Because Some Rise By Sin, And Some By Virtue Fall*

Fig. 1. José de Madrazo - La muerte de Viriato, 1807


Justice without might is helpless; might without justice is tyrannical.

Blaise Pascal

* Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall. (William Shakespeare - Measure for Measure, Act II, Scene i)

When Seeing Is Listening: The Concert Champêtre

Fig. 1. Titian - Le Concert champêtre, c. 1510

Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing you make of
me! You would play upon me; you would seem to know
my stops; you would pluck out the heart of my
mystery; you would sound me from my lowest note to
the top of my compass: and there is much music,
excellent voice, in this little organ; yet cannot
you make it speak. 'Sblood, do you think I am
easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what
instrument you will, though you can fret me, yet you
cannot play upon me.

Hamlet (Hamlet, Act II, Scene iii – William Shakespeare)

'Even if our only evidence were their surviving output, it would still be abundantly clear that artists of the sixteenth century were routinely acquainted with, and profoundly sensitive to, the fact that looking is something we do with all of our senses, not merely that of sight. Titian, the artist who is believed to have painted what is now officially referred to as Le Concert champêtre, c. 1510, not only knew this to be true, but also made it integral to the effect and meaning of his image that it should be heard as well as seen, that its visibility should be inextricably entwined with its audibility. Patricia Egan, Philipp Fehl, and Patricia Emison, in their (variously convincing) interpretations of this enigmatic work, all make reference to how its musical content serves to structure our reading of it. None, however, correctly identifies the implied sonic lacuna around which its iconography is constellated.'

Lucio Crispino (from When Seeing Is Listening: The Broken Music of Titian's Le Concert champêtre)

Hung Upon The Cheek Of Night Like Satan's Pearl*

Fig. 1. Monsieur Hire (Michel Blanc) in Patrice Leconte's Monsieur Hire, 1989


'Only when you are lost can love find itself in you without losing its way.'

Hélène Cixous

* 'Oh, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope’s ear,
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear.
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows
As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows.'

Romeo (Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare)

Obituary: Pina Bausch - The World Moves On A Woman's Hips*

Fig. 2. Pina Bausch

* The Great Curve by Talking Heads

Only When Scarce Are Words Seldom Spent In Vain*

Fig. 1. Alejandra Laviada Díez Barroso - Photo Sculptures, 2008

'Words are only postage stamps delivering the object for you to unwrap.'

George Bernard Shaw

* 'When words are scarce they are seldom spent in vain.' (William Shakespeare)

Go Swimming, But It Will Sometimes Be With Sharks

Fig. 1. Joseph Huber - Never Ask Why, 1980


'Love all, trust a few.'

William Shakespeare

For Thy Part, I Passionately Wish Thou Wert A Dog*

Fig. 1. Michelangelo (di Lodovico Buonarroti Simon) - The Last Judgement, 1534-1541


'To think ill of mankind and not wish ill to them, is perhaps the highest wisdom and virtue.'

William Hazlitt

* 'I am misanthropos, and hate mankind,/For thy part, I do wish thou wert a dog,/That I might love thee something.' (from Timon of Athens by William Shakespeare)

Love Wisely, And Not Too Well

Fig. 1. Alexandre-Marie Colin - Othello and Desdemona, 1829


'Think'st thou I'd make a life of jealousy,
To follow still the changes of the moon
With fresh suspicions? No; to be once in doubt,
Is once to be resolved.'

William Shakespeare - Othello (Act III, Scene iii)