1.
Los Angeles
–
Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
2.
Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles
–
The area currently has about 27,000 residents. It is primarily an area, with a mixture of large private homes, small houses, condominiums. The district also includes some large parklands and many hiking trails, in 1911, film director Thomas Ince created his Western film factory, Inceville, which at its peak employed nearly 600 people. Believers snapped up choice lots and lived in tents during construction, by 1925, the Palisades had 100 homes. In one subdivision, streets were named for Methodist missionaries, the tents eventually were replaced by cabins, then by bungalows, and ultimately by multimillion-dollar homes. The climate of the area was a big selling point, temperatures are much cooler than inland Los Angeles during summer, but usually sunnier and less foggy than areas south along the coast. Adorno, Vicki Baum, Oskar Homolka and Emil Ludwig, Villa Aurora on Paseo Miramar, the Spanish colonial home of Feuchtwanger and his wife, Marta, became the focal point of the expatriate community, which was nicknamed Weimar by the Sea. For many decades there was a ban on drinking alcohol in the district. The Methodist Church created a Chautauqua Conference Grounds in Temescal Canyon, the Village is the Pacific Palisades central business district, centered at Sunset Boulevard and Via de la Paz. The Via Mesa and The Huntington Palisades are the neighborhoods that border the village proper to the south of Sunset Boulevard, both of these neighborhoods are easy walking distance to The Village and sit upon high bluffs that look out over the Pacific Ocean. Many of the homes in neighborhoods are accordingly afforded beautiful ocean views. The El Medio Mesa is located south of Sunset Boulevard beginning about a mile west of The Village. The El Medio Mesa extends for a distance from Temescal Canyon all the way to where Sunset Boulevard meets the Pacific Coast Highway. Castellammare is located along the Pacific Coast Highway on small bluffs much closer to sea-level and this is the home of the Getty Villa and the narrow, winding streets in this neighborhood have Italian names and ocean breezes. Palisades Highlands is a community near the end of Sunset Blvd, bordering Topanga, about five minutes away from the center of Pacific Palisades. The Highlands could almost be considered its own separate community high up the hill overlooking the ocean, Rustic Canyon is the neighborhood east of Chautauqua Boulevard that dips into Santa Monica Canyon and includes the Will Rogers State Historic Park. The neighborhood features post-war homes located on the polo field of The Uplifters, the original site of The Uplifters clubhouse. This area is known as Uplifters Ranch
3.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Art museum
–
An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art. Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection, the term is used for both public galleries, which are non-profit or publicly owned museums that display selected collections of art. On the other hand, private galleries refers to the commercial enterprises for the sale of art, however, both types of gallery may host traveling exhibits or temporary exhibitions including art borrowed from elsewhere. In broad terms, in North American usage, the word gallery alone often implies a private gallery, the term contemporary art gallery refers usually to a privately owned for-profit commercial gallery. These galleries are found clustered together in large urban centers. Smaller cities are home to at least one gallery, but they may also be found in towns or villages. Contemporary art galleries are open to the general public without charge, however. They usually profit by taking a portion of art sales, from 25% to 50% is typical, there are also many non-profit or collective galleries. Some galleries in cities like Tokyo charge the artists a flat rate per day, curators often create group shows that say something about a certain theme, trend in art, or group of associated artists. Galleries sometimes choose to represent artists exclusively, giving them the opportunity to show regularly, a gallerys definition can also include the artist cooperative or artist-run space, which often operates as a space with a more democratic mission and selection process. A vanity gallery is an art gallery that charges fees from artists in order to show their work, the shows are not legitimately curated and will frequently or usually include as many artists as possible. Most art professionals are able to identify them on an artists resume, University art museums and galleries constitute collections of art that are developed, owned, and maintained by all kinds of schools, community colleges, colleges, and universities. This phenomenon exists in both the West and East, making it a global practice, although largely overlooked, there are over 700 university art museums in America alone. This number, in comparison to other kinds of art museums, throughout history, large and expensive works of art have generally been commissioned by religious institutions and monarchs and been displayed in temples, churches, and palaces. Although these collections of art were private, they were made available for viewing for a portion of the public. In classical times, religious institutions began to function as a form of art gallery. Wealthy Roman collectors of engraved gems and other precious objects often donated their collections to temples and it is unclear how easy it was in practice for the public to view these items. At the Palace of Versailles, entrance was restricted to wearing the proper apparel – the appropriate accessories could be hired from shops outside
5.
Timothy Potts
–
Dr. Timothy Potts is an Australian art historian, archaeologist, and museum director. He became the director of the J. Paul Getty Museum on 1 September 2012 and his research interests are Ancient Near Eastern art history, archaeology and history, museology, the classical tradition in western art. Dr. Potts acted as co-director of the University of Sydney excavations at Pella and he worked at Lehman Brothers in New York from 1990 to 1994 following which became director of the National Gallery of Victoria. In conjunction with his directorship at the National Gallery of Victoria, Timothy was Adjunct Professor at La Trobe University, and a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne. He was the Director of the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas from 1998 to 2007, dr Timothy Potts is a specialist in the art and archaeology of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean on which he has written widely. Post-modernisms, Origins, Consequences, Reconsiderations In 2007, Duncan Robinson retired, and Timothy Potts took over as the Fitzwilliam Museums 12th Director
6.
California
–
California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
7.
Getty Center
–
The Getty Center, in Los Angeles, California, is a campus of the Getty Museum and other programs of the Getty Trust. The $1.3 billion Center opened to the public on December 16,1997 and is known for its architecture, gardens. The Center sits atop a hill connected to a parking garage at the bottom of the hill by a three-car. Located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, the Center is one of two locations of the J. Paul Getty Museum and draws 1.3 million visitors annually. In addition, the Museum’s collection at the Center includes outdoor sculpture displayed on terraces and in gardens, among the artworks on display is the Vincent Van Gogh painting Irises. Designed by architect Richard Meier, the campus houses the Getty Research Institute, the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Foundation. The Centers design included provisions to address concerns regarding earthquakes and fires. Originally, the Getty Museum started in J. Paul Gettys house located in Pacific Palisades in 1954 and he expanded the house with a museum wing. In the 1970s, Getty built a replica of an Italian villa on his homes property to house his collection. After Gettys death in 1976, the property was turned over to the Getty Trust for museum purposes. However, the collection outgrew the site, which has since renamed the Getty Villa. In 1984, Richard Meier was chosen to be the architect of the Center, after an extensive conditional-use permit process, construction by the Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company began in August 1989. The construction was delayed, with the planned completion date moved from 1988 to 1995. By 1995, however, the campus was described as more than halfway complete. The Center ultimately opened to the public on December 16,1997, although the total project cost was estimated to be $350 million as of 1990, it was later estimated to be $1.3 billion. After the Center opened, the Villa closed for renovations and reopened on January 28,2006, to focus on the arts and cultures of ancient Greece, Rome. Currently, the Museum displays collections at both the Getty Center and the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, the trust agreed to appoint an outside monitor to review future expenditures. The Getty Trust experienced financial difficulties in 2008 and 2009 and cut 205 of 1,487 budgeted staff positions to reduce expenses, although the Getty Trust endowment reached $6.4 billion in 2007, it dropped to $4.5 billion in 2009
8.
Getty Villa
–
The Getty Villa is one of two locations of the J. Paul Getty Museum. The collection has 44,000 Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities dating from 6,500 BC to 400 AD, including the Lansdowne Heracles, the UCLA/Getty Master’s Program in Archaeological and Ethnographic Conservation is housed on this campus. The collection is documented and presented through the online GettyGuide as well as audio tours. In 1954, oil tycoon J. Paul Getty opened an adjacent to his home in Pacific Palisades. Quickly running out of room, he built a second museum, the villa design was inspired by the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum and incorporated additional details from several other ancient sites. It was designed by architects Robert E. Langdon, Jr. wilson, Jr. in consultation with archeologist Norman Neuerburg. It opened in 1974, but was never visited by Getty, following his death, the museum inherited $661 million and began planning a much larger campus, the Getty Center, in nearby Brentwood. The museum overcame neighborhood opposition to its new plan by agreeing to limit the total size of the development on the Getty Center site. To meet the total space needs, the museum decided to split between the two locations with the Getty Villa housing the Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities. In 1993, the Getty Trust selected Rodolpho Machado and Jorge Silvetti to design the renovation of the Getty Villa and its campus. In 1997, portions of the collection of Greek, Roman and Etruscan antiquities were moved to the Getty Center for display. The collection was restored during the renovation, starting in 2004, the museum and the University of California, Los Angeles hold summer institutes in Turkey, studying the conservation of Middle Eastern Art. Reopened on January 28,2006, the Getty Villa shows Greek, Roman, the art is arranged by themes, e. g. Gods and Goddesses, Dionysos and the Theater, and Stories of the Trojan War. The new architectural plan surrounding the Villa – which was conceived by Boston architects Machado, architectural Record has praised their work on the Getty Villa as a near miracle – a museum that elicits no smirks from the art world. Crafting a sophisticated ensemble of buildings, plazas, and landscaping that finally provides a home for a relic of another time. There has been controversy surrounding the Greek and Italian governments claim that objects in the collection were looted, in 2006, the Getty returned or promised to return four looted objects to Greece, a stele, a marble relief, a gold funerary wreath, and a marble statue. In 2007, the Getty signed an agreement to return 40 looted items to Italy, admission to the Getty Villa is free, but timed tickets must be obtained in advance via phone or the museums website. As of June 2010, there is a $15.00 charge for parking during the day, the museum is open Wednesday to Monday,10 a. m. to 5 p. m
9.
Brentwood, Los Angeles
–
Brentwood is an affluent neighborhood in the Westside of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of seven private and two public schools, originally part of a Mexican land grant, the neighborhood began its modern development in the 1880s and hosted part of the pentathlon in the 1932 Summer Olympics. It was the site of the 1994 O. J. Simpson murder case, Brentwood is also home to many celebrities such as actors and actresses. Brentwood was part of the Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica, Modern development began after the establishment of the 600-acre Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Soldiers and Sailors in the 1880s. A small community sprang up outside that facilitys west gate, taking on the name Westgate, annexed by the City of Los Angeles on June 14,1916, Westgates 49 square miles included large parts of what is now the Pacific Palisades and a small portion of todays Bel-Air. Westgate Avenue is one of the last reminders of that namesake, the Sunset Fields Golf Club, known as the Brentwood Country Club since 1941, hosted the running part of the modern pentathlon event in the 1932 Summer Olympics. The preceding statement is incorrect and caused by a confusion of Olympic events & locations, Brentwood Country Club was known as Brentwood Country Club at the time of the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. It appears as Brentwood Country Club at 590 Burlingame Avenue in the Los Angeles City Directory for 1933, a 1927 Los Angeles Times article describes the beginning of construction on Sunset Fields Golf Course near Crenshaw Boulevard between Vernon Avenue and Santa Barbara Avenue. The book, Leimert Park, states, The Sunset Fields Golf Course in Leimert Park was also the location of another official Olympic venue, the close proximity of the Olympic games to the neighboring community of Leimert Park brought much attention to the development. The Xth Olympiad, Los Angeles,1932 - Official Report says, The Cross Country Run of the Modern Pentathlon was held at 9,00 A. M. on the course of Sunset Fields Golf Club of Los Angeles. The remainder involved the climbing of a steep hill, to the level of the Olympic Village, thence down a narrow draw by a winding path. The start and finish were a short distance in front of the clubhouse, the confusion may have arisen because part of the route of the Equestrian Cross Country portion of Modern Pentathlon may have crossed Brentwood Country Club. This event used the route of Phase D of the Cross Country portion of the Equestrian Three-Day Event competition, as in 1932, the address of Brentwood Country Club of Los Angeles is still 590 South Burlingame Avenue. This building was the establishing shot for the Mar Vista Rest Home that provided a key scene in the 1974 film Chinatown. Within minutes, Santa Ana winds gusting up to 60 mph sent burning brush aloft, more than 300 police officers helped evacuate 3,500 residents during the 12-hour fire, and some 2,500 firefighters battled the blaze, pumping water from neighborhood swimming pools to douse flames. Pockets of the fire smoldered for several days, even as firefighters battled what was to become a Bel Air disaster, another fire erupted in Santa Ynez Canyon to the west. That blaze was contained the next day after consuming nearly 10,000 acres and nine structures and burning to within a mile of Bel Air, Brentwood was the site of the 1994 stabbing death of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, outside Simpsons Bundy Drive condominium. Nicoles ex-husband, football player and actor O. J, Simpson, was acquitted of the murders, but was later found liable for the deaths in a civil trial
10.
Middle Ages
–
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
11.
Ancient Greece
–
Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th-9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and this was followed by the period of Classical Greece, an era that began with the Greco-Persian Wars, lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a influence on ancient Rome. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered the cradle of Western civilization. Classical Antiquity in the Mediterranean region is considered to have begun in the 8th century BC. Classical Antiquity in Greece is preceded by the Greek Dark Ages and this period is succeeded, around the 8th century BC, by the Orientalizing Period during which a strong influence of Syro-Hittite, Jewish, Assyrian, Phoenician and Egyptian cultures becomes apparent. The end of the Dark Ages is also dated to 776 BC. The Archaic period gives way to the Classical period around 500 BC, Ancient Periods Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details The history of Greece during Classical Antiquity may be subdivided into five major periods. The earliest of these is the Archaic period, in which artists made larger free-standing sculptures in stiff, the Archaic period is often taken to end with the overthrow of the last tyrant of Athens and the start of Athenian Democracy in 508 BC. It was followed by the Classical period, characterized by a style which was considered by observers to be exemplary, i. e. classical, as shown in the Parthenon. This period saw the Greco-Persian Wars and the Rise of Macedon, following the Classical period was the Hellenistic period, during which Greek culture and power expanded into the Near and Middle East. This period begins with the death of Alexander and ends with the Roman conquest, Herodotus is widely known as the father of history, his Histories are eponymous of the entire field. Herodotus was succeeded by authors such as Thucydides, Xenophon, Demosthenes, Plato, most of these authors were either Athenian or pro-Athenian, which is why far more is known about the history and politics of Athens than those of many other cities. Their scope is limited by a focus on political, military and diplomatic history, ignoring economic. In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. The Lelantine War is the earliest documented war of the ancient Greek period and it was fought between the important poleis of Chalcis and Eretria over the fertile Lelantine plain of Euboea. Both cities seem to have suffered a decline as result of the long war, a mercantile class arose in the first half of the 7th century BC, shown by the introduction of coinage in about 680 BC
12.
Rome
–
Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
13.
Etruria
–
Etruria was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now Tuscany, Lazio, and Umbria. Such trade occurred either directly with Egypt, or through intermediaries such as Greek or Phoenician sailors, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany styled itself in Latin as Magnus Ducatus Etruriae. The name Etruria was also applied to the Kingdom of Etruria, a particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H. Lawrences Sketches of Etruscan Places and other Italian essays. Etruscan was the language for meetings. When Etruria was conquered by the Roman Republic, Latin became the official language, cities and Cemeteries of Etruria, by George Dennis, an overview of Etruscan civilisation
14.
J. Paul Getty
–
Jean Paul Getty was an American industrialist.2 billion. At his death, he was more than $2 billion. A book published in 1996 ranked him as the 67th richest American who ever lived, based on his wealth as a percentage of the national product. Despite his wealth, Getty was notably frugal and he famously negotiated his grandsons ransom. He established the J. Paul Getty Trust in 1953, the trust is the worlds wealthiest art institution, and operates the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Foundation, the Getty Research Institute, and the Getty Conservation Institute. Getty was born to Sarah Catherine McPherson Risher and George Getty and he enrolled at the University of Southern California, then at University of California, Berkeley. In 1913, he obtained a diploma in Economics and Political Science from the University of Oxford and he spent his summers between studies working on his fathers oil fields in Oklahoma. Running his own oil company in Tulsa, he made his first million by June 1916, the Nancy Taylor No.1 Oil Well Site near Haskell, Oklahoma, was crucial to his early financial success. This oil well was the first to be drilled by J. P. Getty, in 1919, Getty returned to business in Oklahoma. During the 1920s, he added about $3 million to his sizable estate. His succession of marriages and divorces so distressed his father, however, just before he died in 1930, George Franklin Getty said that Jean Paul would ultimately destroy the family company. In 1967 the billionaire merged these holdings into Getty Oil, beginning in 1949, Getty paid Ibn Saud $9.5 million in cash and $1 million a year for a 60-year concession to a tract of barren land near the border of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. No oil had ever been discovered there, and none appeared until four years had passed, from 1953 onward, Gettys gamble produced 16,000,000 barrels a year, which contributed greatly to the fortune responsible for making him one of the richest people in the world. Getty increased the wealth, learning to speak Arabic, which enabled his unparalleled expansion into the Middle East. Getty owned the controlling interest in nearly 200 businesses, including Getty Oil, associates identified his overall wealth at between $2 billion and $4 billion. It didnt come easily, perhaps inspiring Gettys widely quoted remark—The meek shall inherit the earth, J. Paul Getty was an owner of Getty Oil, Getty Inc. George F. Getty Inc. He moved to Britain in the 1950s and became a prominent Anglophile, Getty lived the rest of his life in the British Isles, dying of heart failure at the age of 83 on June 6,1976. Getty was married and divorced five times, timmy died at age 12, and Getty, living in England apart from his wife and son back in the U. S. did not attend the funeral
15.
Villa of the Papyri
–
The Villa of the Papyri, is named after its unique library of papyri, but is also one of the most luxurious houses in all of Herculaneum and in the Roman world. It is located in the current commune of Ercolano, southern Italy and it was situated on the ancient coastline below the volcano Vesuvius with nothing to obstruct the view of the sea. It was perhaps owned by Julius Caesars father-in-law, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, in AD79, the eruption of Vesuvius covered all of Herculaneum with some 30 m of volcanic ash. Herculaneum was first excavated in the years between 1750 and 1765 by Karl Weber by means of underground tunnels, the villas name derives from the discovery of its library, the only surviving library from the Graeco-Roman world that exists in its entirety. It contained over 1,800 papyrus scrolls, now carbonised by the heat of the eruption, most of the villa is still underground, but parts have been cleared of volcanic deposits. Many of the finds are displayed in the Naples National Archaeological Museum, the Getty Villa is a reproduction of the Villa of the Papyri. Sited a few hundred metres from the nearest house in Herculaneum and it was surrounded by a garden closed off by porticoes, but with an ample stretch of gardens, vineyards and woods down to a small harbour. The villas layout is faithful to, but enlarges upon, the scheme of suburban villas in the country around Pompeii. The atrium functioned as a hall and a means of communication with the various parts of the house. The entrance opened with a portico on the sea side. The first peristyle had 10 columns on each side and a pool in the centre. In this enclosure were found the bronze herma of Doryphorus, a replica of Polykleitos athlete, the large second peristyle could be reached by passing through a large tablinum in which, under a propylaeum, was the archaic statue of Athena Promachos. A collection of bronze busts were in the interior of the tablinum and these included the head of Scipio Africanus. The living and reception quarters were grouped around the porticoes and terraces, giving occupants ample sunlight, the grounds included a large area of covered and uncovered gardens for walks in the shade or in the warmth of the sun. The gardens included a gallery of busts, hermae and small marble and these were laid out between columns amid the open part of the garden and on the edges of the large swimming bath. The luxury of the villa is evidenced not only by the works of art. The villa housed a collection of at least 80 sculptures of magnificent quality, among them is the bronze Seated Hermes, found at the villa in 1758. Around the bowl of the atrium impluvium were 11 bronze fountain statues depicting Satyrs pouring water from a pitcher, other statues and busts were found in the corners around the atrium walls
16.
Herculaneum
–
Located in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, Herculaneum was an ancient Roman town destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic flows in 79 AD. Its ruins are located in the commune of Ercolano, Campania and it had been thought until then that the town had been evacuated by the inhabitants. Herculaneum was a town than Pompeii, possessing an extraordinary density of fine houses with, for example. Ancient tradition connected Herculaneum with the name of the Greek hero Herakles, in fact, it seems that some forefathers of the Samnite tribes of the Italian mainland founded the first civilization on the site of Herculaneum at the end of the 6th century BC. Soon after, the town came under Greek control and was used as a trading post because of its proximity to the Gulf of Naples, the Greeks named the city Ἡράκλειον, Heraklion. In the 4th century BC, Herculaneum again came under the domination of the Samnites. The city remained under Samnite control until it became a Roman municipium in 89 BC, when, having participated in the Social War, it was defeated by Titus Didius, a legate of Sulla. After the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, the town of Herculaneum was buried under approximately 20 metres of ash, excavations continued sporadically up to the present and today many streets and buildings are visible, although over 75% of the town remains buried. Today, the Italian towns of Ercolano and Portici lie on the site of Herculaneum. Until 1969 the town of Ercolano was called Resina and it changed its name to Ercolano, the Italian modernization of the ancient name in honour of the old city. The inhabitants worshipped above all Hercules, who was believed to be the founder of both the town and Mount Vesuvius, Other important deities worshipped include Venus and Apollo. The catastrophic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius occurred on the afternoon of 24 August 79 AD, because Vesuvius had been dormant for approximately 800 years, it was no longer even recognized as a volcano. Based on archaeological excavations and on two letters of Pliny the Younger to the Roman historian Tacitus, the course of the eruption can be reconstructed, at around 1pm on 24 August, Vesuvius began spewing volcanic ash and stone thousands of meters into the sky. When it reached the tropopause, the top of the cloud flattened, the prevailing winds at the time blew toward the southeast, causing the volcanic material to fall primarily on the city of Pompeii and the surrounding area. Since Herculaneum lay to the west of Vesuvius, it was only affected by the first phase of the eruption. While roofs in Pompeii collapsed under the weight of falling debris, only a few centimetres of ash fell on Herculaneum, causing little damage, during the following night, the eruptive column which had risen into the stratosphere collapsed onto Vesuvius and its flanks. The first pyroclastic surge, formed by a mixture of ash and hot gases, a succession of six flows and surges buried the citys buildings, causing little damage in some areas and preserving structures, objects and victims almost intact. In 1709 the digging of a deep well revealed some exceptional statues at the lowest levels which was found to be the site of the theatre
17.
Malibu, California
–
Malibu is a beach city in Los Angeles County, California, situated 30 miles west of Downtown Los Angeles. Known for its Mediterranean climate, a 21-mile strip of the Malibu coast incorporated in 1991 into the City of Malibu, the area is known for being the home of Hollywood movie stars, people in the entertainment industry, and other affluent residents. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,645, signs around the city proclaim 27 miles of scenic beauty, referring to the historical 27-mile Malibu coast spanning from Tuna Canyon west to Point Mugu in Ventura County. Most Malibu residents live within a few hundred yards of Pacific Coast Highway, for many residents of the unincorporated canyon areas, Malibu has the closest commercial centers and are included in the Malibu zip codes. The city is bounded by Topanga to the east, the Santa Monica Mountains to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the south. Nicknamed the Bu by surfers and locals, beaches along the Malibu coast include Surfrider Beach, Zuma Beach, Malibu Beach, Topanga Beach, Point Dume Beach, County Line and they named it Humaliwo or the surf sounds loudly. The citys name derives from this, as the Hu syllable is not stressed, explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo is believed to have moored at Malibu Lagoon, at the mouth of Malibu Creek, to obtain fresh water in 1542. The Spanish presence returned with the California mission system, and the area was part of Rancho Topanga Malibu Sequit—a 13 and that ranch passed intact to Frederick Hastings Rindge in 1891. Few roads even entered the area before 1929, when the state won another court case, by then May Rindge was forced to subdivide her property and begin selling and leasing lots. In 1926, in an effort to selling land to stave off insolvency. At its height, Malibu Potteries employed over 100 workers, and produced decorative tiles which furnish many Los Angeles-area public buildings, the factory, located one-half mile east of the pier, was ravaged by a fire in 1931. Although the factory reopened in 1932, it could not recover from the effects of the Great Depression. A distinct hybrid of Moorish and Arts and crafts designs, Malibu tile is considered highly collectible. Fine examples of the tiles may be seen at the Adamson House and Serra Retreat, the unfinished building was sold to the Franciscan Order in 1942 and is operated as a retreat facility, Serra Retreat. It burned in the 1970 fire and was using many of the original tiles. Most of the Big Rock Drive area was purchased in 1936 by William Randolph Hearst and he sold the lower half of his holdings there in 1944 to Art Jones. Jones was one of the prominent early realtors in Malibu, starting with the leases of Rindge land in Malibu Colony. He was also the owner/part-owner of the Malibu Inn, Malibu Trading Post, mcAnany Way is named after him
18.
West Germany
–
West Germany is the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation on 23 May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990. During this Cold War era, NATO-aligned West Germany and Warsaw Pact-aligned East Germany were divided by the Inner German border, after 1961 West Berlin was physically separated from East Berlin as well as from East Germany by the Berlin Wall. This situation ended when East Germany was dissolved and its five states joined the ten states of the Federal Republic of Germany along with the reunified city-state of Berlin. With the reunification of West and East Germany, the Federal Republic of Germany, enlarged now to sixteen states and this period is referred to as the Bonn Republic by historians, alluding to the interwar Weimar Republic and the post-reunification Berlin Republic. The Federal Republic of Germany was established from eleven states formed in the three Allied Zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, US and British forces remained in the country throughout the Cold War. Its population grew from roughly 51 million in 1950 to more than 63 million in 1990, the city of Bonn was its de facto capital city. The fourth Allied occupation zone was held by the Soviet Union, as a result, West Germany had a territory about half the size of the interbellum democratic Weimar Republic. At the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided among the Western and Eastern blocs, Germany was de facto divided into two countries and two special territories, the Saarland and divided Berlin. The Federal Republic of Germany claimed a mandate for all of Germany. It took the line that the GDR was an illegally constituted puppet state, though the GDR did hold regular elections, these were not free and fair. For all practical purposes the GDR was a Soviet puppet state, from the West German perspective the GDR was therefore illegitimate. Three southwestern states of West Germany merged to form Baden-Württemberg in 1952, in addition to the resulting ten states, West Berlin was considered an unofficial de facto 11th state. It recognised the GDR as a de facto government within a single German nation that in turn was represented de jure by the West German state alone. From 1973 onward, East Germany recognised the existence of two German countries de jure, and the West as both de facto and de jure foreign country, the Federal Republic and the GDR agreed that neither of them could speak in the name of the other. The first chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who remained in office until 1963, had worked for an alignment with NATO rather than neutrality. He not only secured a membership in NATO but was also a proponent of agreements that developed into the present-day European Union, when the G6 was established in 1975, there was no question whether the Federal Republic of Germany would be a member as well. With the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, symbolised by the opening of the Berlin Wall, East Germany voted to dissolve itself and accede to the Federal Republic in 1990. Its five post-war states were reconstituted along with the reunited Berlin and they formally joined the Federal Republic on 3 October 1990, raising the number of states from 10 to 16, ending the division of Germany
19.
Illuminated manuscript
–
An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented with such decoration as initials, borders and miniature illustrations. Comparable Far Eastern and Mesoamerican works are described as painted, islamic manuscripts may be referred to as illuminated, illustrated or painted, though using essentially the same techniques as Western works. This article covers the technical, social and economic history of the subject, for an art-historical account, the earliest surviving substantive illuminated manuscripts are from the period 400 to 600, produced in the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths and the Eastern Roman Empire. The significance of these works lies not only in their inherent artistic and historical value, had it not been for the monastic scribes of Late Antiquity, most literature of Greece and Rome would have perished in Europe. As it was, the patterns of textual survivals were shaped by their usefulness to the severely constricted literate group of Christians, the majority of surviving manuscripts are from the Middle Ages, although many survive from the Renaissance, along with a very limited number from Late Antiquity. The majority of manuscripts are of a religious nature. However, especially from the 13th century onward, a number of secular texts were illuminated. Most illuminated manuscripts were created as codices, which had superseded scrolls, a very few illuminated manuscript fragments survive on papyrus, which does not last nearly as long as vellum or parchment. Most medieval manuscripts, illuminated or not, were written on parchment, beginning in the late Middle Ages manuscripts began to be produced on paper. Illuminated manuscripts continued to be produced in the early 16th century, Manuscripts are among the most common items to survive from the Middle Ages, many thousands survive. They are also the best surviving specimens of medieval painting, indeed, for many areas and time periods, they are the only surviving examples of painting. There are a few examples from later periods, the type of book that was most often heavily and richly illuminated, sometimes known as a display book, varied between periods. In the first millennium, these were most likely to be Gospel Books, such as the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Romanesque period saw the creation of many huge illuminated complete Bibles – one in Sweden requires three librarians to lift it. Many Psalters were also illuminated in both this and the Gothic period. Finally, the Book of Hours, very commonly the personal book of a wealthy layperson, was often richly illuminated in the Gothic period. Other books, both liturgical and not, continued to be illuminated at all periods, the Byzantine world also continued to produce manuscripts in its own style, versions of which spread to other Orthodox and Eastern Christian areas. See Medieval art for other regions, periods and types, reusing parchments by scraping the surface and reusing them was a common practice, the traces often left behind of the original text are known as palimpsests. The Gothic period, which saw an increase in the production of these beautiful artifacts, also saw more secular works such as chronicles
20.
The New York Times
–
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper, founded and continuously published in New York City since September 18,1851, by The New York Times Company. The New York Times has won 119 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper, the papers print version in 2013 had the second-largest circulation, behind The Wall Street Journal, and the largest circulation among the metropolitan newspapers in the US. The New York Times is ranked 18th in the world by circulation, following industry trends, its weekday circulation had fallen in 2009 to fewer than one million. Nicknamed The Gray Lady, The New York Times has long been regarded within the industry as a newspaper of record. The New York Times international version, formerly the International Herald Tribune, is now called the New York Times International Edition, the papers motto, All the News Thats Fit to Print, appears in the upper left-hand corner of the front page. On Sunday, The New York Times is supplemented by the Sunday Review, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine and T, some other early investors of the company were Edwin B. Morgan and Edward B. We do not believe that everything in Society is either right or exactly wrong, —what is good we desire to preserve and improve, —what is evil, to exterminate. In 1852, the started a western division, The Times of California that arrived whenever a mail boat got to California. However, when local California newspapers came into prominence, the effort failed, the newspaper shortened its name to The New-York Times in 1857. It dropped the hyphen in the city name in the 1890s, One of the earliest public controversies it was involved with was the Mortara Affair, the subject of twenty editorials it published alone. At Newspaper Row, across from City Hall, Henry Raymond, owner and editor of The New York Times, averted the rioters with Gatling guns, in 1869, Raymond died, and George Jones took over as publisher. Tweed offered The New York Times five million dollars to not publish the story, in the 1880s, The New York Times transitioned gradually from editorially supporting Republican Party candidates to becoming more politically independent and analytical. In 1884, the paper supported Democrat Grover Cleveland in his first presidential campaign, while this move cost The New York Times readership among its more progressive and Republican readers, the paper eventually regained most of its lost ground within a few years. However, the newspaper was financially crippled by the Panic of 1893, the paper slowly acquired a reputation for even-handedness and accurate modern reporting, especially by the 1890s under the guidance of Ochs. Under Ochs guidance, continuing and expanding upon the Henry Raymond tradition, The New York Times achieved international scope, circulation, in 1910, the first air delivery of The New York Times to Philadelphia began. The New York Times first trans-Atlantic delivery by air to London occurred in 1919 by dirigible, airplane Edition was sent by plane to Chicago so it could be in the hands of Republican convention delegates by evening. In the 1940s, the extended its breadth and reach. The crossword began appearing regularly in 1942, and the section in 1946
21.
Richard Meier
–
Richard Meier is an American abstract artist and architect, whose geometric designs make prominent use of the color white. A winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1984, Meier has designed several buildings including the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art. Meier was born to a Jewish family, the oldest of three sons of Jerome Meier, wholesale wine and liquor salesman, and Carolyn Kaltenbacher in Newark and he grew up in nearby Maplewood, where he attended Columbia High School. He earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University in 1957, after graduation, Meier traveled to Israel, Greece, Germany, France, Denmark, Finland, and Italy, among other places, to network with architects. Meier is also the cousin of Peter Eisenman, an architect, theorist. In New York City, Meier worked for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill briefly in 1959, in 1972, he was identified as one of The New York Five, a group of modernist architects, Meier, Peter Eisenman, Michael Graves, Charles Gwathmey, and John Hejduk. Early in his career, Meier worked with such as painter Frank Stella and favored structures that were white. Meier first gained significant recognition for his designs of various residences in addition to The Atheneum in New Harmony, Indiana, today, Richard Meier & Partners Architects has offices in New York and Los Angeles with current projects ranging from China and Tel Aviv to Paris and Hamburg. Much of Meiers work builds on the work of architects of the early to mid-20th century, especially that of Le Corbusier and, in particular, Meier has built more using Corbusiers ideas than anyone, including Le Corbusier himself. Meier expanded many ideas evident in Le Corbusiers work, particularly the Villa Savoye and his work also reflects the influences of other designers such as Mies Van der Rohe and, in some instances, Frank Lloyd Wright and Luis Barragán. White has been used in many landmark buildings throughout history, including cathedrals. The Mayor of Rome Gianni Alemanno included in his campaign platform a promise to tear down the big wall of Meiers Ara Pacis. The city plans to build a pedestrian area along the river. Its an improvement, says Meier, adding that the reason that wall was there has to do with traffic, once that is eliminated, the idea of opening the piazza to the river is a good one. The mayor’s office said Alemanno hopes to complete the project before the end of his term in 2013, in 1984, Meier was awarded the Pritzker Prize. The jury citation declared that Meier has created structures which are personal, vigorous, in 2008, he won the gold medal in architecture from the Academy of Arts and Letters and his work Jesolo Lido Village was awarded the Dedalo Minosse International Prize for commissioning a building. Meier is a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council and he was awarded the AIA Gold Medal in 1997. In 2013 Richard Meier was awarded the A+ Lifetime Achievement Award In 2010, paying tribute Meier on the occasion of his firms 50th anniversary, the Fondazione Bisazza presented the exhibition Richard Meier, Architecture and Design in Vicenza, Italy
22.
Travertine
–
Travertine is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs. Travertine often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored and it is formed by a process of rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate, often at the mouth of a hot spring or in a limestone cave. In the latter, it can form stalactites, stalagmites, and it is frequently used in Italy and elsewhere as a building material. Travertine is a sedimentary rock, formed by the precipitation of carbonate minerals from solution in ground and surface waters. Similar deposits formed from water are known as tufa. The word travertine is derived from the Italian travertino, itself a derivation of the Latin tiburtinus ‘of Tibur’ and its namesake is also the origin of Tivoli, a district near Rome. Modern travertine is formed from geothermally heated supersaturated alkaline waters, with raised pCO2, on emergence, waters degas CO2 due to the lower atmospheric pCO2, resulting in an increase in pH. Since carbonate solubility decreases with increased pH, precipitation is induced, precipitation may be enhanced by factors leading to a reduction in pCO2, for example increased air-water interactions at waterfalls may be important, as may photosynthesis. Precipitation may also be enhanced by evaporation in some springs, both calcite and aragonite are found in hot spring travertines, aragonite is preferentially precipitated when temperatures are hot, while calcite dominates when temperatures are cooler. When pure and fine, travertine is white, but often it is brown to yellow due to impurities, travertine may precipitate out directly onto rock and other inert materials as in Pamukkale or Yellowstone for example. The latter has a historic value, because it was one of the quarries that Gian Lorenzo Bernini selected material from to build the famous Colonnade of St. Peters Square in Rome in 1656-1667. Michaelangelo also chose travertine as the material for the ribs of the dome of St Peters Basilica. Travertine derives its name from the town, known as Tibur in ancient Roman times. The ancient name for the stone was lapis tiburtinus, meaning tibur stone, detailed studies of the Tivoli and Guidonia travertine deposits revealed diurnal and annual rhythmic banding and laminae, which have potential use in geochronology. Cascades of natural lakes formed behind travertine dams can be seen in Pamukkale, Turkey, in Central Europes last post-glacial palaeoclimatic optimum, huge deposits of tufa formed from karst springs. On a smaller scale, these karst processes are still working, travertine has been an important building material since the Middle Ages. Travertine has formed sixteen huge, natural dams in a valley in Croatia known as Plitvice Lakes National Park, clinging to moss and rocks in the water, the travertine has built up over several millennia to form waterfalls up to 70 m in height. In the U. S. the most well-known place for travertine formation is Yellowstone National Park, Oklahoma has two parks dedicated to this natural wonder
23.
Getty kouros
–
The Getty kouros is an over-life-sized statue in the form of a late archaic Greek kouros. The dolomitic marble sculpture was bought by the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California in 1985 for nine million dollars, despite initial favourable scientific analysis of the patina and aging of the marble, the question of its authenticity has persisted from the beginning. Subsequent demonstration of a means of creating the de-dolomitization observed on the stone has prompted a number of art historians to revise their opinions of the work. If genuine, it is one of only twelve extant complete kouroi, if fake, it exhibits a high degree of technical and artistic sophistication by an as-yet unidentified forger. Its status remains undetermined, today the museums label reads Greek, the kouros first appeared on the art market in 1983 when the Basel dealer Gianfranco Becchina offered the work to the Gettys curator of antiquities, Jiří Frel. Frel deposited the sculpture at Pacific Palisades along with a number of documents purporting to attest to the statue’s authenticity. These documents traced the provenance of the piece to a collection in Geneva of Dr. Jean Lauffenberger who, No find site or archaeological data was recorded. Amongst the papers was a suspect 1952 letter allegedly from Ernst Langlotz, then the preeminent scholar of Greek sculpture, the documentary history of the sculpture was evidently an elaborate fake and therefore there are no reliable facts about its recent history before 1983. The Getty kouros is highly eclectic in style and our understanding of the development of kouroi as delineated by Gisela Richter suggests the date of the Getty youth diminishes from head to feet. Beginning with the hair we can observe that it is braided into a mass of 14 strands. The closest parallel here is to the Sounion kouros of the late 7th century/early 6th century, however, the Getty kouros’s hair exhibits a rigidity, very unlike the Sounion Group. Descending to the hands, we may see that the last joints of the turn in at right angles to the thighs. Both Ptoon 12 and the Acropolis base are assigned to the Group of Anavyssos-Ptoon 12, anachronizing elements are not unknown in authentic kouroi, but the disparity of up to a century is a strikingly unusual feature of the Getty sculpture. Despite being of Thasian marble, the kouros cannot be ascribed to an individual workshop of northern Greece nor indeed to any ancient regional school of sculpture. There is little in the marks, carving methods and detailing to contradict an ancient origin of the piece. Although we have a sample with which to compare there are atypical aspects of the Getty work that may be observed. The oval plinth is a shape and larger than in other examples. Also, the ears are not symmetrical, they are at different heights with the left oblong, perhaps the most striking evidence suggestive of the kouros’s antiquity is a subtlety regarding the direction of motion of the figure. e
24.
Antiquities
–
Antiquities are objects from Antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean, the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures. Artifacts from earlier periods such as the Mesolithic, and other civilizations from Asia, non-artistic artifacts are now less likely to be called antiquities than in earlier periods. Francis Bacon wrote in 1605, Antiquities are history defaced, or some remnants of history which have escaped the shipwreck of time. Bonhams use a similar definition.4000 B. C to the 12th Century A. D, geographically they originate from Egypt, the Near East and Europe. The term is no longer used in formal academic discussion. Most, but not all, antiquities have been recovered by archaeology, there is little or no overlap with antiques, which covers objects, not generally discovered as a result of archaeology, at most about three hundred years old, and usually far less. Precious cameos and other antique carved gems might be preserved when incorporated into crowns and diadems and liturgical objects, Roman columns could be re-erected in churches. Sarcophagi could receive new occupants and cinerary urns could function as holy water stoups, in Rome the Roman bronze Spinario was admired for itself by the guidebook writer Magister Gregorius. The Euphronios krater is an apparent example that has come to light, another example is the ambiguous legal case concerning the Getty Museums Bronze Statue of a Victorious Youth. The field has been complicated by the trade in Archaeological forgeries, such as the Etruscan terracotta warriors, the Persian Princess
25.
Marion True
–
Marion True is the former curator of antiquities for the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California. The trial brought to many questions about museum administration, repatriation. True was born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma in 1948, and grew up in Newburyport, True later received a scholarship to study the classics and fine arts at New York University, NYU. True also has a degree in classical archaeology from NYUs Institute of Fine Arts, and a PhD from Harvard. True was trained by Cornelius Clarkson Vermeule III, contemporary scholar of Ancient Art and Curator of Classical Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 1982, True joined The Getty as a curatorial assistant and later became a curator in 1986. True created a new policy for The Getty in 1987, which required the museum to notify governments when objects were being considered for acquisitions, under this new policy, if a government could prove an object had been illegally exported, the museum would return it. In 1992, True organized a symposium to debate the authenticity of a Greek kouros, the label in the museum reads, Greek,530 BCE or Modern Forgery. This Kouros was worth $10 million in 1985 when it was acquired, later in 1995, The Getty incorporated the collection of Barbara and Lawrence Fleischman into the museums collection. During that same year, True obtained a loan to purchase a vacation home on the Greek Island of Paros. Later, lawyers would question if True and the Fleischmans had a conflict of interest, in 2005, True was indicted by the Italian government, along with renowned American antiquities dealer, Robert E. Hecht, for conspiracy to traffic in illicit antiquities. She was accused of participating in a conspiracy that laundered stolen objects through private collection in order to create a paper trail that would serve as the items provenance. The Getty issued statements supporting True, We Trust that this trial will result in her exoneration, the primary evidence in the case came from the 1995 raid of a Geneva, Switzerland warehouse, which contained a fortune in stolen artifacts. Medici was sentenced in 2004, by a court in Rome, to ten years in prison and a fine of 10 million euros, on October 1,2005, True resigned from The Getty. On November 20,2006, the Director of the museum, Michael Brand, True testified for the first time in March 2007. In September 2007, Italy dropped the charges against True. The Getty also announced its plan to return 40 out of 46 objects, on September 26,2007, Getty Center signed a contract with the Italian Culture ministry in Rome to return stolen arts from Italy. In November 2007, the Greek criminal charges against True were dropped as the statute of limitations had expired, the wreath and three other items from the Gettys collection were returned to Greece. All charges against True were eventually dismissed, the wreath in question had already been returned to Greece
26.
Geneva
–
Geneva is the second most populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situated where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic, the municipality has a population of 198,072, and the canton has 484,736 residents. In 2014, the compact agglomération du Grand Genève had 946,000 inhabitants in 212 communities in both Switzerland and France, within Swiss territory, the commuter area named Métropole lémanique contains a population of 1.25 million. This area is essentially spread east from Geneva towards the Riviera area and north-east towards Yverdon-les-Bains, Geneva is the city that hosts the highest number of international organizations in the world. It is also the place where the Geneva Conventions were signed, Geneva was ranked as the worlds ninth most important financial centre for competitiveness by the Global Financial Centres Index, ahead of Frankfurt, and third in Europe behind London and Zürich. A2009 survey by Mercer found that Geneva has the third-highest quality of life of any city in the world, the city has been referred to as the worlds most compact metropolis and the Peace Capital. In 2009 and 2011, Geneva was ranked as, respectively, the city was mentioned in Latin texts, by Caesar, with the spelling Genava, probably from a Celtic toponym *genawa- from the stem *genu-, in the sense of a bending river or estuary. The medieval county of Geneva in Middle Latin was known as pagus major Genevensis or Comitatus Genevensis, the name takes various forms in modern languages, Geneva /dʒᵻˈniːvə/ in English, French, Genève, German, Genf, Italian, Ginevra, and Romansh, Genevra. The city in origin shares its name, *genawa estuary, with the Italian port city of Genoa, Geneva was an Allobrogian border town, fortified against the Helvetii tribe, when the Romans took it in 121 BC. It became Christian under the Late Roman Empire, and acquired its first bishop in the 5th century, having been connected to the bishopric of Vienne in the 4th. In the Middle Ages, Geneva was ruled by a count under the Holy Roman Empire until the late 14th century, around this time the House of Savoy came to dominate the city. In the 15th century, a republican government emerged with the creation of the Grand Council. In 1541, with Protestantism in the ascendancy, John Calvin, by the 18th century, however, Geneva had come under the influence of Catholic France, which cultivated the city as its own. France also tended to be at odds with the ordinary townsfolk, in 1798, revolutionary France under the Directory annexed Geneva. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, on 1 June 1814, in 1907, the separation of Church and State was adopted. Geneva flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries, becoming the seat of international organizations. Geneva is located at 46°12 North, 6°09 East, at the end of Lake Geneva. It is surrounded by two chains, the Alps and the Jura
27.
Switzerland
–
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
28.
J. Paul Getty Trust
–
The J. Paul Getty Trust is the worlds wealthiest art institution with an estimated endowment in 2011 of $US5.6 billion. Its other programs are the Getty Foundation, the Getty Research Institute, with an estimated 1.6 million visitors per year, the trust operates one of the most visited museums in the United States. The trust also provides grants and training to other museums and cultural institutions, the trust has a library, publications program and visiting scholar program. The trusts conservation program is dedicated to advancing conservation practice through the creation, however, since 2008, the trust has scaled back the scope of its activities in response to financial challenges. The J. Paul Getty Museum Trust was established by oilman J. Paul Getty in 1953, Getty founded the Getty Oil Company, and in 1957 Fortune magazine named him the richest living American. At his death, he was more than $2 billion. Getty died in 1976 and left the bulk of his estate, including nearly $660 million worth of stock in Getty Oil, legal conflicts over the will took years to resolve, but in 1982 the trust finally received Gettys full bequest. The trust began to add a number of new programs in 1982, in 1997 Barry Munitz was named the president and CEO of the trust. He began work in January 1998, succeeding Harold M. Williams, the first president of the Getty Trust, with an endowment of $4.2 billion, the Getty Trust is the wealthiest art institution in the world. Early in his tenure, Munitz reorganized the Getty Trust, closing two of the institutions six programs—the Getty Information Institute and the Getty Education Institute, to deal with long-run financial issues, he sought to cultivate relationships with donors and corporate partners. In 2009, after a drop in the trusts assets, Wood cut nearly 100 employees at the trusts various operations. Fees for parking at the museum and the Getty Villa were raised by 50% to $15, Wood died suddenly of natural causes on June 12,2010. In May 2011 James Cuno, director of the Art Institute of Chicago, was named president and chief executive of the Getty Trust, the J. Paul Getty Museum is an art museum. It has two locations, one at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, and one at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California. The museum at the Getty Center contains Western art from the Middle Ages to the present, the museum at the Getty Villa contains art from ancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria. The museum started as J. Paul Gettys personal art collection, the Getty Foundation was originally called the Getty Grant Program, which began in 1984 under the direction of Deborah Marrow. For example, a grant funded the restoration of the Cosmati Pavement in the floor of Westminster Abbey. For many years, the foundation conducted the Getty Leadership Institute, the Getty Research Institute, located at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, is dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts
29.
Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki
–
The Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki is a museum in Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, Greece. It holds and interprets artifacts from the Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods, mostly from the city of Thessaloniki, the museum is housed in a building designed by architect Patroklos Karantinos and is an example of the modern architectural trends of Greece. Built in 1962, the museum had a new wing added to it in 1980, in which the findings from Vergina were displayed, in 2001 and 2004, in the run-up to the 2004 Athens Olympics, the museum was extensively renovated and its permanent exhibits reorganized. The central rooms hold exhibits from the excavations conducted in Thessaloniki. At present, the collection of Archaic to Late Roman sculptures from Thessaloniki and they illustrate the history of Thessaloniki from prehistoric times to Late Antiquity. Apart from its permanent displays, the Archaeological Museum also hosts major temporary, a showcase in the lobby of the museum displays some finds from the excavation of the Neolithic settlement at Makrygialos in Pieria, accompanied by information about the progress of the excavation. In the new wing, the The Gold of Macedon exhibition includes finds from excavations in Central Macedonia. There are also finds from cemeteries, and their role in burial customs is described. The Thessaloniki in Prehistory exhibition aims to recreate a picture of the Thermaic Gulf littoral before the city of Thessaloniki was built. On 26 February 2010, Greek authorities arrested two men found in possession of various antiquities, including a bronze statue of Alexander. If confirmed, this would make it the first original work of Lysippos ever discovered, the statue is currently being examined at the laboratory of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, which is expected to confirm or deny its authenticity
30.
Victorious Youth
–
The sculpture was found in the summer of 1961 in the sea off Fano on the Adriatic coast of Italy, snagged in the nets of an Italian fishing trawler, the Ferri Ferruccio. After some furtive offering on the gray market and vigorous competition with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The sculpture may have part of the crowd of sculptures of victorious athletes at Panhellenic Greek sanctuaries like Delphi. His right hand reaches to touch the winners olive wreath on his head, the powerful head has led viewers to see it as a portrait, the head was cast separately from the lithe body. The athletes eyes were once inlaid, probably with bone, the statue has been roughly broken off its former base, breaking away at the ankles. The Italian government has made claims for the return of the sculpture, the Getty Museum is involved in a controversy regarding proper title to some of the artwork in its collection. The Museums previous curator of antiquities, Marion True, was indicted in Italy in 2005 along with Robert E. Hecht on criminal charges relating to trafficking in stolen antiquities. The primary evidence in the case came from the 1995 raid of a Geneva, True is currently under investigation by Greek authorities over the acquisition of a 2, 500-year-old funerary wreath. On November 20,2006, the Director of the museum, Michael Brand, announced that twenty-six disputed pieces were to be returned to Italy, antonietta Viacava, L atleta di Fano, edizioni LErma di Bretschneider,1995, ISBN 88-7062-868-X. Reviewed in Bryn Mawr Classical Review www. lisippo. org - Website of the organisation who want the statue back to Fano. Www. patrimoniosos. it Victorious Youth NPR, Italy, Getty Museum at Odds over Disputed Art 20 December 2006. Rutelli, «Cultural embargoe», by Pierluigi Panza, Corriere della Sera, November 14,2006 Il Getty Museum non rende le opere richieste, Corriere della Sera, November 23,2006 Rutelli attacca il Getty. Corriere della Sera, November 26,2006 LItalie joue le bras de fer avec le Getty Museum, di Richard Heuzé, Le Figaro, December 26,2006 No Lisippo, no Bernini, La Stampa, July 11,2007
31.
Aphrodite
–
Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. She is identified with the planet Venus, and her Roman equivalent is the goddess Venus, as with many ancient Greek deities, there is more than one story about her origins. According to Hesiods Theogony, she was born when Cronus cut off Uranuss genitals and threw them into the sea, according to Homers Iliad, she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. In Plato, these two origins are said to be of hitherto separate entities, Aphrodite Ourania and Aphrodite Pandemos, Aphrodite had many lovers—both gods, such as Ares, and men, such as Anchises. She played a role in the Eros and Psyche legend, and was lover and surrogate mother of Adonis. Many lesser beings were said to be children of Aphrodite, Aphrodite is also known as Cytherea and Cypris after the two cult sites, Cythera and Cyprus, which claimed to be her place of birth. Myrtle, roses, doves, sparrows and swans were sacred to her, the ancient Greeks identified her with the Ancient Egyptian goddess Hathor. Aphrodite had many names such as Acidalia and Cerigo, each used by a different local cult of the goddess in Greece. The Greeks recognized all of these names as referring to the single goddess Aphrodite, despite the differences in what these local cults believed the goddess demanded of them. The Attic philosophers of the 4th century, however, drew a distinction between a celestial Aphrodite of transcendent principles, and a separate, common Aphrodite who was the goddess of the people, hesiod derives Aphrodite from aphrós sea-foam, interpreting the name as risen from the foam. Michael Janda, accepting this as genuine, claims the birth myth as an Indo-European mytheme. Likewise, Witczak proposes an Indo-European compound *abʰor- very and *dʰei- to shine and it has been argued that etymologies based on comparison with Eos are unlikely since Aphrodites attributes are entirely different from those of Eos or the Vedic deity Ushas. A number of improbable non-Greek etymologies have suggested in scholarship. One Semitic etymology compares Aphrodite to the Assyrian barīrītu, the name of a demon that appears in Middle Babylonian. Hammarström looks to Etruscan, comparing prϑni lord, an Etruscan honorific loaned into Greek as πρύτανις and this would make the theonym in origin an honorific, the lady. Hjalmar Frisk and Robert Beekes reject this etymology as implausible, especially since Aphrodite actually appears in Etruscan in the borrowed form Apru, the medieval Etymologicum Magnum offers a highly contrived etymology, deriving Aphrodite from the compound habrodíaitos, she who lives delicately, from habrós and díaita. The alteration from b to ph is explained as a characteristic of Greek obvious from the Macedonians. Aphrodite is usually said to have been born near her chief center of worship, Paphos, on the island of Cyprus, however, other versions of her myth have her born near the island of Cythera, hence another of her names, Cytherea
32.
Morgantina
–
Morgantina is an archaeological site in east central Sicily, southern Italy. It is sixty kilometres from the coast of the Ionian Sea, the closest modern town is Aidone, two kilometres southwest of the site. The site consists of a long ridge running southwest-northeast, known as Serra Orlando. Morgantina was inhabited in several periods, the earliest major settlement was made at Cittadella and lasted from about 1000/900 to about 450 BCE. The other major settlement was located on Serra Orlando, and existed from about 450 BCE to about 50 CE, Morgantina has been the subject of archaeological investigation since the early 20th century. Serra Orlando was identified as Morgantina by Kenan Erim following the discovery of a number of bearing the Latin word HISPANORUM. Erim used these coins and passages from Livy to argue that the city found at Serra Orlando was in fact the ancient city of Morgantina, the name is variously written by Latin writers as Murgantia, Murgentia and Morgentia. The inhabitants were called Murgentini by Cicero and Pliny the Elder, according to Strabo Morgantina was founded by a pre-Roman Italian group known as the Morgetes of Rhegium. Dionysius of Halicarnassus wrote that the Morgetes were led by a king named Morges, the earliest historical date associated with Morgantina is 459 BCE, when Ducetius, leader of the indigenous Sicel population of central Sicily, attacked the city and captured it. Morgantina was probably still under Ducetius control when he was defeated at Nomai by Syracuse in 449 BCE, thucydides says that Syracuse agreed at the Congress of Gela to give Morgantina to Kamarina in return for payment of an indemnity. Kamarina was destroyed in 405 by the Carthaginians, Morgantina therefore must have been independent from at least this date, although it was soon recaptured by Dionysios of Syracuse in 396. Syracuse retained control of Morgantina until the Second Punic War, in 317, Morgantina received the tyrant Agathocles, then in exile, and offered him help in returning to Syracuse. He was elected praetor at Morgantina, and later dux, as part of the Syracusan kingdom of Hiero II, Morgantina fell under the hegemony of Rome when Hieron became a Roman vassal in 263. In 214, Morgantina switched its allegiance from Rome to Carthage, Morgantina remained autonomous until 211, when it became the last Sicilian town to be captured by the Romans. It was given as payment by Rome to a group of Spanish mercenaries, in 133, Morgantina was the place where Eunus, the leader of the slave rebellion known as the First Servile War, died. In the Second Servile War, Morgantina was besieged and taken by slaves, the final mention of Morgantina comes again from Strabo, who notes that in his own time, the first century CE, the city had ceased to exist. A few literary sources describe Morgantina and its economy, most famous of these are the references to the vitis murgentina, a strain of grape mentioned by Cato, Columella, and Pliny the Elder. These grapes were prized for their wine — Pliny called it the very best among all those that come from Sicily — and had been transplanted from Sicily to mainland Italy by the 2nd century BCE, the earliest excavations at Morgantina were undertaken by Luigi Pappalardo in 1884
33.
Kylix
–
In the pottery of ancient Greece, a kylix is the most common type of wine-drinking cup. It has a broad, relatively shallow, body raised on a stem from a foot, the main alternative wine-cup shape was the kantharos, with a narrower and deeper cup and high vertical handles. As the representations would be covered with wine, the scenes would only be revealed in stages as the wine was drained and they were often designed with this in mind, with scenes created so that they would surprise or titillate the drinker as they were revealed. The word comes from the Greek kylix cup, which is cognate with Latin calix, the term seems to have been rather more generally used in ancient Greece. Individual examples and the many named sub-varieties of kylix are often called names just using cup, like all other types of Greek pottery vessels, they are also covered by the general term of vase. Dionysos, the god of wine, and his satyrs or related komastic scenes, are common subjects, on the external surface sometimes, large eyes were depicted, probably also with humorous purposes. The shape of the kylix enabled the drinker to drink whilst recumbent and it also enabled them to play kottabos, a game played by flinging wine lees at targets. A typical bowl held roughly 8 oz/250ml of fluid, though this varied greatly with size and shape. There are many sub-types of kylix, variously defined by their basic shape, several of these are grouped under the term of Little-Master cup. The sub-types include, After the kylikes were formed, an artisan drew a depiction of an event from Greek mythology or everyday life with a glaze on the outer surface of the formation. Inside the drinking bowl was often a portrait of dancing and/or festive drinking, unique compositional skills were necessary for the artisans to attain due to the lack of verticals and horizontals on the surface. Onesimos, Makron, and Douris were famous painters in this field, individual kylixes with articles include, Arkesilas Cup, very unusual because it shows a living political figure, Arkesilaos II, king of Kyrene. It is dated to about 565/560 BC, and is now in Paris, dionysus Cup, famous for its painting, 540–530 BC. It is one of the masterpieces of the Attic Black-figure potter Exekias, berlin Foundry Cup, a red-figure kylix from the early 5th century BC. It is the vase of the Attic vase painter known conventionally as the Foundry Painter. Its most striking feature is the depiction of activities in an Athenian bronze workshop or foundry. It is an important source on ancient Greek metal-working technology, Brygos Cup of Würzburg, an Attic red-figure kylix from about 480 BC. It was made by the Brygos potter and painted by the man known as the Brygos Painter and its symposium scenes are some of the best-known images of Greek pottery
34.
Onesimos (vase painter)
–
Onesimos was an ancient Athenian vase painter who flourished c. He specialized in decorating cups, mostly of Type B, which virtually all known examples of his work. Like many of his fellow painters, Onesimos emphasized realistically rendered, active figures. A number of the pieces painted by Onesimos bear the signature of Euphronios as potter, in light of this evidence of the two artists close collaboration, as well as similarities in their painting styles, many researchers believe that Onesimos learned his trade as Euphronioss pupil. Similarly, the works of the later Antiphon Painter bear a close resemblance to those of Onesimos. The Getty Museum - Biography of Onesimos
35.
Etruscan civilization
–
The Etruscan civilization is the modern name given to a powerful and wealthy civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany, western Umbria, and northern Lazio. Culture that is identifiably Etruscan developed in Italy after about 800 BC, the latter gave way in the 7th century BC to a culture that was influenced by ancient Greece, Magna Graecia, and Phoenicia. The decline was gradual, but by 500 BC the political destiny of Italy had passed out of Etruscan hands, the last Etruscan cities were formally absorbed by Rome around 100 BC. Politics were based on the city, and probably the family unit. In their heyday, the Etruscan elite grew very rich through trade with the Celtic world to the north and the Greeks to the south, archaic Greece had a huge influence on their art and architecture, and Greek mythology was evidently very familiar to them. The study also excluded recent Anatolian connection, the ancient Romans referred to the Etruscans as the Tuscī or Etruscī. Their Roman name is the origin of the terms Tuscany, which refers to their heartland, and Etruria, which can refer to their wider region. In Attic Greek, the Etruscans were known as Tyrrhenians, from which the Romans derived the names Tyrrhēnī, Tyrrhēnia, the word may also be related to the Hittite Taruisa. The Etruscans called themselves Rasenna, which was syncopated to Rasna or Raśna, the origins of the Etruscans are mostly lost in prehistory, although Greek historians as early as the 5th century BC, repeatedly associated the Tyrrhenians with Pelasgians. Strabo as well as the Homeric Hymn to Dionysus make mention of the Tyrrhenians as pirates, pliny the Elder put the Etruscans in the context of the Rhaetian people to the north and wrote in his Natural History, Adjoining these the Noricans are the Raeti and Vindelici. All are divided into a number of states, the Raeti are believed to be people of Tuscan race driven out by the Gauls, their leader was named Raetus. Historians have no literature and no original Etruscan texts of religion or philosophy, therefore, much of what is known about this civilization is derived from grave goods, another source of genetic data on Etruscan origins is from four ancient breeds of cattle. Analyzing the mitochondrial DNA of these and seven other breeds of Italian cattle, the other Italian breeds were linked to northern Europe. Etruscan expansion was focused both to the north beyond the Apennine Mountains and into Campania, some small towns in the sixth century BC disappeared during this time, ostensibly consumed by greater, more powerful neighbours. However, it is certain that the structure of the Etruscan culture was similar to, albeit more aristocratic than. The mining and commerce of metal, especially copper and iron, led to an enrichment of the Etruscans and to the expansion of their influence in the Italian peninsula and the western Mediterranean Sea. Here, their interests collided with those of the Greeks, especially in the sixth century BC and this led the Etruscans to ally themselves with Carthage, whose interests also collided with the Greeks. Around 540 BC, the Battle of Alalia led to a new distribution of power in the western Mediterranean, from the first half of the 5th century BC, the new political situation meant the beginning of the Etruscan decline after losing their southern provinces
36.
Cerveteri
–
Cerveteri is a town and comune of northern Lazio in the region of the Metropolitan City of Rome. It is famous for the site of the ancient Etruscan city which was one of the most important Etruscan cities with a more than 15 times larger than todays town. Caere was one of the city-states of the Etruscan League and at its height, around 600 BC, the ancient city was situated about 7 km from the sea, a location which made it a wealthy trading town derived originally from the iron ore mines in the Tolfa hills. It had three sea ports including Pyrgi, connected to Caere by a road approximately 13 km long and 10 metres wide, little is known of the ancient city although six temples are known from various sources. Two of them have been excavated, one of Hera, the other in the north of the city, parts of the city walls are still visible today and excavations opened up a theatre. One famous and important work of art is the Sarcophagus of the Spouses, the most famous attraction of Cerveteri is the Necropoli della Banditaccia, which has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site together with the necropolis in Tarquinia. It covers an area of 400 hectares, of which 10 hectares can be visited and it is the largest ancient necropolis in the Mediterranean area. The name Banditaccia comes from the leasing of areas of land to the Cerveteri population by the local landowners, the tombs date from the 9th century BC to the later Etruscan period. The earliest tombs are in the shape of a pit, in which the ashes of the dead were housed, the visitable area contains two such roads, the Via dei Monti Ceriti and the Via dei Monti della Tolfa. Modern knowledge of Etruscan daily life is dependent on the numerous decorative details. The most recent tombs date from the 3rd century BC, some of them are marked by external cippi, which are cylindrical for men, and in the shape of a small house for women. A large number of finds excavated at Cerveteri are in the National Etruscan Museum, Rome, with others in the Vatican Museums, others, mainly pottery, are in the Archaeological Museum at Cerveteri itself. The Rocca Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, including a medieval section reachable from the 1950s addition through a triumphal arch, palazzo Ruspoli, rebuilt as baronal palace by the Orsini in 1533. The portico and the loggia on the façade are from the 17th century and it is connected to Santa Maria Maggiore through a passetto, built in 1760. The small church of SantAntonio Abate, with a 1472 fresco by Lorenzo da Viterbo, the medieval burgh of Ceri Castle of Cerenova Around the city of Cerveteri is an Italian DOC wine region that produces red and white blended wines. The red wines are blends of 60% Sangiovese and Montepulciano, 25% Cesanese and up to 30% of Canaiolo, Carignan, the grapes are limited to a harvest yield of 15 tonnes/ha and the final wine must have a minimum alcohol level of 11%. The white wines are composed of a blend of 50% Trebbiano Romagnolo and Giallo, a maximum of 35% Malvasia di Candia. The grapes are limited to a harvest yield of 14 tonnes/ha, for the ancient bishopric that originally had its seat in Cerveteri and is now a titular see, see Caere
37.
Mithra
–
Mithra is the Zoroastrian angelic Divinity of Covenant and Oath. In addition to being the Divinity of Contracts, Mithra is also a figure, an all-seeing Protector of Truth, and the Guardian of Cattle. The Romans attributed their Mithraic mysteries to Persian sources relating to Mithra, since the early 1970s the dominant scholarship has noted dissimilarities, and the mysteries are now considered a distinct Roman product formed, at most, by Roman perceptions of Zoroastrian ideas. Together with the Vedic common noun mitra, the Avestan common noun miθra derives from proto-Indo-Iranian *mitra, from the root mi- to bind, thus, etymologically mitra/miθra means that which causes binding, preserved in the Avestan word for Covenant, Contract, Oath. In Middle Iranian languages, miθra became mihr, from which New Persian مهر mihr, Wanetsi and Wazirwola mērə/myer, as a member of the Iranian ahuric triad, a feature that only Ahura Mazda and Ahura Berezaiti also have, Mithra is an exalted figure. Together with Rashnu Justice and Sraosha Obedience, Mithra is one of the three judges at the Chinvat Bridge, the Bridge of Separation that all Souls must cross, unlike Sraosha, Mithra is not however a Psychopomp, a guide of souls to the place of the dead. Should the Good Thoughts, Words and Deeds outweigh the Bad, as the Divinity of Contract, Mithra is undeceivable, infallible, eternally watchful, and never-resting. Mithra is additionally the protector of cattle, and his epithet is of Wide Pastures. He is Guardian of the waters and ensures that those pastures receive enough of it, the lack of Mithras presence in the texts was once a cause of some consternation amongst Iranists. An often repeated speculation of the first half of the 20th century was that the lack of any mention of Mithra in these texts implied that Zoroaster had rejected Mithra and this ex silentio speculation is no longer followed. The Avestan Hymn to Mithra is the longest, and one of the best preserved, Mithra is described in the Zoroastrian Avesta scriptures as Mithra of Wide Pastures, of the Thousand Ears, and of the Myriad Eyes, the Lofty, and the Everlasting. We sacrifice to Mithra, The Lord of all countries, Whom Ahura Mazda created the most glorious, Of the Supernatural Yazads. So may there come to us for Aid, Both Mithra and Ahura, Mithra is invoked in the inscriptions of two Achaemenid emperors. Boyce suggests that the reason for this was that Artaxerxes had chosen Anahita, Mithra is invoked again in the single known inscription of Artaxerxes III, A3Pa, found at Persepolis. In that inscription, that emperor too appeals to Ahuramazda and the God Mithra preserve me, my country, in the Zoroastrian calendar, the sixteenth day of the month and the seventh month of the year are dedicated to, and under the protection of, Mithra. The day on which the day-name and month-name dedications intersect is dedicated to the divinity of that day/month, in the case of Mithra, this was Jashan-e Mihragan, or just Mihragan in short. In Zoroastrian scripture, Mithra is distinct from the divinity of the Sun, however, in Zoroastrian tradition, Mithra evolved from being an all-seeing figure into a divinity co-identified with the Sun itself, effectively taking over Hvare. khshaetas role. How or when or why this occurred is uncertain, but it is attributed to conflation with Babylonian Shamash and/or Greek Apollo
38.
Polykleitos
–
Polykleitos was an ancient Greek sculptor in bronze of the 5th century BCE. His Greek name was traditionally Latinized Polycletus, but is also transliterated Polycleitus and he is called Sicyonius by Latin authors including Pliny the Elder and Cicero, and Aργείος by others like Plato and Pausanias. He is sometimes called the Elder, in cases where it is necessary to distinguish him from his son, alongside the Athenian sculptors Pheidias, Myron and Praxiteles, he is considered one of the most important sculptors of classical antiquity. The 4th century BCE catalogue attributed to Xenocrates, which was Plinys guide in matters of art, ranked him between Pheidias and Myron. Pausanias is adamant that they were not the person, and that Polykleitos was from Argos, in which city state he must have received his early training. He also sculpted a famous bronze male nude known as the Doryphoros, further sculptures attributed to Polykleitos are the Discophoros, Diadumenos and a Hermes at one time placed, according to Pliny, in Lysimachia. Polykleitos Astragalizontes was claimed by the Emperor Titus and set in a place of honour in his atrium, Polykleitos, along with Phidias, created the Classical Greek style. Although none of his works survive, literary sources identifying Roman marble copies of his work allow reconstructions to be made. Contrapposto was a posture in his statues in which the weight was placed on one leg, the refined detail of Polykleitos models for casting executed in clay is revealed in a famous remark repeated in Plutarchs Moralia, that the work is hardest when the clay is under the fingernail. Polykleitos consciously created a new approach to sculpture, writing a treatise, though the Kanon was probably represented by his Doryphoros, the original bronze statue has not survived. References to it in ancient writings, however, imply that its main principle was expressed by the Greek words symmetria, the Hippocratic principle of isonomia. Perfection, he said, comes about little by little through many numbers, by this Polykleitos meant that a statue should be composed of clearly definable parts, all related to one another through a system of ideal mathematical proportions and balance. The method begins with one part, such as the last phalange of the little finger, rotating that squares diagonal gives a 1, √2 rectangle, suitable for the next phalange. The method is repeated to get the next phalange, then to get the palm, then using the hand to get the forearm to the elbow. Polykleitos and Phidias were amongst the first generation of Greek sculptors to attract schools of followers, Polykleitos school lasted for at least three generations, but it seems to have been most active in the late 4th century and early 3rd century BCE. The Roman writers Pliny and Pausanias noted the names of about twenty sculptors in Polykleitos school, defined by their adherence to his principles of balance, skopas and Lysippus are among the best-known successors of Polykleitos. Polykleitos son, Polykleitos the Younger, worked in the 4th century BCE, although the son was also a sculptor of athletes, his greatest fame was won as an architect. He designed the theater at Epidaurus
39.
Hades
–
Hades was the ancient Greek chthonic god of the underworld, which eventually took his name. In Greek mythology, Hades was regarded as the oldest son of Cronus and Rhea and he and his brothers Zeus and Poseidon defeated their fathers generation of gods, the Titans, and claimed rulership over the cosmos. Hades received the underworld, Zeus the sky, and Poseidon the sea, Hades was often portrayed with his three-headed guard dog Cerberus. The Etruscan god Aita and Roman gods Dis Pater and Orcus were eventually taken as equivalent to the Greek Hades and merged as Pluto, the origin of Hades name is uncertain, but has generally been seen as meaning The Unseen One since antiquity. Modern linguists have proposed the Proto-Greek form *Awides, the earliest attested form is Aḯdēs, which lacks the proposed digamma. West argues instead for a meaning of the one who presides over meeting up from the universality of death. In Homeric and Ionic Greek, he was known as Áïdēs, other poetic variations of the name include Aïdōneús and the inflected forms Áïdos, Áïdi, and Áïda, whose reconstructed nominative case *Áïs is, however, not attested. The name as it came to be known in classical times was Háidēs, later the iota became silent, then a subscript marking, and finally omitted entirely. Perhaps from fear of pronouncing his name, around the 5th century BC, Plouton became the Roman god who both rules the underworld and distributed riches from below. This deity was a mixture of the Greek god Hades and the Eleusinian icon Ploutos, and from this he received a priestess. More elaborate names of the genre were Ploutodótēs or Ploutodotḗr meaning giver of wealth. Epithets of Hades include Agesander and Agesilaos, both from ágō and anḗr or laos, describing Hades as the god who carries away all. He was also referred to as Zeus Katachthonios, meaning the Zeus of the Underworld, by avoiding his actual name. In Greek mythology, Hades the god of the underworld, was a son of the Titans Cronus and he had three sisters, Demeter, Hestia, and Hera, as well as two brothers, Zeus, the youngest of the three, and Poseidon. Upon reaching adulthood, Zeus managed to force his father to disgorge his siblings, after their release, the six younger gods, along with allies they managed to gather, challenged the elder gods for power in the Titanomachy, a divine war. The war lasted for ten years and ended with the victory of the younger gods, following their victory, according to a single famous passage in the Iliad, Hades and his two brothers, Poseidon and Zeus, drew lots for realms to rule. Some myths suggest that Hades was dissatisfied with his turnout, but had no choice, Hades obtained his wife and queen, Persephone, through abduction at the behest of Zeus. Despite modern connotations of death as evil, Hades was actually more altruistically inclined in mythology, Hades was often portrayed as passive rather than evil, his role was often maintaining relative balance
40.
Sicily
–
Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous Region of Italy, along with surrounding minor islands, Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula, from which it is separated by the narrow Strait of Messina. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, the island has a typical Mediterranean climate. The earliest archaeological evidence of activity on the island dates from as early as 12,000 BC. It became part of Italy in 1860 following the Expedition of the Thousand, a revolt led by Giuseppe Garibaldi during the Italian unification, Sicily was given special status as an autonomous region after the Italian constitutional referendum of 1946. Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine. It is also home to important archaeological and ancient sites, such as the Necropolis of Pantalica, the Valley of the Temples, Sicily has a roughly triangular shape, earning it the name Trinacria. To the east, it is separated from the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina, about 3 km wide in the north, and about 16 km wide in the southern part. The northern and southern coasts are each about 280 km long measured as a line, while the eastern coast measures around 180 km. The total area of the island is 25,711 km2, the terrain of inland Sicily is mostly hilly and is intensively cultivated wherever possible. Along the northern coast, the ranges of Madonie,2,000 m, Nebrodi,1,800 m. The cone of Mount Etna dominates the eastern coast, in the southeast lie the lower Hyblaean Mountains,1,000 m. The mines of the Enna and Caltanissetta districts were part of a leading sulphur-producing area throughout the 19th century, Sicily and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and still casts black ash over the island with its ever-present eruptions and it currently stands 3,329 metres high, though this varies with summit eruptions, the mountain is 21 m lower now than it was in 1981. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps, Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 with a basal circumference of 140 km. This makes it by far the largest of the three volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. In Greek Mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under the mountain by Zeus, Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily. The Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, to the northeast of mainland Sicily form a volcanic complex, the three volcanoes of Vulcano, Vulcanello and Lipari are also currently active, although the latter is usually dormant
41.
Italy
–
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
42.
Demeter
–
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, Demeter is the goddess of the harvest and agriculture, who presided over grains and the fertility of the earth. Her cult titles include Sito, she of the Grain, as the giver of food or grain, though Demeter is often described simply as the goddess of the harvest, she presided also over the sacred law, and the cycle of life and death. She and her daughter Persephone were the figures of the Eleusinian Mysteries that predated the Olympian pantheon. In the Linear B Mycenean Greek tablets of c, 1400–1200 BC found at Pylos, the two mistresses and the king may be related with Demeter, Persephone and Poseidon. It is possible that Demeter appears in Linear A as da-ma-te on three documents, all three dedicated in religious situations and all three bearing just the name. It is unlikely that Demeter appears as da-ma-te in a Linear B inscription, on the other hand,
43.
Persephone
–
In Greek mythology, Persephone, also called Kore or Cora, is the daughter of Zeus and the harvest goddess Demeter, and is the queen of the underworld. Homer describes her as the formidable, venerable majestic princess of the underworld, Persephone was married to Hades, the god-king of the underworld. Similar myths appear in the Orient, in the cults of gods like Attis, Adonis and Osiris. Persephone is further said to have become by Zeus the mother of Dionysus, Iacchus, or Zagreus, the origins of her cult are uncertain, but it was based on very old agrarian cults of agricultural communities. Persephone was commonly worshipped along with Demeter and with the same mysteries, to her alone were dedicated the mysteries celebrated at Athens in the month of Anthesterion. In Classical Greek art, Persephone is invariably portrayed robed, often carrying a sheaf of grain and she may appear as a mystical divinity with a sceptre and a little box, but she was mostly represented in the process of being carried off by Hades. In Roman mythology, she is called Proserpina, and her mother, persephonē is her name in the Ionic Greek of epic literature. The Homeric form of her name is Persephoneia, in other dialects she was known under variant names, Persephassa, Persephatta, or simply Korē. Plato calls her Pherepapha in his Cratylus, because she is wise, There are also the forms Periphona and Phersephassa. The existence of so many different forms shows how difficult it was for the Greeks to pronounce the word in their own language, an alternative etymology is from φέρειν φόνον, pherein phonon, to bring death. John Chadwick speculatively relates the name of Persephone with the name of Perse, the Romans first heard of her from the Aeolian and Dorian cities of Magna Graecia, who used the dialectal variant Proserpinē. Hence, in Roman mythology she was called Proserpina, a name derived by the Romans from proserpere, to shoot forth. In a Classical period text ascribed to Empedocles, c, and Nestis, moistening mortal springs with tears. The epithets of Persephone reveal her double function as chthonic and vegetation goddess, the surnames given to her by the poets refer to her character as Queen of the lower world and the dead, or her symbolic meaning of the power that shoots forth and withdraws into the earth. Her common name as a goddess is Kore and in Arcadia she was worshipped under the title Despoina the mistress. Plutarch identifies her with spring and Cicero calls her the seed of the fruits of the fields, in the Eleusinian mysteries her return is the symbol of immortality and hence she was frequently represented on sarcophagi. The Orphic Persephone is further said to have become by Zeus the mother of Dionysus, Iacchus, Zagreus, as a goddess of the underworld, Persephone was given euphemistically friendly names. However it is possible some of them were the names of original goddesses
44.
Pontormo
–
Jacopo Carucci, usually known as Jacopo da Pontormo, Jacopo Pontormo or simply Pontormo, was an Italian Mannerist painter and portraitist from the Florentine School. His work represents a stylistic shift from the calm perspectival regularity that characterized the art of the Florentine Renaissance. He is famous for his use of twining poses, coupled with ambiguous perspective, his figures seem to float in an uncertain environment. Jacopo Carucci was born at Pontorme, near Empoli, to Bartolomeo di Jacopo di Martino Carrucci, Pontormo painted in and around Florence, often supported by Medici patronage. A foray to Rome, largely to see Michelangelos work, influenced his later style, haunted faces and elongated bodies are characteristic of his work. An example of Pontormos early style is a fresco depicting the Visitation of the Virgin and St Elizabeth, with its dancelike, balanced figures, placing these two pictures together—one from his early style, and another from his mature period—throws Pontormos artistic development into sharp relief. In the earlier work, Pontormo is much closer in style to his teacher, Andrea del Sarto, in the later work, the viewer is brought almost uncomfortably close to the Virgin and St. Elizabeth, who drift toward each other in clouds of drapery. Moreover, the architectural setting that is carefully constructed in earlier piece has been completely abandoned in favor of a peculiar nondescript urban setting. The Joseph canvases offer another example of Pontormos developing style, done around the same time as the earlier Visitation, these works show a much more mannerist leaning. According to Giorgio Vasari, the sitter for the boy seated on a step is his young apprentice, Bronzino. In the years between the SS Annunziata and San Michele Visitations, Pontormo took part in the decoration of the salon of the Medici country villa at Poggio a Caiano,17 km NNW of Florence. There he painted frescoes in a pastoral style, very uncommon for Florentine painters, their subject was the obscure classical myth of Vertumnus. In 1522, when the plague broke out in Florence, Pontormo left for the Certosa di Galluzzo and he painted a series of frescoes, now quite damaged, on the passion and resurrection of Christ. The figures, with their sharply modeled forms and brilliant colors are united in a complex, swirling ovular composition, housed by a shallow. Although commonly known as The Deposition from the Cross, there is no cross in the picture. The scene might more properly be called a Lamentation or Bearing the Body of Christ and those who are lowering Christ appear as anguished as the mourners. Though they are bearing the weight of a man, they barely seem to be touching the ground. These two boys have sometimes interpreted as angels, carrying Christ in his journey to Heaven
_(Italian,_Florentine)_-_Portrait_of_a_Halberdier_(Francesco_Guardi%3F)_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
_(Italian)_-_Portrait_of_Alfonso_d%27Avalos,_Marquis_of_Vasto,_in_Armor_with_a_Page_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
,_painted_in_1860-1863,_and_reworked_by_1867_by_Manet,_Getty.jpg)
_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
.jpg)
_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg)
