1.
Pont des Arts
–
The Pont des Arts or Passerelle des Arts is a pedestrian bridge in Paris which crosses the River Seine. It links the Institut de France and the square of the Palais du Louvre. The engineers Louis-Alexandre de Cessart and Jacques Dillon initially conceived of a bridge which would resemble a suspended garden, with trees, banks of flowers, passage across the bridge at that time cost one sou. On 17 March 1975, the French Ministry of Culture listed the Pont des Arts as a historic monument. In 1976, the Inspector of Bridges and Causeways reported several deficiencies on the bridge, more specifically, he noted the damage that had been caused by two aerial bombardments sustained during World War I and World War II and the harm done from the multiple collisions caused by boats. The bridge would be closed to circulation in 1977 and, in 1979, on 27 June 1984, the newly reconstructed bridge was inaugurated by Jacques Chirac, then the mayor of Paris. The bridge has served as a place for art exhibitions. The Pont des Arts is also frequently a spot for picnics during the summer, the Argentinian writer, Julio Cortázar, talks about this bridge in his book Rayuela. When Horacio Oliveira goes with the pythia and this tells him that the bridge for La Maga is the Ponts des Arts, in 1991, UNESCO listed the entire Parisian riverfront, from the Eiffel Tower to the end of the Ile Saint Louis, as a World Heritage Site. Therefore, the Pont des Arts is now a part of this UNESCO World Heritage Site and this gesture is said to represent a couples committed love. By 2014, concern was being expressed about the damage the weight of the locks were doing to the structure of the bridge. In May, the elected mayor, Anne Hidalgo, announced that she was tasking her First Deputy Mayor, Bruno Julliard. In June, part of the parapet on the bridge collapsed under the weight of all of the padlocks that had attached to it. The web site states, Our bridges can no longer withstand your gestures of love, set them free by declaring your love with #lovewithoutlocks. From 1 June 2015, city council workmen from Paris started to cut all the locks after years of complaints from locals. Health and Safety officials said the romantic gestures cause long term Heritage degradation, as of 2015, over a million locks were placed, weighing approximately 45 tons. Street artists like Jace, El Seed, Brusk or Pantonio have been chosen to paint the new panels that replaces the old railings with locks. By foot from Quai François Mitterrand from the bank of the Seine
Pont des Arts
–
View from right bank of the Seine river.
Pont des Arts
–
On the bridge, view on the
Institut de France
Pont des Arts
–
Lovers on the Pont des Arts
Pont des Arts
–
Love padlocks on the bridge, view on the
Louvre side
2.
Notre Dame de Paris
–
Notre-Dame de Paris, also known as Notre-Dame Cathedral or simply Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. The cathedral is considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. The naturalism of its sculptures and stained glass are in contrast with earlier Romanesque architecture, as the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Paris, Notre-Dame contains the cathedra of the Archbishop of Paris, currently Cardinal André Vingt-Trois. The cathedral treasury contains a reliquary, which some of Catholicisms most important relics, including the purported Crown of Thorns, a fragment of the True Cross. In the 1790s, Notre-Dame suffered desecration in the phase of the French Revolution when much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. An extensive restoration supervised by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc began in 1845, a project of further restoration and maintenance began in 1991. The Notre-Dame de Paris was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress, in response, the cathedrals architects built supports around the outside walls, and later additions continued the pattern. The total surface area is 5,500 m², many small individually crafted statues were placed around the outside to serve as column supports and water spouts. Among these are the famous gargoyles, designed for water run-off, the statues were originally colored as was most of the exterior. The cathedral was complete by 1345. It is possible therefore that the faults with the structure were exaggerated by the Bishop to help justify the rebuilding in a newer style. According to legend, Sully had a vision of a new cathedral for Paris. To begin the construction, the bishop had several houses demolished and had a new road built to transport materials for the rest of the cathedral. Construction began in 1163 during the reign of Louis VII, however, both were at the ceremony. Bishop de Sully went on to devote most of his life, construction of the choir took from 1163 until around 1177 and the new High Altar was consecrated in 1182. By this stage, the facade had also been laid out. Numerous architects worked on the site over the period of construction, between 1210 and 1220, the fourth architect oversaw the construction of the level with the rose window and the great halls beneath the towers. Shortly afterwards Pierre de Montreuil executed a similar scheme on the southern transept,1160 Maurice de Sully orders the original cathedral demolished
Notre Dame de Paris
–
The southern facade of Notre-Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris
–
The western facade illuminated at night
Notre Dame de Paris
–
The spire and east side of the cathedral
Notre Dame de Paris
–
The Archaeological Crypt of Notre-Dame de Paris.
3.
Island
–
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, an island in a river or a lake island may be called an eyot or ait, and a small island off the coast may be called a holm. A grouping of geographically or geologically related islands is called an archipelago, an island may be described as such, despite the presence of an artificial land bridge, examples are Singapore and its causeway, and the various Dutch delta islands, such as IJsselmonde. There are two types of islands in the sea, continental and oceanic. The word island derives from Middle English iland, from Old English igland, Old English ieg is actually a cognate of Swedish ö and German Aue, and related to Latin aqua. There is a difference between islands and continents in terms of geology, continents sit on continental lithosphere which is part of tectonic plates floating high on Earths mantle. Oceanic crust is also part of tectonic plates, but it is denser than continental lithosphere, Islands are either extensions of the oceanic crust or geologically they are part of some continent sitting on continental lithosphere. This holds true for Australia, which sits on its own continental lithosphere, continental islands are bodies of land that lie on the continental shelf of a continent. A special type of island is the microcontinental island, which is created when a continent is rifted. Examples are Madagascar and Socotra off Africa, the Kerguelen Islands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, another subtype is an island or bar formed by deposition of tiny rocks where water current loses some of its carrying capacity. While some are transitory and may disappear if the volume or speed of the current changes, others are stable, oceanic islands are islands that do not sit on continental shelves. The vast majority are volcanic in origin, such as Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, the few oceanic islands that are not volcanic are tectonic in origin and arise where plate movements have lifted up the ocean floor above the surface. Examples are Saint Peter and Paul Rocks in the Atlantic Ocean, one type of volcanic oceanic island is found in a volcanic island arc. These islands arise from volcanoes where the subduction of one plate under another is occurring, examples are the Aleutian Islands, the Mariana Islands, and most of Tonga in the Pacific Ocean. The only examples in the Atlantic Ocean are some of the Lesser Antilles, another type of volcanic oceanic island occurs where an oceanic rift reaches the surface. There are two examples, Iceland, which is the second largest volcanic island, and Jan Mayen. A third type of oceanic island is formed over volcanic hotspots. A hotspot is more or less stationary relative to the tectonic plate above it
Island
–
Atafu atoll in Tokelau
Island
–
São Miguel Island, in
Azores archipelago, is also referred as "The Green Island".
Island
–
A small
Fijian island
Island
–
The
British Isles are a large group of islands. The main islands include
Great Britain and
Ireland.
4.
Seine
–
The Seine is a 777-kilometre-long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Source-Seine,30 kilometres northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and it is navigable by ocean-going vessels as far as Rouen,120 kilometres from the sea. There are 37 bridges within Paris and dozens more spanning the river outside the city, examples in Paris include the Pont Alexandre III and Pont Neuf, the latter of which dates back to 1607. Outside the city, examples include the Pont de Normandie, one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in the world, the Seine rises in the commune of Source-Seine, about 30 kilometres northwest of Dijon. The source has been owned by the city of Paris since 1864, a number of closely associated small ditches or depressions provide the source waters, with an artificial grotto laid out to highlight and contain a deemed main source. The grotto includes a statue of a nymph, on the same site are the buried remains of a Gallo-Roman temple. Small statues of the dea Sequana Seine goddess and other ex voti found at the place are now exhibited in the Dijon archeological museum. The Seine is dredged and oceangoing vessels can dock at Rouen,120 kilometres from the sea, commercial riverboats can use the river from Bar-sur-Seine,560 kilometres to its mouth. At Paris, there are 37 bridges, the river is only 24 metres above sea level 446 kilometres from its mouth, making it slow flowing and thus easily navigable. The Seine Maritime,105.7 kilometres from the English Channel at Le Havre to Rouen, is the portion of the Seine used by ocean-going craft. The tidal section of the Seine Maritime is followed by a section with four large multiple locks until the mouth of the Oise at Conflans-Sainte-Honorine. Multiple locks at Bougival / Chatou and at Suresnes lift the vessels to the level of the river in Paris, upstream from Paris seven locks ensure navigation to Saint Mammès, where the Loing mouth is situated. Through an eighth lock the river Yonne is reached at Montereau-Fault-Yonne, from the mouth of the Yonne, larger ships can continue upstream to Nogent-sur-Seine. From there on, the river is only by small craft. All navigation ends abruptly at Marcilly-sur-Seine, where the ancient Canal de la Haute-Seine used to allow vessels to continue all the way to Troyes and this canal has been abandoned for many years. The average depth of the Seine today at Paris is about 9.5 metres. Until locks were installed to raise the level in the 1800s, the river was much shallower within the city most of the time, today the depth is tightly controlled and the entire width of the river between the built-up banks on either side is normally filled with water. The average flow of the river is low, only a few cubic metres per second
Seine
–
The Seine in Paris
Seine
–
Seine source
Seine
–
The
Pont de Normandie over the Seine, between
Le Havre and
Honfleur, on the
Normandy coast
Seine
–
The Seine and Eiffel Tower
5.
Paris
–
Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
Paris
–
In the 1860s Paris streets and monuments were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, making it literally "The City of Light."
Paris
Paris
–
Gold coins minted by the Parisii (1st century BC)
Paris
–
The
Palais de la Cité and
Sainte-Chapelle, viewed from the Left Bank, from the
Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry (month of June) (1410)
6.
Palace
–
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which housed the Imperial residences, in many parts of Europe, the term is also applied to ambitious private mansions of the aristocracy. Many historic palaces are now put to uses such as parliaments, museums, hotels. The word is sometimes used to describe a lavishly ornate building used for public entertainment or exhibitions. The word palace comes from Old French palais, from Latin Palātium, the original palaces on the Palatine Hill were the seat of the imperial power while the capitol on the Capitoline Hill was the religious nucleus of Rome. Long after the city grew to the seven hills the Palatine remained a residential area. Emperor Caesar Augustus lived there in a purposely modest house only set apart from his neighbours by the two trees planted to flank the front door as a sign of triumph granted by the Senate. His descendants, especially Nero, with his Golden House, enlarged the house, the word Palātium came to mean the residence of the emperor rather than the neighbourhood on top of the hill. Palace meaning government can be recognized in a remark of Paul the Deacon, AD790 and describing events of the 660s, When Grimuald set out for Beneventum, he entrusted his palace to Lupus. At the same time, Charlemagne was consciously reviving the Roman expression in his palace at Aachen, in the 9th century, the palace indicated the housing of the government too, and the constantly travelling Charlemagne built fourteen. In the Holy Roman Empire the powerful independent Electors came to be housed in palaces and this has been used as evidence that power was widely distributed in the Empire, as in more centralized monarchies, only the monarchs residence would be a palace. In modern times, the term has been applied by archaeologists and historians to large structures that housed combined ruler, court, in informal usage, a palace can be extended to a grand residence of any kind. The earliest known palaces were the residences of the Egyptian Pharaohs at Thebes, featuring an outer wall enclosing labyrinthine buildings. Other ancient palaces include the Assyrian palaces at Nimrud and Nineveh, the Minoan palace at Knossos, the Brazilian new capital, Brasília, hosts modern palaces, most designed by the citys architect Oscar Niemeyer. The Alvorada Palace is the residence of the Brazils president. The Planalto Palace is the official workplace, the Jaburu Palace is the official residence of Brazils vice-president. In Canada, Government House is a given to the official residences of the Canadian monarchy. The use of the term Government House is a custom from the British Empire
Palace
–
Schwerin Palace in
Germany, historical
ducal residence of
Mecklenburg since 1348.
Palace
–
Palace of Versailles, the center of
French absolutism from 1682 on.
Palace
–
Ambavilas Palace, famous as
Mysore Palace, the official residence of
Maharajas of Mysore since 1400.
Palace
–
The
Planalto Palace, in
Brasília,
Brazil
7.
Merovingian
–
The Merovingians were a Salian Frankish dynasty that ruled the Franks for nearly 300 years in a region known as Francia in Latin, beginning in the middle of the 5th century. Their territory largely corresponded to ancient Gaul as well as the Roman provinces of Raetia, Germania Superior and the southern part of Germania. The Merovingian dynasty was founded by Childeric I, the son of Merovech, leader of the Salian Franks, after the death of Clovis there were frequent clashes between different branches of the family, but when threatened by its neighbours the Merovingians presented a strong united front. During the final century of Merovingian rule, the kings were increasingly pushed into a ceremonial role, the Merovingian rule ended in March 752 when Pope Zachary formally deposed Childeric III. Zacharys successor, Pope Stephen II, confirmed and anointed Pepin the Short in 754, the Merovingian ruling family were sometimes referred to as the long-haired kings by contemporaries, as their long hair distinguished them among the Franks, who commonly cut their hair short. The Merovingian dynasty owes its name to the semi-legendary Merovech, leader of the Salian Franks, the victories of his son Childeric I against the Visigoths, Saxons, and Alemanni established the basis of Merovingian land. Childerics son Clovis I went on to unite most of Gaul north of the Loire under his control around 486, when he defeated Syagrius, the Roman ruler in those parts. He won the Battle of Tolbiac against the Alemanni in 496, at time, according to Gregory of Tours. He subsequently went on to defeat the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse in the Battle of Vouillé in 507. After Cloviss death, his kingdom was partitioned among his four sons, leadership among the early Merovingians was probably based on mythical descent and alleged divine patronage, expressed in terms of continued military success. In 1906 the British Egyptologist Flinders Petrie suggested that the Marvingi recorded by Ptolemy as living near the Rhine were the ancestors of the Merovingian dynasty, upon Cloviss death in 511, the Merovingian kingdom included all of Gaul except Burgundy and all of Germania magna except Saxony. To the outside, the kingdom, even when divided under different kings, maintained unity, after the fall of the Ostrogoths, the Franks also conquered Provence. After this their borders with Italy and Visigothic Septimania remained fairly stable, internally, the kingdom was divided among Cloviss sons and later among his grandsons and frequently saw war between the different kings, who quickly allied among themselves and against one another. The death of one king created conflict between the brothers and the deceaseds sons, with differing outcomes. Later, conflicts were intensified by the personal feud around Brunhilda, however, yearly warfare often did not constitute general devastation but took on an almost ritual character, with established rules and norms. Eventually, Clotaire II in 613 reunited the entire Frankish realm under one ruler, later divisions produced the stable units of Austrasia, Neustria, Burgundy and Aquitania. The frequent wars had weakened royal power, while the aristocracy had made great gains and these concessions saw the very considerable power of the king parcelled out and retained by leading comites and duces. Very little is in fact known about the course of the 7th century due to a scarcity of sources, clotaires son Dagobert I, who sent troops to Spain and pagan Slavic territories in the east, is commonly seen as the last powerful Merovingian King
Merovingian
–
Signet ring of
Childeric I.
Monnaie de Paris.
Merovingian
–
Francia expanded from
Austrasia, established by the Merovingian dynasty.
Merovingian
–
Frankish gold
Tremissis, imitation of
Byzantine Tremissis, mid-6th century.
Merovingian
–
Coin of
Chlothar II, 584-628.
British Museum.
8.
Paris Hall of Justice
–
The Palais de Justice, formerly the Palais de la Cité, is located on the Boulevard du Palais in the Île de la Cité in central Paris, France. The justice of the state has been dispensed at this site since medieval times, from the sixteenth century to the French Revolution this was the seat of the Parlement de Paris. The building was reconstructed between 1857 and 1868 by architects Joseph-Louis Duc and Honoré Daumet, the exterior includes sculptural work by Jean-Marie Bonnassieux. It was opened in October 1868 with little fanfare, save from a visit by Baron Haussmann and it was awarded the Grand Prix de lEmpereur as the greatest work of art produced in France in the decade. Tribunal de grande instance de Paris Court of Appeal Ayers, Andrew, a visit of the Hall of Justice Palais de Justice at lartnouveau. com
Paris Hall of Justice
–
Palais de Justice – gates of the
cour d'honneur
Paris Hall of Justice
–
The Cour du Mai
Paris Hall of Justice
–
The south range
9.
Canon (priest)
–
A canon is a member of certain bodies subject to an ecclesiastical rule. This way of life grew common in the eighth century, in the eleventh century, some churches required clergy thus living together to adopt the rule first proposed by Saint Augustine that they renounce private wealth. Those who embraced this change were known as Augustinians or Canons Regular, in the Roman Catholic Church, the members of the chapter of a cathedral or of a collegiate church are canons. Depending on the title of the church, several languages use specific titles, e. g. in German Domherr or Domkapitular in a Dom, Stiftsherr in a prelature that has the status of a Stift. One of the functions of the chapter in the Roman Catholic Church was to elect a Vicar Capitular to serve during a sede vacante period of the diocese. All canons of the Church of England have been secular since the Reformation, mostly, however, they are ordained, that is, priests or members of the clergy. Today, the system of canons is retained almost exclusively in connection with cathedral churches, a canon is a member of the chapter of priests, headed by a dean, which is responsible for administering a cathedral or certain other churches that are styled collegiate churches. The dean and chapter are the body which has legal responsibility for the cathedral. The title of Canon is not a permanent title and when no longer in a position entitling preferment, however, it is still given in many dioceses to senior parish priests as a largely honorary title. It is usually awarded in recognition of long and dedicated service to the diocese, honorary canons are members of the chapter in name but are non-residential and receive no emoluments. They are entitled to call themselves canon and may have a role in the administration of the cathedral, in some Church of England dioceses, the title Prebendary is used instead of canon when the cleric is involved administratively with a cathedral. Honorary canons within the Roman Catholic Church may still be nominated after the Second Vatican Council, on the demise of the Kingdom of France this honour became transferred to the Presidents of the Republic, and hence is currently held by François Hollande. This applies even when the French President is not Catholic, as is the case with the atheist Hollande, the proto-canon of the papal basilica of Saint Mary Major is the King of Spain, currently Felipe VI. The rank of lay canon is especially conferred upon diocesan chancellors and it has traditionally been said that the King of England is a canon or prebendary of St David’s Cathedral, Wales. However, this is based on a misconception, the canonry of St Mary’s College, St David’s became the property of the Crown on the dissolution of the monasteries. The Sovereign was never a canon of St David’s, even as a layman, though he or she may occupy the first prebendal stall, a canon professor is a canon at an Anglican cathedral who also holds a university professorship. Section 2 of the Church of England Measure 1995 was passed for the purpose of enabling Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. Historically, the chair in Greek at the university was also a canon professorship and this canonry was transferred to the Lightfoot Professor of Divinity in 1940
Canon (priest)
–
Saint Peter
Canon (priest)
–
Four canons with Sts Augustine and Jerome by an open grave, with the Visitation. Master of the Spes Nostra (nl) (active c. 1500–20, Northern Netherlands)
Canon (priest)
–
Kanunnik Petrus-Ludovicus Stillemans (1821–1902), canon of the
Seminary,
Sint Niklaas,
Flanders
Canon (priest)
–
Another
Flemish canon in official clerical dress of canons
10.
Second World War
–
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
Second World War
–
Clockwise from top left: Chinese forces in the
Battle of Wanjialing, Australian
25-pounder guns during the
First Battle of El Alamein, German
Stuka dive bombers on the
Eastern Front in December 1943, a U.S. naval force in the
Lingayen Gulf,
Wilhelm Keitel signing the
German Instrument of Surrender, Soviet troops in the
Battle of Stalingrad
Second World War
–
The
League of Nations assembly, held in
Geneva,
Switzerland, 1930
Second World War
–
Adolf Hitler at a German
National Socialist political rally in
Weimar, October 1930
Second World War
–
Italian soldiers recruited in 1935, on their way to fight the
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
11.
Parvis
–
Parvis or parvise is the open space in front of and around a cathedral or church, especially when surrounded by either colonnades or porticoes, as at St. Peters Basilica in Rome. The term is derived via Old French from the Latin paradisus meaning paradise and this in turn came via Ancient Greek from the Indo-European Aryan languages of ancient Iran, where it meant a walled enclosure or garden precinct with heavenly flowers planted by the Clercs. In London in the Middle Ages the Serjeants-at-law practised at the parvis of St Pauls Cathedral, in the 14th century Geoffrey Chaucer referred to A sergeant of the laws ware and wise/ That often hadde yben at the paruis. Later, ecclesiastical courts developed at Doctors Commons on the same site, in England the term was much later used to mean a room over the porch of a church. The architectural historians John Fleming, Hugh Honour and Nikolaus Pevsner, the Oxford English Dictionary records this use as being historical, and current in the middle of the 19th century. It may stem from an earlier misuse in F Blomefields book Norfolk, Church of the Holy Sepulchre Brown, Lesley, ed. The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Fleming, John, Honour, Hugh, Pevsner, Nikolaus, the Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology
Parvis
–
Part of
St. Peter's Square in Rome, the parvis of
St. Peter's Basilica
Parvis
–
Three-storey
Perpendicular Gothic porch of
Church of St. John the Baptist, Cirencester: an elaborate example of what in later English usage has been called a parvise
Parvis
–
The Parvise at
Castle Ashby
Parvis
–
Bletchingley Church Parvise
12.
Julius Caesar
–
Gaius Julius Caesar, known as Julius Caesar, was a Roman politician, general, and notable author of Latin prose. He played a role in the events that led to the demise of the Roman Republic. In 60 BC, Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey formed an alliance that dominated Roman politics for several years. Their attempts to power as Populares were opposed by the Optimates within the Roman Senate. Caesars victories in the Gallic Wars, completed by 51 BC, extended Romes territory to the English Channel, Caesar became the first Roman general to cross both the Channel and the Rhine, when he built a bridge across the Rhine and crossed the Channel to invade Britain. These achievements granted him unmatched military power and threatened to eclipse the standing of Pompey, with the Gallic Wars concluded, the Senate ordered Caesar to step down from his military command and return to Rome. Caesar refused the order, and instead marked his defiance in 49 BC by crossing the Rubicon with the 13th Legion, leaving his province, Civil war resulted, and Caesars victory in the war put him in an unrivalled position of power and influence. After assuming control of government, Caesar began a programme of social and governmental reforms and he centralised the bureaucracy of the Republic and was eventually proclaimed dictator in perpetuity, giving him additional authority. But the underlying political conflicts had not been resolved, and on the Ides of March 44 BC, a new series of civil wars broke out, and the constitutional government of the Republic was never fully restored. Caesars adopted heir Octavian, later known as Augustus, rose to power after defeating his opponents in the civil war. Octavian set about solidifying his power, and the era of the Roman Empire began, much of Caesars life is known from his own accounts of his military campaigns, and from other contemporary sources, mainly the letters and speeches of Cicero and the historical writings of Sallust. The later biographies of Caesar by Suetonius and Plutarch are also major sources, Caesar is considered by many historians to be one of the greatest military commanders in history. Caesar was born into a family, the gens Julia. The cognomen Caesar originated, according to Pliny the Elder, with an ancestor who was born by Caesarean section. The Historia Augusta suggests three alternative explanations, that the first Caesar had a head of hair, that he had bright grey eyes. Caesar issued coins featuring images of elephants, suggesting that he favored this interpretation of his name, despite their ancient pedigree, the Julii Caesares were not especially politically influential, although they had enjoyed some revival of their political fortunes in the early 1st century BC. Caesars father, also called Gaius Julius Caesar, governed the province of Asia and his mother, Aurelia Cotta, came from an influential family. Little is recorded of Caesars childhood, in 85 BC, Caesars father died suddenly, so Caesar was the head of the family at 16
Julius Caesar
–
The
Tusculum portrait, perhaps the only surviving statue created during Caesar's lifetime.
Julius Caesar
–
Gaius Marius, Caesar's uncle
Julius Caesar
–
Dictator
Lucius Cornelius Sulla stripped Caesar of the priesthood.
Julius Caesar
–
The extent of the Roman Republic in 40 BC after Caesar's conquests.
13.
Gauls
–
The Gauls were Celtic peoples inhabiting Gaul in the Iron Age and the Roman period. Their Gaulish language forms the branch of the Continental Celtic languages. The Gauls emerged around the 5th century BC as the bearers of the La Tène culture north of the Alps, Gaul was never united under a single ruler or government, but the Gallic tribes were capable of uniting their forces in large-scale military operations. They reached the peak of their power in the early 3rd century BC, after this, Gaul became a province of the Roman Empire, and the Gauls were culturally assimilated into a Gallo-Roman culture, losing their tribal identities by the end of the 1st century AD. The Gauls of Gallia Celtica according to the testimony of Caesar called themselves Celtae in their own language, the name Gaul itself may be derived from Latin Galli, or it may be derived from the Germanic word Walha. Gaulish culture developed out of the Celtic cultures over the first millennia BC, the Urnfield culture represents the Celts as a distinct cultural branch of the Indo-European-speaking people. The spread of iron working led to the Hallstatt culture in the 8th century BC, the Hallstatt culture evolved into the La Tène culture in around the 5th century BC. The Greek and Etruscan civilizations and colonies began to influence the Gauls especially in the Mediterranean area, Gauls under Brennus invaded Rome circa 390 BC. Following the climate deterioration in the late Nordic Bronze Age, Celtic Gaul was invaded in the 5th century BC by tribes later called Gauls originating in the Rhine valley. Gallic invaders settled the Po Valley in the 4th century BC, defeated Roman forces in a battle under Brennus in 390 BC and raided Italy as far as Sicily. A large number of Gauls served in the armies of Carthage during the Punic Wars, in the Aegean world, an invasion of Eastern Gauls appeared in Thrace, north of Greece, in 281 BC. However, according to the Roman legend of the gold of Delphi. One king Cerethrius invaded the Thracians, while another Gallic king Bolgios invaded Macedonia and Illyria where he killed the Macedonian king Ptolemy Keraunos, in 278 BC Gaulish settlers in the Balkans were invited by Nicomedes I of Bithynia to help him in a dynastic struggle against his brother. They numbered about 10,000 fighting men and about the number of women and children. They were eventually defeated by the Seleucid king Antiochus I, in a battle where the Seleucid war elephants shocked the Galatians. While the momentum of the invasion was broken, the Galatians were by no means exterminated and continued to demand tribute from the Hellenistic states of Anatolia to avoid war,4,000 Galatians were hired as mercenaries by the Ptolemaic Egyptian king Ptolemy II Philadelphus in the 270 BC. According to Pausanias, soon after arrival the Celts plotted “to seize Egypt, ”, Galatians also participated at the victorious in 217 BC Battle of Raphia under Ptolemy IV Philopator, and continued to serve as mercenaries for the Ptolemaic Dynasty until its demise in 30 BC. They sided with the renegade Seleucid prince Antiochus Hierax, who reigned in Asia Minor, after the defeat, the Galatians continued to be a serious threat to the states of Asia Minor
Gauls
–
Bronze cuirass, weighing 2.9 kg,
Grenoble, end of 7th century – early 6th century BCE
Gauls
–
A map of
Gaul in the 1st century BC, showing the relative positions of its three tribes: Celtae (Galli), Belgae and Aquitani. The region corresponds to what is now
Belgium,
France,
Switzerland,
Netherlands,
Western Germany and
Northern Italy.
Gauls
–
Celtic sword and
scabbard circa 60 BC
Gauls
–
Agris helmet. Discovered in
Agris,
Charente, France. 350 BC
14.
Lutetia
–
The Gallo-Roman city of Lutetia was the predecessor of present-day Paris. The city was referred to as Λουκοτοκία by Strabon, Λευκοτεκία by Ptolemeus, the origin of this name is uncertain. The name may contain the Celtic root *luco-t-, which means mouse and -ekia, meaning the mice and which can be today in the Breton word logod, the Welsh llygod. Alternatively, it may derive from another Celtic root, luto- or luteuo-, which means marsh or swamp and which survives today in the Gaelic loth, as such, it would be related to other place names in Europe including Lutudarum, Lodève and Ludesse, and Lutitia. The oppidum of the Gallic tribe of the Parisii was originally believed to be on the Ile de la Cité from Caesars Gallic Wars. In 52 BC, a year or so before the end of the Gallic Wars, however the garrison led by Vercingetorixs lieutenant Camulogenus, whose army camped on the Mons Lutetius, fell to the Roman military forces led by Titus Labienus, one of Julius Caesars lieutenants. The Romans crushed the Gauls at nearby Melun and took control of Lutetia, the Gallo-Roman city was developed mainly on the hill on the south bank of the river where, starting in the 2nd century AD, public works and monuments were constructed. The northern low-lying plain was easily flooded, under Roman rule, Lutetia was thoroughly Romanised with a population estimated at around 8,000. It did not have a deal of political importance - the capital of its province. The regular grid-plan of Lutetia marked it as a Roman city, the north-south axis was dictated by the need to cross the marshy riverbanks in the shortest possible distance, several routes converged at the bridgehead. On the Left Bank, the Rue St-Jacques and on the Right Bank, an aqueduct 26 km in length, with a flow rate estimated at 2000 cubic metres a day, provided the city with spring water collected from several points. To bridge the Bièvre valley at Arcueil-Cachan, a bridge was required, whose piers and ruined arches, still discernible and it was Christianised in the 3rd century, traditionally when St Denis became the citys first bishop. After a barbarian attack in 275 a surrounding wall was built on the Ile de la Cité with a fortified keep, Lutetia was renamed Paris in 360 AD, taking its name from the Gallic Parisii tribe name. The name had already used for centuries as an adjective. The legend of the Breton city of Ys suggests a different, if less likely, the classical theatre began to be dismantled during the 4th century. For the history of the city after its renaming, see the article on Paris, remains of the ancient city are mainly buried below ground although many of these are gradually being discovered. In a small park on high ground in the Latin Quarter of the Left Bank, tucked behind apartment blocks, the amphitheatre, built into the slope of the hillside outside the city itself, is commonly referred to as Les Arènes de Lutèce. It was one of the largest such structures in Gaul, furthermore, there are the remains of public baths at the Musée de Cluny and the Early Christian archeological crypt under the Notre Dame forecourt, now Place of Pope John-Paul II
Lutetia
–
Arènes de Lutèce (magnification)
Lutetia
–
A map of
Gaul in the 1st century BC, showing the location of Lutetia and relative positions of the Celtic tribes.
Lutetia
–
The
Arènes de Lutèce today, in the
5th arrondissement of
Paris
Lutetia
–
Thermes de Cluny - caldarium
15.
Julian (emperor)
–
Julian, also known as Julian the Apostate, was Roman Emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Greek. A member of the Constantinian dynasty, Julian became Caesar over the provinces by order of Constantius II in 355 and in this role campaigned successfully against the Alamanni. Most notable was his victory over the Alamanni in 357 at the Battle of Argentoratum. In 360 in Lutetia he was proclaimed Augustus by his soldiers, before the two could face each other in battle, however, Constantius died, after naming Julian as his rightful successor. In 363, Julian embarked on an campaign against the Sassanid Empire. Though initially successful, Julian was mortally wounded in battle and died shortly thereafter, Julian was a man of unusually complex character, he was the military commander, the theosophist, the social reformer, and the man of letters. He was the last non-Christian ruler of the Roman Empire, and it was his desire to bring the Empire back to its ancient Roman values in order to, as he saw it, save it from dissolution. He purged the state bureaucracy and attempted to revive traditional Roman religious practices at the expense of Christianity. His anti-Christian sentiment and promotion of Neoplatonic paganism caused him to be remembered as Julian the Apostate by the church and he was the last emperor of the Constantinian dynasty, the empires first Christian dynasty. Both of his parents were Christians and his paternal grandparents were Western Roman Emperor Constantius Chlorus and his second wife, Flavia Maximiana Theodora. His maternal grandfather was Julius Julianus, praetorian prefect of the East under emperor Licinius from 315 to 324, the name of Julians maternal grandmother is unknown. Constantius II, Constans I, and Constantine II were proclaimed joint emperors, Julian and Gallus were excluded from public life, were strictly guarded in their youth, and given a Christian education. They were likely saved by their youth and at the urging of the Empress Eusebia, if Julians later writings are to be believed, Constantius would later be tormented with guilt at the massacre of 337. After Eusebius died in 342, both Julian and Gallus were exiled to the estate of Macellum in Cappadocia. Here Julian met the Christian bishop George of Cappadocia, who lent him books from the classical tradition, at the age of 18, the exile was lifted and he dwelt briefly in Constantinople and Nicomedia. He became a lector, an office in the Christian church. Julian studied Neoplatonism in Asia Minor in 351, at first under Aedesius, the philosopher and he was summoned to Constantius court in Mediolanum in 354 and kept there for a year, in the summer and fall of 355, he was permitted to study in Athens. While there, Julian became acquainted with two men who became both bishops and saints, Gregory of Nazianzus and Basil the Great
Julian (emperor)
–
Portrait of Emperor Julian on a bronze coin from
Antioch minted in 360–363
Julian (emperor)
–
19th century depiction of Julian being proclaimed Emperor in Paris at the
Thermes de Cluny, standing on a shield in the
Frankish manner, in February 360.
Julian (emperor)
–
The Church of the Holy Apostles, where Julian brought Constantius II to be buried.
Julian (emperor)
–
Illustration from The Fall of Princes by
John Lydgate (which is a translation of De Casibus Virorum Illustribus by
Giovanni Boccaccio) depicting "the skyn of Julyan". There is no evidence that Julian's corpse was skinned and displayed, and it is likely that the illustrator simply confused the fate of Julian's body with that of Emperor
Valerian.
16.
Saint Genevieve
–
Saint Genevieve, is the patron saint of Paris in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. Her feast day is kept on January the 3rd and she was born in Nanterre and moved to Paris after encountering Germanus of Auxerre and Lupus of Troyes and dedicated herself to a Christian life. In 451 she led a prayer marathon that was said to have saved Paris by diverting Attilas Huns away from the city. When Childeric I besieged the city in 464 and conquered it and her following and her status as patron saint of Paris were promoted by Clotilde, who may have commissioned the writing of her vita. This was most likely written in Tours, where Clotilde retired after her husbands death, Genevieve is the principal of a school in Belfast. Though there is a vita that purports to be written by a contemporary and she was described as a peasant girl born in Nanterre to Severus and Geroncia. On his way to Britain, Germanus of Auxerre stopped at Nanterre and he encouraged her and at the age of fifteen, Genevieve became a nun. These mortifications she continued for thirty years, till her ecclesiastical superiors thought it their duty to make her diminish her austerities. She encountered opposition and criticism for her activities, both before and after she was visited by Germanus. Geneviève had frequent visions of saints and angels. She reported her visions and prophecies, until her enemies conspired to drown her in a lake of fire, through the intervention of Germanus, their animosity was finally overcome. The Bishop of Paris appointed her to look after the welfare of the dedicated to God. Shortly before the attack of the Huns under Attila in 451 on Paris, Genevieve and Germanus archdeacon, persuaded the people of Paris not to leave their homes. It is claimed that the intercession of Genevieves prayers caused Attilas army to go to Orléans instead, during Childerics siege and blockade of Paris in 464, Geneviève passed through the siege lines in a boat to Troyes, bringing grain to the city. She also pleaded to Childeric for the welfare of prisoners-of-war, through her influence, Childeric and Clovis displayed unwonted clemency towards the citizens. Clovis I founded an abbey where Genevieve might minister, and where she herself was later buried, under the care of the Benedictines, who established a monastery there, the church witnessed numerous miracles wrought at her tomb. Genevieve was canonised and the church was rededicated in her name and it was plundered by the Vikings in 847 and was partially rebuilt, but was completed only in 1177. In 1129, when the city was suffering from an epidemic of ergot poisoning and this was repeated annually with the relics being brought to the cathedral, Mme de Sévigné gave a description of the pageant in one of her letters
Saint Genevieve
–
Saint Genevieve, seventeenth-century painting, Musée Carnavalet, Paris
Saint Genevieve
–
Tomb of Sainte-Genevieve in the church of
Saint Etienne du Mont
Saint Genevieve
–
The Pantheon, Paris
Saint Genevieve
–
Virgin Mary
17.
Huns
–
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia between the 1st century AD and the 7th century AD. In 91 AD, the Huns were said to be living near the Caspian Sea, by 370, the Huns had established a vast, if short-lived, dominion in Europe. In the 18th century, the French scholar Joseph de Guignes became the first to propose a link between the Huns and the Xiongnu people, who were neighbours of China in the 3rd century BC. Since Guignes time, considerable effort has been devoted to investigating such a connection. However, there is no consensus on a direct connection between the dominant element of the Xiongnu and that of the Huns. Numerous other ethnic groups were included under Attilas rule, including very many speakers of Gothic and their main military technique was mounted archery. The Huns may have stimulated the Great Migration, a factor in the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. They formed an empire under Attila the Hun, who died in 453. Variants of the Hun name are recorded in the Caucasus until the early 8th century, the Huns were a confederation of warrior bands, ready to integrate other groups to increase their military power, in the Eurasian Steppe in the 4th to 6th centuries AD. Most aspects of their ethnogenesis are uncertain, walter Pohl explicitly states, All we can say safely is that the name Huns, in late antiquity, described prestigious ruling groups of steppe warriors. Jerome associated them with the Scythians in a letter, written four years after the Huns invaded the eastern provinces in 395. The equation of the Huns with the Scythians, together with a fear of the coming of the Antichrist in the late 4th century. This demonization of the Huns is also reflected in Jordaness Getica, written in the 6th century, otto J. Maenchen-Helfen was the first to challenge the traditional approach, based primarily on the study of written sources, and to emphasize the importance of archaeological research. Thereafter the identification of the Xiongnu as the Huns ancestors became controversial among some, the similarity of their ethnonyms is one of the most important links between the two peoples. A Sogdian merchant described the invasion of northern China by the Xwn people in a letter, Étienne de la Vaissière asserts both documents prove that Huna or Xwn were the exact transcriptions of the Chinese Xiongnu name. Christopher P. Atwood rejects that identification because of the very poor match between the three words. For instance, Xiongnu begins with a velar fricative, Huna with a voiceless glottal fricative, Xiongnu is a two-syllable word. However, according to Zhengzhang Shangfang, Xiongnu was pronounced in Late Old Chinese, the Chinese Book of Wei contain references to the remains of the descendants of the Xiongnu who lived in the region of the Altai Mountains in the early 5th century AD
Huns
–
Huns in battle with the
Alans. An 1870s engraving after a drawing by
Johann Nepomuk Geiger (1805–1880).
Huns
–
Hunnish set of
horse trappings, 4th century;
chamfron, bridle mounts and whip handle,
Walters Art Museum
Huns
–
Hun cauldrons
Huns
–
Detail of Hunnish gold and garnet bracelet, 5th century,
Walters Art Museum
18.
Clovis I
–
He is considered to have been the founder of the Merovingian dynasty, which ruled the Frankish kingdom for the next two centuries. Clovis was the son of Childeric I, a Merovingian king of the Salian Franks, and Basina, in 481, at the age of fifteen, Clovis succeeded his father. Clovis is important in the historiography of France as the first king of what would become France and his name is Germanic, composed of the elements hlod and wig, and is the origin of the later French given name Louis, borne by 18 kings of France. Dutch, the most closely related language to Frankish, reborrowed the name as Lodewijk from German in the 12th century. Clovis was baptized on Christmas Day in 508, numerous small Frankish kingdoms existed during the 5th century. After the collapse of Roman power in the last days of 406 the Salian Franks had expanded to the south of the military highway Boulogne-Cologne. The powerbase of Clovis father was the area around Tournai, in the current province of Hainault, upon the death of his father, Merovech in 457 Childeric I, Clovis father, became king of the subgroup of the Salian Franks based around Tournai. In 463 he fought in conjunction with Aegidius, the magister militum of northern Gaul, Childeric died in 481 and was buried in Tournai, Clovis succeeded him as king, aged just 15. Under Clovis, the Salian Franks came to dominate their neighbours, historians believe that Childeric and Clovis were both commanders of the Roman military in the Province of Belgica Secunda and were subordinate to the magister militum. Clovis then had the Frankish king Chararic imprisoned and executed, a few years later, he killed Ragnachar, the Frankish king of Cambrai, along with his brothers. Another victory followed in 491 over a group of Thuringians to the east. By this time Clovis had conquered all the Frankish kingdoms to the west of the River Maas and he secured an alliance with the Ostrogoths through the marriage of his sister Audofleda to their king, Theodoric the Great. With the help of the Ripuarian Franks he narrowly defeated the Alamanni in the Battle of Tolbiac in 496 and he made Paris his capital and established an abbey dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul on the south bank of the Seine. In 500 Clovis fought a battle with the Burgundian kingdom at Dijon but was unable to subdue them, the battle added most of Aquitaine to Clovis kingdom and resulted in the death of the Visigothic king Alaric II. According to Gregory of Tours, following the Battle of Vouillé, since Clovis name does not appear in the consular lists, it is likely he was granted a suffect consulship. Clovis became the first king of all Franks in 508, after he had conquered Cologne and this contrasted with Catholicism, whose followers believe that God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are three persons of one being. By the time of the ascension of Clovis, Gothic Arians dominated Christian Gaul and this included his wife, Clotilde, a Burgundian princess who was a Catholic in spite of the Arianism that surrounded her at court. Clotilde evangelized Clovis to convert to Catholicism, which he initially resisted, Clotilde had wanted her son to be baptized, but Clovis refused to allow it, so Clotilde had the child baptized without Cloviss knowledge
Clovis I
–
Clovis roi des Francs by
François-Louis Dejuinne (1786–1844)
Clovis I
–
Clovis I leading the Franks to victory in the
Battle of Tolbiac, in
Ary Scheffer 's 19th-century painting
Clovis I
–
Frankish territories at the time of Clovis' death
Clovis I
–
Tomb of Clovis I at the
Basilica of St Denis in
Saint Denis
19.
Neustria
–
Neustria or Neustrasia was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks that was created in 511 upon the division of the Merovingian kingdom of Clovis I to his four sons following his death. Neustria was made up of the regions between Aquitaine and the English Channel, approximately the north of present-day France, with Paris and Soissons as its main cities. It later referred to the region between the Seine and the Loire rivers known as the regnum Neustriae, a constituent subkingdom of the Carolingian Empire, Neustria was also employed as a term for northwestern Italy during the period of Lombard domination. It was contrasted with the northeast, which was called Austrasia, for this meaning of the term, see Neustria. Despite the wars, Neustria and Austrasia re-united briefly on several occasions, the struggle for power continued with Queen Fredegund of Neustria unleashing a bitter war. Clotaire had Brunhilda put to the rack and stretched for three days, then chained between four horses and eventually ripped limb from limb, Clotaire now ruled a united realm, but only for a short time as he made his son Dagobert I king of Austrasia. Dagoberts accession in Neustria resulted in another temporary unification, when in Austrasia, the Arnulfing mayor Grimoald the Elder attempted a coup against his liege, Clovis II had him removed and again reunited the kingdom from Neustria, but again temporarily. During or soon after the reign of Cloviss son Chlothar III, in 678, Neustria, under Mayor Ebroin, subdued the Austrasians for the last time. In 687, Pippin of Herstal, mayor of the palace of the King of Austrasia, defeated the Neustrians at Tertry, the writers who lived in Austrasia proved more loyal to their mayor. Pippins descendants, the Carolingians, continued to rule the two realms as mayors, with Pope Stephen IIs blessing, after 751 the Carolingian Pippin the Short, formally deposed the Merovingians and took control of the empire, he and his descendants ruling as kings. Neustria, Austrasia, and Burgundy then became united under one authority, in 748, the brothers Pepin the Short and Carloman gave their younger brother Grifo twelve counties in Neustria centred on that of Le Mans. This polity was termed the ducatus Cenomannicus, or Duchy of Maine, the term Neustria took on the meaning of land between the Seine and Loire when it was given as a regnum by Charlemagne to his second son, Charles the Younger, in 790. At this time, the city of the kingdom appears to be Le Mans. Under the Carolingian dynasty, the duty of the Neustrian king was to defend the sovereignty of the Franks over the Bretons. Neustria, along with Aquitaine, formed the part of Charles West Frankish kingdom carved out of the Empire by the Treaty of Verdun. Charles continued the tradition of appointing an elder son to reign in Neustria with his own court at Le Mans when he made Louis the Stammerer king in 856. Louis married the daughter of the King of Brittany, Erispoe, Louis was the last Frankish monarch to be appointed to Neustria by his father and the practice of creating subkingdoms for sons waned among the later Carolings. In 861, the Carolingian king Charles the Bald created the Marches of Neustria that were ruled by officials appointed by the crown, known as wardens, prefects or margraves
Neustria
–
Neustria (within the Kingdom of Siagrius, outlined in orange), in the context of the Franks
20.
Middle Ages
–
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
Middle Ages
–
The
Cross of Mathilde, a
crux gemmata made for
Mathilde, Abbess of Essen (973–1011), who is shown kneeling before the Virgin and Child in the
enamel plaque. The body of Christ is slightly later. Probably made in
Cologne or
Essen, the cross demonstrates several medieval techniques:
cast figurative sculpture,
filigree, enamelling, gem polishing and setting, and the reuse of Classical
cameos and
engraved gems.
Middle Ages
–
A late Roman statue
depicting the four Tetrarchs, now in
Venice
Middle Ages
–
Coin of
Theodoric
Middle Ages
–
Mosaic showing
Justinian with
the bishop of
Ravenna, bodyguards, and courtiers
21.
Odo of France
–
Odo was the elected King of West Francia from 888 to 898 as the first king from the Robertian dynasty. Before assuming the kingship Odo had the titles of Duke of France, Odo was the eldest son of Robert the Strong, Duke of the Franks, Marquis of Neustria and Count of Anjou. After his fathers death in 866, Odo inherited his Marquis of Neustria title, Odo lost this title in 868 when king Charles the Bald appointed Hugh the Abbot to the title. Odo regained it following the death of Hugh in 886, after 882 he held the post of Count of Paris. Odo was also the lay abbot of St. Martin of Tours, Odo married Théodrate of Troyes and had two known sons, Arnulf and Guy, neither of whom lived past the age of fifteen. For his skill and bravery in resisting the attacks of Vikings at the Siege of Paris and he was crowned at Compiègne in February 888 by Walter, Archbishop of Sens. In 889 and 890 Odo granted special privileges to the County of Manresa in Osona, because of its position on the front line against the Moorish aggression, Manresa was given the right to build towers of defence known as manresanas or manresanes. This privilege was responsible for giving Manresa its unique character, distinct from the rest of Osona, to gain prestige and support, Odo paid homage to the East Francias King Arnulf. Odo died in La Fère on 1 January 898 and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed
Odo of France
–
The Coronation of Odo, from the Grandes Chroniques de France
Odo of France
–
Denier of Odo of France
Odo of France
–
Pepin (751–768)
Charlemagne (768–814)
Carloman I (768–771)
Louis the Pious (814–840)
Charles the Bald (840–877)
Louis the Stammerer (877–879)
Louis III (879–882)
Carloman II (879–884)
Charles the Fat (884–888)
Charles the Simple (898–922)
Louis IV (936–954)
Lothaire (954–986)
Louis V (986–987)
22.
Viking
–
The term is also commonly extended in modern English and other vernaculars to the inhabitants of Viking home communities during what has become known as the Viking Age. Facilitated by advanced seafaring skills, and characterised by the longship, Viking activities at times also extended into the Mediterranean littoral, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. A romanticized picture of Vikings as noble savages began to emerge in the 18th century, current popular representations of the Vikings are typically based on cultural clichés and stereotypes, complicating modern appreciation of the Viking legacy. One etymology derives víking from the feminine vík, meaning creek, inlet, various theories have been offered that the word viking may be derived from the name of the historical Norwegian district of Viken, meaning a person from Viken. According to this theory, the word simply described persons from this area, however, there are a few major problems with this theory. People from the Viken area were not called Viking in Old Norse manuscripts, in addition, that explanation could only explain the masculine and ignore the feminine, which is a serious problem because the masculine is easily derived from the feminine but hardly vice versa. The form also occurs as a name on some Swedish rune stones. There is little indication of any negative connotation in the term before the end of the Viking Age and this is found in the Proto-Nordic verb *wikan, ‘to turn’, similar to Old Icelandic víkja ‘to move, to turn’, with well-attested nautical usages. In that case, the idea behind it seems to be that the rower moves aside for the rested rower on the thwart when he relieves him. A víkingr would then originally have been a participant on a sea journey characterized by the shifting of rowers, in that case, the word Viking was not originally connected to Scandinavian seafarers but assumed this meaning when the Scandinavians begun to dominate the seas. In Old English, the word wicing appears first in the Anglo-Saxon poem, Widsith, in Old English, and in the history of the archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen written by Adam of Bremen in about 1070, the term generally referred to Scandinavian pirates or raiders. As in the Old Norse usages, the term is not employed as a name for any people or culture in general, the word does not occur in any preserved Middle English texts. The Vikings were known as Ascomanni ashmen by the Germans for the ash wood of their boats, Lochlannach by the Gaels, the modern day name for Sweden in several neighbouring countries is possibly derived from rōþs-, Ruotsi in Finnish and Rootsi in Estonian. The Slavs and the Byzantines also called them Varangians, Scandinavian bodyguards of the Byzantine emperors were known as the Varangian Guard. The Franks normally called them Northmen or Danes, while for the English they were known as Danes or heathen. It is used in distinction from Anglo-Saxon, similar terms exist for other areas, such as Hiberno-Norse for Ireland and Scotland. The period from the earliest recorded raids in the 790s until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 is commonly known as the Viking Age of Scandinavian history, Vikings used the Norwegian Sea and Baltic Sea for sea routes to the south. The Normans were descended from Vikings who were given feudal overlordship of areas in northern France—the Duchy of Normandy—in the 10th century, in that respect, descendants of the Vikings continued to have an influence in northern Europe
Viking
–
Sea-faring
Danes depicted invading England. Illuminated illustration from the 12th century Miscellany on the Life of St. Edmund. Pierpont Morgan Library.
Viking
–
Travels of the Vikings
Viking
–
Blar a' Bhuailte, site of the Vikings' last stand in
Skye
23.
Giovanni Giocondo
–
Giovanni Giocondo, Order of Friars Minor, was an Italian friar, architect, antiquary, archaeologist, and classical scholar. Giovanni Giocondo was born in Verona around 1433 and he joined the Dominican Order at the age of eighteen and was one of the many of that Order who promulgated the Renaissance. Afterwards, however, he left the Dominicans and entered the Franciscan Order, Giocondo began his career as a teacher of Latin and Greek in Verona, where Julius Caesar Scaliger was one of his pupils. As a young priest, Friar Giovanni was a learned archaeologist and he visited Rome, sketched its ancient buildings, wrote the story of its great monuments, and recorded, deciphered and explained many defaced inscriptions. He stimulated the revival of learning by making transcriptions of ancient manuscripts, one of which, completed in 1492. Giocondo soon returned to his town where he built bridges and planned fortifications for Treviso, acting as architect engineer. In Verona, Giocondo designed the Loggia del Consiglio for Maximilian I and it is considered one of the finest buildings in Verona and is famed for the decorations of its loggia. Thomas de Quincey also attributes the church of Santa Maria della Scala to Giocondo and he was then summoned to Venice, along with a number of other well-known architects, to discuss the protection of the lagoons against the rivers. Giocondos plan of altering the Brentas bed and leading this river to the sea was accepted by the Venetians, between 1496 and 1499 Giocondo was invited to France by Louis XII, and made royal adviser. Between 1506 and 1508 Giocondo returned to Italy and constructed the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, in 1513 the Rialto Bridge and its environs were burned. Giocondo was one of those who presented plans for a new bridge, the designs of a rival were chosen. Giocondo left Venice for Rome where he was employed by the Vatican from 1514, in a letter to Giuliano di Lorenzo de Medici, in 1513, Giocondo referred to himself an old man. On Donato Bramantes death he was part of a team with Raphael. The work included strengthening the foundations and he died in 1515, while involved with this project. In 1498 Giocondo published Plinys Epistles in Bologna and he published another edition with Aldus Manutiuss press, which he dedicated to King Louis XII. Between 1506 and 1508 Giocondo wrote four dissertations on the waters and it was an illustrated edition, printed in Venice in 1511, and dedicated to Pope Julius II. Giocondo also published the works of Julius Obsequens, Aurelius Victor and he also edited Julius Caesars Commentaries and made the first drawing of Caesars bridge across the Rhine. In addition to his classical and mathematical knowledge, he was a master of scholastic theology, the British Museum, however, stated in 1970 that the authorship of the letter was uncertain
Giovanni Giocondo
–
The Fondaco dei Tedeschi.
24.
Pont Neuf
–
The Pont Neuf is the oldest standing bridge across the river Seine in Paris, France. Its name, which was given to distinguish it from older bridges that were lined on both sides with houses, has remained after all of those were replaced. The bridge is composed of two spans, one of five arches joining the left bank to the Île de la Cité. Today the tip of the island is the location of the Square du Vert-Galant, as early as 1550, Henry II was asked to build a bridge here because the existing Pont Notre-Dame was overloaded, but the expense was too much at the time. In February 1578, the decision to build the bridge was made by Henry III who laid its first stone in 1578, further design changes were made during the summer of 1579. First, the number of arches was changed from eight and four to seven, second, it was decided to allow houses to be built on the bridge. This required the widening of the bridge, the remaining piers were built over the next nine years. After a long delay beginning in 1588, due to political unrest, the bridge was opened to traffic in 1604 and completed in July 1606. It was inaugurated by Henri IV in 1607, like most bridges of its time, The Pont Neuf is constructed as a series of many short arch bridges, following Roman precedents. The bridge had heavy traffic from the beginning, it was for a time the widest bridge in Paris. In 1885, one of the piers of the arm was undermined. A major restoration of the Pont Neuf was begun in 1994 and was completed in 2007, the mascarons are the stone masks,381 in number, each being different and which decorate the sides of the bridge. They represent the heads of forest and field divinities from ancient mythology, as well as satyrs, the mascarons remained in place until 1851-1854, when the bridge was completely rebuilt. At that time six of the original mascarons from the 16th century were placed in the Musée Carnavalet, eight other originals were first placed in the Musée national du Moyen Âge, and are now in the French National Museum of the Renaissance in the Château dÉcouen. Fontenelle made sixty-one masks which are found on the side of the bridge between the right bank and the Île de la Cité. After his death, Giambolognas assistant Pietro Tacca completed the statue and it was destroyed in 1792 during the French Revolution, but was rebuilt in 1818, following the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy. Bronze for the new statue was obtained with the bronze from a statue of Louis Charles Antoine Desaix, as well as from the statue of Napoleon in Place Vendôme, the new statue was cast from a mold made using a surviving cast of the original. The last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay, was burned at the stake on March 18,1314, on the Île aux Juifs, the execution was ordered by Philippe le Bel after Jacques retracted all of his previous confessions, which outraged Philip
Pont Neuf
–
Pont Neuf at sunset.
Pont Neuf
–
Painting of the Pont Neuf project as approved by
King Henry III in 1578. The bridge was ultimately completed in 1607 with a less ornate design.
Pont Neuf
–
The Pont Neuf in 1615
Pont Neuf
–
The Pont Neuf in 1763
25.
Henry IV of France
–
Henry IV, also known by the epithet Good King Henry, was King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first French monarch of the House of Bourbon, baptised as a Catholic but raised in the Protestant faith by his mother Jeanne dAlbret, Queen of Navarre, he inherited the throne of Navarre in 1572 on the death of his mother. As a Huguenot, Henry was involved in the French Wars of Religion, barely escaping assassination in the St. Bartholomews Day massacre, and later led Protestant forces against the royal army. Henry, as Head of the House of Bourbon, was a direct descendant of Louis IX of France. Upon the death of his brother-in-law and distant cousin Henry III of France in 1589 and he initially kept the Protestant faith and had to fight against the Catholic League, which denied that he could wear Frances crown as a Protestant. To obtain mastery over his kingdom, after four years of stalemate, as a pragmatic politician, he displayed an unusual religious tolerance for the era. Notably, he promulgated the Edict of Nantes, which guaranteed religious liberties to Protestants and he was assassinated in 1610 by François Ravaillac, a fanatical Catholic, and was succeeded by his son Louis XIII. Considered a usurper by some Catholics and a traitor by some Protestants, an unpopular king immediately after his accession, Henrys popularity greatly improved after his death, in light of repeated victories over his enemies and his conversion to Catholicism. The Good King Henry was remembered for his geniality and his concern about the welfare of his subjects. He was celebrated in the popular song Vive le roi Henri, Henry was born in Pau, the capital of the joint Kingdom of Navarre with the sovereign principality of Béarn. His parents were Queen Joan III of Navarre and her consort, Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, although baptised as a Roman Catholic, Henry was raised as a Protestant by his mother, who had declared Calvinism the religion of Navarre. As a teenager, Henry joined the Huguenot forces in the French Wars of Religion, on 9 June 1572, upon his mothers death, he became King of Navarre. At Queen Joans death, it was arranged for Henry to marry Margaret of Valois, daughter of Henry II, the wedding took place in Paris on 18 August 1572 on the parvis of Notre Dame Cathedral. On 24 August, the Saint Bartholomews Day Massacre began in Paris, several thousand Protestants who had come to Paris for Henrys wedding were killed, as well as thousands more throughout the country in the days that followed. Henry narrowly escaped death thanks to the help of his wife and he was made to live at the court of France, but he escaped in early 1576. On 5 February of that year, he formally abjured Catholicism at Tours and he named his 16-year-old sister, Catherine de Bourbon, regent of Béarn. Catherine held the regency for nearly thirty years, Henry became heir presumptive to the French throne in 1584 upon the death of Francis, Duke of Anjou, brother and heir to the Catholic Henry III, who had succeeded Charles IX in 1574. Because Henry of Navarre was the senior agnatic descendant of King Louis IX, King Henry III had no choice
Henry IV of France
–
Henry IV
Henry IV of France
–
Henry III of France on his deathbed designating Henry IV of Navarre as his successor in 1589.
Henry IV of France
–
Henry at the
Battle of Arques
Henry IV of France
–
Henry IV at the
Battle of Ivry, by
Peter Paul Rubens
26.
Equestrian statue
–
An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin eques, meaning knight, deriving from equus, meaning horse. A statue of a horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a difficult and expensive object for any culture to produce, Equestrian statuary in the West goes back at least as far as Archaic Greece. Found on the Athenian acropolis, the sixth century BC statue known as the Rampin Rider depicts a kouros mounted on horseback, a number of ancient Egyptian, Assyrian and Persian reliefs show mounted figures, usually rulers, though no free standing statues are known. The Chinese Terracotta Army has no mounted riders, though cavalrymen stand beside their mounts, the Regisole was a bronze classical or Late Antique equestrian monument of a ruler, highly influential during the Italian Renaissance but destroyed in 1796 in the wake of the French Revolution. It was originally erected at Ravenna, but removed to Pavia in the Middle Ages, a fragment of an equestrian portrait sculpture of Augustus has also survived. Equestrian statues were not very frequent in the Middle ages, nevertheless, there are some examples, like the Bamberg Horseman, located in Bamberg Cathedral. Another example is the Magdeburg Reiter, in the city of Magdeburg, there are a few roughly half-size statues of Saint George and the Dragon, including the famous ones in Prague and Stockholm. The Scaliger Tombs in Verona include Gothic statues at less than lifesize, a well-known small bronze in Paris may be a contemporary portrait of Charlemagne, although its date and subject are uncertain. Leonardo da Vinci had planned an equestrian monument to the Milanese ruler. The The Wax Horse and Rider is a model for an equestrian statue of Charles dAmboise. Titians equestrian portrait of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor of 1548 applied the form again to a ruler, taccas studio would produce such models for the rulers in France and Spain. His last public commission was the equestrian bronze of Philip IV, begun in 1634. The near life-size equestrian statue of Charles I of England by Hubert Le Sueur of 1633 at Charing Cross in London is the earliest large English example, which was followed by many. The Bronze Horseman is an equestrian statue, on a huge base, of Peter the Great of 1782 by Étienne Maurice Falconet in Saint Petersburg. Mills was the first American sculptor to overcome the challenge of casting a rider on a rearing horse, the resulting sculpture was so popular he repeated it, for Washington, D. C. New Orleans, Louisiana and Nashville, Tennessee, cyrus Edwin Dallin made a specialty of equestrian sculptures of American Indians, his Appeal to the Great Spirit stands before the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The Robert Gould Shaw Monument in Boston, Massachusetts is a famous relief including an equestrian portrait, as the 20th century progressed, the popularity of the equestrian monument declined sharply, as monarchies fell, and the military use of horses virtually vanished
Equestrian statue
–
The
Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius on the
Capitoline Hill was the prototype for
Renaissance equestrian sculptures.
Equestrian statue
–
Khosrow Parviz is standing here. On his left is
Ahura Mazda, on his right is
Anahita, and below is, Khosrau dressed as a mounted Persian knight riding on his favourite horse,
Shabdiz, in the city of,
Kermanshah,
Iran
Equestrian statue
–
This horse head was once part of a large equestrian monument. ca. 40 AD.
Walters Art Museum,
Baltimore.
Equestrian statue
–
Bamberg Horseman (1225–37), Bamberg
27.
Giambologna
–
Giambologna — born Jean Boulogne — was a Flemish sculptor based in Italy, celebrated for his marble and bronze statuary in a late Renaissance or Mannerist style. Giambologna was born in Douai, Flanders, in 1529, after youthful studies in Antwerp with the architect-sculptor Jacques du Broeucq, he moved to Italy in 1550, and studied in Rome. Giambologna made detailed study of the sculpture of classical antiquity and he was also much influenced by Michelangelo, but developed his own Mannerist style, with perhaps less emphasis on emotion and more emphasis on refined surfaces, cool elegance and beauty. Pope Pius IV gave Giambologna his first major commission, the colossal bronze Neptune, Giambologna spent his most productive years in Florence, where he had settled in 1553. He was interred in a chapel he designed himself in the Santissima Annunziata, Giambologna became well known for a fine sense of action and movement, and a refined, differentiated surface finish. Among his most famous works are the Mercury, poised on one foot, the god raises one arm to point heavenwards, in a gesture borrowed from the repertory of classical rhetoric that is characteristic of Giambolognas maniera. His other most famous work is the Rape of the Sabine Women a marble sculpture which is featured prominently in the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florences Piazza della Signoria and this impressive sculpture which includes three full figures was carved from a single piece of marble. Giambologna carved it without a subject in mind, and the name Rape of the Sabine Women was given after it was in place in the Loggia, the sculpture was produced for Francesco Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Another of his marbles, Hercules Slaying a Centaur was also placed in the Loggia dei Lanzi in 1599 and he created allegories strongly promoting Medicean political propaganda, such as Florence defeating Pisa and, less overtly, Samson Slaying a Philistine, for Francesco de Medici. The equestrian statue of Cosimo I de Medici also in Florence, was completed by his studio assistant Pietro Tacca. Giambologna provided as well as sculptures for garden grottos and fountains in the Boboli Gardens of Florence and at Pratolino. For the grotto of the Villa Medicea of Castello he sculpted a series of studies of animals, from life. Small bronze reductions of many of his sculptures were prized by connoisseurs at the time and ever since, italian Art, Florence, Giunti Gruppo Editoriale,2000, ISBN 88-09-01771-4. Giambologna, 1529-1608, sculptor to the Medici, an exhibition organised by the Arts Council of Great Britain etc. catalogue edited by Charles Avery, london, Arts Council of Great Britain,1978, ISBN 0-7287-0180-4. Biography with a portrait on kfki. hu Giambologna on mega. it Model of a River God, archived from the original on 2009-07-09. Archived from the original on 2011-03-12, a Tour of the location of Giambolognas major works in Florence
Giambologna
–
The Rape of the Sabine Women (1574-82), Florence. The title was only assigned after completion.
Giambologna
–
"Portrait of Giovanni Bologna" by
Hendrick Goltzius, collection
Teylers Museum
Giambologna
–
Samson Slaying a Philistine, about 1562.
Giambologna
–
Architettura exemplifies the long limbs of Giambologna's influential ideal female type
Bargello
28.
Pietro Tacca
–
Pietro Tacca was an Italian sculptor, who was the chief pupil and follower of Giambologna. Tacca began in a Mannerist style and worked in the Baroque style during his maturity, born in Carrara, Tuscany, he joined Giambolognas atelier in 1592. Like his master he took advantage of the fashion among connoisseurs for table-top reductions of fine bronze sculptures. Louis XIV possessed Giambolognesque bronzes of Heracles and the Erymanthian Boar P. Torriti 1975
Pietro Tacca
–
Giambologna 's equestrian bronze of
Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany for the Piazza della SS. Annunziata; completed by his assistant, Pietro Tacca.
Pietro Tacca
–
Quattro Mori: prisoners at the foot of the Monument of
Ferdinand I de' Medici,
Livorno.
Pietro Tacca
–
Philip IV of Spain.
Pietro Tacca
–
Fountain in Piazza Santissima Annunziata, Florence.
29.
Pietro Francavilla
–
Born at Cambrai, he received his early training as a draftsman in Paris. In 1565 he is recorded at Innsbruck, where Alexander Colin was working on the monument in the Hofkirche for the funerary monument to Emperor Maximilian I. In this project Franqueville learned enough of the practice of sculpture to enter the large Florentine atelier of his fellow countryman, Francavilla became his masters main assistant in the carving of marble, including the masterpiece of the Rape of the Sabines displayed in the Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence. His first independent commissions were extended to him through Giambologna, who become overwhelmed with requests, in 1574, he began his first independent commission, eventually constituting thirteen garden sculptures for abbate Antonio di Zanobi Bracci for the Villa Bracci at Rovezzano near Florence. A late example in the series, the Venus at the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, is signed and dated 1600, and must have made for or acquired by Braccis nephew. In 1585 Francavilla was elected to the Florentine Academy, for the event, a temporary façade, designed by Giovanni Antonio Dosio, was erected for the Duomo, Francavilla provided sculptures of Saints Zenobius and Poggio. In 1598 he executed an Orpheus with Cerberus for the banker Jerome de Gondi, gentleman of the Kings bedchamber, Gondi placed it in a central fountain in the garden of his Paris hôtel in the suburban Faubourg Saint-Germain, where it was much admired. It eventually found its way to the gardens of Versailles, gondis Château de Saint-Cloud was later purchased for Monsieur, brother of Louis XIV. The sculpture is now in the Louvre Museum, in the renamed Piazza dei Cavalieri, Francavillas monumental statue of Cosimo I reigned over the former Palazzo degli Anziani, a former symbol of Pisan independence remade as a Medicean monument. He was invited to France by Henry IV in 1601, when Pietro Tacca took his place as Giambolognas premier assistant, when the bronze arrived in Paris, the queen commissioned a pedestal from Pierre Francqueville, as he was known in France. He modelled three bas-reliefs for the base to be cast in bronze and modeled four bound captives before his death and his pupil and son-in-law, Francesco Bordoni, who had followed Francavilla to France, cast and finished the bronzes, which were completed in 1618. His portrait, executed in chalk, by Hendrik Goltzius in 1591, is in the Rijksmuseum, garden sculptures for Villa Bracci, Rovezzano Amorino, a joint work with Giambologna. Jason, marble, Museo del Bargello, Florence Seasons, two sculptures for the Ponte S. Trinita, Florence. Executed to a design by Giambologna, Cosimo I, Pisa, the Grand Duke is in the robes of Grand Master of his Ordine dei Cavalieri di Santo Stefano, erected in Piazza dei Cavalieri, Pisa, as a civic symbol of the hegemony of Florence. Orpheus, marble, for the Hôtel de Gondi, Paris, Pietro Francavilla on-line Four Captives A copy of the festival book of 1589 at the British Library. Presenze toscane in Europa, Parigi V&A, drawings of Giambolognas bozzetti, Piazza dei Cavalieri Pietro Francavilla in American public collections, on the French Sculpture Census website
Pietro Francavilla
–
David conqueror of Goliath, 1608 (
Louvre Museum)
Pietro Francavilla
–
Sculpture by Francavlla depicting Apollo's first triumph, when he slew with his bow and arrows the serpent Python (1591). The Walters Art Museum.
