Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has seen that the National Weather Service has increased the forecast of snow in this are to 16-24 inches of accumulation. That is a lot.

All this weather talk has been making your Maximum Leader think of sunnier weather… and art… He always thinks of art you know. If only there were a way to combine sunny weather and art in one visual medium?

Perhaps the late great Alberto Vargas could help us with that…

Indeed he can…

Depending on your workplace, that image might be NSFW.

Your Maximum Leader loves the caption on that piece. BTW, Your Maximum Leader should point out that suntan lotion should be applied every 15-20 minutes while outdoors in the sun.

NB to Sir Basil: Please note how sun reflects realistically off the fruit and there is no sweat on the bubbly.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader is still checking various pieces of artwork to make sure they have fruit… Here is a sort of racy one:

Bartolomeo Manfredi’s Allegory of the Four Seasons.

Fruit present… It’s arty…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader sees that Sir Basil is warning that we’ll be studying for a fall festival with the RCBfA.

Your Maximum Leader has found his study partners:

He’s especially fond of Monica Bellucci in the center there.

And if Mr P needs enticing to come to this meeting perhaps this will help:

By the way… Your Maximum Leader, who as you all surely know is a Dracula fan, went and got Dracula the Un-dead the other day. He is a sucker for the “official sequel” status of this book. So far Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt are doing pretty well keeping your Maximum Leader turning the pages… Perhaps a review will be up before Halloween.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader reminds you that if there is fruit in the painting it must be art…

For your viewing edification… Susanna (or Shoshanna - he’s told by Jewish friends) and the Elders by Alessandro Allori.

Clicky to embiggen.

Your Maximum Leader had completely forgotten the story of Susanna and the Elders. He had to quickly refresh his memory before he felt he could post this piece of art.

He might read the story to his children over the weekend…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was thinking that it has been a while since he last posted anything relating to the RCBfA. Today is as good a day as any to make up for lost posting.

You see… Your Maximum Leader was reading about night in the most recent issue of National Geographic. More accuarately, he was reading about how night isn’t all that dark in many areas of the developed world and why that isn’t a good thing. Your Maximum Leader agrees. Night should be dark and the heavens not obsucred by light reflecting off cities and such…

But your Maximum Leader digresses…

So… There is, in this issue of National Geographic, a photo of a road sign proclaiming a street be “Milky Way.” The photo is shot at night and one can actually see the Milky Way in the background.

That got your Maximum Leader to thinking. He seemed to remember seeing a painting once called “The Origin of the Milky Way” in the National Gallery in London. At first he remembered it as a Titian. But later realized he was incorrect and it is a Tintoretto. For your viewing pleasure, Tintoretto’s “Origin of the Milky Way”:

Clicken to embiggen.

And while we are thinking of Tintoretto… How about his “Four women playing music.”

Again, clicken to embiggen. Sadly, your Maximum Leader hasn’t found too many string quartets of the type Tintoretto was painting here. This painting serves as a reminder to your Maximum Leader that he must go to Florence - where there is lots of art. (And presumably artful string quartets.)

Carry on.