23.5

Math and Art?  As I have stated before in previous posts, art and math are closely related. Math was often used in Renaissance paintings to achieve balance through the golden rule.

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But, beyond that, the angle of 23.5 degrees can be found over and over in sculpture and painting.

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"Vanitas" paintings , as they are known, were early 17th century still- life paintings containing symbols of death and vanity and made the viewer reflect on mortality and repentance.

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These paintings are rich with 23.5 degree angles....(also known as one of the cosmic angles in Freemasonry)

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The same angle can be found on  United States currency and the Great Pyramid of Giza.

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Poussin used it in his self portrait.

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His ring is also a pyramid. The angle from the ring to the diadem to the far left forms a 23.5 degree angle.

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So why did artists, Egyptian architects and the federal reserve all use 23.5 degree angles? .....The earth's tilt of it's axis is also 23.5 degrees.

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Here, the "John gesture"  -Hermetic motto "As above, So Below" also forms the angle. The hand reaches to the sky as a reference to the heavens. The math was deliberate to give reference to a supreme being.

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Math and art have been used for centuries to relay messages. The next time you are in a museum, consider the angles you see . What once appeared random, you now know has a deeper meaning!

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Castell Coch

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Remember Aesop's fables? You might have heard them as a child-the Ant and the Grasshopper, the Fox and the Crow,the Fox and the Grapes, etc. Castell Coch in Wales has a beautiful interpretation of these fables on the castle's drawing room walls. (And you can stil hear the tales read in this room as a yearly tradition)


Castell Coch(English;Red Castle) is a 19th century Gothic Revival castle built on the remains of a genuine 13th-century fortification. It is situated on a steep hillside high above the village of Tongwynlais, to the north of Cardiff in Wales, and is a Grade I listed building as of 28 January 1963.-wikipedia

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In 1871, John Crichton-Stuart,3rd Marquess of Bute, ordered the site to be cleared of vegetation and debris while his architect,William Burges, drew up plans for a full reconstruction. Burges and the Marquess had been working for over three years on the rebuilding of Cardiff Castle; the aim at Castel Coch was to achieve another "dazzling architectual tour de force of the High Victorian era, (a) dream-like castle which combine(d) sumptuous Gothic fantasy with timeless fairy tale.-Wikipedia

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Click on the link above for a 360 panoramic view of the drawing room.

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This is a detail of the singerie ceiling in Lady Bute's bedroom.
The room is "pure Burges: an arcaded circle, punched through by window embrasurs, and topped by a trefoil-sectioned dome." The decorative theme is 'love', symbolised by "monkeys, pomegranates, and nesting birds".-wikipedia

click on the link to view Lady Bute's bedroom in a panoramic view.

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This is a detail of the mantle in Lord Bute's bedroom.

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His Victorian  room is heavily influenced with Burge's love of geometric stenciling and gilded ornamentation.

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The fact that Burges was, as described by Simon Jenkins, "an opium-addicted bachelor Gothicist who dressed in medieval costume" may have influenced his building style.(source)

Burges travels to Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany and eventually Turkey led to his lavish wall designs and moorish influences.

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The roof garden offers wonderful tiled murals with a simple animal border underneath.

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Castell Coch was the realization of Burge's High Victorian Dream. Burge was able to combine the influences from his travels and fantasy of Victorian lore to create this wonderful world of ornamentation.