Saturday, December 21, 2024
SERMONES AD MORTUOS Endark The Enlightenment CD Out Now!
Sunday, December 15, 2024
The Last Emperor
In the Katholikon of the Old Monastery of Taxiarches in Aegialia, just 15 km from Aigio, two layers of frescoes of high artistic quality from the late Byzantine period are preserved, reflecting the aesthetic trends of Constantinople. During their conservation work, archaeologist Dr. Anastasia Koumousi, Director of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Achaia, discovered in the second layer of frescoes—which, based on stylistic criteria, is securely dated to the mid-15th century—the unique portrait of the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos.
Unlike idealized representations, this portrait authentically captures the physical features of Constantine XI. He is depicted as a mature man with a slender face, radiating calmness and nobility.
The artist behind the fresco likely came from Mystras, where Constantine XI lived for five years as “Despot”—the title for a regional governor—before ascending to the throne. The portrait is linked to the generous patronage of the monastery by Constantine’s brothers, which is well-documented in historical records. This donation followed the resolution of their civil war (1449-1450), mediated by Constantine, as noted by the historian Laonikos Chalkokondyles.
The Ministry of Culture’s announcement identifies the figure as Constantine XI Palaiologos, the brother of the monastery’s patrons, the Despots of Morea, Demetrios and Thomas.
This fresco represents the last known portrait of a Byzantine emperor in monumental painting and the only contemporary depiction of Constantine XI during his reign (January 6, 1449 – May 29, 1453).
SOURCE: Ministry of Culture/The National Herald
Sunday, December 8, 2024
Imperium Gallery
Fascism can be understood as the natural evolution of romantic nationalism, identifying and embracing the unique cultural characteristics responsible for bestowing a nation with its sense of identity. The ideology of Fascism is not only malleable, but fundamentally adaptive, taking on nation-specific forms rather than being a universally applicable and generic political theory. Whether it be traditional Italian Fascism, German National Socialism or Japanese State Shintoism, each nation’s idiosyncratic conception of Fascism is advised by their respective indigenous belief systems, folklore and history to be in consonance with the local polity and to invigorate these cultural traits. Reflecting this ethos, ethnospecific symbolism feature prominently in the Fascist aesthetic. Distilled of the perceived decadent impurities of postmodernism, its art offers an unclouded view into a nation’s soul and the spiritual essence of its people.
Thursday, December 5, 2024
Germania
Spring 1943.
A selection of portraits of soldiers of the 9th SS Panzer Division "Germania"
made by Ernst Baumann
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
The Funeral of Shelley
Friday, November 22, 2024
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Words as Lightnings
“How can you be a shining beacon, if the fire does not burn within you!"
"We can only make of ourselves what God has put in us."
"Forming a people out of the masses and a state out of the people has always been the deepest meaning of true politics"
“The revolutionary type of man stands at the beginning of an upheaval, not some social emergency. That comes with it."
“God helps the brave and beats the coward. It would be a strange God that stood on the side of the coward."
“Every man of stature has a mission somewhere, sometime”
“We are all sick. Only fighting the rot can save us once more”
“The gradually collapsing state of history in its downfall once again produces the finest blossoms of its dying creative power.”
Taken from:
JOSEPH GOEBBELS - Michael : A German Destiny in Diary Form