Timendi Causa Est Nescire/the cause of fear is ignorance

In the Ancient World, that time before Judeo-Christian morality, the steam engine, and the British Empire, Art was not usually segregated from the days and nights of journeying through life. The vast sum of it was identified with the craft of the 'artisan' who created works out of fear, by threat, for commission and the possibility of sale, often driven by the inherent ignorance of religion. The Artist as an impressionistic window into the where and why of life was uncommon and often ignored. Later, Art evolved into a primary activity of decoration, and then, for a brief time, became that impressionistic window, created for its own purpose. Eventually it morphed into the massive merchandising megalomania of today where everything is 'art' and everyone is an 'artist' and the impressionistic window of past, present and future is a disposable slide-show. Examine art by wandering through a selected chronology or displaying a static instance of a 'view with a view'. Step into a painting to know the artist without knowing the artist. Plunge into music to know the musicians and composer without knowing the musicians or composer. The prevailing impression can be summed up in the words of another Roman sage: tempus edax rerum/time, the devourer of all things.

New Year's Eve is thankfully short.

Happy Next Year!