The Stone and The Pieta, the Mona Lisa, and Melancholia: A Story from Lithic Literature.
The Stone and The Pieta, the Mona Lisa, and Melancholia: A Story from Lithic Literature.
As I explored the surface of the famous stone of the “Llorona” or the weeping woman, I was moved by it. I knew this was a good time to bring in the more popular and well known works of art to support my theory. I know I am pushing. I have been scolded in the past that the more popular historical work was off limits, and I should stick to rocks. I do think it is important to point out how a lot of the artists of the ages were educated by the stones. I have certainly noticed how even modern artist like Picasso, Szukalski, Chagall, and many others, were all working to out do each other as they rendered their interpretations of the design. Eventually, that will be discussed more , but here we are looking at some of the greater art of the Renaissance period.
Lithic Literature is not a hallucination, or projection. It is not delusional. It is an intentional effort by man to store information. It is the book of life, literally. It is this book that artist/masons have used as a resource since the beginning of humanity and is still used today whether we know it or not. We have explored the design as far back as a million years or more in Africa. We found it at the Nekromanteion of the ancient Greeks, the stones of the Azores, and here in Maine. Lithic Literature is our history.
I was working on the association of the Pleiades with Venus. The more I looked, the more it made sense. I am holding the string to the Pleiades like a string to a kite. The rub is convincing the Emperor that the cloak of pareidolia as an explanation for the abundant information etched in stone is no longer covering his behind.
I was reviewing the imagery that I had mapped out on the stones below. I kept on thinking that this material looked familiar. I had noted that the monument from the Azores, known as the La Llorona, had a story about drowning. It acknowledged the dangers of living around water. It made reference of the sadness of a mother at the loss of a sailor, fisherman, or child. As always the stones do provide some instruction on treating a drowning victim and providing instruction of CPR. Yup, these folks knew what to do. I have noted that a lot of the information in the design swirls around water. The story of the weeping woman or in Spanish, la llorona, is told in Mexican folklore. It is a story of a spirit of a woman that haunts waterways morning the drowning of her offspring. I could not shake the feeling that all this was somehow familiar. I thought of another image of a weeping figure over her loss of her child. I was so enthralled with this content that I had to stop and document. The image that seemed to come to mind was the Pieta by Michelangelo! There are fewer experiences that bring more grief than the loss of a child.
I am saying that the stones pictured above have the same design as the Pieta Below. I am suggesting that when Michelangelo sought for an inspiration for Mary mourning over Christ in the Llorona story of the stones. The image of a mother weeping over her drown son is something that can be identified as sadness.
I am suggesting that the real, original subject was drowning, not crucifixion. In the picture below, you can spot the boatman. The boat shape is filling with water, as the boatman paddles as he tries to avoid the rocks. The boat is damaged and swamped. The man drowns but is whisked out of the water and CPR is performed. I hope he makes it🫣
I am impressed with Mary’s CPR technique! She positions Christ on her lap while supporting his upper back. His head is tilted back enough to maintain the air way open. She positions her hand to start compressions at the diaphragm. The compressions will push water out of the lungs as well as compress the heart to push the blood circulation. The head can easily be tilted to avoid the victim from aspirating.
In the original image below one can continue to explore the suggestions offered by the design to deal with drowning and choking. The design also gives different CPR techniques for children and infants . If you start getting the picture, it offers help for our animal friends as well.
I hope everyone is excited about their own discoveries. I am sure there are some thinking this is crazy, as they find themselves seeing many other images covering many subjects, and it is true. I often start with a familiar subject like the arrangement of bird forms, and that is exactly how I started when analyzing the Pieta for the design used by Lithic Literature.
I started highlighting the birds in red below. The plethora of bird species is always fun. I even picked up the flamingo as its beak and head top the sculpture. I was starting to highlight a bird in flight which can be seen centered flying out of the design, when out of nowhere, a Canine jumps in and grabs the bird in flight! I quickly highlighted the nose and paws of the leaping wolf in white. I have seen this wolf before and decided to clip it out to use it as a template to move around to compare and track the wolf image as it shows up in other art works.
Please explore the clipped image of the wolf leaping forward below. Find the eyes of the beast as it stares right into your eyes.
The image below is a monument from the top of the rim of the caldera of Terceira Island. I have taken the time to highlight the wolf. This is where I have seen the same wolf! we have the same wolf on Terceira that we have on the Pieta!
I understand some are squinting and crossing their eyes to see everything I am describing. Do not give up and keep trying. It will come to you. I have taken the clipped image of the wolf image found on the Pieta and floated it around on top of the Azores' monument.
I am satisfied and amazed how the image of the wolf is the same wolf in the same leaping pose. I assure you there are many wolf activities as it leaps around the food chain that is part of the design. The posture of the leaping wolf is repeated both far and near. Below the wolf is not only leaping large in the center of the image, it is repeated in a smaller scale giving depth in the design as the wolves do wolfie things.
In the image below I have used the white line to accentuate the posture of the wolf in both art works are almost identical in design. If you are catching on, see if you can make out the Pieta it the stone monument and compared it with the Pieta by Michelangelo.
If the wolf is repeated to add perspective and depth to the design it is not a big leap to think that the mother figure is repeated too. The Pieta is another layer in the design and Michelangelo was looking.
Okay, we have seen a lot and our brains are feeling like a pile of spaghetti. Rather than closing this article and starting another, lets stretch and make a cup of tea and give our brains a moment to reboot.
Now that you are back and rebooted we can explore the pattern on the next stone. The stone tool below from the Azores has it’s own Mona Lisa. Please, take a moment and explore and allow the brain to take in the information presented by the ancients.
In the following image the highlighting on the stone on the left can be identified as a content beautiful woman.
The story of the Pieta is not hard to find on the surface of the stone tool. In this version of The Pieta highlighted below, Mary’s efforts to revive her son after drowning can be followed. He can be seen as he lifts his head grateful for her intervention.
Can we find the Mona Lisa in the monument of the Llorona ? I found a younger version of the Mona Lisa. The image of a girl holding a bucket/basket. Depending on what is focused, the chores for the girl change from water collection to eggs and birds.
The young girl below seems to struggle with the heavy water container as itsplashes and her hands struggle to get a good grip.
The version below of the younger Mona Lisa begins to recall the story of Little Red Riding Hood. I hope she can outfox the wolf! She has some nice treats for her grandmother.
I hope some folks are beginning to get how all of this works together as we continue on the story of sadness and loss. Durer’s Melancholia has been in my peripheral vision and is another rendition of the subject. I would love to be able to document everything in real time as it is revealed but there is so much material it is not possible. I am trying to work as fast as I can and sometimes subjects come up that need to go to the back burner. I am sure at some point my own sensibilities will require me to pick up the paint brush and render my own interpretation of the stones. That will have to wait a little longer, because for now I am furiously peeling away the layers of information and there are many.
The birds are always fun and I have highlighted them in red. I assure you there are so many bird stories here, I have just revealed the tip of the iceberg. I love birds and below I have cracked the design open for all to see. Please if you enjoy bird watching this is a great way to partake. If the birds are here, the canine will surely be popping in for dinner.
I did not have to look far, at least I was prepared this time. I found the wolf and some other mammals. How do you feel about it being the same wolf as the monuments on the Azores?
and some other mammals. How do you feel about it being the same wolf as the monuments on the Azores?
As always the characteristic of many layers is present. Above I have explored some of the different layers. I have used different colors to try to accentuate different themes and characters as they reveal themselves. After skimming the subjects, I can start picking up on the activity between characters as they interact in the design. Please take a look around. Do you see anything familiar?
Now that we have established a pattern, we can anticipate what is to come.
Durer, like other wood carvers and myself, turn the wood block as we work finding a way to around the grain of the wood. I suggest your turn the images that work from Lithic Literature. With each turn new perspectives of our ancient life are revealed.
As an Artist myself, I have some confidence in my eye hand coordination. I am trained as a printmaker. I have worked with wood and printmaking. I am working fast to garner as much information from the design of the ancients to share with you.
I have confidence in the use of the design used by Lithic Literature by the Renaissance artist like Durer, Michelangelo, and Da Vinci.
Thank you for looking🥰🍵.
As always I include a garden stone from the coast of Maine. I leave it to you to decide if the pattern of the Pieta, the Mona Lisa and Melancholia are found below🥰😉😏
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