I heard in a BBC podcast
last year that there's a (new) city in China full of nothing but
factories churning out copies of western Old Masters. Each artist
specialising in one of the latter and producing a conveyor belt of
indistinguishable replicas. There was no suggestion these were being
passed off as originals – at least not to the first buyers – but
one has to wonder. Anyway, the thought occurred to me today – Is
anyone engaged on replicating any of Damian Hirst's stuff? I imagine
not.
One of the signs of the
times? El País on Sundays used to give us an eight-page
supplement on Galicia. This is now down to just 2 pages in the centre
of the paper. No supplement at all.
A microcosm? In the space
of a couple of years or so, the two Galician savings banks Nova Caixa
and Caixa Galicia begat Novacaixagalicia, which begat Caixa
Novagalicia, which begat Novagalicia Banco. Along the way a handful
of directors paid themselves millions as one entity faded and another
rose from the ashes. Which action they're now chatting about with the
judicial authorities. No doubt it was all signed off by a separate
director who – non-accidentally – hadn't the faintest notion of
what he or she was doing. Being a ballet dancer or something
equally estranged from the world of businessmen. And of crooks.
From time to time I talk
about what I see as a somewhat lax attitude towards safety here in
Spain. I was reminded of this when reading that for a Halloween disco
in Madrid the emergency exits had been barricaded – preventing
escape – and that the maximum capacity of the venue had been well
exceeded. When there was a stampede caused by an imbecile letting off
a flare, four young women died and one was seriously injured. But this
may not, in fact, have been a case of a negligent approach towards
safety; it's possible that the people running the event deliberately
barricaded the exits so as to stop non-paying customers getting in.
If so, it was beyond reckless and must surely be punished severely.
When I wrote about Lisbon
last week, my intention had been to refer to George Borrow's
masterpiece, The Bible in Spain. But I could find no mention
either of St George's church or its tomb of Henry Fielding in the
book. However, my knowledgable Dutch friend, Peter, insisted they
were there in the very first chapter. And so they are. Sort of:- With
all its ruin and desolation, Lisbon is unquestionably the most
remarkable city in the Peninsula, and, perhaps, in the south of
Europe. It is not my intention to enter into minute details
concerning it; I shall content myself with remarking that it is quite
as much deserving the attention of the artist as even Rome itself. .
. . There is no monument of man’s labour and skill, pertaining
either to ancient or modern Rome, for whatever purpose designed,
which can rival the water-works of Lisbon; I mean the stupendous
aqueduct whose principal arches cross the valley to the north-east of
Lisbon, and which discharges its little runnel of cool and delicious
water into the rocky cistern within that beautiful edifice called the
Mother of the Waters, from whence all Lisbon is supplied. Let
travellers devote one entire morning to inspecting the Arcos and the
Mai das agoas, after which they may repair to the English church and
cemetery, Père-la-Chaise in miniature, where, if they be of England,
they may well be excused if they kiss the cold tomb, as I did, of the
author of “Amelia,” the most singular genius
which their island ever produced, whose works it has long been the
fashion to abuse in public and to read in secret.
Entrance to St. George's church
'Pere-la-Chaise in miniature'
Henry Fielding's tomb. Or at least a pointer to it.
Still on the subject of
Lisbon, it seems I was in serious error in suggesting that the
Pastéis de Belém contain apple. They don't. They're made
essentially of egg yolks, to a still-secret recipe. Sorry about that.
Finally . . . I see that
Spain's big film star – Penelope Cruz – is the featured model in
the 2013 Campari calendar. Neither of them really need any publicity
from me but here it is. You have to say La Pen looks pretty good. But
natural?
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