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wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts
@wittspat.bsky.social
1.4K followers 46 following 2.3K posts
Specialist in Roman mosaics, with particular interests in iconography and antiquarian illustrations; also hedgehogs in any medium. Author. Membership Secretary asprom.org (posting personally).
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wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 8h
Agree completely, but it's not always possible to arrange timing and weather! I have very happy memories of having Calanais all to myself one summer's evening. (The trick was to go when 'normal' people were having dinner, and to leave when they started to emerge for a post-prandial stroll.)
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wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 8h
Reposting for #SundaySheep.
theduncanmackay.bsky.social
Duncan Mackay @theduncanmackay.bsky.social · 3d
Carrawburgh Mithraeum, Hadrian’s Wall; the shyest member of the contu-baaa-nium
#RomanFortThursday
A sheep pokes its head out around a Roman altar in the ruins of a Roman temple.
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wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 8h
I had no idea he was so young when he did this.
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wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 8h
A fascinating study: thank you, @anthonymajanlahti.bsky.social!
#classicalreception
anthonymajanlahti.bsky.social
Anthony Majanlahti @anthonymajanlahti.bsky.social · Aug 22
#FrescoFriday this week dives into one of the most famous #ceilings of #Nero's #DomusAurea: the #GoldenVault, buried under the #Oppian Hill in #Rome. It's an excellent case study in #classicalreception over five centuries. So let's dig in! #AncientBluesky 🏺
HALL OF THE GOLDEN VAULT, 65-68 CE. DOMUS AUREA When Nero's last palace, the massive Domus Aurea, was rediscovered in the late C15, this hall, axially aligned with the centre of one of the two pentagonal recesses of the façade of the pavilion on the Oppian hill, was still decorated with gold leaf on some of the stucco. One huge hole dug in from above came from explorers, the smaller one from a medieval well. This room, despoiled by Trajan of its opus sectile wall panels and floor, was filled with earth. However, much more of its decoration survived in the C16, and the artist Francisco de Hollanda tried to reconstruct it in drawing based on what remained. It is a complex ceiling of stucco frames enclosing rectangular scenes, with roundels that probably had figurative frescoes in them as well. At centre a huge roundel, now entirely lost, contained the ceiling's main image. As we will see, this ceiling became a battleground for competing forms of classical reception.
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Reposted by Dr Pat Witts
oewordhord.bsky.social
Old English Wordhord @oewordhord.bsky.social · Sep 8
wull, f.n: wool. (WULL / ˈwʌl)
Image: Sheep in a bestiary; England, c. 1225-1250; @bodleianlibraries.bsky.social MS. Bodley 764, f. 34r.
#OldEnglish #WOTD
Medieval manuscript image of a wooly white sheep standing among some plants with a placid expression on its face.
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wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 8h
Ooh, lovely! Where are these?
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wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 8h
#Hedgehog alert!
enniusredloeb.bsky.social
Ennius @enniusredloeb.bsky.social · 2d
The famous five: cat, mouse, weasel, mole, hedgehog

BL Harley MS 3244; Theological miscellany; 1236-c 1250 CE; England; f.49v
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Reposted by Dr Pat Witts
enniusredloeb.bsky.social
Ennius @enniusredloeb.bsky.social · 2d
The battle of Cat and Mouse

BL Harley 6563; Book of Hours; c.1320 CE-c.1330 CE; England, S. E. (London); f.72r
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wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 9h
It is! And quite small, I seem to remember.
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wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 9h
Or the edge of a trench, with an intriguing mosaic image disappearing just where we need to know more ...
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wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 9h
I've only been briefly but, it yes, you can feel it's special. Lovely photo of seal, too!
wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 9h
Just in time for #SundaySheep: look who I met this afternoon at the lovely Tetbury Wool Fair.
Two sheep on a bed of straw, one standing in front of the other who is lying down. The standing sheep is stocky, with a dense fleece. She is facing right with her head turned towards us and has black markings on her face. A sheep stretching her head up to the left towards her human, whose fingers are visible (and who had treats!). On the ground at lower left is an orange water bowl.
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wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 9h
Yes, I have, a few years ago!
wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 9h
Good to see this close-up view. Tried to revisit it recently but there had been epic rainfall the previous day, so the ford was impassable without getting wet feet - if it had been a mosaic, of course, I'd have braved it ...
wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 9h
How unusual!
wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 9h
That colour of the river is stunning. One of my favourite paintings in the Prado (and there's stiff competition!).
wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 11h
There were a fair few people around on my visit, though it was a Tuesday morning, not a weekend. Some were posing like tourists (😱). One looked profound, sitting on a stone, but then ate a bag of crisps (perhaps profoundly). The stones were still magical.
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wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 11h
Lovely!
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wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 11h
You had dramatic clouds too!
wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 21h
For #StandingStoneSunday, remembering a wonderfully atmospheric visit to the incomparable Castlerigg stone circle recently. The wisps of cloud in the valley added to the mystique.
Part of a stone circle curving from right foreground to left centre. The stones are mostly upright with a few lying down. They are in a grassy setting with mountains and clouds in the distance. Some of the clouds are dipping into a valley just above left of centre.
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wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 1d
For #RomanSiteSaturday, the South and East Gates at Birdoswald fort on Hadrian's Wall, looking towards the interior of the fort. Although largely unexcavated, it's a charming site with a small museum and extensive stretches of the Wall on either side.
In the foreground, two stretches of wall run from either side with a gap between them, through which a building and trees can be seen in the distance. (The building is medieval/modern and lies within the north western corner of the fort.) The ground is grassy and the sky is grey. Part of a gateway in a Roman wall with some fine masonry, including a door jamb on the right which survives to its full height, with the start of an arch springing above. The portal next to this has masonry at front and rear, showing that it was blocked at a later period. The other portal, on the left of the picture, has no such blocking stones. The gatway is set within a grassy area with trees in the distance.
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wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 1d
So glad you like it!
wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 2d
A good start to Friday: #hedgehog alert! (With thanks as ever to @arthistoryanimalia.bsky.social for bringing this to my attention.)
jdmccafferty.bsky.social
John McCafferty @jdmccafferty.bsky.social · 3d
Hedgehog, c. 1650 (Rijksmuseum)

I love its expression.
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wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 2d
Great expression! Thanks for bringing him/her to my attention. Looks familiar ...
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wittspat.bsky.social
Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 2d
Absolutely adorable!