Rienzi is the house museum and collection of European paintings and decorative arts at the MFAH. Our articles highlight elements of the collection, discuss additions and changes to the house or gardens, and review events held at Rienzi for those of you not able to be here in person. Feel free to e-mail rienziblog@mfah.org with questions, comments, and suggestions. Welcome!
About Casey Monahan
Casey Monahan joined Rienzi as education assistant in the summer of 2010 after receiving her B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross in Art History and History. She is currently working on her M. A. in Art History at the University of Houston. At Rienzi, the Massachusetts native works with docents, tours, and other public programs.
Posts by Casey Monahan, page 4
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21 FebTue / 2012
This March, the Rienzi and Bayou Bend Book Club is reading The Arcanum: The Extraordinary True Story by Janet Gleeson. Focusing on the development of Meissen porcelain in the 18th-century, Gleeson tells the tale of three Johanns, all instrumental in the process of creating “white gold”: Johann Frederick Böttger, Johann Gregor Herold, and Johann Joachim Kändler. Meissen, founded in 1710, was the first European porcelain manufactory to develop hard-paste porcelain similar to Asian...
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07 FebTue / 2012
One of my favorite rooms at Rienzi is the Library; as a self-proclaimed bibliophile, it’s a natural fit. Rienzi’s Library contains many classic texts, from Frances Burney’s Camilla to George Eliot’s Middlemarch and Evelyn Waugh’s A Handful of Dust, but of particular mention is a compilation of Shakespeare from 1632.
On the bottom right hand side rests a red leather bound book with the title “Shakespeare’s Works London 1632.” Also found in Library at Windsor Castle,...
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18 JanWed / 2012
This morning I popped into the Rienzi kitchen to find another staff member adding freshly cut flowers to a vase. “Where are those from?” I asked, thinking someone picked up a few bouquets of beautiful deep pink flowers from the grocery store. “The gardens,” was the reply. As a native New Englander, I was perplexed. Wait. Flowers? It’s January, we haven’t even started winter! I haven’t even had a chance to wear wool sweaters yet!
I...
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19 DecMon / 2011
For some, the Christmas season is not only a very festive time of year, but one of devotion and reflection. Rienzi has several paintings pertaining to the reflective nature of Christmas. One of these paintings is Saint Joseph and the Christ Child, painted by the Italian Guido Reni between 1638 and 1640, is on view year round in Rienzi's Library.
Reni created many remarkable devotional paintings during the Catholic Counter-Reformation. Against his father’s wishes, Reni became an...
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16 DecFri / 2011
While many of you are bustling around, shopping for gifts or decorating your homes for the holiday season, Rienzi is busy doing the very same thing! Every December the atmosphere at Rienzi reflects that of the holiday season; the house becomes a bit cheerier and holiday embellishments grace our rooms. Before Rienzi became part of the MFAH, the Masterson family celebrated Christmas in the home and now, as a museum, we try to keep...
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