Michelangelo's Noah in the Sistine Chapel

"Noah . . .  became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent . . . "

"Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness . . . "

"Shem and Japheth  . . . turned the other way so they would not see . . . "

An exhibition of actual-size reproductions of images from the Sistine Chapel is currently to be seen at Vienna's Votivkirche.

Michelangelo's depiction of Noah's right hand, seen here in close-up, is unusual to say the least.

It might be an interesting exercise to compare Noah's hand with the artist's depiction of a cloven foot in the following picture of Noah's sons sacrificing a couple of rams.

zodiac heads

The bronze heads to be seen at Vienna's Belvedere Palace until a few weeks ago represented the 12 heads of the 18th cent. zodiac circle of animals at Yuanmingyuan - the Palace of Calm Seas - in Beijing. Twelve figures adorned the water-clock fountain in front of the palace until 1860 when the site was destroyed by British and French troops during the Second Opium War and the heads were looted. Seven of the heads have since found their way back to China. Four recovered heads were in possession of a world famous fashion designer in Paris according to information available at the Belvedere. Five heads are still missing. May they return safely home. The artist is Ai Weiwei.

three skyscapes

Crows not flying as the crow flies

Sunset over Vienna Woods 

The morning and the evening star

 crows dance on the breeze  

 a contrail streaks over the sunset  –

   venus comes into view


Venus, seen from Vienna, is illuminated by sunlight from the right side (west).  At this time of year she can be observed from a little after 4pm when she is the only visible star in the sky.