SAINT VALENTINE'S DAY A POEM

Hi guys,
I want to share this poem about love with you. It was written by Adrian Henry a British poet , a painter and a singer.  The poem defines love in different ways: physical sensations, sexual connotations adolescent experiences.

Read the poem and.........................................................................................................

Love is feeling cold in the back of van
Love is a fanclub with only two fans
Love is walking holding painstained hands
Love is

Love is fish and chips on  winter nights
Love is blankets full of starnge delights
Love is when you don't put out the light
Love is

Love is the presents in the Christmas shops
Love is when you are feeling Topo of the Pops
Love is what happens when the music stops
Love is

love is white pantires lying all forlon
Love is a pink nightdress still slightly warm
Love is when you have to leave at dawn
Love is

Love is you and love is me
Love is prison and love is free
Love's what's there when you're away from me
Love is...

make up your own definition to complete the last line. I'm looking forward to a lot of comments from you!

Christmas paintings

CHRISTMAS IN ART
We chose the following  paintings to represent Christmas.

This is a painting by Barrocci, it's called "The Birth of Christ" It was painted in 1597.We think that it is very sweet . We like the light colours the painter used. Mary is looking at her baby while Joseph is letting the visitors come in and see his child , the most beautiful thing in the world!

This painting by Caravaggio was painted in 1609, it is called " Nativity". We like this painting because Mary seems tired and exhausted like any woman who has just had a baby. The shepherds are talking  and an angel is carrying a banner that says:”Gloria in Excelsis Dei”, “ Glory to God in the Highest”
Fabio and Giulia

Soul cake

The following song is called "Soul Cake" and it is from British rock musician Sting's 2009 album.

A Soul Cake is a small round cake, like a biscuit, which is traditionally made for All Souls’ Day (the 2nd November) to celebrate the dead. These plain cakes, often called souls, were given out to the “soulers” children and the poor, who went from door to door during this period saying prayers and singing psalms and songs for the dead.

Traditionally each cake eaten represented a soul being freed from Purgatory. The practice of giving and eating soul cakes is often seen as the origin of modern day Trick or Treating, which now falls on Halloween(two days before All Souls’ Day). The tradition of ‘souling’ and giving out Soul Cakes on All Soul’s Day originated in Britain and Ireland hundreds of years ago, from giving out bread on All Souls’ Day during the Middle Ages.

A soul, a soul cake, please good missus a soul cake.

An apple, a pear, a plum, a cherry,

any good thing to make us all merry,

A soul, a soul cake, please good missus a soul cake.

One for Peter, two for Paul, three for Him who made us all.

A soul, a soul cake, please good missus a soul cake.

An apple, a pear, a plum, a cherry,

any good thing to make us all merry,

God bless the master of this house, and the mistress also.

And all the little children that round your table grow.

The cattle in your stable and the dog by your front door.

And all that dwell within your gates

we wish you ten times more.

A soul, a soul cake, please good missus a soul cake.

An apple, a pear, a plum, a cherry,

any good thing to make us all merry,

A soul, a soul cake, please good missus a soul cake.

One for Peter, two for Paul, three for Him who made us all.

Go down into the cellar and see what you can find.

If the barrels are not empty we hope you will be kind.

We hope you will be kind with your apple and strawber’

For we’ll come no more a ‘soalin’ till Xmas time next year.

A soul, a soul cake, please good missus a soul cake.

An apple, a pear, a plum, a cherry,

any good thing to make us all merry,

A soul, a soul cake, please good missus a soul cake.

One for Peter, two for Paul, three for Him who made us all.

I have a little pocket to put a penny in.

If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’ penny will do.

If you haven’t got a ha’ penny then God bless you.

A soul, a soul cake, please good missus a soul cake.

An apple, a pear, a plum, a cherry,

any good thing to make us all merry,

A soul, a soul cake, please good missus a soul cake.

One for Peter, two for Paul, three for Him who made us all.

THE RISORGIMENTO IN ART

HI, I’M MARIKA AND THIS IS THE PAINTING I LIKE VERY MUCH.

YOU CAN SEE A PATRIOT SAYING GOODBYE TO THE WOMAN HE LOVES  BEFORE GOING TO WAR. THE COUPLE IS WEARING 14^TH CENTURY CLOTHES BUT THE SUBJECT IS THE RISORGIMENTO. THE COLOURS SYMBOLYZE THE   ALLIANCE BETWEEN FRANCE AND ITALY: THE RED AND THE GREEN OF THE MAN’S CLOTHES, THE WHITE OF THE SHIRT WORN UNDER THE BLUE DRESS BY THE WOMAN. IN THE LEFT PART OF THE CANVAS THERE SEEMS TO BE SOMEONE SO THERE IS THE IDEA OF DANGER.

THE PICTURE ALSO REPRESENTS LOVE AND PASSION: THE COUPLE IS EMBRANCING WHILE GIVING EACH OTHER A PASSIONATE KISS.

HI,

MY NAME’S EMANUELE AND THIS IS THE PAINTING I CHOSE.

IT’S A PICTURE BY GEROLAMO INDUNO WHO WAS ALSO A SOLDIER AND FOUGHT IN THE CRIMEAN WAR AND IN THE BATTLE OF CERNAIA. THE PAINTER DEPICTS THE DEPARTURE OF PARTISANS AND THEIR SAYING GOOD BYE TO THEIR FAMILIES. THE WHOLE COMMUNITY IS WITH THEM AND THEY ARE BLESSED BY THE PRIEST OF A COUNTRY VILLAGE. I LOVE THIS PICTURE BECAUSE IT MAKES THE FEELINGS OF THESE YOUNG MEN COME TO LIFE: THEY ARE SAD BECAUSE THEY ARE  LEAVING THE PEOPLE THEY LOVE BUT THEY ARE ALSO PROUD BECAUSE THEY ARE FIGHTING AND SACRIFICING THEIR LIVES FOR THE UNITY OF ITALY. I THINK THIS PICTURE MAKES US TO REFLECT ON WHAT PATRIOTISM MEANS

HI GUYS

I’M GIACOMO AND THIS IS THE PICTURE I LIKE. THE TITLE IS “ GARIBALDI IN THE MOUNTAINS OF St ANGELO IN CAPUA” (1862). IT REPRESENTS GARIBALDI IN A MOMENT OF REST. HE IS THOUGHTFUL, LOOKING INTO THE DISTANCE , TO THE BEAUTIFUL SUNSET, WHILE TWO SOLDIERS SEEM TO BE WAITING FOR HIM.

I LIKE THE PICTURE BECAUSE GARIBALDI IS REPRESENTED NOT AS A HERO BUT JUST AS A MAN . WHAT IS HE THINKING ABOUT ? MAYBE ABOUT WHAT HE HAS ACHIEVED , IF  HIS DREAM OF A UNIFICATION OF ITALY WILL EVER COME TRUE. HE IS SMOKING A CIGAR AND I DON’T KNOW WHY BUT THIS PICTURE MAKES ME FEEL ITALIAN.

EASTER IN THE ARTS

The Pietà (1498–1499) is a masterpiece of Renaissance
sculpture byMichelangelo Buonarroti, housed inSt. Peter's
Basilica inVatican City. This famous work of art depicts the
body of Jesus on the lap of his mother Mary after the
Crucifixion.

***

We choose this sculpture because it’s one of the most famous
work of art in the world which represents Jesus after
crucifixition. We like it because  Mary is represented as a young woman, she is beautiful. They say that Michelangelo wanted to represent the incorruptible purity of Mary. We also like Christ's face that is so serene, there are no signs of the passion on it.

The Last Supper (Italian:Il Cenacolo or L'Ultima Cena) is a 15th centurymural painting inMilan
created byLeonardo da Vinci for his patronDukeLudovico Sforza and his duchessBeatrice d'Este.
It represents the scene ofThe Last Supper from the final days ofJesus as narrated in theGospel of
John 13:21. We like it because  it shows that dramatic moment  when Jesus announces that one of his Twelve Apostles will betray him and all the 12 Apostles react with various degree of shock and anger.

THE CRUCIFIXION(1480-1490) MARCO PALMEZZANO
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painfulexecution in which the condemned person is tied or
nailed to a large woodencross (of various shapes) and left to hang until dead. Acrucifix (an image
of Christ crucified on a cross) is the main religious symbol forCatholics,Eastern Orthodox and
Oriental Orthodox, but mostProtestant Christians prefer to use across without the figure (the
"corpus"-Latin for "body") of Christ.

We choose this painting because it reflects Jesus crucifixion in a very interesting way.
THE FLAGELLATION(1880) WILLIAM-ADOLPHE BORUGUEREAU
We choose this picture because it represents the flagellation of Jesus Christ and at Easter we always
think about Jesus flagellation.

CARNIVAL: A PAINTING

"THE FIGHT BETWEEN CARNIVAL AND LENT" is an oil on wood work painted by Pieter Brueghel the Elder in 1559.

We chose it because we think it well portrays the contrast between two sides of life: the enjoyment represented by the inn on the left side and the religious observance represented by the church on the right side.The figure of Carnival is funny: he is a fat man riding a wine barrel and holding a cooking spit with rich holiday food. He is ready to fight with Lent that is skinny, pale and dressed in mourning. The Lent is holding just two herrings.

A lot of other people are represented: beggars, partygoers eating, drinking and dancing, a fishwife and worshippers going out of the church. The scene gives the idea of what Carnival is like: a time of disorder, a time when the world is upside down and a time to say goodbye to meat and all the other carnal pleasures.