Treats, of the regular variety, are confined to the literal & the consumable, whereas the little treat is not confined to the physical realm, rather it resides rather firmly near the spiritual roof of experience; therefore, it is meet that one might consider some of the kinder examples of little treat, in no particular order thereof:
Venice, from the Porch of Madonna della Salute & Whalers (Joseph Mallord William Turner) Early and very late, and hung side by side. The former is a hallucination, spangled brilliancies, with uncomfortably intimate details erupting from the dream-fog wherever one pauses in looking. The other is suggestion and inference, purple streaks as flung spray, a mast, a heaving whale. I forget and can’t dredge up which critic described Melville as a dark heaving from the deep himself. (I very much liked Franny Moyle’s biography of him.)
Island of the Dead (Arnold Böcklin) It’s nice sometimes to look at something that lodged in the craw of thousands, bourgeois & otherwise.
Self-Portrait (Rembrandt) If the mastery and human understanding doesn’t bring you near tears, unclear what will.
Moonlight, Strandgade 30 (Vilhelm Hammershøi) Cold perfection in four to six colors. I love him because of how closely and lovingly he rendered everything around him, again and again, through every permutation of light placed before him. This one is freezing yet the air moves through it.
The Palace of Donn'Anna, Naples (Jules Coignet) Really I mean Galleries 805 and 806, which together comprise various views and iterations of plein air Roman and Italian fantasia.
The Denial of Saint Peter (Caravaggio) Simply melting.
If you’ve guessed the institution, congratulations; it’s pay-what-you-will if one is a resident of the tristate area. There is a rotating exhibition of the works on paper gallery on the second floor that’s never been the same twice.
Books I like lately:
Septology I-II: The Other Name (Jon Fosse) Was skeptical, but has a deep rip current one can’t ever get parallel to.
Sight-Readings (Elizabeth Hardwick) I love her.
You and Your Research (Richard Hammings) I’ll try anything these days.
Arabian Nights: Tales of 1,001 Nights (Malcolm & Ursula Lyons) Makes for a good bedtime story.