juan Mal de Lara, quien fue el responsable de la lujosa ornamentación en rojo y oro y las numerosas esculturas y bajorrelieves, muchos religiosos que la convertían en un buque a la medida de su dueño, Su Majestad Católica Felipe II y de su bravísimo huésped y capitán, Don Juan de Austria, Almirante en Jefe de nuestra arriesgada marinería en aquella batalla que cambió el curso de la Historia. «La Real» se vio cara a cara con «La Sultana», el buque insignia de los otomanos, en el que viajaba Alí Pachá, que fue abordada por los nuestros, no sin altísimo coste en vida y esfuerzos, que acabaron con el tal Pachá finiquitado por un infante de marina español. Era tal el portento de la galera que se cuenta que dos navíos auxiliares tenían que pegarse a su popa para empujarla.

Vuelta a nacer

Y como es habitual entre la gente del mar, máxime en la de nuestros navíos que debían aventurarse en la Mar Océana, en aguas infestadas de infieles y luteranos, no podía faltar entre los pertrechos de nuestra capitana lepantina una virgen que amparase y protegiese a nuestra tropa. «La Real» la llevaba y durante años se la perdió la pista, pero ha vuelto a nacer y está ahora mismo en una de las salas de restauración del Museo Naval a los cuidados del restaurador José María Gálvez Farfán que quiere volver a vestirla de gala. Es una Virgen del Rosario, que tal festividad era cuando le dimos lo suyo al Gran Turco y se la conoce también como Virgen de la Victoria pues ella nos guió hacia la gloria y el triunfo.

La Virgen fue un regalo hecho por los alilados venecianos a don Juan de Austria. Cuando éste dejó los mares quiso que la virgen, curtida también en el trance de Lepanto, descansara en manos de la Cofradía de las Galeras de la iglesia de San Juan de Lebrón de El Puerto de Santa María. Tras idas y venidas y algunas zozobras surcando los mares de la vida, llegó al Colegio de Guardiamarinas, en el año de 1854. Allí fue restaurada pero el tiempo fue inclemente con ella. Hasta hoy.

Cara a cara, la virgen impresiona y a fuer de ser sinceros el medio rostro que aquí se muestra sin duda debió infundir algo más que ánimos a los nuestros en aquel envite heroico y decisivo de Lepanto.

Restauración en vivo y en directo

Ni Elena Gallardo, ni Fernando Fernández, ni Vega Bautista habían nacido cuando aquello de Lepanto, pero cinco siglos después también son protagonistas de la Historia, porque son los tres jovencísimos restauradores que en el Museo Naval trabajan sobre «Visión del Papa Pío V de la victoria en la batalla de Lepanto», un cuadro de autor desconocido, cuya restauración se puede ver en vivo y en directo en el propio museo desde ayer. Un trabajo al detalle. Sonríe Vega: «No puedes pasarte un ápice, hay que tener un pulso muy bueno. Por eso no es extraño que los restauradores suframos tendinitis».

 

Aun teniendo en cuenta el carácter laudatorio del lienzo y hasta cierto tono propagandístico, es una obra impactante, con un sinfín de personajes, navíos, oropeles, rostros aterrorizados por el fragor de la batalla y hasta la presencia de Pío V, que como dice Ana Ros, Conservadora Jefe de pintura del Museo parece «como si estuviera recibiendo online la noticia de la victoria», aunque evidentemente tardó varios días en conocerse entre los cristianos. Otro detalle curioso es que Su Santidad tiene a sus espaldas el Vaticano, por supuesto, pero un Vaticano en el que es reconocible la ciudad de Málaga y varios de sus edificios. Sin duda, un cuadro que vale un imperio y una restauración que va viento en popa.

 

I was not familiar at all with the Battle of Lepanto and so I did a little research, and found this fascinating piece of history.  From about.com/military history:

 

At the Battle of Lepanto (Greece), the Holy League (Christian allies) lost 50 galleys and suffered approximately 13,000 casualties. This was offset by the freeing of a similar number of Christian slaves from the Ottoman ships. In addition to the death of Ali Pasha [against the express orders of Don John], the Ottomans lost 25,000 killed and wounded and an additional 3,500 captured. Their fleet lost 210 ships, of which 130 were captured by the Holy League. Coming at what was seen as a crisis point for Christianity, the victory at Lepanto stemmed Ottoman expansion in the Mediterranean and prevented their influence from spreading west.

 

The statue of the Virgin Mary was given to Don John of Austria, who commanded the fleet of the Holy League.  He installed it on his ship, the Real.  She is some the worse for the battle but amazing to me she survived at all.  I am not clear on this -- was she lost and forgotten inside the Naval Museum in Madrid since the 1800s???

 

That eye - it's so ALIVE...

 

2012 Tradewise Gibraltar Chess

Top Female Standings (Masters Group) after R7:

2

GM

Hou Yifan

CHN

2605

5.5

2823.0

10

GM

Dzagnidze Nana

GEO

2535

5.5

2708.0

19 GM

Koneru Humpy

IND

2589

5.0

2646.0

24

GM

Zhu Chen

QAT

2472

5.0

2589.0

29

GM

Polgar Judit

HUN

2710

4.5

2648.0

34 GM

Cramling Pia

SWE

2491

4.5

2583.0

40	IM	Muzychuk Anna	SLO	2580	4.5	2562.0
41	IM	Khurtsidze Nino	GEO	2444	4.5	2560.0

47

IM

Muzychuk Mariya

UKR

2483

4.5

2501.0

49

GM

Zhukova Natalia

UKR

2426

4.5

2487.0

52	IM	Javakhishvili Lela	GEO	2454	4.5	2441.0
53	IM	Melia Salome	GEO	2398	4.5	2430.0
54	WGM	Soumya Swaminathan	IND	2280	4.5	2415.0

60 WGM Borosova ZuzanaSVK22844.52302.0

2012 Tradewise Gibraltar Chess

Current women's world chess champion GM Hou Yifan defeated GM Judit Polgar today in an historic match.  Her loss dropped Judit all the way down to 29th place, an area on the lists she's not used to that's for sure!

Game commentary and analysis (alas, not to the end of the game) is at Youtube - thanks to Macauley Peterson for sending me a heads-up:

"Honor" Murderers Convicted

About fricking time!

Jury finds Afghan family guilty in honor killings
Today

KINGSTON, Ontario (AP) — A jury on Sunday found an Afghan father, his wife and their son guilty of killing three teenage sisters and a co-wife in what the judge described as "cold-blooded, shameful murders" resulting from a "twisted concept of honor" in a case that shocked and riveted Canadians.

Prosecutors said the defendants allegedly killed the three teenage sisters because they dishonored the family by defying its disciplinarian rules on dress, dating, socializing and using the Internet.

The jury took 15 hours [surprised it took them that long\ to find Mohammad Shafia, 58; his wife Tooba Yahya, 42; and their son Hamed, 21, each guilty of four counts of first-degree murder. First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.

After the verdict was read, the three defendants again declared their innocence in the killings of sisters Zainab, 19, Sahar 17, and Geeti, 13, as well as Rona Amir Mohammad, 52, Shafia's childless first wife in a polygamous marriage.

Their bodies were found June 30, 2009, in a car submerged in a canal in Kingston, Ontario, where the family had stopped for the night on their way home to Montreal from Niagara Falls, Ontario.

The prosecution alleged it was a case of premeditated murder, staged to look like an accident after it was carried out. Prosecutors said the defendants drowned their victims elsewhere on the site, placed their bodies in the car and pushed it into the canal.

Ontario Superior Court Judge Robert Maranger said the evidence clearly supported the conviction.

"It is difficult to conceive of a more heinous, more despicable, more honorless crime," Maranger said. "The apparent reason behind these cold-blooded, shameful murders was that the four completely innocent victims offended your completely twisted concept of honor ... that has absolutely no place in any civilized society."

In a statement following the verdict, Canadian Justice Minister Rob Nicholson called honor killings a practice that is "barbaric and unacceptable in Canada."

Defense lawyers said the deaths were accidental. They said the Nissan car accidentally plunged into the canal after the eldest daughter, Zainab, took it for a joy ride with her sisters and her father's first wife. Hamed said he watched the accident, although he didn't call police from the scene.

After the jury returned the verdicts, Mohammad Shafia, speaking through a translator, said, "We are not criminal, we are not murderer, we didn't commit the murder and this is unjust."

His weeping wife, Tooba, also declared the verdict unjust, saying, "I am not a murderer, and I am a mother, a mother."

Their son, Hamed, speaking in English said, "I did not drown my sisters anywhere."

Hamed's lawyer, Patrick McCann, said he was disappointed with the verdict, but said his client will appeal and he believes the other two defendants will as well.

But prosecutor Gerard Laarhuis welcomed the verdict.

"This jury found that four strong, vivacious and freedom-loving women were murdered by their own family in the most troubling of circumstances," Laarhuis said outside court.

"This verdict sends a very clear message about our Canadian values and the core principles in a free and democratic society that all Canadians enjoy and even visitors to Canada enjoy," he said to cheers of approval from onlookers.

The family had left Afghanistan in 1992 and lived in Pakistan, Australia and Dubai before settling in Canada in 2007. Shafia, a wealthy businessman, married Yahya because his first wife could not have children.

Shafia's first wife was living with him and his second wife. The polygamous relationship, if revealed, could have resulted in their deportation.

The prosecution painted a picture of a household controlled by a domineering Shafia, with Hamed keeping his sisters in line and doling out discipline when his father was away on frequent business trips to Dubai.

The months leading up to the deaths were not happy ones in the Shafia household, according to evidence presented at trial. Zainab, the oldest daughter, was forbidden to attend school for a year because she had a young Pakistani-Canadian boyfriend, and she fled to a shelter, terrified of her father, the court was told.

The prosecution said her parents found condoms in Sahar's room as well as photos of her wearing short skirts and hugging her Christian boyfriend, a relationship she had kept secret. Geeti was becoming almost impossible to control: skipping school, failing classes, being sent home for wearing revealing clothes and stealing, while declaring to authority figures that she wanted to be placed in foster care, according to the prosecution.

Shafia's first wife wrote in a diary that her husband beat her and "made life a torture," while his second wife called her a servant.

The prosecution presented wire taps and mobile phone records from the Shafia family in court to support their honor killing allegation. The wiretaps, which capture Shafia spewing vitriol about his dead daughters, calling them treacherous and whores and invoking the devil to defecate on their graves, were a focal point of the trial.

"There can be no betrayal, no treachery, no violation more than this," Shafia said on one recording. "Even if they hoist me up onto the gallows ... nothing is more dear to me than my honor."

Defense lawyers argued that at no point in the intercepts do the accused say they drowned the victims.

Shafia's lawyer, Peter Kemp, said after the verdicts that he believes the comments his client made on the wiretaps may have weighed more heavily on the jury's minds than the physical evidence in the case.

"He wasn't convicted for what he did," Kemp said. "He was convicted for what he said." [No.  Actually, the sonofabitch and his idiot pawns were convicted for killing three daughters/sisters and the first wife of Mr. Gutter Trash when they became too  much of an "embarrassment" to him.  I HOPE HE BURNS IN HELL WITH A PITCHFORK UP HIS ASS FOREVER AND EVER.  IAMEN.  I hope Wife Number Two suffers an Equal Fate.  I have in mind for Son a very special fate that has to do with his penis being ripped off and shoved down his throat, over and over again, for all eternity.  He, of all, should have known better.  He, of all, should have said NO.  But he didn't.]

Lost Meroe Temple Rediscovered

From the praguemonitor.com

Czech archaeologists discover long-lost temple in Sudan

ČTK |

27 January 2012

Prague, Jan 26 (CTK) - Czech archaeologists have found a long lost temple from the Meroe period near the town of Vad Bon Naga in Sudan, Pavel Onderka, from Prague's Naprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures, told journalists yesterday.

The large temple compound is situated 130 km northwards of Khartoum. European travellers saw the remains of the temple in the early 19th century but then the temple disappeared in the desert, said Onderka who leads the Czech archaeology expedition.

He said the Czech expedition revealed a signet ring with a picture of Nubian Lion god Apede-mak, a statuette of the originally Egyptian god Osiris, a stone with a Meroe hieroglyphs and parts of sandstone blocks.

Czech archaeologists have been working in the Vad Bon Naga locality for three seasons.

In the Meroe Kingdom period, from the 4th century B.C. to the 4th century A.D., the site hosted one of the ancient Nubia's biggest towns, Arabikeleb. Around the turn of the millennium, a big palace and at least five temples were built in the town with 25,000 inhabitants.

Czech archaeologists previously uncovered a palace belonging to Queen Amanishakheto, who ruled in the 1st century B.C. In the past season they continued the conservation and restoration works in the palace, which is the best preserved of all Meroe-era palaces.

The Sudanese expedition is a continuation of the long tradition of Czech archaeological and etnographic research in the Nile Valley.

Apart from conducting research, Czech archaeologists in Sudan have established contacts with local inhabitants. They mediated a partnership between Van Bon Naga and the Czech town of Otrokovice. They also help support local schools.

They originally wanted to build a well in Vad Bon Naga but concluded that the plan was unfeasible due to the local geological conditions. As a result, they decided to build waterworks to provide drinking water. The locality lacks drinking water and people use water from the Nile.

Copyright 2011 by the Czech News Agency (ČTK). All rights reserved.
Copying, dissemination or other publication of this article or parts thereof without the prior written consent of ČTK is expressly forbidden. The Prague Daily Monitor and Monitor CE are not responsible for its content.

Ochre Used At Least 250,000 Years Ago

When will they learn?  Sigh.  From The Mail Online

Neanderthals were using paint 250,000 years ago - 'thousands of years earlier than previously thought'

By Ted Thornhill
Last updated at 7:56 AM on 24th January 2012
Neanderthals were using red paint up to 250,000 years ago - far earlier than previously thought.

Traces of the paint, made from ochre, were dug up in the Netherlands and dated to a quarter of a million years ago.

Scientists are keeping an open mind as to what the sub-species ["sub-species?  Oh please!] of humans did with it back then although it is often considered a sign of symbolic behaviour such as artwork and body painting.

They examined small quantities of red material on well-preserved flint and bones dug up from an archaeological site in Maastricht in the Netherlands, reports the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

State-of-the-art X-ray techniques revealed the presence of an iron oxide called hematite, a metal that was not part of the sedimentary environment and probably entered as drops from an ochre-rich liquid.
Dr Wil Roebroeks, of Leiden University in the Netherlands, and colleagues said the use of iron oxides by late Neanderthals is well documented in Europe especially between 60 and 40 years ago.
They said: ‘Such finds often have been interpreted as pigments even though their exact function is largely unknown.

‘Here we report significantly older iron oxide finds that constitute the earliest documented use of red ochre by Neanderthals.

‘This is a non-local material that was imported to the site, possibly over dozens of kilometres.’
They said their discovery pushes the use of red ochre by early Neanderthals ‘back in time significantly’ to at least 200 to 250,000 years ago - the same time range as the early ochre use in the African record.
Recent debates on Neanderthal culture have highlighted that sites occasionally contain pieces of iron oxides, interpreted as pigments, possibly for personal decoration.

Modern hunter-gatherers are known to have used red ochre for medication, as a food preservative, in tanning of hides and as insect repellent. [Notice how the article is careful to say that red ochre was not used for personal ornamentation - oh no, that would mean - gasp! - that the so-called Neanderthals had "cognizance."]

2012 Tata Steel

GM Teimour Radjabov

Goddess, he's so damn cute!  Too bad his face is covered in smut.  Honestly, wouldn't you think that by now men would have come up with a better look than Miami Vice from 1986???  Although I do have to say that Don Johnson - what a smoking hot hunk he was back then, wooo woooo!  This photo, and all of the photos below, are from the official website and done by Fred Lucas. 

He finished in 4th place overall(although it's called joint 2nd place) in the A Group at the just-concluded 2012 version of the Tata Steel Chess Festival. 

Standings after round 13 A Group:

1.	Aronian, L.	9
2.	Carlsen, M. Caruana, F. Radjabov, T.	8
5.	Ivanchuk, V. Nakamura, H.	7½
7.	Kamsky, G.	7
8.	Karjakin, S.	6½
9.	Van Wely, L.	5½
10.	Gashimov, V. Gelfand, B. Topalov, V.	5
13.	Giri, A. Navara, D.	4½

The USA contingent of Nakamura (out of the Chess and Scholastic Center of St. Louis a/k/a St. Louis Chess Club) and Kamsky performed well, given the competition!  Kudos, dudes.

How'd the ladies finish?

GM Kateryna Lahno finished in 11th out of 14 in B Group
2012 Tata Steel.

GM Viktorija Cmilyte, 13 out of 14 in B Group.

B Group:

1.	Harikrishna, P.	9
2.	Bruzon, L. Motylev, A.	8½
4.	L'Ami, E. Tiviakov, S.	8
6.	Nyzhnik, I. Reinderman, D.	7½
8.	Potkin, V.	6½
9.	Timman, J.	6
10.	Ernst, S.	5
11.	Lahno, K.Vocaturo, D.	4½
13.	Cmilyte, V.	4
14.	Harika, D.	3½

The ladies bombed.  Damn! 

C Group:

1.	Turov, M.	10½
2.	Tikkanen, H.	10
3.	Adhiban, B. Brandenburg, D.	8½
5.	Grover, S. Paehtz, E. Sadler, M.	7
8.	Tania, S.	6
9.	Danielian, E.	5½
10.	Goudriaan, E.	5
11.	Ootes, L.	4½
12.	Hopman, P. Schut, L.	4
14.	Haast, A.	3½

A mixed bag for the ladies in the C Group. GM Elizabeth Paehtz finished above 50% and IM Tania Sachdev finished just below 50%.  I'm sure GM Elina Danielian is very disappointed with her overall performance.  She has proven to be a male GM-killer in the past, as has Paehtz, who earned her final GM norm competing against the big boys in an European Individual Chess Championship!  Not for the faint of heart.

IM Tania Sachdev.  Except I'm neither so young nor so beautiful,
this is pretty much what I look like at a tournament!

Home Stuff

Well, this has been a lazy weekend.  Other than shoveling out the driveway yesterday (1 inch of snow fell overnight Friday) and today (2 inches of snow fell overnight Saturday) I've done nothing but look at blogs and decorating magazines, read the newspaper, drink lots of wine, and contemplate various projects I want to do but sure won't get done today :)

However, I am right this moment experimenting to see if vinegar really does remove rust from brass.  Some of my brass cabinet handles are corroded -- not sure if it will work.  Some of them still look brand-spanking new, even though they're all 21 years old!  It makes sense that the ones nearest the stove show the most corrosion, no doubt due to moisture from cooking, even though I have always used my fan.  Which itself is corroded!  I have a new one sitting in the garage for the past 2 years.  I can't install the sucker myself.  I really do need to find a new handyman!  Why do the good ones always get full-time jobs???

I read at a nifty decorating blog (Shabby Loco) that tarnish/gunk/rust (? -- not sure about rust) can be removed from hardware by soaking it in hot sauce.  What, said I?  Well, I will try it.  I thought I had hot sauce in my cabinet.  I did my trek to the Pick 'n Save earlier today to get essentials like milk, bread, wine (of course, wine!), cheapo mac 'n cheese, and my favorite frozen entrees, in addition to photo paper and, you know, essentials!  I get home, unpack everything.  Go to the cabinet -- no damn hot sauce!  Turns out I used it all up this summer to keep the squirrels and chippies out of my planted geraniums on the front porch.  I didn't remember that, either.  That's worrisome - am I getting Alzheimers?  Am I getting like Mr. Don???  Gulp!  The man can't remember how to open a paper bag anymore...

So, I'm trying vinegar right now.  Just plain old vinegar in a glass bowl, and I've got two brass handles from the cabinets above the stove sitting in it, stewing.  Not sure how long they're supposed to stew.  I hope this cleaning method works.  But more than likely, I will succumb to the sirens' call of "why don't you paint them, Jan...." that all of those budget decorating blogs have been telling me I should do.  Mind you, I've no idea what kind of paint I'm supposed to use.  Most of them don't ever get into that kind of detail!  They just show before pictures of really crappy looking stuff and after pictures of really wonderful looking stuff and describe how it hardly took any work or effort at all!  One would think these women (they're ALL women) don't have full-time jobs.  Hmmmm, well, maybe most of them don't!

That's not to say, of course, that being a homemaker and/or a mom isn't a full-time job, because I know it is.  It's just that I grew up with a superwoman who worked full-time and raised six children and despite both mom and dad working we weren't much above poverty level.  Or maybe we were at or even below poverty level (wonder what that was back in the 1950's???) and we kids just didn't realize it.  Kids don't think about things like that.  We just want to know if we're going to be fed -- we always were.  And we always got new shoes once a year.  And hand-me-down coats from all of our older female cousins.  Economically, things didn't start getting better until I was a teenager and mom and dad were able to buy their very first house for $8,000 with a mortgage from the Veterans' Administration.  Well, I'd much rather be working outside the home than inside the home!  LOL!  But that's me.  Strange that after being in hiatus for so many years, the urge to once again be Suzy Homemaker has attacked me full force!  Now, when I'm 60 and don't have any frigging energy for tearing apart rooms and building furniture from scratch...  I thought all that died off when I was 47 and found the internet!  Geez!  Is this the revenge of Hera or something???

For instance, I found the most incredible little thing on Friday at TJMaxx, where the last week I've sort of been hanging out.  Very strange, me hanging out at TJMaxx.  Here is a photo of it:

It doesn't look like much, does it?  But let me tell you, I am loving this little thing.  It's an over-the-cabinet towel rack and I got it for $3.99 at TJMaxx.  The mat black finish on it is perfect for my decor and, best of all, no more dish clothes draped over the sink and countertop!  Never, ever again!  I'm like in homemaker heaven, darlings!  It looks elegant and neat.  I'm doing my little chair happy dance right now, just thinking about it! 

There were several at the downtown mall TJMaxx so tomorrow during lunch I'm going to run over and get another one.  The second one will hold the "junk" rag that heretofore has been draped over the edge of the countertop of the peninsula until it dries and then tucked into a drawer handle until I need to mop something up (I used rags, er, dish cloths [actually, they are wash clothes because dish clothes just don't hold up to the abuse I put them through] rather than paper towels for mopping up spills and scrubbing windows and stuff like that). 

The most amazing thing is that - I never knew these existed.  Ever ever - until I stumbled across a reference to "over the cabinet door rack" a few days ago at some blog or other and I thought to myself "Self, what the hell is that?  And can You use one?"  Well, I sure as hell could use one!  Two, actually...

On a sad note, on Thursday I saw this really uniquely-styled horsey at TJMaxx that I should have bought.  Damn it, I knew I should have bought it then and there.  But I hemmed and hawed.  When I went back on Friday, horsey was gone!  Damn damn damn.  Yeah, like I need another horsey in the house.  I've already got horse-head bookends out of black marble, a bronze horse sculpture and a wooden faux-Tang dynasty horse that is actually quite well done and soothes and entertains my eye whenever I see it.  I said to myself as I was looking at this really cool horse  sculpture "why do you want to buy that?  Save yourself $12, you stupid woman!"  Well, now I feel really stupid for not buying it.  Damn damn damn.  There was no other horsey like it available.  There were a couple of other horseys, but they were run-of-the-mill.  I knew I should have bought that special horsey. 

Now - get ready for this -

YES!  A photo of cardboard boxes!  One is opened, one is not yet breached!  Darlings, the top one holds my battery-operated LED wall sconces for either side of the bathroom mirror upstairs!  Can't wait to install them, that's why they've only been sitting tucked behind the sofa for two days and counting...

The other box is my oiled-bronze finish stand alone towel holder.  That I will definitely tackle today, just as soon as I finish blogging, which may be about midnight or so...

My new bedroom lamp, my new oiled-bronze finish shower curtain rod and my new LED-lit oiled-bronze finish magnifying make-up mirror are en route even as I type this!  I am tres excited!  Can't wait for that new make-up mirror.  I need the larger magnification, 3x just isn't cutting it anymore...  Sigh.  I think I need to step up to 150x Walgreens readers, too.

Okay, I just took a walk over to the kitchen side of the room to check on how the vinegar is dealing with those corroded cabinet handles.  Hmmmm, they didn't look much different.  So I added some salt.  I think I read somewhere that salt and vinegar do - well, not exactly sure what, but the bowl didn't explode in my face and that's always a good thing.  On the other hand, it probably means it's not working, either.  I need another glass of wine...