[HN Gopher] What a Tiny Masterpiece Reveals About Power and Beauty
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       What a Tiny Masterpiece Reveals About Power and Beauty
        
       Author : dilawar
       Score  : 54 points
       Date   : 2021-04-04 17:12 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.nytimes.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.nytimes.com)
        
       | djohnston wrote:
       | I'm impressed this works so well on mobile.
        
       | mooneater wrote:
       | > Now, it belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
       | 
       | How did it come into their possession, I would be interested to
       | hear.
        
       | rtx wrote:
       | This is highly offensive, we shouldn't be glorifying tyrants and
       | mass murderers. These mugahls were responsible for untold
       | attrocities in name of religion.
        
         | sneak wrote:
         | I agree, but Jackson is on the $20. We can evaluate the art
         | separately from the people who made it or the people depicted
         | by it, much like how we can play with TempleOS without
         | endorsing its author's racist views.
        
           | pugworthy wrote:
           | > _but Jackson is on the $20_
           | 
           | But not for long...
           | https://www.fastcompany.com/90597698/harriet-tubman-will-
           | fin...
        
           | rtx wrote:
           | NYT should have done that without glorifying a tyrant for
           | millions of deaths.
        
             | notsureaboutpg wrote:
             | Everyone complains that this and that guy was "responsible
             | for millions of deaths" yet they would have probably
             | mismanaged an empire into far worse shape if they were
             | given the reins
        
         | sethjgore wrote:
         | I think it's more offensive to see somebody call this
         | offensive. It's just an analysis of a series of paintings and
         | the royal and the rich and the corrupt and the powerful will
         | always be around. To call this offensive is to be coddled into
         | a false worldview that attempts to suppress the rancid, messy
         | and yet commendable truth of humanity.
        
           | bernardv wrote:
           | Well said.
        
         | dilawar wrote:
         | I guess all kingdoms were built over untold atrocities.
        
           | hellbannedguy wrote:
           | Can anyone name a kingdom that didn't exploit?
        
         | hi41 wrote:
         | Can you provide a link to the atrocities. Nothing was mentioned
         | in the history books which were part of the curriculum during
         | school.
        
           | pugworthy wrote:
           | Who's curriculum are you talking about?
           | 
           | In the US, we've never been good at teaching truths about
           | slavery. I'm sure this is true the world wide.
           | 
           | https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/08/28/teaching.
           | .. has an interesting read about this in the US. Here's a
           | paragraph quote...
           | 
           | > _It is why, just four years ago, textbooks told students
           | "workers" were brought from Africa to America, not men, women
           | and children in chains. It is why, last year, a teacher asked
           | students to list "positive" aspects of slavery. It is why,
           | even in 2019, there are teachers in schools who still think
           | holding mock auctions is a good way for students to learn
           | about slavery. Misinformation and flawed teaching about
           | America's "original sin" fills our classrooms from an early
           | age._
        
       | Finnucane wrote:
       | That seemed interesting but it was too much work. Why is there so
       | much scrolling for each bit of text?
        
         | smiley1437 wrote:
         | I felt that highlighting the particular subtlety and detail of
         | each portion of the painting by zooming in was useful. The fact
         | that the painting was so intricately detailed results in a lot
         | of points of interest.
        
           | telesilla wrote:
           | I agree, I felt as if I had a personal museum guide, and I
           | was allowed to zoom in and out at will. My only complaint is
           | the quality of the reproductions, it's a shame not to enjoy
           | the brushstrokes.
        
             | hellbannedguy wrote:
             | The artists used Squirrel hair as brushes.
        
           | qwertox wrote:
           | I stopped scrolling, it lacked usability with those small
           | bits of text which wouldn't even snap to be centered.
           | 
           | It's hard to tell how this could be made better. Tooltips on
           | markers would increase control, but the story would lose
           | linearity.
        
       | mkinom wrote:
       | I wonder if there is any open source frontend library to make
       | such interactive mobile friendly experiences?
        
       | bernardv wrote:
       | It's a fascinating article and a beautiful piece of art.
        
       | TruthWillHurt wrote:
       | "We behold the emperor beholding himself"
       | 
       | Eat the rich.
        
         | threevox wrote:
         | Keep your dogma off HN please
        
           | MathYouF wrote:
           | Keep your dogma towards accepting the status quo on hacker
           | news please, a diversity of opinions is valued here.
        
       | lain98 wrote:
       | Not the first time nytimes has given a tongue bath to a genocidal
       | maniac.
        
         | blacksmith_tb wrote:
         | Presumably the gloriousness of any emperor, from any empire we
         | care to name, was bought with the blood of masses of peasants
         | and weaker neighbors? Looking over the list[1] I don't see
         | anything surprising.
         | 
         | 1:
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shah_Jahan#Reign_(1628%E2%80%9...
        
         | bernardv wrote:
         | Oh please. Just admire something for what it is.
        
       | csrf-token wrote:
       | Love these scroll-zoom format articles from NYTimes that go
       | through a work of art in detail. I always learn something
       | interesting.
       | 
       | Here are two others i've enjoyed:
       | https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/25/arts/durer-se...
       | 
       | https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/08/07/arts/design/h...
        
         | bigtones wrote:
         | I wonder what web tool they use to make them ?
        
           | Swizec wrote:
           | The guy who makes a lot of their dataviz is famously the
           | creator of Svelte.
        
       | 8fGTBjZxBcHq wrote:
       | I know the religious art influence from europe is explored in
       | this but it is really striking how much it reminds me of a
       | byzantine christian icon.
       | 
       | The simple full-body centering of the single figure, the use of
       | color, the unnatural but symbolism-heavy pose. I don't know much
       | about art honestly but something about the light also seems that
       | way. Later catholic and I think russian? style icons became more
       | realistic and don't have that look.
       | 
       | The halo too but that's less interesting to me than the feel of
       | the whole thing which is very icon-like.
        
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       (page generated 2021-04-04 23:00 UTC)