Okay, so the people who have followed my blog are probably asking themselves, exactly what will we be getting that we haven’t been getting already, that we weren’t getting for free?
The short answer is: a lot.
The slightly longer answer is: now that I’m treating my blog like a business instead of a hobby, I’m going to be posting frequently. Probably not multiple posts every day like I’ve been doing the past week or so, but almost certainly I’ll be writing between four and five posts per week minimum, unless I’m offline from the internet for some reason. I haven’t taken a vacation in about ten years (I don’t count taking the grandkids to Disney World as “rest and recreation” but it was fun) and have no plans for one in the immediate future. I’m not going to commit to a specific number above one or two blogs per week because I’ve learned the “art of the deal” from Donald Trump. The secret to a happy customer is to under-commit and over-deliver. Promise less and give them more.
One of the benefits of my new attitude and approach to the blog is that when I learn about something cool, you’ll be the first to know. Until about five minutes ago, I’d never heard of a marble statue called “The Veiled Virgin”, sculpted by an artist named Giovanni Strazza. My wonderful and talented musical friend from Down Under, Brad Luke, shared a photo of this exquisite masterpiece with me on Facebook. The photo took my breath away. It is one of the most beautiful sculptures I’ve ever seen…and I became curious, and had to read about the work as well as the artist.
Then I discovered Strazza’s inspiration.
When I look at these images, I must confess that to some degree I’m wondering why Michelangelo’s David is so well known in comparison. I’m also wondering how I could have never even heard of the Veiled Virgin by Strazza or Veiled Christ by Giuseppe SanMartino. The detail is incredible! The knuckles in the hands and the definition of the toes…every extraordinary detail is the work of an incomparable master, and creates the perfect optical illusion of a dead body wrapped in a shroud.
Frankly, I’ve never been more dazzled that I have by these two brilliant works of art. Words like “breathtaking”, “spectacular”, and “unbelievable” pop into my head and then get rejected as inadequate. Pictures barely do these sculptures justice.
I’ve never wanted to visit Italy more in my life than right now at this moment. This is art of incomprehensible beauty. I really need to see these things before I take my final breath (not planned in the immediate future.)
Don’t get me wrong…with all due respect, Michelangelo was a brilliant sculptor and artist.
But this was his masterpiece.
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