Author Cara Black

Cara's New Novel

We braved the Colorado spiring snow and headed down to the Denver Woman's Press Club where Cara Black, author of the nationally bestselling and award nominated Aimée Leduc Investigation series, read from her new novel Murder Below Montparnasse.  Cara talked about her rapport with the Paris police as well as the intensive research she does on every novel.

Illuminations - Treasures of the Middle Ages - BBC

Art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon visits an exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, which contains a treasure trove of the world's most important illuminated manuscripts. Germaine Greer joins the modern-day illustrator Quentin Blake to consider the religious and political power of these beautiful medieval masterpieces, and to assess their place in the history of art and book production.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuME-DcksYo&noredirect=1

Making Manuscripts, Getty Museum

An illuminated manuscript is a book written and decorated completely by hand. Illuminated manuscripts were among the most precious objects produced in the Middle Ages and the early Renaissance, primarily in monasteries and courts. Society's rulers--emperors, kings, dukes, cardinals, and bishops--commissioned the most splendid manuscripts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aDHJu9J10o

Beetles

Recently I have been going to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to draw beetles.  I find them quite beautiful and fascinating.  Check out some of the rare beauties!

Nurnberg - Germanic National Museum and Albrecht Durer

Our tour came to an end in Nurnberg (Nuremberg).  We visited the Germanic National Museum, the Albrecht Durer House, a medieval outdoor market and sampled the awesome and famous Bavarian gingerbread. I must say, this was the best gingerbread I have ever eaten! Yum!

Nuremberg was founded around the turn of the 11th century.  Nuremberg is often referred to as having been the 'unofficial capital' of the Holy Roman Empire, particularly because Imperial Diet (Reichstag) and courts met at Nuremberg Castle. The Diets of Nuremberg were an important part of the administrative structure of the empire. The increasing demand of the royal court and the increasing importance of the city attracted increased trade and commerce to Nuremberg. The cultural flowering of Nuremberg, in the 15th and 16th centuries, made it the centre of the German Renaissance. Between 1945 and 1946, German officials involved in the Holocaust and other war crimes were brought before an international tribunal in the Nuremberg Trials.

We toured the Albrecht Durer House which was Dürer's residence between 1509 and 1528. Of particular interest was the large painting and printing workshop from Dürer's time where artistic techniques are demonstrated.

Statue of Albrecht Durer

Albrecht Durer House

Print

Engraving Tools

Dragon Chandelier

Printing Press

The Germanic National Museum is one of Europe's largest and greatest museums.  Its incomparable stores of exceptional art and artisanship afford a panoramic overview of the cultural history of German-speaking central Europe.  It boasts of the Albrecht Durer collections and the unique Codex aureus, produced in the 10th century.

St. George Killing the Dragon

Faber-Castell

Faber-Castell Castle

Architectural Detail

Grand Staircase

Ceiling Detail

Pencil Factory

Print of Factory

Graphite

We toured the Faber-Castell home and factory.  Faber-Castell is one of the world's largest manufacturers of pens, pencils and art supplies, as well as high-end writing instruments and luxury leather goods.  Founded in 1761 at Stein near Nurnberg by cabinet maker Kaspar Faber, the enterprise remained in the Faber family for eight generations.

Pharmacy Museum, Heidelberg Castle

Heidelberg Castle

Nestled in the hill 300 feet above the city of Heidelberg stands the breath-taking Heidelberg Schloss (castle). The castle is a combination of several buildings surrounding an inner courtyard, put together with a haphazard look. Each building highlights a different period of German architecture.

The castle has a history almost as old as the city itself. The first parts of the castle were constructed around 1300, but it wasn’t before Prince Elector Ruprecht III (1398 – 1410) that the castle was used as a regal residence. Until it was destroyed by lightning in 1764 leaving it permanently uninhabitable, the castle was the residence for most of the Prince Electors. In 1800, Count Charles de Graimberg began the difficult task of conserving the castle ruins. Up until this time, the citizens of Heidelberg had used the castle stones to build new houses.

Just as breath-taking as the castle is from the city, so too is the city from the castle. From either the Great Terrace or the gardens, one has an amazing view of Heidelberg, the Neckar River, and the Neckar valley far into the Rhine plain. On a clear day, Mannheim is even visible on the horizon.

Red Roofs, Heidelberg

Heidelberg

Putti

The German Pharmacy Museum's collection of over 20.000 objects represents the rich history of medical sciences, especially the history of pharmacy.

Housed in one of Germany's architectural landmarks, the Heidelberg Castle, the collection is the largest and finest in existence, spanning two thousand years of pharmacy history.

Pharmacy Museum

Equipment

Laboratory Equipment

Distilling Apparatus

Dried Fern

Remedies for the Kiddies

Disturbing Unicorn