SINCE 2008SINCE 2008
SINCE 2008SINCE 2008
Pietro Brosio Gallery
"The Universal Peace", 1976, oil on canvas 100x70cm.
December 31, 2008
December 25, 2008
Christmas 2008
December 22, 2008
December 18, 2008
December 15, 2008
December 11, 2008
December 6, 2008
Feast of the Immaculate
The wonderful and touching film The Song of Bernadette (1943), with Jennifer Jones, narrates the story of Lourdes. The young girl Bernadette Soubirous had 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary, from 11th February to 16th July 1858, at Massabielle Grotto. Here is the first apparition. (5':46")
December 1, 2008
Ecological Day 2/12/2008
Dixitque Deus: Fiat lux. Et facta est.
Genesis 1,3-4
November 28, 2008
Artificial snow
I took this photo last Sunday at Bardonecchia (Val di Susa, 1312m): the snow cannons are working on the ski run in the mountain.
November 24, 2008
November 18, 2008
November 13, 2008
Sky Watch 14/11/2008
"Coeli enarrant gloriam Dei, et operam manuum eius annuntiat firmamentum"
Psalm 19,2
Psalm 19,2
November 8, 2008
Snow cannon
At Melezet (Valsusa, 1367m) the snow cannon is ready for the near winter season.
Information about artificial snow here.
Information about artificial snow here.
November 2, 2008
Ecological Day 2/11/2008
"Mountains are the beginning and the end of every natural scenery"
John Ruskin
John Ruskin
October 30, 2008
Sky Watch 31/10/2008
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The Sacra di San Michele is an imposing monastery in the Val di Susa at the top of the Monte Pirchiriano (962m). Built in the late 10th century for the Benedictine monks, it has been an important study center; now it's in the hands of the Rosminian fathers. There is a steep climb to the entrance (in the photos, left side of the mountain).
October 25, 2008
Sundial 2
On this sundial at Oulx (1127m, Valle di Susa, Piedmont) there is the inscription: "Nulla fluat cuius non meminisse velis".
We can read all sorts of inscriptions on sundials. Here are some:
We can read all sorts of inscriptions on sundials. Here are some:
"Carpe diem"
"Sine sole sileo"
"Sine sole sileo"
"Aspiciendo senescis"
"Horas non numero nisi serenas"
"Le ciel est ma règle"
"Solis et umbrae concordia"
"Vulnerant omnes, ultima necat"
October 21, 2008
Autumn in the mountains
"Nature has perfections to show that it's the image of God, and defects to show that it's only an image". Pascal
October 16, 2008
Sky Watch 17/10/2008
About lunar phases, we have the proverb: "Gobba a ponente, luna crescente. Gobba a levante, luna calante", that is: "Westward hump, waxing moon. Eastward hump, waning moon".
When the moon is a "D", this means waxing moon; when the moon is a "C", this means waning moon.
When the moon is a "D", this means waxing moon; when the moon is a "C", this means waning moon.
October 9, 2008
October 7, 2008
October 1, 2008
September 29, 2008
Sundial 1
Modern sundial at Oulx (1127m, Susa Valley, Piedmont)
The inscription says: "Per gli amici qualunque ora" ("For friends any hour").
A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style (a thin rod or a sharp, straight edge) onto a flat surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day. As the sun moves across the sky, the shadow-edge progressively aligns with different hour-lines on the plate. (Wikipedia)
In the Valsusa (Piedmont) there are many sundials. Still present on south-facing facades of churches, public buildings or houses, sundials have been used for more than two centuries since the eighteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century. In addition to the function for which they were created, namely to know the hour at a time when watches were rare and expensive, sundials held a decorative function.
The inscription says: "Per gli amici qualunque ora" ("For friends any hour").
A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style (a thin rod or a sharp, straight edge) onto a flat surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day. As the sun moves across the sky, the shadow-edge progressively aligns with different hour-lines on the plate. (Wikipedia)
In the Valsusa (Piedmont) there are many sundials. Still present on south-facing facades of churches, public buildings or houses, sundials have been used for more than two centuries since the eighteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century. In addition to the function for which they were created, namely to know the hour at a time when watches were rare and expensive, sundials held a decorative function.
September 25, 2008
Sky Watch 26/9/2008
My Sky Watch this week is a reverie from the Piazza Castello looking at the Palazzo Reale (1640), one of Turin's most splendid baroque monuments which was the official Savoy royal residence until 1865.
September 19, 2008
September 12, 2008
Lourdes 150th Anniversary
Pope Benedetto XVI goes on pilgrimage to Lourdes on Saturday and Sunday for the 150th Anniversary of the Apparitions. The young Bernadette Soubirous, canonized in 1933, met (saw and spoke with) the Virgin Mary 18 times at Massabielle Grotto, from February to July 1858. Lourdes, the most important Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin, is really a piece of Heaven on the earth, where we find the Love of God, the Gospel, the Prayer. The conversions are a great many and the miraculous recoveries are about 7500.
More about Lourdes: here
Details on the Apparitions: here.
More about Lourdes: here
Details on the Apparitions: here.
September 10, 2008
September 6, 2008
September 2, 2008
August 28, 2008
August 23, 2008
August 18, 2008
August 14, 2008
August 11, 2008
August 7, 2008
August 4, 2008
July 31, 2008
Sky Watch 1/8/2008
In these hot summer days, a refreshing photo taken in March from the 1310m of Bardonecchia, a renowned ski resort in the Alta (Upper) Val di Susa, about 90km from Turin.
July 29, 2008
"Torèt"
We must remember that the bull is a symbol of Turin. In piedmontese dialect "torèt" means "small bull". The torèt are little public fountains, typical of Turin, with a bull head from which drinking water comes out. The torèt date back to the beginning of the 20th century and are about 700 in the city.
July 24, 2008
Sky Watch 25/7/2008
The Mole Antonelliana, 167m high, is the symbol of the city of Turin. It is named for the architect, Alessandro Antonelli, who designed it in 1863. Nowadays it houses the National Museum of Cinema. A glass-walled lift soars up to a viewing platform 85m up on the spire of the building: from there the panorama over the city and towards the Alps is wonderful.
July 21, 2008
July 17, 2008
Sky Watch 18/7/2008
Monviso, a mountain in the Cottian Alps in Piedmont close to the French border, is 3841 m high. Monviso is renowned because on its northern slopes, precisely at the Pian del Re, are the headwaters of the Po, the longest river in Italy.
July 14, 2008
July 10, 2008
Sky Watch 11/7/2008
On Turin's hills, at a height of 670m, stands the wonderful Basilica di Superga. The basilica, designed and built in 14 years by the architect Filippo Juvarra who used stones taken from the bottom of the hill, was solemnly consecrated in 1731. The dome is 65m high.
July 8, 2008
July 3, 2008
Sky Watch 4/7/2008
The 2006 version of the Olympic Brazier was conceived to represent in a single object the tension of the Olympic Challenge: 5 flames for a single Spirit, 5 as the circles, a symbol of the union between the continents. The structure of the Brazier recalls the athlete's torsion, whose efforts result in high and lively flame. With its height of 60m, the Turin Olympic Brazier 2006 has earned the primacy of brazier highest in the history of the Olympics. The Olympic flame is 4m high.
June 30, 2008
