Thank you for writing this journal. It is great and I enjoy it very much.
You are quite right that anyone can easily spend days or even weeks inside a great museum. I still remembered back in 2000 when I visited the Metropolitan Museum I made the mistake of wearing a pair of fancy but uncomfortable shoes. After five or six hours my feet hurt like hell yet I could not drag myself away from all the wonderful masterpieces. I ended up walking barefoot and carrying the shoes in my hands (because my bag was small) for the rest of the day!
Of the five paintings you mentioned, I am only familiar with the Doña Juana la Loca, Reina de Castilla. I am terribly sorry for Joanna the Mad, who only acted on passion and love, so far away from the cold, calculating rulers we are all familiar with. She sacrificed everything for Phillip, yet he was often unfaithful to her when he was alive.
You told me the story of "Tanto Monta", but I am certainly highly amused to actually see the huge banner in display right over the heads of the Isable and Fernando. I mean, poor Fernando! He simply needs to be reminded that his wife is his equal at all times, does he?
My favorite one is the Offering to Venus, and Alex the way you described the picture really makes me laugh! Unless you copy it from somewhere else you have a wonderful sense of humor. I do feel sorry for the babysitters who struggle keep those little babies in order.
Again, the way you admired strong minded and empowered ladies makes me laugh, considering how much you crave for cute, submissive and obedient boys. So you can't bear up with Xiao Shao 小昭 since she is a girl, but you will admire and love him if it is a boy, won't you?
Re: Great journalrt_in_townApril 27 2012, 05:56:53 UTC
My queenly Hua, I was delighted to find out that you and I share a common interest in women of power who have held the sovereignty of a nation with glory or disgrace. After you listed some of your favorites, a list which overlaps with my own and which includes Isabel I, I had been meaning to ask you for your thoughts about the Empress Wu of the Tang Dynasty, so commonly excoriated as a villain by the resentful male historians of her country. Perhaps in our next email exchange?
Thank you for letting me know you were amused, though I must point out you slight me with the supposition that any of this could be other than original writing, besides the Gibbon quotations. I spent too much time on this to be told that my writing isn’t my own, and I do think my idiosyncrasies are evident throughout. And I don’t think I could have found a decent source to carry on about such obscure paintings, having to rely on my own impressions.
Though I am glad to hear that you had seen the Pradilla painting before. You must indeed have an interest in that Isabelline era! Major depression with psychosis is not the same thing as “madness” or dementia, which explains why Joanna could be intelligent without being effective as a ruler. But in thinking of her story, I do once again sigh to say men are greedy swine. It’s great that you see the reason why the motto “Tanto Monta” being displayed above the thrones was so delightful to me. The chauvinistic men of Hispania would all too easily forget to acknowledge her status, so there had to be a constant reminder for all their audience that they were in the presence of two equal partners in authority. I do love the contrast between Fernando's visage of insouciant cunning and Isabel's pious serenity as Torquemada scolds them with his fanatic display.
Thank you for writing this journal. It is great and I enjoy it very much.
You are quite right that anyone can easily spend days or even weeks inside a great museum. I still remembered back in 2000 when I visited the Metropolitan Museum I made the mistake of wearing a pair of fancy but uncomfortable shoes. After five or six hours my feet hurt like hell yet I could not drag myself away from all the wonderful masterpieces. I ended up walking barefoot and carrying the shoes in my hands (because my bag was small) for the rest of the day!
Of the five paintings you mentioned, I am only familiar with the Doña Juana la Loca, Reina de Castilla. I am terribly sorry for Joanna the Mad, who only acted on passion and love, so far away from the cold, calculating rulers we are all familiar with. She sacrificed everything for Phillip, yet he was often unfaithful to her when he was alive.
You told me the story of "Tanto Monta", but I am certainly highly amused to actually see the huge banner in display right over the heads of the Isable and Fernando. I mean, poor Fernando! He simply needs to be reminded that his wife is his equal at all times, does he?
My favorite one is the Offering to Venus, and Alex the way you described the picture really makes me laugh! Unless you copy it from somewhere else you have a wonderful sense of humor. I do feel sorry for the babysitters who struggle keep those little babies in order.
Again, the way you admired strong minded and empowered ladies makes me laugh, considering how much you crave for cute, submissive and obedient boys. So you can't bear up with Xiao Shao 小昭
since she is a girl, but you will admire and love him if it is a boy, won't you?
Hua
Reply
Thank you for letting me know you were amused, though I must point out you slight me with the supposition that any of this could be other than original writing, besides the Gibbon quotations. I spent too much time on this to be told that my writing isn’t my own, and I do think my idiosyncrasies are evident throughout. And I don’t think I could have found a decent source to carry on about such obscure paintings, having to rely on my own impressions.
Though I am glad to hear that you had seen the Pradilla painting before. You must indeed have an interest in that Isabelline era! Major depression with psychosis is not the same thing as “madness” or dementia, which explains why Joanna could be intelligent without being effective as a ruler. But in thinking of her story, I do once again sigh to say men are greedy swine. It’s great that you see the reason why the motto “Tanto Monta” being displayed above the thrones was so delightful to me. The chauvinistic men of Hispania would all too easily forget to acknowledge her status, so there had to be a constant reminder for all their audience that they were in the presence of two equal partners in authority. I do love the contrast between Fernando's visage of insouciant cunning and Isabel's pious serenity as Torquemada scolds them with his fanatic display.
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