Advertise on podcast: My Word with Douglas E. Welch

This is part of a series of photos from our trip to Sicily and Oxford, UK in September 2026 Follow me on Instagram at @douglaswelch, @dewdesignphoto, and @agardenersnotebook and Pixelfed.

This is part of a series of photos from our trip to Sicily and Oxford, UK in September 2026 “The Senate Carriage of Messina was created in 1742 by the woodcarver Domenico Biondo and Letterio Paladino, among the finest interpreters of the new 18th-century pictorial language, who created the elegant painted decorations. The carriage comes from the Palazzo Senatorio. Constructed of carved, gilded, and painted wood, it represents one of the finest testimonies to the city’s glorious past. Used during solemn celebrations, it was pulled by three pairs of horses and carried the senators and the toga-clad “Master Notary.”” – Il Museo Regionale Di Messina Follow me on Instagram at @douglaswelch, @dewdesignphoto, and @agardenersnotebook and Pixelfed. Books about Sicily – Fiction and Non-Fiction

This is part of a series of photos from our trip to Sicily and Oxford, UK in September 2026 “Edmond Halley was appointed the next Savilian Professor of Geometry in January 1703/4 and is believed to have moved here two months later as a sub-tenant under the lease that John Wallis had held from New College. In 1705 an observatory was built for him on his home. As well as a mathematician, Edmond Halley was an astronomer, geophysicist, meteorologist, and physicist, and a friend of Isaac Newton. In 1682 he observed the comet that was named after him, and in 1684 computed its orbit.” From OxfordHistory.org. Follow me on Instagram at @douglaswelch, @dewdesignphoto, and @agardenersnotebook and Pixelfed.

This is part of a series of photos from our trip to Sicily and Oxford, UK in September 2026 Isolated work by Friar Ludovico Calascibetta from Petralia Sottana (attributed) (first quarter of the 18th century) circa 1700 – before 1729 The word means “dwelling place”. In a church, it is the fixed, secure box that houses the Eucharist outside of Mass. Follow me on Instagram at @douglaswelch, @dewdesignphoto, and @agardenersnotebook and Pixelfed. Books about Sicily – Fiction and Non-Fiction

This is part of a series of photos from our trip to Sicily and Oxford, UK in September 2026 Follow me on Instagram at @douglaswelch, @dewdesignphoto, and @agardenersnotebook and Pixelfed.

This is part of a series of photos from our trip to Sicily and Oxford, UK in September 2026 Purchase this artwork as a Christmas Card Find all my Christmas Cards Follow me on Instagram at @douglaswelch, @dewdesignphoto, and @agardenersnotebook and Pixelfed. Books about Sicily – Fiction and Non-Fiction

This is part of a series of photos from our trip to Sicily and Oxford, UK in September 2026 Follow me on Instagram at @douglaswelch, @dewdesignphoto, and @agardenersnotebook and Pixelfed.

This is part of a series of photos from our trip to Sicily and Oxford, UK in September 2026 Unknown local stonemason of the Hellenistic age, 3rd century BC Fragment of a Stone Inscription in Oscan Language and Greek Alphabet Local engraved sandstone from a building in Cardines Street . – Regional Museum of Messina I found it difficult to imagine some stone carver carving these letters so many centuries ago. It doesn’t seem possible that we can still read their work today. Follow me on Instagram at @douglaswelch, @dewdesignphoto, and @agardenersnotebook and Pixelfed. Books about Sicily – Fiction and Non-Fiction

This is part of a series of photos from our trip to Sicily and Oxford, UK in September 2026 Follow me on Instagram at @douglaswelch, @dewdesignphoto, and @agardenersnotebook and Pixelfed.

This is part of a series of photos from our trip to Sicily and Oxford, UK in September 2026 Laurana’s style became widely adopted—as seen in the *Fragment with a Musical Angel* attributed to Pietro de Bonitate. De Bonitate was a collaborator of Laurana and the creator of the Cathedral portal (executed in 1468); he followed the design of Baboccio da Piperno—a sculptor active within the circle of the Angevin-Durazzo dynasty in Naples. Our fragment may well originate from that same milieu, as it demonstrates an adherence to Gothic models despite the structural approach derived from Laurana. The model of the Cathedral portal also became widespread beyond the Strait of Messina, influencing a series of pointed-arch portals in Calabria. – Regional Museum of Messina Follow me on Instagram at @douglaswelch, @dewdesignphoto, and @agardenersnotebook and Pixelfed. Books about Sicily – Fiction and Non-Fiction

This is part of a series of photos from our trip to Sicily and Oxford, UK in September 2026 Follow me on Instagram at @douglaswelch, @dewdesignphoto, and @agardenersnotebook and Pixelfed.

This is part of a series of photos from our trip to Sicily and Oxford, UK in September 2026 Follow me on Instagram at @douglaswelch, @dewdesignphoto, and @agardenersnotebook and Pixelfed. Books about Sicily – Fiction and Non-Fiction

This is part of a series of photos from our trip to Sicily and Oxford, UK in September 2026 Follow me on Instagram at @douglaswelch, @dewdesignphoto, and @agardenersnotebook and Pixelfed.

This is part of a series of photos from our trip to Sicily and Oxford, UK in September 2026 The church is now the college library Follow me on Instagram at @douglaswelch, @dewdesignphoto, and @agardenersnotebook and Pixelfed.

This is part of a series of photos from our trip to Sicily and Oxford, UK in September 2026 Follow me on Instagram at @douglaswelch, @dewdesignphoto, and @agardenersnotebook and Pixelfed. Books about Sicily – Fiction and Non-Fiction