Tag: mexico

Postcard from Trieste, Italy: Nightmarish end to palatial dreams

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An Italian postage stamp featuring a scenic view of the Miramare Gardens in Trieste, showcasing neatly trimmed hedges, a statue, and a fountain against a background of trees and the sea.

Above: Miramare, a palace erected by Princess Charlotte of Belgium and Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria

At age 22, Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian (1832-1867) was named Commander-in-Chief of the Austrian Navy. Sailing in 1855 in the Gulf of Trieste, then ruled by the Kingdom of Austria, the young archduke spotted a promontory jutting out into the water. Barren, rocky, yet a gorgeous waterfront view on three sides. He decided to acquire the land for his home.

Construction of the house, which he named Miramare, was already underway at the time of his 1857 marriage to Princess Charlotte of Belgium (1840-1927). Also in 1857, his older brother, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria (1830-1916), appointed Maximilian Viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia.

The couple moved into the Royal Palace of Milan while continuing work on Miramare. Charlotte’s royal dowry contributed to the money-pit project, including bringing in tons of dirt and topsoil for extensive gardens. Surrounded by all the requisite family portraits, the couple moved into their completed dream home in 1860.

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Postcard from Queretaro, Mexico: Pondering contemporary art scene

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A postage stamp featuring a portrait of a female figure, depicting a nun with a religious emblem, surrounded by books, with the text 'ARTE Y CIENCIA DE MEXICO' and 'AEREO' printed on it.

Above: “Ensenan Mas las Obras…,” Miguel Angel Hernandez Vences, lost-wax bronze, 2025; and “Dibujos en la Piel,” Enrique Hernandez Rivera, oil on canvas, 2025. Among pieces selected for the “MAQRO’s First Biennial of the Human Figure.”

Baroque architecture of the former convent of San Agustin, featuring arched colonnades, intricate stone carvings, and a central fountain, under a blue sky.

Never would we visit Queretaro without ducking in to admire the exquisite Baroque courtyard for the former convent of San Agustin. But there’s more than early 18th-century colonial architecture to experience there.

The rooms surrounding the courtyard are refurbished as galleries of Museo de Arte de Queretaro. This summer those galleries were overflowing with exhibitions showing the vitality of the creative community of the city.

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Old and New World artistry merge in Hispanic Baroque

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A 1893 one-cent postage stamp depicting Christopher Columbus and indigenous figures, surrounded by an ornate border. The inscription reads 'Columbus in Sight of Land.'

Above: “Annunciation and Saints,” Jose de Paez, Mexican (1727-1790), oil on copper, 1750-1760.

“Spirit & Splendor: El Greco, Velázquez, and the Hispanic Baroque” surveys 150 years of Spanish art leading to the Baroque period with works culled from the collection of the Hispanic Society of America in New York City. Some of Spain’s most renowned and respected artists are represented in this ongoing exhibition at the Blanton Museum of Art, but don’t expect much more than a dozen of these works.

What I love are the pieces demonstrating the Baroque style translated by transplants and native-born artisans in the Americas. Artists took advantage of materials available in this so-called “New” World – copper, shells and, of course, more precious metals. They added a magical sheen to art designed to convert “pagans” to the foreign beliefs held by the Catholic conquerors.

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