Twenty-twenty-one was a banner year in Italy and abroad for those celebrating the life of Dante Alighieri, who died in September of 1321, in exile from his native city, Firenze or Florence, Italy. Threatened with execution, Dante spent the rest … Continue reading The Right Path Having Been Lost
Having lived near Siena for a relatively longer time than Hisham Matar’s sojourn, which he eloquently describes in “A Month in Siena,” I appreciate his experiences there. As a college student, my encounters with the city were more with people than with a conscious engagement with art and architecture. So, I loved “living” there again through his eyes and his immersion in Siena’s interior life. Goodread’s book description summarizes this work well–[ https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46064199-a-month-in-siena ]. I’d like to add a few passages from the book to that summary: I loved his description of Siena’s central square, La Piazza del Campo, where … Continue reading The Power of Place – ‘A Month in Siena’ by Hisham Matar
After an hours-long drive out of Athens, we reached the mountains. Parnassus came into view. Our ears popped with the change of altitude. We passed through a jarringly Nordic ski village, Arachova, before ascending higher on the sacred mountain, until a line of tour buses alerted us to our arrival at the Temple of Apollo’s complex where its oracle once moved men to make decisions, sometimes disastrous ones. A layer of blueish-gray clouds hung overhead, obscuring the sun and chilling the air. I zipped up my raincoat and shivered. With the sheer face of a mountain behind me, I made … Continue reading Dallying in Delphi
Susan Bass Marcus Writes 