"Painting possesses a truly divine power in that not only does it make the absent present (as they say of friendship), but it also represents the dead to the living many centuries later, so that they are recognized by spectators with pleasure and deep admiration for the artist." – Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472) *

As is my custom, I will visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art today to view Francesco Solimena's remarkable The Birth of the Virgin (ca. 1690) in honor of the artist's birthday. I do this whenever possible because I feel that members of our ethnos are part of my extended family and deserve (especially the great ones) the same respect and veneration afforded to my direct ancestors. Viewing the masterpiece in person, like reading the prose of a great writer or attending a concert by a preeminent composer, is my way of communing with our forebears.