1.
Antwerp
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Antwerp is a city in Belgium, the capital of Antwerp province in the region of Flanders. With a population of 510,610, it is the most populous city proper in Belgium and its metropolitan area houses around 1,200,000 people, which is second behind Brussels. Antwerp is on the River Scheldt, linked to the North Sea by the Westerschelde estuary, the Port of Antwerp is one of the biggest in the world, ranking second in Europe and within the top 20 globally. Antwerp has long been an important city in the Low Countries, the inhabitants of Antwerp are nicknamed Sinjoren, after the Spanish honorific señor or French seigneur, lord, referring to the Spanish noblemen who ruled the city in the 17th century. The city hosted the 1920 Summer Olympics, according to folklore, notably celebrated by a statue in front of the town hall, the city got its name from a legend about a giant called Antigoon who lived near the Scheldt river. He exacted a toll from passing boatmen, and for those who refused, he severed one of their hands, eventually the giant was killed by a young hero named Silvius Brabo, who cut off the giants own hand and flung it into the river. Hence the name Antwerpen, from Dutch hand werpen, akin to Old English hand and wearpan, a longstanding theory is that the name originated in the Gallo-Roman period and comes from the Latin antverpia. Antverpia would come from Ante Verpia, indicating land that forms by deposition in the curve of a river. Note that the river Scheldt, before a period between 600 and 750, followed a different track. This must have coincided roughly with the current ringway south of the city, however, many historians think it unlikely that there was a large settlement which would be named Antverpia, but more something like an outpost with a river crossing. However, John Lothrop Motley argues, and so do a lot of Dutch etymologists and historians, aan t werp is also possible. This warp is a hill or a river deposit, high enough to remain dry at high tide. Another word for werp is pol hence polders, historical Antwerp allegedly had its origins in a Gallo-Roman vicus. Excavations carried out in the oldest section near the Scheldt, 1952–1961, produced pottery shards, the earliest mention of Antwerp dates from the 4th century. In the 4th century, Antwerp was first named, having been settled by the Germanic Franks, the name was reputed to have been derived from anda and werpum. The Merovingian Antwerp was evangelized by Saint Amand in the 7th century, at the end of the 10th century, the Scheldt became the boundary of the Holy Roman Empire. Antwerp became a margraviate in 980, by the German emperor Otto I, in the 11th century Godfrey of Bouillon was for some years known as the marquis of Antwerp. In the 12th century, Norbert of Xanten established a community of his Premonstratensian canons at St. Michaels Abbey at Caloes
2.
Spanish Netherlands
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Spanish Netherlands, French, Pays-Bas espagnols) was the collective name of States of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries, held in personal union by the Spanish Crown from 1581 to 1714. This region comprised most of modern Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as parts of northern France, the Imperial fiefs of the former Burgundian Netherlands had been inherited by the Austrian House of Habsburg from the extinct House of Valois-Burgundy upon the death of Mary of Burgundy in 1482. The Seventeen Provinces formed the core of the Habsburg Netherlands which passed to the Spanish Habsburgs upon the abdication of Emperor Charles V in 1556. When part of the Netherlands separated to form the autonomous Dutch Republic in 1581 and his granddaughter Mary had confirmed a number of privileges to the States by the Great Privilege signed in 1477. After the government takeover by her husband Archduke Maximilian I of Austria, Maximilian prevailed with the support of Duke Albert III of Saxony and his son Philip the Handsome could assume the rule over the Habsburg Netherlands in 1493. The Habsburgs often used the term Burgundy to refer to their lands, actually until 1795. In 1522 Emperor Charles V concluded a treaty with his younger brother Archduke Ferdinand I of Habsburg, whereby the House of Habsburg split into an Austrian. By the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549, Charles declared the Seventeen Provinces a united, the Seventeen Provinces, de jure still fiefs of the Holy Roman Empire, from that time on de facto were ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs as part of the Burgundian heritage. Philips despotism and his stern Counter-Reformation measures sparked the Dutch Revolt in the mainly Calvinist Netherlandish provinces, the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs could only retain the rule over the partly Catholic Southern Netherlands, completed after the Fall of Antwerp in 1585. Better times came, when in 1598 the Spanish Netherlands passed to Philips daughter Isabella Clara Eugenia, in the early 17th century, there was a flourishing court at Brussels. Among the artists who emerged from the court of the Archdukes, by the Treaty of the Pyrenees of 1659 the French annexed Artois and Cambrai, and Dunkirk was ceded to the English. By the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle and Nijmegen, further territory up to the current Franco-Belgian border was ceded, including Walloon Flanders, later, in the War of the Reunions and the Nine Years War, France annexed other parts of the region. During the War of the Spanish Succession, in 1706 the Habsburg Netherlands became an Anglo-Dutch condominium for the remainder of the conflict. By the peace treaties of Utrecht and Rastatt in 1713/14 ending the war, the Southern Netherlands fell back to the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy forming the Austrian Netherlands
3.
Belgium
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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
4.
Hendrick van Balen
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Hendrick van Balen or Hendrick van Balen I was a Flemish Baroque painter and stained glass designer. Hendrick van Balen specialised in cabinet pictures often painted on a copper support. His favourite themes were mythological and allegorical scenes and, to a lesser extent, the artist played an important role in the renewal of Flemish painting in the early 17th century and was one of the teachers of Anthony van Dyck. Hendrick van Balen was born in Antwerp, the date of his birth is not known but was likely 1573 as the birth records of the St George Church of Antwerp for that year are missing. His parents were the merchant Willem van Balen and Machteld van Alten and his family was well-off and thus able to let Hendrick have a good training which included the study of a number of languages. Van Balen was a pupil of Adam van Noort and possibly also of Maerten de Vos and he became a member of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1592-1593 at the age of 17. In 1608-1609 he was the dean of the Guild and in 1609-1610 he was the first dean. From about 1595 to 1602 he studied art while traveling in Italy, although there is no record of his Italian journey, on his return to Antwerp, he became a member of the Guild of Romanists. It was a condition of membership that the member had visited Rome, in the year 1613 the Guild chose him as its dean. In 1605 Hendrick van Balen married Margriet Briers in Antwerp, the couple had 11 children and three of their sons became painters, Jan van Balen, Gaspard van Balen and Hendrick van Balen the Younger. His daughter Maria married the painter Theodoor van Thulden, in 1613 he accompanied Rubens and Jan on a diplomatic mission to the Dutch Republic. Here they met Hendrick Goltzius and other Haarlem artists, van Balen led for over 30 years a successful workshop and had many pupils. He was the teacher of his son Jan van Balen as well as of leading Flemish painters Anthony van Dyck and he was a contemporary of some of the best-known Flemish artists, such as Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder. Hendrick van Balen specialised in cabinet pictures often painted on a copper support. His favourite themes were mythological and allegorical scenes and, to a lesser extent and he also created a number of stained glass designs. While he had a preference for the smaller scale in his later career. These show the influence of his teacher Adam van Noort and his later altarpieces, with their rich and subtle palette, appear to have been painted after van Dycks arrival in his studio. Hendrick van Balens mythological and biblical scenes were painted on small plates or copper plates
5.
Peter Paul Rubens
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Sir Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish/Netherlandish draughtsman and painter. He is widely considered as the most notable artist of Flemish Baroque art school, the catalogue of his works by Michael Jaffé lists 1,403 pieces, excluding numerous copies made in his workshop. His commissioned works were mostly history paintings, which included religious and mythological subjects and he painted portraits, especially of friends, and self-portraits, and in later life painted several landscapes. Rubens designed tapestries and prints, as well as his own house and he also oversaw the ephemeral decorations of the royal entry into Antwerp by the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand in 1635. His drawings are mostly extremely forceful but not overly detailed and he also made great use of oil sketches as preparatory studies. For altarpieces he painted on slate to reduce reflection problems. Rubens was born in the city of Siegen to Jan Rubens and he was named in honour of Saint-Peter and Paul, because he was born on their solemnety. His father, a Calvinist, and mother fled Antwerp for Cologne in 1568, after increased religious turmoil and persecution of Protestants during the rule of the Spanish Netherlands by the Duke of Alba. Jan Rubens became the adviser of Anna of Saxony, the second wife of William I of Orange. Following Jan Rubens imprisonment for the affair, Peter Paul Rubens was born in 1577, the family returned to Cologne the next year. In 1589, two years after his fathers death, Rubens moved with his mother Maria Pypelincks to Antwerp, religion figured prominently in much of his work and Rubens later became one of the leading voices of the Catholic Counter-Reformation style of painting. In Antwerp, Rubens received a Renaissance humanist education, studying Latin, by fourteen he began his artistic apprenticeship with Tobias Verhaeght. Subsequently, he studied under two of the leading painters of the time, the late Mannerist artists Adam van Noort. Much of his earliest training involved copying earlier works, such as woodcuts by Hans Holbein the Younger. Rubens completed his education in 1598, at time he entered the Guild of St. Luke as an independent master. In 1600 Rubens travelled to Italy and he stopped first in Venice, where he saw paintings by Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto, before settling in Mantua at the court of Duke Vincenzo I Gonzaga. The colouring and compositions of Veronese and Tintoretto had an effect on Rubenss painting. With financial support from the Duke, Rubens travelled to Rome by way of Florence in 1601, there, he studied classical Greek and Roman art and copied works of the Italian masters
6.
Painting
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Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface. The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, Painting is a mode of creative expression, and the forms are numerous. Drawing, gesture, composition, narration, or abstraction, among other aesthetic modes, may serve to manifest the expressive, Paintings can be naturalistic and representational, photographic, abstract, narrative, symbolistic, emotive, or political in nature. A portion of the history of painting in both Eastern and Western art is dominated by motifs and ideas. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action, the term painting is also used outside of art as a common trade among craftsmen and builders. What enables painting is the perception and representation of intensity, every point in space has different intensity, which can be represented in painting by black and white and all the gray shades between. In practice, painters can articulate shapes by juxtaposing surfaces of different intensity, thus, the basic means of painting are distinct from ideological means, such as geometrical figures, various points of view and organization, and symbols. In technical drawing, thickness of line is ideal, demarcating ideal outlines of an object within a perceptual frame different from the one used by painters. Color and tone are the essence of painting as pitch and rhythm are the essence of music, color is highly subjective, but has observable psychological effects, although these can differ from one culture to the next. Black is associated with mourning in the West, but in the East, some painters, theoreticians, writers and scientists, including Goethe, Kandinsky, and Newton, have written their own color theory. Moreover, the use of language is only an abstraction for a color equivalent, the word red, for example, can cover a wide range of variations from the pure red of the visible spectrum of light. There is not a register of different colors in the way that there is agreement on different notes in music. For a painter, color is not simply divided into basic, painters deal practically with pigments, so blue for a painter can be any of the blues, phthalocyanine blue, Prussian blue, indigo, cobalt, ultramarine, and so on. Psychological and symbolical meanings of color are not, strictly speaking, colors only add to the potential, derived context of meanings, and because of this, the perception of a painting is highly subjective. The analogy with music is quite clear—sound in music is analogous to light in painting, shades to dynamics and these elements do not necessarily form a melody of themselves, rather, they can add different contexts to it. Modern artists have extended the practice of painting considerably to include, as one example, collage, some modern painters incorporate different materials such as sand, cement, straw or wood for their texture. Examples of this are the works of Jean Dubuffet and Anselm Kiefer, there is a growing community of artists who use computers to paint color onto a digital canvas using programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, and many others. These images can be printed onto traditional canvas if required, rhythm is important in painting as it is in music
7.
Baroque
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The style began around 1600 in Rome and Italy, and spread to most of Europe. The aristocracy viewed the dramatic style of Baroque art and architecture as a means of impressing visitors by projecting triumph, power, Baroque palaces are built around an entrance of courts, grand staircases, and reception rooms of sequentially increasing opulence. However, baroque has a resonance and application that extend beyond a reduction to either a style or period. It is also yields the Italian barocco and modern Spanish barroco, German Barock, Dutch Barok, others derive it from the mnemonic term Baroco, a supposedly laboured form of syllogism in logical Scholastica. The Latin root can be found in bis-roca, in informal usage, the word baroque can simply mean that something is elaborate, with many details, without reference to the Baroque styles of the 17th and 18th centuries. The word Baroque, like most periodic or stylistic designations, was invented by later critics rather than practitioners of the arts in the 17th, the term Baroque was initially used in a derogatory sense, to underline the excesses of its emphasis. In particular, the term was used to describe its eccentric redundancy and noisy abundance of details, although it was long thought that the word as a critical term was first applied to architecture, in fact it appears earlier in reference to music. Another hypothesis says that the word comes from precursors of the style, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and he did not make the distinctions between Mannerism and Baroque that modern writers do, and he ignored the later phase, the academic Baroque that lasted into the 18th century. Long despised, Baroque art and architecture became fashionable between the two World Wars, and has remained in critical favour. In painting the gradual rise in popular esteem of Caravaggio has been the best barometer of modern taste, William Watson describes a late phase of Shang-dynasty Chinese ritual bronzes of the 11th century BC as baroque. The term Baroque may still be used, usually pejoratively, describing works of art, craft, the appeal of Baroque style turned consciously from the witty, intellectual qualities of 16th-century Mannerist art to a visceral appeal aimed at the senses. It employed an iconography that was direct, simple, obvious, germinal ideas of the Baroque can also be found in the work of Michelangelo. Even more generalised parallels perceived by some experts in philosophy, prose style, see the Neapolitan palace of Caserta, a Baroque palace whose construction began in 1752. In paintings Baroque gestures are broader than Mannerist gestures, less ambiguous, less arcane and mysterious, more like the stage gestures of opera, Baroque poses depend on contrapposto, the tension within the figures that move the planes of shoulders and hips in counterdirections. Baroque is a style of unity imposed upon rich, heavy detail, Baroque style featured exaggerated lighting, intense emotions, release from restraint, and even a kind of artistic sensationalism. There were highly diverse strands of Italian baroque painting, from Caravaggio to Cortona, the most prominent Spanish painter of the Baroque was Diego Velázquez. The later Baroque style gradually gave way to a more decorative Rococo, while the Baroque nature of Rembrandts art is clear, the label is less often used for Vermeer and many other Dutch artists. Flemish Baroque painting shared a part in this trend, while continuing to produce the traditional categories
8.
Flemish Baroque painting
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Flemish Baroque painting refers to the art produced in the Southern Netherlands during Spanish control in the 16th and 17th centuries. Antwerp, home to the prominent artists Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Rubens, in particular, had a strong influence on seventeenth-century visual culture. By the seventeenth century, however, Antwerp was the city for innovative artistic production. Brussels was important as the location of the court, attracting David Teniers the Younger later in the century, between 1585 and the early 17th century they made many new altarpieces to replace those destroyed during the iconoclastic outbreaks of 1566. Also during this time Frans Francken the Younger and Jan Brueghel the Elder became important for their small cabinet paintings, often depicting mythological and history subjects. Following his return to Antwerp he set up an important studio, training such as Anthony van Dyck. Most artists active in the city during the first half of the 17th century were influenced by Rubens. Flemish art is notable for the amount of collaboration that took place between independent masters, which was partly related to the local tendency to specialize in a particular area. Frans Snyders, for example, was a painter and Jan Brueghel the Elder was admired for his landscapes. Both artists worked with Rubens, who often painted the figures. In Antwerp, however, this new genre also developed into a specifically Catholic type of painting, history painting, which includes biblical, mythological and historical subjects, was considered by seventeenth-century theoreticians as the most noble art. Abraham Janssens was an important history painter in Antwerp between 1600 and 1620, although after 1609 Rubens was the leading figure, both Van Dyck and Jacob Jordaens were active painting monumental history scenes. Following Rubenss death, Jordaens became the most important Flemish painter, during the second half of the century, history painters combined a local influence from Rubens with knowledge of classicism and Italian Baroque qualities. Artists in the vein include Erasmus Quellinus the Younger, Jan van den Hoecke, Pieter van Lint, Cornelis Schut, later in the century, many painters turned to Anthony van Dyck as a major influence. Among them were Pieter Thijs, Lucas Franchoys the Younger, and artists who were inspired by Late Baroque theatricality such as Theodoor Boeyermans. Additionally, a Flemish variant of Caravaggism was expressed by Theodoor Rombouts, Rubens is closely associated with the development of the Baroque altarpiece. He also exerted an influence on Baroque portraiture through his student Anthony van Dyck. Van Dyck became court painter for Charles I of England and was influential on subsequent English portraiture, other successful portraitists include Cornelis de Vos and Jacob Jordaens
9.
Court painter
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A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or noble family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Especially in the late Middle Ages, they were given the office of valet de chambre. Usually they were given a salary and formal title, and often a pension for life, in England the role of Serjeant Painter was set up for this, leaving the Kings painter free to paint mostly portraits. See category of Italian art collectors for lists that included non-aristocratic patrons, some artists, like Jan van Eyck or Diego Velázquez, were used in other capacities at court, as diplomats, functionaries, or administrators. In Islamic cultures, especially between the 14th and 17th centuries, similar arrangements operated for miniaturists and artists in other media. In the Persian miniature, the shah and other rulers typically maintained a workshop or atelier, of calligraphers, miniaturists, binders and other crafts. The name by which Riza Abbasi is usually includes the honorific title Abbasi. Abd as-Samad, a Persian painter who moved to the Mughal Empire, was given a number of significant administrative jobs, the court remained the focus of patronage of painting in the sub-Mughal princely courts of India, whether Muslim or Hindu. At many periods rulers owned or controlled royal workshops or factories making high-quality tapestries, porcelain or pottery, silks and this was especially the case in China and in the Byzantine Empire. Le Brun dominated, and largely created, the style found throughout Louis XIVs palaces, by the 20th century court painters was an obsolete position. Commonly more artists were granted permission by royalty who would sit for official portraits whether for private of patron purposes, Artists of the Tudor Court 21st Century Court Artists Michael Levey, Painting at Court, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London,1971
10.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
11.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
12.
Southern Netherlands
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The Southern Netherlands, also called the Catholic Netherlands, was the part of the Low Countries largely controlled by Spain, later Austria, and occupied then annexed by France. The Southern Netherlands were part of the Holy Roman Empire until the area was annexed by Revolutionary France. As they were wealthy, the Netherlands in general were an important territory of the Habsburg crown which also ruled Spain. But unlike the other Habsburg dominions, they were led by a merchant class and it was the merchant economy which made them wealthy, and the Habsburg attempts at increasing taxation to finance their wars was a major factor in their defence of their privileges. This, together with resistance to penal laws enforced by the Habsburg monarchy that made heresy a capital crime, liège, Stavelot-Malmédy and Bouillon maintained their independence. The Habsburg Netherlands, passed to the Austrian Habsburgs after the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714, the Austrian Netherlands were ultimately lost to the French Revolutionary armies, and annexed to France in 1794. Following the war, Austrias loss of the territories was confirmed, the southeastern third of Luxembourg Province was made into the autonomous Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, because it was claimed by both the Netherlands and Prussia. In 1830 the predominantly Roman Catholic southern half became independent as the Kingdom of Belgium, in 1839 the final border between the kingdom of the Netherlands and Belgium was determined and the eastern part of Limburg returned to the Netherlands as the province of Limburg. The autonomy of Luxembourg was recognised in 1839, but an instrument to effect was not signed until 1867. The northwestern two-thirds of the original Luxembourg remains a province of Belgium, the Spanish Netherlands was a portion of the Low Countries controlled by Spain from 1556 to 1714, inherited from the Dukes of Burgundy. They often used the term Burgundy to refer to it, until 1794, when part of the Netherlands separated from Spanish rule and became the United Provinces in 1581 the remainder of the area became known as the Spanish Netherlands and remained under Spanish control. This region comprised modern Belgium, Luxembourg as well as part of northern France, in the early 17th century, there was a flourishing court at Brussels, which was under the government of King Philip IIIs half-sister Archduchess Isabella and her husband, Archduke Albert of Austria. Among the artists who emerged from the court of the Archdukes, by the Treaty of the Pyrenees of 1659 the French annexed Artois and Cambrai, and Dunkirk was ceded to the English. By the Treaties of Aix-la-Chapelle and Nijmegen, further territory up to the current Franco-Belgian border was ceded, including Walloon Flanders, later, in the War of the Reunions and the Nine Years War, France annexed other parts of the region. However, the Austrians themselves generally had little interest in the region, the area had, in fact, been given to Austria largely at British and Dutch insistence, as these powers feared potential French domination of the region. However the agreement was unimplemented and revoked by the Third Treaty of Versailles, however, the Emperors stance was far from militant, and he called off hostilities after the so-called Kettle War, known by that name because its only casualty was a kettle. The people of the Austrian Netherlands rebelled against Austria in 1788 as a result of Joseph IIs centralizing policies, the different provinces established the United States of Belgium. In the course of the French Revolution, the region was overrun by French armies after they won the Battle of Sprimont in 1794
13.
Charles I of England
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Charles I was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles was the son of King James VI of Scotland, but after his father inherited the English throne in 1603, he moved to England. He became heir apparent to the English, Irish, and Scottish thrones on the death of his brother, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. Two years later, he married the Bourbon princess Henrietta Maria of France instead, after his succession, Charles quarrelled with the Parliament of England, which sought to curb his royal prerogative. Charles believed in the right of kings and thought he could govern according to his own conscience. Many of his subjects opposed his policies, in particular the levying of taxes without parliamentary consent and he supported high church ecclesiastics, such as Richard Montagu and William Laud, and failed to aid Protestant forces successfully during the Thirty Years War. From 1642, Charles fought the armies of the English and Scottish parliaments in the English Civil War, after his defeat in 1645, he surrendered to a Scottish force that eventually handed him over to the English Parliament. Charles refused to accept his captors demands for a constitutional monarchy, re-imprisoned on the Isle of Wight, Charles forged an alliance with Scotland, but by the end of 1648 Oliver Cromwells New Model Army had consolidated its control over England. Charles was tried, convicted, and executed for treason in January 1649. The monarchy was abolished and a called the Commonwealth of England was declared. The monarchy was restored to Charless son, Charles II, in 1660, the second son of King James VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark, Charles was born in Dunfermline Palace, Fife, on 19 November 1600. James VI was the first cousin twice removed of Queen Elizabeth I of England, in mid-July 1604, Charles left Dunfermline for England where he was to spend most of the rest of his life. His speech development was slow, and he retained a stammer, or hesitant speech. In January 1605, Charles was created Duke of York, as is customary in the case of the English sovereigns second son, Thomas Murray, a Presbyterian Scot, was appointed as a tutor. Charles learnt the usual subjects of classics, languages, mathematics, in 1611, he was made a Knight of the Garter. Eventually, Charles apparently conquered his physical infirmity, which might have been caused by rickets and he became an adept horseman and marksman, and took up fencing. Even so, his public profile remained low in contrast to that of his stronger and taller elder brother, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. However, in early November 1612, Henry died at the age of 18 of what is suspected to have been typhoid, Charles, who turned 12 two weeks later, became heir apparent
14.
English art
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English art is the body of visual arts made in England. English art continued to have an individual character thereafter, though after 1707 it is covered under the art of the United Kingdom. Although medieval English painting, mostly religious, had a national tradition and was at times influential on the rest of Europe. The English Reformation, which was especially destructive of art, not only brought the tradition to an abrupt stop, only illuminated manuscripts now survive in good numbers. Sculpture was mostly architectural and for monumental tombs, by the time of the Act of Union, the English taste for landscape painting was developing. In all these areas, reliance on imported artists was high, the oldest art in England can be dated to the Neolithic period, including the large ritual landscapes such as Stonehenge from c.2600 BC. From around 2150 BC, the Beaker people learned how to make bronze and they became skilled in metal refining and their works of art, placed in graves or sacrificial pits have survived. In the Iron Age, a new art style arrived as Celtic culture, though metalwork, especially gold ornaments, was still important, stone and most likely wood were also used. This style continued into the Roman period, beginning in the 1st century BC, the arrival of the Romans brought the Classical style of which many monuments have survived, especially funerary monuments, statues and busts. They also brought glasswork and mosaics, in the 4th century, a new element was introduced as the first Christian art was made in Britain. Several mosaics with Christian symbols and pictures have been preserved, the style of Romano-British art follows that of the continent, there are some local specialities, influenced by Celtic art, the Staffordshire Moorlands Pan is one example. After Roman rule, the Anglo-Saxons brought Germanic traditions, seen in the metalwork of Sutton Hoo, anglo-Saxon sculpture was outstanding for its time, at least in the small works in ivory or bone that are almost all that have survived. The carved stone crosses, such as the Ruthwell Cross, were a distinctive Insular form. Anglo-Saxon art developed a sophisticated variety of contemporary Continental styles, seen especially in metalwork. Effectively none of the paintings and sculptures that we know existed have survived. English illumination fell away in the phase of the Gothic period as elite patrons began instead to commission works from Paris or Flanders. Some of the extremely rare survivals of English medieval panel paintings, like the Westminster Retable, another art form introduced through the church was stained glass, which was also adopted for secular uses. There was an industry producing Nottingham alabaster reliefs for mid-market altarpieces and small statues
15.
Bible
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The Bible is a collection of sacred texts or scriptures that Jews and Christians consider to be a product of divine inspiration and a record of the relationship between God and humans. Many different authors contributed to the Bible, what is regarded as canonical text differs depending on traditions and groups, a number of Bible canons have evolved, with overlapping and diverging contents. The Christian Old Testament overlaps with the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Septuagint, the New Testament is a collection of writings by early Christians, believed to be mostly Jewish disciples of Christ, written in first-century Koine Greek. These early Christian Greek writings consist of narratives, letters, among Christian denominations there is some disagreement about the contents of the canon, primarily the Apocrypha, a list of works that are regarded with varying levels of respect. Attitudes towards the Bible also differ amongst Christian groups and this concept arose during the Protestant Reformation, and many denominations today support the use of the Bible as the only source of Christian teaching. With estimated total sales of over 5 billion copies, the Bible is widely considered to be the book of all time. It has estimated sales of 100 million copies, and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West. The English word Bible is from the Latin biblia, from the word in Medieval Latin and Late Latin. Medieval Latin biblia is short for biblia sacra holy book, while biblia in Greek and it gradually came to be regarded as a feminine singular noun in medieval Latin, and so the word was loaned as a singular into the vernaculars of Western Europe. Latin biblia sacra holy books translates Greek τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια ta biblia ta hagia, the word βιβλίον itself had the literal meaning of paper or scroll and came to be used as the ordinary word for book. It is the diminutive of βύβλος byblos, Egyptian papyrus, possibly so called from the name of the Phoenician sea port Byblos from whence Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece, the Greek ta biblia was an expression Hellenistic Jews used to describe their sacred books. Christian use of the term can be traced to c.223 CE, bruce notes that Chrysostom appears to be the first writer to use the Greek phrase ta biblia to describe both the Old and New Testaments together. The division of the Hebrew Bible into verses is based on the sof passuk cantillation mark used by the 10th-century Masoretes to record the verse divisions used in oral traditions. The oldest extant copy of a complete Bible is an early 4th-century parchment book preserved in the Vatican Library, the oldest copy of the Tanakh in Hebrew and Aramaic dates from the 10th century CE. The oldest copy of a complete Latin Bible is the Codex Amiatinus and he states that it is not a magical book, nor was it literally written by God and passed to mankind. In Christian Bibles, the New Testament Gospels were derived from traditions in the second half of the first century CE. Riches says that, Scholars have attempted to reconstruct something of the history of the oral traditions behind the Gospels, the period of transmission is short, less than 40 years passed between the death of Jesus and the writing of Marks Gospel. This means that there was time for oral traditions to assume fixed form
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Mythological
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Mythology refers variously to the collected myths of a group of people or to the study of such myths. Myths are the people tell to explain nature, history. Myth is a feature of every culture, mythologizing continues, as shown in contemporary mythopoeia such as urban legends and the expansive fictional mythoi created by fantasy novels and comics. A cultures collective mythology helps convey belonging, shared and religious experiences, behavioral models, the study of myth began in ancient history. Rival classes of the Greek myths by Euhemerus, Plato and Sallustius were developed by the Neoplatonists, the nineteenth-century comparative mythology reinterpreted myth as a primitive and failed counterpart of science, a disease of language, or a misinterpretation of magical ritual. Recent approaches often view myths as manifestations of psychological, cultural, or societal truths, the term mythology predates the word myth by centuries. It first appeared in the fifteenth-century, borrowed from the Middle French term mythologie, the word mythology, comes from Middle French mythologie, from Late Latin mythologia, from Greek μυθολογία mythología from μῦθος mythos and -λογία -logia. The word mythología appears in Plato, but was used as a term for fiction or story-telling of any kind, combining mỹthos. From Lydgate until the seventeenth or eighteenth-century, mythology was similarly used to mean a moral, fable, from its earliest use in reference to a collection of traditional stories or beliefs, mythology implied the falsehood of the stories being described. It came to be applied by analogy with similar bodies of traditional stories among other cultures around the world. The Greek loanword mythos and Latinate mythus both appeared in English before the first example of myth in 1830, in present use, mythology usually refers to the collected myths of a group of people, but may also mean the study of such myths. For example, Greek mythology, Roman mythology and Hittite mythology all describe the body of myths retold among those cultures, dundes defined myth as a sacred narrative that explains how the world and humanity evolved into their present form. Lincoln defined myth as ideology in narrative form, scholars in other fields use the term myth in varied ways. In a broad sense, the word can refer to any traditional story, due to this pejorative sense, some scholars opted for the term mythos. Its use was similarly pejorative and now commonly refers to its Aristotelian sense as a plot point or to a collective mythology. The term is distinguished from didactic literature such as fables. Main characters in myths are usually gods, demigods or supernatural humans, however, many exceptions or combinations exist, as in the Iliad, Odyssey and Aeneid. Myths are often endorsed by rulers and priests and are linked to religion or spirituality
17.
Watercolor painting
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Watercolor or watercolour, also aquarelle, a diminutive of the Latin for water, is a painting method in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-based solution. Watercolor refers to both the medium and the resulting artwork, the traditional and most common support—material to which the paint is applied—for watercolor paintings is paper. Other supports include papyrus, bark papers, plastics, vellum, or leather, fabric, wood, Watercolor paper is often made entirely or partially with cotton, which gives a good texture and minimizes distortion when wet. Watercolors are usually translucent, and appear luminous because the pigments are laid down in a form with few fillers obscuring the pigment colors. Watercolors can also be made opaque by adding Chinese white, in East Asia, watercolor painting with inks is referred to as brush painting or scroll painting. In Chinese, Korean, and Japanese painting it has been the dominant medium, india, Ethiopia, and other countries have long watercolor painting traditions as well. Fingerpainting with watercolor paints originated in mainland China, however, its continuous history as an art medium begins with the Renaissance. The German Northern Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer, who painted several fine botanical, wildlife, an important school of watercolor painting in Germany was led by Hans Bol as part of the Dürer Renaissance. Despite this early start, watercolors were used by Baroque easel painters only for sketches, copies or cartoons. Notable early practitioners of watercolor painting were Van Dyck, Claude Lorrain, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, however, botanical illustration and wildlife illustration perhaps form the oldest and most important traditions in watercolor painting. Botanical illustrations became popular during the Renaissance, both as hand-tinted woodblock illustrations in books or broadsheets and as tinted ink drawings on vellum or paper. Wildlife illustration reached its peak in the 19th century with such as John James Audubon. Several factors contributed to the spread of watercolor painting during the 18th century, Watercolor artists were commonly brought with the geological or archaeological expeditions, funded by the Society of Dilettanti, to document discoveries in the Mediterranean, Asia, and the New World. This example popularized watercolors as a form of personal tourist journal, the confluence of these cultural, engineering, scientific, tourist, and amateur interests culminated in the celebration and promotion of watercolor as a distinctly English national art. William Blake published several books of hand-tinted engraved poetry, provided illustrations to Dantes Inferno, from the late 18th century through the 19th century, the market for printed books and domestic art contributed substantially to the growth of the medium. Satirical broadsides by Thomas Rowlandson, many published by Rudolph Ackermann, were extremely popular. Among the important and highly talented contemporaries of Turner and Girtin, were John Varley, John Sell Cotman, Anthony Copley Fielding, Samuel Palmer, William Havell, the Swiss painter Louis Ducros was also widely known for his large format, romantic paintings in watercolor. These societies provided annual exhibitions and buyer referrals for many artists, in particular, the graceful, lapidary, and atmospheric watercolors by Richard Parkes Bonington created an international fad for watercolor painting, especially in England and France in the 1820s
18.
Etching
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Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types of material, as a method of printmaking, it is, along with engraving, the most important technique for old master prints, and remains in wide use today. In a number of variants such as microfabrication etching and photochemical milling it is a crucial technique in much modern technology. In traditional pure etching, a plate is covered with a waxy ground which is resistant to acid. The artist then scratches off the ground with an etching needle where he or she wants a line to appear in the finished piece. The échoppe, a tool with an oval section, is also used for swelling lines. The plate is dipped in a bath of acid, technically called the mordant or etchant. The acid bites into the metal where it is exposed, leaving behind lines sunk into the plate, the remaining ground is then cleaned off the plate. The plate is inked all over, and then the ink wiped off the surface, the plate is then put through a high-pressure printing press together with a sheet of paper. The paper picks up the ink from the lines, making a print. The process can be repeated many times, typically several hundred impressions could be printed before the shows much sign of wear. The work on the plate can also be added to by repeating the whole process, Etching has often been combined with other intaglio techniques such as engraving or aquatint. The process as applied to printmaking is believed to have been invented by Daniel Hopfer of Augsburg, Hopfer was a craftsman who decorated armour in this way, and applied the method to printmaking, using iron plates. Apart from his prints, there are two examples of his work on armour, a shield from 1536 now in the Real Armeria of Madrid. The switch to copper plates was made in Italy. On the other hand, the handling of the ground and acid need skill and experience, prior to 1100 AD, the New World Hohokam independently utilized the technique of acid etching in marine shell designs. Jacques Callot from Nancy in Lorraine made important technical advances in etching technique and he developed the échoppe, a type of etching-needle with a slanting oval section at the end, which enabled etchers to create a swelling line, as engravers were able to do. Callot also appears to have responsible for an improved, harder, recipe for the etching ground
19.
Van Dyke beard
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A Van Dyke is a style of facial hair named after 17th-century Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck. A Van Dyke specifically consists of any growth of both a moustache and goatee with all hair on the cheeks shaven, even this particular style, though, has many variants, including a curled moustache versus a non-curled one and a soul patch versus none. This style of beard was popular in Europe in the 17th century and it died out in Britain with the Restoration, when French styles and wigs became popular. For some time after, however, some men, known as vow-beards, continued to wear them and it became popular in the United States in the 19th century. Chicago Chronicle columnist Edith Sessions Tupper condemned this style, along with the goatee, as indicative of a man who was selfish, sinister, the style is sometimes called a Charlie after King Charles I of England, who was painted by Van Dyck with this type of beard. The style was worn by Van Dyke himself, and by many of the sitters for his portraits, the Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin also wore a Van Dyke. The Van Dyke had a revival in the 19th century and was worn by several well-known figures including General Custer, colonel Sanders would also qualify as having a Van Dyke. The word pickedevant is a synonym for a Van Dyke beard. Media related to Van Dyke beards at Wikimedia Commons
20.
Jan Brueghel the Younger
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Jan Brueghel the Younger was a Flemish Baroque painter, and the son of Jan Brueghel the Elder. Brueghel was born and died in the 17th century in Antwerp and he was trained by his father and spent his career producing works in a similar style. Along with his brother Ambrosius, he produced landscapes, allegorical scenes, Brueghel also copied works by his father and sold them with his fathers signature. His work is distinguishable from that of his parent by being less well executed, Jan the Younger was traveling in Italy when his father died of cholera, and swiftly returned to take control of the Antwerp studio. After the death of his father he changed his signature from Brueghel to Breughel, the next year in 1626 he married Anna-Maria Janssens, daughter of Abraham Janssens. He soon established himself and was dean of the Guild of Saint Luke in 1630. That same year he was commissioned by the French court to paint Adam Cycle, in the following years, he also produced paintings for the Austrian court, and worked independently in Paris, before returning to Antwerp in 1657. He collaborated with a number of prominent artists including Rubens, Hendrick van Balen, Adriaen Stalbemt, Lucas Van Uden, David Teniers the Younger and his father-in-law Abraham Janssens. Jan the Youngers best works are his landscapes, either under his own name or made for other artists such as Hendrick van Balen as backgrounds. His pupils were his older sons Abraham, Philips and Jan Peeter, his nephew Jan van Kessel, Jan the Younger has fifteen paintings in National public collections in the United Kingdom
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Guild of Saint Luke
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The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the saint of artists. One of the most famous such organizations was founded in Antwerp and it continued to function until 1795, although by then it had lost its monopoly and therefore most of its power. In most cities, including Antwerp, the government had given the Guild the power to regulate defined types of trade within the city. Guild membership, as a master, was required for an artist to take on apprentices or to sell paintings to the public. Similar rules existed in Delft, where members could sell paintings in the city or have a shop. The guild of Saint Luke not only represented painters, sculptors, and other artists, but also—especially in the seventeenth century—dealers, amateurs. In traditional guild structures, house-painters and decorators were often in the same guild, however, as artists formed under their own specific guild of St. Luke, particularly in the Netherlands, distinctions were increasingly made. In general, guilds also made judgments on disputes between artists and other artists or their clients, in such ways, it controlled the economic career of an artist working in a specific city, while in different cities they were wholly independent and often competitive against each other. Although it did not become an artistic center until the sixteenth century, Antwerp was one of, if not the first. It is first mentioned in 1382, and was given privileges by the city in 1442. The registers, or Liggeren, from the guild exist, cataloging when artists became masters, who the dean for each year was, what their specialities were, and the names of any students. Perhaps because of this link, for a period they had a rule that all miniatures needed a tiny mark to identify the artist, only under special privileges, such as court artist, could an artist effectively practice their craft without holding membership in the guild. Membership also allowed members to sell works at the guild-owned showroom, Antwerp, for example, opened a market stall for selling paintings in front of the cathedral in 1460, and Bruges followed in 1482. Guilds of St. Luke in the Dutch Republic began to reinvent themselves as cities there changed over to Protestant rule, many St. Luke guilds reissued charters to protect the interests of local painters from the influx of southern talent from places like Antwerp and Bruges. Many cities in the republic became more important artistic centres in the late sixteenth. Amsterdam was the first city to reissue a St. Lukes charter after the reformation in 1579, and it included painters, sculptors, engravers, for example, Gouda, Rotterdam, and Delft, all founded guilds between 1609 and 1611. On the other hand, these distinctions did not take effect at that time in Amsterdam or Haarlem, in the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke, however, a strict hierarchy was attempted in 1631 with panel painters at the top, though this hierarchy was eventually rejected
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Saint Carolus Borromeus church
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The St. -Carolus Borromeuskerk is a church in Antwerp, located on Hendrik Conscience square. The church was known for 39 ceiling pieces by Rubens that were lost in a fire when it was struck by lightning on 18 July 1718. The church was inspired by the Church of the Gesu, the church of the Society of Jesus. The church was next to the Huis van Aecken, bought from the heirs of Erasmus II Schetz. It was the first church in the world to be dedicated to the Jesuit founder, in 1617-1618 Rubens painted two altarpieces. He was also commissioned to paint the pieces, for which he made the designs while the execution was done mostly by pupils. A contract was drawn up in 1620 by Jacobus Tirinus and the paintings were delivered a later in time for the consecration. In 1718 the vault of the ship, including Rubens ceiling paintings, was destroyed by fire, jan Pieter van Baurscheidt the Elder restored the damaged parts according to the original plan, but replaced the original coffers with wide transverse arches. In 1773 the Society of Jesus was suppressed and the building was confiscated and it reopened in 1779, renamed St. -Carolus Borromeuskerk, after Charles Borromeo. Since 1803 the St. -Carolus Borromeuskerk has been in use as a parish church, during the Dutch reign preceding Belgiums independence in 1830 the baroque interior was sobered to make it a Protestant church. A restoration campaign in the 1980s brought back the churches baroque splendor, besides works by Rubens the interior displays paintings by Gerard Seghers, Daniel Seghers, and Cornelis Schut. On 30 August 2009 fire broke out again, but none of the important artworks were damaged, media related to Sint-Carolus-Borromeuskerk at Wikimedia Commons
23.
Society of Jesus
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The Society of Jesus Latin, Societas Iesu, S. J. SJ or SI) is a religious congregation of the Catholic Church which originated in Spain. The society is engaged in evangelization and apostolic ministry in 112 nations on six continents, Jesuits work in education, intellectual research, and cultural pursuits. Jesuits also give retreats, minister in hospitals and parishes, and promote social justice, Ignatius of Loyola founded the society after being wounded in battle and experiencing a religious conversion. He composed the Spiritual Exercises to help others follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, ignatiuss plan of the orders organization was approved by Pope Paul III in 1540 by a bull containing the Formula of the Institute. Ignatius was a nobleman who had a background, and the members of the society were supposed to accept orders anywhere in the world. The Society participated in the Counter-Reformation and, later, in the implementation of the Second Vatican Council, the Society of Jesus is consecrated under the patronage of Madonna Della Strada, a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and it is led by a Superior General. The Society of Jesus on October 3,2016 announced that Superior General Adolfo Nicolás resignation was officially accepted, on October 14, the 36th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus elected Father Arturo Sosa as its thirty-first Superior General. The headquarters of the society, its General Curia, is in Rome, the historic curia of St. Ignatius is now part of the Collegio del Gesù attached to the Church of the Gesù, the Jesuit Mother Church. In 2013, Jorge Mario Bergoglio became the first Jesuit Pope, the Jesuits today form the largest single religious order of priests and brothers in the Catholic Church. As of 1 January 2015, Jesuits numbered 16,740,11,986 clerics regular,2,733 scholastics,1,268 brothers and 753 novices. In 2012, Mark Raper S. J. wrote, Our numbers have been in decline for the last 40 years—from over 30,000 in the 1960s to fewer than 18,000 today. The steep declines in Europe and North America and consistent decline in Latin America have not been offset by the significant increase in South Asia, the Society is divided into 83 Provinces with six Independent Regions and ten Dependent Regions. On 1 January 2007, members served in 112 nations on six continents with the largest number in India and their average age was 57.3 years,63.4 years for priests,29.9 years for scholastics, and 65.5 years for brothers. The current Superior General of the Jesuits is Arturo Sosa, the Society is characterized by its ministries in the fields of missionary work, human rights, social justice and, most notably, higher education. It operates colleges and universities in countries around the world and is particularly active in the Philippines. In the United States it maintains 28 colleges and universities and 58 high schools and he ensured that his formula was contained in two papal bulls signed by Pope Paul III in 1540 and by Pope Julius III in 1550. The formula expressed the nature, spirituality, community life and apostolate of the new religious order, the meeting is now commemorated in the Martyrium of Saint Denis, Montmartre
24.
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
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George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, KG, was an English courtier, statesman, and patron of the arts. He was a favourite—and a lover—of King James I, George Villiers was born in Brooksby, Leicestershire, on 28 August 1592, the son of the minor gentleman Sir George Villiers. His mother Mary, daughter of Anthony Beaumont of Glenfield, Leicestershire, was left an early and educated him for a courtiers life. Villiers took very well to the set by his mother, he could dance and fence well, spoke a little French. Bishop Godfrey Goodman declared Villiers to be the man in all of England, his limbs so well compacted, and his conversation so pleasing. In August 1614 at age twenty-one, Villiers caught the eye of James I at a hunt in Apethorpe, opponents of the kings favourite Robert Carr saw an opportunity to usurp the Earl of Somerset and began promoting Villiers. Money was raised to purchase Villiers a new wardrobe, and intense lobbying secured his appointment as Royal Cupbearer, a position that allowed him to make conversation with the king. Villiers began to appear as a dancer in masques from 1615, in which he could exhibit his grace of movement and beauty of body, under the kings patronage Villiers advanced rapidly through the ranks of the nobility, and his court appointments grew in importance. In 1615 he was knighted as a Gentleman of the Bedchamber, in 1616, when he was made Master of the Kings Horses, he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Whaddon, Viscount Villiers, and made a Knight of the Garter. The next year he was made Earl and in 1618 promoted Marquess of Buckingham, Villiers new rank allowed him to dance side by side with the royal heir Charles I, with whom his friendship developed through his tutoring of the prince in dance. Villiers was appointed Lord Admiral of the Fleet in 1619, since reductions in the peerage had taken place during the Tudor period, Buckingham was now the highest-ranking subject outside the royal family. The personal relationships of James are much debated, with Villiers the last in a succession of handsome young favourites the king lavished with affection, contemporaneous evidence is interpreted by some to suggest that Villiers was James lover. Edward Peyton wrote, the king sold his affections to Sir George Villiers, Jamess nickname for Buckingham was Steenie, after St. Stephen who was said to have had the face of an angel. I wish to speak in my own behalf and not to have it thought to be a defect, for Jesus Christ did the same, Christ had John, and I have George. In a letter to Buckingham in 1623, the King ends with, God bless you, my child and wife. Restoration of Apethorpe Palace in 2004–8 revealed a previously unknown passage linking his bedchamber with that of James, until James I died in 1625, Buckingham was the kings constant companion and closest advisor, enjoying control of all royal patronage. Buckingham used his influence to enrich his relatives and advance their social positions. In his rise to power, Buckingham became connected with the philosopher, Bacon wrote letters of advice to the young favourite and drafted the patent of nobility when Buckingham ascended to the peerage
25.
James VI and I
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James VI and I was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until his death. The kingdoms of Scotland and England were individual sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciary, and laws, though both were ruled by James in personal union. James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, James succeeded to the Scottish throne at the age of thirteen months, after his mother Mary was compelled to abdicate in his favour. Four different regents governed during his minority, which ended officially in 1578, in 1603, he succeeded the last Tudor monarch of England and Ireland, Elizabeth I, who died without issue. He continued to reign in all three kingdoms for 22 years, a period known after him as the Jacobean era, until his death in 1625 at the age of 58. After the Union of the Crowns, he based himself in England from 1603, only returning to Scotland once in 1617 and he was a major advocate of a single parliament for England and Scotland. In his reign, the Plantation of Ulster and British colonization of the Americas began, at 57 years and 246 days, Jamess reign in Scotland was longer than those of any of his predecessors. He achieved most of his aims in Scotland but faced difficulties in England, including the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. James himself was a scholar, the author of works such as Daemonologie, The True Law of Free Monarchies. He sponsored the translation of the Bible that would later be named after him, Sir Anthony Weldon claimed that James had been termed the wisest fool in Christendom, an epithet associated with his character ever since. Since the latter half of the 20th century, historians have tended to revise Jamess reputation and treat him as a serious, James was the only son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her second husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Both Mary and Darnley were great-grandchildren of Henry VII of England through Margaret Tudor, Marys rule over Scotland was insecure, and she and her husband, being Roman Catholics, faced a rebellion by Protestant noblemen. James was born on 19 June 1566 at Edinburgh Castle, and as the eldest son and heir apparent of the monarch automatically became Duke of Rothesay and Prince and he was baptised Charles James or James Charles on 17 December 1566 in a Catholic ceremony held at Stirling Castle. His godparents were Charles IX of France, Elizabeth I of England, Mary refused to let the Archbishop of St Andrews, whom she referred to as a pocky priest, spit in the childs mouth, as was then the custom. The subsequent entertainment, devised by Frenchman Bastian Pagez, featured men dressed as satyrs and sporting tails, Jamess father, Darnley, was murdered on 10 February 1567 at Kirk o Field, Edinburgh, perhaps in revenge for Rizzios death. James inherited his fathers titles of Duke of Albany and Earl of Ross, Mary was already unpopular, and her marriage on 15 May 1567 to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, who was widely suspected of murdering Darnley, heightened widespread bad feeling towards her. In June 1567, Protestant rebels arrested Mary and imprisoned her in Loch Leven Castle and she was forced to abdicate on 24 July 1567 in favour of the infant James and to appoint her illegitimate half-brother, James Stewart, Earl of Moray, as regent. The care of James was entrusted to the Earl and Countess of Mar, to be conserved, nursed, and upbrought in the security of Stirling Castle
26.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
27.
Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel
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When he died he possessed 700 paintings, along with large collections of sculpture, books, prints, drawings, and antique jewellery. Most of his collection of marble carvings, known as the Arundel marbles, was left to the University of Oxford. He is sometimes referred as the 2nd Earl of Arundel, it depends on whether one views the earldom obtained by his father as a new creation or not and he was also 2nd or 4th Earl of Surrey, and later, he was created 1st Earl of Norfolk. Also known as the Collector Earl, Arundel was born in relative penury, at Finchingfield in Essex on 7 July 1585. His aristocratic family had fallen into disgrace during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I owing to their religious conservatism and he was the son of Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel and Anne Dacre, daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacre of Gilsland. He never knew his father, who was imprisoned before Arundel was born, Arundels great-uncles returned the family to favour after James I ascended the throne, and Arundel was restored to his titles and some of his estates in 1604. Other parts of the lands ended up with his great-uncles. The next year he married Lady Alatheia Talbot, a daughter of Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury, and she would inherit a vast estate in Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, and Derbyshire, including Sheffield, which has been the principal part of the family fortune ever since. Even with this income, Arundels collecting and building activities would lead him heavily into debt. During the reign of Charles I, Arundel served several times as special envoy to some of the courts of Europe. These trips encouraged his interest in art collecting, in 1642 he accompanied Princess Mary for her marriage to William II of Orange. With the troubles that would lead to the Civil War brewing, he decided not to return to England and his youngest son William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford-the ancestor of what was first the Earl of Stafford and later Baron Stafford. Arundel had petitioned the king for restoration of the ancestral Dukedom of Norfolk, while the restoration was not to occur until the time of his grandson, he was created Earl of Norfolk in 1644, which at least ensured the title would stay with his family. Arundel also got Parliament to entail his earldoms to the descendants of the 4th Duke of Norfolk, Arundel was a patron and collector of works of art. He was described by Walpole as the father of virtu in England and was a member of the Whitehall group of associated with Charles I. He commissioned portraits of himself or his family by contemporary masters such as Daniel Mytens, Peter Paul Rubens, Jan Lievens and he acquired other paintings by Hans Holbein, Adam Elsheimer, Mytens, Rubens, and Honthorst. He collected drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, the two Holbeins, Raphael, Parmigianino, Wenceslaus Hollar, and Dürer, many of these are now at the Royal Library at Windsor Castle or at Chatsworth. It is now in the Ashmolean Museum, the architect Inigo Jones accompanied Arundel on one of his trips to Italy 1613–14, a journey which took both men as far as Naples
28.
Titian
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Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio, known in English as Titian /ˈtɪʃən/, was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno, during his lifetime he was often called da Cadore, taken from the place of his birth. His painting methods, particularly in the application and use of color, would exercise a profound influence not only on painters of the Italian Renaissance, during the course of his long life, Titians artistic manner changed drastically, but he retained a lifelong interest in color. Although his mature works may not contain the vivid, luminous tints of his pieces, their loose brushwork. The exact date of Titians birth is uncertain, when he was an old man he claimed in a letter to Philip II, King of Spain, to have been born in 1474, but this seems most unlikely. Other writers contemporary to his old age give figures that would equate to birthdates between 1473 and after 1482 and he was the son of Gregorio Vecelli and his wife Lucia. His father was superintendent of the castle of Pieve di Cadore, Gregorio was also a distinguished councilor and soldier. Many relatives, including Titians grandfather, were notaries, and the family of four were well-established in the area, at the age of about ten to twelve he and his brother Francesco were sent to an uncle in Venice to find an apprenticeship with a painter. At that time the Bellinis, especially Giovanni, were the artists in the city. There Titian found a group of men about his own age, among them Giovanni Palma da Serinalta, Lorenzo Lotto, Sebastiano Luciani. Francesco Vecellio, his brother, later became a painter of some note in Venice. A fresco of Hercules on the Morosini Palace is said to have one of Titians earliest works. Others were the Bellini-esque so-called Gypsy Madonna in Vienna, and the Visitation of Mary and Elizabeth, now in the Accademia, a Man with a Quilted Sleeve is an early portrait, painted around 1509 and described by Giorgio Vasari in 1568. Scholars long believed it depicted Ludovico Ariosto, but now think it is of Gerolamo Barbarigo, Rembrandt borrowed the composition for his self-portraits. Titian joined Giorgione as an assistant, but many contemporary critics found his work more impressive—for example in exterior frescoes that they did for the Fondaco dei Tedeschi. Their relationship evidently contained a significant element of rivalry, distinguishing between their work at this period remains a subject of scholarly controversy. A substantial number of attributions have moved from Giorgione to Titian in the 20th century, one of the earliest known Titian works, Christ Carrying the Cross in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, depicting the Ecce Homo scene, was long regarded as by Giorgione. In 1507–1508 Giorgione was commissioned by the state to create frescoes on the re-erected Fondaco dei Tedeschi, Titian and Morto da Feltre worked along with him, and some fragments of paintings remain, probably by Giorgione
29.
Rome
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Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
30.
Giovanni Pietro Bellori
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His Lives of the Artists, published in 1672, was influential in consolidating and promoting the theoretical case for classical idealism in art. As an art historical biographer, he favoured classicising artists rather than Baroque artists to the extent of omitting some of the key figures of 17th-century art altogether. Bellori, possibly the nephew of the collector and writer Francesco Angeloni. As a young man, he took art lessons from the painter Domenichino and became a member of the Accademia di San Luca. Bellori was curator of antiquities for Pope Clement X, in 1671, he was appointed secretary of the Accademia di San Luca. He was later appointed as librarian and antiquarian to Queen Christina of Sweden and he died in 1696 in Rome and was buried in the Church of S. Isidoro. In 1664 Bellori delivered a speech to the Accademia on the Ideal in Art. In 1672 he published this as a preface to his biographies of recent and contemporary artists, entitled and he planned a work on Bolognese artists, but, only completed entries for Guido Reni, Andrea Sacchi and Carlo Maratta. Bellori advocated idealism over realism or naturalism and this famously led to Belloris reverence of the painting of Annibale Carracci and repudiation of Caravaggio. His writing of the Idea is influenced by Giovanni Battista Agucchi, Vasari, Leon Battista Alberti, Aristotle, Bellori often relied for his facts on the earlier biographies of Roman artists by Giovanni Baglione. Vasaris definition of disegno or design, at that time seen as the most important artistic element, is tied up in the concept of prudence. An artists work could essentially be seen as a series of choices, and this forms the basis of subsequent value judgments in art by Bellori and his contemporaries. Bellori and Agucchi, after Aristotle, equated the practice of idealism with prudent choice, vite dePittori, Scultori et Architetti Moderni, Parte Prima. Corpus informatico belloriano a cura di Paola Barocchi, Sonia Maffei, centro di Ricerche Informatiche per i Beni Culturali della Scuola Normale di Pisa. Patrons and Painters, Art and Society in Baroque Italy, commentary on Annibale Carracci Introduces Painting to Apollo and Minerva, etching by Pietro Aquila, after a drawing by Carlo Maratti, frontispiece to Galeriae Farnesianae Icones. A catalogue of Carraccis Palazzo Farnese drawings, published by Giovanni Giacomo de Rossi in 1674, metropolitan Museum of Art website, accessed 3 March 2015. 3, pp. 673–675, in The Dictionary of Art, Art and Architecture in Italy 1600–1750, sixth edition in 3 volumes, revised by Joseph Connors and Jennifer Montagu. Erwin Panofsky, Idea, A Concept in Art Theory at Art History Resources
31.
Zeuxis
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Zeuxis was a painter who flourished during the 5th century BC. Zeuxis was an innovative Greek painter, although his paintings have not survived, historical records state they were known for their realism, small scale, novel subject matter, and independent format. His technique created volumetric illusion through manipulating light and shadow, a change from the method of filling in shapes with flat color. Preferring small scale panels to murals, Zeuxis also introduced genre subjects into painting, Zeuxis was born in Heraclea in 464 BC, probably Heraclea Lucania, in the present-day region of Basilicata in the southeastern boot of Italy. He may have studied with Demophilus of Himera, or with Neseus of Thasos, records cite his notable works as Helen, Zeus Enthroned and The Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents. He also painted an assembly of gods, Eros crowned with roses, Alcmene, Menelaus, an athlete, Pan, Marsyas chained, archelaus I of Macedon employed Zeuxis to decorate the palace of his new capital Pella with a picture of Pan. Most of his works went to Rome and to Byzantium, Zeuxis is said to have died laughing at the humorous way he painted the goddess Aphrodite - after the old woman who commissioned it insisted on modeling for the portrait. According to the Naturalis Historia of Pliny the Elder, Zeuxis and his contemporary Parrhasius staged a contest to determine the greater artist, when Zeuxis unveiled his painting of grapes, they appeared so real that birds flew down to peck at them. But when Parrhasius, whose painting was concealed behind a curtain, asked Zeuxis to pull aside that curtain, Parrhasius won, and Zeuxis said, I have deceived the birds, but Parrhasius has deceived Zeuxis. This story was referred to in 18th- and 19th-century art theory to promote spatial illusion in painting
32.
Genoa
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Genoa is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015,594,733 people lived within the administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of Genoa, over 1.5 million people live in the wider metropolitan area stretching along the Italian Riviera. Genoa has been nicknamed la Superba due to its glorious past, part of the old town of Genoa was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2006. The citys rich history in notably its art, music. It is the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, Niccolò Paganini, Giuseppe Mazzini, Genoa, which forms the southern corner of the Milan-Turin-Genoa industrial triangle of north-west Italy, is one of the countrys major economic centres. The city has hosted massive shipyards and steelworks since the 19th century, the Bank of Saint George, founded in 1407, is among the oldest in the world and has played an important role in the citys prosperity since the middle of the 15th century. Today a number of leading Italian companies are based in the city, including Fincantieri, Selex ES, Ansaldo Energia, Ansaldo STS, Edoardo Raffinerie Garrone, Piaggio Aerospace, the Genoa area has been inhabited since the fifth or fourth millennium BC. In ancient times this area was frequented and inhabited by Ligures, Phoenicians, Phocaeans, Greeks, and Etruscans. The city cemetery, dating from the 6th and 5th centuries BC, testifies to the occupation of the site by the Greeks, but the fine harbour probably saw use much earlier, perhaps by the Etruscans. In the 5th century BC was founded the first oppidum at the foot of the today called the Castle Hill which now is inside the medieval old town. The ancient Ligurian city was known as Stalia, so referred to by Artemidorus Ephesius and Pomponius Mela, Ligurian Stalia was overshadowed by the powerful Marseille and Vada Sabatia, near modern Savona. Stalia had an alliance with Rome through a foedus aequum in the course of the Second Punic War, the Carthaginians accordingly destroyed it in 209 BC. The town was rebuilt and, after the Carthaginian Wars ended in 146 BC. it received municipal rights, the original castrum thenceforth expanded towards the current areas of Santa Maria di Castello and the San Lorenzo promontory. Trades included skins, wood, and honey, goods were shipped to the mainland, up to major cities like Tortona and Piacenza. Among the archeological remains from the Roman period, an amphitheatre was also found, another theory traces the name to the Etruscan word Kainua which means New City and still another from the Latin word ianua, related to the name of the God Janus, meaning door or passage. The latter is in reference to its position at the centre of the Ligurian coastal arch. The Latin name, oppidum Genua, is recorded by Pliny the Elder as part of the Augustean Regio IX Liguria, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Ostrogoths occupied Genoa
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Palermo
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Palermo is a city of Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence, Palermo is located in the northwest of the island of Sicily, right by the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The city was founded in 734 BC by the Phoenicians as Ziz, Palermo then became a possession of Carthage, before becoming part of the Roman Republic, the Roman Empire and eventually part of the Byzantine Empire, for over a thousand years. The Greeks named the city Panormus meaning complete port, from 831 to 1072 the city was under Arab rule during the Emirate of Sicily when the city first became a capital. The Arabs shifted the Greek name into Balarme, the root for Palermos present-day name, eventually Sicily would be united with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies until the Italian unification of 1860. The population of Palermo urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 855,285, in the central area, the city has a population of around 676,000 people. The inhabitants are known as Palermitani or, poetically, panormiti, the languages spoken by its inhabitants are the Italian language, Sicilian language and the Palermitano dialect. Palermo is Sicilys cultural, economic and touristic capital and it is a city rich in history, culture, art, music and food. Palermo is the main Sicilian industrial and commercial center, the industrial sectors include tourism, services, commerce. Palermo currently has an airport, and a significant underground economy. In fact, for cultural, artistic and economic reasons, Palermo was one of the largest cities in the Mediterranean and is now among the top tourist destinations in both Italy and Europe. It is the seat of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Arab-Norman Palermo. The city is going through careful redevelopment, preparing to become one of the major cities of the Euro-Mediterranean area. Roman Catholicism is highly important in Palermitano culture, the Patron Saint of Palermo is Santa Rosalia whose Feast Day is celebrated on 15 July. The area attracts significant numbers of each year and is widely known for its colourful fruit, vegetable and fish markets at the heart of Palermo, known as Vucciria, Ballarò. Palermo lies in a basin, formed by the Papireto, Kemonia, the basin was named the Conca dOro by the Arabs in the 9th century. The city is surrounded by a range which is named after the city itself. These mountains face the Tyrrhenian Sea, Palermo is home to a natural port and offers excellent views to the sea, especially from Monte Pellegrino
34.
Sicily
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Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous Region of Italy, along with surrounding minor islands, Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula, from which it is separated by the narrow Strait of Messina. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, the island has a typical Mediterranean climate. The earliest archaeological evidence of activity on the island dates from as early as 12,000 BC. It became part of Italy in 1860 following the Expedition of the Thousand, a revolt led by Giuseppe Garibaldi during the Italian unification, Sicily was given special status as an autonomous region after the Italian constitutional referendum of 1946. Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine. It is also home to important archaeological and ancient sites, such as the Necropolis of Pantalica, the Valley of the Temples, Sicily has a roughly triangular shape, earning it the name Trinacria. To the east, it is separated from the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina, about 3 km wide in the north, and about 16 km wide in the southern part. The northern and southern coasts are each about 280 km long measured as a line, while the eastern coast measures around 180 km. The total area of the island is 25,711 km2, the terrain of inland Sicily is mostly hilly and is intensively cultivated wherever possible. Along the northern coast, the ranges of Madonie,2,000 m, Nebrodi,1,800 m. The cone of Mount Etna dominates the eastern coast, in the southeast lie the lower Hyblaean Mountains,1,000 m. The mines of the Enna and Caltanissetta districts were part of a leading sulphur-producing area throughout the 19th century, Sicily and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and still casts black ash over the island with its ever-present eruptions and it currently stands 3,329 metres high, though this varies with summit eruptions, the mountain is 21 m lower now than it was in 1981. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps, Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 with a basal circumference of 140 km. This makes it by far the largest of the three volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. In Greek Mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under the mountain by Zeus, Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily. The Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, to the northeast of mainland Sicily form a volcanic complex, the three volcanoes of Vulcano, Vulcanello and Lipari are also currently active, although the latter is usually dormant
35.
Paolo Veronese
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Known as a supreme colorist, and after an early period with Mannerism, Paolo Veronese developed a naturalist style of painting, influenced by Titian. His most famous works are elaborate narrative cycles, executed in a dramatic and colorful style, full of architectural settings. Nonetheless, many of the greatest artists, may be counted among his admirers, including Rubens, Watteau, Tiepolo, Delacroix and Renoir. Veronese took his name from his birthplace of Verona, then the largest possession of Venice on the mainland. The census in Verona attests that Veronese was born sometime in 1528 to a stonecutter, or spezapreda, named Gabriele and it was common for surnames to be taken from a fathers profession, and thus Veronese was known as Paolo Spezapreda. He later changed his name to Paolo Caliari, because his mother was the daughter of a nobleman called Antonio Caliari. He was often called Paolo Veronese before the last century to him from another painter from Verona, Alessandro Veronese. By 1541, Veronese was apprenticed with Antonio Badile, who was later to become his father-in-law, although trained in the culture of Mannerism then popular in Parma, he soon developed his own preference for a more radiant palette. In 1552 Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga, great-uncle of the ruling Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, commissioned an altarpiece for Mantua Cathedral and his panel of Jupiter Expelling the Vices for the former is now in the Louvre. He then painted a History of Esther in the ceiling for the church of San Sebastiano and it was these ceiling paintings and those of 1557 in the Marciana Library that established him as a master among his Venetian contemporaries. Already these works indicate Veroneses mastery in reflecting both the subtle foreshortening of the figures of Correggio and the heroism of those by Michelangelo. By 1556 Veronese was commissioned to paint the first of his monumental banquet scenes, the Feast in the House of Simon, owing to its scattered composition and lack of focus, however, it was not his most successful refectory mural. In the late 1550s, during a break in his work for San Sebastiano, Veronese decorated the Villa Barbaro in Maser, Veroneses decorations employed complex perspective and trompe loeil, and resulted in a luminescent and inspired visual poetry. The encounter between architect and artist was a triumph, the Wedding at Cana, painted in 1562–1563, was also collaboration with Palladio. It was commissioned by the Benedictine monks for the San Giorgio Maggiore Monastery, on an island across from Saint Marks. The contract insisted on the size, and that the quality of pigment. For example, the contract specified that the blues should contain the precious mineral lapis-lazuli, the contract also specified that the painting should include as many figures as possible. There are a number of portraits staged upon a canvas surface nearly ten meters wide
36.
Brussels
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Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the region of Flanders or Wallonia. The region has a population of 1.2 million and an area with a population of over 1.8 million. Brussels is the de facto capital of the European Union as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions, the secretariat of the Benelux and the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are also located in Brussels. Today, it is considered an Alpha global city, historically a Dutch-speaking city, Brussels has seen a language shift to French from the late 19th century onwards. Today, the majority language is French, and the Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. All road signs, street names, and many advertisements and services are shown in both languages, Brussels is increasingly becoming multilingual with increasing numbers of migrants, expatriates and minority groups speaking their own languages. The most common theory of the origin of Brussels name is that it derives from the Old Dutch Broekzele or Broeksel, meaning marsh, Saint Vindicianus, the bishop of Cambrai made the first recorded reference to the place Brosella in 695 when it was still a hamlet. The origin of the settlement that was to become Brussels lies in Saint Gaugericus construction of a chapel on an island in the river Senne around 580. The official founding of Brussels is usually situated around 979, when Duke Charles of Lower Lotharingia transferred the relics of Saint Gudula from Moorsel to the Saint Gaugericus chapel, Charles would construct the first permanent fortification in the city, doing so on that same island. Lambert I of Leuven, Count of Leuven gained the County of Brussels around 1000 by marrying Charles daughter, as it grew to a population of around 30,000, the surrounding marshes were drained to allow for further expansion. The Counts of Leuven became Dukes of Brabant at about this time, in the 13th century, the city got its first walls. After the construction of the city walls in the early 13th century, to let the city expand, a second set of walls was erected between 1356 and 1383. Today, traces of it can still be seen, mostly because the small ring, Brabant had lost its independence, but Brussels became the Princely Capital of the prosperous Low Countries, and flourished. In 1516 Charles V, who had been heir of the Low Countries since 1506, was declared King of Spain in St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral in Brussels. Upon the death of his grandfather, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 and it was in the Palace complex at Coudenberg that Charles V abdicated in 1555. This impressive palace, famous all over Europe, had expanded since it had first become the seat of the Dukes of Brabant. In 1695, during the Nine Years War, King Louis XIV of France sent troops to bombard Brussels with artillery, together with the resulting fire, it was the most destructive event in the entire history of Brussels
37.
Altarpiece
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An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing behind the altar of a Christian church. Altarpieces were one of the most important products of Christian art especially from the late Middle Ages to the era of the Counter-Reformation. Large number of altarpieces are now removed from their settings, and often their elaborate sculpted frameworks. Altarpieces seem to have begun to be used during the 11th century, the reasons and forces that led to the development of altarpieces are not generally agreed upon. The habit of placing decorated reliquaries of saints on or behind the altar, as well as the tradition of decorating the front of the altar with sculptures or textiles, an elaborate example of such an early altarpiece is the Pala dOro in Venice. The appearance and development of these first altarpieces marked an important turning point both in the history of Christian art and Christian religious practice, the autonomous image now assumed a legitimate position at the centre of Christian worship. Painted panel altars emerged in Italy during the 13th century, in the 13th century, it is not uncommon to find frescoed or mural altarpieces in Italy, mural paintings behind the altar function as visual complements for the liturgy. These altarpieces were influenced by Byzantine art, notably icons, which reached Western Europe in greater numbers following the conquest of Constantinople in 1204. During this time, altarpieces began to be decorated with an outer. Vigoroso da Sienas altarpiece from 1291 display such an altarpiece and this treatment of the altarpiece would eventually pave the way for the emergence, in the 14th century, of the polyptych. The sculpted elements in the emerging polyptychs often took inspiration from contemporary Gothic architecture, in Italy, they were still typically executed in wood and painted, while in northern Europe altarpieces were often made of stone. The early 14th century saw the emergence, in Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, the Baltic region, by hinging the outer panels to the central panel and painting them on both sides, the motif could be regulated by opening or closing the wings. The pictures could thus be changed depending on liturgical demands, the earliest often displayed sculptures on the inner panels, i. e. displayed when open, and paintings on the back of the wings, displayed when closed. With the advent of winged altarpieces, a shift in imagery also occurred, instead of being centred on a single holy figure, altarpieces began to portray more complex narratives linked to the Christian concept of salvation. As the Middle Ages progressed, altarpieces began to be commissioned more frequently, in Northern Europe, initially Lübeck and later Antwerp would develop into veritable export centres for the production of altarpieces, exporting to Scandinavia, Spain and northern France. By the 15th century, altarpieces were often commissioned not only by churches but also by individuals, families, guilds, the 15th century saw the birth of Early Netherlandish painting in the Low Countries, henceforth panel painting would dominate altarpiece production in the area. In Germany, sculpted wooden altarpieces were instead generally preferred, while in England alabaster was used to a large extent, in England, as well as in France, stone retables enjoyed general popularity. In Italy both stone retables and wooden polyptychs were common, with painted panels and often with complex framing in the form of architectural compositions
38.
House of Stuart
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The House of Stuart, originally Stewart and, in Gaelic, Stiùbhart was a European royal house that originated in Scotland. The dynastys patrilineal Breton ancestors had held the office of High Steward of Scotland since the 12th century, the royal Stewart line was founded by Robert II, and they were Kings and Queens of Scots from the late 14th century until the union with England in 1707. Mary I, Queen of Scots was brought up in France and her son, James VI of Scotland, inherited the thrones of England and Ireland upon the death of Elizabeth I in 1603. Except for the period of the Commonwealth, 1649–1660, the Stuarts were monarchs of England, Scotland and Ireland until 1707, then of Great Britain and Ireland, in total, nine Stewart/Stuart monarchs ruled Scotland alone from 1371 until 1603. James VI of Scotland then inherited the realms of Elizabeth I of England, following the Glorious Revolution in 1688, two Stuart queens ruled the isles, Mary II and Anne. Both were the Protestant daughters of James VII and II by his first wife, during the reign of the Stuarts, Scotland developed from a relatively poor and feudal country into a prosperous, modern and centralised state. They ruled during a time in European history of transition from the Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, monarchs such as James IV were known for sponsoring exponents of the Northern Renaissance such as the poet Robert Henryson, and others. The name Stewart derives from the position of office similar to a governor. It was originally adopted as the surname by Walter Stewart, 3rd High Steward of Scotland. Prior to this, family names were not used, but instead they had patronyms defined through the father, the gallicised spelling was first borne by John Stewart of Darnley after his time in the French wars. During the 16th century, the French spelling Stuart was adopted by Mary, Queen of Scots, the FitzAlan family quickly established themselves as a prominent Anglo-Norman noble house, with some of its members serving as High Sheriff of Shropshire. It was the great-grandson of Alan named Walter FitzAlan who became the first hereditary High Steward of Scotland, another supporter of Matilda was her uncle David I of Scotland from the House of Dunkeld. After Matilda was pushed out of England into the County of Anjou, essentially failing in her legitimist attempt for the throne, many of her supporters in England fled also. It was then that Walter followed David up to the Kingdom of Scotland, where he was granted lands in Renfrewshire, the next monarch of Scotland, Malcolm IV, made the High Steward title a hereditary arrangement. While High Stewards, the family were based at Dundonald, South Ayrshire between the 12th and 13th centuries. The sixth High Steward of Scotland, Walter Stewart, married Marjorie, daughter of Robert the Bruce, in 1503, James IV attempted to secure peace with England by marrying King Henry VIIs daughter, Margaret Tudor. The birth of their son, later James V, brought the House of Stewart into the line of descent of the House of Tudor, and the English throne. Margaret Tudor later married Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of Angus, and their daughter, Margaret Douglas, was the mother of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
39.
Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat
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Charles Gonzaga was Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat from 1627 until his death. He was also Charles III Duke of Nevers and Rethel, as well as Prince of Arches, born in Paris, he was the son of Louis Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers and Henriette of Cleves. In 1600, as duke of Rethel, he founded, in Nevers, claimed the throne of Constantinople, at the time the capital of the Ottoman Empire. He began plotting with Greek rebels, including the Maniots of Greece, when the Ottoman authorities heard about this, they sent an army of 20,000 men and 70 ships to invade Mani. They succeeded in ravaging Mani and imposing taxes on the Maniots and this caused Charles to move more actively for his crusade. He sent envoys to the courts of Europe looking for support, in 1619, he recruited six ships and some five thousand men, but he was forced to abort the mission because of the beginning of the Thirty Years War. At the death of the last legitimate heir of the Gonzaga line in the Duchy of Mantua, Vincenzo II. His son was married with Maria Gonzaga, daughter of former Duke Francesco IV and this led to the War of the Mantuan Succession. In 1629 emperor Ferdinand II sent a Landsknecht army to besiege Mantua, the siege lasted until July 1630, when the city, already struck by a plague, was brutally sacked. Mantua never recovered from this disaster, the situation of the Mantuan lands was dramatic, but he was able to trigger some economic recovery in the following years. His successor was his grandson Charles II, initially under the regency of Maria Gonzaga and he married Catherine of Mayenne, daughter of Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne and Henriette of Savoy. They had six children, Francis Gonzaga, Duke of Rethel, Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers, nominal co-ruler Duke of Mantua and his heir. Better known as Duke of Nevers and Rethel and they were parents to Eleanor of Mantua consort of the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III, and Charles II, Duke of Mantua and Monferrat. Married first Władysław IV Vasa and secondly John II Casimir of Poland, married first Henry II, Duke of Guise and secondly Edward, Count Palatine of Simmern. Grand Master of the Order of the Redeemer Coniglio, Giuseppe, a listing of descendants of Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua
40.
Orazio Gentileschi
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Orazio Lomi Gentileschi was an Italian painter. Born in Tuscany, he began his career in Rome, painting in a Mannerist style, after 1600, he came under the influence of the more naturalistic style of Caravaggio. He received important commissions in Fabriano and Genoa before moving to Paris to the court of Marie de Medici and he spent the last part of his life at the court of Charles I of England. He was the father of the painter Artemisia Gentileschi and he was born in Tuscany, the son of a Florentine goldsmith called Giovanni Battista Lomi, and baptised at Pisa on 9 July,1563. He later took the name Gentileschi from an uncle with whom he lived after moving to Rome in either 1576 or 1578, much of Gentileschis early work in Rome was collaborative in nature. He also worked in the churches of Santa Maria Maggiore, San Nicola in Carcere, Santa Maria della Pace, from around 1600, his style was transformed by his contact with Caravaggio – several years his junior – who was then in Rome. Caravaggios testimony during the trial as recorded in documents is one of the few insights into his thoughts about the subject of art. After Caravaggios flight from Rome, Gentileschi developed a more personal Tuscan lyricism, characterized by lighter colours and precision in detail, in 1611, he collaborated with Tassi again, on works including the decorations of the Casino delle Muse. However, their association ended due to a dispute over money, in 1612 he was again called to the Tribunal of Rome, this time to speak against Tassi, who was charged with the rape of his daughter Artemisia Gentileschi. Details of his practice during this period have been preserved in the records of Tassis trial. Following Caravaggios lead, he painted directly from models. One of the witnesses at the trial, Giovanni Molli, a 73-year-old pilgrim from Palermo, said that he had posed for pictures around 1610–11. Between around 1613 and 1619 he did much of his work for patrons in the Roman Marches, in the cities of Ancona, in 1621, he moved to Genoa, at the invitation of Giovanni Antonio Sauli, who had previously commissioned works from his brother, Aurelio Lomi. Gentileschis works for Sauli included a Magdalene, a Danäe and Lot, in the summer or autumn of 1624, Gentileschi left Genoa for Paris, and the court of the Queen Mother, Marie de Medici. In 1626, Gentileschi, accompanied by his three sons, left France for England, where he became part of the household of the Kings first minister, George Villiers and he was to remain in England for the rest of his life. One of his first major works there was a ceiling painting of Apollo. He had already received a degree of royal patronage by the time of Buckinghams murder in April 1628. He was a favourite artist of Queen Henrietta Maria, for whom he carried out the paintings at Queens House
41.
Artemisia Gentileschi
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Artemisia Gentileschi was an Italian Baroque painter, today considered one of the most accomplished painters in the generation following that of Caravaggio. In an era when women painters were not easily accepted by the community or patrons. She painted many pictures of strong and suffering women from myth and her best-known work is Judith Slaying Holofernes, which shows the decapitation of Holofernes, a scene of horrific struggle and blood-letting. That she was a painting in the seventeenth century and that she was raped and participated in the prosecution of the rapist long overshadowed her achievements as an artist. For many years she was regarded as a curiosity, today she is regarded as one of the most progressive and expressive painters of her generation. Artemisia was introduced to painting in her fathers workshop, showing much more talent than her brothers and she learned drawing, how to mix color, and how to paint. Since her fathers style took inspiration from Caravaggio during that period and her approach to subject matter was different from her fathers, however, as her paintings are highly naturalistic, where Orazios are idealized. At the same time, Artemisia had to resist the traditional attitude and psychological submission to this brainwashing, by doing so, she gained great respect and recognition for her work. The first work of the young seventeen-year-old Artemisia was the Susanna e i Vecchioni, at the time some, influenced by the prevailing misconceptions, suspected that she was helped by her father. The painting shows how Artemisia assimilated the realism of Caravaggio without being indifferent to the language of the Bologna school and it is one of the few paintings on the theme of Susanna showing the sexual accosting by the two Elders as a traumatic event. During this tutelage, Tassi raped Artemisia, another man, Cosimo Quorlis, was also involved. After the rape, Artemisia continued to have relations with Tassi, with the expectation that they were going to be married and with the hope to restore her dignity. Tassi reneged on his promise to marry Artemisia, nine months after the rape, when he learnt that Artemisia and Tassi were not going to be married, Orazio pressed charges against Tassi. Orazio also claimed that Tassi stole a painting of Judith from the Gentileschi household, the major issue of this trial was the fact that Tassi had taken Artemisias virginity. If Artemisia had not been a virgin before Tassi raped her, during the ensuing seven-month trial, it was discovered that Tassi had planned to murder his wife, had engaged in adultery with his sister-in-law, and planned to steal some of Orazio’s paintings. During the trial, Artemisia was subjected to a gynecological examination, at the end of the trial Tassi was sentenced to imprisonment for one year, although he never served the time. The trial influenced the feminist view of Artemisia Gentileschi during the twentieth century. Artemisia was surrounded mainly by the presence of males since the loss of her mother at age 12, when Artemisia was 17, Orazio rented the upstairs apartment of their home to a female tenant, Tuzia
42.
Knight Bachelor
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The appointment of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic and lowest rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch, Knights Bachelor are the most ancient sort of British knight, but Knights Bachelor rank below knights of the various orders. There is no counterpart to Knight Bachelor. The lowest knightly honour that can be conferred upon a woman is Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire – which, also, foreigners are not created Knights Bachelor, instead they are generally made honorary KBEs. It is generally awarded for service, amongst its recipients are all male judges of Her Majestys High Court of Justice in England. Sir Patrick Stewart, and Sir Tom Jones are Officers of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, like other knights, Knights Bachelor are styled Sir. Since they are not knights of any order of chivalry, there is no post-nominal associated with the award. This style is adopted by Knights Bachelor who are also peers, baronets or knights of the various statutory orders, such as Sir William Boulton, Bt, Kt, or The Lord Olivier. Until 1926 Knights Bachelor had no insignia which they could wear, the Knights Bachelor badge may be worn on all such occasions upon the left side of the coat or outer garment of those upon whom the degree of Knight Bachelor has been conferred. In 1974, Queen Elizabeth II issued a warrant authorising the wearing on appropriate occasions of a neck badge, slightly smaller in size. In 1988 a new certificate of authentication, a knights only personal documentation, was designed by the College of Arms. The Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor was founded for the maintenance and consolidation of the Dignity of Knights Bachelor in 1908, the Society keeps records of all Knights Bachelor, in their interest
43.
Endymion Porter
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Endymion Porter was an English diplomat and royalist. He was brought up in Spain—where he had relatives—as page in the household of Olivares and he afterwards entered successively the service of Edward Villiers and of Buckingham, and through the latters recommendation became groom of the bedchamber to Charles I. In October 1622 he was sent to negotiate concerning the affairs of the Electorate of the Palatinate and he accompanied Charles and Buckingham on their foolhardy expedition in 1623, acted as their interpreter, and was included in the consequent attack made by Lord Bristol on Buckingham in 1626. In 1628 he was employed as envoy to Spain to negotiate for peace, Porter was one of the promoters of the 1635 Courteen association. During the Civil War Porter remained a constant and faithful servant of the king and he had, however, little faith in the kings measures. His Majestys businesses, he writes in 1641, run in their wonted channel—subtle designs of gaining the popular opinion and his fidelity to Charles was of a personal, not of a political nature. My duty and loyalty have taught me to follow my king, he declares, olivia was a lady-in-waiting to Queen consort Henrietta Maria. He returned to England in 1649, after the kings death and he left five sons, George, James, Charles, Philip and Thomas, who all played conspicuous, if not all creditable, parts in the history of the time. According to Wood, Porter was beloved by two kings, James I for his wit and Charles I for his general bearing, brave style, sweet temper, great experience, travels. During the period of his prosperity Porter had gained a reputation in the world of art. He was also instrumental in procuring the Arundel pictures from Spain, in 2013 a painting of his wife by Anthony van Dyck was found to have been undiscovered as a masterpiece in the Bowes Museum in County Durham. Almack, p.94 There are also references, etc. to Endymion Porter in Additional Charters, British Museum,6223,1633,6225. Manuscripts 15,858,33,374, and Egerton 2550,2533, series, Manuscripts of Duke of Portland, etc. and in Notes and Queries, also Thomason Tracts, Brit. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
44.
Armida
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The story of Armida, a Saracen sorceress and Rinaldo, a soldier in the First Crusade, was created by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso. In his epic Gerusalemme liberata, Rinaldo is a fierce and determined warrior who is also honorable, Armida has been sent to stop the Christians from completing their mission and is about to murder the sleeping soldier, but instead she falls in love. She creates a garden where she holds him a lovesick prisoner. Eventually Charles and Ubaldo, two of his fellow Crusaders, find him and hold a shield to his face, so he can see his image, Rinaldo barely can resist Armida’s pleadings, but his comrades insist that he return to his Christian duties. She gives in at this, and like the other Saracen warrior woman, Clorinda, earlier in the piece, becomes a Christian, many painters and composers were inspired by Tassos tale. The works that resulted often added or subtracted an element, Tasso himself continued to edit the story for years, in some versions, Armida is converted to Christianity, in others, she rages and destroys her own enchanted garden. Johannes Brahms composed a cantata entitled Rinaldo based on the story, First performed by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, St. Petersburg on 20 November 1855. First performed by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre, second premiere given by the Ballets Russes at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris on 19 May 1909. First performed by the Sadlers Wells Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Wood, James, ed. article name needed. London and New York, Frederick Warne
45.
Baltimore Museum of Art
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The Baltimore Museum of Art, located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is an art museum that was founded in 1914. The BMA is home to a renowned collection of art that ranges from ancient Antioch mosaics to cutting-edge contemporary art. While founded with a painting, today the BMA has over 95,000 works of art—including the largest public holding of works by Henri Matisse. The museum encompasses a 210,000 sq. ft. building that was built in 1929, in the Roman Temple architectural style. The highlight of the museum is the Cone Collection, brought together by Baltimore sisters Dr. Claribel, the BMA is currently led by Director Christopher Bedford, who was appointed in May 2016, after a year-long search. Prior to joining the BMA, Bedford led the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University in Massachusetts for 4 years, the Baltimore Museum of Art is the site of Gertrudes Restaurant, owned and operated by chef John Shields. In February,1904, a fire destroyed much of the central part of the downtown business district of the city of Baltimore. In response, the government established a City-Wide Congress to develop a master plan for the citys recovery and future growth. The congress, headed by Dr. A. R. L, Dohme, decided among other things that a major deficiency of the city was the lack of an art museum. This decision led to the formation of an 18-person Committee on the Art Museum led by art dealer, ten years later, the museum was officially incorporated on November 16,1914. Along with Minneapolis and Cleveland, Baltimores museum was modeled after two prominent 1870s predecessors, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. According to a booklet published at the time of incorporation, it was stated that Baltimore lagged behind other cities “in regard to matters of aesthetic interest. ”Still without a permanent site, the museum was founded with but a single painting, William-Sergeant Kendalls Mischief. As the museums founders were confident more art would eventually be acquired, at this time, the committee began planning a permanent home for the museums holdings. In 1916, a building was purchased on the southwest corner of North Charles, although an architect was employed to remodel it, it was never occupied. In 1915 the group had by then decided to house the museum in the Wyman Park area, west of the then named Peabody Heights. In 1923, the inaugural exhibition opened there with attendance topping 6,775 during its first week. The house was offered by Miss M. Cary as a home for the collections, the old Garrett mansion was acquired in 1925 by the group of art enthusiasts who bought the property for the purpose of keeping the museum intact. Despite having limited space, the museum offered accommodations to art associations, meanwhile, back at Wyman Park, prominent architect John Russell Pope, was engaged to design the museums permanent home
46.
Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia
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Elizabeth Stuart was, as the wife of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, Electress Palatine, and briefly, Queen of Bohemia. Due to her husband’s reign in Bohemia lasting for just one winter and she was the second child and eldest daughter of James VI and I, King of Scots, England, and Ireland, and his wife, Anne of Denmark. She was also the granddaughter of Mary, Queen of Scots and she was four years older than her brother Charles, who became Charles I of England, Scotland, and Ireland. With the demise of the Stuart dynasty in 1714, her grandson succeeded to the British throne as George I of Great Britain, the reigning British monarch, Elizabeth II, is Elizabeth Stuarts direct descendant of the 10th and 11th generation through different paths. Elizabeth was born at Falkland Palace, Fife, on 19 August 1596 at 2 oclock in the morning, at the time of her birth, her father was King of Scots only. Named in honour of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the young Elizabeth was christened on 28 November 1596 in the Chapel Royal at Holyroodhouse, a couple of years later the kings second daughter, Margaret, was placed in their care as well. Elizabeth did not pay attention to this younger sister, as even at this young age her affections were with her brother. When Elizabeth I, the Queen of England, died in 1603, Elizabeth Stuarts father, James, along with her elder brother, Henry, Elizabeth made the journey south toward England with her mother in a triumphal progress of perpetual entertainment. Elizabeth remained at court for a few weeks, but there is no evidence that she was present at her parents coronation on 25 July 1603 and it seems likely that by this time the royal children already had been removed to Oatlands, an old Tudor hunting lodge near Weybridge. On 19 October 1603 an order was issued under the privy seal announcing that the King had thought fit to commit the keeping and education of the Lady Elizabeth to the Lord Harrington and his wife. Under the care of Lord Harington at Coombe Abbey, Elizabeth met Anne Dudley, the conspirators chose Elizabeth after considering the other available options. Prince Henry, it was believed, would perish alongside his father, Charles was seen as too feeble and Mary too young. Elizabeth, on the hand, had already attended formal functions. The conspirators aimed to cause an uprising in the Midlands to coincide with the explosion in London and she would then be brought up as a Catholic and later married to a Catholic bridegroom. The plot failed when the conspirators were betrayed and Guy Fawkes was caught by the Kings soldiers before he was able to ignite the powder, Elizabeth was given a comprehensive education for a princess at that time. This education included instruction in history, geography, theology, languages, writing, history, music. She was denied instruction in the classics as her father believed that Latin had the effect of making women more cunning. By the age of 12, Elizabeth was fluent in languages, including French
47.
The Hague
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The Hague is a city on the western coast of the Netherlands, and the capital city of the province of South Holland. With a population of 520,704 inhabitants and more than one million including the suburbs, it is the third-largest city of the Netherlands. The Rotterdam The Hague Metropolitan Area, with a population of approximately 2.7 million, is the 12th-largest in the European Union and the most populous in the country. Located in the west of the Netherlands, The Hague is in the centre of the Haaglanden conurbation and lies at the southwest corner of the larger Randstad conurbation. The Hague is the seat of the Dutch government, parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State, but the city is not the capital of the Netherlands, which constitutionally is Amsterdam. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands plans to live at Huis ten Bosch and works at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, the Hague is also home to the world headquarters of Royal Dutch Shell and numerous other major Dutch companies. The Hague originated around 1230, when Count Floris IV of Holland purchased land alongside a pond, in 1248, his son and successor William II, King of the Romans, decided to extend the residence to a palace, which would later be called the Binnenhof. He died in 1256 before this palace was completed but parts of it were finished by his son Floris V, of which the Ridderzaal and it is still used for political events, such as the annual speech from the throne by the Dutch monarch. From the 13th century onwards, the counts of Holland used The Hague as their administrative centre, the village that originated around the Binnenhof was first mentioned as Haga in a charter dating from 1242. In the 15th century, the smarter des Graven hage came into use, literally The Counts Wood, with connotations like The Counts Hedge, s-Gravenhage was officially used for the city from the 17th century onwards. Today, this name is used in some official documents like birth. The city itself uses Den Haag in all its communication and their seat was located in The Hague. At the beginning of the Eighty Years War, the absence of city walls proved disastrous, in 1575, the States of Holland even considered demolishing the city but this proposal was abandoned, after mediation by William of Orange. From 1588, The Hague also became the seat of the government of the Dutch Republic, in order for the administration to maintain control over city matters, The Hague never received official city status, although it did have many of the privileges normally granted only to cities. In modern administrative law, city rights have no place anymore, only in 1806, when the Kingdom of Holland was a puppet state of the First French Empire, was the settlement granted city rights by Louis Bonaparte. After the Napoleonic Wars, modern-day Belgium and the Netherlands were combined in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands to form a buffer against France, as a compromise, Brussels and Amsterdam alternated as capital every two years, with the government remaining in The Hague. After the separation of Belgium in 1830, Amsterdam remained the capital of the Netherlands, when the government started to play a more prominent role in Dutch society after 1850, The Hague quickly expanded. The growing city annexed the rural municipality of Loosduinen partly in 1903, the city sustained heavy damage during World War II
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