Why you should go to Keble to see Holman Hunt's Light of The WorldBy Claudia Rimmigton With the exception of the high profile Millais exhibition at Tate Britain this autumn, the Pre-Raphaelites do not usually get a very good press. Possibly because their reputation tends to focus on a few unfortunate works such as  Rossetti’s “Luscious Lovelies”- stylised depictions of plump Victorian women- and some nature works, like Ford Maddox Brown’s The Pretty Baa Lambs.
To think that the Pre-Raphaelites were all sweetness and light, however, would be a gross misconception. Much of their work is serious and visually powerful. William Holman Hunt’s The Light of the World (1853) is an excellent example.  
The picture shows Christ standing in an eerie orchard just before daybreak. He is crowned, robed and bejewelled, and stares directly at the viewer. Shining lantern in one hand, he is shown knocking on the door of a hut while his eyes searchingly penetrate the viewer. The surroundings are dark with the sun gently rising. Dew can still be seen on the ground and a bat hovers overhead.
Inscribed in the frame is a text from Revelation: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
The door referred to in the text and shown in the painting symbolises the human conscience. The crux is that there is no handle, which means that it can only be opened by its owner and not by God alone. The brambles and weeds at the foot of the door suggest that it has not been opened for a while, and show that the faith has been allowed to whither. The dawn light, however, represents hope that the door might be opened, and the possibility of renewal. According to Hunt, “I painted the picture with what I thought, unworthy as I was, to be by Divine command, and not simply as a good subject.”
As a devout evangelist living in 1850s Britain, Hunt thought that worshippers needed such a painting. The church was going through a period of schism. Many Oxford dons, such as John Henry Newman, had converted to Catholicism from Protestantism in 1848 and had caused many bitter quarrels and disputes by the early 1850s.  One consequence of this was the formation of the Oxford movement, which aimed to encourage more authority in the English church. The Light of the World would later go on to inspire the Salvation Army composer, Sir Dean Goffin, to write one of his most famous compositions also entitled “The Light of the World”.
Bearing this climate in mind, it is easy to see why Hunt depicted Christ as a calm but authoritative figure. Viewers commented that the degree of realism made it seem as if Christ was actually there, looking straight into the eyes of the beholder.  His paintings are notable for their strong colour, elaborate symbolism and exquisite detail, and it is well worth exploring his other forays into religious expression. Though it is tempting to mark this as a piece of Victorian irrationality, I can see where they were coming from.

 By Natasha Vashisht 

THREE students are to be disciplined after a dumbbell hit the window of a Junior Dean’s residence during a drunken prank in the early hours of Monday morning.

The undergraduates, who had been drinking heavily, caused the disturbance at Brasenose College’s Frewin Annexe on St Michael’s Street at around 3am last Monday while playing with a dumbbell.

Two of the students, second-years at University College, have since been banned for one year from entering the Brasenose accommodation site. The other student, a fresher at Brasenose, was allegedly threatened with being sent down.

One of the Univ second-years decided to come forward on hearing that the fresher, who was not directly involved in the incident, was facing suspension and the possibility of permanent expulsion.

After meeting at a club earlier in the evening, the students returned to the Brasenose student’s accommodation and decided to throw dumbbells around the courtyard. One dumbbell hit a light before another hit the Junior Dean’s bedroom window, who then came out to caution the students. The fresher was marched off while the two Univ students were free walk back to their college.

Having since come forward, both second-years will be disciplined by the University College Dean.

The Brasenose fresher, who is still awaiting a final disciplinary decision, said, "I don’t remember much from that night at all. I was told that one of the Univ students threw a dumbbell at the light and that’s how the Junior Dean knew we were causing a disturbance. When he asked me who I was, I did try to lie about it. I then had to see the Principal, and he said I had to be cooperative to get a more lenient punishment."One of the Univ second-years apologised for the incident, saying, "I am deeply sorry. Although nothing was broken and nobody was injured, it was a reckless and drunken thing to do. As soon as I heard a fresher was in trouble for my actions I came forward straight away to accept the consequences." Brasenose authorities refused to comment on the incident.

By Alexander ChristofiD ante, Petrarch and Boccaccio were, it’s fair to say, probably the most interesting thing to come out of medieval Italy. The reason that they were given the nickname Le Tre Corone is because they were at the head of a newfound interest in literature, love, and people themselves. Dante’s Commedia remains one of the greatest religious and political poems since classical times, and die-hard fans even call it ‘the fifth gospel’. Petrarch was one of the first people to address humanist issues (some of his more enthusiastic followers claim he started the Renaissance) whilst Boccaccio wrote stories about sex. But they were very good stories about sex, and there were a hundred of them. In many ways, then, the Three Crowns are a big deal.
However, it’s not just a celebration of how good these writers were. The exhibition looks at their influence on later generations and how it developed, and gives some insight into how their works were interpreted. Though there are some displays of early annotated texts, the emphasis is strongly on visual representations and illustrations, from the early 15th century to the modern day.
In the early years, the most popular of the three authors was undoubtedly Petrarch. The illustrations in the early editions are interesting in themselves, and interpreting them is almost as rich as interpreting the texts. They show us how the poems were seen through the eyes of the time. An early edition of Petrarch’s Trionfi (Venice 1470-80) depicts Petrarch sitting with his forever unrequited love, Laura, on a riverbank – an interesting image, since Petrarch never spoke to Laura during her lifetime. Opposite is a meeting of nine philosophers, presumably highlighting Petrarch’s less romantic side. To see the two next to each other, though, is to give a colour illustration of the poet’s incongruous aspirations. In other editions, cameos of Petrarch introduce the first sonnet of the Canzoniere (‘Book of Poems’ to you and I). In an edition from 1450-75 (Ferrara), the first page is framed by another cameo, of Laura, and a small picture of a locked book. You feel like an intruder as if you are opening somebody else’s diary, and gazing at their deep and well-rhymed secrets. It captures perfectly the intimacy of the poems.
The comedy vote, however, must go to the edition which depicts Petrarch being crowned in the top left, women gossiping in the bottom left, and a man who appears to be beating his dog with a stick in the bottom right.
The earliest Dante in the collection is historically, if not altogether visually, interesting. The illustrator, possibly semi-illiterate, has misread the bit where Dante mentions an eagle on a banner, and has drawn a knight holding an eagle in the middle of the picture. There are some incredibly rare editions of the Commedia, though, which are fascinating. The Bodleian holds the first edition in which the Comedy becomes The Divine Comedy (1555 Venice), printed by Lodovico Dolce. The important Florence 1481 edition is also there, opened to the page where Dante meets Virgil and escapes the forest and some animals. The picture here is one of the best, contorting reality to suit its purposes. The canopy is only just over Dante’s head, the path obstructed by the crowding animals, and the trees around the edge of the picture are even smaller, giving a real feeling of claustrophobia.
There are a couple more editions of Petrarch, and the poet’s own heavily annotated copy of Suetonis, which is nifty because you can see what his handwriting looked like- very neat as it happens. The last we see of Petrarch is a 1503 text where an angry Catholic has tried to burn out the three anti-papal sonnets in the Canzoniere, proving that people did once care about poetry.
The section on Boccaccio is smaller than the other two, but more visually rich. There are late 15th century editions from France and Italy, some of them intricate volumes for a courtly audience – they are beautifully and minutely detailed, gilded and colourful. In a French edition of Filostrato (France 1480), a man with absurdly pointy feet is kissing a woman with almost vital energy. It’s not the Karma Sutra, but after seeing the stern illustrations of the other two Crowns, you can see that Boccaccio took a massive step towards the sort of humanism that we take for granted.
For those not so interested in old-fashioned images, the Bodleian has a few interesting modern illustrations. In the last two hundred years, Petrarch and Boccaccio have fallen out of favour with the reading public, but if anything, interest in Dante has boomed. As well as Tom Phillips’ brilliant original illustrations for his Inferno (including King Kong, comic book frames and an arse trumpet), there is a picture of Dante eulogizing the fall of Humpty Dumpty, and even a slightly odd link to our own glorious university – a picture of Dante hulking austerely over a fat little Oxford don.

This is not an easy play to watch. Such contentious topics as Iraq, spin journalism and sadomasochism are not merely explored, but taken apart, and often in painful detail. The script plunges the depths of the human psyche, revealing the more unpalatable aspects of everything from patriotism to sex – which is not to suggest that Guardians sacrifices entertainment for worthiness; the interspersed moments of humour, whilst uncomfortable, are also very, very funny. I almost didn’t dare laugh on occasions when the brutal humour teetered on the edge of what is bearable, but the irreverent approach and complete absence of political correctness are refreshing.

The difficult line between the acceptable and the unacceptable is expertly trod by Mark Cartwright and Rebecca Gibson, who managed to command my entire attention for an hour and a half of interspersed monologues. This is even more impressive considering the fact that ‘English Boy’ and ‘American Girl’ are unsympathetic characters taken to the extreme. Yet Cartwright imbues his grasping, amoral journalist with an almost hypnotic charisma, whilst Gibson’s long-suffering soldier had my empathy even as she recounted acts impossible to contemplate. Not only is Gibson’s accent spot-on, but she embodies ‘American Girl’ down to every twitch and shuffle, and manages to convey a sense of lurking vulnerability. The intimate nature of the monologues, combined with the skill of the cast in melding the personal and the political, create an atmosphere where the audience feels like a voyeur, almost implicated in the increasingly bleak events as they are retold. ‘English Boy’ describes visiting a bondage club as like ‘going to hell as a tourist’, and that fits this production perfectly.

Director Will Measham is ‘fed up with student apathy’, and as wake-up calls go, this is unignorable. You could call Guardians ‘spin’ of a different sort – counter-spin, if you will – but its versions of the truth are extremely persuasive. What’s more, the gritty realism of the acting and the sparseness of the direction combine to create a production in which I can find nothing to criticize. This play isn’t going to be for everyone – certainly not for those who go to the theatre for light-hearted escapism – but it is uncomfortably good.

Oxford City Council has begun an online hall-of-shame for residents to submit their photographs of local graffiti and abandoned cars in the latest effort to clean up the city.Residents are being urged to take digital photographs of the damage, and then post it online, where they will be able to track the progress of the clean-up. Officers for the council believe that, with enough participation, increased awareness and information, the reporting will help them to tackle the clean-ups more efficiently.If the trial is successful, the scope will widen from graffiti and cars to include other issues.The scheme has already been tried in Lewisham, London, where the success of the project has led to three times as much graffiti removed in half the amount of time, moving the council's position from one of the worst in the country to among the best.The scheme will be piloted in Oxford for one month. To send in your photos, e-mail [email protected] along with the location of the incident and the postcode. For further information, see www.oxford.gov.uk/photoreporting
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 Such was my lack of faith in restaurant reviews that I was prompted to try the tapas restaurant La Tasca at the Oxford Castle, despite its measly two out of five stars in the Oxford Handbook.  Actually, the 40% off voucher was quite an incentive too. Toast and tea does get dull.

Having rounded up some friends at short notice, we searched through the maze that is the Oxford Castle and eventually found La Tasca. The waitress managed that almost impossible combination of being friendly but unobtrusive and the menu was very extensive, although many dishes were so similar that it seemed unnecessary to put them all on.  Obviously being spoilt for choice in a restaurant is no bad thing, but students on a tight budget be warned.  It is all too easy to get carried away. As the table next to us belatedly realised, ordering three dishes per person is more than sufficient.    

After a jug of slightly watery Sangria, we kicked off with some delicious, although somewhat unseasoned, calamari. Most of us ordered typical chorizo and potato dishes, although one friend sampled the vegetarian section. Perhaps the chorizo lacked its usual fiery flavour, but the sauces and seasonings more than made up for that. The vegetables in particular were very well prepared.  All restaurants should take heed of the fact that simple dishes are an essential staple and should not be overlooked. 

Without our discount, we would have paid around £60, which would be £15 each. So perhaps not the cheapest of restaurants, but definitely good fun.   La Tasca serves up far more generous portions and a generally more authentic approach to Mediterranean cuisine than most Tapas restaurants.  They do not go for the ‘one-bite-and-it’s-gone’ style dishes, merely for the sake of presentation.

If La Tasca still doesn’t appeal, then don’t rule out the Oxford Castle as a place to find good restaurants. Rather similar to the Duke of York Square on the Kings Road, it is very nicely laid out and all the restaurants have large outdoor seating areas. It would definitely be worth looking at the divine Carluccio’s, or the up and coming pizza chain Prezzo, to name but two.

Today, the government was accused by Association of British Insurers for failing to give homeowners and businesses enough money for flood defences.The insurers warned that insufficient funding would mean that homeowners could face similar problems to those seen over the summer, with flooding taking over large parts of Oxford.Stephen Haddrill, Director General for the firm, said that government spending for the next three years had dropped below the amount they had been asking for, even before the flood disaster. He said that the government had "completely failed to grasp the importance of improving Britain's flood defences in the wake of the devastating floods across the UK this summer."

‘Personals’ is a musical comedy about the numerous problems and perils of searching for love through personal ads. It follows the whole process, from the reducing yourself to fifteen words, to finding a compatible advert, to the date itself.  The play features six characters, all in different situations, some divorced and one even married. These characters are predominantly kept separate, for the most part having independent sketches that don’t intertwine.  Intermixed with these are numerous brief sketches from a host of other singles, including a desperate high school teen and several singing about controlling mothers. All of the characters are played by the small cast of six, but the effective use of simplistic costumes means there is hardly ever confusion.

Though funny in themselves, the additional characters interrupt the show rather than enhance it; their presence impedes involvement with the main six characters, making their occasional appeals for empathy from the audience ineffective.  This, combined with the separate plot lines of each main character, means that not enough time is spent on each to drum up interest in their character or plot. The performance drags slightly because of this, and forms a two-hour musical sketch show rather than a cohesive musical play.

               The sketches and songs vary a lot in both quality and humour. They are often intelligent and witty, but do occasionally just sink into the crude.   A highlight is the man learning from a tape the ‘tips of dating’. It’s a whole relationship on a cassette, in easy bite sized lessons.  Antony Gibson is superb in this role; thankfully, it is one of the main characters that is returned to.  Undermining this high point are uncomfortable jokes about bestiality and transvestite dwarfs, fully complemented with words and actions.
               Though there are a few problems with the play itself, the cast is talented.   They bring out the comedy of the pieces effectively, and are musically impressive.  Philly Lopez frequently outshines the others vocally, but this is due to her proficiency rather than their insufficiency.  Altogether, ‘Personals’ combines catchy tunes, a very able cast, moments of brilliant comedy (both from the writing and performance), and makes for an enjoyable enough evening – you just have to, occasionally, wait a little too long between laughs.
Personals, OFS 9^th –13^th October 

Welcome to Michelmas 2007! Calendars are funny things. As most of my readers say goodbye to summer, I am fully into winter, bundled up in my house, guarding against New England frost and planning research for final term papers. But since it's the beginning of a new year in Oxford time, let me re-introduce this blog. Once a week, I'll be posting my thoughts on web 2.0 and generation Y, and trying to identify how technology defines our lifestyles, our politics and the culture around us. To begin the term, however, I need to update you all on some changes in my personal encounter with web 2.0. Just before the end of last term. Facebook opened its doors to everyone, and suddenly I was friends with my mother, my former boss and my 15-year old sister. I also found that companies were writing applications inviting me to play zombie and food fight. As a summer intern at BusinessWeek Magazine, I wrote about this new and "improved" social network and how it could mean big bucks for Facebook and smart application developers.But towards the end of the summer, I realized that one important group was losing out: us, the original student users.Frankly, I'm fed up with this new Facebook, with the frantic chaos of the News Feed and the applications, with the random friend requests from middle aged strangers who want to take me out for drinks. I'm confused that Slate magazine, a mainstream, grown-up publication is proscribing Facebook etiquette that matches what i wrote on this blog over the summer (see "my cyber-friends have manners too"). Why should my parents and I have the same social behaviors?I can already forsee that once I graduate in May, I won't be using Facebook to keep in touch with classmates. This year at Brown, my friends and I are using cell phones and emails instead and waiting for the next young people-only venue to resume our social media lives. I wrote a column about my changing perspective for the newspaper here at Brown and sent some comments into BusinessWeek. There's a teaser of my thoughts on my editor's blog , and an article due out soon. The response I've had to the column suggests I'm right about student sentiment here in the States, but I'm putting it to my Oxonian readers: is there a parallel shift away from Facebook on your side of the pond?

Former Balliol student Oliver Smithies will receive the 2007 Nobel Prize for Medicine, it was revealed yesterday.He, along with Martin J Evans and Mario R Capecchi, has been awarded after developing a technology for manipulating genes in mice, which is now used in nearly all areas of biomedicine. The techniques have led to new insights into conditions including heart disease and cancer, as well as aiding the development of new therapies.Smithies, who began his BA in Chemistry in 1946, is the Excellence Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. He is also an Honourary Fellow of Balliol.The announcement of the Medicine Award marks the start of the 2007 cycle of Nobel Prize winners, with the final awards revealed on October 15. Historically, Science is dominated by the Americans, but with two Britons winning the accolade for Medicine, the UK has had a good start.