Lightner Museum, St. Augustine, Florida

Hotel Alcazar at the turn of the century.

The former Hotel Alcazar was built in 1887 in the Spanish Renaissance style. Railroad magnate Henry M. Flagler commissioned architects Carrere and Hastings to design the Alcazar and the Ponce de Leon Hotel (across the street). The two young architects later designed the New York Public Library and the U.S. Senate office building. After years of accommodating vacationing wealthy patrons, the elegant resort hotel closed.  Chicago publisher, Otto C. Lightner, purchased the building to house his extensive collection of Victoriana in 1946 and opened the museum two years later.  He gave the museum to the city of St. Augustine. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Science and Industry Room at The Lightner Museum.

Curio cabinet, Art Nouveau style,
Mechanics Furniture Co., U.S.A., circa 1900

Source - Above images and copy from the Lightner Museum website.  Link here to view the website.

Otto Lightner 1887- 1950

Otto Lightner is buried at the Lightner Museum.

Below are a few images from the collection.

Little Giant Girl Doll

Sam Taylor Wood, Pieta

Go to link below to watch video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyUWJqExw00

"In the large video projection "Pietà," the artist Sam Taylor Wood labors to support the draped body of Robert Downey Jr. Why him, one might ask, and for that matter, why her? Why ask, is the likely reply. Taylor-Wood has appropriated widely in the past-from Atlas to Roman orgy scenes (updated to the present day) to Hollywood movies. Here, as elsewhere in her work, surface registers of emotion and physical distress take the place of narrative. The pietà becomes an icon of exhaustion and distress, in her hands." -source link here.

Pieta

Michelangelo

1498-1499

Marble

68.5 inches x 76 inches

St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City

Subject: Jesus and Mary, Mother of Jesus

Classical Beauty, Naturalism, Youth

Commissioned by a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church

pee-ay-taa

Italian - pity, passion

Images (sculptures, paintings) used as visual aids for prayer and contemplation. 

Illustrate the narrative of scripture. 

Icon for distress and despair.

Images for Reading Handout (symbols)

Archetypes

Archetype - a recurrent symbol in literature, art or mythology, a typical example.

image source link here

Allegory

Allegory - a story, poem or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one, a narrative that serves as an extended metaphor.

Difference between allegory and symbol - allegory a complete narrative abstract ideas, a symbol is a representation of an idea.

Link here to read article, Why Avatar Is A Crummy Allegory, from politics daily.

Link here to read article, You Saw What in Avatar? Pass Those Glasses, from the New York Times.