Oedipus at Colonus

In classical Greek history/philosophy, Colonus was a small village near Athens, and near to the site of Plato's famous Academy. It was also where the Greek playright Sophocles was born, and according to Sophocles, it was the location where the mythological character of Oedipus was born.

The above painting was painted by Fulchran-Jean Harriet in 1798.

The painting below was painted by Jean-Antoine-Theodore Giroust in 1788:

Mormom Beehives

This beehive is at the top of the (Masonic?) Temple in Salt Lake City:



Note also the flag of the State of Utah:



Beehives indeed..

Church "Bells"

Bell, the ancient Canaanite god "Ba'al", a symbol of the Sun and which is still used in Christian (sun worship) churches:

Catholic Encyclicals

The economic system, known as corporatism, was based on two papal encyclicals which were supposed to prevent class struggle and supremacy of economism:

Rerum Novarum (Pope Leo XIII, May 15, 1891) - On Capital and Labor
Quadragesimo Anno (Pope Pius XI, May 15, 1931)

Supposedly these encyclicals inspired Salazar when he was ruling Portugal.

The popes who issued them:


Pope Leo XIII
(The Social Pope, the Pope of the Working Man)


Pope Pius XI

Diogenes Hath Found an Honest Man!

Interesting portrait of Benjamin Franklin:



It's actually an engraving, and it depicts a bearded elder, in hooded robe, presenting to the viewer a portrait of Franklin in a formal oval frame. In the man's left hand is a lantern, and behind him a large wooden tub, by which accessories he is identified with the Greek sage Diogenes, who lived in a tub and wandered with a lantern aloft, searching for an honest man.

The frame stands on a stone sill or lbock, carved with the words "STUPETE GENES! REPERIT VIVUM DIOGENES" Diogenes supports the painting's frame against his body; his sandaled right foot rests on the sill, as though he were climbing up from behind the stone. His gesturing right hand rests on his right knee.


Filleul Portrait of Franklin

The portrait of Franklin is derived loosely from that of Anne Rosalie Filleul. It is a waist-length image showing Franklin with shoulder-length natural hair, dressed in an open-collared shirt, robe wrapped loosely around his body, and fur-collared gown or banyan over all. The symbolic details that fill the print include a cornucopia at Diogenes' foot, a broken yoke beneath the stone sill, a Liberty cap, a rolled map of North America beneath the claws of a bird (identified variously as an eagle or a phoenix).

Beneath the image is the caption “BENJAMIN FRANKLIN / Ministaire plénipotentiaire à la Cour de France pour la République / des Provinces unies de l’Amérique Septentrionale. / Né à Boston le 17 Janvier 1706. / A Paris chez Bligny Lancier du Roi, Md. D’Estampes, Peintre, Doreur et Vitrier, Cour du Manège aux Tuilleries.” Added at the right of this inscription is another: “Présenté à son Excellence / quelle à accepté le 14. / Juillet 1780. / Par son très Humble et très Obéissant / Serviteur BLIGNY.” Immediately below the image on the left is the inscription "N.L.G.D.L.C.A.D.L. del et sculp."

The pencil drawing from which the Franklin portrait engraving was made is in the collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It is 4 1/8-inch high by 3 3/16-inch wide, cut to oval, and fixed to a counterproof of the engraving of the Diogenes in its earlier state, in which an image of Cardinal Fleury is within the oval frame. The artist of the pencil portrait is not known.

Multiple original examples of this print exist, including in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution (NPG.91.150), and the Musée de la Cooperation Franco-américaine, Blérancourt, France. One is also in the collections of a descendant of Franklin, with a family history of having belonged to Franklin. The engraved inscription below the image of the print to the effect that a copy had been presented to Franklin (placed there to encourage buyers), may have some foundation in the survival of that copy.

Other works copied after the Filleul painting include an engraving by J. Pelicier, 1782 (one owned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1997-159-3) and another engraving by D.A.S. (owned by the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, NPG.96.105)

Another copy is owned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art (1946-51-203), the gift of Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

The Paintings of Van Eyck

Known amongst his contemporaries as the "King of Painting", van Eyck was one of the first people to perfect the use of oils in painting. Perhaps his most famous work is Arnolfini Marriage, depicted below:



A "shotgun" marriage of sorts, perhaps..

Of special interest is the mirror, which refects both the marriage partners, as well as van Eyck (in miniature self-portrait), alongwith the minister who performed the marriage. The convex mirror is also flancked by ten smaller paintings, each of which depicts a scene from the life of Christ:



The mirror is the most amazing part of it.

War Profiteers

Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, General Dynamics and United Technologies, Haliburton and Bechtel

Interesting Indian Astronomer

Bhaskaracharya, or Bhaskara II, is regarded almost without question as the greatest Hindu mathematician of all time and his contribution to not just Indian, but world mathematics is undeniable. As L Gurjar states:

...Because of his work India gave a definite 'quota' to the forward world march of the science. [LG, P 104]

Born in 1114 AD (in Vijayapura, he belonged to Bijjada Bida) he became head of the Ujjain school of mathematical astronomy (Varahamihira and Brahmagupta had helped to found this school or at least 'build it up'). There is some confusion amongst the texts I have referred to as to the works that he wrote. C Srinivasiengar claims he wrote Siddhanta Siromani in 1150 AD, which contained four sections:

1) Lilavati (arithmetic)
2) Bijaganita (algebra)
3) Goladhyaya (sphere/celestial globe)
4) Grahaganita (mathematics of the planets)

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