Added 1 new A* page:Not that you could tell, particularly after the translation from pencils to ink, which for me is still a fairly destructive process, but a few days ago I had been inspired by some illustrations by Czech artist Alfons Mucha--a series of illustrations, in fact, that he had printed in Paris in 1899, collectively called "Le Pater." While Mucha is primarily known on the internet these days for the colorfully flat, flowing, gracefully outlined graphic style he developed for his commercial work, and which became highly successful across Europe as what was dubbed "Art Nouveau," that very success rather galled him, apparently, and he "declared that art existed only to communicate a spiritual message." So what he considered his masterpieces were not the popular images he created for advertising of all sorts, but deeply personal works in more muted tones and deep shadow. "Le Pater" was one of these: seven illustrations of the traditional Christian "Our Father" prayer. Executed in exquisitely delicate black shading, they're extraordinary not only for his technical mastery in rendering the human body, drapery, and landscapes in deeply volumetric black and white, but also for the emotional impact conveyed by the figures in their turning, rising compositions.
There is some very mild artistic nudity in these, so be warned. I found them here, where you can see them in order with their accompanying illuminated French and Latin manuscript pages, and I posted the seven main illustrated plates on my tumblr here, where, if you click on the thumbnails, you can flip through them in order, with the subtitles showing the part of the prayer each plate is meant to represent. The first plate, for instance, illustrates the famous first line of the prayer: "Our Father, who art in heaven..."
While a theology professor father and Jesuit high school didn't end up molding me into someone who's particularly religious, more art like this probably would have stood a better chance, because these are just fantastic. In a somewhat related but much more colorful and Art Nouveau vein, in 1931 Mucha created gorgeous stained glass window scenes for the St. Vitus cathedral in Prague, which you can see here.
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