Unexpected Resemblances in a Movie I Didn't Want to See

Husband has been hankering after seeing one of the Pirates of the Caribbean set of movies ever since they first appeared, thinking they'd be of a similar genre to the Indiana Jones series. I've been less keen, especially to go see any of the Pirates tales on the big cinema screen. In a thrift shop recently, choosing five DVDs so's to take advantage of the "$1 each if you buy 5" offer, Husband spotted Pirates of the Caribbean - Dead Man's Chest; I couldn't wriggle out of including it! Back home, I'd kept slotting it back to the bottom of the pile of "to watch" materials, until this week. Husband got his wish, we watched it, but he was disappointed in the film. He found that it was certainly not in the same league as the Indiana Jones offerings. I watched out of curiosity. Johnny Depp is a fascinating character (see my archived post here). His highly camp portrayal of pirate captain Jack Sparrow wasn't at all what I was expecting, but then that's the Depp trademark: the unexpected.

Three things I kept noticing in the movie reminded me of other things:

#1 In a lot of the farcical action sequences the situations, reactions and and facial expressions of Depp and others kept bringing to mind those old Wile E. Coyote cartoons. I swear they must have studied those, or at least had them stashed away in their memory banks.



#2 I did admire the fantastic arty makeup/costumes of the crew of The Flying Dutchman who were half man/half sea creature. I can't find detailed photographs, but this, see left, will give some idea. I was immediately reminded of the art of Italian 16th century painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo. I wrote a post about him in 2010 - HERE. Some of his work:




WATER



FIRE


AIR




EARTH



#3 Reminding me of something else in a very different context from the film: in movie scenes on a fictional island called Pelegosto, inhabited by a tribe of cannibals, there were some huts, constructed in rather artistic forms, from wicker branches. Again, I can't find a photograph of the scene I'd like to show, but this will suffice:

 Husband and I both immediately said, "Bet those were inspired by erm....erm...whatsisname??" His name is Patrick Dougherty, we recalled later, a sculptor whose speciality is large works in wicker/willow - example above, 
more can be seen via Google Image.

Arty Farty New Year Friday

New Year's Day: a re-birth, a mini-renaissance, so, a look this Arty Farty Friday at a painter of the High Renaissance period of the 16th century: Giuseppe Arcimboldo.


I first discovered Giuseppe Arcimboldo's painting long, long ago, in a book in our school library. I was fascinated, and never forgot his work. It's interesting that there could be a loose link between Arcimboldo and astrology.
(Right: self portrait)

There's no birth data available for him other than 1527, born in Milan, Italy. He was the son of an artist who did work for the cathedral in Milan. Giuseppe obviously inherited his father's talent, began his career in the stained glass workshops of the cathedral. He grew up during the High Renaissance period and became a student of the legendary Leonardo Da Vinci. He accepted a position as Royal Painter in the imperial court where he served for 25 years. A large part of his career at the imperial court was during the reign of Rudolf II in Prague. Rudolf was Habsburg heir, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Germany, and the Romans.

Rudolf II is said to have been one of history's famous eccentrics. He gathered around him in Prague a collection of talented individuals - "la creme de la creme". In a search to understand the deepest secrets of nature and the riddle of existence, Rudolf invited to his court the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, German mathematician Johannes Kepler, English magus John Dee, Francis Bacon, and... Giuseppe Arcimboldo. Prague was, at that time, the very hub of art and science. Rudolf is also known to have had astrologers resident at his court, and was said to rely heavily upon their predictions. He owned a pet lion who had the same rising sign as himself, and the story goes that when the lion died, Rudolf died the next day.

Arcimboldo must surely have been influenced by these "glitterati". His set of paintings of The Elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Air (see below) were perhaps commissioned by his patron whose interest in astrology and alchemy was well known. The many portraits he painted, constructed entirely of fruits, flowers, fish, animals, and occasionally books or utensils were inventive and masterful. Often described as early surrealism, they are really more allegorical than surreal. Arcimboldo also developed a serious interest in attempting to equate musical notes with visual colors, and invented an instrument with which to practice this art. I wonder if Kepler's influence was showing here, he too had ambitions related to musical science.

As well as painting for the Emperor, Arcimboldo acted as what we might nowadays call "entertainments director" to the court. He organised celebrations, parades, festivals, designed costumes and sets.

It's a pity we don't know Arcimboldo's birth date. I'll guess that Aquarius and/or Uranus features strongly in his chart. His portraits are so far from what was then standard practice. They are inventive, clever, satirical, and often comical. Leo might figure prominently too, this artist's show-bizzy abilities offer a clue. Venus, possibly in Taurus or Libra: solid artistic ability and a love of nature.

Rudolf II eventually suffered a decline in mental health as eccentricity morphed into insanity. We are grateful for his patronage of some of the greatest minds and artists of his time. Giuseppe Arcimboldo died in July 1593.

FIRE



AIR


WATER

EARTH


EVE WITH APPLE


LIBRARIAN

Are we starting to feel Saturn in Virgo?

When Saturn moved from Leo to Virgo last September many words were written by astrologers explaining the significance of Saturn's new position. I like this concise summary by Molly Hall. She said:

"Work, routine, habits, health -- all these are the province of busybody Virgo. The pressure of having the Taskmaster here may make us more neurotic, hypochondriacal, fearful, etc. Thinking optimistically, Saturn in Virgo inspires healthy living, right livelihood and moderation."

Saturn is well settled into its new home now. Are we seeing any evidence of what astrologers expected? I think so.

Last week Elsa posted an article about the mayor of Oklahoma City calling for citizens to adjust to a healthier lifestyle and lose weight. Bill Maher, appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman last Thursday night, revealed that he had spent a lot of time during his recent spell off-screen reading and learning about healthy food regimes. Then there was the article published on several internet venues, "Why Not Give a Vegetarian Diet a Try for the New Year?"by Bruce Friedrich.

Has it affected me personally? Well, I bought a treadmill, started well using it every day, but have slipped back into laziness since just before Christmas when a nasty, long-lasting virus hit us both. I'll get back to it soon.

I'm not vegetarian in the true sense of the word, but I don't like meat. I'll eat it in meat sauce with pasta, and very occasionally to avoid discourtesy to a host or hostess. I couldn't live without cheese, eggs and dairy food though, so that excludes me from ever becoming vegan. Fortunately for me, HWK and I feel much the same about meat. He also needs to follow a strict low glycaemic diet, for health reasons. Our diet is reasonably healthy, I think we are already being Saturn-in-Virgo-d enough, either from taste or necessity. So, Mr. Saturn, you can move along, thank you very much!

As I typed, I kept thinking of this "vegetarian" painting, it's called "Vertumnus" (the ancient Roman god of vegetation and transformation). The portrait, made up entirely of plants and vegetables, was painted by Giuseppe Arcimboldo in 1590/1. The link is to my post about Arcimboldo, from early blogging days. The artist aimed to depict, in guise of Vertumnus, Emperor Rudolph II, who ruled, from Prague, over what is now the Czech Republic.