The Renaissance Revisited, sort of

While Robert De Niro was preparing for the inauguration of an art expo in Nice showcasing his father’s work*, to the west in the chilly Cévennes, people were revisiting an historic period known for its religious fervor. Note the particularly creepy reincarnation of Richelieu...who looks more like a monk from The Name of the Rose. Someone confused the Middle Ages with the Renaissance?

Last week, at Fort Auban in Alès, local artisans, actors and history buffs donned 16th-17th century costumes – some made by the participants themselves, others dating back hundreds of years – to explain to spectators the who, what, how, and whys of the personages they represented.

The most horrible spun around the tortures of the time, most of which were not designed, as we would assume, to bring a confession to the victim’s lips, but rather to cause suffering in the cruelest and most prolonged fashion as punishment for not toeing the religious line. And then there were the soldiers and Musketeers, war machines, guns, lances, canons… There's a rat in that cage, folks, the cage is an instrument of torture and not (so much) for the rat...

On the less violent side of the event were cooks, shoemakers, masons, and our somewhat quirky, charming and very talented story-teller friend Christiane displaying how she uses plants and roots to dye and decorate fabric naturally.




At the end of such an event, one cannot help but wonder why this tendency to so glorify the past. Fascination, escapism, voyeurism and perhaps a need to understand what once was and is no more? Hallelujah amen. Alas, “history” repeats itself, over and over and over and over...

*The RDN exhibit runs until May 31 at the Matisse Museum in Nice; De Niro senior, an abstract expressionist, was strongly influenced by Matisse.

Next blog entry on tap: an incredible article on abortion rights, from this month’s Le Monde diplomatique.