Nativity scenes reign supreme as the most charming image of Christmas. An assortment of figures from splendid kings to simple shepherds with a few animals—exotic or domestic—gather around a newborn child: What’s not to love? In Italy, families vie for the most elaborate arrangements, replete with running water and working lights. The unveiling of the…
The First Creche: Arnolfo di Cambio’s Nativity
December 25, 2022
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Arnolfo di CambioArts & CultureArts & TraditionBrightChristmasLife & Traditionnativity scenesTraditional Culture
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Sacré-Coeur Basilica: Symbol of Faith on a Hill
December 25, 2022
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Architect Paul AbadieArts & CultureArts & TraditionBrightKing Louis IXMontmartreSacré-Coeur basilica
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Set on a hill in Montmartre, a district in the heart of Paris, the Sacré-Coeur Basilica is hard to miss. With its chalky-white façade and prominent domes, the structure doesn’t look like any other French religious building. Its origin is as colorful as its stained-glass windows. In December 1870, following France’s military defeat by Prussia,…
Life’s Most Precious Gifts
In the painting “Christmas Morning,” a humble Austrian family gathers together while the children discover their modest presents. In Austrian tradition, children put their shoes on the windowsill in hopes that St. Nicholas will leave them simple gifts if they’ve been good. A realist painter, Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller shows us an intimate family scene. Waldmüller (1793–1865), was…
Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘Orphan Horse’: A Family Drama About Love Overcoming the Fear of Loss
TV-14 | 1h 44 min | Drama, Family | 2018 You’re orphaned only when everyone gives up on you and you give up on yourself. That’s central to director Sean McNamara’s touching movie about coping with the pain of loss and abandonment. In spite of its name, McNamara’s film is about three orphans, not just…
The Teenage Limbourg Brothers’ Illuminated Work ‘The Annunciation’
In 1405, three Flemish teenage brothers—Herman, Pol, and Jean of Limbourg—began a commission that would alter the art of illumination and painting. Prince Jean, the Duke of Berry and the third son of King Jean II of France, was an extravagant art patron. He commissioned the brothers to create “The Beautiful Hours of Jean of France,…
A Postcard From Pyongyang | Documentary
December 24, 2022
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anniversaryArts & CultureArts & TraditionBrightdocumentariesdocumentaryEpoch CinemaEpochTVeverywhereFilm & TVfilmmakersgenuinelyKoreaNorthnotoriouslypostcardPropagandaPyongyangrecordingsSubscribers Onlywar
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This film is only available in North America, the UK, and Australia because of territorial licensing. Filmmakers Gregor Möllers and Anne Lewald visit North Korea in 2013 for the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War and again in 2017 for the Pyongyang Marathon as foreign tourists. Using secret recordings, they register their…
The Real Meaning of Christmas
Don’t you love Christmas? I do, and I am especially looking forward to it this year. My anticipation is partly due to the two years or more of COVID restrictions and lockdowns. We’ve also been inundated with reports of climate change. This past summer we were terrified by a bout of hot weather, and the…
Popcorn and Inspiration: ‘Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner’: Stanley Kramer’s Metaphor for Family and Society
December 23, 2022
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"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"Arts & CultureArts & TraditionBrightFilm & TVKathryn HepburnSidney PoitierSpencer Tracy
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PG | 1h 48min | Drama, Comedy | 1967 Stanley Kramer’s “Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner” is all of 108 minutes, but packed with truth and insight that echoes beyond its genre, its generation, and its geography. Young Joanna or Joey (Katharine Houghton) tells her parents, Christina (Katharine Hepburn) and Matt (Spencer Tracy), of her…
‘A Christmas Carol’ (1938): A Classic Take on a Timeless Story
One of the most popular Christmas stories of all time is “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. Although written in 1843, this holiday tale is just as beloved today as it was in the Victorian Era. It’s believed that this book started the tradition of saying “Merry Christmas.” This Yuletide tale reminds people to embrace…
Palazzo Medici Riccardi: The Power and Beauty of the Medici Palace
Once ruled by the powerful Medici family, Florence hosts some of the most beautiful treasures of the Italian Renaissance. Among these is the official residence of the Medicis until 1659, known as the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, or the Medici Palace. In 1444, Cosimo the Elder, the head of the Medici banking family, commissioned this palace…
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