Mary, called Magdalene

Morning Swim / 2022,

Acropolis Museum

The Cosmic Bat Nebula (LDN 43)

A bit of young starlight peeks through the dense clouds of gas and dust that make up the Cosmic Bat’s 12 lightyear wingspan. The ultraviolet light from the young stars energizes the nebula’s hydrogen gas, causing it to glow an ominous red. The jet of glowing hydrogen gas emerging from the bat’s head hints at the star formation hidden within.

That thin curl of smoke rising from the cabin chimney is the first thing to notice in Alexis Jean Fournier’s “Landscape”. It tells you someone is there. The quiet river, the trees and the open sky are no longer empty.

Painted in the late 19th century, the scene captures a peaceful side of America that often goes unnoticed. Fournier wasn’t interested in dramatic wilderness. He painted the simple signs of everyday life - a cabin, a fire, a home beside the water. Sometimes that’s all a landscape needs.

In “Still Life with a Goblet” (1653), Willem Claesz. Heda shows how much can be said with just a few objects. A tall Dutch wine glass stands beside another lying on its side, surrounded by soft gold and grey tones.

Heda was a master of quiet still lifes. Instead of painting a feast, he painted what was left behind, reminding us that even the calmest scenes can tell a story.