 |
| Albrecht Dürer St Eustace 1500-1501 engraving Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |
 |
| Bartolomeo Passerotti Struggling Nudes ca. 1563-72 drawing Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |
ARISTOBOULUS
The palace is in tears, the king is in tears,
King Herod laments inconsolably,
the entire city is in tears for Aristoboulus,
who was so unjustly drowned, by accident,
while playing with his friends in the water.
And when they learn of it in other places too,
when the news is spread up in Syria,
even among the Greeks many will be saddened;
many poets and sculptors will mourn,
for they had heard of the name of Aristoboulus,
and never before had their vision of a young man
compared with such beauty as this boy had;
what statue of a god had Antioch deserved
as fine as this child of Israel?
The First Princess, his mother, the most eminent
Hebrew lady, laments and weeps.
Alexandra laments and weeps over the calamity. –
But when she finds herself alone her sorrow alters.
She groans; she rails; she reviles and utters curses.
How they have deceived her! How they have duped her!
How their purpose has finally been realized!
They have ruined the house of the Asamonaeans.
How the criminal king has achieved his end;
the crafty, villainous, the wicked.
How he has achieved his end. What an infernal plot
that even Miriam should detect nothing.
Had Miriam detected, had she suspected,
she would have found a way to save her brother;
she is queen after all, she could have done something.
How they will triumph now and secretly gloat,
those wicked women, Cypris and Salome;
those vulgar women, Cypris and Salome. –
And that she should be powerless, and obliged
to pretend that she believes their lies;
not to be able to go before the people,
to go out and shout it to the Hebrews,
to tell, to tell how the murder was done.
– Constantine Cavafy, from Complete Poems (1961), translated by Rae Dalven
 |
| Jacques Bellange Adoration of the Magi ca. 1614-16 etching, engraving Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |
 |
| Abraham Bloemaert Gateway to a Town ca. 1625-35 drawing, watercolor Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |
 |
| Remigio Cantagallina Landscape with tree and mill before 1633 drawing Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |
 |
| Salvator Rosa Standing male figure before 1673 drawing Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |
 |
| Benedetto Luti Ecstasy of St Mary Magdalene ca. 1715-19 drawing Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |
 |
| Joseph-Marie Vien Young Man seated in Oriental costume 1748 drawing on blue paper Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |
I BROUGHT TO ART
I sit and meditate. I brought to art
desires and feelings – some things half seen,
faces or lines; some indistinct memories
of unfulfilled loves. Let me rely on her.
She knows how to fashion a Figure of Beauty;
almost imperceptibly rounding out life,
combining impressions, combining the days.
– Constantine Cavafy, from Complete Poems (1961), translated by Rae Dalven
 |
| Hubert Robert The Large Staircase ca. 1761-65 drawing Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |
 |
| Jean-Baptiste Greuze Reclining Female Nude Study for Aegina visited by Jupiter ca. 1762 drawing Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |
 |
| Antonio Cattani Human Skull 1780 engraving, etching Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |
 |
| Edwin Landseer Study of Dead Heron ca. 1832-33 oil sketch on panel Musem of Fine Arts, Houston |
 |
| Maxime Lalanne River landscape at evening ca. 1850-80 drawing Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |
 |
| Max Klinger Shame 1880s etching, engraving, aquatint Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |