August 10, 2024

Remembering Antonio Molle Lazo, Carlist Martyr

"I will suffer the greatest torments rather than apostatize from my God."
Today we remember the martyrdom of Antonio Molle Lazo (b. 2 April 1915 — d. 10 August 1936), a young Requeté who was captured, tortured, and brutally murdered while trying to protect the nuns at the convent of the Hermanitas de la Cruz (Little Sisters of the Cross) in Peñaflor, Seville, from Republican militiamen during the Spanish Civil War. His dying words were ¡Viva Cristo Rey!

New Book: Poetry and Identity in Quattrocento Naples

New title that may be of interest to our readers. Available at Amazon.com


Poetry and Identity in Quattrocento Naples by Matteo Soranzo

Publisher: Routledge
Publication Date: October 14, 2024
Paperback: $54.99
Language: English
Pages:184

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August 9, 2024

Meridiunalata: “Se Ne Trase ‘A Luna” by Cav. Charles Sant’Elia

Reprinted from Cav. Charles Sant'Elia's Meridiunalata / Southernade, an evocative bilingual collection of poetry written in Neapolitan and translated to English between 1989 and 2010.*

Se Ne Trase ‘A Luna

Pe Rosetta Fidora Ruiz
Se ne trase ‘a luna
Cu ‘e cardille vernejanno,
Fosse mezanotte,
Fosse ‘o briamutto e ‘o giessumino
Ca nce stanno già cunzummanno,
Nun he ‘a dícere na meza parola,
Rummanímmela ‘a parte ‘e vascio
‘A canzuncella ca se n’è trasuta
Int’’a vicchiaja.

‘A calimma saglie ‘a cà nterra,
Nu lietto úmmeto spaso a punente,
‘E voce noste attrassate
Se spérdeno pe sott’’o cielo cupo,
Lassámmele stà tutt’’e raggione,
Cadimmo senza ‘e nce guardà,
‘O riesto ‘e dimane
Già scritto int’’o niro ‘e ll’uocchie.

The Moon Enters

The moon enters
With the goldfinches chirping
Could it be midnight,
Could it be the bergamot and the jasmine
That are already consuming us,
You don’t have to say half of a word,
Let’s leave it down there
The little song that has entered
Into old age.

The heat is rising from the ground here,
A humid bed stretched to the west,
Our backward voices
Lose themselves under the sullen sky,
Let’s leave all reasons alone,
Let’s fall without looking at each other,
The rest of tomorrow
Already written in our pupils.

* Self-published in 2010, Meridiunalata / Southernade is a treasury of poems gleaned from Cav. Sant'Elia's previous collections (Nchiuso dint''o presente, 'A cuntrora, and 'O pino e l'éllera), which were circulated among friends in New York City and Naples. Special thanks to Cav. Sant'Elia for allowing us to reprint his poetry and translations.

August 6, 2024

Download the Latest Edition of 'Il Portastendardo di Civitella del Tronto' from Telegram

Click here to download the current issue (N. 38 Agosto 2024)

New Book — Building a Wholesome Family in a Broken World: Habsburg Lessons from the Centuries

New title that may be of interest to our readers. Available at sophiainstitute.com


Building a Wholesome Family in a Broken World: Habsburg Lessons from the Centuries by Eduard Habsburg

Publisher: Sophia Institute Press
Publication Date: October 15, 2024
Paperback: $18.95
Language: English
Pages:160

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August 5, 2024

August 3, 2024

New Book: The Biography of St. Agrippinus of Naples by Lame Casper

New title that may be of interest to our readers. Available at amazon.com

The Biography of St. Agrippinus of Naples by Lame Casper

Publisher: Independently published
Publication Date: July 8, 2024
Paperback: $8.99
Language: English
Pages:40

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August 1, 2024

Brief Excerpt from “Essay on Catholicism, Liberalism, and Socialism” by Juan Donoso Cortés

The absence or the possession of faith, the denial of God or the abandonment of truth, neither gives them understanding nor deprives them of it. That of the unbeliever may be of the highest order, and that of the believer very limited; but the greatness of the first is that of an abyss, while the second has the holiness of a tabernacle. In the first dwells error, in the second truth. In the abyss with error is death, in the tabernacle with truth is life. Consequently there can be no hope whatever for those communities that renounce the austere worship of truth for the idolatry of the intellect. Sophisms produce revolutions, and sophists are succeeded by hangmen. 

* Reprinted from Essay on Catholicism, Liberalism, and Socialism: Considered in Their Fundamental Principles by Juan Donoso Cortés, Marquis of Valdegamas, Preserving Christian Publications,2014, p. 3

July 30, 2024

Prayer for Southport, England

St. Edward the Confessor, ora pro nobis
Our thoughts and prayers are with the three young girls stabbed to death and eight wounded, six critically (including two adults) at a dance school in Southport, England, Monday morning. According to reports a 17-year-old was arrested at the scene, but supposedly no motive for the horrific crime is yet known. Fed up with the two-tier policing, government betrayal, and violence in their community, local protesters clashed with police near the site of the stabbings. May St. George, St. Edward the Confessor, and St. Edmund the Martyr protect and watch over you.

Prayer for Victims of Terrorism

Loving God, welcome into your arms the victims of violence and terrorism. Comfort their families and all who grieve for them. Help us in our fear and uncertainty, and bless us with the knowledge that we are secure in your love. Strengthen all those who work for peace, and may the peace the world cannot give reign in our hearts. Amen.

July 29, 2024

July 28, 2024

A Look at the Morgan Library and Museum’s Ongoing 2024 Exhibits (Part 2)

Portrait of a Man, Possibly a Self-Portrait, ca. 1660, black,
white, and red chalk on brown paper, Peter Lely (1618-1680)
Thankfully, I have zero interest in the Olympics. Instead of wasting my time watching the Eldest Daughter of the Church degrade itself before the whole world with its blatantly blasphemous and perverse opening ceremony, I spent my day reveling in traditional European high art at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City.

[See Part 1] 


Highlights from ‘Far and Away: Drawings from the Clement C. Moore Collection’ (June 28 through September 22, 2024)

Wooded Landscape with Shepherds, Sheep and Cottage, ca. 1760-63,
watercolor and opaque watercolor, over graphite, on tan paper,
Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788)
A Watermill, ca. 1833-36, pen and brown ink and watercolor, with white opaque watercolor and scratching out, over graphite, John Constable (1776-1837)
Study of a Mackerel, ca. 1845, watercolor, over graphite, on
hot-pressed paper, Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851)
View from Neptune's Grotto in Tivoli, ca. 1660-70, brush and gray
and brown ink and wash, over black chalk, attributed to
Johannes Jansz Collaert (ca. 1621/22-1679)
A Wooded Landscape with Roma Gathered around a Fire, ca. 1778-80,
pen and brown ink and wash, with opaque white watercolor, over
black chalk, on brown paper, Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788)
The Entry of Christ in Jerusalem, ca. 1610, pen and brown ink, with gray,
brown, and blue wash and white opaque watercolor, over traces
of black chalk, David Vinckboons (1576-ca. 1632)
Figures in a Wooded Landscape with a City in the Distance,
ca. 1620-30, brush and blue ink, over black chalk, squared
in black chalk, Isaak Major (ca. 1576-after 1642)
Callisto's Pregnancy Revealed to Diana, ca. 1600, black and white chalk,
with traces of blue and pink chalk, Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617)
The Birth of St. John the Baptist, ca. 1660-65, black, red, and
white chalk, with pen and brown ink, and red, gray, and blue wash,
on three pieces of joined paper, Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678)
St. Lambert, ca. 1630-33, pen and brown ink and wash,
and black chalk, Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)
The Return of Cincinnatus to Rome, ca. 1590-1600, pen and brown
ink and wash, and black chalk, with white opaque watercolor,
Jan van der Straet (known as Johannes Stradanus) (1523-1605)
Danaë Receiving the Golden Rain, ca. 1610, pen and brown ink
and wash, with white opaque watercolor and red watercolor, over
black chalk, on beige paper; contours incised for transfer,
Abraham Bloemaert (1566-1651)
The Mocking of the Spaniard, 1642, black chalk and gray
wash on parchment, Pieter Jansz Quast (1605/6-1647)
Highlights from J.P. Morgan’s Library and Study (Ongoing)
The East Room
(L) Portrait of a Knight of Malta, 1499, tempera and oil on panel, Gian Giacomo D'Alladio, called Macrino D'Alba (ca. 1470-before 1528). (R) St. John the Baptist, late sixteenth century, bronze, after Michelozzo di Bartolomeo (1396-1472)
St. John the Baptist, ca. 1495-1500, marble,
Giovanni Francesco Rustici (1474-1554)
Bronze bust of Alfonso II d’Avalos (1502-1546), Marquis
of Pescara and Vasto, by Annibale Fontana (1540-1587)
Portrait of a Man with a Pink Flower, ca. 1480-85,
oil on panel, Hans Memling (ca. 1440-1494)
Kneeling male donor with his patron, St. William of Maleval,
ca. 1467-70, oil on panel, Hans Memling (ca. 1440-1494)
A peek inside the vault in J.P. Morgan's Study
Highlight from the Rotunda (Ongoing)
Carved Cassone with Base, wood (likely walnut),
64 x 23 x 25 inches, possibly acquired in 1906
Detail of elaborately carved sphinx and lion
Detail of elaborately carved lion
Detail of elaborately carved lion
Highlights from the 'Collections Spotlight, Summer 2024' (May 21 through September 8, 2024)
Perséphone, Paris: Édition Russe de Musique; Berlin: Russischer Musikverlag, [ca. 1934]. Cover illustration by Théodore Stravinsky (1907-1989)
Bestiaire d'amour (Bestiary of love), in Old French,
Northern Italy, ca. 1290, Richard de Fournival
Les abus du monde (The Abuses of the World), in French,
France, Rouen, ca. 1510, Pierre Gringore
Liber de sapiente (Book on Wisdom), Charles de Bovelles,
Paris: printed by Henri Estienne for Jean Petit, 1510

'1860 Tramonto del Sole' in Troja, Foggia

In Troja (FG)

July 27, 2024

A Look at the Morgan Library and Museum’s Ongoing 2024 Exhibits (Part 1)

A Kitchen Cook, Reading, 1759, black, white, and red chalk, with smudging,
on light brown paper, Jean-Baptiste Greuze (French, 1725-1805)
Thankfully, I have zero interest in the Olympics. Instead of wasting my time watching the Eldest Daughter of the Church degrade itself before the whole world with its blatantly blasphemous and perverse opening ceremony, I spent my day reveling in traditional European high art at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City.

[See Part 2] 


Highlights from ‘Liberty to the Imagination: Drawings from the Eveillard Gift’ (June 7 through October 6, 2024)

Studies for the "Arrest of Samson," ca. 1609-11, pen and brown ink and brown and gray wash, Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577-1640)
Sleeping Female Figure, 1890s, graphite with smudging
and erasures, Auguste Rodin (French, 1840-1917)
Warwick Castle from the Kenilworth Road, ca. 1831-32, watercolor,
opaque watercolor, and black ink over black chalk with
scratching, John Constable (British, 1776-1837)
Portrait of Jenny Le Guillou, ca. 1835-40, brown wash over graphite, on paper brushed and darkened from adhesive, Eugène Delacroix (French, 1798-1863)
Study for "Judas Returning the Thirty Pieces of Silver,"
ca. 1628-29, pen and brown ink and gray wash over black chalk,
Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669)
St. John the Baptist, ca. 1620, red chalk and white opaque
watercolor on pink prepared paper, Antonio d'Enrico,
called Tanzio da Varallo (Piedmont, ca. 1575-ca. 1635)
Study of Marcelle Lender Performing, 1893, red chalk
over graphite, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864-1901)
Highlights from ‘Recent Acquisitions from the Clement C. Moore Collection’ (April 23 through July, 2024)
Caernarfon Castle by Moonlight, ca. 1775, black ink and watercolor,
with white opaque watercolor, Paul Sandby (British, 1725/31-1809)
An Ambush Beside a Wood, ca. 1610, pen and brown ink with gray and brown wash, over traces of black chalk, Sebastiaen Vrancx (Flemish, 1573-1647)
A Wooded Road, a Shepherd with His Flock on a Rise at the Right, ca. 1640-50, pen and brown ink and watercolor, Lucas van Uden (Flemish, 1595-1672)
A View in Rome, ca. 1605, graphite and brush and brown wash, with
touches of red chalk, Jan Willemsz Lapp (Dutch, 1585/90-1663)
A Town Cryer with a Drum in a Village, Surrounded by a Crowd
Listening
, ca. 1624-25, brush and black ink and gray wash,
over black chalk, Jan van Goyen (Dutch, 1596-1656)
Tivoli, an Evening Study, 22nd May 1781, graphite, pen
and ink, and wash, Francis Towne (British, 1739/40-1816)

Highlight from 'Capturing Atmosphere: European Nature Studies in Oil' (November 14, 2023 through August 11, 2024)

Ischia and the Bay of Naples by Moonlight, ca. 1800,
oil on paper, Pierre Henri de Valenciennes or circle
Highlight from ‘Walton Ford: Birds and Beasts of the Studio’ (April 12 through October 20, 2024)
Lion Entering a Cave, ca. 1860, watercolor,
Gustave Doré (French, 1832-1883)
Highlights from ‘Crafting the Ballets Russes: The Robert Owen Lehman Collection’ (June 28 through September 22, 2024)
Ida Lvovna Rubinstein, ca. 1911, oil on canvas,
Howard Gardiner Cushing (1869-1916)
Comoedia illustré: numéro spécial, vol. 3, no. 17, June 1, 1911. Left page: Léon Bakst (1866-1924), illustration for Ida Rubinstein as St. Sebastian in The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian. Right page: The production's collaborators—composer Claude Debussy, poet Gabriele D'Annunzio, and artist Léon Bakst
Vaslav Nijinsky in "Afternoon of a Faun," modeled 1912,
cast 1959, bronze, marble base, Auguste Rodin (1840-1917)
Self-Portrait, ca. 1907, oil on canvas, ca. 1907,
Natalia Goncharova (1881-1962)
Illustration from "Skazka ob Ivane-tsareviche,
Zhar-ptitse i o serom volke" Ivan Bilibin (1876-1942)
Program for Les Ballets de Madame Ida Rubinstein,
Académie Nationale de Musique et de Danse, May 1929
Comedia illustré souvenir program for the Ballets Russes'
June 1911 season at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris
Costume design, 1956, watercolor and pen on paper,
Alexandre Benois (1870-1960)
"Les Ballets Russes à Mogador" program, Paris, June 1922
Mme Ida Rubinstein, 1917, watercolor, gouache, and
graphite on paper, mounted on canvas, Léon Bakst (1866-1924)
"Adagio / Supplication of the Firebird"
from Firebird, Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
Michel Fokine, after 1909, lithograph, Valentin Serov (1865-1911)