I was looking for an image of a witch and her dog. I found this charming, young witch casting a love spell (written on the scrolls surrounding her). The man at the door indicates her spell has worked. Her little dog is not psyched.
Via Dr. Roy Booth’s academic website. It has an interesting collection of witch woodcuts and paintings.
Happy Halloween.
***Correction*** I orignially wrote that Study of a Pomeranian was by Leonardo da Vinci, because it's sold all ove the Internet that way. But a little research revealed it is actually attributed to Francesco Melzi. But, scroll down and you will see The Head of a Dog that was made by Leonardo da Vinci in 1497. I think it looks a little like Darby. I hope it was a sweet companion and not a specimen on his dissecting table.
I've lived in Florence. I've studied a tremendous amount of Renaissance art and history. I had no idea Leonardo da Vinci was a dog artist.
If you don't have anything to do today, visit the Windsor Royal Library's online collection of 825 Leonardo da Vinci sketches. Mind-blowing.
Have a great weekend.
Some parents strap skis on their kids as soon as they can walk, and hit the slopes. Mine hit the art museums. Growing up in Cleveland, that meant I was exposed to some of the greatest art in the world at the Cleveland Museum of Art. I have very clear memories of viewing works there and forming my tastes about art. For example, at around age six I remember being bored by a Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin exhibition. I am still bored by him today. I thought every town had a May Show that explored the boundaries of Contemporary Art. I remember the vivid primary colors I used in my Saturday morning
art class sculpture. Those colors now decorate my home. And maybe the 1971 addition designed by Marcel Breuer where the art classes were held explains my love for stripes…
The Breuer entrance to the museum designed by Marcel Breuer. Photo by Heidi Strean.
Last Friday, the museum hosted Dr. Edgar Peters Bowron for a lecture titled "Best in Show: The Dog in Art from the Renaissance
to Today." Dr. Bowron is also co-author of a book
with the same title that I have featured here and used as a reference in my film "Dogs in Art". In conjunction with the lecture, the museum posted some of their dog artworks on their website. It got me thinking that even though we were a cat family and I didn't like dogs when I was young, this institution might have been where my passion for dogs in art all began. Here are some highlights:
I've said before that art matters. For some children, it might mean everything.
The Bark, the wonderful modern dog culture magazine, recently featured a story on Lorenzo Ghiberti’s famous bronze doors from Florence’s Baptistery that are now touring America – well not all the doors, but several panels that represent them.
One of the panels depicts the story of Jacob and Esau and is compositionally centered on two dogs. Professor Amy Bloch of SUNY Albany proposes that the dogs represent the two brothers, one hairy (Esau) and one smooth-skinned (Jacob), who tricked his brother out of his inheritance.
The panels and part of the frieze, which took 27 years to make (1425-1452) and 25 years to restore, are on view now at The Art Institute of Chicago until October 14. Then, they travel to The Met from October 30 to January 13, before they return to Florence where they will be displayed in a hermetically sealed room at the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo.
I lived in Florence from 1987-1988 and rode by these doors almost every day on my way to school. I confess I never noticed the dogs, but at that time I never noticed any dogs. During my stay there, I was devoted to my bicycle and in a way, it was my first pet. I named my bike La Strada (“the road” in English and based on Fellini’s film), and though I wouldn’t say it had a personality, I was crazy about it and definitely emotionally attached. When my family came to visit my mother took this beautiful portrait:
My two sisters and I had an magical night riding through the dark streets of Florence together, stopping for gelato, and cruising through the spooky piazzas of lesser-known neighborhoods.
When my boyfriend came to visit, I rented him a bike for his birthday and we rode up into the hills for an adventure. He gave me a red bell for my bike as a parting gift. I still cherish that bell as a reminder of my time in Florence and my beloved bike. (And my boyfriend, who is still a great friend.)
Anyway, here are some pictures I took from the Campanile next to the Baptistery:
And here are some photos of me on my bike taken by my friend and roommate, Renée, who now lives in Milan and works for Corbis Photography.
P.S. When I left Florence I found La Strada a nice home with a family to play with it. I think it had a good life, and maybe it’s still out there on “the road.”
P.P.S. More dogs on Monday. I got a little carried away today. Florence can do that to you.
