14 Comments
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JasonT's avatar

Wonderful post. Thank you.

An age old question: Do we kneel before God and stand before men or do we kneel to men and deny God?

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Luka Benegas's avatar

Excellent question, Jason. I suspect we never truly know the answer until we're forced to face it.

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JasonT's avatar

One of roles of art is to raise those questions and prepare us, I believe.

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Luka Benegas's avatar

I couldn’t agree more!

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Yolanda M.'s avatar

Wow your newsletter is a feast! Yay...

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Luka Benegas's avatar

Thank you! That's so kind of you to say :)

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Lauren Elyse S.'s avatar

Glad to have come across your newsletter and discovered this painting, no less for your insights at the end. Relatedly, a film that captures the pain of this moment in history is La Reine Margot ('94) - it's unflinching, if this painting and topic interests anyone further.

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Luka Benegas's avatar

Oh my goodness I am adding this film to my watch list right away! Thank you for sharing this! I'm veeeeery excited to watch

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Lauren Elyse S.'s avatar

You're welcome! Just fair warning, it is intense. I actually couldn't make it fully through the massacre scene, I'll have to try to get to the end some other time.

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George Bothamley's avatar

Wow. What an absolutely fantastic article. Your insight both into the historical context of the painting, and of the subtle elements of the painting itself, is just fascinating.

Would love to restack it and share with my audience too if you wouldn't mind?

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Luka Benegas's avatar

Thank you! That’s a huge compliment coming from you. And I would be honored if you shared it :)

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Notes On Useful Beauty's avatar

Excellent analysis of an unsung masterpiece-the topic is so intense, asking a difficult question with such beauty. Quoting from a prior post, an age old question: Do we kneel before God and stand before men or do we kneel to men and deny God?

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haley larsen, phd's avatar

You're such a good writer, Luka! This was amazing to read. I especially loved your rephrase of the PRB's artistic rules. I learn so much from your analysis!

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Feb 6, 2024
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Luka Benegas's avatar

thank you for commenting :) Ophelia is of course a gorgeous painting!

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