Pages

St. Mark's Campanile, Venice

Ruins of St. Mark's Campanile


Piazza San Marco, Venice

The campanile of Venice collapsed mid-morning on July 12, 1902.

The campanile's fall is also part of the story telling in Realms of Gold.

Otranto The mosaic of secrets


More than one thousand years old, this precious tree of life mosaic pavement in Otranto Cathedral depicts the image of the melusina and other mythical creatures as well as the first representation of King Arthur.  Both the melusina and King Arthur have a place in my novel, Realms of Gold.



Melusina Otranto Cathedral


The precious pavement in Otranto Cathedral is one is one of the sites depicting the image of the melusine. This mythical creature is part of the story telling in Realms of Gold.





Vix Krater Statuette


Displayed separately from the Krater is its perforated lid, with a protrusion at its centre which supports a 19 cm statuette of molded bronze, depicting a woman with one outstretched arm, which once may have held some object. She wears a peplos , the body-length Ancient Greek garment worn by women, and her head is covered by a veil. The statuette appears of a somewhat older style than figures on the rest of the vessel. 


Artù. King Arthur. From The Tree of Life, mosaic floor, Otranto Cathedral, Puglia, Italy.



Designed by the monk, Pantaleone, built by Duke Roger, of Apulia in 1163, completed 1166-67. Chrétien died in 1180. Between 1160 and 1170 he was at the court of Marie de Champagne. The floor is contemporary with Chrétien. The story of King Arthur was most likely brought to Otranto by the Normans who had occupied what is now Puglia and Sicily since the early eleventh century.



 The very first example of Arthurian imagery may be these mosaic pavements (Otranto Cathedral, Puglia , c.1165

Contemporary with Chretien de Troyes


Otranto. Detail of the mosaic in the cathedral. Photo by Giuseppe and Pierluigi Bolognini, from ''Il mosaico di Otranto, Biblioteca medioevale in immagini'' by Grazio Gianfreda, Edizioni Grifo


Otranto Cathedral


Myth of Melusine


Melusine (or Melusina) is a figure of European legends and folklore, a feminine spirit of fresh waters in sacred springs and rivers. She is usually depicted as a woman who is a serpent or fish from the waist down (much like a mermaid)

The most famous literary version of Melusine tales, that of Jean d'Arras, compiled about 1382 - 1394 was worked into a collection of "spinning yarns" as told by ladies at their spinning.



From Sybaris to Burgundy - Part Six


French and Italian translations follow the English text.
Translation. French, Dr. Thierry Boucquey: Italian, Dottoressa Paola Biscosi


Part VI
My research on Chrétien eventually led me to read The Historical King Arthur by Geoffrey Ashe, a Cambridge don, and the most famous Arthurian expert.  His theory: in Late Antiquity, circa 460 A.D., Arthur Riothamus (kingliest or great king) King of the Britons, was called into service by the Romans to rid Gaul of the Visigoths. Although an historical Arthur was described in The History of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth a few generations before Chrétien de Troyes, it was Chrétien who first wrote about Arthur as a character in his Four Romances.  Chrétien was also the first to write of Lancelot and Guinevere and Camelot.  In his  last, unfinished romance, Le Conte du Graal, he told the story of  Blanchefleur and Perceval--and a grail.   


De Sybaris en Italie jusqu'en Bourgogne - Part VI

Mes recherches sur Chrétien m’ont finalement menée à the historical l King Arthur.  Arthur Riothamus (460 av. JC), roi des Bretons, a été recruté par les Romains pour débarrasser la Gaule des Wisigoths. Bien que Geoffrey de Monmouth ait décrit un Arthur historique dans son  Historia Regum Brittaniae quelques générations avant Chrétien de Troyes, c’est ce dernier qui a écrit en premier sur Arthur comme personnage dans ses quatre romans. Chrétien a également été le premier à écrire au sujet de Lancelot, de Guenièvre et de la Table Ronde. Dans son dernier roman, Le Conte du Graal, qu’il n’a pas achevé, il a raconté l'histoire de Blanchefleur et de Perceval ainsi que du Graal.


Dall’italica Sibari alla Borgogna in Francia - Part VI

In ultima analisi, la mia ricerca su Chrétien mi condusse  The Historical Of Britain di Geoffrey de  Monmouth.   Secondo la sua teoria, Arthur Riothamus (460 a.C),  re britannico, sarebbe stato inviato dai romani per liberare la Gallia dai Visigoti. Benché l’esistenza storica di un Artù ci