1.
French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
2.
Tapestry
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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
3.
Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
4.
France
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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
5.
13th arrondissement of Paris
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The 13th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. The neighborhood features a concentration of ethnic Chinese and Vietnamese businesses. The 13th arrondissement also hosts the Bibliothèque François Mitterrand and the newly built district of Paris Rive Gauche. The 13th arrondissement is still growing in population, mainly because of an influx of Asian immigrants, during the late 1970s and early 1980s, the first wave of Vietnamese refugees from the Vietnam War settled in the arrondissement, largely concentrated near Masséna Boulevard. Later waves of refugees and Asian immigrants transitioned from being exclusively ethnic Vietnamese to include ethnic Chinese from Vietnam and these migrants largely settled in the southern area of the arrondissement, creating an Asian quarter and establishing a commercial district and community institutions. Teochew, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Lao and Khmer are spoken by residents in the community. At the last census in 1999, the population was 171,533, the 13th arrondissement is also rapidly growing in business activity, thanks to the new business district of Paris Rive Gauche. In 1999, the arrondissement contained 89,316 jobs, the head office of Accor, including the companys executive management, is in the Immeuble Odyssey in the 13th arrondissement. This facility is the registered office. Ubisoft has its business office in the arrondissement, the teaching and learning center is settled at the number 151. Pariss main Asian district, the Quartier Asiatique, also called la Triangle de Choisy or la petite Asie, is located in the southeast of the arrondissement. The following can be found in area, Les Olympiades, Super-Italie and various other towers among the tallest in Paris Tang Frères and Paristore Asian supermarkets. Chinese community in Paris Vietnamese community in Paris 13th arrondissement travel guide from Wikivoyage
6.
Louis XIV of France
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Louis XIV, known as Louis the Great or the Sun King, was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any monarch of a country in European history. In the age of absolutism in Europe, Louis XIVs France was a leader in the centralization of power. Louis began his rule of France in 1661, after the death of his chief minister. By these means he became one of the most powerful French monarchs, under his rule, the Edict of Nantes, which granted rights to Huguenots, was abolished. The revocation effectively forced Huguenots to emigrate or convert in a wave of dragonnades, which managed to virtually destroy the French Protestant minority. During Louis reign, France was the leading European power, and it fought three wars, the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg. There were also two lesser conflicts, the War of Devolution and the War of the Reunions, warfare defined Louis XIVs foreign policies, and his personality shaped his approach. Impelled by a mix of commerce, revenge, and pique, in peacetime he concentrated on preparing for the next war. He taught his diplomats their job was to create tactical and strategic advantages for the French military, Louis XIV was born on 5 September 1638 in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, to Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. He was named Louis Dieudonné and bore the title of French heirs apparent. At the time of his birth, his parents had married for 23 years. His mother had experienced four stillbirths between 1619 and 1631, leading contemporaries thus regarded him as a divine gift and his birth a miracle of God. Sensing imminent death, Louis XIII decided to put his affairs in order in the spring of 1643, in defiance of custom, which would have made Queen Anne the sole Regent of France, the king decreed that a regency council would rule on his sons behalf. His lack of faith in Queen Annes political abilities was his primary rationale and he did, however, make the concession of appointing her head of the council. Louis relationship with his mother was uncommonly affectionate for the time, contemporaries and eyewitnesses claimed that the Queen would spend all her time with Louis. Both were greatly interested in food and theatre, and it is likely that Louis developed these interests through his close relationship with his mother. This long-lasting and loving relationship can be evidenced by excerpts in Louis journal entries, such as, but attachments formed later by shared qualities of the spirit are far more difficult to break than those formed merely by blood
7.
Auguste Perret
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Auguste Perret was a French architect and entrepreneur who worked in collaboration with his two younger brothers, Claude and Gustave Perret. He was one of the pioneers of the use of reinforced concrete. After World War II he designed a group of buildings in the centre of the city of Le Havre. In 2005, his post-World War II reconstruction of city was declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. Auguste Perret was born in Ixelles, Belgium, where his father and he received his early education in architecture in the family firm. He was accepted in the course of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Where he studied under Julien Guadet, a Beaux Arts neoclassicist who had collaborated with Charles Garnier on the construction of the Paris Opera. Beyond the neoclassical rationalism he learned from Gaudet, Perrets particular interest was the structure of buildings, though he was considered a brilliant student, he left School without obtaining a diploma and went to work for the family firm. Perret immediately began experimenting with concrete and his first important project was an apartment building on rue Franklin in Paris, where the concrete structure, instead of being concealed, was clearly visible and was a part of the exterior design. His most famous building was the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées a project which he took over from the Art Nouveau architect Henry van de Velde, the facade was simple and decorated only with a sculptural bas-relief by Antoine Bourdelle. The corner of the building was smooth and rounded, anticipating the Streamline Moderne style three decades later, thanks to the use of concrete pillars, the interior lobby and the theater itself was vast and open, unobstructed by columns. The interior decoration featured works by the modernist artists of the day, a dome by Maurice Denis, paintings by Édouard Vuillard and Jacqueline Marval, and a stage curtain by Ker-Xavier Roussel. In his later works, Perret used concrete in imaginative ways to achieve the functions of his buildings, while preserving classical harmony, symmetry and he experimented with concrete forms to achieve the best acoustics for the concert hall of the École Normale de Musique de Paris in Paris. In 1952 he completed construction of the Saclay Nuclear Research Centre in the Paris suburb of Essonne and he described this building as a Small Versailles for nuclear research. Most of Frances early nuclear reactors were constructed within the site and his other major postwar projects were the reconstruction of the center of the port of Le Havre, which had been almost totally destroyed during the war. His first plan was rejected as too ambitious, but his plans were followed and were later listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. His last major work, finished after his death, was the St. Josephs Church, Le Havre, whose most prominent feature is its tower, like a lighthouse,107 meters high and he also participated in the postwar reconstruction of the port of Marseille and Amiens. From 1940 Perret taught at the École des Beaux-Arts and he won the Royal Gold Medal in 1948 and the AIA Gold Medal in 1952
8.
Gobelin
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The first head of the firm was named Jehan. He discovered a kind of scarlet dyestuff, and he expended so much money on his establishment that it was named by the common people la folie Gobelin. To the dye-works there was added in the 16th century a manufactory of tapestry, the familys wealth increased so rapidly that in the third or fourth generation some of them forsook their trade and purchased titles of nobility. The name of the Gobelins as dyers cannot be later than the end of the 17th century. Gobelins Manufactory Gobelins Database Marketplace The Gobelin and Handicraft Art Association
9.
Dye
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A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is applied in an aqueous solution, and may require a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber. Both dyes and pigments are colored because they absorb some wavelengths of light more than others, in contrast to dyes, pigments are insoluble and have no affinity for the substrate. Some dyes can be precipitated with a salt to produce a lake pigment. The majority of natural dyes are from plant sources, roots, berries, bark, leaves, and wood, fungi, textile dyeing dates back to the Neolithic period. Throughout history, people have dyed their textiles using common, locally available materials, scarce dyestuffs that produced brilliant and permanent colors such as the natural invertebrate dyes Tyrian purple and crimson kermes were highly prized luxury items in the ancient and medieval world. Plant-based dyes such as woad, indigo, saffron, and madder were raised commercially and were important trade goods in the economies of Asia, across Asia and Africa, patterned fabrics were produced using resist dyeing techniques to control the absorption of color in piece-dyed cloth. Dyes from the New World such as cochineal and logwood were brought to Europe by the Spanish treasure fleets, dyed flax fibers have been found in the Republic of Georgia in a prehistoric cave dated to 36,000 BP. Archaeological evidence shows that, particularly in India and Phoenicia, dyeing has been carried out for over 5,000 years. The dyes were obtained from animal, vegetable or mineral origin, by far the greatest source of dyes has been from the plant kingdom, notably roots, berries, bark, leaves and wood, but only a few have ever been used on a commercial scale. The discovery of synthetic dyes late in the 19th century ended the large-scale market for natural dyes. These dyes are made from synthetic resources such as petroleum by-products, the first human-made organic aniline dye, mauveine, was discovered serendipitously by William Henry Perkin in 1856, the result of a failed attempt at the total synthesis of quinine. Other aniline dyes followed, such as fuchsine, safranine, many thousands of synthetic dyes have since been prepared. These may be natural or synthetic, other than pigmentation, they have a range of applications including organic dye lasers, optical media and camera sensors. This is the basic classification Dyes are classified according to their solubility, acid dyes are water-soluble anionic dyes that are applied to fibers such as silk, wool, nylon and modified acrylic fibers using neutral to acid dye baths. Attachment to the fiber is attributed, at least partly, to salt formation between anionic groups in the dyes and cationic groups in the fiber, acid dyes are not substantive to cellulosic fibers. Most synthetic food colors fall in this category, basic dyes are water-soluble cationic dyes that are mainly applied to acrylic fibers, but find some use for wool and silk. Usually acetic acid is added to the dye bath to help the uptake of the dye onto the fiber, basic dyes are also used in the coloration of paper
10.
Henry IV of France
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Henry IV, also known by the epithet Good King Henry, was King of Navarre from 1572 to 1610 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first French monarch of the House of Bourbon, baptised as a Catholic but raised in the Protestant faith by his mother Jeanne dAlbret, Queen of Navarre, he inherited the throne of Navarre in 1572 on the death of his mother. As a Huguenot, Henry was involved in the French Wars of Religion, barely escaping assassination in the St. Bartholomews Day massacre, and later led Protestant forces against the royal army. Henry, as Head of the House of Bourbon, was a direct descendant of Louis IX of France. Upon the death of his brother-in-law and distant cousin Henry III of France in 1589 and he initially kept the Protestant faith and had to fight against the Catholic League, which denied that he could wear Frances crown as a Protestant. To obtain mastery over his kingdom, after four years of stalemate, as a pragmatic politician, he displayed an unusual religious tolerance for the era. Notably, he promulgated the Edict of Nantes, which guaranteed religious liberties to Protestants and he was assassinated in 1610 by François Ravaillac, a fanatical Catholic, and was succeeded by his son Louis XIII. Considered a usurper by some Catholics and a traitor by some Protestants, an unpopular king immediately after his accession, Henrys popularity greatly improved after his death, in light of repeated victories over his enemies and his conversion to Catholicism. The Good King Henry was remembered for his geniality and his concern about the welfare of his subjects. He was celebrated in the popular song Vive le roi Henri, Henry was born in Pau, the capital of the joint Kingdom of Navarre with the sovereign principality of Béarn. His parents were Queen Joan III of Navarre and her consort, Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, although baptised as a Roman Catholic, Henry was raised as a Protestant by his mother, who had declared Calvinism the religion of Navarre. As a teenager, Henry joined the Huguenot forces in the French Wars of Religion, on 9 June 1572, upon his mothers death, he became King of Navarre. At Queen Joans death, it was arranged for Henry to marry Margaret of Valois, daughter of Henry II, the wedding took place in Paris on 18 August 1572 on the parvis of Notre Dame Cathedral. On 24 August, the Saint Bartholomews Day Massacre began in Paris, several thousand Protestants who had come to Paris for Henrys wedding were killed, as well as thousands more throughout the country in the days that followed. Henry narrowly escaped death thanks to the help of his wife and he was made to live at the court of France, but he escaped in early 1576. On 5 February of that year, he formally abjured Catholicism at Tours and he named his 16-year-old sister, Catherine de Bourbon, regent of Béarn. Catherine held the regency for nearly thirty years, Henry became heir presumptive to the French throne in 1584 upon the death of Francis, Duke of Anjou, brother and heir to the Catholic Henry III, who had succeeded Charles IX in 1574. Because Henry of Navarre was the senior agnatic descendant of King Louis IX, King Henry III had no choice
11.
Flanders
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Flanders is the Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium, although there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, language, politics and history. It is one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, the demonym associated with Flanders is Fleming, while the corresponding adjective is Flemish. The official capital of Flanders is Brussels, although Brussels itself has an independent regional government, in historical contexts, Flanders originally refers to the County of Flanders, which around AD1000 stretched from the Strait of Dover to the Scheldt estuary. In accordance with late 20th century Belgian state reforms the area was made two political entities, the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region. These entities were merged, although geographically the Flemish Community, which has a cultural mandate, covers Brussels. Flanders has figured prominently in European history, as a consequence, a very sophisticated culture developed, with impressive achievements in the arts and architecture, rivaling those of northern Italy. Belgium was one of the centres of the 19th century industrial revolution, geographically, Flanders is generally flat, and has a small section of coast on the North Sea. Much of Flanders is agriculturally fertile and densely populated, with a density of almost 500 people per square kilometer. It touches France to the west near the coast, and borders the Netherlands to the north and east, the Brussels Capital Region is an enclave within the Flemish Region. Flanders has exclaves of its own, Voeren in the east is between Wallonia and the Netherlands and Baarle-Hertog in the consists of 22 exclaves surrounded by the Netherlands. It comprises 6.5 million Belgians who consider Dutch to be their mother tongue, the political subdivisions of Belgium, the Flemish Region and the Flemish Community. The first does not comprise Brussels, whereas the latter does comprise the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Brussels, the political institutions that govern both subdivisions, the operative body Flemish Government and the legislative organ Flemish Parliament. The two westernmost provinces of the Flemish Region, West Flanders and East Flanders, forming the central portion of the historic County of Flanders, a feudal territory that existed from the 8th century until its absorption by the French First Republic. Until the 1600s, this county also extended over parts of France, one of the regions conquered by the French in Flanders, namely French Flanders in the Nord department. French Flanders can be divided into two regions, Walloon Flanders and Maritime Flanders. The first region was predominantly French-speaking already in the 1600s, the latter became so in the 20th century, the city of Lille identifies itself as Flemish, and this is reflected, for instance, in the name of its local railway station TGV Lille Flandres. The region conquered by the Dutch Republic in Flanders, now part of the Dutch province of Zeeland, the significance of the County of Flanders and its counts eroded through time, but the designation remained in a very broad sense. In the Early modern period, the term Flanders was associated with the part of the Low Countries
12.
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
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Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister and he achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing and bringing the economy back from the brink of bankruptcy. Historians note that, despite Colberts efforts, France actually became increasingly impoverished because of the Kings excessive spending on wars, Colbert worked to create a favourable balance of trade and increase Frances colonial holdings. He also founded royal tapestry works at Gobelins and supported those at Beauvais, Colbert worked to develop the domestic economy by raising tariffs and by encouraging major public works projects. Colbert also worked to ensure that the French East India Company had access to markets, so that they could always obtain coffee, cotton, dyewoods, fur, pepper. In addition, Colbert founded the French merchant marine, Colbert issued more than 150 edicts to regulate the guilds. One such law had the intention of improving the quality of cloth, the edict declared that if the authorities found a merchants cloth unsatisfactory on three separate occasions, they were to tie him to a post with the cloth attached to him. Colberts father and grandfather operated as merchants in his birthplace of Reims and he claimed to have Scottish ancestry. A general belief exists that he spent his youth at a Jesuit college, working for a Parisian banker. Before the age of 20, Colbert had a post in the war office, Colbert spent some time as an inspector of troops, eventually becoming the personal secretary of Le Tellier. In 1647, through means, Colbert acquired the confiscated goods of an uncle. In 1648, he and his wife Marie Charron, received 40,000 crowns from an unknown source, in 1657, he purchased the Barony of Seignelay. Colbert was recommended to King Louis XIV by Mazarin, while Cardinal Mazarin was in exile, Louis trust in Colbert grew. In 1652 Colbert was asked to manage the affairs of the Cardinal while he was away and this new responsibility would detach Colbert from his other responsibility as commissaire des guerres. Although Colbert was not a supporter of Mazarin in principle, he would defend the cardinals interests with unflagging devotion. Colberts earliest recorded attempt at tax reform came in the form of a mémoire to Mazarin, showing that of the taxes paid by the people, the paper also contained an attack upon the Superintendent Fouquet. The postmaster of Paris, a spy of Fouquets, read the letter, in 1661, Mazarin died and Colbert made sure of the Kings favour by revealing the location of some of Mazarins hidden wealth. In short, Colbert acquired power in every department except that of war, a great financial and fiscal reform at once claimed all his energies
13.
Charles Le Brun
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Charles Le Brun was a French painter and art theorist. Declared by Louis XIV the greatest French artist of all time, he was a dominant figure in 17th-century French art, born in Paris, he attracted the notice of Chancellor Séguier, who placed him at the age of eleven in the studio of Simon Vouet. He was also a pupil of François Perrier, in Rome he remained four years in the receipt of a pension due to the liberality of the chancellor. There he worked under Poussin, adapting the latters theories of art, on his return to Paris in 1646, Le Brun found numerous patrons, of whom Superintendent Fouquet was the most important, for whom he painted a large portrait of Anne of Austria. Employed at Vaux-le-Vicomte, Le Brun ingratiated himself with Mazarin, then secretly pitting Colbert against Fouquet, Colbert also promptly recognized Le Bruns powers of organization, and attached him to his interests. Together they took control of the Academy of Painting and Sculpture, and the Academy of France at Rome, another project Le Brun worked on was Hôtel Lambert. The ceiling in the gallery of Hercules was painted by him, Le Brun started work on the project in 1650, shortly after his return from Italy. The decoration continued intermittently over twelve years or so, as it was interrupted by the renovation of Vaux le Vicomte. In 1660 they established the Gobelins, which at first was a school for the manufacture, not of tapestries only. He was the originator of Louis XIV Style and gave a direction to the national tendencies which endured centuries after his death, the King had declared him the greatest French artist of all time. From this date all that was done in the palaces was directed by Le Brun. In 1663, he director of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. While he was working on The Battles, Le Bruns style became more personal as he moved away from the ancient masters that influenced him. Le Bruns decoration is not only a work of art, it is the monument of a reign. This contributed to the illness which on 22 February 1690 ended in his death in his private mansion, Le Brun primarily worked for King Louis XIV, for whom he executed large altarpieces and battle pieces. His most important paintings are at Versailles, besides his gigantic labours at Versailles and the Louvre, the number of his works for religious corporations and private patrons is enormous. Le Brun was also a fine portraitist and an excellent draughtsman, but he was not fond of portrait or landscape painting, what mattered was scholarly composition, whose ultimate goal was to nourish the spirit. For Le Brun, a painting represented a story one could read, nearly all his compositions have been reproduced by celebrated engravers
14.
Beauvais Manufactory
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Whereas the royal Gobelins manufacture executed tapestries for the royal residences and for ambassadorial gifts, the manufacture at Beauvais always remained a private enterprise. Behagles first successes were a suite of Conquests of the King which complemented a contemporaneous Gobelins suite showing episodes in the Life of the King, a suite of Acts of the Apostles, following copies of Raphaels cartoons, are in the cathedral of Beauvais. The great series of Grotesques initiated in the 1690s became a mainstay of Beauvais production, behagle continued his private workshops in Paris, as had his predecessor. From these shops came the suite of Marine Triumphs with the arms of the comte de Toulouse, on his death in 1705, the Beauvais manufacture was continued by his wife and son, and in 1711 by new proprietors, the brothers Filleul. Between 1722 and 1726, Beauvais was directed by Noël-Antoine de Mérou, and maintained showrooms in Paris, the great period of Beauvais tapestry begins with the arrival of Jean-Baptiste Oudry,22 July 1726, replacing the unsatisfactory Jacques Duplessis. Oudry was simultaneously inspector of the works at Gobelins, the king had the entire production of Gobelins at his disposal, but as Edith Standen points out, they were rather large, rather solemn and definitely old-fashioned. In 1739, for the first time, cartoons for Beauvais were exhibited at the Paris salon, bouchers eight oil sketches for these Tentures chinoises were shown in the Salon of 1742. It was unusual for the sketches to be enlarged to provide cartoons, as in this case. The successful series was woven at Beauvais at least ten times between July 1743 and August 1775, in further copies were made at Aubusson. Media related to Tapestry of Beauvais at Wikimedia Commons
15.
French Revolution
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Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history, the causes of the French Revolution are complex and are still debated among historians. Following the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War, the French government was deeply in debt, Years of bad harvests leading up to the Revolution also inflamed popular resentment of the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the aristocracy. Demands for change were formulated in terms of Enlightenment ideals and contributed to the convocation of the Estates-General in May 1789, a central event of the first stage, in August 1789, was the abolition of feudalism and the old rules and privileges left over from the Ancien Régime. The next few years featured political struggles between various liberal assemblies and right-wing supporters of the intent on thwarting major reforms. The Republic was proclaimed in September 1792 after the French victory at Valmy, in a momentous event that led to international condemnation, Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. External threats closely shaped the course of the Revolution, internally, popular agitation radicalised the Revolution significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins. Large numbers of civilians were executed by revolutionary tribunals during the Terror, after the Thermidorian Reaction, an executive council known as the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795. The rule of the Directory was characterised by suspended elections, debt repudiations, financial instability, persecutions against the Catholic clergy, dogged by charges of corruption, the Directory collapsed in a coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. The modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution, almost all future revolutionary movements looked back to the Revolution as their predecessor. The values and institutions of the Revolution dominate French politics to this day, the French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity. Globally, the Revolution accelerated the rise of republics and democracies and it became the focal point for the development of all modern political ideologies, leading to the spread of liberalism, radicalism, nationalism, socialism, feminism, and secularism, among many others. The Revolution also witnessed the birth of total war by organising the resources of France, historians have pointed to many events and factors within the Ancien Régime that led to the Revolution. Over the course of the 18th century, there emerged what the philosopher Jürgen Habermas called the idea of the sphere in France. A perfect example would be the Palace of Versailles which was meant to overwhelm the senses of the visitor and convince one of the greatness of the French state and Louis XIV. Starting in the early 18th century saw the appearance of the sphere which was critical in that both sides were active. In France, the emergence of the public sphere outside of the control of the saw the shift from Versailles to Paris as the cultural capital of France. In the 1750s, during the querelle des bouffons over the question of the quality of Italian vs, in 1782, Louis-Sébastien Mercier wrote, The word court no longer inspires awe amongst us as in the time of Louis XIV
16.
Bourbon Restoration
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The Bourbon Restoration was the period of French history following the fall of Napoleon in 1814 until the July Revolution of 1830. The brothers of executed Louis XVI of France reigned in highly conservative fashion, and they were nonetheless unable to reverse most of the changes made by the French Revolution and Napoleon. At the Congress of Vienna they were treated respectfully, but had to give up all the gains made since 1789. King Louis XVI of the House of Bourbon had been overthrown and executed during the French Revolution, a coalition of European powers defeated Napoleon in the War of the Sixth Coalition, ended the First Empire in 1814, and restored the monarchy to the brothers of Louis XVI. The Bourbon Restoration lasted from 6 April 1814 until the uprisings of the July Revolution of 1830. There was an interlude in spring 1815—the Hundred Days—when the return of Napoleon forced the Bourbons to flee France, when Napoleon was again defeated by the Seventh Coalition they returned to power in July. During the Restoration, the new Bourbon regime was a monarchy, unlike the absolutist Ancien Régime. The period was characterized by a conservative reaction, and consequent minor but consistent occurrences of civil unrest. It also saw the reestablishment of the Catholic Church as a power in French politics. The eras of the French Revolution and Napoleon brought a series of changes to France which the Bourbon Restoration did not reverse. First of all, France became highly centralized, with all decisions made in Paris, the political geography was completely reorganized and made uniform. France was divided more than 80 departments, which have endured into the 21st century. Each department had an administrative structure, and was tightly controlled by a prefect appointed by Paris. The Catholic Church lost all its lands and buildings during the Revolution, the bishop still ruled his diocese, and communicated with the pope through the government in Paris. Bishops, priests, nuns and other people were paid salaries by the state. All the old rites and ceremonies were retained, and the government maintained the religious buildings. The Church was allowed to operate its own seminaries and to some extent local schools as well, bishops were much less powerful than before, and had no political voice. However, the Catholic Church reinvented itself and put a new emphasis on personal religiosity that gave it a hold on the psychology of the faithful, education was centralized, with the Grand Master of the University of France controlling every element of the entire educational system from Paris
17.
Paris Commune
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The Paris Commune was a radical socialist and revolutionary government that ruled Paris from 18 March to 28 May 1871. Following the defeat of Emperor Napoleon III in September 1870, the French Second Empire swiftly collapsed, in its stead rose a Third Republic at war with Prussia, which laid siege to Paris for four months. A hotbed of radicalism, Frances capital was primarily defended during this time by the often politicized. In February 1871 Adolphe Thiers, the new executive of the French national government, signed an armistice with Prussia that disarmed the Army. Soldiers of the Communes National Guard killed two French army generals, and the Commune refused to accept the authority of the French government, the regular French Army suppressed the Commune during La semaine sanglante beginning on 21 May 1871. Debates over the policies and outcome of the Commune had significant influence on the ideas of Karl Marx, on 2 September 1870, after Frances unexpected defeat at the Battle of Sedan in the Franco-Prussian War, Emperor Napoleon III surrendered to the Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. When the news reached Paris the next day, shocked and angry crowds came out into the streets, Empress Eugénie de Montijo, the Emperors regent, fled the city, and the Government of the Second Empire swiftly collapsed. Republican and radical deputies of the National Assembly went to the Hôtel de Ville, proclaimed the new French Republic, though the Emperor and the French Army had been defeated at Sedan, the war continued. The German army marched swiftly toward Paris, in Paris, however, the republican candidates dominated, winning 234,000 votes against 77,000 for the Bonapartists. Only about 40,000 were employed in factories and large enterprises, most were employed in industries in textiles, furniture. There were also 115,000 servants and 45,000 concierges, in addition to the native French population, there were about 100,000 immigrant workers and political refugees, the largest number being from Italy and Poland. The working class and immigrants suffered the most from the lack of activity due to the war. The Commune resulted in part from growing discontent among the Paris workers and this discontent can be traced to the first worker uprisings, the Canut Revolts, in Lyon and Paris in the 1830s. Many Parisians, especially workers and the classes, supported a democratic republic. They also wanted a more just way of managing the economy, if not necessarily socialist, socialist movements, such as the First International, had been growing in influence with hundreds of societies affiliated to it across France. In early 1867, Parisian employers of bronze-workers attempted to de-unionize their workers and this was defeated by a strike organized by the International. Later in 1867, a public demonstration in Paris was answered by the legal dissolution of its executive committee. The International had considerable influence even among unaffiliated French workers, particularly in Paris, the killing of journalist Victor Noir incensed Parisians, and the arrests of journalists critical of the Emperor did nothing to quiet the city
18.
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
19.
Battle of Zama
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The Battle of Zama, fought around October 19,202 BC, marked the end of the Second Punic War. This was because many in his army were recent conscripts, Scipio had conceived of a strategy to confuse and defeat Hannibals war elephants, and then his force routed the Carthaginian infantry, thanks in part to superior Roman cavalry. Defeated on their ground, the Carthaginian ruling elite sued for peace and accepted humiliating terms. Crossing the Alps, Hannibal reached the Italian peninsula in 218 BC, the Romans failed to defeat Hannibal or drive him from Italy, but following Scipios decisive victory at the Battle of Ilipa in Spain in 206 BC, Iberia had been secured by the Romans. In 205 BC, Scipio returned to Rome, where he was elected consul with a unanimous vote, Scipio, now powerful enough, proposed to end the war by directly invading the Carthaginian home land. The Senate initially opposed this ambitious design of Scipio, persuaded by Quintus Fabius Maximus that the enterprise was far too hazardous, however, Scipio and his supporters eventually convinced the Senate to ratify the plan, and Scipio was given the requisite authority to attempt the invasion. Initially Scipio received no levy troops, and he sailed to Sicily with a group of 7,000 heterogeneous volunteers, Scipio continued to reinforce his troops with local defectors. He landed at Utica, and defeated the Carthaginian army at the Battle of the Great Plains in 203 BC. The panicked Carthaginians felt that they had no alternative but to offer peace to Scipio, and Scipio, under the treaty, Carthage could keep its African territory, but would lose its overseas empire, by that time a fait-accompli. Masinissa was to be allowed to expand Numidia into parts of Africa, also, Carthage was to reduce its fleet and pay a war indemnity. The Roman senate ratified the treaty, the Carthaginian senate recalled Hannibal, who was still in Italy when Scipio landed in Africa, in 203 BC. Meanwhile, the Carthaginians breached the agreement by capturing a stranded Roman fleet in the Gulf of Tunis. The Carthaginians no longer believed a treaty advantageous, and rebuffed it under much Roman protest, Hannibal led an army composed of mercenaries, local citizens, and veterans and Numidian cavalry from his Italian campaigns. Scipio led a pre-Marian Roman army quincunx, along with a body of Numidian cavalry, the battle took place at Zama Regia, near Siliana 130 km south-west of the capital Tunis. Hannibal was first to march and reach the plains of Zama Regia and this also gave an upper edge in turn to Scipio who relied heavily on his Roman heavy cavalry and Numidian light cavalry. Hannibal deployed his troops facing northwest, while Scipio deployed his troops in front of the Carthaginian army facing southeast. Hannibals army consisted of 36,000 infantry,4,000 cavalry, the first line consisted of mixed infantry of mercenaries from Gaul, Liguria, and the Balearic Islands. In his second line he placed the Carthaginian and Libyan citizen levies, livy states that Hannibal deployed 4000 Macedonians in the second line
20.
Giulio Romano
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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
21.
Louvre
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The Louvre or the Louvre Museum is the worlds largest museum and a historic monument in Paris, France. A central landmark of the city, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the citys 1st arrondissement, approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are exhibited over an area of 72,735 square metres. The Louvre is the second most visited museum after the Palace Museum in China. The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built as a fortress in the late 12th century under Philip II, remnants of the fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. Due to the expansion of the city, the fortress eventually lost its defensive function and. The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace, in 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years, during the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum to display the nations masterpieces. The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801. The collection was increased under Napoleon and the museum renamed Musée Napoléon, the collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and bequests since the Third Republic, whether this was the first building on that spot is not known, it is possible that Philip modified an existing tower. According to the authoritative Grand Larousse encyclopédique, the name derives from an association with wolf hunting den, in the 7th century, St. Fare, an abbess in Meaux, left part of her Villa called Luvra situated in the region of Paris to a monastery. This territory probably did not correspond exactly to the modern site, the Louvre Palace was altered frequently throughout the Middle Ages. In the 14th century, Charles V converted the building into a residence and in 1546, Francis acquired what would become the nucleus of the Louvres holdings, his acquisitions including Leonardo da Vincis Mona Lisa. After Louis XIV chose Versailles as his residence in 1682, constructions slowed, however, on 14 October 1750, Louis XV agreed and sanctioned a display of 96 pieces from the royal collection, mounted in the Galerie royale de peinture of the Luxembourg Palace. Under Louis XVI, the museum idea became policy. The comte dAngiviller broadened the collection and in 1776 proposed conversion of the Grande Galerie of the Louvre – which contained maps – into the French Museum, many proposals were offered for the Louvres renovation into a museum, however, none was agreed on. Hence the museum remained incomplete until the French Revolution, during the French Revolution the Louvre was transformed into a public museum. In May 1791, the Assembly declared that the Louvre would be a place for bringing together monuments of all the sciences, on 10 August 1792, Louis XVI was imprisoned and the royal collection in the Louvre became national property
22.
Ottoman Empire
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After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe, and with the conquest of the Balkans the Ottoman Beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the 1453 conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, at the beginning of the 17th century the empire contained 32 provinces and numerous vassal states. Some of these were later absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, while others were granted various types of autonomy during the course of centuries. With Constantinople as its capital and control of lands around the Mediterranean basin, while the empire was once thought to have entered a period of decline following the death of Suleiman the Magnificent, this view is no longer supported by the majority of academic historians. The empire continued to maintain a flexible and strong economy, society, however, during a long period of peace from 1740 to 1768, the Ottoman military system fell behind that of their European rivals, the Habsburg and Russian Empires. While the Empire was able to hold its own during the conflict, it was struggling with internal dissent. Starting before World War I, but growing increasingly common and violent during it, major atrocities were committed by the Ottoman government against the Armenians, Assyrians and Pontic Greeks. The word Ottoman is an anglicisation of the name of Osman I. Osmans name in turn was the Turkish form of the Arabic name ʿUthmān, in Ottoman Turkish, the empire was referred to as Devlet-i ʿAlīye-yi ʿOsmānīye, or alternatively ʿOsmānlı Devleti. In Modern Turkish, it is known as Osmanlı İmparatorluğu or Osmanlı Devleti, the Turkish word for Ottoman originally referred to the tribal followers of Osman in the fourteenth century, and subsequently came to be used to refer to the empires military-administrative elite. In contrast, the term Turk was used to refer to the Anatolian peasant and tribal population, the term Rūmī was also used to refer to Turkish-speakers by the other Muslim peoples of the empire and beyond. In Western Europe, the two names Ottoman Empire and Turkey were often used interchangeably, with Turkey being increasingly favored both in formal and informal situations and this dichotomy was officially ended in 1920–23, when the newly established Ankara-based Turkish government chose Turkey as the sole official name. Most scholarly historians avoid the terms Turkey, Turks, and Turkish when referring to the Ottomans, as the power of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum declined in the 13th century, Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of independent Turkish principalities known as the Anatolian Beyliks. One of these beyliks, in the region of Bithynia on the frontier of the Byzantine Empire, was led by the Turkish tribal leader Osman, osmans early followers consisted both of Turkish tribal groups and Byzantine renegades, many but not all converts to Islam. Osman extended the control of his principality by conquering Byzantine towns along the Sakarya River and it is not well understood how the early Ottomans came to dominate their neighbours, due to the scarcity of the sources which survive from this period. One school of thought which was popular during the twentieth century argued that the Ottomans achieved success by rallying religious warriors to fight for them in the name of Islam, in the century after the death of Osman I, Ottoman rule began to extend over Anatolia and the Balkans. Osmans son, Orhan, captured the northwestern Anatolian city of Bursa in 1326 and this conquest meant the loss of Byzantine control over northwestern Anatolia. The important city of Thessaloniki was captured from the Venetians in 1387, the Ottoman victory at Kosovo in 1389 effectively marked the end of Serbian power in the region, paving the way for Ottoman expansion into Europe
23.
Mehemet Effendi
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Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi Efendi, also Mehmed Efendi, was an Ottoman statesman who was delegated as ambassador by the Sultan Ahmed III to Louis XVs France in 1720. He is remembered for his account of his embassy mission, Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi was born in Edirne to a family of Georgian descent. His date of birth is unknown and he is the son of an officer in the Janissary corps, Süleyman Ağa, who died during a campaign to Pécs. Mehmed Çelebi himself was enrolled in the Janissary corps, and since he had served in the 28th battalion of the corps and his descendants, including his son who became a grand vizier, also carried the name in the form of Yirmisekizzade. In 1720, while in position, he was assigned as Ottoman ambassador to Louis XVs France. His embassy of eleven months was notable for being the first ever foreign representation of a permanent nature for the Ottoman Empire, on his return to the Ottoman capital, Mehmed Çelebi presented his contacts, experiences and observations to the Sultan in the form of a book. His sefâretnâme is one of the most important examples of the genre, both for its literary merits and in terms of the insights it provides on his time. His book was translated into French in 1757 and also into other Western languages afterwards and he died in Famagusta in 1732 and was buried in the courtyard of Buğday Mosque in that city. Mehmed efendi, Le paradis des infidèles, Relation de Yirmisekiz Çelebi Mehmed efendi, ambassadeur ottoman en France sous la Régence, traduit par Julien-Claude Galland, fatma Müge Göçek, East Encounters West, France and the Ottoman Empire in the Eighteenth Century. Franco-Ottoman alliance List of Turkish diplomats
24.
18th-century London
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In 1707, an Act of Union was passed merging the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England, thus establishing The Kingdom of Great Britain. A year later, in 1708 Christopher Wrens masterpiece, St. Pauls Cathedral was completed on his birthday, the first service had been held on December 2,1697, more than 10 years earlier. This Cathedral replaced the original St. Pauls which had completely destroyed in the Great Fire of London. This building is considered one of the finest in Britain and an example of Baroque architecture. During the Georgian era, London spread beyond its limits at an accelerating pace. New districts such as Mayfair were built for the rich in the West End, new bridges over the Thames encouraged an acceleration of development in South London. In the East End, the Port of London expanded downstream from the City, during this period was also the uprising of the American colonies. In 1780, the Tower of London held its only American prisoner, former President of the Continental Congress, in 1779 he was the Congresss representative of Holland, and got the countrys support for the Revolution. On his return back to America, the Royal Navy captured him. He was released from the Tower on December 21,1781, in 1762, George III acquired Buckingham Palace from the Duke of Buckingham. It was enlarged over the next 75 years by such as John Nash. It would not be until the 19th century that the palace would become the principal London royal residence, a phenomenon of 18th-century London was the coffee house, which became a popular place to debate ideas. Growing literacy and the development of the press meant that news became widely available. Fleet Street became the centre of the embryonic British press during the century, 18th-century London was dogged by crime, the Bow Street Runners were established in 1750 as a professional police force. Penalties for crime were harsh, with the penalty being applied for fairly minor crimes. Public hangings were common in London, and were public events. In 1780 London was rocked by the Gordon Riots, an uprising by Protestants against Roman Catholic emancipation led by Lord George Gordon, severe damage was caused to Catholic churches and homes, and 285 rioters were killed. Up until 1750, London Bridge was the crossing over the Thames
25.
Public domain
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The term public domain has two senses of meaning. Anything published is out in the domain in the sense that it is available to the public. Once published, news and information in books is in the public domain, in the sense of intellectual property, works in the public domain are those whose exclusive intellectual property rights have expired, have been forfeited, or are inapplicable. Examples for works not covered by copyright which are therefore in the domain, are the formulae of Newtonian physics, cooking recipes. Examples for works actively dedicated into public domain by their authors are reference implementations of algorithms, NIHs ImageJ. The term is not normally applied to situations where the creator of a work retains residual rights, as rights are country-based and vary, a work may be subject to rights in one country and be in the public domain in another. Some rights depend on registrations on a basis, and the absence of registration in a particular country, if required. Although the term public domain did not come into use until the mid-18th century, the Romans had a large proprietary rights system where they defined many things that cannot be privately owned as res nullius, res communes, res publicae and res universitatis. The term res nullius was defined as not yet appropriated. The term res communes was defined as things that could be enjoyed by mankind, such as air, sunlight. The term res publicae referred to things that were shared by all citizens, when the first early copyright law was first established in Britain with the Statute of Anne in 1710, public domain did not appear. However, similar concepts were developed by British and French jurists in the eighteenth century, instead of public domain they used terms such as publici juris or propriété publique to describe works that were not covered by copyright law. The phrase fall in the domain can be traced to mid-nineteenth century France to describe the end of copyright term. In this historical context Paul Torremans describes copyright as a coral reef of private right jutting up from the ocean of the public domain. Because copyright law is different from country to country, Pamela Samuelson has described the public domain as being different sizes at different times in different countries. According to James Boyle this definition underlines common usage of the public domain and equates the public domain to public property. However, the usage of the public domain can be more granular. Such a definition regards work in copyright as private property subject to fair use rights, the materials that compose our cultural heritage must be free for all living to use no less than matter necessary for biological survival
26.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
27.
Adoration of the Magi (tapestry)
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The Adoration of the Magi is a Morris & Co. tapestry depicting the story in Christianity of the Three Kings who were guided to the birthplace of Jesus by the star of Bethlehem. It is sometimes called The Star of Bethlehem or simply The Adoration, the original tapestry was commissioned in 1886 by John Prideaux Lightfoot, rector of Exeter College, Oxford, for the Gothic revival chapel built for the college in the 1850s by George Gilbert Scott. The overall composition and the figures were designed by Edward Burne-Jones, large-scale cartoons for the tapestry weavers were created from photographically enlarged panels of Burne-Joness watercolour. Morris and his assistant John Henry Dearle chose a vibrant colour scheme, all in all, the tapestry took four years to realise, including two years work by three weavers at Morriss Merton Abbey Mills. The tapestry was completed in February 1890 and displayed in Morris & Co. s Oxford Street showroom in London that Easter before being presented to Exeter College, Lightfoot did not live to see the finished tapestry, he died at the Rectory at Exeter College on 23 March 1887. The Adoration proved the most popular of all Morris & Co. tapestries for both church and domestic settings, ten versions were woven, each with a different border design,1890 for Exeter College, Oxford, still in the chapel there. 1890–94, for Wilfred Scawen Blunt 1894, for the Corporation of Manchester, now in the Manchester Metropolitan University 1895 for the Eton College Chapel,1900 for the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, still in situ. In 1887, Burne-Jones revisited his tapestry design as a painting titled The Star of Bethlehem. The Star of Bethlehem was completed in 1890 and exhibited at the New Gallery, London, in the spring of 1891 before being sent on to the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, where it remains. Parry, Linda, ed. Virtual tour of Exeter College Chapel, showing the Adoration of the Magi tapestry The Adoration of the Magi tapestry at the Hermitage Museum
28.
Apocalypse Tapestry
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The Apocalypse Tapestry is a large medieval French set of tapestries commissioned by Louis I, the Duke of Anjou, and produced between 1377 and 1382. It depicts the story of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelation by Saint John the Divine in colourful images, despite being lost and mistreated in the late 18th century, the tapestry was recovered and restored in the 19th century and is now on display at the Chateau dAngers. The Apocalypse Tapestry was commissioned by Louis I, the Duke of Anjou in the late 1370s. Louis instructed Jean Bondol, a Flemish artist, to draw the sketches that would form the model for the tapestry, the tapestry was probably finally complete by 1382. It was unusual for a tapestry to be commissioned by a buyer to a design in this way. The tapestry and its theme would have helped to bolster the status of Louiss Valois dynasty. The tapestry shows the story of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelation by Saint John the Divine. In the 14th century, the Apocalypse was a popular story, although many of the scenes in the story included destruction and death, the account ended with the triumphant success of good, forming an uplifting story. This version of the Apocalypse had first been recorded in Metz and then adapted by English artists. Louis may also have influenced by a particularly grand tapestry given to Charles by the magistrates of Lille in 1367. After a century in the ownership of the dukes of Anjou, during the French Revolution the Apocalypse Tapestry was looted and cut up into pieces. The pieces of the tapestry were used for various purposes, as floor mats, to protect orange trees from frost, to shore up holes in buildings. During the Revolution many medieval tapestries were destroyed, both through neglect and through being melted down to recover the gold and silver used in their designs, the surviving fragments were rediscovered in 1848 and preserved, being returned to the cathedral in 1870. The cathedral was not ideal for displaying and preserving the tapestry, the neighbouring Chateau dAngers had been used as a French military base for many years, but transferred to civilian use after the Second World War. In 1954 the tapestry was moved there, to be displayed in a new designed by French architect Bernard Vitry. Between 1990 and 2000 the castle gallery was itself improved, with additional light, the tapestry was made in six sections, each 78-foot wide by 20-foot high, comprising 90 different scenes. Each scene had a red or blue background, alternating between the sections and they would have taken considerable effort to produce, with between 50 and 84 man-years of effort required by the weaving teams. Only 71 of the original 90 scenes survive today, the tapestry is dominated by blue, red and ivory coloured threads, supported by orange and green colours, with gilt and silver woven into the wool and silk
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Bayeux Tapestry
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According to Sylvette Lemagnen, conservator of the tapestry, The Bayeux tapestry is one of the supreme achievements of the Norman Romanesque. Its survival almost intact over nine centuries is little short of miraculous and its exceptional length, the harmony and freshness of its colours, its exquisite workmanship, and the genius of its guiding spirit combine to make it endlessly fascinating. The tapestry consists of some fifty scenes with Latin tituli, embroidered on linen with coloured woollen yarns and it is likely that it was commissioned by Bishop Odo, Williams half-brother, and made in England—not Bayeux—in the 1070s. In 1729 the hanging was rediscovered by scholars at a time when it was being displayed annually in Bayeux Cathedral, the tapestry is now exhibited at the Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux in Bayeux, Normandy, France. The designs on the Bayeux Tapestry are embroidered rather than woven, nevertheless, it has always been called a tapestry until recent years, when the more correct name Bayeux Embroidery has gained ground among art historians. Such tapestries adorned both churches and wealthy houses in England, though at 0.5 by 68.38 metres the Bayeux Tapestry is exceptionally large. Only the figures and decoration are embroidered, on a background left plain, the earliest known written reference to the tapestry is a 1476 inventory of Bayeux Cathedral, but its origins have been the subject of much speculation and controversy. French legend maintained the tapestry was commissioned and created by Queen Matilda, William the Conquerors wife, indeed, in France it is occasionally known as La Tapisserie de la Reine Mathilde. The actual physical work of stitching was most likely undertaken by female needle workers, Anglo-Saxon needlework of the more detailed type known as Opus Anglicanum was famous across Europe. It was perhaps commissioned for display in the hall of his palace and then bequeathed to the cathedral he built, following the pattern of the documented, carola Hicks has suggested it could possibly have been commissioned by Edith of Wessex. George Beech suggests the tapestry was executed at the Abbey of St. Florent in the Loire Valley, andrew Bridgeford has suggested that the tapestry was actually of English design and encoded with secret messages meant to undermine Norman rule. Nine linen panels, between fourteen and three metres in length, were together after each was embroidered and the joins were disguised with subsequent embroidery. At the first join the borders do not line up properly, the design involved a broad central zone with narrow decorative borders top and bottom. By inspecting the woollen threads behind the linen it is apparent all these aspects were embroidered together at a session, later generations have patched the hanging in numerous places and some of the embroidery has been reworked. The tapestry may well have maintained much of its original appearance—it now compares closely with a drawing made in 1730. The main yarn colours are terracotta or russet, blue-green, dull gold, olive green, later repairs are worked in light yellow, orange, and light greens. Laid yarns are couched in place with yarn of the same or contrasting colour, the tapestrys central zone contains most of the action, which sometimes overflows into the borders either for dramatic effect or because depictions would otherwise be very cramped. Events take place in a series of scenes which are generally separated by highly stylised trees
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Cloth of St Gereon
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The Cloth of St Gereon is the second oldest known European tapestry still existing, dating to the early 11th century. A number of European museums hold sections of the original cloth, the seven-color tapestry shows medallions with bulls and griffins in combat. It was probably adapted from Byzantine or Syrian silk textiles, the motifs of the tapestry could also have derived from Sassanian textiles found in Cologne. The addition of oriental themes in the framing reveals a first attempt at variety, the border design and background are probably the inspiration of Europe, not oriental. They are similar to 11th-century illuminated manuscripts of Cologne and Western Europe. D, the size of the Cloth of Saint Gereon fragment at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Lyon is 0.74 by 0.76 metres. The style of design, which is strong in oriental and Byzantine character, is also found in woven silks of the eleventh century. The colors of the characters now are a green, brown, blue. The background may have been colored, but this is now undeterminable as it is almost completely faded out, tapestry historian Hunter says the design is of Byzantine origin, however the weave indicates an oriental maker. Scholars place the area it was made in Cologne in the part of the 11th century. The name for the tapestry is taken from the place of origin and it was hung in the church choir area. The tapestry was cut into four fragments by the leading German art historian Dr. Franz Bock and these were then acquired in or around 1875 by four European museums. A large part of the original is now in the museum at Lyon, while parts are at Berlin. There were several exhibition tours in Paris showing the Lyon museum fragment of the Cloth of St Gereon from 1989 to 1998, hamlyn,1969 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. article name needed
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Devonshire Hunting Tapestries
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The Devonshire Hunting Tapestries are a group of four magnificent Flemish tapestries dating from the mid-fifteenth century. These enormous works, each over 3 metres wide, depict men and women in dress of the early fifteenth century hunting in a forest. The tapestries formerly belonged to the Duke of Devonshire, the 6th Duke described using his spare tapestry to insulate the Long Gallery at Hardwick Hall in the 1840s, a practice which saved these rare Gothic hangings from being discarded. The tapestries depict a Deer Hunt, Falconry, a Swan and Otter Hunt, the hunt was a particularly powerful theme and would have been a familiar pastime to many of the high-born individuals and families who owned tapestries. Hunting was both a sport and an important source of the only meats considered noble. Much of the charm of these lies in the elaborate costume detail. The lady crossing the stream on the right has Monte le Desire inscribed on her flowing sleeve. This is the line of a popular song of the period. The dress of the participants is of the type worn at court, particularly that of Burgundy and it is unlikely that any serious hunting took place in such restricting and exotic clothes. View the Tapestries The sign of the dog, an examination of the Devonshire hunting tapestries, Ann Claxton, Journal of Medieval History, Volume 14, Issue 2,1988
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Gunthertuch
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The so-called Gunthertuch is a Byzantine silk tapestry which represents the triumphal return of a Byzantine Emperor from a victorious campaign. The piece was purchased, or possibly received as a gift, by Gunther von Bamberg, Bishop of Bamberg, Gunther died on his return journey, and was buried with it in the Bamberg Cathedral. The fabric was rediscovered in 1830, and is now exhibited in the Bamberg Diocesan Museum, the pilgrims, numbering some 7,000 people, journeyed through Hungary and then through the Byzantine Empire to the Holy Land. At Constantinople, the Byzantine capital, Gunthers imposing stature and his elegant clothes led to the belief that he was the emperor Henry IV and it is unknown how Gunther came by the silk. The Byzantinist Günter Prinzing theorized that the cloth was used as a wall tapestry in the Hagia Sophia. Gunther von Bamberg died on 23 July 1065 during his journey at Székesfehérvár due to a severe illness. The other pilgrims brought his body home to Bamberg, wrapped in the cloth, there he was buried until rediscovered on 22 December 1830, when Gunthers grave was opened as part of extensive restoration works on the cathedral. Today, the Gunthertuch is exhibited alongside 11th-century imperial robes, the regalia and vestments of Pope Clement II, the cloth is a woven using the tapestry technique. It is 218 cm high and 211 cm wide, showing a Byzantine emperor on a patterned background and he is riding on a white horse, wears a Byzantine-style imperial crown, and carries a miniature labarum on his right hand. The emperor is flanked by two Tyche figures, female personifications of a citys fortune and they are crowned with mural crowns and dressed in ankle-long yellow undergarments and coloured transparent over-tunics. The Tyche on the right, with a green over-tunic, presents the emperor probably with a crown, while the one, dressed in blue, holds the toupha. Both figures are represented barefoot, a symbolic convention typical of slaves, the emperor was initially identified, by the French Byzantinist André Grabar, with Basil II, and his triumphal return from his wars against the Bulgarians. Modern research however has concluded that the cloth represents John I Tzimiskes and his return in 971 from his campaign against the Rus, both authors also agree that one of these crowns was a tiara, in accordance with the Gunthertuch’s depiction. Older sources interpreted the two Tychae as representing Rome and Constantinople, or even Athens and Constantinople, the two cities where Basil II celebrated his victory over the Bulgarians. A different proposal suggested, based on the colour of their clothes, that represented the Blues and the Greens. Modern scholarship on the hand suggests that they may represent the two major cities captured during Tzimiskes campaign, Preslav and Dorostolon. It is significant in this context that these two cities were renamed into Ioannoupolis and Theodoroupolis
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Holy Grail tapestries
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The Holy Grail or San Graal tapestries are a set of six tapestries depicting scenes from the legend of King Arthur and the quest for the Holy Grail. The tapestries were commissioned from Morris & Co. by William Knox DArcy in 1890 for his room at Stanmore Hall. Additional versions of the tapestries with minor variations were woven on commission by Morris & Co. over the next decade, the six original tapestries illustrate the story of the Grail quest as told in Sir Thomas Malorys Morte dArthur. The narrative panels were accompanied by smaller verdure or woodland panels featuring deer, the knights shields hung on trees, the sequence was worked over a period of five years, from 1891 to 1894, at Merton Abbey. The Attainment was the first of the series to be completed, the original set of tapestries remained at Stanmore Hall until DArcys death in 1920. They were subsequently sold and dispersed, Morris & Co. wove a second subset of the narrative panels in 1895 and 1896 for the drawing room at Compton Hall, Lawrence Hodsons seat near Wolverhampton. A third complete set was woven for George McCulloch in 1898 and 1899, some hangings from these subsequent weavings are in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Others are in the collection of Andrew Lloyd Webber, the Stanmore Hall weaving of The Attainment was purchased by guitarist Jimmy Page in 1978, the piece failed to meet its reserve at auction in 2008 and remains in Pages collection. Fairclough, Oliver and Emmeline Leary, Textiles by William Morris and Morris & Co, 1861–1940, Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery,1981, ISBN 0-89860-065-0 Parry, Linda, ed
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The Hunt of the Unicorn
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The Hunt of the Unicorn, or the Unicorn Tapestries, is a series of seven tapestries dating from between 1495 and 1505, now in The Cloisters in New York, probably woven in Brussels or Liège. The tapestries show a group of noblemen and hunters in pursuit of a unicorn, the Hunt for the Unicorn was a common theme in late medieval and renaissance works of art and literature. The tapestries were woven in wool, metallic threads, and silk, the vibrant colours, still evident today, were produced from dye plants, weld, madder, and woad. One of the panels, The Mystic Capture of the Unicorn, the tapestries are subject to scholarly debate about the iconography, the artists who designed the tapestries, and questions surrounding the sequence in which they were meant to be hung. Possibly the seven tapestries were not originally hung together and it was posited by James J. Rorimer in 1942 that they were commissioned by Anne of Brittany, to celebrate her marriage to Louis XII, King of France on 6 December 1491. The clue derived from the occurrence of A and reversed E tied with a cord in a bowknot throughout the series of tapestries. As Rorimer surmised, the letters A and E are interpreted as the first, however Margaret B. Freeman refutes this fairly convincingly in her monograph of 1976, a conclusion which is supported by Adolph S. Cavallo in his 1998 work. The tapestries show pagan and Christian symbolism, the pagan themes emphasise the medieval lore of beguiled lovers, whereas Christian writings interpret the unicorn and its death as the Passion of Christ. The unicorn has long identified as a symbol of Christ by Christian writers. Masonic themes include Serpents, Owls in the form of Owl Eyes or Owl Silhouette, Blood, Sacred Geometry, also there is an allusion in the 2nd tapestry, The Unicorn is Found, to The Last Supper by Davinci. Serpents Owls Hebrew word for God JHWH Sacred Geometry In the Gothic tapestry, when the morality was attached importance to the medieval art, the tapestries illustrate the moralising role of narratives in allegories. The secular unicorn hunt was not only a simply depiction of Christian art, with a regulatory attitude to Rorimers speculation of tapestry ownership, Margaret B. Freeman did not negate the possible function of the tapestries as an interpretation of allegory of true love. The taming of the unicorn symbolises the lover or mate who enchained by virgin, Freeman discovered the connection between the taming of the unicorn and the devotion and subjection in love in the medieval poets. In addition, the pointed out that the overlap of subject the God of Heaven. The original workmanship of the tapestries still remains unanswered at the present, the tapestries were highly probably woven in Brussels in the Flanders, where was the centre of tapestry industry in the medieval European. As a series of works of Brussels looms, the mixture of silk, metallic thread with wool gave the tapestries finer quality. Other sources give slightly different titles and different sequences, the factors that affect this are primarily threefold. Firstly the nature of the tapestries themselves, which exhibit differences of manufacture and size, secondly the nature of the classic stag hunt, usually cited to Livre de la Chasse by Gaston III, Count of Foix of Foix
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Jagiellonian tapestries
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The collection become a state property of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland according to the will of Sigismund II Augustus. The first tapestries were brought by Queen Bona Sforza as her wedding dowry, then in 1526 and 1533, Sigismund I the Old ordered 108 fabrics in Antwerp and Bruges. Most of the tapestries, however, were commissioned by king Sigismund II Augustus in Brussels in the workshops of Willem and Jan de Kempeneer, Jan van Tieghem, the tapestries had been displayed publicly for the first time during the wedding of king Sigismund Augustus with Catherine of Austria. To this day, preserved about 138 of which exposed are about 30 and they were matched in size to the walls and some of them reach the size of 5 ×9 m. The tapestries were made of strands, silk and gold. This is the largest collection of tapestries commissioned by one ruler. Unfortunately, the not quite precise will became a cause of conflicts over ownership of the tapesties between the kings and nobles. The whole collection was only together for a time at the Castle in Tykocin until 1572. Then the kings sisters scattered it between their residences in Kraków, Niepołomice, Warsaw, Vilnius and Hrodna, and even sent some to Sweden, the king Sigismund III Vasa brought back 30 pieces that Anna Jagiellon sent to Stockholm to her sister Catherine. In 1633, three of the tapestries with scenes from the Story of Moses, were presented by Jerzy Ossoliński, on behalf of king Władysław IV Vasa, during the Deluge the collection was hidden by Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski in his estates in Spiš. In the following years the king John II Casimir Vasa mortgaged 157 tapestries to a merchant from Gdańsk, Jan Gratta, in order to force the lifetime wages after his abdication the king also took some of the tapestries to France. This caused protests from the nobility and the debt was not repaid until 1724. The parliament submitted the tapestries for safekeeping in the Warsaws Carmelite convent, according to an inventory performed during the reign of Stanisław Augustus there were about 156 arrasses. In 1795, after the Third Partition of Poland, the tapestries along with other goods plundered from the royal residencies, were taken by Alexander Suvorov to Russia. After regaining independence and victorious war with the Soviet Union the Polish government managed to recover 137 fabrics, in states of preservation. The tapesties were cut to fit the walls of the Winter Palace and Gatchina Palace, some of them are still in Russia, displayed in different museums, without specifying their origin, the Soviets claimed that the tapestries are equivalent for the Polish debts. In 1961, when the collection was coming back from a long journey it was greeted by the Sigismund Bell. Today, the 136 that are still in possession of the Wawel castle make up Europes best tapestry collections, evacuation of Polish National Treasures during World War II Wawel Royal Castle – Textiles
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gobelin". Encyclopædia Britannica. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 165.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the 
