This week’s photo challenge is to illustrate the concept of “inside.”
For the past few months, I’ve logged in quite a bit of time inside my house while recovering from medical treatment. Sometimes when I sit near the large windows in our living room and look out at the river and skyline, I can feel the sun as it streams into the room and the cold as it seeps through the paned glass. At those moments, the physical line between “inside” and “outside is blurred. As I looked through my photos for this challenge, I selected images which reflect the fuzzy, indistinct boundary between the physical states–inside and outside. Coincidentally, I picked photos of controversial works of art. The first is a statue of the Egyptian king, Ramesses II who is credited with building more temples and fathering more children than another other Egyptian king.
Originally located in the ancient city of Thebes, the giant statue was hauled to London in 1816 by Giovanni Belzoni, where it created an artistic and political sensation. It was the first Egyptian piece of art declared as a masterpiece by art connoisseurs, who up to that point favored works from Ancient Greece. The poet Percy Bysshe Shelley immortalized the statue in the poem “Ozymandias:”
… My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.’
Originally at home in the desert, the statue now fills a gallery inside the British Museum. It is flanked by windows that overlook an interior courtyard.
The second work of art is the Arch of Titus in Rome, in walking distance of the Roman Coliseum. The arch is so massive it can shelter a small army, thus creating the illusion of interior space even outdoors.
Like the statue of Ramesses, it has a rich and fascinating history. A model for Napoleon’s Arc de Triomphe in Paris, this Roman arch immortalizes a famous victory by the warrior king Titus. The north side of the arch depicts the triumphant leader in a chariot pulled by four horses. He is crowned by the goddess Winged Victory. According to art historians, this is the first time a work of art portrays both human and divine subjects.
It’s only when I looked at the south side of the arch, that I realized that Titus’ victory occurred in the Middle East. In the frieze, Romans are carrying off the relics from the Temple in Jerusalem. The arch took on greater religious significance centuries later when Pope Paul IV created the Jewish ghetto in 1555. It’s chilling to realize that Jewish Roman citizens were forced to wear yellow badges on their clothing–much like the Jews during World War II–and were required to pay an annual fee to live in the Jewish ghetto, which was walled off from the rest of the city. The pope also demanded that they take a yearly oath of submission to the city and Christianity by standing under the Arch of Titus.
Do you agree that sometimes the line is blurred between inside and outside? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
For more interpretations of this week’s theme, click the links below:
- wEEKLY pHOTO cHALLENGE | iNSIDE | the TEMENOS JOURNAL
- Eye don’t think so… | thoughtsofrkh
- Inside Salisbury Cathedral | Eyes to Heart
- Weekly Photo Challenge – Inside | The River Mom
- INSIDE an ancient bronze-age village | Ellen Gregory
- View from Inside | Colline’s Blog
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside | From My Horizon
- The Blog Farm | Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside | Mia Musings
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside | imagination
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside (the Jewelry Box) | Ana Linden
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside (II) | Uncle Spike’s Adventures
- Trapped inside | Thin spiral notebook
- Thinking Inside The Box | Musings of a Soul Eclectic
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside | The Approximate Yogi
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside ~ The Ocean | In Da Campo
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside ~ Corridor reloaded | Aylin’s Wonderland
- Come peek inside.. Weekly Photo Challenge | Patchwork Ponderings
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside | YSalma
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside | Today, on Earth
- inside | yi-ching lin photography
- Weekly Photo Challenge: inside | Jottings and Writings
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside | Life Happens
- Inside Flowers – A WordPress Photo Challenge! | Life in the Foothills
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside | Pat and Al’s Adventure Continues…
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside | Northwest Frame of Mind
- What & Where — Inside? | Exploratorius
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside | Foto Challenge
- Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside | Discovering Ranch Life ~ Photography