On a trip to Milan, I visited The Last Supper, which can only be seen by appointment and in small groups. After everyone had left the room, I remained, strangely drawn to the mural on the opposite wall, the Crucifixion scene by Giovanni Montorfano. In the lower right corner, witnessing the Crucifixion, are several Dominican nuns. This caught my eye, having been educated by the Dominicans in New Orleans. Who, I wondered, was the ghostly figure kneeling in prayer, virtually nestled in the skirts of the nuns?... Read more.
Of all the women distorted by history and myth, Kleopatra is the most vivid example. Far from the sexual and treacherous archetype of feminine evil who lives in the popular imagination, Kleopatra was one of the ancient world’s most brilliant and powerful rulers. She survived blood-curdling family rivalries for the throne, single-handedly ruled a rich nation with an eye for turning a profit, and kept Egypt independent while all its neighboring countries had been annexed to the Roman Empire. She spoke nine or ten languages, patronized art, drama, athletics, sciences and other forms of scholarship, and had the loyalty of her subjects — rare for the members of her dynasty.... Read more.
Friends and readers, let me give it to you straight. I do not want to die. It’s that simple. And now that I have written a vampire book, Dracula in Love, and fully explored the advantages, I really, really thirst to be an immortal.
Oh, I am not afraid of death. I believe beyond a shadow of doubt in the immortality of the soul. I am absolutely certain that death will be a pleasant, if not ecstatic experience. I always believe that the best is yet to come, and I extend that belief to life after death. If life is good, then death will be great.... Read more.
STEALING ATHENA, my novel about the 2300 year journey of the contrversial Elgin Marbles, is written from the perspectives of two of history’s most fascinating women. Now, another fascinating women, Amal Alamuddin Clooney, has joined the legal team arguing for restoration of the marbles (aka The Parthenon Sculptures) to Greece. It’s a complex issue with a long history, and I hope Mrs. Clooney can help move it forward in a constructive way. Please read on…
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By Karen Essex
After years of announcements and embarrassing delays, the New Acropolis Museum—a $190 million spectacular building designed by Bernard Tschumi—has opened to rave reviews Yet the dramatic glass gallery on the top floor overlooking the Acropolis and facing the Parthenon still awaits its treasures.
Built specifically as a catalyst for the return of the Elgin Marbles or Parthenon Sculptures, those controversial treasures that were— depending upon your point of view—either rescued or stolen by Lord Elgin during the Napoleonic Wars, the gallery is a physical embodiment of the passionate argument that the Greek government and its many allies in the archeological, artistic, and legal circles have waged for two hundred years.
While it’s easy to side with the Greeks and decry the British as post-imperial pigs, it’s important to examine the complexity of the issue. In my novel Stealing Athena, I chronicle the journey of these sculptures from their inception in the Age of Perikles through their placement 2300 years later in the British Museum. Being intimately acquainted with the story and having taken up residency recently in London—and with apologies to all my Greek friends and readers—I have had a difficult time deciding which argument to support.
In the early 1800s when Napoleon was pillaging the treasures of Italy and Egypt for the Louvre, Lord Elgin, British ambassador to Constantinople, appealed—through his wife’s notorious female allure—to the Ottoman Sultan, occupier of Athens, to remove about half of the Parthenon’s sculptural decorations. Yes, Elgin was acting with the arrogance of empire and trying to beat Napoleon at his own game, but he and Lady Elgin were also deeply disturbed by the horrific condition of the Parthenon. The Turkish occupiers were grinding up its priceless columns and statues to construct rude huts, as well as selling chunks of the building to tourists and collectors eager to own a piece of it. The Elgins believed that if they did not act quickly, the Parthenon’s remaining sculptural wonders would soon be gone.... Read more.
On a trip to Milan, I visited The Last Supper, which can only be seen by appointment and in small groups. After everyone had left the room, I remained, strangely drawn to the mural on the opposite wall, the Crucifixion scene by Giovanni Montorfano. In the lower right corner, witnessing the Crucifixion, are several Dominican nuns. This caught my eye, having been educated by the Dominicans in New Orleans. Who, I wondered, was the ghostly figure kneeling in prayer, virtually nestled in the skirts of the nuns?
