horse—an illustration

"During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, 
when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, 
on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; 
and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, 
within view of the melancholy House of Usher. 


I know not how it was—but, with the first glimpse of the building, 
a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. ... "

The beginning of "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allen Poe
Illustration: Alexander Fredés/2012 

falling down

from the time when esthetics were not important,

when design were nothing to think of,

only the urgent needs of having shelter,

nothing human, only a shelter.

now, when times had passed by,

when people need not only a shelter

but, a place to live,

the house built in a hurry 

looses its motive

it has become ugly.

now, it's time to fell it down.

it becomes suddenly a ruin,

it looks as a picture taken in Berlin after the war

it looks like a fallen church, a monument that nobody wants.

the images against the dark sky

and strong brightness become like chapels

monuments of the pass.

ph; © alexander fredés/2012

la testa di San Giovani Battista

Il Battista morì a causa della sua predicazione. Egli condannò pubblicamente la condotta di Erode Antipa, che conviveva con la cognata Erodiade; il re lo fece prima imprigionare, poi, per compiacere la bella figlia di Erodiade, Salomè, che aveva ballato ad un banchetto, lo fece decapitare.


La morte per decapitazione ha fatto sì che Giovanni Battista sia divenuto famoso anche come san Giovanni decollato. La celebrazione del martirio di Giovanni Battista o celebrazione di San Giovanni Decollato è fissata al 29 agosto (probabile data del ritrovamento della reliquia della testa del Battista). Molte chiese, luoghi di culto e città sono dedicate a questo santo.


A marble sculpture by Polish artist Igor Mitoraj of the Head of St John the Baptist. The sculpture, made in 2006, is in the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome.”


photo: © alexander fredés, 2012

Roman Patterns

I found these patterns at the old Roman harbor of Ostia (Ostia Antica)

views of the past

at Ostia Antica, Rome

the colors of aging

copar garbage outside our building

mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix

Iκαρος

flying to liberty
to freedom 
pointing to high 
believing on a dream…

falling into the sea

ignoring the danger

"…and in the early morning light 
after a silent peaceful night
you took my heart away and 
I grieve in my dreams 
I can see you 
I can tell you how 
I feel in my dreams 
I can hold you 
and it feels so real… "

[lyrics: Anathema]

a foggy guess

…the fog erased the landscape

the light was just pale reflexions on the clouds, 

brightening slightly the buildings and the leafless trees. 

In a blur you could guess the tower of a church 

as ghostly arrow pointing the sky.

white dust

suddenly everything became shadowy, 
a blurry white dust covered the roofs and the trees 
and the landscape went brighter, 
the shadows disappeared leaving a fog 
that covered the city and the horizon.