Help art historians in Ljubljana

is it a casket behind him?

littlek claims he's holding a shovel. so what's he doing? is he going to bury someone? himself?

Maybe he wants to put that painting behind him to rest?

it seems like he's cleaning dog **** after some careless persons. he's all agitated about their lack of some common respect for the neighborhood.... but the casket is confusing.

It looks like he is pointing at something to ask the person behind him kinda like "What the hell about this?"

He looks like a soldier.

And are those cherubs (little cubby angels) in the upper right corner? If that is acasket maybe he is saying "Hey, Are we going to burry him with those shoes this dude owes me ten bloomers or frothings" or whatever they called money.

P.S. We do this in museums all the time. (when nobody is around)

I want to go to museums with Amigo.

Hmmm, maybe he is after the dead bloke's shoes. The money are called Toliars, still.

Do I get it right: no-one knows the history behind the painting? The painters name? How it came in the institute and when?

It also looks like he's wearing streched out nylons.

Maybe he is after his nylons not his shoes?

I should be a curator.

that's what i was told, walter. I did find the Institute's website (http://odmev.zrc-sazu.si/zrc/modules.php?name=preds), but there is no mention even of the historical building that they are in. It was a rich family's mansion, there probably weren't too many of them in Ljubljana. All I found online was a painting that was hanging opposite the one that puzzled me most. It was used in a banner for a historical seminar - again, no author, no clue:

That one is easy.

All that dude wants to do is jam his harp but the chick is like "Come on baby you can play my harp and i'll sing like a canary."

Look at the look on his face! He's like " damn all I want to do is play my harp and these chicks won't leave me alone."

I know!!!! It happens to me all the time when I'm playing my guitar. :wink:

I should add that it's not the Ljubljana's art historians who are desperately seeking for clues. It is I, after staring at that painting for 3 days in a row during conference. They didn't seem to mind terribly that no one has a clue about the paintings. And frescos and other stuff.

The dude looks like a chick himself - well, his face does. I think it's a little deeper though. Note the scar on his arm, she was inquiring about it, and probably uncovered some nasty family secret. Now she's gonna be smacked up her head with that harph.

Maybe shes checking for tracks. He just can't kick the Heroien. All he does is sit around allday playing that damn harp (or harph I quess).

It also looks like they used to much starch in their clothes back then or like theres no gravity?

Just a wild guess here but is the armor type he's wearing common for the place and time that the painting was created?

My first thought on this was that the armor looks a lot like a very stylized version of Roman imperial armor and the stick could be a lance. Well if my wild theory has any merit it could be the centurion that killed Christ.

On second thought after looking again the armor seems very European.

I wish I could have seen it person Dagmaraka, do you have any detail shots it? Maybe the background and such...

The first painting is in the style which was quite common in 17th, 18th century - and "re-invented" in late 19th century.

It could well be (also) part of an origianally bigger painting.

Could be stolen as in World War II the Nazis or even Communists stole a lot of stuff thus no documentation.

This definitely has merit Walter.

Re: Help art historians in Ljubljana


This is a medaieval painting of Lord Tavistock, commemorating the English victory at the battle of Vladivostok (1325).

The English were losing the day against the Slovakian hordes when, out of the ranks, charged Lord Ellpus the first. He galloped towards the heathen ranks amassed on the opposing ridge, dismounted not fifty yards from their footsoldiers, and casually removed his lower armour, thereby exposing the famous Ellpus genitalia.

So the story goes, the Slovakian horde thought that the English had brought a giant cannon into play, panicked, and broke ranks. This allowed the fine English cavalry to take advantage of their panic and confusion, which led to the English winning the day.

HOORAH!

The painting was originally twice this size, and Lord Tavistock is actually standing next to my ancestor, and pointing at what was then the first ever graphic illustration of the famous Ellpus todger.

Alas, the famous Ellpus todger part of the painting was removed in 1833, as Victorian style prudishness swept Europe.

It is rumoured that the famous Ellpus todger now hangs in the waiting room of a private Viennese fertility clinic, where women from all over the world touch it for good luck, as they undergo treatment. Some women of a nervous disposition have to wear blindfolds, and are guided towards the painting, and told where to touch.

John Holmes was said to have been humbled when he visited the painting in 1977.