Quentin Matsys, An Allegory of Folly (c.1510–1520, Musée du Louvre, Paris). Public domain. Folly, that eternal fool in mankind’s court, is rarely so vividly dressed as in Quentin Matsys’ An Allegory of Folly. Painted in the early sixteenth century, when Europe was still shaking off the medieval habit of believing its own sermons, this grotesque … Continue reading An Allegory of Folly
Month: November 2025
The Devil in the Duomo: Reflections on the Monster of Florence
They say every paradise has a pit beneath it. Florence, for me, has always shimmered like a painted heaven — that impossible marriage between reason and rapture. As a child, I was bewitched by her domes and frescoes, the polished glow of Botticelli’s Venus, and the ghostly gaze of Savonarola who once tried to burn … Continue reading The Devil in the Duomo: Reflections on the Monster of Florence
The Darkling Thrush
Some poems sound like bells tolling at the turn of an age, and Thomas Hardy’s The Darkling Thrush is one of them. Written on the eve of the twentieth century, it stands like a weathered milestone between centuries — one hand resting on the grave of the Victorian world, the other reaching hesitantly toward the … Continue reading The Darkling Thrush
Wording 