In this week’s episode of “Cocktails with a Curator,” Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator Xavier F. Salomon focuses on Francesco da Sangallo’s “St. John Baptizing,” which can be found at the very center of the third floor of Frick Madison. Commissioned in the 16th century for a church in the Tuscan town of Prato, the bronze statuette has been installed atop a facsimile of the marble holy water font on which it was originally displayed, allowing visitors to see it as it was meant to be viewed. This week’s complementary cocktail is the White Negroni, a modern twist on a classic Florentine cocktail.
The best-known form of transport on the waterways of Venice is the gondola. Today there are only several hundred of these unique, keelless boats left, and they have long been outnumbered by other vessels. But their elegant, sleek shape and gleaming black paintwork have made them a symbol of Venice. Many writers have described the romance of Venice by gondola, and many tourists are still willing to pay high prices to be rowed at twilight through the canals to the singing of a gondolier. But it is many years since gondoliers could recite verses from such Italian poets as Ariosto or Tasso while maneuvering their amazingly flexible craft around the sharp bends of the minor canals. A number of gondolas still serve as ferries across the Grand Canal, but the cost of maintenance makes their ultimate disappearance likely.
Tbilisi is the capital of the country of Georgia. Its cobblestoned old town reflects a long, complicated history, with periods under Persian and Russian rule. Its diverse architecture encompasses Eastern Orthodox churches, ornate art nouveau buildings and Soviet Modernist structures. Looming over it all are Narikala, a reconstructed 4th-century fortress, and Kartlis Deda, an iconic statue of the “Mother of Georgia.”
Lazio is a central Italian region bordering the Tyrrhenian Sea. Its principal city, Rome, is Italy’s capital and was at the heart of the ancient Roman Empire. Its iconic ruins include the Coliseum, an amphitheater that seated thousands. On the coast, the ancient port of Ostia still retains detailed mosaics and a theater. Inland are the forested Apennine Mountains, with nature reserves, lakes and stone-built villages.
Republican state legislators across the country began to formulate new voting laws in response to the tumultuous 2020 presidential election in State Houses across the country. In Georgia, the voting law known as SB 202 has become mired in controversy, as opponents of the law claim it will further voter suppression, and supporters of the new law argue that it will bring back confidence in elections.
Germany is a Western European country with a landscape of forests, rivers, mountain ranges and North Sea beaches. It has over 2 millennia of history. Berlin, its capital, is home to art and nightlife scenes, the Brandenburg Gate and many sites relating to WWII. Munich is known for its Oktoberfest and beer halls, including the 16th-century Hofbräuhaus. Frankfurt, with its skyscrapers, houses the European Central Bank.
Five stories to know for April 16: The Indianapolis FedEx shooting, Chicago police body camera video of Adam Toledo shooting, Derek Chauvin 5th amendment, Biden meets Japan’s Suga and Jimmy Lai gets 14 month prison sentence.
1. A gunman opened fire at an Indianapolis Fedex. The mass shooting left eight people dead and several others injured. The gunman took his own life, police said.
2. Chicago releases body camera footage of police shooting Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old boy. Toledo appeared to be raising his hands in an alley more than two weeks ago. The nine-minute video from officer Eric Stillman’s body camera showed showed Stillman yelling “Stop” to Toledo before he caught up to him and ordered him to show his hands. Toledo appeared to raise his hands right before Stillman fired one shot and then ran to the boy as he fell to the ground. Following the incident Chicago police department said Adam Toledo had a gun in his hand.
3. Former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin waived his right to testify to the jury about his part in the deadly arrest of George Floyd . Judge Peter Cahill denied the prosecutor’s request to admit test results as new evidence in the case, saying it was too last-minute in a way that was prejudicial to Chauvin. Cahill warned prosecutors that if a witness even mentioned the existence of the new test results, he would declare a mistrial.
4. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will present a united front on Taiwan, China’s most sensitive territorial issue, in a summit meeting.
5. Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai was sentenced to 14 months in prison while nine other activists received jail time or suspended sentences for taking part in unauthorized assemblies during mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.
The River Thames, known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At 215 miles, it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the River Severn.
RIVER BUS STOPS 00:00▪️North Greenwich (The O2) 11:41▪️Greenwich 15:51▪️Masthouse Terrace 18:29▪️Greenland (Surrey Quays) 20:44▪️Canary Wharf 28:23▪️St. Katharine’s Pier 25:59▪️Tower Bridge 32:54▪️London Bridge City Pier 36:24▪️Bankside Pier 44:57▪️Embankment 47:26▪️Westminster Pier 52:29▪️Millbank
Located in Manly, this modern house emphasises casual beachside living through a strong connection to the external environment. Sitting in one of the suburb’s leafiest streets, the modern house enjoys optimal views to the surrounding areas, maximising the cross-flow of natural breezes from its elevated position.
The modern house’s material palette draws inspiration from the history of the surrounding area, whilst raw materials provide a contemporary architectural form, blurring the lines between casual and formal life. A long horizontal concrete form with chamfered edges is clad in breeze-admitting passive timber shading devices and bands of glazing that invite views of the carefully curated greenery. Responding to its coastal location, this modern house is defined by a timber-lined ceiling extending to the soffit and polished concrete floors, creating a series of seamless spaces flowing onto each other, from open to closed, informal to formal, refined and robust all at the same time.
Open-plan living spaces spill out to the outdoor living and pool areas on the ground floor, blurring the line between outside and inside, emphasising the garden outlook, natural light-filled spaces and the modern house’s connection to its environment. A large oversized island bench is the meeting point of the modern home, with streamlined kitchen and living room joinery connecting the living spaces. Ancillary spaces are tucked away into the core of the building, allowing maximum natural light to the living spaces.
As a modern house, the concrete stair is a sculptural presence that sweeps upwards, binding the living spaces to the bedrooms and bathrooms on level one, where the external timber screens add ventilation and ever-changing shadows within. In the basement, a wine cellar, laundry, utility and theatre room provide technical support to the rest of the modern house.
Architecture and Interior Design by DKO Architecture. Development by Adjani. Photography by Tom Ferguson and Toby Peet. Filmed and Edited by Cheer Squad Film Co. Production by The Local Project.
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
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