Travels in the 2nd half

  Pet Lizard by Beatrix Potter   Artists have always found interest in animals. Whether it is painting their dead bodies in still life, trying to portray them in their natural environment, or anthropomorphizing them in stories, animals have been in art since the days of cave paintings. There are currently two exhibits at the Morgan Library and Museum , in New York City, offer a wonderful comparison of the ways this has happened during the past 150 years. The Morgan Library and Museum began as the personal library of John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913). He collected rare books, illustrated manuscripts, drawings and prints. In 1924, eleven years after his death, his son J.P. Morgan Jr., transformed his collection into a public research library. Over the past 100 years the mission has expanded to include a lot more art, and there are now four galleries in the campus.    The current exhibits offer an interesting contrast into the ways that animals have been presented in ar...

  A Garrita at El Morro In 1508, Ponce de Leon sailed into a large bay, on the north shore of the island he would name Caparra, in honor of the birth city of Spain’s governor of Caribbean territories. The initial Spanish settlement was at the eastern end of this bay. In 1511, a new settlement was built at the entrance to the bay. This town was eventually named Ciudad de Puerto Rico de San Juan Bautista. Over the years, this name was split in two, with Puerto Rico becoming the name of the island, and San Juan the name of the city.   San Juan became a very important city in Spain’s empire. Its bay is a fully protected, deep water port. Its position near the eastern end of the Caribbean Sea offered a keystone position in defending the area from invaders. This meant the it was coveted by other European powers who wanted to control the American Colonies. In order to protect this important city and bay, San Juan was built as a walled city, with forts built at key locations. Today, t...