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Benvenuti in queste pagine dedicate a scienza, storia ed arte. Amelia Carolina Sparavigna, Torino

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Caesar and Caesarion


Quello sguardo amaro: i volti di Cesare e Cesarione. Intervista a Paolo Moreno
24/01/2011 - UmbriaLeft, by Giovanni Corazzi
Giusto un anno fa, nella nostra Umbrialeft veniva pubblicato un articolo in cui si parlava di una grande mostra, iniziata allora da qualche settimana (ottobre 2009) nel centro francese di Arles (presso il Musée départemental Arles antique) e dedicata agli oggetti riemersi dal fiume Rodano (riva destra, all’altezza, appunto, della cittadina provenzale) nel corso di una ventennale campagna condotta dal Drassm, il dipartimento ministeriale francese delle ricerche archeologiche, subacquee e sottomarine, guidato da Luc Long. .. tra cui un bellissimo busto. .. il Long sin dall’inizio avesse proposto senza esitazioni il nome di Cesare per il busto riemerso. Tale attribuzione, sebbene confermata da studiosi di valore quali lo storico Christian Goudineau (un classico il suo saggio su Cesare e la Gallia) e l’esperto di iconografia cesariana Flemming Johansen (autore di un importante lavoro del 1967, revisionato vent’anni dopo, dedicato ai ritratti in marmo di Cesare), è stata inizialmente contestata da altri studiosi, che hanno pensato a un magistrato romano o a un notabile di Arles. Fin dall’annuncio della scoperta (maggio 2008) era intervenuto al dibattito uno dei più importanti archeologi italiani, Paolo Moreno, ... Il Moreno ha toccato la questione anche nel 2009, con l’interessante ed elegante volume Cleopatra Capitolina (Editinera), e lo scorso ottobre in una lezione tenuta a Torino in occasione del «FestivalStoria». I suoi interventi hanno fornito nuove indicazioni sul ritratto, inserendolo in un ampio contesto che abbraccia il tratto mediterraneo da Arles ad Alessandria e che parla di una famiglia tanto grande quanto sfortunata. Divengono, infatti, protagonisti anche la regina d’Egitto Cleopatra e il figlio da lei avuto con Cesare, Tolemeo XV Cesare, meglio noto come Cesarione. Questi, nato nel 47 a.C., venne associato al regno a soli tre anni per volontà della madre, che evidentemente nutriva per il piccolo grandi progetti. ... 




http://www.umbrialeft.it/approfondimenti/quello-sguardo-cos%C3%AC-amaro-volti-cesare-e-cesarione-intervista-paolo-mor

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Monte Viso

 "Monte Viso is the location of a neolithic jadeite quarry, at an elevation of 2000 to 2400 metres. Its productivity peaked around 5000 BC. The jadeite was used to make cult axes, which are found all over western Europe." From Wiki

Geheimnisvolle Kult-Beile: Statussymbole der Steinzeit, Von Almut Bick
Sie sind ein Mysterium, eines der größten Rätsel aus der Zeit der Jäger und Sammler: Steinklingen aus kostbarstem Jadeit. Wozu dienten diese Äxte, die Archäologen in halb Europa gefunden haben? Forscher sind dem Geheimnis nun dicht auf der Spur ...Über sechstausend Jahre ist es her, dass die steinzeitlichen Bergleute mit dem äußerst seltenen Jadeit heimkehrten. Hoch oben, jenseits der Schneegrenze des Monte Viso in den italienischen Alpen, betrieben sie einen regelrechten Steinbruch für das grüne Mineral. ...

http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mensch/geheimnisvolle-kult-beile-statussymbole-der-steinzeit-a-477917.html

See also:
Zwischen Atlantik und Schwarzem Meer , Die großen Beile aus alpinem Jadeit im 5. und 4.Jt. v. Chr
by Serge Cassen
http://www.academia.edu/1954923/Zwischen_Atlantik_und_Schwarzem_Meer_Die_grossen_Beile_aus_alpinem_Jadeit_im_5._und_4.Jt._v.Chr

Zu den Jadeit-Quellen am Monte Viso
by Rengert Elburg
http://www.academia.edu/3119319/Zu_den_Jadeit-Quellen_am_Monte_Viso

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Liath Meisicith

From "The Mystery of Fire", by Mainly Palmer Hall, 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manly_Palmer_Hall

The burning glass of Druids


Saturday, March 23, 2013

C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS

Comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS as seen from Mount Dale, Western Australia. Image credit: Astronomy Education Services/Gingin Observatory


Image obtained after processing with AstroFracTool the original at
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/asteroids/news/comet20130307.html




Sunday, March 3, 2013

Air curtains for Terracotta Warriors

"New system can shield national relics from damage by pollution. Even the Terracotta Warriors are feeling the effects of China's choking air pollution. Chinese scientists have found that the indoor environment where the Terracotta Warriors are housed could cause them to deteriorate, prompting some scientists to raise the idea of using air curtain technology to help control the environment in the pits."
More at http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2013-03/02/content_16268606.htm


Adapted from Wikipedia, courtesy Maros

Physics of archaeology

"Physics is breaking new ground in the field of archaeology and human evolution.
So much so that in just a few years the gains in archaeology now equal the gains made from the past 100 years of using traditional methods, explains nuclear physicist and University of Wollongong visiting Professor Claudio Tuniz. Dr Tuniz, who began his career in the United States using physics to analyse moon rocks and meteorites, has spent almost two decades examining how advanced scientific technology in nuclear physics and X-rays can tell us more about palaeoanthropology and human evolution. ..."
more at
http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/1333188/hi-tech-discoveries-archaeology-transformed/?cs=12

Mosaic - Palazzo Madama, Turin


XI-XII Century, Palazzo Madama, Torino

Friday, March 1, 2013

Karazuri - A ghost


Nishiki-e print with Karazuri; a work by Utagawa Toyokuni II (Toyoshige), 1825-1830, representing a ghost, Museo di Arte Orientale, Torino.


On Karazuri, read please
The Japanese art of using an inkless printing
http://ssrn.com/abstract=2747878

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Leonardo da Vinci and Amboise

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Château_d'Amboise

 "The royal Château at Amboise is a château located in Amboise, in the Indre-et-Loire département of the Loire Valley in France. Confiscated by the monarchy in the 15th century, it became a favoured royal residence and was extensively rebuilt. 
...
King Francis I was raised at Amboise, which belonged to his mother, Louise of Savoy, and during the first few years of his reign the château reached the pinnacle of its glory. As a guest of the King, Leonardo da Vinci came to Château Amboise in December 1515 and lived and worked in the nearby Clos Lucé, connected to the château by an underground passage." 

In 1516, Francis I invited Leonardo da Vinci to Amboise and hosted him in the Clos Lucé, then called Château de Cloux. Leonardo arrived in Amboise with three of his famous paintings:  Mona Lisa, Sainte Anne, and Saint Jean Baptiste. Leonardo lived at the Clos Lucé for the last three years of his life. He died there on 2 May 1519.


Image processing from a picture of the modern statue in Amboise of Leonardo in the pose of a river god.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_IMG_1759.JPG

Horned frog - Robert Wilson




Horned frog
Robert Wilson
Palazzo Madama, Torino



Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Dodecahedral die

"In modern role-playing games, the dodecahedron is often used as a twelve-sided die, one of the more common polyhedral dice" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodecahedron
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dice#Non-cubical_dice

Even in the past, the dodecahedron was used for dice.
Here an example form the site archéologique de la Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Genève 
http://www.site-archeologique.ch/contenu.php?id-node=25&id-img=84

Copie d'un dé romain, en forme du dodécaèdre, datant du IVe siècle

Even older are the Etruscan dodecahedra:


More on the etruscan dodecahedron at sites:


Tuesday, December 11, 2012

CALCULI, COMPAS, DODECAEDRE

Very interesting page at http://www.alienor.org/Articles/ecriture/instrument3.htm
telling that "Les Gallo-Romains possédaient également différents instruments destinés aux disciplines scientifiques Pour compter, on utilisait des petits cailloux appelés calculi qui étaient placés dans des cases. On disposait aussi de compas se rapportant à la géométrie mais aussi au traçage des lignes d’écriture. ... Aujourd’hui, les avis convergent pour interpréter les dodécaèdres en bronze, creux, comme des instruments de géomètre."

Musée de Poitiers. Visit the site!


Les dodécaèdres gallo-romains (2)