Cryptic Sculpture (Hirshhorn)

This mysterious sculpture is entitled "Antipodes" (Sam Sanborn, 1997) and it stands the garden outside the Hirshhorn Museum. This Arts Observer article provides a good description of the piece with nice images of the work.

A detail of part of the sculpture reveals of pattern of letters. Reading across the top row of this photograph you can just make out the word KRYPTOS; this word is repeated in every line in a slightly different position, surrounded by what appears to be the other letters of the Roman alphabet: ABCDEFG ... etc.

I took at look at the other half of the sculpture (left-hand side in this photo), which looks like the letters of some Cyrillic script in reverse. I have no idea what's going on here. But -- as it turns out -- someone else has devoted years studying this artwork and has finally (as of September 2003) cracked parts of the code.

The English part of the sculpture, by the way, apparently repeats the code in another sculpture by Sanborn entitled (appropriately enough) "Kryptos," and this artwork stands on the grounds of CIA Headquarters in Langley, VA.

The Art of Money (Multilingual Quarters)

Commemorative quarters for Hawaii, DC, and other US territories, photo taken mid-2009.

Early in 2009 some media outlets were reporting on the release of new quarters commemorating Puerto Rico; these coins contained the words "Isla del Encanto" (Island of Enchantment) in Spanish on one side. As a follow up to the 50 State Quarters Program, the US Mint launched the DC and US Territories Quarters Program in 2009, with Puerto Rico receiving its own quarter. To see a diagram of the Puero Rico quarter (not in the above photo), see this website.

Many reports were treating the use of Spanish on US coins as novelty, but the presence of non-English inscriptions on US coins isn't a really a "new" thing. First of all, every US quarter bears the unofficial Latin motto E pluribus unum ("out of many, one"). Second, the state of Hawaii had already used Hawaiian in addition to the standard Latin motto on its quarter in 2008 (read more about the Hawaii quarter here). UA MAU KE EA O KA 'AINA I KA PONO = "The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness."

As you can see above (click to enlarge), DC and the US Virgin Islands have mottos in English (DC = "Justice for All" and Virgin Islands = "United in Pride and Hope"). The Northern Mariana Islands have no additional motto aside from the standard Latin. American Samoa has a motto in Samoan: SAMOA MUAMUA LE ATUA ("Samoa, God is First"). Guam has a motto in Chamorro: "Guahan I Tanó ManChamorro" ("Guam: Land of the Chamorro").

(For the US quarter that includes a Braille inscription, see the previous posting.)

The Art of Money (Braille on Quarter)

The US Mint began its State Quarters Program in 1999, issuing commemorative coins in the order in which each state entered the Union. The state quarter of Alabama (released March 2003) depicts Helen Keller, and above her name is the equivalent "translation" in Braille dots. I wonder if a blind person is able to read this inscription at this size?

I think it's interesting that Helen Keller is depicted in the act of reading itself. She runs fingers over a book in her lap, presumably one with Braille dots or raised letters.

By the way, this quarter -- like all quarters -- contains some Latin: the unofficial motto of the United States, E pluribus unum ("out of many, one.")

(For more on the use of the motto E pluribus unum, see here and here. For more on Helen Keller, see my earlier posting about her statue in the Capitol Visitor Center; see also here and here.)

Helen Keller (Capitol Visitor Center)

I've already posted about the National Statuary Hall Collection, but I thought I should follow up with one more statue. Helen Keller, whose statue is now in the Capitol Visitor Center, is one of two statues representing Alabama. Keller was deaf and blind at an early age, and this statue depicts a linguistic epiphany at a water spout: "Her expression of astonishment shows the moment when she and [her childhood teacher and lifelong companion] Annie Sullivan first communicated, by touch, the word 'water.'" (This episode has been made famous by the play The Miracle Worker.)

The base contains a relief sculpture of Keller's Alabama home with English and Braille inscriptions - and an inspiring quotation from Helen Keller herself: "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart."

For more on Helen Keller, see this plaque (here) and the tomb of Keller and Sullivan (here).

Chinese Silkweaving, Multiple Scripts

During a visit to the Freer Gallery of Art last year, I came across this 13th-century scroll painting that depicts the art of Chinese silkweaving. The scroll links together 24 sheets of paper unfurling from left to right, and its visual content is fascinating (the scenes represent all the stages of silk production). Its verbal content is interesting as well. Each scene is accompanied by a poem that is written out in a formal style of calligraphy called "seal script." Next to each character of text in the poem there's a tiny gloss "translating" the character into standard script. There are also various inscriptions in "running script" throughout the scroll, in addition to the seals of multiple owners that have accrued over time.

To see more images of the scroll and download detailed documentation about its contents, see this website.

"Children at Play" (Chinese Art)

"Children at Play" Exhibition, Freer Gallery of Art, April 2010. Last year I saw this exhibition and I thought these paintings 齊白石 (Qi Baishi) were just so charming I had to post about them on this blog. The painting on the left (c. 1930) is called 夜讀圖 ("Studying at Night"), and the one on the right (also c. 1930) is 送子師從 ("Taking the Son to School"). The paintings seem quite sympathetic toward the child's plight.

Incidentally, the name 齊白石 is a pseudonym. The self-taught artist was known for landscape painting (among other things), and 白石 literally means "White Stone," suggesting snow-covered mountains.

For more about the artist and his legacy, see here.

Guide to Arabic Calligraphy

Guide to the Arabic alphabet, "Calligraphy of the Islamic World," Sackler and Freer Gallery of Art, 2007. This pamphlet offers a chart providing information on the letters of the Arabic alphabet and it also allows you to trace the proper strokes in order to write السلام عليكم (As-Salāmu `Alaykum = "Peace be with you"). I'm not exactly sure if the chart of letter forms is all that useful, since Arabic letters (as I understand it) must change their shape depending on where they appear in a given word.

(For more on calligraphy in Muslim cultures, see this online exhibition. To see another chart of the Arabic alphabet with cute animal pictures, see this earlier post.)

Jibberish Scripts (Hebrew? Greek?)

A holy child writes in a book in this detail from Bernhard Strigel's Saint Mary Salome and Her Family in the National Gallery of Art (click image to enlarge). I was intrigued by the appearance of the writing in this book, which looks to me like jibberish script. At first I thought these letter-forms were approximating Hebrew, but if that's so then the writing is going in the wrong direction (i.e., the pen is moving left to right, as one does when writing Latin and other languages; Hebrew should go from right to left).

When I took another look at the entire painting online (see image and description here), I realized this child actually identified as SANCTV. IOHANES EWAN. (Saint John the Evangelist) - and his Gospel was actually written in Greek. But the writing doesn't look very much like Greek either.

I guess it doesn't really matter whether the writing is "supposed" to be Greek or Hebrew. It looks like the artist was much more interested in representing the "idea" of a holy writer rather than conveying the accuracy of any particular script. (For another creative use of script in a religious painting, see this earlier posting about upside-down Latin.)

I'm sure I could find other examples of jibberish script throughout the NGA if I really looked around, but here's a similar example from a painting I saw in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo during a visit to Siena:

I don't remember who this figure is or even the name of the artist, but it's another intriguing example of visually stylized script that lends an aura of authority. Whether it's meant to represent Hebrew or Greek, the symbols here look to me a lot like a older form of Arabic numerals.

Muse of Poetry (National Gallery of Art)

Calliope (muse of heroic poetry), as sculpted Austin Pajou (c. 1763), in the French Neoclassical style. The name for Calliope comes from the Greek Καλλιόπη (Kalliope, or "beautiful-voiced"), and she is conventionally depicted holding a book or tablet.

In this detail, we see that the sculptor has chosen to show her holding an open book. On these pages are a Latin inscription. The first 3 lines on the left-hand page read CALLIOPE REGI/NA HOMINVM / DIVVMQVE (Calliope, Queen of Humans and Gods). The "queen" form of address is an allusion to Horace, whose Latin poetry refers to Calliope as regina, or queen (Carminae, III.iv.2). National Gallery of Art, West Wing.

To read more about this sculpture (including a full transcript of the Latin inscription), see here.

Trans-Atlantic Poetry (Navy Memorial Metro)

Two poems are inscribed all the wall in part of Ocean Piece, an artwork by Jorge Martin (1995). As far as I can tell, the artwork honors trans-Atlantic navigation and exploration. On the left (Western?) side of the artwork is an excerpt from Walt Whitman's poem "The Prayer of Columbus." The lines read:

All my emprises have been fill’d with Thee, 
My speculations, plans, begun and carried on in thoughts of Thee, 
Sailing the deep, or journeying the land for Thee; 
Intentions, purports, aspirations mine—leaving results to Thee.
  
O I am sure they really come from Thee! 
The urge, the ardor, the unconquerable will, 
The potent, felt, interior command, stronger than words, 
A message from the Heavens, whispering to me even in sleep, 
These sped me on.
  
By me, and these, the work so far accomplish’d (for what has been, has been); 
By me Earth’s elder, cloy’d and stifled lands, uncloy’d, unloos’d; 
By me the hemispheres rounded and tied—the unknown to the known. 

On the right (Eastern?) side of the sculpture - across a gentle bulge, which seems to me to evoke an ocean wave - is an excerpt from "Occident," a work by the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa. These lines read:


With two hands - Deed and Fate
We have unveiled in the same gesture, one
Raises the flickering and divine torch
While the other draws the veil aside.

Whether the hour was ripe or it owned
The hand that tore the Western veil,
Science was the soul and Audacity the body
Of the hand that unveiled it.

Whether the hand rose the glittering torch
Out of Fortune, Will or Tempest,
God was the soul and Portugal the body
Of the hand that bore it.


This artwork was a gift from the Lisbon Subway to the DC Metro (see this website for more). The oceanic and transportation-themed artwork is indeed fitting for its location: the Navy Memorial metro station.

Pocahontas Portrait

Painting of Pocahontas, after a Dutch engraving, National Portrait Gallery. Known by many names, this Native American woman supposedly saved the life of English colonist John Smith; she later converted to Christianity and moved to England, assuming the name Rebecca Rolfe. The inscription states this is how she appeared at age 21 in the year 1616, and the Latin inscription around the border reads "MATOAKA ALS REBECCA FILIA POTENTISS. PRINC. POWHATANI IMP. VIRGINIAE ("Matoaka, alias Rebecca, daughter of the most powerful prince of the Powhatan Empire of Virginia"). 

To find out more about Pocahontas and this painting, see this US Senate website. For more on the original 1616 engraving upon which this painting is based, see this Smithsonian site. For more on Pocahontas and her perception on both sides of the Atlantic, see here.

For more about iconic Native Americans with multiple names, see here and here.

Translating Names (National Statuary Hall Collection)

One of the most interesting features of the US Capitol is the National Statuary Hall Collection, which consists of 100 statues (2 from each state in the union). A particularly diverse group of statues populates the Capitol Visitor Center, reflecting the multicultural heritage of the nation.

On the left (above) is King Kamehameha, who (according to this official description) "united all the inhabited islands of Hawai'i under his rule." The pedestal of the statue reads KAMEHAMEHA I (i.e., King Kamehameha the First), but his full Hawaiian name is apparently much longer. On the right (above) is the Native American woman most commonly known as Sakagawea (or Sacajawea). In selecting this statue, the North Dakota legislature honored the woman they called Sakakawea as a "traveler and guide, translator, a diplomat, and a wife of mother" who was so crucial in the expeditions of Lewis and Clark.

Another figure worth mentioning here is Sequoyah, a Native American who represents the state of Oklahoma. The official description refers to him the "inventor of the Cherokee alphabet," but the writing system he developed is technically a syllabary.

(For more on Sequoyah, see my previous posting.)

Other statues in the collection depict figures from far-flung points of origin: e.g., Spanish missionaries Eusebio Francisco Kino (AZ) and Junipero Serra (CA); Quebec-born settlers Jean-Baptiste McLoughlin (OR), Jason Lee (OR), and Mother Joseph, née Esther Pariseau (WA); a French missionary, Father Jacques Marquette (WI); a Dutch-speaking Belgian known as Father Damien, born Joseph de Veuster (HI); and more Native Americans: Sarah Winnemucca (NV-Paiute), Po'pay (NM-Tiwa), and Washakie (WY-Shoshone).

Sequoyah, Inventor of Cherokee Writing System

This painting by Henry Inman at the National Portrait Gallery depicts the Sequoyah (d. 1843), the inventor of the Cherokee writing system. The script in Inman's painting doesn't look as well-executed as it could be; perhaps this is because Inman's work based upon a lost painting by Charles Bird King (King's painting was destroyed in a fire at the Smithsonian Castle).

This engraving, also based upon the lost King painting, seems to do a better job re-creating the Cherokee script. Sequoyah himself signed his name as ᏍᏏᏉᏯ (Ssiquoya), but you can see here that he was also known by the English name of George Giss or Guess.

This postcard, which erroneously calls the syllabic writing system an "alphabet," at least gives you a good sense of the sounds that the signs represent. For more about the Cherokee syllabary and language, see this page.

To read (or hear) more about this painting, see this NPG blog posting. You can also read about the statue of Sequoyah in the National Statuary Hall Collection (see the next posting for more).

Obamamania (DC Flashback)

It has now been two years since Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States. There was much euphoria in DC at the time: above, international newspapers (from Brazil and Saudi Arabia) announce Obama's victory in the election (Newseum, the day after Election Day, November 5, 2009). You can view front pages from newspapers around the world on this day at this Newseum website.

Other museums around DC fed into "Obamamania" in their own ways. Above, "Hongera Barack Obama," a kanga (dyed cotton cloth, used for many purposes), produced in east Africa in 2008, hangs on display at the National Museum of African Art. Obama's father was from Kenya, and the Swahili inscription expresses the hope many felt upon Obama's election: Upendo Na Amani Ametujalia Mungu ("God has blessed us with peace and love").

At the gift shop of the National Museum of American History, this children's book recognizes Obama's connections to Hawaii, the state where he was born. Note the use of the backwards apostrophe [ʻ] in the word Hawaiʻi. This punctuation mark, called the ʻokina, represents the glottal stop, a sound that does not exist in English.

The National Museum of the American Indian also got involved in the celebrations. Here, dancers perform a traditional Hawaiian mele inoa (name chant) for Obama as part of the Smithsonian's "Out of Many" Festival, January 17, 2009. You can read the Hawaiian text (with English translation) and even watch a recording of the performance on this website.

Native Boats, Indigenous Languages

November is officially Native American Heritage Month - so I'll be including a few postings throughout the month to honor this.

The National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) employs "American" in the broadest sense, encompassing in its scope diverse indigenous cultures across the Americas. Prominently displayed on the entrance level are 3 boats representing different cultures: a Hawaiian boat, an Inuit kayak, and a reed canoe constructed by Aymara people (see this website and gallery for more). Above, descriptions of the boats in the Inuit language (which uses a syllabary) and the Hawaiian language (which uses Roman letters). [Click the image to see a larger version.]

Note the use of the backwards apostrophe [ʻ] in the word Hawaiʻi. This punctuation mark, called the ʻokina, represents the glottal stop, a sound that does not exist in English.

The description of the reed canoe is written in Aymara, an indigenous (and co-official) language of Bolivia and Peru.

The English translations of these texts are written on the reverse of these signs - sorry I didn't include them here!

Art of the Parking Garage (National Building Museum ad)

This exhibition at the National Building Museum has now come and gone, but this ad was so clever I thought I should add it to this blog. I love the implied mathematical equation here: snail shell + parking sign = [implied result: spiral parking garage]. Read more about the photography exhibition here. Ad seen somewhere on the metro, May 2010.

London: Churches and Museums

Various items from churches and museums in London.

This sign for the Chinese Church in London features a nicely stylized form of the Chinese word 華 (huá), which means "China" or "Chinese" in most contexts. Here, a "cross" (or Star of Bethlehem) motif is incorporated into the center of the character.

Near the church, in Chinatown, I saw this poster that teaches children the Pinyin romanization scheme for Chinese. Each sound in Mandarin is assigned a corresponding Roman letter. Most of the words chosen are simple, everyday ideas or objects: 大 (dà) = big, large; 土 (tǔ) = earth, dust. I'm confused by the image for for 你 (nǐ) - I always thought it just mean "you."

St. Dunstan in the West is a church that caters to the demographics of its congregation in a variety of ways. Here, an entrance sign asks visitors to pray for peace (in English, French, German, Russian, Greek, and Romanian). Although the church is Anglican, I noticed many (Greek and Romanian) Orthodox icons and motifs inside. The praying hands are, I suppose, German in origin, after Betende Hände by Albrecht Dürer (c. 1508).

All Hallows by the Tower isn't one of London's most famous churches but it's worth a visit (check out the crypt and the brass rubbing center). Some notable people associated with the church include William Penn (baptized here, 1644) John Quincy Adams (married here, 1797), and Thomas More (beheaded near here, 1535).

The crypt underneath the church allows you to view centuries of treasures. The medieval livery companies of London contributed funds to develop this space to display valued artifacts and documents. Appropriately, a French inscription reads "Conservez ce qu'ont vu vos peres" [Safeguard those things upon which your fathers have looked]. Why French? It's the language medieval guilds used in most of their administrative and civic documents.

There are maritime motifs all throughout the church itself (among other things, there's a Mariners Chapel). This heraldic device is the emblem of the old Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, which bore the Latin motto "Per Mare Ubique" [Everywhere By Sea]. What I find most curious is the use of sea horses as supporters for the shield device! Apparently sea horses do appear elsewhere in heraldic insignia but in more imaginative and stylized forms; see this website (scroll to "sea-horse") for other examples.

I end with this curious detail from a medieval comic strip (or "graphic novel") version of the Book of Revelations. This panel depicts Rev. 16:13-16, when the text describes "three unclean spirits like frogs" coming out of the mouth of the False Prophet, Dragon, and Beast. Read (and hear) more about this artwork, with larger image, at this Victoria and Albert Museum website.

Paris: English vs. French

Earlier this summer I saw an exhibit in the Musée de l'Armée about the work of Jean Froissart, a medieval historian who wrote extensively about the Hundred Years' War between England and France (a misnomer, since the war actually lasted over 100 years).

Here's the poster for the exhibition. The title translates as "JOHN FROISSART chronicler of the Hundred Years' War." Note the use of red in the title - this follows the medieval practice of rubrication in manuscripts (i.e., using red letters to signal important textual features like titles or section headings). Colors - particularly red and blue - were used in some interesting ways throughout the exhibit as well.

This medieval manuscript shows the King of England (L, dressed in red, with lions) speaking with the King of France (R, dressed in blue, with fleur-de-lis motif). These are traditional heraldic devices/colors associated with the two nations.

The family tree near the start of the exhibit actually uses these heraldic motifs to mark royal family lines (England red, France blue). But look what happens when Henry V of England and French princess Catherine de Valois bear a child: Henry VI is rendered in alternating red and blue. Reminds me of a line in Shakespeare when the English king woos Catherine and suggests that "thou and I" shall bear a "compound...boy, half French, half English" (Henry V, Act 5.2).

The color-coding gets more complicated in the war chronology: events in English history are listed in blue, events in French history are in red, and events in the shared history of the nations are in green.

This little panel describes pieces of armor worn by soldiers during the period. In the center, a nice little riddle about a chain-mail garment (in parallel translation). Not quite sure why they "re-translated" the word "haubergon" in the French but not in the English.

Insofar as English/French relations are concerned, there seems to be a love/hate dynamic throughout the museum as a whole. The displays often stress solidarity between the Allies during World War II (in this context, the English are clearly friends and supporters of the French), but other materials openly mock the English. This satirical poster mocks "les English" on their way to Transvaal (in South Africa). Above, they cry for glory and victory shouting AO YES! Below, they disembark the ships onto the land, seasick and full of "wisky."

P.S. Just noticed in the royal pedigree that "Edouard" is not anglicized to Edward, but Henry is spelled in the English way (in French it would be spelled "Henri"). Weird.

Paris: Landmarks, Monuments, Museums

More linguistically-interesting things I saw in Paris.

A monument to peace within view of the Eiffel Tower. I can't tell how well the word "peace" is rendered in all these languages but the Chinese (和平) is at least legible. Not the best execution but well-intentioned. (By the way, I didn't see English anywhere among these languages! Hmmm...)

Louis Braille, inventor of the raised system of dots for the blind, is entombed beneath the Panthéon. This is one of the rare monuments that actively encourages visitors to touch and interact with it: a  bust, electronically illuminated Braille inscriptions, and audio recordings.

A similar installment for the blind can be found in the Pompidou Center. Here the Braille inscription and a textured pattern allow the visitor to appreciate a work of visual art.

Inside the Louvre Museum there's a series of signs that lay down "les règles de l'art" [the rules of art], i.e. what you're forbidden to do inside (e.g. no touching artworks, no flash photography etc.). I like the humorous and non-verbal aspect of these signs:

And, finally, a trilingual notice in the Palace of Versailles:

Paris: Randomness

Last blog entry about Paris.

Displayed in a storefront window, this T-shirt offers a ironic, snooty twist on the "I [HEART] PARIS" cliché: "J' [aime] rein: Je suis Parisien" [I love nothing: I'm a Parisian].

Variation on the theme: I [SPACE INVADER] PARIS. Who knows what this is about? Strange thing is, there were lots of these signs all over the city.

In a little park, a bunch of cursive vowels and random vocalic word balloons. I got the sense this was supposed to represent the childlike joy one gets from playing outdoors, but I could totally be making that up.

On the Métro, I spotted this ad targeting people who want to learn English. The name and American flag/tongue thing strike me as incredibly cheesy. I'm also not sure "Wall Street" English is the best name - yes it conveys the idea of "practical" real-world English, but Wall Street doesn't have the best reputation as of late.

Another weird French take on American culture: this graphic novel (?) for sale in a storefront window reads I.R.$. (dollar sign replacing S). Sort of makes tax collection look glamorous and exciting!

P.S. I've just learned that there is Wikipedia about the "Space Invader" artist, who has "invaded" many cities - but Paris remains the most saturated.

P.P.S. For more on the "I [HEART] WHATEVER" motif, see this posting.