Picture: Napoleon with Nike in Apsley House
I honestly started out with a Middle Eastern theme to my blogs. Somewhere along the way my Adult ADD has taken over and now I've got the Duke of Wellington on my mind.
I've been reading a book about Alexander Hamilton and I'm to the part where he has the famous duel with Aaron Burr. That got me thinking about rivalry and nemesis. I then thought of the most famous example of a guy with a nemesis (outside of a comic book) and that would be the Duke of Wellington.
When we lived in London our flat was in a building called Apsley House, named after the more famous residence of the Dukes of Wellington. I visited the real Apsley House and was amazed to find a surprise waiting there. A colossal nude statue of Napoleon holding a gilded Nike (Greek myth kind, not swoosh kind) dominated the stairwell at the center of the house. (Nike's wings supposedly symbolized the fleeting nature of victory.)
When we lived in London our flat was in a building called Apsley House, named after the more famous residence of the Dukes of Wellington. I visited the real Apsley House and was amazed to find a surprise waiting there. A colossal nude statue of Napoleon holding a gilded Nike (Greek myth kind, not swoosh kind) dominated the stairwell at the center of the house. (Nike's wings supposedly symbolized the fleeting nature of victory.)
This man caused Wellington nothing but grief. Why have a nude statue of your enemy staring at you every morning when you go downstairs to have your morning tea and crumpets?
Inspiration maybe?
I think Wellington knew that he owed a lot to Bonaparte. Would he have been as famous had he not had such a famous nemesis? There is a lesson here....whose statue is in your house?
Do you think they decorate him for Christmas...a little tinsel here and there? Perhaps some holly where a fig leaf should be?
2 comments:
One of the best blogs yet!!! You can totally stray from the Arab world anytime you want. Perhaps you should talk about the La Piazza painting next. I think we have numerous pictures of that. I don't know why we always got stuck at that table.
- Christie
P.S. Do you really have a facebook account? We must be friends asap. Also, you could have just changed the history of facebook... the first mother to actually get her own account instead of just finding out her childrens' passwords and stalking them online. It's okay mother... I would do it too! Haha LOVE U!!!!!
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