Days of Remembrance in Gaeta: A Look at the 165th Anniversary of the End of the Siege of Gaeta (1860-61)

Photos courtesy of 1° Reggimento Re

Feast of St. Gabriel Possenti at the Shrine Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in Raritan, New Jersey

Looking Back at Rodin

Bellona, bronze, modeled 1879, cast 1925 by the foundry Alexis Rudier

Lately, I seem to be on a bit of a Rodin kick. Having already returned to older photographs from the Rodin Museum, it seemed natural to do the same with images from past visits to the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I only wish I’d had a camera back in 1997, during the Hands of Rodin exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum—my first encounter with The Kiss in marble, and one that has stayed with me ever since.

Bellona, bronze, modeled 1879, cast 1925 by the foundry Alexis Rudier

(L) The Thinker, bronze, modeled 1880-1881, cast 1924 by the
founder Alexis Rudier. (R) The Crouching Woman, modeled
1881-1882, cast 1925 by the foundry Alexis Rudier

The Age of Bronze, bronze, modeled 1875-1877,
cast in 1925 by the founder Alexis Rudier

Details: The Burghers of Calais, modeled 1884-1895,
cast 1919-1921 by the founder Alexis Rudier

Details: The Burghers of Calais, modeled 1884-1895,
cast 1919-1921 by the founder Alexis Rudier

Details: The Burghers of Calais, modeled 1884-1895,
cast 1919-1921 by the founder Alexis Rudier

Southern Italian Music for Holy Week

• Passione

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• La Voce Della Passione

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• Tenebrae: Neapolitan Music for the Holy Week

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• Passio Secundum Joannem by Francesco Feo

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All are available from Amazon.com

Echoes of Greatness: Annual Remembrance of Enrico Caruso, Aldo Mancusi, & Tour of the Caruso Gallery

79 Howard Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10301

Dinner and a Show: A Valentine's Memory

Years ago, for our first Valentine’s Day, I took a girlfriend to a small Neapolitan restaurant in a quiet corner of Manhattan. It was warm and dim; candlelight flickered off bottles of wine. The tables were close enough to require manners, and everyone spoke softly so as not to intrude on each other’s company.

We ordered cocktails first, then wine, then dinner, then dessert. The slow way, piano, piano. We leaned in to talk, using table voices out of courtesy and restraint. It felt like the night was proceeding as intended.

Then the couple beside us arrived.

He was loud immediately, as if offended by the restaurant itself. He spoke in a thick accent I couldn’t place and complained about everything. The wine was wrong. The temperature was wrong. The utensils were wrong. Each complaint grew more theatrical than the last. He sent dishes back with flourishes, performing dissatisfaction like a party trick. His date—American, pretty, and visibly shrinking—stared into her glass as if hoping to disappear into it.

I assumed this was his idea of charm. Some men confuse arrogance with respect. She looked mortified. The room began to listen, despite itself.

When the bill arrived, he made a show of that too. Voices rose. Gestures expanded. The waiter remained calm, professional, almost serene. Then came the line none of us were prepared for.

The man announced, loudly, that the sausages were “too sexual.”

My date and I nearly spit out our drinks. Around us, a few diners froze mid-bite. The waiter paused and asked why he had eaten them if that was the case. The room broke out laughing, unchecked and merciless.

The man flushed, paid his bill, and left with his date in tow, his authority tarnished beyond repair.

The restaurant settled back into itself, pleased and slightly drunk on satisfaction. Candle flames steadied. Conversations resumed.

My date leaned in and smiled. She said she hadn’t been expecting a show.

~ By Giovanni Di Napoli, February 13th, Feast of Beata Beatrice di Ornacieu

Foreclosing on Faith: America's Church Closing Crisis at the Mary House in New York City

Auguste Rodin Redux

Eternal Springtime, bronze, modeled 1884, cast
between 1898-1918 by Ferdinand Barbedienne

In the early days of this blog, I limited myself largely to Southern Italian subjects. Experiences that fell outside that frame—however formative—were often set aside. Revisiting Rodin recently at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World made me realize that some of those earlier encounters, including photographs I took at the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia in 2011, were never shared. Now seems the right moment to return to them.

(L) Eternal Springtime, plaster, painted white, modeled 1884, cast 1886.
(R) Eternal Springtime, bronze, modeled 1884, cast between
1898-1918 by Ferdinand Barbedienne

(L) The Thinker, bronze, modeled 1880-1881, cast 1924 by the
founder Alexis Rudier. (R) The Centauress, bronze, modeled
c. 1887, cast 1925 by the founder Alexis Rudier

(L) The Gates of Hell, bronze, modeled 1880-1917, cast 1926-1928
by the founder Alexis Rudier. (R) The Age of Bronze, bronze,
modeled 1875-1877, cast 1925 by the founder Alexis Rudier

The Sirens, bronze, modeled 1887, cast 1925 by the founder Alexis Rudier

Kneeling Fauness, bronze, modeled c. 1887,
cast 1900 by the founder Alexis Rudier

(L) The Minotaur, plaster, modeled c. 1885, cast c. 1886.
(R) Medea, plaster, modeled c.1880, cast before 1917

Andromeda, marble, modeled 1885, carved 1886

Young Mother in the Grotto, modeled 1885, carved 1891 by Jean Escoula

Danaid (The Source), marble, modeled 1885,
enlarged 1889, carved before 1902 by Jean Escoula

Danaid (The Source), marble, modeled 1885,
enlarged 1889, carved before 1902 by Jean Escoula

(L) Naked Balzac, plaster painted with varnish, modeled
c. 1892-1893, cast before 1917. (R) Polyphemus, Acis,
and Galatea, plaster, modeled 1888, cast before 1895

The Hand of God, bronze, modeled 1898, cast 1925 by the founder Alexis Rudier

Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, bronze, modeled 1909-1912,
cast 1925 by the founder Alexis Rudier

(L) Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, bronze, modeled 1909-1912, cast 1925
by the founder Alexis Rudier. (R) Mignon, bronze, modeled
c. 1867-1868, cast 1925 by the founder Alexis Rudier 

Victor Hugo, plaster made in 1886, modeled 1883

(L) George Bernard Shaw, bronze, modeled 1906, cast 1926 by
the founder Alexis Rudier. (R) Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, bronze,
modeled 1890, cast 1926 by the founder Alexis Rudier

Madame Vicuña, bronze, modeled 1887, cast 1925 by the founder Alexis Rudier

(L) The Left Hand, bronze, modeled c. 1885, cast 1925 by the founder
Alexis Rudier. (R) The Clenched Hand, bronze, modeled
c. 1885, cast 1925 by the founder Alexis Rudier

(L) The Cathedral, modeled 1908, cast 1925 by the founder Alexis Rudier. (R) The Athlete, bronze, modeled 1901, cast 1925 by the founder Alexis Rudier

Oceanides, bronze, modeled 1903-1906, cast 1925 by the founder Alexis Rudier

(L) Apotheosis of Victor Hugo, bronze, modeled 1890-1891, cast 1926 by
the founder Alexis Rudier. (R) Project for the "Monument to Claude Lorrain,"
bronze, modeled 1889, cast 1926 by the founder Alexis Rudier 

Balzac, bronze, modeled 1897, cast 1925 by the founder Alexis Rudier

(L) The Call to Arms, bronze, modeled 1879, cast 1925 by the
founder Alexis Rudier. (R) The Benedictions, bronze,
modeled 1894, cast by the founder Alexis Rudier

The Shade, bronze, modeled 1881-1886, enlarged
1901-1904, cast 1923 by the founder Alexis Rudier

Adam, bronze, modeled 1880-1881, cast 1925 by the founder Alexis Rudier

The Burghers of Calais, modeled 1884-1895,
cast 1919-1921 by the founder Alexis Rudier