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Another example of TIME’s true potential (see Culture Morte). Warning: not for the faint hearted!
My dad got me this book (*) on 16th century glass paintings (stained glass) and their 19th and 20th century copies. It focuses mainly on a large collection of painted glass panels residing in Leuven, Belgium. One of these glass paintings shows a scene of Petrarch’s Trionfi: the Triumph of Time.
It’s in fact a very accurate 19th century copy of the 16th century original by the Antwerp artist Pieter Coecke van Aalst. The original pen-drawing is kept at the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. A mid-16th century glass original is on display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
Time is depicted as an old man (look at his bald head, his long beard and his walking stick) with wings attached to his shoulders and feet (tempus fugit or “time flies”). He’s in the act of devouring a little child. This rather shocking scene refers to the myth of Cronos, the Greek god of time, who ate his siblings in an attempt to stop time, only to discover that it was all in vain. There’s simply no escape from generations succeeding one another. Time is both creator (in Roman mythology he’s called Saturn, god of harvest and agriculture) and destroyer. In his Metamorphoses Ovid (43 BC-17 AD) calls time “the devourer of all things”.
The glass painting shows just one scene of a series of six described by the 14th century Italian poet Petrarch. In his Trionfi he writes about man being conquered by Love, Love in its turn is conquered by Chastity, Chastity by Death, Death by Fame, Fame by Time (in the picture the defeat of Fame is represented by the famous hero Samson -with pilar and lion’s head- being trampled by deer) and finally Eternity triumphs over Time.
I particularly like the mix of unearthly, destructive and mythic powers being unleashed in the forefront, the peaceful Italian landscape with its round Renaissance temple in the middle and the typical skyline of any Flemisch village with its gothic church tower in the back. Simply divine!
(*) Maes, P.V. 1987. Leuvens brandglas. De productie tijdens de 16de eeuw en de nabootsing van oude brandglasmedaillons in de 19de en 20ste eeuw. Leuven: Arca Lovaniensis 13.
1st Edition, May 2008
N – Neuhaus: Inventor of the Praline (1912), the famous Belgian chocolate delight with its creamy filling and thin chocolate coating. I must confess, I’m a bit of a chocoholic myself.
O – Olympic Games, 2008 Beijing: To boycott or not to boycott, that’s the question. While our politicians are still making up their minds, our athletes are busy doing their warm-ups.
P – Pastry, on Sunday: In Belgium most bakeries are open on Sunday morning, selling fresh pastries, sweet pies and crispy rolls. Hmm… very tempting! And the bakery is right next door.
Q – Quote: Ilya Prigogine (1917-2003), Belgian physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize Chemistry 1977: “The future is uncertain… but this uncertainty is the very heart of human creativity”.
R – Rock Werchter: Music festival, held every year in the little village of Werchter (Belgium), received in 2008 the ILMC Arthur Award for Best Festival for the fourth time in five years.
S – Surrealism: Painter René Magritte is Belgium’s best know surrealist (Ceci n’est pas une pipe), but I’m convinced that all Belgians by nature carry a chunk of surrealism within themselves.
T – Tintin: Comic book hero Tintin (a young Belgian reporter who’s adventures started in 1929) and his creator Hergé are known all over the world. Their albums are translated in over 50 languages.
U – UFO Sightings: On several occasions in 1989 and 1990 all across Belgium people reported having seen a UFO. The sightings where confirmed by radar stations and chased after by F-16s.
V – Vineyards: As a result of global warming, Belgian wine making is now a growing business. The Hageland and the Hesbaye region are producing mostly white wines, some even with AOC label.
W – War: Many battles were fought on Belgian soil: Napoleon’s Waterloo in 1815, the Ypres Salient during WW I (In Flanders Fields…), the Battle of the Bulge (Ardennes Offensive) during WW II… probably making Belgium Europe’s number one battlefield.
X – Xenophobia: The success of the extreme right-wing anti-immigrant Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) party resulted in the widespread idea that Belgians are inhospitable and xenophobic.
Y – Youth delinquency: We’ve seen an increase in juvenile delinquency, from throwing rocks to even stabbing a student for his MP3 player. Why the f*ck are all these kids so f*cked up?
Z – Zaventem: Village where Brussels Airport is situated, which in the past few years was proclaimed several times as Best Airport in Europe. My number one gateway to the rest of the world.
