La Venus del espejo is a painting by Diego Velázquez (1599–1660), the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age. Completed between 1647 and 1651, and probably painted during the artist's visit to Italy, the work depicts the goddess Venus in a sensual pose, lying on a bed and looking into a mirror held by the Roman god of physical love, her son Cupid. The painting is in the National Gallery, London.
It is the only surviving female nude by Velázquez. Nudes were extremely rare in seventeenth-century Spanish art, which was policed actively by members of the Spanish Inquisition. Despite this, nudes by foreign artists were keenly collected by the court circle, and this painting was hung in the houses of Spanish courtiers until 1813, when it was brought to England to hang in Rokeby Park, Yorkshire. In 1906, the painting was purchased by National Art Collections Fund for the National Gallery, London. Although it was attacked and badly damaged in 1914 by the suffragette Mary Richardson, it soon was fully restored and returned to display.
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Two political entities which have long fascinated me – the Roman Catholic Church and the State of Israel – and their seemingly remote similarities, are analyzed this issue in the “Editor's Page”.
In “Fiction” our old friend the Argie-gringo Roberto Fox travels from Buenos Aires to Berlin on a special op. There's also a story by a new (for us) author, Michael Conn. Don't be put off by the conservative title. It's far from boring. And oh yes, Mark Twain gave permission to publish one of his lesser known stories.
In “Current Events” don't miss Yoani Sanchez's bilingual adventures in a Cuba Libre which is far from libre. Noam Chomsky chomps on the Middle East mess to tell us of a solution that won't happen.
“Features”: I finally found an Argentinean who loves Cyd Charisse as much as I do – José Pablo Feinman. His article about her is extravagantly charming. Last issue we published an old story by J. D. Salinger. Now some old letters of his to an old army buddy have surfaced. They tell of a Salinger who is quite the opposite of the grouchy old man of our prejudices. Then comes an erudite article by Stanley Fish about the unnecessary opposition of Reason and Faith.
In “Education” Don Fost describes a Silicon Valley Waldorf School where many parents are high paid computer geeks who prefer a low tech education for their children. And Prof. David Elkind laments the fact that today's children have forgotten how to play – really play, not mess around with computer games.
In “Anthroposophy” we continue the Rudolf Steiner's Fifth Gospel and anthroposophical movement lectures and introduce a new subject: Steiner's last lectures about Karmic relationships. We also offer the complete Genesis lectures as an ebook. Bringing up the rear is the review by Peter Staudenmaier of a massive book about anthroposophy by Helmut Zander. The book is in German, the review is in English.
The bottom line is Poetry: T.S: Eliot's The Waste Land.
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Contents
Education
Tech gets a time-out
at Silicon Valley Waldorf School
Don Fost
Playtime is Over
David Elkind
Anthroposophy
Karmic Relationships - I
The Fifth Gospel - VI
The Anthroposophical Movement - 5:
The Decline of the Theosophical Society
Genesis X
Secrets of the Bible Story of CreationGenesis E-book - all 10 lectures
Rudolf Steiner
Anthroposophy
in Germany:
Theosophical Worldview and
Social Practice 1884-1945
by Helmut Zander
Review by Peter Staudenmaier
Poetry
The Wasteland
T. S. Eliot
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