#luigi prada

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Italian- British Egyptologist Luigi Prada on divination in ancient Egypt (with a reference to Herodotus as source on this subject)

“Dreams, rising stars, and falling geckos: divination in ancient Egypt

Moving on from a neglected discovery by the EES, Luigi Prada leads us into the little-known world of ancient Egyptian divination and its practitioners. In addition to popular techniques such as dream interpretation and astrology, we discover that the ancient Egyptians enquired after their future also through the behaviour of animals, the occurrence of thunder, and several other natural phenomena.

Between 1964 and 1976, the excavations of the Egypt Exploration Society at the Sacred Animal Necropolis in North Saqqara produced such an overwhelming wealth of finds that scholars are still busy researching and publishing them today, half a century later (see Heinz and Vander Wilt in EA 49). But even when promptly published, some of the results of this fieldwork have remained virtually unknown outside specialist circles. This is the case with the archive of Hor of Sebennytos, an Egyptian priest who lived in the second century BC ...Like several of his fellow priests, one of Hor’s leading interests and activities was oneiromancy – that is, dream interpretation.

Dreams were always an object of fascination for the ancient Egyptians (and many other ancient societies as well). In the liminal dimension of slumber, it was believed that direct communication with the divine and the netherworld would be possible. A particularly famous example of such a divine encounter is narrated in the so-called Dream Stela of Thutmosis IV (c. 1400 BC), which still stands between the front paws of the Great Sphinx at Giza... This Eighteenth Dynasty-inscription tells how the young prince Thutmosis, having fallen asleep by the monument, sighted in a dream the god Harmakhis-Khepri-Re-Atum, with whom the Sphinx was identified at the time. The god asked the prince to clear his statue of the sands that had covered it and restore it to its ancient splendour, in exchange for which he would grant him the throne of Egypt. Clearly a piece of post-eventum political propaganda, this stela nevertheless exemplifies the special regard in which dreams were held.

Dream Stela of Thutmosis IV. In a specular scene above the hieroglyphic text, the king gives offerings to the Sphinx, identified with the god Harmakhis.

It is particularly in the Graeco-Roman Period, however, that we witness an exponential rise in the textual and material evidence related to dreams. Accounts of dreams were increasingly recorded on papyri or ostraca, as in the case of Hor of Sebennytos’ archive. Dreams still featured in formal texts as well, such as the exquisite funerary stela of Taimhotep in the British Museum... The wife of Pasherenptah, High Priest of Ptah in Memphis during the reign of the famous  Cleopatra VII, Taimhotep recounts in her autobiography how, after having three daughters, she and her husband prayed to Imhotep, the son of Ptah, that a male heir be granted to them. The god listened to their prayers, appearing in a ‘revelation’, asking for works to be carried out in his temple in returnfor his intercession.

Ostracon Hor 3 verso. Line 22 includes the first mention of Rome in an Egyptian text, with regard to the Roman ultimatum that put an end to the Syrian invasion of Egypt in 168 BC

Focus: Hor of Sebennytos Hor of Sebennytos was a priest active in the Memphite necropolis in the first half of th e2nd century BC. His archive, published in 1976 and consisting of approximately 70 ostraca – i.e. inscribed potsherds – written mostly in Demotic, gives an account of his daily occupations and preoccupations. The topics dealt with in these texts, which are mainly personal notes and drafts of documents, include the cult of the ibises and their mummies, oracles and dreams. Some of them also have historical relevance, as they relate important political events seen from a humble priest’s perspective. Such is the case of text no. 3, where Hor records a prophetic dream that he had at the time of the Sixth Syrian War (170–168 BC), when Egypt was occupied by the enemy forces of Antiochus IV, King of Syria, and the Ptolemaic dynasty seemed to be on the verge of collapse. In this dream, Hor saw that, despite all odds, Egypt and the Ptolemies would be saved – as, in fact, they were in the summer of 168 BC, when Antiochus peacefully withdrew from Egypt after receiving an ultimatum from Egypt’s (then) mighty ally: the Roman Republic.

But the importance of dreams was not limited to those featuring divine epiphanies. Dreams of a trivial or even haphazard content could also be considered potential vehicles of hidden messages about a person’s future. An entire science was developed for interpreting such dreams and unravelling their hidden messages. To call dream interpretation a science may sound at odds with modern Western concepts of superstition, but applying our modern views to the study of ancient Egyptian oneiromancy would be grossly inappropriate. Very much like medical or legal texts, dream (and, generally, divination) books belonged to scribal and temple libraries, being a prerogative of the learned. Dream  interpretation handbooks, also known as oneirocritica, are the best- and longest-attested type of divinatory literature from Egypt. The earliest known such manuscript is P. (= papyrus) Chester Beatty 3... Now in the British Museum, it comes from the village of Deir el-Medina and dates to the time of Ramesses II (13th century BC). It originally belonged to the scribe Qenherkhepshef, whose preoccupations with sleep are further attested from other items once in his possession... Each line of this manuscript contains a description of a dream with its defining features and its interpretation, setting out what would befall the dreamer or his relations.Thus, in its col. 2/21, we read: ‘If a man sees himself in a dream eating donkey-meat: good, it indicates his promotion’. Almost one and a half millennia later, in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt, dream books still thrived, and are attested in larger numbers than ever. Handbooks of the kind that Hor himself may have used are now divided into a myriad of chapters, each dedicated to a different topic:  dreams about sex, about drinking, about animals... – basically any topic one could think (and thus dream) of. Within each chapter, individual dreams are still listed line by line, followed by their interpretation.Thus, within the section discussing sex-related dreams in P. Carlsberg 13, a manuscript from 2nd century AD- Tebtunis, a town in the Fayum,one may find: ‘If (a woman dreams that) a snake has sex with her: (it indicates that) she will find herself a husband. (But) if she is (already) married, she will become ill’ (frag. b, col.2/27–28)

Stela of Taimhotep, BM EA 147. Line 8 gives the reason for Taimhotep’s distress and her praying for Imhotep’s intervention

Below: Papyrus Chester Beatty 3, BM EA 10683. Colums 8-11 recto: note the elaborate layout of this dream book

Bottom: funerary headrest of Qenherkhepshef, BM EA 63783. The object’s funerary use, associating slumber with death,  clearly transpires from the hieroglyphic inscription, which mentions “a good sleep in the West (=the netherworld) and is surrounded by apotropaic figures.

But how did this science operate? How are the dreams and their respective interpretations matched? A rationale is indeed present, though at times not easily detectable. In the dream quoted above, the explanation is based on a (wholly Freudian!) association, assimilating the snake with a phallus and, therefore, with the image of a male partner. As for the dream from P. Chester Beatty 3, the coupling is instead based not on analogy of image or content, but of sound – namely, on wordplay as the words for ‘donkey’ (Egyptian ΄a΄a) and ‘promotion’ (Egyptian s΄a΄a) sounded alike

That divination was a particularly serious matter in Graeco-Roman times is also suggested by the concrete business that stood behind it. Not only Egyptian priests like Hor were active as dream interpreters: in the same area of Memphis, Greek-language soothsayers, too, were at work, interpreting dreams and advertising their skills to the increasing number of Greek residents in Egypt. One, who probably lived shortly before Hor, left behind what we may call his own ‘shop-sign’, where, in Greek, he boasts that ‘I interpret dreams, having (this talent) as an order from the god. With good luck! This interpreter comes from Crete’...

Business sign of a Cretan dream interpreter, CGC 27567. The decoration mixes Egyptian and classical styles. Underneath the Greek text is an image of the Apis bull, worshipped in the Serapeum at Saqqara, just a short distance from where this item was discovered.

But divination was far from limited to oneiromancy. In the fifth century BC, the Greek historian Herodotus included divination amongst the inventions of the Egyptians, saying that they had discovered ‘more omens than all other peoples’ (II.82). He was not exaggerating: many other mantic arts were practiced by the Egyptians since at least the New Kingdom, with their number and popularity steadily increasing in Graeco-Roman times. For instance, from Ramesside Deir el-Medina and now preserved in Turin’s Museo Egizio, we have fragments of a manuscript that illustrates the practice of lecanomancy (GCT54065). This is a way of foretelling the future that uses a dish or bowl filled with water. As described in the papyrus, oil was poured on the water, and the resulting patterns and shapes formed by the floating blobs were the signs to be interpreted. Remarkably, both lecanomancy and dream interpretation were already associated with Egypt by other ancient civilisations, and are for instance featured in the Biblical story of Joseph and his brothers.

Another Nineteenth Dynasty hieratic papyrus, also from Deir el-Medina and now in Turin (CGT 54024), deals with meteorological omens, including thunder – a divinatory technique known as brontoscopy.The same art was still practiced a millennium later, in Ptolemaic times: an unprovenanced Demotic papyrus in the Cairo Egyptian Museum (inv. RT 4/2/31/1-SR 3427) lists and interprets very similar omens, also in connection with the occurrence of a ‘voice-of-Seth’ (as thunder was called in Egyptian). One passage mentions perhaps the oddest scenario: thunder accompanied by shower sof… frogs (col. 1/11: ‘if a voice-of-Seth occurs and it [literally, the sky] rains frogs…’) – not entirely impossible in the wake of tornadoes and similar violent weather events!

Amongst the various branches of divination and equal only to oneiromancy, pride of place was certainly given to astrology – a relative late comer in the world of Egyptian divination,  following increased contacts with the Near East in the 1st millennium BC, particularly after the Assyrian and Persian invasions of Egypt. From the Graeco-Roman Period, a wealth of Demotic material, still largely unpublished, includes various types of documents related to astrology. First come astrological handbooks, which fall into two categories: manuals of universal astrology, interpreting the relative position of the celestial bodies in order to foretell the fate of entire countries and peoples; and handbooks of individual astrology, foretelling a person’s future based on the position of the celestial bodies at their time of birth, with respect to various divisions of the sky (including our twelve zodiacal signs, as well as other partitions known a sastrological ‘houses’). Thus, in one of the manuals of the latter type, the Demotic P. Berlin P. 8345 (from the Fayum, 1st or 2nd century AD), we can read, with regard to a man who was born ‘when Venus was in the descendant: he will quarrel much with a woman; a nasty reputation will come to him…’ (col. 2/5–7). Through such handbooks, the ancient Egyptian priests could cast life horoscopes for their customers. Working papers of these astrologers, i.e. jottings on ostraca and scraps of papyrus containing horoscopes, also survive in good numbers.

Yet another type of text, planetary tables,were essential to cast any horoscope – a kind of text that, from our modern perspective,we would classify as astronomical, rather than astrological. Such tables were painstakingly accurate numerical records of the exact dates when the celestial bodies entered specific zodiacal signs, and could extend over very long periods, years and years into the past, so as to allow an astrologer to look up the position of the planets at the time of their customer’s birth, no matter how far in the past this was, and thus cast their horoscope. A fine example are the so-called Stobart Tablets...,probably from Thebes and dating to the mid-or late second century AD. Now in the World Museum, Liverpool, they are thin wooden tablets covered with a layer of gesso and inscribed with Demotic, containing exhaustive information about planetary movements spanning the reigns of the emperors Vespasian (69–79 AD) to Hadrian (117–138 AD).

One of the Stobart Tablets, M 11467d recto. Red headings indicate years (here, regnal years14–17 of Hadrian, i.e.129/130–132/133 AD).Following each heading are five cells, one per planet, separated by horizontal lines, listingt he date (month and day) on which the planet in question entered the different zodiacal signs during that year. In the first two columns (fromt he right, as Demotic reads right to left),after ‘regnal year 14’(col. 1, line 16), we find sections for Saturn (lines 17–19), Jupiter (lines 20–22), Mars (lines 23–33), Venus (col. 2, lines 1–16), and Mercury (lines 17–30)

This brief introduction to ancient Egyptian divination cannot be considered complete before at least one further branch of divination is mentioned: that dealing with so-called animal omens, for which Demotic handbooks are attested specifically from the Roman Period. In this case, the omen to decipher was the behaviour of various animals – in most cases, their interaction or physical contact with a human observer, who was the target of the omen. The animals in question could be highly disparate, ranging from cows to dogs, from scorpions to shrewmice. Most typically, however, small animals seem to have been the favourite subject of this genre, for the simple reason that daily contact with creatures such as shrewmiceand the like, found in all Egyptian houses, wouldhave been the norm for everybody.  

 Just like astrology manuals, animal omen handbooks can also be roughly classified into two groups: those divided into chapters, each discussing omens pertaining to a different creature, and those entirely dedicated to one single animal. To the latter group belongs the fascinating Book of the Gecko thus titled in the original papyrus preserving it, P. Berlin P.15680, possibly from the 1st-century-AD Fayum. Geckos were as common in ancient Egypt as they are in the region today, where they can often be observed crawling on walls and ceilings.These lizards are such extraordinary climbers that their accidental fall must surely have caught the ancient Egyptians’ attention – to the point of being considered an omen. This is why all lines of the Book of the Gecko with the phrase ‘if it (i.e. a gecko) falls’, followed by the specifics of its mishap. These can include a woman’s body parts onto which the gecko would land, systematically listed from head to toe. Thus we read:

If it falls on her right breast: her heart will be greatly distressed, she should entrust herself to the god. If it falls on her left breast: she will be pleased within her family, many sons will be born to her. If it falls in between her breasts: she will fare very well, something from Pharaoh will quickly reach her (col. 2/2-4))

The handbook further proceeds by describing more elaborate situations in which a gecko may unwittingly partake, such as: ‘If it falls on a woman who is having sex: she will rejoice, she will rejoice anew over this same year’ (col. 3/21).

Many more divinatory arts are attested fromancient Egypt – far more than could be presented in this short article. What this brief introduction will have hopefully achieved is not only to introduce the reader to the world of ancient Egyptian divination, but also to give a better awareness of how much we are still discovering and learning, to this day, about the ways of ancient Egyptian life. Be it by excavations like those conducted by the EES in Saqqara, leading to the unearthing of the archive of Hor, or the product of “museum archaeology”, bringing about the publication of papyri previously lying neglected in museum collections, these discoveries are unlikely to cease any time soon, further deepening our understanding of ancient Egypt’s past through the way its inhabitants tried to read their own future.”

Source: https://www.academia.edu/33299952/Dreams_Rising_Stars_and_Falling_Geckos_Divination_in_Ancient_Egypt

Dr Luigi Prada is Assistant Professor in the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History at Uppsala University. His current project focuses on schooling and education in Ancient Egypt, with particular focus on the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. His other research interests include ancient divination (specifically, dream interpretation), bilingualism, and demotic language and literature. He participates in fieldwork in both Sudan and Egypt, where he is Assistant Director of the Oxford University Epigraphic Expedition to Elkab. . Check out his work here.

Source: https://papyrus-stories.com/luigi-prada/

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[2t2r]

Monolicious - les photos d'architecture de Sebastian Weiss

Nouvel article publié sur https://www.2tout2rien.fr/monolicious-les-photos-darchitecture-de-sebastian-weiss/

Monolicious - les photos d'architecture de Sebastian Weiss

[katlyntheartist]

Ooh, are we doing some Marilyn headcanons?

I got one! We all have little nicknames for our siblings and cousins, I headcanon that when the brothers are feeling mischievous, they tend to call her by certain names just to get on her nerves because she was getting on their nerves.

Mario tends to call her "Merlin" as a random name to call her by, or "Mini-Maz," whenever she's more energetic than usual.

Meanwhile, Luigi straight up calls her "Marilyn Monroe," to which she doesn't know who that even is, which annoys her even more XD

These are perfect XD

I'll also add that her mom calls her "Meryl Streep" from "The Devil Wears Prada" movie because Mary can be diabolical like Miranda haha.

[phantomstatistician]

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IMPORTANT NOTE: My husband and I are going on vacation to Japan!! I'll be away 4/4-4/20 and will not be posting during this time.

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GIURO DI ESSERE FEDELE ALLA REPUBBLICA

"GIURO DI ESSERE FEDELE ALLA REPUBBLICA, DI OSSERVARE LEALMENTE LA COSTITUZIONE E LE LEGGI DELLO STATO, DI ADEMPIERE AI DOVERI DEL MIO UFFICIO NELL'INTERESSE DELL'AMMINISTRAZIONE PER IL PUBBLICO BENE".

Cari Concittadini,

È per me un grandissimo onore rivolgermi a voi oggi come il vostro nuovo sindaco.

Prima di tutto, voglio ringraziare tutti coloro che hanno reso possibile questo momento, grazie alla mia famiglia, a tutti gli amici, ai volontari, ai sostenitori, all' amministrazione precedente per l'ottimo lavoro svolto e a voi cittadini che avete riposto la vostra fiducia nella squadra di Più Solbiate.

Sono consapevole delle grandi sfide che ci attendono. Viviamo in tempi complessi, in cui problemi come il cambiamento climatico, le guerre nel mondo e le disuguaglianze sociali richiedono risposte concrete e immediate. Affronteremo queste sfide insieme.

Questo mandato, come il precedente, sarà caratterizzato da trasparenza, inclusione e partecipazione. Credo fermamente che il dialogo aperto e la collaborazione con tutti i cittadini siano fondamentali per prendere decisioni che riflettano le esigenze di tutti. Prometto di essere sempre disponibile ad ascoltare le vostre preoccupazioni, le vostre idee e i vostri sogni.

Lavoreremo per migliorare i servizi pubblici, rendendoli più efficienti e accessibili a tutti. L'educazione, la salute, la sicurezza e il benessere dei nostri cittadini saranno al centro delle nostre priorità. Investiremo nelle infrastrutture, promuovendo uno sviluppo sostenibile che rispetti l'ambiente e valorizzi il nostro patrimonio culturale e naturale.

Desidero anche rafforzare il senso di comunità e appartenenza che ci unisce. Vogliamo un paese in cui ogni persona si senta rispettata, accolta e valorizzata. Insieme, possiamo lavorare per una società più giusta e solidale, in cui nessuno venga lasciato indietro, perché questo mi è stato insegnato.

Vorrei così introdurre un po' della mia storia personale. Ho avuto la fortuna di incrociare la vita di tante persone che hanno vissuto, subito o fatto la Storia, non posso citarli tutti. Mi limiterò a quelli da ragazzo, nel cortile dove sono nato: Mio nonno Mario che amante della libertà fu costretto per alcuni anni a riparare in Francia in quando i fascisti di Castellanza lo volevano uccidere. Zio Mimi, sopravvissuto all'offensiva sovietica a nord del Don che travolse gli Alpini: mal equipaggiati e a corto di rifornimenti, intrapresero una ritirata lungo un impervio cammino nella steppa in preda di grandi sofferenze. Mio papà, giocatore della Pro Patria e allenatore dell'U.C. Solbiatese, con i suoi amici, mi ha trasmesso la passione per lo sport. Nella mia stessa via abitavano Luciano Prada e Renato Pinnari, tra i fondatori del G.S. Solbiatese, dove ho avuto la possibilità di praticare lo sport agonistico, dove ho anche imparato i valori dell'associazionismo e del volontariato e che vedo ancora oggi in tutte le nostre associazioni e nei nostri volontari. Don Mario, cosa si può dire di Don Mario... grazie! Sempre dal mondo cattolico vorrei ricordare Luigi Giudici, fratello di mio suocero, che dall'Oratorio a 17 anni, risalì le montagne della Val Grande come partigiano per riguadagnare la libertà ma fu catturato e fucilato dai nazisti.

Oggi, molti non hanno un buon giudizio della vita politica italiana. La politica deve esprimere valori e come affermava Aristotele: “L’uomo nasce per vivere con gli altri”. Ma anche per la nostra Costituzione tutte le persone possono e debbono concorrere, con le proprie attitudini e con le proprie attività, al bene comune della comunità. Ho avuto la fortuna di conoscere e di avere come amici tanti amministratori solbiatesi che dimostravano impegno, voglia di fare, costanza, energia, onestà e non ultime le competenze come mia mamma quando faceva la cuoca al' asilo. La Politica è un’arte, la più alta, al servizio per la propria comunità e per le generazioni future. La Politica è il passaggio di testimone tra una generazione all’altra. E ci tengo che a chi verrà dopo di noi venga consegnato un mondo migliore di quello che abbiamo avuto, di quello che abbiamo oggi. Voglio che la Politica sia servizio e impegno.

Questo è quello che mi hanno insegnato e ho imparato, vorrei, vogliamo, così riuscire a riavvicinare tanti altri giovani alla vita amministrativa e politica, come una volta e come voleva Elena.

Vorrei ribadire il mio, nostro impegno a servire Solbiate Olona con dedizione, integrità e passione. Sarà un percorso impegnativo, ma come ha recentemente detto il direttore Riccardo Muti: «l’orchestra è il sinonimo di società. Ci sono i violini, i violoncelli, le viole, l’oboe, il trombone… Ognuno di loro spesso ha parti completamente diverse, ma devono concorrere tutti a un unico bene, che è quello dell’armonia di tutti».

Grazie ancora per la vostra fiducia. Insieme, cercheremo di costruire il futuro di Solbiate Olona e della Valle Olona.

Lucio Giuseppe Ghioldi

[euriosaparisi]

Feliz Navidad!

[lamilanomagazine]

"Riccardo Muti Italian opera academy" alla fondazione prada a Milano

"Riccardo Muti Italian opera academy" alla fondazione prada a Milano Milano, è stata inaugurata la nona edizione della "Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy" con una lezione concerto del Maestro Riccardo Muti, alla presenza di Miuccia Prada, Direttrice e Presidente di Fondazione Prada e di Patrizio Bertelli, Fondatore di Fondazione Prada. Fino al 29 novembre 2023 il pubblico può assistere nella sede di Milano della Fondazione all'intero percorso di lezioni e prove focalizzato su Norma di Vincenzo Bellini condotto dal Maestro Muti e al suo concerto finale. Un nuovo allestimento concepito per gli spazi del Deposito accoglie Riccardo Muti alla guida dell'Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini e del Coro del Teatro Municipale di Piacenza, che intraprende un progetto di formazione rivolto a giovani direttori d'orchestra e maestri collaboratori al pianoforte selezionati tra centinaia di candidature provenienti da tutto il mondo. I direttori d'orchestra selezionati sono: Clancy Ellis (Stati Uniti), Remi Geniet (Francia), Massimiliano Iezzi (Italia) e Izabela Kociolek (Polonia). I maestri collaboratori selezionati sono: Michelangelo D'Adamo (Italia), Nadia Kisseleva (Russia), Giovanni Alberto Manerba (Italia) e Manuel Navarro Bracho (Spagna). Gli interpreti dell'edizione 2023 dell'Italian Opera Academy sono: il tenore Klodjan Kaçani (Pollione), il basso Andrea Vittorio De Campo (Oroveso), il soprano Monica Conesa (Norma – titolare), il soprano Martina Gresia (Norma – copertura), il mezzo-soprano Eugénie Joneau (Adalgisa), il soprano Vittoria Magnarello (Clotilde) e il tenore Riccardo Rados (Flavio). I biglietti sono disponibili sul sito web di Fondazione Prada. L'edizione 2023 dell'Academy prosegue fino al 25 novembre con una serie di prove aperte al pubblico: al pianoforte, con l'orchestra, con i cantanti e il coro tenute dal Maestro e rivolte ai giovani musicisti. Il progetto si conclude con due appuntamenti: domenica 26 novembre la prova finale dei giovani direttori d'orchestra presentati da Riccardo Muti e mercoledì 29 novembre un concerto diretto dal Maestro. L'attenzione di Riccardo Muti verso l'educazione musicale è sempre stata un elemento costante della sua attività artistica. Con "Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy" si propone di condividere con i giovani musicisti ciò che ha imparato dai suoi grandi maestri e di accompagnarli nel processo di interpretazione e realizzazione di un'opera. Inoltre le lezioni e le prove aperte al pubblico permettono a tutti di accedere a una coinvolgente esperienza di approfondimento nel campo della musica classica. Come sostiene Miuccia Prada, Presidente e Direttrice di Fondazione Prada, "la collaborazione con Riccardo Muti e la sua Academy afferma la centralità dell'insegnamento e della trasmissione di conoscenze tra le diverse generazioni. Siamo convinti infatti che lo studio sia uno dei più efficaci strumenti di crescita artistica e personale. Questo progetto è un'importante opportunità di formazione, sia per i giovani allievi che avranno l'occasione di lavorare a stretto contatto con Riccardo Muti, sia per il pubblico che sarà coinvolto dalla generosità e dalla passione del Maestro e dal suo impegno nel diffondere e rafforzare la cultura musicale." Come dichiara Riccardo Muti, "Ho scelto Norma di Vincenzo Bellini perché voglio porre l'attenzione sul mondo belcantistico belliniano che Norma rappresenta nel modo più assoluto. Opera estremamente difficile che richiede grande attenzione al fraseggio e al tessuto orchestrale apparentemente semplice ma straordinariamente efficace nel sostenere e intrecciarsi alla linea vocale. La melodia sublime e infinita di Norma, che affascinò anche Wagner, richiede purezza e nobiltà di esecuzione. Il compito del direttore d'orchestra è quello di sublimare il canto senza tralasciare il tessuto orchestrale. Esso non deve essere ridotto a semplice accompagnamento ma deve intersecarsi con le voci, a cui dare colore e calore." In occasione delle edizioni 2023 e 2025 della "Riccardo Muti Italian Opera Academy", PwC Italia attiva una collaborazione con Fondazione Prada al fine di restituire alla comunità un'opportunità culturale che coinvolga un pubblico di appassionati e curiosi e in particolare le nuove generazioni. Nell'ambito di questa iniziativa è avviato il PwC Young Program, un progetto formativo rivolto alle scuole superiori e alle università del territorio lombardo, con un particolare focus sui conservatori e le scuole musicali. Il PwC Young Program intende favorire la partecipazione attiva degli studenti invitandoli ad assistere a una tariffa agevolata alle prove tenute da Riccardo Muti e intraprendere così un percorso di conoscenza della musica classica, in particolare dell'opera italiana, seguendo le spiegazioni e gli insegnamenti proposti dal vivo dal Maestro. PwC Italia si unisce a Fondazione Prada nel sostenere un intenso programma educativo che riafferma il ruolo della cultura come elemento chiave nella formazione dei più giovani.... #notizie #news #breakingnews #cronaca #politica #eventi #sport #moda Read the full article

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CERE ANATOMICHE LA SPECOLA DI FIRENZE DAVID CRONENBERG

Partiamo da un assunto necessario e cioè l’assoluto fascino, oltre che l’indiscusso valore artistico e scientifico, di una eccezionale collezione come quella delle cere anatomiche del Museo della Specola di Firenze. La mostra della Fondazione Prada di Milano, visitabile fino al 17 luglio prossimo, presenta 4 figure femminili in cera (a corpo intero) e 9 sezioni del corpo femminile che provengono dalla Sala dell’Ostetricia del museo fiorentino. A queste figure, si aggiungono 72 stampe dei vari apparati del corpo umano, opere del XIX secolo a tecnica mista (acquerello, matita, tempera), anch’esse di grande interesse scientifico e divulgativo. La Specola di Firenze è certamente un museo sui generis, aperto al pubblico nel 1775, accoglie più di 1.400 opere. Il merito della costituzione di questa straordinaria collezione è del Granduca di Toscana, Pietro Leopoldo d’Asburgo Lorena (1747-1792) che ebbe la grande intuizione di dividere il patrimonio dei beni dei Medici tra oggetti d’arte e oggetti scientifici. I modelli anatomici in cera sono il risultato di studi effettuati, grazie alle dissezioni su cadaveri che provenivano dall’Arcispedale di Santa Maria Nuova di Firenze e dai quali venivano eseguiti calchi in gesso, in cui veniva versata della cera che poi veniva rifinita dall’intervento di pittori e scultori sotto la la supervisione di esperti di anatomia. I modelli sono adagiati su un materasso ricoperto da un drappo di seta e venivano comunemente definiti come “Veneri”. Il ventre o il petto delle figure sono squarciati per mostrare il composito aspetto dell’interno del corpo, degli organi e degli apparati in esso contenuti. Tra gli artisti autori delle “Veneri” possiamo ricordare i nomi di Clemente Susini (1754-1814), Francesco Calenzuoli (1796-1829), Luigi Calamai (1800-1851) ed Egisto Tortori (1829-1893) e tra i supervisori anatomici Paolo Mascagni (1755-185), Filippo Uccelli (1770-1843), Tommaso Bonicoli (1746-1802): illustri sconosciuti per il grande pubblico, ma di indiscutibile talento. Purtroppo le opere esposte al primo piano del “Podium” non sono proprio godibilissime da parte del pubblico, a causa del divieto di avvicinarsi troppo alle opere in cera e dell’illuminazione intermittente, molto flebile, per non compromettere l’integrità della figure. Ma qual è la scelta fatta dai curatori della mostra? Potremmo dire che si tratta di un’operazione di divulgazione culturale e artistica, come già fu per “Il sarcofago di Spitzmaus e altri tesori”, mostra del 2019 in collaborazione con il Kunsthistorisches Museum di Vienna e curata da Wes Anderson e Juman Malouf. Al piano terra del Podium, ecco però “Four Unloved Women, adrift on a purposeless sea, experience the ecstasy of dissection”, video di David Cronenberg, appositamente realizzata per la mostra. Qual è il trait-d’union tra le Veneri della Specola e il video che mostra le stesse Veneri riprese alla deriva su materassini che galleggiano in una piscina? Difficile dirlo, poiché al di là di un labile legame tra gli squarci anatomici e i corpi sfracellati del celebrato film “Crash” del 1996, non si vede altro. Mentre però in Cronenberg c’è un certo compiacimento voyeuristico nell’indagare i corpi feriti o martoriati, le Veneri della Specola hanno anche un carattere divulgativo e scientifico. A meno che, il discorso sia molto più sottile e Cronenberg voglia guardare ad esse (anche) come opere di un estetismo vagamente perverso. Potrebbe essere e potrei essere io a non averlo percepito. Resta però il fatto che il video di Cronenberg è davvero miserello (e la piscina molto meno bella di quelle dipinte da Hockney). Più che altro, il video sembra del tutto pretestuoso e dà proprio l’impressione di essere stato girato “alla bisogna” per poterlo coniugare con le meravigliose opere fiorentine. Certo una mostra che lascia più di un dubbio nel visitatore.

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¡Nos encanta un comeback! Y más aún si es por una buena causa como @funcamama. La tarde de té organizada por @luisarodrigueztariba y su equipo en el @wtchesperiavalencia tuvo un toque importantísimo de moda internacional con la presencia de marcas como @dolcegabbana @roberto_cavalli y @prada a través de su representante en Venezuela, el legendario @casablanca_fg, quien regresó a mostrar sus nuevas colecciones de la mano de dos profesionales del manejo de modelos y celebridades, @emotalentgroup y @luigiratinomanagement. LUIGI RATINO y EMO AMULIO PIGORINI, dos managers con una trayectoria reconocida, con quienes hemos tenido el placer de compartir grandes trabajos editoriales en la historia de esta revista desde su edición #2 y por muchos años, a través del lente de @mariopaganofilm, así como del primer Fashion Week realizado en esta ciudad junto al super make up artist @daviddeibis, ahora residenciado en España. El duo cazatalentos nos deslumbró con los modelos masculinos y femeninos que lucieron las piezas de colección en un fashion showroom tipo walk-through para disfrute de las asistentes a esa velada de FUNCAMAMA. Celebramos los regresos, tanto el de ellos, como el de CASABLANCA, quienes en algún momento tuvieron su Outlet en @tusambilvln y esperamos vuelvan a estas tierras muy pronto. Por ahora, veamos este backstage que fotografió para nosotros @isra_shot con estos maravillosos talentos venezolanos. 📸 @cristiankuffaty y @fiorellaventresca 📸 @fraymarvisamon @chris.vigo y @gabrielanavasv 📸 @emotalentgroup y @luigiratinomanagement 📸 @gersonarellanox @samcourt2.0 y @brandoaguilar15 📸 @andreacastrop8 y @angelcardenas35 🛋️ Publicidad de Cerámicas Carabobo @lapieldetuhogar 📸 @eyilingfarah y @darwingonzalez1104 📸 @damianappadron @haroldael y @luisanaaguilera_21 📸 @henmercadez y @gretelurene 📸 @carmenmariaoh @juangarciaac y @perezsummer09 #moda #fashion #mode #valenciavenezuela #carabobo #talentovenezolano #italia #italy #model #supermodel (at Hesperia WTC Valencia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CkOZ-4orrzB/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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Sacred animals and especially cats in ancient Egypt

“ Kittens for Bastet

Jennifer Cromwell and Luigi Prada

Relief of Bastet, Kom Ombo

On 20th April, either 202 or 178 BCE, an embalmer named Onnophris wrote to Machatas, an official (epistates) in the village of Tanis in the Fayum semi-oasis, concerning kittens he had donated to the cat-goddess Bastet (also known by her Greek name of Boubastis), or at least had intended to donate!

“Since some kittens were born in my house and their mother did not attend to them, I went to the temple of Bastet and asked the dancers [i.e., priests] to come and to carry them back to the temple of Bastet. After they did not arrive, but went elsewhere, it happened that the kittens, while they were being weaned by me with milk at home, were snatched by a tomcat and carried down out of the house into the street. I rushed down and called for help to those who were present and heard. Thus, we stood about and with difficulty removed one kitten, those who had joined to help including Phasis, the village scribe, to whom I gave an official testimony of all that had happened.” (Based on the translation by R. W. Daniel)

The tomcat killed some of the kittens – even though this is not explicitly stated (perhaps intentionally so, out of religious propriety regarding such an unholy happening), the loss of sacred animals is why Onnophris sounds so panicky in this petition.

Onnophris then collected the surviving kitten and took it to the temple of Bastet, handing it over to some of its priests – the same people who had neglected to collect the kittens from his house before the incident took place. To protect himself from future accusations that he acted improperly in this situation, he asked the village scribe Phasis – an eyewitness to the tomcat’s attack – to write down Onnophris’ account of events. Additionally, as an added level of protection, Onnophris also had this plea written:

“So that I am not later denounced in an unseemly way, certain persons having acted maliciously, I beg and request you that, having subscribed regarding each of these statements … [text lost].”

But why did Onnophris have to go to such lengths?

P.Köln XV 594 (c) Cologne Papyrus Collection (inv. 21358)

The reason lies in the importance that animal cults had in ancient Egypt, especially in the later phases of the country’s history, including the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods. Overall, animals could play a twofold role in Egyptian religion: some were actual divine animals, physical incarnations on earth of a deity; others, instead, were sacred only in that they were associated with a deity in a ritual fashion. The best example of a proper divine animal is the Apis bull worshipped in the ancient capital of Memphis: honoured even by Alexander the Great on the occasion of his Memphite visit, the Apis was reborn and had to be identified each generation into another bull – almost like a bovine counterpart to the Dalai Lama – and his cult thrived for centuries on end.

As for the other kind of animal cults, its premise lay in the fact that many deities of the Egyptian pantheon had animal associations. Their zoomorphic appearance, and their representation in Egyptian art as animals or as animal-headed humans, is what comes first to mind: think of the god Horus, with his falcon head, or of the aforementioned Bastet, often pictured as a cat, or a cat-headed woman. It is thus no surprise that Egyptian deities could also be worshipped by ritually dedicating animals to them. This applies both to living animals, as in the case of the kittens that Onnophris planned to present to the local temple of Bastet, but it was also true with dead (often, ritually euthanised) animals, whose mummified remains were dedicated in their thousands by pious visitors as ex-votos and buried in sometimes huge catacombs, which archaeologists are still exploring to this day.

Catacombs at Tuna el-Gebel (the necropolis of Hermopolis), where thousands of mummified ibises and baboons have been found

Once dedicated, these animals were the sacred property of the relevant deity. It is thus understandable why Onnophris sounds so worried in his petition, fearing not so much the goddess’ punishment – as the kittens were killed through no direct fault of his – but rather legal problems. Indeed, the special status of sacred animals was sanctioned in a number of Egyptian texts: legal texts from this time discuss the abuse of sacred animals and the resulting penalties, and people are warned against hurting them in wisdom texts too, compositions that contained moral instructions as to how a rightful person ought to behave. Thus, the demotic papyrus P. Ashmolean Dem. 1984.77 verso, from approximately the 2nd century CE, says:

“Do not beat any (sacred) animals with a stick, stone, or any (piece of) wood. Be careful with regard to the animals which are sacred.” (Translation by R. Jasnow)

P.Ashmolean Dem. 1984.77 (c) Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

And even Herodotus, the Greek writer who visited Egypt in the mid-5th century BCE, makes the following remark, in Histories 2.65.5:

“Whoever kills one of these creatures intentionally is punished with death; if he kills accidentally, he pays whatever penalty the priests appoint. Whoever kills an ibis or a hawk, intentionally or not, must die for it.” (translation by A. D. Godley)

Indeed, the cult of animals was one of the aspects of ancient Egyptian religion that most struck the imagination of contemporary classical writers, for better or for worse. As an egregious example of the latter, the poet Juvenal, active in the late 1st and early 2nd century CE, thus began his Fifteenth Satire:

“Who knows not (…) what monsters demented Egypt worships? One district adores the crocodile, another venerates the ibis that gorges itself with snakes. In the place where (…) ancient hundred-gated Thebes lies in ruins, men worship the glittering golden image of the long-tailed ape. In one part cats are worshipped, in another a river fish, in another whole townships venerate a dog; none adore [the goddess] Diana, but it is an impious outrage to crunch leeks and onions with the teeth. What a holy race to have such divinities springing up in their gardens! No animal that grows wool may appear upon the dinner-table (…) but it is lawful to feed on the flesh of man!” (translation by G. G. Ramsey)

Perhaps as a poetic licence, Juvenal lets his imagination – and his invective against Egyptian cults – run amuck, ridiculing Egyptian beliefs to the point of even making up accusation of vegetable-worship and cannibalism!

In the context of millennia of history of Egyptian religion, the misadventure of Onnophris and of his kittens in the small village of Tanis is perhaps a minor incident – yet, it powerfully and colourfully conveys the worries, hopes, and beliefs of a whole civilisation.

Technical Details (Greek text) Provenance: Near Tanis in the Fayum; Egypt Date: 20th April 202 or 178 BCE Language: Greek Collection: Cologne, Papyrus Collection (inv. 21358) Designation: P.Köln XV 594 (according to the Checklist of Editions) Bibliography: Robert W. Daniel (2017), “594: Petition concerning Kittens” in P.Köln XV, pp. 1–11.

Technical Details (Demotic text) Provenance: Thebes (probably), Egypt Date: Late 2nd century – early 3rd century CE Language: Demotic Collection: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (P. Ashm. 1984.77) Designation: P. Ashmolean Dem. 1984.77 verso Bibliography: RichardJasnow, “A Demotic Wisdom Papyrus in the Ashmolean Museum (P. Ashm. 1984.77 Verso)”, in Enchoria 18 (1991), pp. 43–54, pls. 9–11.

Cat mummy case, Ptolemaic period (c) British Museum, EA25298″

https://papyrus-stories.com/2020/04/13/kittens-for-bastet/

Jennifer Cromwell is Senior Lecturer in Ancient History at Manchester Metropolitan University and member of the Manchester Centre for Youth Studies. She created and runs the blog Papyrus Papers

Luigi Prada is Assistant Professor in the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History at Uppsala University. His current project focuses on schooling and education in Ancient Egypt, with particular focus on the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. His other research interests include ancient divination (specifically, dream interpretation), bilingualism, and demotic language and literature. He participates in fieldwork in both Sudan and Egypt, where he is Assistant Director of the Oxford University Epigraphic Expedition to Elkab.

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Gisele for Dust Magazine Fall/Winter 2022 by Luigi & Iango

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Photo: Luigi & Iango

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Vogue Japan photographer Luigi & Iango stylist Anna Dello Russo model Natalia Vodianova

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Da sinistra. Luigi Saravo, giacca e camicia rigata, Prada. Anna Caterina Morariu. Abito Cerruti Arte. Alessandra Acciai. Pull a v di cashmere, Prada. Rosalinda Celentano. Abito bianco con maxi fiori, Antonio Barardi. Urbano Barberini. Cappotto, suit e camicia, Boss Hugo Boss. Anita Caprioli. Abito Imitation of Christ.