The Tempest by Giorgione
Trinity by Andrej Rublëv
A List
As the month of July waned remaining in Florida became impossible. Jack loaded all the artifacts, his computer and a few clothes and made the long drive to the cabin in two days arriving on the evening of July 15th. When he stopped the car to unlock the gate he was pleased that the contractor had installed above the gate the sign he had ordered:
"Welcome to Hoon"
The workmen had departed the building site for the day so he was free to walk about the almost finished structure. The stylobate was polished, the roof tiles were all in place, and the only remaining jobs were painting and cleaning the debris from the site.
Jack completed the inspection the headed for the cabin and when he stepped onto the porch he found himself eye to eye with a yellow mackerel tabby cat sitting on a shelf next to the door. Jack opened the door and the cat jumped down and followed him inside, then stood by the refrigerator and said, "meow". Jack open the fridge and found it well stocked with both human and cat food. "I guess the architect has been taking care of you." he said to the cat, then he opened a can of "Beef in a creamy vegetable sauce" cat food and emptied it into a bowl.
Jack ate some leftovers from the fridge, took a shower and crawled into the bed. When he woke up the next morning he found the cat asleep at end of the bed.
His first task after coffee and letting the cat out was the most difficult: finishing the painting category.
Jack was vocal with his frustration about painting. Only the cat was with him and what it understood nobody knows, "How can you possibly select three paintings? What possible criteria could we conceive that would make such a process meaningful. Maybe we should just place the names of a hundred paintings on a wall and toss three darts. That would make as much sense as trying to select three from all of western art.
"My god, six million people visit and photograph the Mona Lisa each year and none of them know why. I remember being in the room where the painting hangs when two American women stuck their heads through the doorway and one said, 'There it is, let's go!' and they hotfooted it down the hallway - on with scavenger hunt! On the other hand, if we reject famous works because of the behavior of people like that then we are snobs."
Jack finished the rant, then muttered, "I will make a list, damn it, but I don't like this at all. I'm going to simply link to the paintings on my web page and make a decision later." The cat closed his yellow eyes and licked his paws.
The List
(Click on the ballerina to access the corresponding site.)
| The Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt |
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The Tempest by Giorgione |
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| Gelmeroda XIII
by Lyonel Feininger
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Death come to Arcadia
by Nicolas Poussin |
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| The Daughters of Edward Boit by John Singer Sargent |
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| Sinbad the Sailor by Paul Klee |
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| Girl with peaches. Portrait of V. S. Mamontova by Valentin Serov |
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| The Visitation by Jacopo da Pontormo |
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Trinity by Andrej Rublëv |
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