THE SEXY DUCHESS OF URBINO

                Titian was one of the greatest of the Renaissance painters.  He, rather than the sculptor Donatello, should have been one of the Ninja Turtles.  (I think the creators were afraid of people mispronouncing the name.)  He specialized in mythological subjects and portraits.  He also would accept commissions to paint Read more…

Firing Squad Target

Howard Brodie transferred to Europe after doing his first combat art on Guadalcanal (see previous posts).  He participated in the Battle of the Bulge and sketched this drawing of a German prisoner executed by firing squad.  He could be a member of Otto Skorzeny’s commando unit that was tasked by Read more…

WRITE A GHOST STORY

Mary Godwin was the daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft.  Her parents were famous writers and political radicals.  In 1814, she began an affair with the married poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.  They eloped to Europe and in the summer of 1816 they joined Shelley’s fellow poet Lord Byron in Read more…

ON GUARD

This is another Howard Brodie sketch from his time on Guadalcanal.  He and his buddy are in a foxhole and while his buddy sleeps, he’s on guard duty.  Note the grenades lined up.  Nights in the Pacific on the front line could be very scary.  The Japanese liked to infiltrate Read more…

If

When King Philip of Macedonia invaded Greece in 338 B.C., he defeated an Athenian/Theban army at the Battle of Chaeronea.  Resistance ceased as all the other Greek city-states submitted to Philip’s victorious army.  All except Sparta.  When Philip arrived outside Sparta, he halted his army and awaited the Spartan emissaries Read more…

Litter Bearers

Litter bearers (also called “stretcher bearers”) don’t get enough credit.  Possibly the most famous litter bearer was Ernest Hemingway during the Spanish Civil War.  This sketch by combat artist Howard Brodie (see the previous picture post for more information on him).  His words at the bottom say it all for Read more…

KISMET, HARDY

 In the middle of his dramatic victory in the Battle of Trafalgar, Admiral Horatio Nelson was shot by a French sniper and mortally wounded.  Nelson was carried below deck while the battle raged.  The captain of the HMS Victory was able to come visit Nelson as he lay dying.  Nelson Read more…

MOZART BY A NOSE

                Mozart once bet fellow composer Haydn that he could not play a piano composition that Mozart had written that day.  Haydn accepted the bet and sat down at the piano with the music in front of him.  He started out well, but then reached a part of the composition Read more…