Sarcophagus Fragment, Roman, ca. 240-250 CE, The Art Institute of Chicago

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Ancient statue discovered in Rome

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/CultureAndMedia/?id=1.0.2056023971

News like this always makes me happy. I only wish that articles like this would print a freaking picture! I know it's not as simple as that, but come on guys. People want to see what you've found. Sculpture is best appreciated if you can see it! Anyway, that gives me a good lead in to a topic I've been wanting to mention. I love books, and I'm sure most people who love Classics love books as well. I have a large and ever growing collection of books on all things Greek and Roman. I have my share of Tacitus, Cicero, Plato, Pliny and so on. But I have another category of books witch sometimes brings me to blush. I love what I call, Sunday morning coffee books. These are large format coffee table books, full of glossy pictures. Books like this are the porn of the Classics world. They have limited if sometimes dubious historical information, but the pictures are outstanding. I call them Sunday morning coffee books for reasons you can guess. I look forward all week to the time spent with my Sunday morning coffee books. It's a time where I can look as some glossy pictures of Pompeii fresco or the Colosseum and just day dream. Some people may laugh at me for spending money on these "bargain rack" books when there are plenty of "legitimate" books out there to be had, but I don't care. My Sunday morning coffee books are like a little escape for me. When I look out my window I see Milwaukee, not Rome or Athens, so it's nice to change the view sometimes, if just for a morning.

1 comments:

Nick Scratch said...

What a great post!