It was Monuments Day at Brockenhurst Village Hall Tuesday 14 November. Monuments Day Numinous Fascinans
A lively group of art lovers enjoyed a thought provoking, entertaining talk and film at Brockenhurst.
The Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck and the Bruges Madonna by Michelangelo
We discovered the amazing true story of the Monuments Men, which was centred around the looting of priceless artworks during the Second World War and the race to retrieve them before they disappeared forever. Highlighting the Ghent Altarpiece and the Bruges Madonna, we learned of their history and importance.
We explored the term ‘numinous fascinans’ associated with the mysterious spiritual quality of the narrative. Then on to George Clooney, who loved the unlikely tale so much, he invested his own money in directing and starring in the film of the Monuments Men, which we watched.
The talk and film documented the true heroic efforts of the small group of British and American art professionals who travelled the front line around Europe, saving many thousands of art works. The unsung hero was a young French woman, Rose Valland who was later awarded the French Legion d’Honneur for her essential but under played role in this mesmerising story.
‘Really energised and informed by Al’s talk’. ‘A sociable and entertaining afternoon with great tea and cake’.
These two pieces of artwork, considered as amongst the most important works of art in the western world, never cease to amaze and create that feeling of awe.
From down to earth practical aspects of these masterpieces, their creation and stories contained within, through to their affect at raising spirits and involving us in a feeling of wellbeing. Monuments Day Numinous Fascinans.
Mysterium tremendum: a sense of something mysterious, overwhelming, and daunting which elicits from us a sense of diminution, humility, submission, and creatureliness.
Mysterium fascinans: a sense of something fascinating, desirable, good, caring, and comforting which invites us into its fullness, fulfils us, and in so doing produces a unique kind of spiritual joy or bliss.
1000 repositories were discovered by the Monuments Men with 1000s and 1000s of art works destined for Adolf Hitler’s intended Fuhrermuseum in Linz and Herman Goering’s Carinhall mansion near Berlin.
Monuments Day Numinous Fascinans