Culture Explorer
@CultureExploreX

Defending beauty. Preserving tradition. Exploring the art, history, and ideas that shape civilizations.

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Joined July 2014
22,239 Photos and videos
Would you call someone a peacemaker if they sat down with your enemy? In 1219, during the Fifth Crusade, Francis of Assisi entered the Muslim camp in Egypt to meet Sultan al-Kamil. A Christian friar and a Muslim ruler spoke while their fellow believers fought. “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Matthew 5:9 It is an easy verse to admire until making peace means speaking to someone your own side has taught you to hate. The Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi honors a man who took that risk. Its beauty deserves our attention. His example deserves an answer. Who would you be condemned for speaking to today?
Nave of the upper basilica. Public Domain.

ALT Nave of the upper basilica. Public Domain.

Papal altar with frescoes Public domain

ALT Papal altar with frescoes Public domain

The Lower and Upper basilicas and the portico, as seen from the Lower Plaza of Saint Francis. Public domain

ALT The Lower and Upper basilicas and the portico, as seen from the Lower Plaza of Saint Francis. Public domain

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New York once put brass chandeliers in a subway station. What would we call that today? A waste of money? On October 27, 1904, the city opened its first subway: 28 stations across 9.1 miles. At City Hall, passengers waited beneath Rafael Guastavino’s tiled vaults, with daylight entering through three amethyst-glass skylights. The station was designed to persuade people to try a new way of travelling. Beauty had a practical job. It closed in 1945. Its tight curve struggled to accommodate longer trains, and nearby Brooklyn Bridge station drew more passengers. Even this architectural showpiece had to answer to everyday use. But look at the ambition: a transit company believed beautiful surroundings could help sell an ordinary journey. Why are we so willing to call beauty an investment in a luxury hotel and an extravagance in a public station? Credits in ALT.
Photo by John Paul Palescando

ALT Photo by John Paul Palescando

Photo by John Paul Palescando

ALT Photo by John Paul Palescando

Photo by John Paul Palescando

ALT Photo by John Paul Palescando

City Hall subway station, New York between 1900 and 1904 Source: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Detroit Publishing Company Photograph Collection: LC-D4-17293

ALT City Hall subway station, New York between 1900 and 1904 Source: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Detroit Publishing Company Photograph Collection: LC-D4-17293

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Would you call someone a peacemaker if they sat down with your enemy? In 1219, during the Fifth Crusade, Francis of Assisi entered the Muslim camp in Egypt to meet Sultan al-Kamil. A Christian friar and a Muslim ruler spoke while their fellow believers fought. “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Matthew 5:9 It is an easy verse to admire until making peace means speaking to someone your own side has taught you to hate. The Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi honors a man who took that risk. Its beauty deserves our attention. His example deserves an answer. Who would you be condemned for speaking to today?
Nave of the upper basilica. Public Domain.

ALT Nave of the upper basilica. Public Domain.

Papal altar with frescoes Public domain

ALT Papal altar with frescoes Public domain

The Lower and Upper basilicas and the portico, as seen from the Lower Plaza of Saint Francis. Public domain

ALT The Lower and Upper basilicas and the portico, as seen from the Lower Plaza of Saint Francis. Public domain

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On a visit to UC Berkeley, I admired its beautiful hillside campus, then discovered that one of its ugliest buildings housed the #2 nation ranked architectural school. Its appearance was deliberate: the founding dean wanted “a ruin that no regent would like.” Yale’s Rudolph Hall raises the same uncomfortable question about what architecture schools teach students to value. Ruskin and Scruton have explained why beauty matters to the people who inherit buildings and live beside them. We should care because the judgments formed inside these schools eventually shape the streets we walk and the view from our homes. Read the full article in The Culture Explorer newsletter and consider whether architects are learning to build places people love or explain why they should accept less. newsletter.thecultureexplore…
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Oct 25
In 522, Boethius stood among the most powerful men in Italy, but within a few years, he had lost his position, reputation, freedom, and ultimately his life. While in imprisonment, he wrote The Consolation of Philosophy, confronting a question that remains relevant 1,500 years later: What happens to our happiness when everything we value is taken away? Through a conversation with Lady Philosophy, he discovers that wealth, status, and public admiration are governed by Fortune, whose wheel can turn against anyone. His arguments challenge our obsession with success and ask whether genuine happiness depends on character, wisdom, and self-command. But Boethius raises an even more troubling question: Why do corrupt people prosper while honest people suffer? Drawing connections with Socrates, Marcus Aurelius, and modern life, this article examines whether philosophy can help us face loss, injustice, and uncertainty. Read today's Culture Explorer newsletter and consider one question: If everything that makes you successful disappeared tomorrow, how much of yourself would remain? newsletter.thecultureexplore…
Manuscript depicting Boethius teaching students (initial) and while imprisoned.

ALT Manuscript depicting Boethius teaching students (initial) and while imprisoned.

The Tomb of Boethius in San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro

ALT The Tomb of Boethius in San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro

Boethius's Farewell To His Family by Jean-Victor Schnetz

ALT Boethius's Farewell To His Family by Jean-Victor Schnetz

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Oct 26
“Beauty can be consoling, disturbing, sacred, profane; it can be exhilarating, appealing, inspiring, chilling. It can affect us in an unlimited variety of ways. Yet it is never viewed with indifference: beauty demands to be noticed; it speaks to us directly like the voice of an intimate friend. If there are people who are indifferent to beauty, then it is surely because they do not perceive it.” - Roger Scruton
Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Rome, Lazio, Italy. The three frescoes around the high altar are the 17th Century works of the Jesuit Andrea Pozzo. They show Saint Ignatius Loyola during his vision at La Storta, sending Saint Francis Xavier to the Indies, and greeting Saint Francesco Borgia. CC BY-SA 4.0

ALT Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Rome, Lazio, Italy. The three frescoes around the high altar are the 17th Century works of the Jesuit Andrea Pozzo. They show Saint Ignatius Loyola during his vision at La Storta, sending Saint Francis Xavier to the Indies, and greeting Saint Francesco Borgia. CC BY-SA 4.0

Fresco on ceiling of the grand salon of Barberini Palace in Rome, by Pietro da Cortona (1633–1639) CC BY-SA 4.0

ALT Fresco on ceiling of the grand salon of Barberini Palace in Rome, by Pietro da Cortona (1633–1639) CC BY-SA 4.0

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Susan
@susanworld
Oct 26
Replying to @CultureExploreX
Nice quote and pictures, CE! Beauty matters.
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Athishay Srinivas
@pre_historic
16h
Replying to @CultureExploreX
Hagia Sophia transcends mere ownership. It is a profound shared trust. As both a sacred sanctuary and a global masterpiece. Its doors should welcome all to witness its beauty.
Under the great dome, filtered amber light revealed vaulted arches, galleries and semi-domes, refracted from exquisite mosaics depicting the Virgin Mary and infant Jesus as well as long-vanished patriarchs, emperors and saints

ALT Under the great dome, filtered amber light revealed vaulted arches, galleries and semi-domes, refracted from exquisite mosaics depicting the Virgin Mary and infant Jesus as well as long-vanished patriarchs, emperors and saints

Tyrian purple was used by the ancient Phoenicians as early as 1570 BC, and ended abruptly in the Byzantine court with the sack of Constantinople in 1204

ALT Tyrian purple was used by the ancient Phoenicians as early as 1570 BC, and ended abruptly in the Byzantine court with the sack of Constantinople in 1204

The Byzantine Church of Agios Nikolaos in the Acropolis of Serres probably dates back to the 14th century, is a typical example of Byzantine architecture and is dedicated to Saint Nicholas, one of the most popular and honoured saints of the Orthodox Church

ALT The Byzantine Church of Agios Nikolaos in the Acropolis of Serres probably dates back to the 14th century, is a typical example of Byzantine architecture and is dedicated to Saint Nicholas, one of the most popular and honoured saints of the Orthodox Church
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Susan
@susanworld
23h
Replying to @AndrewTeece1978 @CultureExploreX
Indeed, Andrew
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Oct 26
When a civilization inherits a masterpiece created by another faith, does it become its owner or its guardian? Hagia Sophia has survived empires, earthquakes, and religious conquest. But can it survive the politics of who gets to see its beauty? For nearly 1,500 years, this extraordinary building has carried the history of Christianity and Islam beneath one magnificent dome. Today, that dome is covered for restoration. Non-Muslim tourists pay €25 and are restricted to the upper gallery, where they can admire Byzantine mosaics but cannot freely explore the main prayer floor. The Deësis mosaic, depicting Christ between the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist, remains one of the greatest surviving works of Byzantine art. Hagia Sophia is a functioning mosque. Its religious purpose deserves respect. But its artistic inheritance belongs to a history far larger than any single generation.
Photo by Kecags - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

ALT Photo by Kecags - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

The Imperial gate mosaic with Leo VI kneeling before Christ.

ALT The Imperial gate mosaic with Leo VI kneeling before Christ.

The southwestern entrance mosaic with Justinian the Great (left) and Constantine the Great (right) with the Virgin Mary in the center.

ALT The southwestern entrance mosaic with Justinian the Great (left) and Constantine the Great (right) with the Virgin Mary in the center.

The hexapterygon (six-winged angel) on the north-east pendentive (lower right), whose face was discovered and then covered back by the Fossati brothers after restoration works in the 19th century. It was uncovered again in 2009. Photo by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.

ALT The hexapterygon (six-winged angel) on the north-east pendentive (lower right), whose face was discovered and then covered back by the Fossati brothers after restoration works in the 19th century. It was uncovered again in 2009. Photo by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Oct 26
The true measure of prosperity is how much of it a society is willing to spend on things that will outlive its wealth. Video: Staircase at Hampton Court
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Oct 26
Have we become so obsessed with modern sensitivities that we can no longer look at history? Museums in Glasgow have removed Egyptian mummies from display or covered them because the dead never gave consent. Seriously? These remains have survived thousands of years, offering us a rare glimpse into how ancient Egyptians understood life, death, and eternity. Feel free to respect the dead by taking good care of them. But when we impose our modern values on civilizations that lived 3,000 years ago, are we preserving their history or slowly erasing our ability to understand it?
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Milan Cathedral has 135 spires, more than 3,000 statues, and a roof you can walk across. It took nearly 580 years to finish. Construction began in 1386. The final details were completed in 1965. Its highest spire rises 108.5 meters above the city, crowned by a gilded statue of the Virgin Mary. Its marble exterior is covered with saints, prophets, gargoyles, and figures that many visitors will never notice. Even the roof is extraordinary. Visitors can walk among its spires and sculptures, looking out over Milan through a forest of carved marble. Generations of architects, sculptors, and stonecutters spent their lives working on details they knew they would never see completed. And here is what fascinates me most. For centuries, people continued paying for, designing, and building something begun by ancestors they had never met, for descendants they would never know. What kind of civilization commits itself to a work of beauty that may take 20 generations to complete? And would ours make the same commitment today?
Milan duomo

ALT Milan duomo

The Gold Madonna at the top of the cathedral CC BY-SA 3.0

ALT The Gold Madonna at the top of the cathedral CC BY-SA 3.0

Tourists on the roof CC BY-SA 3.0

ALT Tourists on the roof CC BY-SA 3.0

Chapel of the Madonna dell'Albero, left transept CC0

ALT Chapel of the Madonna dell'Albero, left transept CC0

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