I guess that I share the same puzzlement as all writers of blogs. Just what is it about a post that will attract and engage readers, and what will pass unnoticed? We all dream of finding the magic words that will ensure attention. I suppose at the same time we all fear that some signal we give out will result in a switch-off even before the reader has got beyond the title. This is my puzzle today.
I thought that in view off the popularity of Mary Beard’s TV programme about art my comment might be something that would attract the interest of several readers. The subject of the nude in western art has been a topic of comment and discussion, certainly since Kenneth Clark’s celebrated study. I am genuinely puzzled also by the general omission from the discussion of the nude in art literature, of depictions of the crucifixion. Here is a neglected topic, I thought, that might set people thinking and perhaps even writing in response. How curious, and interesting, is the fact that my expectations were so ill-founded!
It just goes to demonstrate the truth of the old Yorkshire saying: “There’s nowt so queer as folk!”