1.
Sangiovese
–
Sangiovese is a red Italian wine grape variety that derives its name from the Latin sanguis Jovis, the blood of Jupiter. Sangiovese was already known by the 16th century. Recent DNA profiling by José Vouillamoz of the Istituto Agrario di San Michele all’Adige suggests that Sangioveses ancestors are Ciliegiolo, the former is well known as an ancient variety in Tuscany, the latter is an almost-extinct relic from the Calabria, the toe of Italy. At least fourteen Sangiovese clones exist, of which Brunello is one of the best regarded, an attempt to classify the clones into Sangiovese grosso and Sangiovese piccolo families has gained little evidential support. Young Sangiovese has fresh fruity flavours of strawberry and a little spiciness, while not as aromatic as other red wine varieties such as Pinot noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah, Sangiovese often has a flavour profile of sour red cherries with earthy aromas and tea leaf notes. Wines made from Sangiovese usually have medium-plus tannins and high acidity, early theories on the origin of Sangiovese dated the grape to the time of Roman winemaking. It was even postulated that the grape was first cultivated in Tuscany by the Etruscans from wild Vitis vinifera vines, the literal translation of the grapes name, the blood of Jove, refers to the Roman god Jupiter. According to legend, the name was coined by monks from the commune of Santarcangelo di Romagna in what is now the province of Rimini in the Emilia-Romagna region of east-central Italy, the first documented mention of Sangiovese was in the 1590 writings of Giovanvettorio Soderini. Identifying the grape as Sangiogheto Soderini notes that in Tuscany the grape makes very good wine but if the winemaker is not careful, while there is no conclusive proof that Sangiogheto is Sangiovese, most wine historians generally consider this to be the first historical mention of the grape. Regardless, it would not be until the 18th century that Sangiovese would gain widespread attention throughout Tuscany, being with Malvasia, in 1738, Cosimo Trinci described wines made from Sangiovese as excellent when blended with other varieties but hard and acidic when made as a wine by itself. In 1883, the Italian writer Giovanni Cosimo Villifranchi echoed a similar description about the quality of Sangiovese being dependent on the grapes with which it was blended. The winemaker and politician, Bettino Ricasoli formulated one of the recipes for Chianti when he blended his Sangiovese with a sizable amount of Canaiolo. In the wines of Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Sangiovese would experience a period of popularity in the late 19th and early 20th century. In 2004, DNA profiling done by researchers at San Michele AllAdige revealed the grape to be the product of a crossing between Ciliegiolo and Calabrese Montenuovo and this essentially means that the genetic heritage of Sangiovese is half Tuscan and half southern Italian. Early ampelographical research into Sangiovese begun in 1906 with the work of Girolamo Molon, Molon discovered that the Italian grape known as Sangiovese was actually several varieties of clones which he broadly classified as Sangiovese Grosso and Sangiovese Piccolo. The Sangiovese Grosso family included the growing in the Brunello region as well as the clones known as Prugnolo Gentile. It is possible, and even likely, that Sangiovese is one of the parents of each of these grape varieties. Since these grape varieties are spread over different parts of Italy, in the Chianti Classico region, Sangiovese thrives on the highly friable shale-clay soil known as galestro
Sangiovese
–
Sangiovese grapes
Sangiovese
–
The translation of Sangiovese's name sanguis Jovis, "the blood of
Jove ", led to theories that the grape's origins dated from
Roman times.
Sangiovese
–
Sangiovese leaf from
Red Willow Vineyard in Washington State.
Sangiovese
–
Sangiovese grapes in the Montalcino region of Tuscany.
2.
Montepulciano (grape)
–
Montepulciano is rarely found in northern Italy because the grape has a tendency to ripen late and can be excessively green if harvested too early. When fully ripened, Montepulciano can produce deeply colored wines, with moderate acidity and noticeable extract, according to wine expert Jancis Robinson, the Montepulciano grape likely originated in Tuscany and may be related to the Sangiovese, with which it is often confused. Furthermore, despite being widely planted throughout central Italy, the Montepulciano grape is not even grown in the vineyards around the village of Montepulciano, after Sangiovese, Montepulciano is Italys second most widely dispersed indigenous grape variety. It is a planting in 20 of Italys 95 provinces and is a permitted or required grape in the red wines of DOCs in Apulia, Molise, Latium, Umbria, Marche, Emilia-Romagna, Abruzzi. Among the DOCs that are most noted for Montepulciano are Montepulciano dAbruzzo in Abruzzi, Offida Rosso DOCG, Rosso Conero, the wines of which Montepulciano must account for a majority of the blend are in bold. Alezio DOC – can be blended with Negroamaro, Sangiovese and Malvasia Biferno DOC – Must be 60–70% of the wine, can be blended with Sangiovese Montepulciano dAbruzzo Colline Teramane DOCG – at least 85% of the wine. Can be blended with Sangiovese Nardo DOC – can be blended with Negro Amaro, can be blended with Cabernet Sauvignon Orta Nova DOC – can be blended with Uva di Troia, Lambrusco Maestri and Trebbiano. Parrina DOC – can be blended with Sangiovese, Canaiolo and Colorino Pentro di Isernia DOC – at least 45–55% of the wine with Sangiovese making up the other component, can be a varietal with 85% of the blend but that is rarely seen. The grapes can be plump with a low skin to juice ratio, however, the skin has a fair amount of pigmented tannins and color producing phenols that with maceration can produce either a deep ruby colored wine or a pink Cerasuolo wine. Compared to most Italian varieties, Montepulciano has moderately low acidity, wine expert Oz Clarke describes Montepulciano as producing a round, plummy and weighty red with ripe tannins, good acidity and a low price tag. Jancis Robinson evaluates Montepulciano as a variety that produces smooth
Montepulciano (grape)
–
Montepulciano growing in Abruzzi.
Montepulciano (grape)
–
The spread of the Montepulciano grape throughout
Italy.
Montepulciano (grape)
–
A Montepulciano d'Abruzzo wine made from the Montepulciano grape in the Abruzzo region.
Montepulciano (grape)
–
Montepulciano D'Abruzzo wine.
3.
Penelope
–
In Homers Odyssey, Penelope is the wife of Odysseus, who is known for her fidelity to Odysseus while he was absent, despite having many suitors. Her name has traditionally been associated with marital fidelity, and so it was with the Greeks and Romans and her character is beyond what was available to most women at the time, and she is considered a match for Odysseus due to her immense strength, warmth and intelligence. The origin of her name is believed by Robert S. P. Penelope is the wife of the character, the king of Ithaca, Odysseus. She only has one son by Odysseus, Telemachus, who was born just before Odysseus was called to fight in the Trojan War and she waits twenty years for the final return of her husband, during which she devises various strategies to delay marrying one of the 108 suitors. On Odysseuss return, disguised as an old beggar, he finds that Penelope has remained faithful, every night for three years, she undoes part of the shroud, until Melantho, one of twelve unfaithful serving women, discovers her chicanery and reveals it to the suitors. Because of her efforts to put off remarriage, Penelope is often seen as a symbol of connubial fidelity, as Irene de Jong comments, As so often, it is Athena who takes the initiative in giving the story a new direction. She simply feels an impulse to meet the men she so loathes. Adding that she might take this opportunity to talk to Telemachus and she is ambivalent, variously asking Artemis to kill her and, apparently, considering marrying one of the suitors. For the plot of the Odyssey, of course, her decision is the turning point, there is debate as to whether Penelope is aware that Odysseus is behind the disguise. On the other hand, because Odysseus seems to be the person who can actually use the bow. When the contest of the bow begins, none of the suitors are able to string the bow, but Odysseus does, Odysseus protests that this cannot be done since he made the bed himself and knows that one of its legs is a living olive tree. Penelope finally accepts that he truly is her husband, a moment that highlights their homophrosýnē, homer implies, that from then on, Odysseus would live a long and happy life together with Penelope and Telemachus, wisely ruling his kingdom and enjoying wide respect and much success. In some early sources such as Pindar, Pans father is Apollo via Penelope, herodotus, Cicero, Apollodorus and Hyginus all make Hermes and Penelope his parents. Pausanias 8.12.5 records the story that Penelope had in fact been unfaithful to her husband, other sources report that Penelope slept with all 108 suitors in Odysseus absence, and gave birth to Pan as a result. This myth reflects the folk etymology that equates Pans name with the Greek word for all, Latin references to Penelope revolved around the sexual loyalty to her absent husband. It suited the marital aspect of Roman society representing the tranquility of the worthy family and she is mentioned by various classical authors including Plautus, Propertius, Horace, Ovid, Martial and Statius. The use of Penelope in Latin texts provided a basis for her use in the Middle Ages. This was reinforced by her named by Saint Jerome among pagan women famed for their chastity
Penelope
–
Odysseus and Penelope by
Francesco Primaticcio (1563).
Penelope
–
Yea, Verily, thou art Odysseus
Penelope
–
Penelope, bronze by
Emile-Antoine Bourdelle
Penelope
–
Gold
intaglio ring, Syria, last quarter of the 5th century BCE (
Louvre Museum)
4.
Italy
–
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 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
Italy
–
The
Colosseum in Rome, built c. 70 – 80 AD, is considered one of the greatest works of
architecture and
engineering of ancient history.
Italy
–
Flag
Italy
–
The
Iron Crown of Lombardy, for centuries symbol of the
Kings of Italy.
Italy
–
Castel del Monte, built by German Emperor
Frederick II,
UNESCO World Heritage site
5.
Mannerism
–
Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, lasting until about 1580 in Italy, when the Baroque style began to replace it. Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century, stylistically, Mannerism encompasses a variety of approaches influenced by, and reacting to, the harmonious ideals associated with artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and early Michelangelo. Where High Renaissance art emphasizes proportion, balance, and ideal beauty, Mannerism exaggerates such qualities, Mannerism is notable for its intellectual sophistication as well as its artificial qualities. Mannerism favors compositional tension and instability rather than the balance and clarity of earlier Renaissance painting, Mannerism in literature and music is notable for its highly florid style and intellectual sophistication. The definition of Mannerism and the phases within it continue to be a subject of debate among art historians, for example, some scholars have applied the label to certain early modern forms of literature and music of the 16th and 17th centuries. The term is used to refer to some late Gothic painters working in northern Europe from about 1500 to 1530. Mannerism also has been applied by analogy to the Silver Age of Latin literature, the word mannerism derives from the Italian maniera, meaning style or manner. Like the English word style, maniera can either indicate a type of style or indicate an absolute that needs no qualification. Vasari was also a Mannerist artist, and he described the period in which he worked as la maniera moderna, james V. Mirollo describes how bella maniera poets attempted to surpass in virtuosity the sonnets of Petrarch. This notion of bella maniera suggests that artists thus inspired looked to copying and bettering their predecessors, in essence, bella maniera utilized the best from a number of source materials, synthesizing it into something new. As a stylistic label, Mannerism is not easily defined, “High Renaissance” connoted a period distinguished by harmony, grandeur and the revival of classical antiquity. The term Mannerist was redefined in 1967 by John Shearman following the exhibition of Mannerist paintings organised by Fritz Grossmann at Manchester City Art Gallery in 1965. The label “Mannerism” was used during the 16th century to comment on social behaviour, however, for later writers, such as the 17th-century Gian Pietro Bellori, la maniera was a derogatory term for the perceived decline of art after Raphael, especially in the 1530s and 1540s. From the late 19th century on, art historians have used the term to describe art that follows Renaissance classicism. By the end of the High Renaissance, young artists experienced a crisis, no more difficulties, technical or otherwise, remained to be solved. The young artists needed to find a new goal, and they sought new approaches, at this point Mannerism started to emerge. The new style developed between 1510 and 1520 either in Florence, or in Rome, or in both cities simultaneously and this period has been described as a natural extension of the art of Andrea del Sarto, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Michelangelo from an early age had developed a style of his own, one of the qualities most admired by his contemporaries was his terribilità, a sense of awe-inspiring grandeur, and subsequent artists attempted to imitate it
Mannerism
–
In
Parmigianino 's
Madonna with the Long Neck (1534-40), Mannerism makes itself known by elongated proportions, highly stylized poses, and lack of clear perspective.
Mannerism
–
Mannerism role-model:
Laocoön and His Sons, an ancient sculpture, rediscovered in 1506; now in the
Vatican. The artists of Mannerism greatly admired this piece of sculpture.
Mannerism
–
Ignudi from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Mannerism
–
The Libyan Sibyl from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling.
6.
Painting
–
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
Painting
–
The
Mona Lisa, by
Leonardo da Vinci, is one of the most recognizable paintings in the world.
Painting
–
Chen Hongshou (1598–1652), Leaf album painting (
Ming Dynasty)
Painting
–
Circus Sideshow (
French: Parade de cirque),
Georges Seurat, 1887–88
Painting
–
Cave painting of aurochs, (
French: Bos primigenius primigenius),
Lascaux,
France,
prehistoric art
7.
Architect
–
An architect is someone who plans, designs, and reviews the construction of buildings. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, which derives from the Greek, practical, technical, and academic requirements for becoming an architect vary by jurisdiction. The terms architect and architecture are used in the disciplines of landscape architecture, naval architecture. In most jurisdictions, the professional and commercial uses of the terms architect, throughout ancient and medieval history, most architectural design and construction was carried out by artisans—such as stone masons and carpenters, rising to the role of master builder. Until modern times, there was no distinction between architect and engineer. In Europe, the architect and engineer were primarily geographical variations that referred to the same person. It is suggested that various developments in technology and mathematics allowed the development of the gentleman architect. Paper was not used in Europe for drawing until the 15th century, pencils were used more often for drawing by 1600. The availability of both allowed pre-construction drawings to be made by professionals, until the 18th-century, buildings continued to be designed and set out by craftsmen with the exception of high-status projects. In most developed countries, only qualified people with appropriate license, certification, or registration with a relevant body, such licensure usually requires an accredited university degree, successful completion of exams, and a training period. To practice architecture implies the ability to independently of supervision. In many places, independent, non-licensed individuals may perform design services outside the professional restrictions, such design houses, in the architectural profession, technical and environmental knowledge, design and construction management, and an understanding of business are as important as design. However, design is the force throughout the project and beyond. An architect accepts a commission from a client, the commission might involve preparing feasibility reports, building audits, the design of a building or of several buildings, structures, and the spaces among them. The architect participates in developing the requirements the client wants in the building, throughout the project, the architect co-ordinates a design team. Structural, mechanical, and electrical engineers and other specialists, are hired by the client or the architect, the architect hired by a client is responsible for creating a design concept that meets the requirements of that client and provides a facility suitable to the required use. In that, the architect must meet with and question the client to ascertain all the requirements, often the full brief is not entirely clear at the beginning, entailing a degree of risk in the design undertaking. The architect may make proposals to the client which may rework the terms of the brief
Architect
–
Filippo Brunelleschi is revered to be one of the most inventive and gifted architects in history.
Architect
–
An architect at work, 1893.
Architect
–
Architect
Rem Koolhaas inspecting a model of the
Seattle Central Library
8.
Sculpture
–
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. It is one of the plastic arts, a wide variety of materials may be worked by removal such as carving, assembled by welding or modelling, or molded, or cast. However, most ancient sculpture was painted, and this has been lost. Those cultures whose sculptures have survived in quantities include the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean, India and China, the Western tradition of sculpture began in ancient Greece, and Greece is widely seen as producing great masterpieces in the classical period. During the Middle Ages, Gothic sculpture represented the agonies and passions of the Christian faith, the revival of classical models in the Renaissance produced famous sculptures such as Michelangelos David. Relief is often classified by the degree of projection from the wall into low or bas-relief, high relief, sunk-relief is a technique restricted to ancient Egypt. Relief sculpture may also decorate steles, upright slabs, usually of stone, techniques such as casting, stamping and moulding use an intermediate matrix containing the design to produce the work, many of these allow the production of several copies. The term sculpture is used mainly to describe large works. The very large or colossal statue has had an enduring appeal since antiquity, another grand form of portrait sculpture is the equestrian statue of a rider on horse, which has become rare in recent decades. The smallest forms of life-size portrait sculpture are the head, showing just that, or the bust, small forms of sculpture include the figurine, normally a statue that is no more than 18 inches tall, and for reliefs the plaquette, medal or coin. Sculpture is an important form of public art, a collection of sculpture in a garden setting can be called a sculpture garden. One of the most common purposes of sculpture is in form of association with religion. Cult images are common in cultures, though they are often not the colossal statues of deities which characterized ancient Greek art. The actual cult images in the innermost sanctuaries of Egyptian temples, of which none have survived, were rather small. The same is true in Hinduism, where the very simple. Some undoubtedly advanced cultures, such as the Indus Valley civilization, appear to have had no monumental sculpture at all, though producing very sophisticated figurines, the Mississippian culture seems to have been progressing towards its use, with small stone figures, when it collapsed. Other cultures, such as ancient Egypt and the Easter Island culture, from the 20th century the relatively restricted range of subjects found in large sculpture expanded greatly, with abstract subjects and the use or representation of any type of subject now common. Today much sculpture is made for intermittent display in galleries and museums, small sculpted fittings for furniture and other objects go well back into antiquity, as in the Nimrud ivories, Begram ivories and finds from the tomb of Tutankhamun
Sculpture
–
The Dying Gaul, or The Capitoline Gaul a Roman marble copy of a
Hellenistic work of the late 3rd century BCE
Capitoline Museums, Rome
Sculpture
Sculpture
–
Michelangelo 's
Moses, (c. 1513–1515), housed in the church of
San Pietro in Vincoli in
Rome. The sculpture was commissioned in 1505 by
Pope Julius II for his
tomb.
Sculpture
–
Assyrian
lamassu gate guardian from
Khorsabad, c. 721–800 BCE
9.
France
–
France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
France
–
One of the
Lascaux paintings: a horse –
Dordogne, approximately 18,000 BC
France
–
Flag
France
–
The
Maison Carrée was a temple of the
Gallo-Roman city of Nemausus (present-day
Nîmes) and is one of the best preserved vestiges of the
Roman Empire.
France
–
With
Clovis ' conversion to Catholicism in 498, the
Frankish monarchy,
elective and
secular until then, became
hereditary and of
divine right.
10.
Bologna
–
Bologna is the largest city of the Emilia-Romagna Region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy, located in the heart of an area of about one million. The first settlements back to at least 1000 BC. The city has been a centre, first under the Etruscans. Home to the oldest university in the world, University of Bologna, founded in 1088, Bologna is also an important transportation crossroad for the roads and trains of Northern Italy, where many important mechanical, electronic and nutritional industries have their headquarters. According to the most recent data gathered by the European Regional Economic Growth Index of 2009, Bologna is the first Italian city, Bologna is home to numerous prestigious cultural, economic and political institutions as well as one of the most impressive trade fair districts in Europe. In 2000 it was declared European capital of culture and in 2006, the city of Bologna was selected to participate in the Universal Exposition of Shanghai 2010 together with 45 other cities from around the world. Bologna is also one of the wealthiest cities in Italy, often ranking as one of the top cities in terms of quality of life in the country, after a long decline, Bologna was reborn in the 5th century under Bishop Petronius. According to legend, St. Petronius built the church of S. Stefano. After the fall of Rome, Bologna was a stronghold of the Exarchate of Ravenna in the Po plain. In 728, the city was captured by the Lombard king Liutprand, the Germanic conquerors formed a district called addizione longobarda near the complex of S. Stefano. Charlemagne stayed in this district in 786, traditionally said to be founded in 1088, the University of Bologna is widely considered to be the first university. The university originated as a centre of study of medieval Roman law under major glossators. It numbered Dante, Boccaccio and Petrarca among its students, the medical school is especially famous. In the 12th century, the families engaged in continual internecine fighting. Troops of Pope Julius II besieged Bologna and sacked the artistic treasures of his palace, in 1530, in front of Saint Petronio Church, Charles V was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Clement VII. Then a plague at the end of the 16th century reduced the population from 72,000 to 59,000, the population later recovered to a stable 60, 000–65,000. However, there was also great progress during this era, in 1564, the Piazza del Nettuno and the Palazzo dei Banchi were built, along with the Archiginnasio, the centre of the University
Bologna
–
A collage of the city, showing
Fountain of Neptune,
Piazza Maggiore,
Basilica of San Petronio,
Two towers (Due Torri),
Tagliatelle al
ragù bolognese (dish of Bologna origin), and endless city arcades typical for Bologna
Bologna
–
Porta Maggiore, one of the twelve medieval city gates of Bologna.
Bologna
–
Depiction of a 14th-century fight between the militias of the Guelf and Ghibelline factions in Bologna, from the Croniche of Giovanni Sercambi of Lucca.
Bologna
–
Bologna in 1640.
11.
Giulio Romano
–
Giulio Romano, also known as Giulio Pippi, was an Italian painter and architect. A pupil of Raphael, his stylistic deviations from high Renaissance classicism help define the 16th-century style known as Mannerism, Giulio Romano was born in Rome, the Romano refers to this. He also collaborated on the decoration of the ceiling of the Villa Farnesina, increasingly he became the masters right-hand man, despite his relative youth. After the death of Raphael in 1520, he helped complete the Vatican frescoes of the life of Constantine as well as Raphaels Coronation of the Virgin, in Rome, Giulio decorated the Villa Madama for Cardinal Giuliano de Medici, afterwards Clement VII. The crowded Giulio Romano frescoes lack the stately and serene simplicity of his master, from 1522 he was courted by Federico Gonzaga, ruler of Mantua, who wanted him as court artist, apparently especially attracted by his skill as an architect. In late 1524 Giulio agreed to move to Mantua, where he remained for the rest of his life and he thus avoided the disaster of the Sack of Rome in 1527, which hugely disrupted artistic patronage in Rome and dispersed the remains of Raphaels workshop. Vasari tells how Baldassare Castiglione was delegated by Federico Gonzaga to procure Giulio to execute paintings and architectural and his masterpiece of architecture and fresco painting in that city is the suburban Palazzo Te, with its famous illusionistic frescos. He also helped rebuild the palace in Mantua, reconstructed the cathedral. Sections of Mantua that had been flood-prone were refurbished under Giulios direction, and his studio became a popular school of art. In Renaissance tradition, many works of Giulios were only temporary and he traveled to France in the first half of the 16th century and brought concepts of the Italian style to the French court of Francis I. It is rumored that he contributed to the drawings upon which the album I Modi was engraved by Marcantonio Raimondi and he died in Mantua in 1546. According to Giorgio Vasari, his best pupils were Giovanni dal Lione, Raffaellino dal Colle, Benedetto Pagni, Figurino da Faenza, Giovanni Battista Bertani and his brother Rinaldo, Giulio Romano has the distinction of being the only Renaissance artist to be mentioned by William Shakespeare. In Act V, Scene II of The Winters Tale Queen Hermiones statue is by that rare Italian master, Julio Romano, Giulio was on the whole more influential as an architect than as a painter, and his works had an enormous impact on Italian Mannerist architecture. Planned on a scale, it was incomplete by the Sack of Rome. The Villa Lante al Gianicolo was a suburban villa in Rome. Romano made the building suggest lightness and elegance to exploit the ridge-top position. The orders are delicate, with Tuscan or Doric columns and pilasters in pairs on the main floor, alternate loggia openings are heightened by arches above the entablature. Romanos willingness to play with the conventions of the orders is already in evidence
Giulio Romano
–
Titian's Portrait of Giulio Romano (ca. 1536), oil on canvas, 101 x 86 cm
Giulio Romano
–
The fall of the Giants, fresco in Sala dei Giganti,
Palazzo del Te,
Mantua
Giulio Romano
–
In the
Palazzo Te, Mantua.
Giulio Romano
–
Giulio Romano, selfportrait
12.
Mantua
–
Mantua is a city and commune in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua became Italian Capital of Culture, as chosen by the Italian Government on 27 October 2015, in 2017, Mantua will also be European Capital of Gastronomy, included in the Eastern Lombardy District. In 2007, Mantuas centro storico and Sabbioneta were declared by UNESCO to be a World Heritage Site. Mantuas historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family has made it one of the artistic, cultural, and especially musical hubs of Northern Italy. Mantua is noted for its significant role in the history of opera, the city is known for its architectural treasures and artifacts, elegant palaces. It is the place where the composer Monteverdi premiered his opera LOrfeo and it is the nearest town to the birthplace of the Roman poet Virgil, who was commemorated by a statue at the lakeside park Piazza Virgiliana. Mantua is surrounded on three sides by artificial lakes, created during the 12th century, as the defence system. These lakes receive water from the Mincio River, a tributary of the Po River which descends from Lake Garda, the three lakes are called Lago Superiore, Lago di Mezzo, and Lago Inferiore. A fourth lake, Lake Pajolo, which served as a defensive water ring around the city. These dated, without interruption, from Neolithic times to the Bronze Age and the Gallic phases, and ended with Roman residential settlements, which could be traced to the 3rd century AD. Mantua was a settlement which was first established about the year 2000 BC on the banks of River Mincio. In the 6th century BC, Mantua was an Etruscan village which, the name may derive from the Etruscan god Mantus. This new Roman territory was populated by soldiers of Augustus. Mantuas most famous ancient citizen is the poet Virgil, or Publius Vergilius Maro, after the fall of the western Roman Empire in 476 AD, Mantua was invaded in turn by Goths, Byzantines, Longobards, and Franks. In the 11th century, Mantua became a possession of Boniface of Canossa, the last ruler of that family was the countess Matilda of Canossa, who, according to legend, ordered the construction of the precious Rotonda di San Lorenzo in 1082. The Rotonda still exists today and was renovated in 2013, free Imperial City of Mantua After the death of Matilda of Canossa, Mantua became a free commune and strenuously defended itself from the Holy Roman Empire during the 12th and 13th centuries. In 1198, Alberto Pitentino altered the course of River Mincio, three of these lakes still remains today and the fourth one, which ran through the centre of town, was reclaimed in the 18th century. Podesteria Rule From 1215, the city was ruled under the podesteria of the Gallic-Guelph Rambertino Buvalelli, during the struggle between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, Pinamonte Bonacolsi took advantage of the chaotic situation to seize power of the podesteria in 1273
Mantua
–
Panorama of Mantua
Mantua
–
Expulsion of the Bonacolsi in 1328, scene of Piazza Sordello, canvas of
Domenico Morone
Mantua
–
Ludovico Gonzaga receiving the news of his son
Francesco being elected cardinal, fresco by
Andrea Mantegna in the Stanza degli Sposi of
Palazzo Ducale.
Mantua
–
Palazzo Te.
13.
Innocenzo da Imola
–
Innocenzo Francucci, generally known as Innocenzo da Imola, was an Italian painter and draftsman. The son of a goldsmith named Pietro, he was born in Imola sometime around 1490, after presumably studying with his father in Imola, by 1506 he had moved to nearby Bologna to study painting. According to Carlo Cesare Malvasia he entered the studio of Francesco Francia in 1508 and he later went to Florence where in 1510 he worked under the direction of Mariotto Albertinelli. His earliest known works include The Virgin and Child with Saints Sebastian, Roch, Cosmas, the Virgin and Child with Saints John, Apollinaris and Catherine and a Bishop, signed and dated in 1516. This second painting is in Cásola Valsenio, near Bologna, during his life he produced a series of religious frescoes and altarpieces, painted in a Raphaelesque manner. His only secular paintings are five frescoes in the Palazzina della Viola in Bologna. He trained artists such as Francesco Primaticcio, Prospero Fontana, the Church of Santa Maria Dei Servi in Bologna has interior paintings by Francucci. Francucci died in Bologna around 1550
Innocenzo da Imola
–
The Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine, Filangieri Museum,
Naples.
Innocenzo da Imola
–
The Martyrdom of
Saint Cassian of Imola.
Innocenzo da Imola
14.
Palazzo Te
–
Palazzo del Te or Palazzo Te is a palace in the suburbs of Mantua, Italy. It is an example of the mannerist style of architecture. In Italian this now suggests use for tea-drinking, which may account for the divergence in usage, Palazzo del Te was constructed 1524–34 for Federico II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua. He decided in 1524 to build a palace, or Villa Suburbana. The site chosen was that of the stables at Isola Del Te on the fringe of the marshes just outside Mantuas city walls. The architect commissioned was Giulio Romano, a pupil of Raphael, the shell of the palazzo was erected within 18 months. It is basically a house built around a cloistered courtyard. A formal garden complemented the house and this was enclosed by colonnaded outbuildings terminated by a semi-circular colonnade known as the Esedra. Like the Villa Farnesina in Rome, the location allowed for a mixing of both Palace and Villa architecture. The four exterior façades have flat pilasters against rusticated walls, the fenestration indicating that the piano nobile is on the floor with a secondary floor above. The East façade differs from the three by having Palladian motifs on its pilaster and an open loggia at its centre rather than an arch to the courtyard. The facades are not as symmetrical as they appear, and the spans between the columns are irregular, the centre of the North and South facades are pierced by two-storey arches without portico or pediment, simply a covered way leading to the interior courtyard. Once the shell of the building was completed, for ten years a team of plasterers, carvers and fresco painters laboured, under Giulio Romanos direction, local decorative painters such as Benedetto Pagni and Rinaldo Mantovano worked extensively on the frescos. These frescoes remain today and are the most remarkable feature of the Palazzo, in July 1630, during the War of the Mantuan Succession, Mantua and the palace were sacked over three days by an Imperial army of 36,000 Landsknecht mercenaries. The remaining populace fell victim to one of the worst plagues in history that the invaders had brought with them, the Palazzo was looted from top to bottom and remained an empty shell, nymphs, god, goddesses and giants remain on the walls of the empty echoing rooms. Part of the Palazzo today houses the Museo Civico del Palazzo Te and it contains a collection of Mesopotamian art. Official website Mantua tourist guide Mantua tourist guide Summerson, John, The Classical Language of Architecture,1980 edition, Thames and Hudson World of Art series, ISBN0500201773
Palazzo Te
–
Palazzo Te.
Palazzo Te
–
Mannerism 's most famous fresco: Giulio Romano's illusionism invents a dome overhead and dissolves the room's architecture in the Fall of the Giants.
Palazzo Te
–
Loggia
15.
Francis I of France
–
Francis I was the first King of France from the Angoulême branch of the House of Valois, reigning from 1515 until his death. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and he succeeded his cousin and father-in-law Louis XII, who died without a male heir. Francis reign saw important cultural changes with the rise of absolute monarchy in France, the spread of humanism and Protestantism, Jacques Cartier and others claimed lands in the Americas for France and paved the way for the expansion of the first French colonial empire. For his role in the development and promotion of a standardized French language, he became known as le Père et Restaurateur des Lettres. He was also known as François au Grand Nez, the Grand Colas, following the policy of his predecessors, Francis continued the Italian Wars. In his struggle against Imperial hegemony, he sought the support of Henry VIII of England at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. When this was unsuccessful, he formed a Franco-Ottoman alliance with the Muslim sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, a controversial move for a Christian king at the time. Francis was born on 12 September 1494 at the Château de Cognac in the town of Cognac, which at that time lay in the province of Saintonge, today the town lies in the department of Charente. Francis was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. His family was not expected to inherit the throne, as his third cousin King Charles VIII was still young at the time of his birth, as was his fathers cousin the Duke of Orléans, later King Louis XII. However, Charles VIII died childless in 1498 and was succeeded by Louis XII, the Salic Law prevailed in France, thus females were ineligible to inherit the throne. Therefore, the four-year-old Francis became the heir presumptive to the throne of France in 1498 and was vested with the title of Duke of Valois. In 1505, Louis XII, having fallen ill, ordered that his daughter Claude and Francis be married immediately, Claude was heiress to the Duchy of Brittany through her mother, Anne of Brittany. Following Annes death, the took place on 18 May 1514. Louis died shortly afterwards and Francis inherited the throne and he was crowned King of France in the Cathedral of Reims on 25 January 1515, with Claude as his queen consort. As Francis was receiving his education, ideas emerging from the Italian Renaissance were influential in France, some of his tutors, such as François Desmoulins de Rochefort and Christophe de Longueil, were attracted by these new ways of thinking and attempted to influence Francis. His academic education had been in arithmetic, geography, grammar, history, reading, spelling, Francis came to learn chivalry, dancing, and music and he loved archery, falconry, horseback riding, hunting, jousting, real tennis and wrestling. He ended up reading philosophy and theology and he was fascinated with art, literature, poetry and his mother, who had a high admiration for Italian Renaissance art, passed this interest on to her son
Francis I of France
–
Francis I
Francis I of France
–
Francis I painted in 1515
Francis I of France
–
Francis I receiving the last breath of
Leonardo da Vinci in 1519, by
Ingres, painted in 1818.
Francis I of France
–
Francis's
Château de Chambord displays a distinct
French Renaissance architecture.
16.
Hermitage Museum
–
The State Hermitage Museum is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums in the world, it was founded in 1754 by Catherine the Great and has open to the public since 1852. Its collections, of only a small part is on permanent display. The collections occupy a complex of six historic buildings along Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace. Apart from them, the Menshikov Palace, Museum of Porcelain, Storage Facility at Staraya Derevnya, the museum has several exhibition centers abroad. The Hermitage is a state property. Since July 1992, the director of the museum has been Mikhail Piotrovsky, of the six buildings in the main museum complex, five, namely the Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage, New Hermitage and Hermitage Theatre, are open to the public. The entrance ticket for foreign tourists more than the fee paid by citizens of Russia. However, entrance is free of charge the first Thursday of every month for all visitors, the museum is closed on Mondays. The entrance for visitors is located in the Winter Palace. A hermitage is the dwelling of a hermit or recluse, the word derives from Old French hermit, ermit hermit, recluse, from Late Latin eremita, from Greek eremites, literally people who live alone, which is in turn derived from ἐρημός, desert. Originally, the building housing the collection was the Small Hermitage. Today, the Hermitage Museum encompasses many buildings on the Palace Embankment, apart from the Small Hermitage, the museum now also includes the Old Hermitage, the New Hermitage, the Hermitage Theatre, and the Winter Palace, the former main residence of the Russian tsars. In recent years, the Hermitage has expanded to the General Staff Building on the Palace Square facing the Winter Palace, the Western European Art collection includes European paintings, sculpture, and applied art from the 13th to the 20th centuries. It is displayed, in about 120 rooms, on the first, drawings and prints are displayed in temporary exhibitions. Since 1940, the Egyptian collection, dating back to 1852 and it serves as a passage to the exhibition of Classical Antiquities. A modest collection of the culture of Ancient Mesopotamia, including a number of Assyrian reliefs from Babylon, Dur-Sharrukin, the collection of Classical Antiquities occupies most of the ground floor of the Old and New Hermitage buildings. Its floor is made of a marble mosaic imitating ancient tradition, while the stucco walls
Hermitage Museum
–
Winter Palace
Hermitage Museum
–
The Hermitage Museum complex. From left to right: Hermitage Theatre – Old Hermitage – Small Hermitage – Winter Palace (the "New Hermitage" is situated behind the Old Hermitage).
Hermitage Museum
–
Egyptian Hall
Hermitage Museum
–
The Pavilion Hall
17.
Rosso Fiorentino
–
Giovanni Battista di Jacopo, known as Rosso Fiorentino, or Il Rosso, was an Italian Mannerist painter, in oil and fresco, belonging to the Florentine school. Born in Florence with the red hair that gave him his nickname, Rosso first trained in the studio of Andrea del Sarto alongside his contemporary, Pontormo. In late 1523, Rosso moved to Rome, where he was exposed to the works of Michelangelo, Raphael, and other Renaissance artists, resulting in the realignment of his artistic style. Fleeing Rome after the Sacking of 1527, Rosso eventually went to France where he secured a position at the court of Francis I in 1530, remaining there until his death. Together with Francesco Primaticcio, Rosso was one of the artists to work at the Chateau Fontainebleau as part of the First School of Fontainebleau. Following his death in 1540, Francesco Primaticcio took charge of the direction at Fontainebleau. That his masterpiece is in a city, away from the tourist track, was a factor in this. His poses are certainly contorted, and his figures often appear haggard and thin and his masterpiece is generally considered to be the Deposition or Descent from the Cross altarpiece in the Pinacoteca Comunale di Volterra. The three ladders and those carrying down Christ appear precarious, contrast this frenetic, windswept scene with the equally complex, but more restrained composition on the same theme by the near contemporary Florentine Mannerist Pontormo. Rosso would go on to paint a second, darker and more crowded Deposition altarpiece for the church of San Lorenzo in Sansepolcro, Rosso Fiorentinos biography at Web Gallery of Art Examples of Fiorentinos art Example of unfinished Rosso painting showing underdrawing
Rosso Fiorentino
–
Il Rosso, by
Giorgio Vasari
Rosso Fiorentino
–
Moses Defending the Daughters of Jethro by Rosso Fiorentino (c.1523) at the
Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
Rosso Fiorentino
–
A Young Man
18.
Chateau Fontainebleau
–
The Palace of Fontainebleau or Château de Fontainebleau is located 55 kilometres southeast of the centre of Paris, and is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The medieval castle and later château was the residence of French monarchs from Louis VII through Napoleon III, Napoleon I abdicated his throne there before being exiled to Elba. Today, it is a museum and a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is located in the commune of Fontainebleau. The earliest record of a castle at Fontainebleau dates to 1137. It became a residence and hunting lodge of the Kings of France because of the abundant game. It took its name one of the springs, the fountain de Bliaud, located now in the English garden. He commissioned the architect Gilles le Breton to build a palace in the new Renaissance style and it included monumental Porte Dorée, as its southern entrance. As well as a monumental Renaissance stairway, the portique de Serlio, beginning in about 1528, Francis constructed the Gallery Francis I, which allowed him to pass directly from his apartments to the chapel of the Trinitaires. He brought the architect Sebastiano Serlio from Italy, and the Florentine painter Giovanni Battista di Jacopo, known as Rosso Fiorentino, another Italian painter, Francesco Primaticcio from Bologna, joined later in the decoration of the palace. Together their style of decoration became known as the first School of Fontainebleau and this was the first great decorated gallery built in France. Broadly speaking, at Fontainebleau the Renaissance was introduced to France, in about 1540, Francis began another major addition to the chateau. Using land on the east side of the chateau purchased from the order of the Trinitaires, he began to build a new square of buildings around a large courtyard. It was enclosed on the north by the wing of the Ministers, on the east by the wing of Ferrare, the chateau was surrounded by a new park in the style of the Italian Renaissance garden, with pavilions and the first grotto in France. Primaticcio created more monumental murals for the gallery of Ulysses, following the death of Francis I, King Henry II decided to continue and expand the chateau. The King and his wife chose the architects Philibert Delorme and Jean Bullant to do the work and they extended the east wing of the lower court, and decorated it with the first famous horseshoe-shaped staircase. In the oval court, they transformed the loggia planned by Francois into a Salle des Fétes or grand ballroom with a coffered ceiling. Facing the courtyard of the fountain and the pond, they designed a new building. At Henris orders, the Nymphe de Fontainebleau was installed at the entrance of Château dAnet
Chateau Fontainebleau
–
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Chateau Fontainebleau
–
The Oval Courtyard, with the Medieval donjon, a vestige of the original castle where the King's apartments were located, in the center.
Chateau Fontainebleau
–
The Gallery of Francis I, connecting the King's apartments with the chapel, decorated between 1533 and 1539. It introduced the Italian Renaissance style to France.
19.
School of Fontainebleau
–
In 1532 he was joined by another Italian artist, Francesco Primaticcio. Rosso died in France in 1540, on the advice of Primaticcio, Niccolò dellAbbate was invited to France in 1552 by Françoiss son Henri II. Although known for their work at Fontainebleau, these artists were invited to create works of art for other noble families of the period and were much esteemed. The works of this first school of Fontainebleau are characterized by the use of stucco and frescos. Renaissance decorative motifs such as grotesques, strapwork and putti are common, the figures are elegant and show the influence of the techniques of the Italian Mannerism of Michelangelo, Raphael and especially Parmigianino. Primaticcio was also directed to make copies of antique Roman statues for the king, many of the works of Rosso, Primaticcio and dellAbate have not survived, parts of the Chateau were remodelled at various dates. The paintings of the group were reproduced in prints, mostly etchings, which were produced initially at Fontainebleau itself. These disseminated the style through France and beyond, and also several paintings that have not survived. These were the first etchings made in France, and not far behind the first Italian uses of the technique, the earliest impressions of all the Fontainebleau prints are in brown ink, and their intention seems to have been essentially reproductive. The intention of the workshop was to disseminate the new style developing at the more widely. Whether the initiative to do came from the king or another patron. David Landau believes that Primaticcio was the force, he had stepped up to become the director of the work at Fontainebleau after the suicide of Rosso Fiorentino in 1540. The enterprise seems to have been just slightly premature in terms of catching a market, the plates were often poorly executed and not well printed, they were often scratched or not well polished and did not wipe clean. Some may have made of metals soft as copper, such as pewter. A broadening market for prints preferred the highly finished textures of Nicolas Beatrizet, Rosso Fiorentino Francesco Primaticcio Niccolò dellAbbate Juste de Juste Franco-Italian sculptor and etcher Luca Penni Francesco Scibec da Carpi Italian furniture maker, who worked on the boiseries. They are sometimes referred to as the school of Fontainebleau. Their late mannerist works, many of which have been lost, continue in the use of elongated and undulating forms, many of their subjects include mythological scenes and scenes from works of fiction by the Italian Torquato Tasso and the ancient Greek novelist Heliodorus of Emesa. Their style would continue to have an influence on artists through the first decades of the 17th century, but other artistic currents would soon eclipse them
School of Fontainebleau
–
"Diane the Huntress" - School of Fontainebleau (1550-60) (Louvre)
School of Fontainebleau
–
Portrait of Gabrielle d'Estrées and Duchess of Villars, School of Fontainebleau, c.1594
School of Fontainebleau
–
"Lady at her Toilet" - School of Fontainebleau (1585–1595) (
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon)
20.
Cartoon
–
A cartoon is a type of two-dimensional illustration. An artist who creates cartoons is called a cartoonist, the concept originated in the Middle Ages and first described a preparatory drawing for a piece of art, such as a painting, fresco, tapestry, or stained glass window. In the 19th century, it came to refer to humorous illustrations in magazines and newspapers, in the 21st century, cartoons could be published on the Internet. A cartoon is a drawing made on sturdy paper as a study or modello for a painting. Cartoons were typically used in the production of frescoes, to link the component parts of the composition when painted on damp plaster over a series of days. Such cartoons often have pinpricks along the outlines of the design so that a bag of soot patted or pounced over the cartoon, held against the wall, would leave black dots on the plaster. Cartoons by painters, such as the Raphael Cartoons in London, tapestry cartoons, usually coloured, were followed with the eye by the weavers on the loom. In modern print media, a cartoon is an illustration or series of illustrations and this usage dates from 1843, when Punch magazine applied the term to satirical drawings in its pages, particularly sketches by John Leech. The first of these parodied the preparatory cartoons for grand historical frescoes in the then-new Palace of Westminster, Cartoons can be divided into gag cartoons, which include editorial cartoons, and comic strips. Modern single-panel gag cartoons, found in magazines, generally consist of a drawing with a typeset caption positioned beneath. Newspaper syndicates have also distributed single-panel gag cartoons by Mel Calman, Bill Holman, Gary Larson, George Lichty, Fred Neher, many consider New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno the father of the modern gag cartoon. The roster of magazine gag cartoonists includes names like Charles Addams, Charles Barsotti, Bill Hoest, Jerry Marcus and Virgil Partch began as magazine gag cartoonists and moved to syndicated comic strips. Richard Thompson is noteworthy in the area of newspaper cartoon illustration, the sports section of newspapers usually featured cartoons, sometimes including syndicated features such as Chester Chet Browns All in Sport. Editorial cartoons are found almost exclusively in news publications and news websites, although they also employ humor, they are more serious in tone, commonly using irony or satire. The art usually acts as a metaphor to illustrate a point of view on current social and/or political topics. Editorial cartoons often include speech balloons and sometimes use multiple panels, editorial cartoonists of note include Herblock, David Low, Jeff MacNelly, Mike Peters and Gerald Scarfe. Comic strips, also known as cartoon strips in the United Kingdom, are daily in newspapers worldwide. In the United States, they are not commonly called cartoons themselves, nonetheless, the creators of comic strips—as well as comic books and graphic novels—are usually referred to as cartoonists
Cartoon
–
John Leech, Cartoon no.1: Substance and Shadow, 1843, satirized preparatory cartoons for frescoes in the Palace of Westminster, creating the modern meaning of "cartoon".
Cartoon
–
Example of a modern cartoon. The text was excerpted by cartoonist Greg Williams from the Wikipedia article on
Dr. Seuss.
Cartoon
–
Nast depicts the
Tweed Ring: "Who stole the people's money?" / "'Twas him."
21.
Tapestry
–
Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven on a vertical loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work. In tapestry weaving, weft yarns are typically discontinuous, the artisan interlaces each coloured weft back and it is a plain weft-faced weave having weft threads of different colours worked over portions of the warp to form the design. Most weavers use a warp thread, such as linen or cotton. The weft threads are usually wool or cotton, but may include silk, gold, silver, the earliest attested form of the word is the Mycenaean Greek
Tapestry
–
One of the tapestries in the series
The Hunt of the Unicorn: The Unicorn is Found, circa 1495-1505,
the Cloisters,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Tapestry
–
Henry VIII is seated beneath a tapestry cloth of state
Tapestry
–
Detail of Naissance de Marie
Aubusson tapestry in the cloister of
Church of St. Trophime, Arles
Tapestry
–
The Attainment, one of the
Holy Grail tapestries,
Morris & Co., 1890s
22.
Masque
–
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio. Professional actors and musicians were hired for the speaking and singing parts, in the tradition of masque, Louis XIV of France danced in ballets at Versailles with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully. The masque tradition developed from the elaborate pageants and courtly shows of ducal Burgundy in the late Middle Ages, masques were typically a complimentary offering to the prince among his guests and might combine pastoral settings, mythological fable, and the dramatic elements of ethical debate. There would invariably be some political and social application of the allegory, such pageants often celebrated a birth, marriage, change of ruler or a Royal Entry and invariably ended with a tableau of bliss and concord. Masque imagery tended to be drawn from Classical rather than Christian sources, Masque thus lent itself to Mannerist treatment in the hands of master designers like Giulio Romano or Inigo Jones. The New Historians, in works like the essays of Bevington, in English masques, purely musical interludes might be accompanied by a dumbshow. The rustic presentation of Pyramus and Thisbe as an entertainment in Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream offers a familiar example. Spectators were invited to join in the dancing, at the end, the players would take off their masks to reveal their identities. A descriptive narrative of a processional masque is the masque of the Seven Deadly Sins in Edmund Spensers The Faerie Queene, a particularly elaborate masque, performed over the course of two weeks for Queen Elizabeth, is described in the 1821 novel Kenilworth, by Sir Walter Scott. Later, in the court of James I, narrative elements of the masque became more significant, plots were often on classical or allegorical themes, glorifying the royal or noble sponsor. At the end, the audience would join with the actors in a final dance, Ben Jonson wrote a number of masques with stage design by Inigo Jones. Their works are thought of as the most significant in the form. Sir Philip Sidney also wrote masques, william Shakespeare wrote a masque-like interlude in The Tempest, understood by modern scholars to have been heavily influenced by the masque texts of Ben Jonson and the stagecraft of Inigo Jones. There is also a sequence in his Romeo and Juliet. John Miltons Comus is described as a masque, though it is reckoned a pastoral play. Reconstructions of Stuart masques have been few and far between, part of the problem is that only texts survive complete, there is no complete music, only fragments, so no authoritative performance can be made without interpretive invention. In the 18th-century, masques were even less frequently staged, but because of its ephemeral nature, not a lot of documentation related to masques remains, and much of what is said about the production and enjoyment of masques is still part speculation. While the masque was no longer as popular as it was at its height in the 17th Century, during the late 17th century, English semi-operas by composers such as Henry Purcell had masque scenes inset between the acts of the play proper
Masque
–
Costume for a Knight, by
Inigo Jones: the plumed helmet, the
"heroic torso" in armour and other conventions were still employed for
opera seria in the 18th century.
23.
Roman sculpture
–
The study of Roman sculpture is complicated by its relation to Greek sculpture. Many examples of even the most famous Greek sculptures, such as the Apollo Belvedere, examples of Roman sculpture are abundantly preserved, in total contrast to Roman painting, which was very widely practiced but has almost all been lost. Latin and some Greek authors, particularly Pliny the Elder in Book 34 of his Natural History, describe statues, and a few of these descriptions match extant works. Most statues were actually far more lifelike and often brightly colored when originally created, early Roman art was influenced by the art of Greece and that of the neighbouring Etruscans, themselves greatly influenced by their Greek trading partners. An Etruscan speciality was near life size tomb effigies in terracotta, vast numbers of Greek statues were imported to Rome, whether as booty or the result of extortion or commerce, and temples were often decorated with re-used Greek works. A native Italian style can be seen in the monuments of prosperous middle-class Romans, which very often featured portrait busts. The Tomb of Eurysaces the Baker, a successful freedman has a frieze that is a large example of the plebeian style. For a much wider section of the population, moulded relief decoration of vessels and small figurines were produced in great quantity. Even the most important imperial monuments now showed stumpy, large-eyed figures in a harsh frontal style, the hallmark of the style wherever it appears consists of an emphatic hardness, heaviness and angularity — in short, an almost complete rejection of the classical tradition. During the Imperial era, more idealized statues of Roman emperors became ubiquitous, tombstones of even the modestly rich middle class sometimes exhibit portraits of the otherwise unknown deceased carved in relief. Among the many museums with examples of Roman portrait sculpture, the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, religious art was also a major form of Roman sculpture. A central feature of a Roman temple was the statue of the deity. Although images of deities were also displayed in gardens and parks. These typically show more variation in style than large and more official works. Elsewhere the stela gravestone remained more common, Sarcophagi divide into a number of styles, by the producing area. The time taken to make them encouraged the use of standard subjects, to which inscriptions might be added to personalize them, the sarcophagi offer examples of intricate reliefs that depict scenes often based on Greek and Roman mythology or mystery religions that offered personal salvation, and allegorical representations. Roman funerary art also offers a variety of scenes from life, such as game-playing, hunting. The Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus is of type, asnd the earlier Dogmatic Sarcophagus rather simpler
Roman sculpture
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Allegorical scene from the
Augustan Ara Pacis, 13 BCE, a highpoint of the state Greco-Roman style.
Roman sculpture
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Section of
Trajan's Column, CE 113, with scenes from the
Dacian Wars
Roman sculpture
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Arch of Constantine, 315:
Hadrian lion-hunting (left) and sacrificing (right), above a section of the Constantinian frieze, showing the contrast of styles.
Roman sculpture
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Etruscan sarcophagus, 3rd century BCE
24.
Parterre
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A parterre is a formal garden constructed on a level substrate, consisting of plant beds, typically in symmetrical patterns, which are separated and connected by paths. The borders of the plant beds may be formed with stone or tightly pruned hedging, the paths are constituted with gravel or turf grass. French parterres originated in the gardens of the French Renaissance of the 15th century, later, during the 17th century Baroque era, they became more elaborate and stylised. The French parterre reached its greatest development at the Palace of Versailles, claude Mollet, the founder of a dynasty of nurserymen-designers that lasted into the 18th century, developed the parterre in France. His inspiration in developing the 16th-century patterned compartimens, i. e. C, clipped boxwood met with resistance from horticultural patrons for its naughtie smell as the herbalist Gervase Markham described it. By the 1630s, elaborate parterres de broderie appeared at Wilton House in Wilton, England that were so magnificent that they were engraved, which engraving is the only remaining trace of them. Parterres de pelouse or parterres de gazon denominate cutwork parterres of low growing herbs, e. g. camomile, the separation of plant beds of a pareterre is denominated an alley of compartiment. Parterre gardens lost favour in the 18th century and were superseded by naturalistic English landscape gardens, level substrates and a raised vantage point from which to view the design were required, and so the parterre was revived in a modified style. At Kensington Palace the planting of the parterres was by Henry Wise, whose nursery was nearby at Brompton, subsidiary wings have subsidiary parterres, with no attempt at overall integration. To either side, walls with busts on herm pedestals backed by young trees screen the parterre from the garden spaces. Formal baroque patterns have given way to symmetrical paired free scrolling rococo arabesques, little attempt seems to have been made to fit the framework to the shape of the parterre. Beyond paired basins have central jets of water, in the UK, modern parterres exist at Trereife Park in Penzance, at Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfriesshire and at Bodysgallen Hall near Llandudno. Examples can also be found in the Republic of Ireland, such as at Birr Castle, sentinel pyramids of yew stand at the corners. Some early knot gardens have been covered over by lawn or other landscaping, an example of this phenomenon is the early 17th-century garden of Muchalls Castle in Scotland. At Charlecote Park in Warwickshire the original parterre from the 1700s has been recreated on the terrace overlooking the river, making of a modern parterre This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chambers, Ephraim, ed. article name needed. Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, james and John Knapton, et al
Parterre
–
Kensington Palace engraved by
Jan Kip for Britannia Illustrata, 1707/8
Parterre
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The left hand side of the completely symmetrical parterre at
Waddesdon Manor, England
Parterre
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Modern parterre at
Birr Castle, Ireland
Parterre
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The parterre at Cliveden from the terrace, with the newly restored 19th-century style planting.
25.
Henry II of France
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Henry II was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder brother Francis III, Duke of Brittany, as a child, Henry and his elder brother spent over four years in captivity in Spain as hostages in exchange for their father. Henry pursued his fathers policies in matter of arts, wars and he persevered in the Italian Wars against the House of Habsburg and tried to suppress the Protestant Reformation, even as the Huguenot numbers were increasing drastically in France during his reign. Henry suffered a death in a jousting tournament held to celebrate the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis at the conclusion of the Eighth Italian War. The kings surgeon, Ambroise Paré, was unable to cure the infected wound inflicted by Gabriel de Montgomery and he was succeeded in turn by three of his sons, whose ineffective reigns helped to spark the French Wars of Religion between Protestants and Catholics. Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris and his father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by the forces of his sworn enemy, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and held prisoner in Spain. To obtain his release, it was agreed that Henry and his brother be sent to Spain in his place. They remained in captivity for four years. Henry married Catherine de Medici, a member of the family of Florence, on 28 October 1533. The following year, he became involved with a thirty-five-year-old widow. They had always very close, she had publicly embraced him on the day he set off to Spain. Diane became Henrys mistress and most trusted confidante and, for the next years, wielded considerable influence behind the scenes. Extremely confident, mature and intelligent, she left Catherine powerless to intervene and she did, however, insist that Henry sleep with Catherine in order to produce heirs to the throne. When his elder brother Francis, the Dauphin and Duke of Brittany, died in 1536 after a game of tennis and he succeeded his father on his 28th birthday and was crowned King of France on 25 July 1547 at Reims Cathedral. Henrys reign was marked by wars with Austria and the persecution of Protestants, Henry II severely punished them, particularly the ministers, for example by burning at the stake or cutting off their tongues for uttering heresies. Even those only suspected of being Huguenots could be imprisoned and it also strictly regulated publications by prohibiting the sale, importation or printing of any unapproved book. It was during the reign of Henry II that Huguenot attempts at establishing a colony in Brazil were made, persecution of Protestants at home did not prevent Henry II from becoming allied with German Protestant princes at the Treaty of Chambord in 1552. Simultaneously, the continuation of his fathers Franco-Ottoman alliance allowed Henry II to push for French conquests towards the Rhine while a Franco-Ottoman fleet defended southern France, an early offensive into Lorraine was successful
Henry II of France
–
Henry II
Henry II of France
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Henry as a child
Henry II of France
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Entrance of Henri II in
Metz in 1552, after the signature of the
Treaty of Chambord.
Henry II of France
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Engraving of Henry II
26.
Francis II of France
–
Francis II was a monarch of the House of Valois-Angoulême who was King of France from 1559 to 1560. He was also King consort of Scotland as a result of his marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots. He ascended the throne of France at the age of fifteen after the death of his father, Henry II. His short reign was dominated by the first stirrings of the French Wars of Religion and they were unable to help Catholics in Scotland against the progressing Scottish Reformation, however, and the Auld Alliance was dissolved. Francis was succeeded by two of his brothers in turn, both of whom were unable to reduce tensions between Protestants and Catholics. Born eleven years after his parents wedding, Francis was named for his grandfather and he was baptized on 10 February 1544 at the Chapelle des Trinitaires in Fontainebleau. His godparents were Francis I, Pope Paul III, and his great-aunt Marguerite de Navarre and he became governor of Languedoc in 1546, and Dauphin of France in 1547, when his grandfather Francis I died. Franciss governor was Jean dHumières and his tutor was Pierre Danès and he learned dancing from Virgilio Bracesco and fencing from Hector of Mantua. King Henry II, his father, arranged a betrothal for his son to Mary, Queen of Scots, in the Châtillon agreement of 27 January 1548. Mary had been crowned Queen of Scots in Stirling Castle on 9 September 1543 at the age of nine following the death of her father James V. Besides being the queen of Scotland, Mary was a granddaughter of Claude, Duke of Guise, once the marriage agreement was formally ratified, the six-year-old Mary was sent to France to be raised at court until the marriage. On 24 April 1558, the fourteen-year-old Dauphin married the Queen of Scots in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It was a union that could have given the kings of France the throne of Scotland and also a claim to the throne of England through Marys great grandfather. Until his death, Francis held the title King of Scotland, Mary and Francis were to have no children during their short marriage, however, possibly due to Francis illnesses or his undescended testicles. A little over a year after his marriage, on 10 July 1559, Francis became king at the age of fifteen upon the death of his father Henry II, on 21 September 1559, Francis II was crowned king in Reims by his uncle Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine. The crown was so heavy that nobles had to hold it in place for him, the court then moved to the Loire Valley, where the Château de Blois and the surrounding forests were the new kings home. Francis II took the sun for his emblem and for his mottoes Spectanda fides, according to French law, Francis at the age of fifteen was an adult who in theory did not need a regent. But since he was young, inexperienced, and in health, he delegated his power to his wifes uncles from the noble House of Guise, François, Duke of Guise
Francis II of France
–
Francis II
Francis II of France
–
Francis of Lorraine, Duke of Guise. Pencil portrait by
François Clouet.
Francis II of France
–
Henry II
Francis II of France
–
The execution of the conspirators Engraving by Jacques Tortorel and Jean Perrissin, 1569–1570
27.
Abbey Church of Saint Denis
–
The Basilica of Saint Denis is a large medieval abbey church in the city of Saint-Denis, now a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of unique importance historically and architecturally as its choir, completed in 1144, the site originated as a Gallo-Roman cemetery in late Roman times. The archeological remains still lie beneath the cathedral, the people buried there seem to have had a faith that was a mix of Christian and pre-Christian beliefs, around 475 St. Genevieve purchased some land and built Saint-Denys de la Chapelle. In 636 on the orders of Dagobert I the relics of Saint Denis, the relics of St-Denis, which had been transferred to the parish church of the town in 1795, were brought back again to the abbey in 1819. Saint-Denis soon became the church of a growing monastic complex. In the 12th century the Abbot Suger rebuilt portions of the church using innovative structural. In doing so, he is said to have created the first truly Gothic building, the abbey church became a cathedral in 1966 and is the seat of the Bishop of Saint-Denis, Pascal Michel Ghislain Delannoy. Although known as the Basilica of St Denis, the cathedral has not been granted the title of Minor Basilica by the Vatican, Saint Denis, a patron saint of France, became the first bishop of Paris. A martyrium was erected on the site of his grave, which became a place of pilgrimage during the fifth and sixth centuries. Dagobert, the king of the Franks, refounded the church as the Abbey of Saint Denis, Dagobert also commissioned a new shrine to house the saints remains, which was created by his chief councillor, Eligius, a goldsmith by training. He composed a crest and a magnificent frontal and surrounded the throne of the altar with golden axes in a circle and he placed golden apples there, round and jeweled. He made a pulpit and a gate of silver and a roof for the throne of the altar on silver axes and he made a covering in the place before the tomb and fabricated an outside altar at the feet of the holy martyr. So much industry did he lavish there, at the kings request, the Basilica of St Denis ranks as an architectural landmark—as the first major structure of which a substantial part was designed and built in the Gothic style. Both stylistically and structurally, it heralded the change from Romanesque architecture to Gothic architecture, before the term Gothic came into common use, it was known as the French Style. As it now stands, the church is a cruciform building of basilica form. It has an aisle on the northern side formed of a row of chapels. The west front has three portals, a window and one tower, on the southern side. The eastern end, which is built over a crypt, is apsidal, surrounded by an ambulatory, the basilica retains stained glass of many periods, including exceptional modern glass, and a set of twelve misericords
Abbey Church of Saint Denis
–
West façade of Saint Denis
Abbey Church of Saint Denis
–
West façade of Saint Denis, before the dismantling of the north tower (c. 1844 – 1845)
Abbey Church of Saint Denis
–
15th-century painting by the
Master of Saint Giles, showing St Denis saying mass before
Charlemagne or
Charles Martel with what is thought to be a largely accurate view of the abbey with a
crux gemmata given by
Charles the Bald and gold altar frontal, both destroyed in the Revolution.
Abbey Church of Saint Denis
–
The north transept rose features the
Tree of Jesse.
28.
Bucephalus
–
Bucephalus or Bucephalas was the horse of Alexander the Great, and one of the most famous actual horses of antiquity. Ancient accounts state that Bucephalus died after the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC, in what is now modern Pakistan, another account states that Bucephalus is buried in Phalia, a town in Pakistans Mandi Bahauddin District, which is named after him. Bucephalus was named after a branding mark depicting an oxs head on his haunch, a massive creature with a massive head, Bucephalus is described as having a black coat with a large white star on his brow. He is also supposed to have had an eye. However, Alexander was, and he offered to pay himself should he fail to tame it, Alexander was given a chance and surprised all by subduing it. He spoke soothingly to the horse and turned it towards the sun so that it could no longer see its own shadow, dropping his fluttering cloak as well, Alexander successfully tamed the horse. Plutarch says that the incident so impressed Philip that he told the boy, O my son, look out a kingdom equal to and worthy of thyself. Philips speech strikes the only false note in the anecdote, according to AR Anderson, the Alexander Romance presents a mythic variant of Bucephaluss origin. In this tale, the colt, whose heroic attributes surpassed even those of Pegasus, is bred and presented to Philip on his own estates, as one of his chargers, Bucephalus served Alexander in numerous battles. The value which Alexander placed on Bucephalus emulated his hero and supposed ancestor Achilles, poseidon gave them to my father Peleus, who in his turn gave them to myself. Arrian states, with Onesicritus as his source, that Bucephalus died at the age of thirty. Other sources, however, give as the cause of death not old age or weariness, Alexander promptly founded a city, Bucephala, in honour of his horse. It lay on the west bank of the Hydaspes river, the modern-day town of Jalalpur Sharif, outside Jhelum, is said to be where Bucephalus is buried. The pair forged a sort of cult in that, after them, it was all, Bucephalus is referenced in art and literature. Paintings of Charles Le Bruns Alexandrine subjects, including Bucephalus, survive today in the Louvre, one in particular, The Passage of the Granicus, depicts the warhorse battling the difficulties of the steep muddy river banks, biting and kicking his foes. One interpretation of the ancient statue group The Horse Tamers in the Piazza del Quirinale in Rome is Alexander, Bucephalus Media related to Bucephalus at Wikimedia Commons
Bucephalus
–
Seleucus I coin depicting Bucephalos.
Bucephalus
–
Alexander taming Bucephalus
Bucephalus
–
A statue by
John Steell showing Alexander taming Bucephalus
Bucephalus
–
Alexander and Bucephalus in combat at the
battle of Issus portrayed in the
Alexander Mosaic
29.
Helen of Troy
–
In Greek mythology, Helen of Troy, also known as Helen of Sparta, or simply Helen, was the daughter of Zeus and Leda, and was a sister of Castor, Pollux, and Clytemnestra. In Greek myths, she was considered the most beautiful woman in the world, by marriage she was Queen of Laconia, a province within Homeric Greece, the wife of King Menelaus. Her abduction by Prince Paris of Troy brought about the Trojan War, elements of her putative biography come from classical authors such as Aristophanes, Cicero, Euripides and Homer. In her youth, she was abducted by Theseus, a competition between her suitors for her hand in marriage sees Menelaus emerge victorious. An oath sworn beforehand by all the suitors requires them to military assistance in the case of her abduction. When she marries Menelaus she is very young, whether her subsequent involvement with Paris is an abduction or a seduction is ambiguous. The legends recounting Helens fate in Troy are contradictory, Homer depicts her as a wistful figure, even a sorrowful one, who comes to regret her choice and wishes to be reunited with Menelaus. Other accounts have a treacherous Helen who simulates Bacchic rites and rejoices in the carnage, ultimately, Paris was killed in action, and in Homers account Helen was reunited with Menelaus, though other versions of the legend recount her ascending to Olympus instead. A cult associated with her developed in Hellenistic Laconia, both at Sparta and elsewhere, at Therapne she shared a shrine with Menelaus and she was also worshiped in Attica and on Rhodes. Her beauty inspired artists of all time to represent her, frequently as the personification of ideal beauty, Christopher Marlowes lines from his tragedy Doctor Faustus are frequently cited, Was this the face that launchd a thousand ships/And burnt the topless towers of Ilium. However, in the play this meeting and the ensuing temptation are not unambiguously positive, closely preceding death, images of her start appearing in the 7th century BC. In classical Greece, her abduction by—or elopement with—Paris was a popular motif, in medieval illustrations, this event was frequently portrayed as a seduction, whereas in Renaissance painting it is usually depicted as a rape by Paris. The fact that rape and kidnapping were interchangeable terms lends additional ambiguity to the story, the etymology of Helens name continues to be a problem for scholars. Georg Curtius related Helen to the moon, Émile Boisacq considered Ἑλένη to derive from the noun ἑλένη meaning torch. It has also suggested that the λ of Ἑλένη arose from an original ν. Linda Lee Clader, however, says none of the above suggestions offers much satisfaction. Inversely, others have connected this etymology to a hypothetical proto-indo-european sun goddess, in particular, her marriage myth may be connected to a broader indo-european marriage drama of the sun goddess, and she is related to the divine twins, just as many of these goddesses are. The origins of Helens myth date back to the Mycenaean age, the first record of her name appears in the poems of Homer, but scholars assume that such myths invented or received by the Mycenaean Greeks made their way to Homer
Helen of Troy
–
Helen and Menelaus: Menelaus intends to strike Helen; captivated by her beauty, he drops his sword. A flying
Eros and
Aphrodite (on the left) watch the scene. Detail of an Attic
red-figure krater, c. 450–440 BC (
Paris,
Louvre)
Helen of Troy
–
Leda and the Swan by
Cesare da Sesto (c. 1506–1510,
Wilton). The artist has been intrigued by the idea of Helen's unconventional birth; she and Clytemnestra are shown emerging from one egg; Castor and Pollux from another.
Helen of Troy
–
Theseus pursuing a woman, probably Helen. Side A from an Attic red-figure bell-krater, c. 440–430 BC (
Louvre, Paris).
Helen of Troy
–
In this painting by
Maarten van Heemskerck Helen, queen of the Greek city-state Sparta, is abducted by Paris, a prince of Troy in Asian Minor. The Walters Art Museum.
30.
Chaalis Abbey
–
Chaalis Abbey was a French Cistercian abbey north of Paris, at Fontaine-Chaalis, near Ermenonville, now in Oise. It was founded in 1136 by Louis VI of France, there had previously been a Benedictine monastery in the same place. The monastery was sold and demolished during the French Revolution but most of the buildings had been ruinous for years previously thanks to mismanagement on the part of the commendatory abbots, among the ruins, a chapel with important frescos by Primaticcio survives intact. The former abbey is now the location of an art museum, like the museum of the same name in Paris it houses a part of the former collection of artworks of Nélie Jacquemart-André. At her death in 1912 she gave it to the Institut de France and asked that a museum should be created in Chaalis, where she had spent her childhood
Chaalis Abbey
–
Remains of Chaalis Abbey
