Otterness' Fiddler

The above panel is one of a series advertising a new bus service in Lower Manhattan: the image is a detail of the sculpture “The Real World” by Tom Otterness, in Battery Park City, New York.

I am obviously quite happy that they used, after asking permission, a photo of mine for this ad.

External links: Tom Otterness (Wikipedia) - Fiddler on the Roof (DPS)
Search labels: Otterness (DPS)

Versione italiana

The Knotted Gun

Please forgive me if I drop Livorno for a day: here we are in Paris and this is an amazing octopus above the entrance of the Institut océanographique (or Maison des océans), in rue Saint-Jacques. Until yesterday this photo was my most successful page online, visited several thousands of times.

It has just been surpassed by this photo of the sculpture “Non-Violence” by Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd, also known as “The Knotted Gun”, which is in New York City on the grounds of the United Nations Headquarters.

See also: Octopus - The Knotted Gun (Daily Photo Stream)
External links: Non-Violence - Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd - United Nations Headquarters (Wikipedia)
 - 25 of the Most Creative Sculptures and Statues from Around the World (Bored Panda)
 - This French doorway is obviously the beginning of the Cthulhian architecture movement (io9)

Versione italiana

An American Saint

This church in Manhattan, New York City, stands on the birthplace of Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first native-born citizen of the United States to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. Elizabeth, born in 1774, at the age of nineteen married William Magee Seton, a wealthy merchant in New York City. After William became ill, the doctors advised him to move to a warmer climate, so Elizabeth and their eldest daughter accompanied him to Italy, where he had some trade connections in Livorno.Because of the yellow-fever their ship was quarantined in Livorno and her husband died shortly after. He was then buried in the Old English Cemetery. Elizabeth then spent time with the Filicchi, a wealthy local family of faithful Catholics. Two years later, after returning to the United States, she converted to Roman Catholicism.

From New York her birth city
come to the sea and the sun of Italy
looking for relief to the poor health of her husband
the Blessed Elizabeth Ann Seton
between the walls of the nearby old Lazaret of St. Leopoldo
lost in God with serene strength of mind
endured the harsh quarantine
from November to December 1803

A plaque on the church of “San Jacopo in Acquaviva” remember her trials. The statue of the Saint stands in the small garden of the church dedicated to her in Livorno.


See also: S.E.A.S. - Inside S.E.A.S.
External links: Elizabeth Ann Seton (Wikipedia)

Versione italiana