Culture Watch

Parmigianino painted the Schiava Turca in the early to mid-1530s. The sitter wears an extravagant, almost theatrical costume comprised of a ball-shaped headdress, voluminous sleeves, and a striped garment with a plunging neckline. She holds an ostrich-feather fan in her left hand. In the early eighteenth century, when the portrait was in the collection of the Uffizi Gallery, the style of the woman’s costume inspired a cataloguer to invent the title 'Turkish Slave' by which she has since been known. more »

Joan L. Cannon writes: Most people read poetry (if they read it at all) for the pleasure of it. I get very irritable when the author makes that impossible on purpose — very much like the 'modern' artists and composers who seem not to care a whit if their production is pure fraud. Of course, they get a way with it a lot because no one can figure out how to prove it's bogus. more »

Marcia Schonberg writes: Multigenerational travel is the term used when two family members (one over 60 and the other under than 18) take a vacation together. Oh, and they don't live in the same household either. Discovering options both an energetic teen and a boomer-aged grandparent enjoy wasn’t as daunting as it seemed and Québec bestowed a perfect backdrop for my world traveler wanabee of a grandson, Joey. The province is European in style and as French as you can get on this continent. more »

Rose Madeline Mula writes: The only pictures of little Rosie that exist are the very rare formal poses taken in a photographer's studio — as a toddler, with my parents ... in my First Communion dress ... my high school graduation portrait. Unlike today's average kid, whose every move is documented and posted on Facebook daily, there are no candids of me emerging from my mother's womb (thankfully), sleeping in my crib, splashing in my bath, crawling on the living room floor, playing with my teddy bear ...   more »