1.
Raphael
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Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. Raphael was enormously productive, running a large workshop and, despite his death at 37. Many of his works are found in the Vatican Palace, where the frescoed Raphael Rooms were the central, the best known work is The School of Athens in the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura. After his early years in Rome much of his work was executed by his workshop from his drawings and he was extremely influential in his lifetime, though outside Rome his work was mostly known from his collaborative printmaking. Raphael was born in the small but artistically significant central Italian city of Urbino in the Marche region and his poem to Federico shows him as keen to show awareness of the most advanced North Italian painters, and Early Netherlandish artists as well. In the very court of Urbino he was probably more integrated into the central circle of the ruling family than most court painters. Under them, the court continued as a centre for literary culture, growing up in the circle of this small court gave Raphael the excellent manners and social skills stressed by Vasari. Castiglione moved to Urbino in 1504, when Raphael was no longer based there but frequently visited, Raphael mixed easily in the highest circles throughout his life, one of the factors that tended to give a misleading impression of effortlessness to his career. He did not receive a humanistic education however, it is unclear how easily he read Latin. His mother Màgia died in 1491 when Raphael was eight, followed on August 1,1494 by his father, Raphael was thus orphaned at eleven, his formal guardian became his only paternal uncle Bartolomeo, a priest, who subsequently engaged in litigation with his stepmother. He probably continued to live with his stepmother when not staying as an apprentice with a master and he had already shown talent, according to Vasari, who says that Raphael had been a great help to his father. A self-portrait drawing from his teenage years shows his precocity and his fathers workshop continued and, probably together with his stepmother, Raphael evidently played a part in managing it from a very early age. In Urbino, he came into contact with the works of Paolo Uccello, previously the court painter, and Luca Signorelli, according to Vasari, his father placed him in the workshop of the Umbrian master Pietro Perugino as an apprentice despite the tears of his mother. The evidence of an apprenticeship comes only from Vasari and another source, an alternative theory is that he received at least some training from Timoteo Viti, who acted as court painter in Urbino from 1495. An excess of resin in the varnish often causes cracking of areas of paint in the works of both masters, the Perugino workshop was active in both Perugia and Florence, perhaps maintaining two permanent branches. Raphael is described as a master, that is to say fully trained and his first documented work was the Baronci altarpiece for the church of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino in Città di Castello, a town halfway between Perugia and Urbino. Evangelista da Pian di Meleto, who had worked for his father, was named in the commission
2.
National Gallery
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The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the century to 1900. The Gallery is a charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media. Its collection belongs to the public of the United Kingdom and entry to the collection is free of charge. It is among the most visited art museums in the world, after the Musée du Louvre, the British Museum, unlike comparable museums in continental Europe, the National Gallery was not formed by nationalising an existing royal or princely art collection. It came into being when the British government bought 38 paintings from the heirs of John Julius Angerstein, after that initial purchase the Gallery was shaped mainly by its early directors, notably Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, and by private donations, which comprise two-thirds of the collection. It used to be claimed that this was one of the few national galleries that had all its works on permanent exhibition, the present building, the third to house the National Gallery, was designed by William Wilkins from 1832 to 1838. Only the façade onto Trafalgar Square remains essentially unchanged from this time, wilkinss building was often criticised for the perceived weaknesses of its design and for its lack of space, the latter problem led to the establishment of the Tate Gallery for British art in 1897. The Sainsbury Wing, an extension to the west by Robert Venturi, the current Director of the National Gallery is Gabriele Finaldi. The late 18th century saw the nationalisation of royal or princely art collections across mainland Europe, great Britain, however, did not emulate the continental model, and the British Royal Collection remains in the sovereigns possession today. In 1777 the British government had the opportunity to buy an art collection of international stature, the MP John Wilkes argued for the government to buy this invaluable treasure and suggested that it be housed in a noble gallery. The twenty-five paintings from that now in the Gallery, including NG1, have arrived by a variety of routes. This offer was declined and Bourgeois bequeathed the collection to his old school, Dulwich College, the collection opened in Britains first purpose-built public gallery, the Dulwich Picture Gallery, in 1814. The British Institution, founded in 1805 by a group of aristocratic connoisseurs, the members lent works to exhibitions that changed annually, while an art school was held in the summer months. However, as the paintings that were lent were often mediocre, some resented the Institution. One of the Institutions founding members, Sir George Beaumont, Bt, in 1823 another major art collection came on the market, which had been assembled by the recently deceased John Julius Angerstein. Angerstein was a Russian-born émigré banker based in London, his collection numbered 38 paintings, including works by Raphael, on 1 July 1823 George Agar Ellis, a Whig politician, proposed to the House of Commons that it purchase the collection. The appeal was given added impetus by Beaumonts offer, which came with two conditions, that the government buy Angersteins collection, and that a building was to be found
3.
Italian language
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By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
4.
Oil painting
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Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. Commonly used drying oils include linseed oil, poppy seed oil, walnut oil, the choice of oil imparts a range of properties to the oil paint, such as the amount of yellowing or drying time. Certain differences, depending on the oil, are visible in the sheen of the paints. An artist might use different oils in the same painting depending on specific pigments and effects desired. The paints themselves also develop a particular consistency depending on the medium, the oil may be boiled with a resin, such as pine resin or frankincense, to create a varnish prized for its body and gloss. Its practice may have migrated westward during the Middle Ages, Oil paint eventually became the principal medium used for creating artworks as its advantages became widely known. In recent years, water miscible oil paint has come to prominence and, to some extent, water-soluble paints contain an emulsifier that allows them to be thinned with water rather than paint thinner, and allows very fast drying times when compared with traditional oils. Traditional oil painting techniques often begin with the artist sketching the subject onto the canvas with charcoal or thinned paint, Oil paint is usually mixed with linseed oil, artist grade mineral spirits, or other solvents to make the paint thinner, faster or slower-drying. A basic rule of oil paint application is fat over lean and this means that each additional layer of paint should contain more oil than the layer below to allow proper drying. If each additional layer contains less oil, the painting will crack. This rule does not ensure permanence, it is the quality and type of oil leads to a strong. There are many media that can be used with the oil, including cold wax, resins. These aspects of the paint are closely related to the capacity of oil paint. Traditionally, paint was transferred to the surface using paintbrushes. Oil paint remains wet longer than other types of artists materials, enabling the artist to change the color. At times, the painter might even remove a layer of paint. This can be done with a rag and some turpentine for a time while the paint is wet, Oil paint dries by oxidation, not evaporation, and is usually dry to the touch within a span of two weeks. It is generally dry enough to be varnished in six months to a year, art conservators do not consider an oil painting completely dry until it is 60 to 80 years old
5.
Mary, mother of Jesus
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Mary, also known by various titles, styles and honorifics, was a 1st-century Galilean Jewish woman of Nazareth and the mother of Jesus, according to the New Testament and the Quran. The gospels of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament and the Quran describe Mary as a virgin, the miraculous birth took place when she was already betrothed to Joseph and was awaiting the concluding rite of marriage, the formal home-taking ceremony. She married Joseph and accompanied him to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, the Gospel of Luke begins its account of Marys life with the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced her divine selection to be the mother of Jesus. According to canonical gospel accounts, Mary was present at the crucifixion and is depicted as a member of the early Christian community in Jerusalem. According to the Catholic and Orthodox teaching, at the end of her life her body was assumed directly into Heaven. Mary has been venerated since Early Christianity, and is considered by millions to be the most meritorious saint of the religion and she is claimed to have miraculously appeared to believers many times over the centuries. The Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches believe that Mary, there is significant diversity in the Marian beliefs and devotional practices of major Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church holds distinctive Marian dogmas, namely her status as the Mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, her perpetual virginity, many Protestants minimize Marys role within Christianity, based on the argued brevity of biblical references. Mary also has a position in Islam, where one of the longer chapters of the Quran is devoted to her. Marys name in the manuscripts of the New Testament was based on her original Aramaic name ܡܪܝܡ. The English name Mary comes from the Greek Μαρία, which is a form of Μαριάμ. Both Μαρία and Μαριάμ appear in the New Testament, in Christianity, Mary is commonly referred to as the Virgin Mary, in accordance with the belief that she conceived Jesus miraculously through the Holy Spirit without her husbands involvement. The three main titles for Mary used by the Orthodox are Theotokos, Aeiparthenos as confirmed in the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, Catholics use a wide variety of titles for Mary, and these titles have in turn given rise to many artistic depictions. For example, the title Our Lady of Sorrows has inspired such masterpieces as Michelangelos Pietà, the title Theotokos was recognized at the Council of Ephesus in 431. However, this phrase in Greek, in the abbreviated form ΜΡ ΘΥ, is an indication commonly attached to her image in Byzantine icons. The Council stated that the Church Fathers did not hesitate to speak of the holy Virgin as the Mother of God, some Marian titles have a direct scriptural basis. For instance, the title Queen Mother has been given to Mary since she was the mother of Jesus, the scriptural basis for the term Queen can be seen in Luke 1,32 and the Isaiah 9,6. Queen Mother can be found in 1 Kings 2, 19-20 and Jeremiah 13, other titles have arisen from reported miracles, special appeals or occasions for calling on Mary
6.
Christ Child
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The Christ Child, also known as Divine Infant, Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, Child Jesus, the Holy Child, and Santo Niño, refers to Jesus Christ from his nativity to age 12. Upon reaching 13 years-old he was considered to be an adult in accordance with Jewish custom, the canonical Gospels lack any narration of the years between Jesus infancy and the Finding in the Temple when he was twelve. Commonly these are nativity scenes showing the birth of Jesus, with his mother, Mary, depictions as a baby with the Virgin Mary, known as Madonna and Child, are iconographical types in Eastern and Western traditions. Other scenes from his time as a baby, of his circumcision, presentation at the temple, the adoration of the Magi, scenes showing his developing years are more rare but not unknown. Saint Joseph, Anthony of Padua, and Saint Christopher are often depicted holding the Christ Child, the Christ Child was a popular subject in European wood sculpture beginning in the 1300s. The popularity of the Christ child was known in Spain under the title Montanesino after the santero sculptor Juan Martínez Montañés who began the trend. The growth of images being made were quite popular among nobility, while images were also used to colonize kingdoms such of Spain. The symbolism of the Child Jesus in art reached its apex during the Renaissance, tàladh Chrìosda is a Scottish carol from Moidart, Scotland. The Catholic priest Father Ranald Rankin, wrote the lyrics for Midnight Mass around the year 1855 and he originally wrote 29 verses in Scottish Gaelic, but the popular English translation is limited to five. The melody, Cumha Mhic Arois, is from the Hebrides and was a sung as a charm for the fisherman away at sea. The rhythm mirrors the rhythm of the surf and it is sung in the Hebrides at Midnight Mass of Christmas Eve. A number of texts, the Infancy Gospels grew up with legendary accounts of the intervening period. These stories were intended to show Jesus as having extraordinary gifts of power and knowledge, one common pious tale has the young Jesus animating sparrows out of clay belonging to his playmates. When admonished for doing so on the Sabbath, he causes the birds to fly away, in the seventeenth century veneration of the Christ Child under the title the Little King of Beaune was promoted by French Carmelites. In the late nineteenth century devotion to the Holy Child of Remedy developed in Madrid
7.
Dianthus caryophyllus
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Dianthus caryophyllus, carnation or clove pink, is a species of Dianthus. It is probably native to the Mediterranean region but its range is unknown due to extensive cultivation for the last 2,000 years. It is a perennial plant growing to 80 cm tall. The leaves are greyish green to blue-green, slender, up to 15 cm long. Some fragrance-less carnation cultivars are used as boutonnieres for men. Carnations require well-drained, neutral to alkaline soil, and full sun. Numerous cultivars have been selected for garden planting, typical examples include Gina Porto, Helen, Laced Romeo, and Red Rocket. Colombia is the largest carnation producer in the world, for the most part, carnations express love, fascination, and distinction, though there are many variations dependent on colour. Along with the red rose, the red carnation can be used as a symbol of socialism and the labour movement, in Portugal, bright red carnations represent the 1974 coup detat that ended the Estado Novo regime. Light red carnations represent admiration, while dark red denote deep love, white carnations represent pure love and good luck, while striped carnations symbolise regret that a love cannot be shared. White carnations, in the Netherlands are associated with HRH prince Bernhard and he wore one during World War II and in a gesture of defiance some of the Dutch population took up this gesture. After the war the white carnation became a sign of the Prince, veterans, in France, it is a traditional funeral flower, given in condolence for the death of a loved one. According to a Christian legend, carnations first appeared on Earth as Jesus carried the Cross, the Virgin Mary shed tears at Jesus plight, and carnations sprang up from where her tears fell. Thus the pink carnation became the symbol of a undying love. Carnation is the flower for those born in the month of January. The formal name for carnation, dianthus, comes from Greek for heavenly flower, Carnations are often worn on special occasions, especially Mothers Day and weddings. In 1907, Anna Jarvis chose a carnation as the emblem of Mothers Day because it was her mothers favourite flower and this tradition is now observed in the United States and Canada on the second Sunday in May. Ann Jarvis chose the carnation because she wanted to represent the purity of a mothers love
8.
Dianthus
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Common names include carnation, pink and sweet william. The species are herbaceous perennials, a few are annual or biennial. The leaves are opposite, simple, mostly linear and often strongly glaucous grey-green to blue-green, the flowers have five petals, typically with a frilled or pinked margin, and are pale to dark pink. One species, D. knappii, has flowers with a purple centre. Some species, particularly the perennial pinks, are noted for their strong spicy fragrance, hybrids include, Devon Xera – Fire Star Dianthus John Prichard The name Dianthus is from the Greek words Διός Dios and ἀνθός anthos, and was cited by the Greek botanist Theophrastus. The color pink may be named after the flower, coming from the edge of the flowers. As is also demonstrated by the name of pinking shears, special scissors for cloth that create a zigzag or decorative edge that discourages fraying. Dianthus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Cabbage Moth, Double-striped Pug, Large Yellow Underwing, also three species of Coleophora case-bearers feed exclusively on Dianthus, C. dianthi, C. dianthivora and C. musculella. In the language of flowers, pink Dianthus symbolize boldness, Dianthus gratianopolitanus – the Cheddar Pink – was chosen as the County flower of Somerset in 2002 following a poll by the wild flora conservation charity Plantlife. Dianthus Japonicus is the flower of Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Japan. List of Award of Garden Merit dianthus The Plant List
9.
Greek language
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Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
10.
Jesus
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In Christology, the Person of Christ refers to the study of the human and divine natures of Jesus Christ as they co-exist within one person. There is no discussion in the New Testament regarding the dual nature of the Person of Christ as both divine and human. Hence, since the days of Christianity theologians have debated various approaches to the understanding of these natures. In the period following the Apostolic Age, specific beliefs such as Arianism and Docetism were criticized. On the other end of the spectrum, Docetism argued that Jesus physical body was an illusion, docetic teachings were attacked by St. Ignatius of Antioch and were eventually abandoned by proto-orthodox Christians. However, after the First Council of Nicaea in 325 the Logos, historically in the Alexandrian school of christology, Jesus Christ is the eternal Logos paradoxically humanized in history, a divine Person who became enfleshed, uniting himself to the human nature. The views of these schools can be summarized as follows, Alexandria, Antioch, Logos assumes a specific human being The First Council of Ephesus in 431 debated a number of views regarding the Person of Christ. At the same gathering the council debated the doctrines of monophysitism or miaphysitism. The council rejected Nestorianism and adopted the term hypostatic union, referring to divine, the language used in the 431 declaration was further refined at the 451 Council of Chalcedon. However, the Chalcedon creed was not accepted by all Christians, because Saint Augustine died in 430 he did not participate in the Council of Ephesus in 431 or Chalcedon in 451, but his ideas had some impact on both councils. On the other hand, the major theological figure of the Middle Ages. The Third Council of Constantinople in 680 held that both divine and human wills exist in Jesus, with the divine will having precedence, leading and guiding the human will. John Calvin maintained that there was no element in the Person of Christ which could be separated from the person of The Word. Calvin also emphasized the importance of the Work of Christ in any attempt at understanding the Person of Christ, the study of the Person of Christ continued into the 20th century, with modern theologians such as Karl Rahner and Hans von Balthasar. Balthasar argued that the union of the human and divine natures of Christ was achieved not by the absorption of human attributes, thus in his view the divine nature of Christ was not affected by the human attributes and remained forever divine
11.
Passion of Jesus
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Those parts of the four Gospels that describe these events, as well as the non-canonical Gospel of Peter, are known as the Passion narratives. In the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church, the Passion is commemorated in Holy Week, beginning on Friday of Sorrows, the Palm Sunday and culminating on his death on Good Friday. The word passion has taken on a more general application and now may also apply to accounts of the suffering and death of Christian martyrs. The accounts of the Passion are found in the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke. Three of these, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, known as the Synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of John accounts varies slightly. The events include, The conspiracy against Jesus by the Jewish Sanhedrin priests, triumphal entry into Jerusalem, his anger and outburst at the Cleansing of the Temple A meal a few days before Passover. He says that for this she always be remembered. In Jerusalem, the Last Supper shared by Jesus and his disciples, Jesus gives final instructions, predicts his betrayal, and tells them all to remember him. On the path to Gethsemane after the meal, Jesus tells them they will all fall away that night, after Peter protests he will not, Jesus says Peter will deny him three times before the cock crows. Gethsemane, later that night, Jesus prays, meanwhile, the disciples rest, during the arrest in Gethsemane, someone takes a sword and cuts off the ear of the high priests servant, Malchus. The high priests palace, later that night, According to Matthews Gospel, the court then spat in his face and struck him with their fists. They then send him to Pontius Pilate, According to the synoptic gospels, the high priest who examines Jesus is Caiaphas, in John, Jesus is also interrogated by Annas, Caiaiphas father-in-law. The courtyard outside the high palace, the same time. Peter has followed Jesus and joined the mob awaiting Jesus’ fate, they suspect he is a sympathizer, suddenly, the cock crows and Peter remembers what Jesus had said. Pilate, the Roman governor, examines Jesus, decides he is innocent, the Jewish leaders and the crowd demand Jesus’ death, Pilate gives them the choice of saving Barabbas, in response to the screaming mob Pilate sends Jesus out to be crucified. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Judas, the betrayer, is filled with remorse, when the high priests say that that is his affair, Judas throws the money into the temple, goes off, and hangs himself. Golgotha, a hill outside Jerusalem, later morning through mid afternoon, the Gospel of Luke states that Pilate sends Jesus to be judged by Herod Antipas because as a Galilean he is under his jurisdiction. Herod is excited at first to see Jesus and hopes Jesus will perform a miracle for him, he asks Jesus several questions, Herod then mocks him and sends him back to Pilate after giving him an elegant robe to wear
12.
Crucifixion
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It is principally known from classical antiquity, but remains in occasional use in some countries. The crucifixion of Jesus is a narrative in Christianity. Ancient Greek has two verbs for crucify, ana-stauro, from stauros, stake, and apo-tumpanizo crucify on a plank, in earlier pre-Roman Greek texts anastauro usually means impale. New Testament Greek uses four verbs, three of them based upon stauros, usually translated cross, prospegnumi, to fix or fasten to, impale, crucify occurs only once at the Acts of the Apostles 2,23. The English term cross derives from the Latin word crux, the Latin term crux classically referred to a tree or any construction of wood used to hang criminals as a form of execution. The term later came to specifically to a cross. The English term crucifix derives from the Latin crucifixus or cruci fixus, past participle passive of crucifigere or cruci figere, Crucifixion was often performed in order to terrorize and dissuade its witnesses from perpetrating particularly heinous crimes. Victims were left on display after death as warnings to others who might attempt dissent, Crucifixion was usually intended to provide a death that was particularly slow, painful, gruesome, humiliating, and public, using whatever means were most expedient for that goal. Crucifixion methods varied considerably with location and time period, in some cases, the condemned was forced to carry the crossbeam to the place of execution. A whole cross would weigh well over 135 kg, but the crossbeam would not be quite as burdensome, weighing around 45 kg. Upright posts would presumably be fixed permanently in place. Objects used in the crucifixion of criminals, such as nails, were sought as amulets with perceived medicinal qualities, while a crucifixion was an execution, it was also a humiliation, by making the condemned as vulnerable as possible. Although artists have depicted the figure on a cross with a loin cloth or a covering of the genitals. Writings by Seneca the Younger state some victims suffered a stick forced upwards through their groin, despite its frequent use by the Romans, the horrors of crucifixion did not escape mention by some of their eminent orators. Frequently, the legs of the executed were broken or shattered with an iron club, an act called crurifragium. This act hastened the death of the person but was meant to deter those who observed the crucifixion from committing offenses. The gibbet on which crucifixion was carried out could be of many shapes, at times the gibbet was only one vertical stake, called in Latin crux simplex. This was the simplest available construction for torturing and killing the condemned, frequently, however, there was a cross-piece attached either at the top to give the shape of a T or just below the top, as in the form most familiar in Christian symbolism
13.
Early Netherlandish painting
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Their work follows the International Gothic style and begins approximately with Robert Campin and Jan van Eyck in the early 1420s. It lasts at least until the death of Gerard David in 1523, the major Netherlandish painters include Campin, van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Dieric Bouts, Petrus Christus, Hans Memling, Hugo van der Goes and Hieronymus Bosch. These artists made significant advances in natural representation and illusionism, and their subjects are usually religious scenes or small portraits, with narrative painting or mythological subjects being relatively rare. Landscape is often richly described but relegated as a background detail before the early 16th century, the painted works are generally oil on panel, either as single works or more complex portable or fixed altarpieces in the form of diptychs, triptychs or polyptychs. The period is noted for its sculpture, tapestries, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass. Assisted by the system, panels and a variety of crafts were sold to foreign princes or merchants through private engagement or market stalls. A majority were destroyed during waves of iconoclasm in the 16th and 17th centuries, Early northern art in general was not well regarded from the early 17th to the mid-19th century, and the painters and their works were not well documented until the mid-19th century. Art historians spent almost another century determining attributions, studying iconography, attribution of some of the most significant works is still debated. These artists became a driving force behind the Northern Renaissance. In this political and art-historical context, the north follows the Burgundian lands which straddled areas that encompass parts of modern France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlandish artists have been known by a variety of terms. Late Gothic is a designation which emphasises continuity with the art of the Middle Ages. In the early 20th century, the artists were variously referred to in English as the Ghent-Bruges school or the Old Netherlandish school. In this context, primitive does not refer to a lack of sophistication. When the Burgundian dukes established centres of power in the Netherlands, in the 19th century the Early Netherlandish artists were classified by nationality, with Jan van Eyck identified as German and van der Weyden as French. Scholars were at times preoccupied as to whether the schools genesis was in France or Germany, in the 14th century, as Gothic art gave way to the International Gothic era, a number of schools developed in northern Europe. Early Netherlandish art originated in French courtly art, and is tied to the tradition. Modern art historians see the era as beginning with 14th-century manuscript illuminators and this patronage continued in the low countries with the Burgundian dukes, Philip the Good and his son Charles the Bold. The demand for illuminated manuscripts declined towards the end of the century, following van Eycks innovations, the first generation of Netherlandish painters emphasised light and shadow, elements usually absent from 14th-century illuminated manuscripts
14.
Benois Madonna
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Madonna and Child with Flowers, otherwise known as the Benois Madonna, could be one of two Madonnas Leonardo da Vinci had commented on having started in October 1478. The other one could be Madonna of the Carnation from Munich and it is likely that the Benois Madonna was the first work painted by Leonardo independently from his master Verrocchio. There are two of Leonardos preliminary sketches for this piece in the British Museum, studies of these sketches and the painting itself suggest that Leonardo was concentrating on the idea of sight. At that time it was thought that human eyes exhibited rays to cause vision with a central beam being the most important, the child is thought to be guiding his mothers hands into his central vision. The composition of Madonna and Child with Flowers proved to be one of Leonardos most popular and it was extensively copied by young painters, including Raphael, whose own version of Leonardos design was acquired in 2004 by the National Gallery, London. For centuries, Madonna and Child with Flowers was considered lost, in 1909, the architect Leon Benois sensationally exhibited it in Saint Petersburg as part of his father-in-laws collection. The painting had been brought from Italy to Russia by the notable connoisseur Aleksey Korsakov in the 1790s. Upon Korsakovs death, it was sold by his son to the Astrakhan merchant Sapozhnikov for 1400 roubles, after many a squabble regarding attribution, Leon Benois sold the painting to the Imperial Hermitage Museum in 1914. The purchase was made by Ernst Friedrich von Liphart who was the curator of paintings who had identified the artist. Since 1914 the painting has been exhibited in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, marian art in the Catholic Church
15.
Leonardo da Vinci
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He has been variously called the father of palaeontology, ichnology, and architecture, and is widely considered one of the greatest painters of all time. Sometimes credited with the inventions of the parachute, helicopter and tank, many historians and scholars regard Leonardo as the prime exemplar of the Universal Genius or Renaissance Man, an individual of unquenchable curiosity and feverishly inventive imagination. Much of his working life was spent in the service of Ludovico il Moro in Milan. He later worked in Rome, Bologna and Venice, and he spent his last years in France at the home awarded to him by Francis I of France, Leonardo was, and is, renowned primarily as a painter. Among his works, the Mona Lisa is the most famous and most parodied portrait, Leonardos drawing of the Vitruvian Man is also regarded as a cultural icon, being reproduced on items as varied as the euro coin, textbooks, and T-shirts. Perhaps fifteen of his paintings have survived, Leonardo is revered for his technological ingenuity. He conceptualised flying machines, a type of armoured fighting vehicle, concentrated power, an adding machine. Some of his inventions, however, such as an automated bobbin winder. A number of Leonardos most practical inventions are nowadays displayed as working models at the Museum of Vinci. He made substantial discoveries in anatomy, civil engineering, geology, optics, and hydrodynamics, today, Leonardo is widely considered one of the most diversely talented individuals ever to have lived. Leonardo was born on 15 April 1452 at the hour of the night in the Tuscan hill town of Vinci. He was the son of the wealthy Messer Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a Florentine legal notary, and Caterina. Leonardo had no surname in the modern sense – da Vinci simply meaning of Vinci, his birth name was Lionardo di ser Piero da Vinci, meaning Leonardo. The inclusion of the title ser indicated that Leonardos father was a gentleman, little is known about Leonardos early life. He spent his first five years in the hamlet of Anchiano in the home of his mother and his father had married a sixteen-year-old girl named Albiera Amadori, who loved Leonardo but died young in 1465 without children. When Leonardo was sixteen, his father married again to twenty-year-old Francesca Lanfredini, pieros legitimate heirs were born from his third wife Margherita di Guglielmo and his fourth and final wife, Lucrezia Cortigiani. Leonardo received an education in Latin, geometry and mathematics. In later life, Leonardo recorded only two childhood incidents, one, which he regarded as an omen, was when a kite dropped from the sky and hovered over his cradle, its tail feathers brushing his face
16.
Book of hours
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The book of hours is a Christian devotional book popular in the Middle Ages. It is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript, Books of hours were usually written in Latin, although there are many entirely or partially written in vernacular European languages, especially Dutch. The English term primer is usually now reserved for books written in English. Tens of thousands of books of hours have survived to the present day, in libraries, the typical book of hours is an abbreviated form of the breviary which contained the Divine Office recited in monasteries. It was developed for lay people who wished to incorporate elements of monasticism into their devotional life, reciting the hours typically centered upon the reading of a number of psalms and other prayers. The Marian prayers Obsecro te and O Intemerata were frequently added, as were devotions for use at Mass, the book of hours has its ultimate origin in the Psalter, which monks and nuns were required to recite. By the 12th century this had developed into the breviary, with cycles of psalms, prayers, hymns, antiphons. Eventually a selection of texts was produced in much shorter volumes, many books of hours were made for women. There is some evidence that they were given as a wedding present from a husband to his bride. Frequently they were passed down through the family, as recorded in wills, the earliest surviving English example was apparently written for a laywoman living in or near Oxford in about 1240. It is smaller than a modern paperback but heavily illuminated with major initials, by the 15th century, there are also examples of servants owning their own Books of Hours. In a court case from 1500, a woman is accused of stealing a domestic servants prayerbook. Very rarely the books included prayers specifically composed for their owners, some include images depicting their owners, and some their coats of arms. These, together with the choice of saints commemorated in the calendar, eamon Duffy explains how these books reflected the person who commissioned them. He claims that the character of these books was often signaled by the inclusion of prayers specially composed or adapted for their owners. Furthermore, he states that as many as half the surviving manuscript Books of Hours have annotations, such additions might amount to no more than the insertion of some regional or personal patron saint in the standardized calendar, but they often include devotional material added by the owner. By at least the 15th century, the Netherlands and Paris workshops were producing books of hours for stock or distribution and these were sometimes with spaces left for the addition of personalized elements such as local feasts or heraldry. The book’s goal was to help his devout patroness to structure her daily life in accordance with the eight canonical hours, Matins to Compline
17.
Perugia
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Perugia is the capital city of both the region of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the river Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about 164 kilometres north of Rome and 148 km south-east of Florence and it covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. The region of Umbria is bordered by Tuscany, Lazio, the history of Perugia goes back to the Etruscan period, Perugia was one of the main Etruscan cities. Perugia is also a cultural and artistic centre of Italy. The famous painter Pietro Vannucci, nicknamed Perugino, was a native of Città della Pieve and he decorated the local Sala del Cambio with a beautiful series of frescoes, eight of his pictures can also be admired in the National Gallery of Umbria. Perugino was the teacher of Raphael, the great Renaissance artist who produced five paintings in Perugia, another famous painter, Pinturicchio, lived in Perugia. Galeazzo Alessi is the most famous architect from Perugia, the citys symbol is the griffin, which can be seen in the form of plaques and statues on buildings around the city. Perugia was an Umbrian settlement but first appears in history as Perusia, one of the 12 confederate cities of Etruria. Fabius Pictors account, utilized by Livy, of the carried out against the Etruscan League by Fabius Maximus Rullianus in 310 or 309 BC. At that time a thirty-year indutiae was agreed upon, however, in 295 Perusia took part in the Third Samnite War and was reduced, with Volsinii and Arretium, a number of lead bullets used by slingers have been found in and around the city. Negotiations with the besieging forces fell to the bishop, Herculanus. Totila is said to have ordered the bishop to be flayed and beheaded, st. Herculanus later became the citys patron saint. In the Lombard period Perugia is spoken of as one of the cities of Tuscia. Peter, acknowledged the validity of the statement and recognised the established civic practices as having the force of law. However this dominant tendency was rather an anti-Germanic and Italian political strategy, midway through the 14th century Bartholus of Sassoferrato, who was a renowned jurist, asserted that Perugia was dependent upon neither imperial nor papal support. Civic peace was constantly disturbed in the 14th century by struggles between the party representing the people and the nobles. A citadel known as the Rocca Paolina, after the name of Pope Paul III, was built, in 1797, the city was conquered by French troops. On 4 February 1798, the Tiberina Republic was formed, with Perugia as capital, in 1799, the Tiberina Republic merged to the Roman Republic
18.
Vincenzo Camuccini
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Vincenzo Camuccini was an Italian painter of Neoclassic histories and religious paintings. He was considered the academic painter of his time in Rome. Camuccini was born in Rome, and first educated by his brother Pietro, a picture-restorer, and Pietro Leone Bombelli and his brother Pietro gave up his place in the studio of Domenico Corvi to Vincenzo. Until nearly the age of 30 he mainly dedicated himself to copying old masters, as an original painter, Camuccini belongs to the Neoclassicist school fostered in Rome by Anton Raphael Mengs. Camuccinis first major independent work, completed around 1798, was a canvas of the Death of Caesar. In 1800, he was commissioned an Incredulity of St. Thomas by the Vatican, in 1806, Gaspare Landi received a commission for two large canvases for the chapel of the Madonna of the Rosary in the church of San Giovanni in Piacenza. Ultimately, the commission was split with Camuccini who painted a Presentation in the Temple, the canvases by the two artists were completed in the early spring of 1806, and were exhibited side by side at the Pantheon at Easter of that year. A few years later, he was invited to Munich and Paris, the government had requested a painting on the Battle of Ratisbon. In Paris, he met Napoleon, David, Perodet, Gros, Regnault, of pictures on classic Greco-Roman history were, Horatius Cocles. He also painted, Incredulity of St. Thomas reproduced in mosaic in St. Peters at Rome, Presentation in the Temple for San Giovanni at Piacenza. The Entombment painted for Charles IV of Spain, apparition of Christ in Limbo Conversion of St. Paul for the basilica of San Paolo fuori le Mura in Rome. Romolo and Remos discovery He also painted a Betrothal of Psyche, and, jointly with Landi, he painted, in fresco, Camuccini was appointed inspector-general of the Museums of the Pope, and of the Factory of Mosaics, and director of the Neapolitan Academy of Rome. He was a member of the Institute of France, during some years president of the Academy of St. Luke, Pope Pius VII conferred upon him the title of Baron, with hereditary succession, and the Emperor Francis I the order of the Iron Crown. In 1829, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Honorary member and he expended no small portion of his wealth in the purchase of a fine collection of objects of art. In 1856, the portion of the pictures, upwards of seventy in number, were purchased being bought by the duke of Northumberland. He purchased a Raphael, known as Madonna of the Pinks, among his many pupils and followers were Nicola de Laurentiis of Chieti. Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, Biographical and Critical, york St. #4, Covent Garden, London, Original from Fogg Library, Digitized May 18,2007, George Bell and Sons. Longmans, Green & co.39 Paternoster Row, London, ulrich W. Hiesinger, The Paintings of Vincenzo Camuccini, 1771–1844, The Art Bulletin, vol
19.
Renaissance
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The Renaissance was a period in European history, from the 14th to the 17th century, regarded as the cultural bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history. It started as a movement in Italy in the Late Medieval period and later spread to the rest of Europe. This new thinking became manifest in art, architecture, politics, science, Early examples were the development of perspective in oil painting and the recycled knowledge of how to make concrete. Although the invention of movable type sped the dissemination of ideas from the later 15th century. In politics, the Renaissance contributed to the development of the customs and conventions of diplomacy, the Renaissance began in Florence, in the 14th century. Other major centres were northern Italian city-states such as Venice, Genoa, Milan, Bologna, the word Renaissance, literally meaning Rebirth in French, first appeared in English in the 1830s. The word also occurs in Jules Michelets 1855 work, Histoire de France, the word Renaissance has also been extended to other historical and cultural movements, such as the Carolingian Renaissance and the Renaissance of the 12th century. The Renaissance was a movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life in the early modern period. Renaissance scholars employed the humanist method in study, and searched for realism, however, a subtle shift took place in the way that intellectuals approached religion that was reflected in many other areas of cultural life. In addition, many Greek Christian works, including the Greek New Testament, were back from Byzantium to Western Europe. Political philosophers, most famously Niccolò Machiavelli, sought to describe life as it really was. Others see more competition between artists and polymaths such as Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Donatello, and Masaccio for artistic commissions as sparking the creativity of the Renaissance. Yet it remains much debated why the Renaissance began in Italy, accordingly, several theories have been put forward to explain its origins. During the Renaissance, money and art went hand in hand, Artists depended entirely on patrons while the patrons needed money to foster artistic talent. Wealth was brought to Italy in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries by expanding trade into Asia, silver mining in Tyrol increased the flow of money. Luxuries from the Eastern world, brought home during the Crusades, increased the prosperity of Genoa, unlike with Latin texts, which had been preserved and studied in Western Europe since late antiquity, the study of ancient Greek texts was very limited in medieval Western Europe. One of the greatest achievements of Renaissance scholars was to bring this entire class of Greek cultural works back into Western Europe for the first time since late antiquity, Arab logicians had inherited Greek ideas after they had invaded and conquered Egypt and the Levant. Their translations and commentaries on these ideas worked their way through the Arab West into Spain and Sicily and this work of translation from Islamic culture, though largely unplanned and disorganized, constituted one of the greatest transmissions of ideas in history
20.
Alnwick Castle
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Alnwick Castle is a castle and stately home in Alnwick in the English county of Northumberland. It is the seat of the Duke of Northumberland, built following the Norman conquest and it is a Grade I listed building and as of 2012 received over 800,000 visitors per year. Alnwick Castle guards a road crossing the River Aln. Yves de Vescy, Baron of Alnwick, Beatrix de Vesci, daughter of Yves de Vescy married Eustace Fitz John, Constable of Chestershire and Knaresborough. By his marriage to Beatrix de Vesci he gained the Baronies of Malton, the castle was first mentioned in 1136 when it was captured by King David I of Scotland. At this point it was described as very strong and it was besieged in 1172 and again in 1174 by William the Lion, King of Scotland and William was captured outside the walls during the Battle of Alnwick. Eustace de Vesci, lord of Alnwick, was accused of plotting with Robert Fitzwalter against King John in 1212, in response, John ordered the demolition of Alnwick Castle and Baynards Castle, however, his instructions were not carried out at Alnwick. When the Vescy family became extinct, Alnwick Castle and the manor were bequeathed to Antony Bek the Bishop of Durham. The Percy family benefited from Englands wars with Scotland, through his military accomplishments Henry Percy, 1st Baron Percy, in 1309 he purchased the barony of Alnwick from Bek, and it has been owned by the Percy family, the Earls and later Dukes of Northumberland since. The stone castle Henry Percy bought was a modest affair, though he did not live to see its completion, the building programme turned Alnwick into a major fortress along the Anglo-Scottish border. His son, also called Henry, continued the building, the Abbots Tower, the Middle Gateway and the Constables Tower survive from this period. The work at Alnwick Castle balanced military requirements with the familys residential needs, in 1345 the Percys acquired Warkworth Castle, also in Northumberland. Though Alnwick was considered prestigious, Warkworth became the familys preferred residence. The Percy family were lords in northern England. Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, rebelled against King Richard II, the earl later rebelled against King Henry IV and after defeating the earl in the Battle of Shrewsbury, the king chased him north to Alnwick. The castle surrendered under the threat of bombardment in 1403, during the Wars of the Roses, castles were infrequently engaged in battle and conflict was generally based around combat in the field. It was held against King Edward until its surrender in mid-September 1461 after the Battle of Towton, re-captured by Sir William Tailboys, during the winter it was surrendered by him to Hastings, Sir John Howard and Sir Ralph Grey of Heton in late July 1462. Grey was appointed captain but surrendered after a siege in the early autumn. King Edward responded with vigour and when the Earl of Warwick arrived in November Queen Margaret and her French advisor and they organised a mainly Scots relief force which, under George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus and de Brézé, set out on 22 November
21.
Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland
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Ralph George Algernon Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland, DL, styled Lord Ralph Percy until 1995, is an English aristocrat, hereditary peer and largely rural landowner. Ralph Percy was born the son of Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland. He succeeded in the dukedom in 1995 on the death of the 11th Duke, as such, he was a member of the House of Lords until the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999 ended the right of hereditary peers to sit in the House. Hansard records no contributions to House of Lords work by Northumberland, Ralph Percy was ranked at number 248 in the Sunday Times Rich List 2011, with an estimated wealth of £315 million. Northumberland Estates manages 100,000 acres, directly managing 4,000 acres of forestry and 20,000 acres of farmland, the 12th Duke has shown a greater degree of entrepreneurial zeal than recent predecessors, and his redevelopment plans meet frequent criticism. His sale on the market, rather than at a lower price to The National Gallery. At much the same time, in response to a Foot and Mouth disease crisis, the Duke has showed opposition to certain wind farms, however he adopted renewable energy in the restoration of a hydroelectric power generator. The Duke is a sponsor of The Northumberland Church of England Academy, the sales were completed by Sothebys in July 2014. Northumberland married Jane Richard on 21 July 1979 at Traquair Parish Church and they have four children, Lady Catherine Sarah Percy, a gunsmith, married to Patrick Valentine since 26 February 2011. The couple separated in late 2013 with no issue, George Dominic Percy, Earl Percy, managing director of energy company Cluff Geothermal with Professor Paul Younger. Lady Melissa Jane Percy, a player, married Thomas van Straubenzee. Thomas is godfather to Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, the couple were divorced in 2016. Lord Max Ralph Percy is engaged to Princess Nora Oettingen-Spielberg One of his nieces, Lucy Caroline Cuthbert, the Northumberland Estates Alnwick Castle Syon Park
22.
Heritage Lottery Fund
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The Heritage Lottery Fund was established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. The Fund opened for applications in 1994, although HLF is branded as though a body in its own right, it is administered by a pre-existing non-departmental public body – the Board of Trustees of the National Heritage Memorial Fund. The turnover of HLF is considerably larger than the work of the NHMF. Decisions about policies and large applications are made by the Trustees of the NHMF, there are also decision-making committees in the English regions, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Head office is in London, with offices in nine English regions and in Scotland, Wales. The Heritage Lottery Fund offers a range of different grant programmes from £3,000 to over £5 million
23.
Art Fund
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Art Fund is an independent membership-based British charity, which raises funds to aid the acquisition of artworks for the nation. It gives grants and acts as a channel for many gifts and bequests, as well as lobbying on behalf of museums and galleries and it relies on members subscriptions and public donations for funds and does not receive funding from the government or the National Lottery. Art Fund, then named National Art Collections Fund, was founded in 1903 in order to help museums, the founders, who included Christiana Herringham, DS MacColl and Roger Fry, were prompted by what they saw as the inadequacy of government funding of museums. He said the Funds inertia and snobbish ineptitude are entirely characteristic of the art-officialdom in England, in 2005 Art Fund was caught up in the controversy surrounding the purchase by the Tate gallery of The Upper Room by Chris Ofili. In 2006 it was out when it was discovered that the Amarna Princess. In 2009 Art Fund led a campaign to save the Staffordshire Hoard. Over £900,000 was raised through donations, and the campaign received substantial funds from trusts. As a result of the campaign, the £3.3 million treasure was acquired for Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent. In 2010 The Procession to Calvary by Pieter Brueghel the Younger, Art Fund worked with the National Trust to raise the £2.7 million required to purchase the painting for the National Trusts art collection. In 2013 King and McGaw partnered with Art Everywhere, a charitable project putting on the worlds largest art exhibition and this filled 22,000 billboards across the UK with art prints with all the profits going to the Art Fund. The Art Fund sponsors the Museum of the Year award and this is a £100,000 prize awarded annually to the museum or gallery that had the most imaginative, innovative or popular project during the previous year. Since then Art Fund has supported a tour of the collection around the UK, by the beginning of 2011 ARTIST ROOMS tours had been seen by approximately 12 million people across Britain. Art Fund, registered charity no.209174, office of the Scottish Charity Regulator
24.
Manchester
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Manchester is a major city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 514,414 as of 2013. It lies within the United Kingdoms second-most populous urban area, with a population of 2.55 million, Manchester is fringed by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east and an arc of towns with which it forms a continuous conurbation. The local authority is Manchester City Council and it was historically a part of Lancashire, although areas of Cheshire south of the River Mersey were incorporated during the 20th century. Throughout the Middle Ages Manchester remained a township but began to expand at an astonishing rate around the turn of the 19th century. Manchesters unplanned urbanisation was brought on by a boom in textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution, Manchester achieved city status in 1853. The Manchester Ship Canal opened in 1894, creating the Port of Manchester and its fortunes declined after the Second World War, owing to deindustrialisation. The city centre was devastated in a bombing in 1996, but it led to extensive investment, in 2014, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network ranked Manchester as a beta world city, the highest-ranked British city apart from London. Manchester is the third-most visited city in the UK and it is notable for its architecture, culture, musical exports, media links, scientific and engineering output, social impact, sports clubs and transport connections. Manchester Liverpool Road railway station was the worlds first inter-city passenger railway station and in the city scientists first split the atom, the name Manchester originates from the Latin name Mamucium or its variant Mancunium and the citizens are still referred to as Mancunians. These are generally thought to represent a Latinisation of an original Brittonic name, both meanings are preserved in languages derived from Common Brittonic, mam meaning breast in Irish and mother in Welsh. The suffix -chester is a survival of Old English ceaster and their territory extended across the fertile lowland of what is now Salford and Stretford. Central Manchester has been settled since this time. A stabilised fragment of foundations of the version of the Roman fort is visible in Castlefield. After the Roman withdrawal and Saxon conquest, the focus of settlement shifted to the confluence of the Irwell, much of the wider area was laid waste in the subsequent Harrying of the North. Thomas de la Warre, lord of the manor, founded and constructed a church for the parish in 1421. The church is now Manchester Cathedral, the premises of the college house Chethams School of Music. The library, which opened in 1653 and is open to the public today, is the oldest free public reference library in the United Kingdom. Manchester is mentioned as having a market in 1282, around the 14th century, Manchester received an influx of Flemish weavers, sometimes credited as the foundation of the regions textile industry
25.
Cardiff
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Cardiff is the capital and largest city in Wales and the eleventh-largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is the chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media. The unitary authority areas mid-2011 population was estimated to be 346,100, the Cardiff metropolitan area makes up over a third of the total population of Wales, with a mid-2011 population estimate of about 1,100,000 people. Cardiff is a significant tourist centre and the most popular destination in Wales with 18.3 million visitors in 2010. In 2011, Cardiff was ranked sixth in the world in National Geographics alternative tourist destinations, the city of Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan. Cardiff is part of the Eurocities network of the largest European cities, the Cardiff Urban Area covers a slightly larger area outside the county boundary, and includes the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a port for the transport of coal following the arrival of industry in the region contributed to its rise as a major city. Cardiff was made a city in 1905, and proclaimed the capital of Wales in 1955, since the 1980s, Cardiff has seen significant development. A new waterfront area at Cardiff Bay contains the Senedd building, home to the Welsh Assembly, sporting venues in the city include the Millennium Stadium, SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff International Sports Stadium and Cardiff Arms Park. The city was awarded the title of European City of Sport twice, due to its role in hosting major sporting events, first in 2009. The Millennium Stadium hosted 11 football matches as part of the 2012 Summer Olympics, including the opening event. Caerdydd derives from the earlier Welsh form Caerdyf, the change from -dyf to -dydd shows the colloquial alteration of Welsh f and dd, and was perhaps also driven by folk etymology. This sound change had probably first occurred in the Middle Ages, Caerdyf has its origins in post-Roman Brythonic words meaning the fort of the Taff. The fort probably refers to that established by the Romans, the anglicised form Cardiff is derived from Caerdyf, with the Welsh f borrowed as ff /f/, as also happens in Taff and Llandaff. As English does not have the vowel the final vowel has been borrowed as /ɪ/, although some sources repeat this theory, it has been rejected on linguistic grounds by modern scholars such as Professor Gwynedd Pierce. A group of five Bronze Age tumuli is at the summit of The Garth, four Iron Age hill fort and enclosure sites have been identified within Cardiffs present-day county boundaries, including Caerau Hillfort, an enclosed area of 5.1 hectares. The fort was one of a series of military outposts associated with Isca Augusta that acted as border defences, the fort may have been abandoned in the early 2nd century as the area had been subdued. However, by this time a settlement, or vicus, was established
26.
Edinburgh
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Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 local government council areas. Located in Lothian on the Firth of Forths southern shore, it is Scotlands second most populous city and the seventh most populous in the United Kingdom. The 2014 official population estimates are 464,990 for the city of Edinburgh,492,680 for the authority area. Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is home to the Scottish Parliament and it is the largest financial centre in the UK after London. Historically part of Midlothian, the city has long been a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scots law, literature, the sciences and engineering. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582 and now one of four in the city, was placed 17th in the QS World University Rankings in 2013 and 2014. The city is famous for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe. The citys historical and cultural attractions have made it the United Kingdoms second most popular tourist destination after London, attracting over one million overseas visitors each year. Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace, the churches of St. Giles, Greyfriars and the Canongate, Edinburghs Old Town and New Town together are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999. It appears to derive from the place name Eidyn mentioned in the Old Welsh epic poem Y Gododdin, the poem names Din Eidyn as a hill fort in the territory of the Gododdin. The Celtic element din was dropped and replaced by the Old English burh, the first documentary evidence of the medieval burgh is a royal charter, c. 1124–1127, by King David I granting a toft in burgo meo de Edenesburg to the Priory of Dunfermline. In modern Gaelic, the city is called Dùn Èideann, the earliest known human habitation in the Edinburgh area was at Cramond, where evidence was found of a Mesolithic camp site dated to c.8500 BC. Traces of later Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements have found on Castle Rock, Arthurs Seat, Craiglockhart Hill. When the Romans arrived in Lothian at the end of the 1st century AD, at some point before the 7th century AD, the Gododdin, who were presumably descendants of the Votadini, built the hill fort of Din Eidyn or Etin. Although its location has not been identified, it likely they would have chosen a commanding position like the Castle Rock, Arthurs Seat. In 638, the Gododdin stronghold was besieged by forces loyal to King Oswald of Northumbria and it thenceforth remained under their jurisdiction. The royal burgh was founded by King David I in the early 12th century on land belonging to the Crown, in 1638, King Charles Is attempt to introduce Anglican church forms in Scotland encountered stiff Presbyterian opposition culminating in the conflicts of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. In the 17th century, Edinburghs boundaries were defined by the citys defensive town walls
27.
Barnard Castle
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Barnard Castle is a market town in Teesdale, County Durham, England. It is named after the castle around which it grew up and it is the main settlement in the Teesdale area, and is a popular tourist destination. The Bowes Museum has the best collection of European fine and decorative arts in the North of England and its most famous exhibit is the 18th-century Silver Swan automaton, though art includes work by Goya and El Greco. Barnard Castle sits on the bank of the River Tees. Nearby towns include Bishop Auckland to the north-east, Darlington to the east, Barnard Castles largest single employer is GlaxoSmithKline which has a manufacturing facility on the outskirts of town. Before the Norman conquest the upper half of Teesdale had been combined into an Anglo-Norse estate which was centred upon the ancient village of Gainford, the first Norman Bishop of Durham, Bishop Walcher, was murdered in 1080. This led to the country being attacked and laid waste by the Norman overlords. Further rebellion in 1095 caused the king William II to break up the Earldom of Northumberland into smaller baronies, the Lordship of Gainford was given to Guy de Balliol. The earthwork fortifications of the castle were re-built in stone by his successor, the castle passed down through the Balliol family and then into the possession of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. King Richard III inherited it through his wife, Anne Neville, the remains of the castle are a Grade I listed building, whilst the chapel in the outer ward is Grade II* listed. Both sets of remains are now in the care of English Heritage, walter Scott frequently visited his friend John Sawrey Morritt at Rokeby Hall and was fond of exploring Teesdale. He begins his epic poem Rokeby with a man standing on guard on the tower of the Barnard Castle fortress. Charles Dickens and his illustrator Hablot Browne stayed at the Kings Head in Barnard Castle while researching his novel Nicholas Nickleby in the winter of 1837-38. He is said to have entered William Humphreys clock-makers shop, then opposite the hotel, William replied that his boy Humphrey had done it. This seems to have prompted Dickens to choose the title Master Humphreys Clock for his new weekly, in whichThe Old Curiosity Shop, William Wordsworth, Daniel Defoe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Hilaire Belloc, Bill Bryson and the artist J M W Turner have also visited the town. The Bowes Museum, housed in a building, was founded by John Bowes and his wife Josephine. It contains an El Greco, paintings by Goya, Canaletto, Boucher, Fragonard, a great attraction is the 18th century silver swan automaton, which periodically preens itself, looks round and appears to catch and swallow a fish. John Bowes lived at nearby Streatlam Castle and his Streatlam stud never had more than ten breeding mares at one time, but produced no fewer than four Derby winners in twenty years
28.
Ultramarine
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Ultramarine is a deep blue color and a pigment which was originally made by grinding lapis lazuli into a powder. The name comes from the Latin ultramarinus, literally beyond the sea, Ultramarine was the finest and most expensive blue used by Renaissance painters. It was often used for the robes of the Virgin Mary and it remained an extremely expensive pigment until a synthetic ultramarine was invented in 1826. The pigment consists primarily of a mineral containing small amounts of polysulfides. It occurs in nature as a component of lapis lazuli containing a blue cubic mineral called lazurite. The pigment color code is P, the major component of lazurite is a complex sulfur-containing sodium-silicate, which makes ultramarine the most complex of all mineral pigments. Some chloride is present in the crystal lattice as well. The blue color of the pigment is due to the S−3 radical anion, the preparation is typically made in steps. The first part of the takes place at 700 to 750 °C in a closed furnace, so that sulphur, carbon. This yields a yellow-green product sometimes used as a pigment, in the second step air or sulphur dioxide at 350 to 450 °C is used to oxidise sulphide sulphur in the intermediate product to S2 and Sn chromophore molecules, resulting in the blue pigment. The mixture is heated in a kiln, sometimes in brick-sized amounts, the resultant solids are then ground and washed as per any other insoluble pigment manufacturing process. The chemical reaction produces large amounts of sulfur dioxide, meaning that flue-gas desulfurization is an part of its manufacture to comply with pollution regulations. Large chimneys were used to disperse sulfur dioxide produced in the process, resulting in ultramarine tinting the surrounding ground surfaces, Ultramarine poor in silica is obtained by fusing a mixture of soft clay, sodium sulfate, charcoal, sodium carbonate and sulfur. The product is at first white, but soon turns green green ultramarine when it is mixed with sulfur, the sulfur burns, and a fine blue pigment is obtained. Ultramarine rich in silica is obtained by heating a mixture of pure clay, very fine white sand, sulfur. A blue product is obtained at once, but a red tinge often results, the different ultramarines—green, blue, red and violet—are finely ground and washed with water. Its color is unaffected by light nor by contact with oil or lime as used in painting, hydrochloric acid immediately bleaches it with liberation of hydrogen sulfide. Even a small addition of oxide to the reddish varieties especially causes a considerable diminution in the intensity of the color
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Azurite
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Azurite is a soft, deep blue copper mineral produced by weathering of copper ore deposits. It is also known as Chessylite after the locality at Chessy-les-Mines near Lyon. The mineral, a carbonate, has known since ancient times, and was mentioned in Pliny the Elders Natural History under the Greek name kuanos. The blue of azurite is exceptionally deep and clear, and for that reason the mineral has tended to be associated since antiquity with the blue color of low-humidity desert. Azurite is one of the two basic copper carbonate minerals, the other being bright green malachite, simple copper carbonate is not known to exist in nature. Azurite has the formula Cu322, with the copper cations linked to two different anions, carbonate and hydroxide, small crystals of azurite can be produced by rapidly stirring a few drops of copper sulfate solution into a saturated solution of sodium carbonate and allowing the solution to stand overnight. Large crystals are blue, often prismatic. Azurite specimens can be massive to nodular and they are often stalactitic in form. Specimens tend to lighten in color over time due to weathering of the surface into malachite. Azurite is soft, with a Mohs hardness of only 3.5 to 4, the specific gravity of azurite is 3.77 to 3.89. Azurite is destroyed by heat, losing carbon dioxide and water to form black, characteristic of a carbonate, specimens effervesce upon treatment with hydrochloric acid. The optical properties of such as azurite and malachite are characteristic of copper. Many coordination complexes of copper exhibit similar colors, as explained within the context of ligand field theory, the colors result from low energy d-d transitions associated with the d9 metal center. Azurite is unstable in air with respect to malachite. Azurite is also incompatible with media, such as saltwater aquariums. Azurite is not a useful pigment because it is unstable in air and it was however used as a blue pigment in antiquity. Azurite is naturally occurring in Sinai and the Eastern Desert of Egypt and it was reported by F. C. J. Depending on the degree of fineness to which it was ground and it has been known as mountain blue or Armenian stone, in addition it was formerly known as Azurro Della Magna
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Malachite
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Malachite is a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the formula Cu2CO32. Individual crystals are rare but do occur as slender to acicular prisms, pseudomorphs after more tabular or blocky azurite crystals also occur. The stones name derives from Greek Μολοχίτης λίθος molochitis lithos, mallow-green stone, from μολόχη molōchē, variant of μαλάχη malāchē, the mineral was given this name due to its resemblance to the leaves of the mallow plant. Archeological evidence indicates that the mineral has been mined and smelted to obtain copper at Timna Valley in Israel for over 3,000 years, since then, malachite has been used as both an ornamental stone and as a gemstone. In ancient Egypt the colour green was associated with death and the power of resurrection as well as new life and they believed that the afterlife contained an eternal paradise which resembled their lives but with no pain or suffering, and referred to this place as the ‘Field of Malachite’. Malachite was used as a pigment in green paints from antiquity until about 1800. The pigment is moderately lightfast, very sensitive to acids, and this natural form of green pigment has been replaced by its synthetic form, verditer, among other synthetic greens. Malachite is also used for decorative purposes, such as in the Malachite Room in the Hermitage, which features a huge malachite vase, and the Malachite Room in Castillo de Chapultepec in Mexico City. The Tazza, a large vase, one of the largest pieces of malachite in North America. Malachite often results from the weathering of copper ores, and is found together with azurite, goethite. Except for its vibrant green color, the properties of malachite are similar to those of azurite, Malachite is more common than azurite and is typically associated with copper deposits around limestones, the source of the carbonate. Large quantities of malachite have been mined in the Urals, Russia, ural malachite is not being mined at present, but G. N Vertushkova reports the possible discovery of new deposits of malachite in the Urals. Virtual tour of the Malachite Room Malachite, Colourlex
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Verdigris
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It is usually a basic copper carbonate, but near the sea will be a basic copper chloride. If acetic acid is present at the time of weathering, it may consist of copper acetate, the name verdigris comes from the Middle English vertegrez, from the Old French verte grez, an alteration of vert-de-Grèce. The modern French spelling of this word is vert-de-gris and it was used as a pigment in paintings and other art objects. It was originally made by hanging copper plates over hot vinegar in a pot until a green crust formed on the copper. Another method of obtaining verdigris pigment, used in the Middle Ages, was to attach copper strips to a block with acetic acid. A few weeks later the pot was dug up and the verdigris scraped off, in eighteenth-century Montpellier, France, it was manufactured in household cellars, where copper plates were stacked in clay pots filled with distilled wine. The verdigris was scraped off weekly by the women of the household, the chemical reaction exhibited between wine and copper to produce verdigris may be related to wines own oxidization process. Another method, used in the nineteenth century, had to do with reacting copper sulfate solution with solutions of lead, barium. Their sulfates are insoluble, forming precipitates and leaving the copper acetate in solution, natural or artificially created coatings of verdigris is commonly used as a patina to protect copper or bronze objects, especially in architecture. It is also used industrially as a fungicide, a catalyst for organic reactions, Verdigris has also been used in medicine. The vivid green color of copper acetate made this form of verdigris a much used pigment, until the 19th century, verdigris was the most vibrant green pigment available and was frequently used in painting. Verdigris is lightfast in oil paint, as examples of 15th-century paintings show. However, its lightfastness and air resistance are very low in other media, Copper resinate, made from verdigris by boiling it in a resin, is not lightfast, even in oil paint. In the presence of light and air, green copper resinate becomes stable brown copper oxide, in addition, verdigris is a fickle pigment requiring special preparation of paint, careful layered application and immediate sealing with varnish to avoid rapid discoloration. Verdigris has the property in oil painting that it is initially bluish-green. Verdigris fell out of use by artists as more stable green pigments became available, Copper acetate is soluble in alcohol and water and slightly soluble in ether and glycerol. It melts at 115 °C and decomposes at 240 °C and it can be prepared by reacting copper oxide, CuO, or copper carbonate, CuCO3, with acetic acid, CH3COOH. Verdigris is a chemical mixture of compounds, complexes and water
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Resurrection of Christ (Raphael)
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The Resurrection of Christ, also called The Kinnaird Resurrection, is an oil painting on wood by the Italian High Renaissance master Raphael. The work is one of the earliest known paintings by the artist and it is probably a piece of an unknown predella, though it has been suggested that the painting could be one of the remaining works of the Baronci altarpiece, Raphaels first recorded commission. The painting is housed in the São Paulo Museum of Art, the work was acquired by the São Paulo Museum of Art in 1954. Nowadays, the reference to Raphael is almost unanimously accepted by experts and it is the only work by that artist currently housed in the Southern Hemisphere. Catálogo do Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand
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Baronci Altarpiece
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The Baronci Altarpiece was a painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Raphael. His first recorded commission, it was made for Andrea Baroncis chapel in the church of SantAgostino in Città di Castello, the altarpiece was seriously damaged during an earthquake in 1789, and since 1849 fragments of the original painting have been part of different collections. In the documents Raphael, not his collaborator, is referred to as magister, the work on the paintings was completed on September 13,1501. In the center of the painting Nicholas of Tolentino stood in an archway, next to him were three angels. Above him God the Father was placed with a crown in his hand, on his left the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Augustine were painted. During a heavy earthquake in 1789 the painting was damaged so severely that it was decided to saw it into pieces, in the same year, the fragments were acquired by Pope Pius VI for the collections of the Vatican, where they remained until 1849. It is unclear what happened to them after that, only many years later scholars were able to trace back six different pieces, four fragments of the main painting and two predellas, which had become part of different collections. An impression of the work is given by an 18th-century copy in the Pinacoteca Comunale. Preliminary sketches by Raphael can be found in the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, Lille, on the basis of these drawings it is assumed that the design of the altar was entirely Raphaels work, whereas in the execution he was joined by Evangelista da Pian di Meleto. While Raphael probably painted the altarpiece itself, the predellas are attributed to Pian di Meleto, fragments of the main altarpiece, God the Father,112 x 75 cm. Blessed Virgin Mary,51 x 41 cm, predellas, Saint Nicholas of Tolentino Restoring Two Partridges to Life,29.2 x 54.0 cm. Saint Nicholas of Tolentino Rescuing a Boy from Drowning,26.7 x 51.8 cm, based on the article from the German Wikipedia, which in turn gives as its sources, Hertig, Louis, Pierluigi de Vecchi. Ferino Pagden, Sylvia, Maria Antonietta Zancan, predellas attributed to the Circle of Perugino in the DIAs collection
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Oddi Altarpiece (Raphael)
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The actions of the painting occur in two related scenes, one in heaven and the other terrestrial. St Thomas holds in his hands the girdle Mary dropped down to him as a testament to her assumption, the saints raise their eyes to the heavenly spectacle. The predella is composed of three 27 ×50 cm paintings, The altarpiece and the predella at the Vatican Pinacotheca, the altarpiece and the left, center and right part of the predella at the Web Gallery of Art
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Solly Madonna
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The Solly Madonna by the Italian renaissance artist Raphael was painted somewhere between 1500 and 1504. An early work, it shows the influence of Raphaels teacher Perugino. Two motifs in this work would recur in later Madonnas by Raphael, the virgin Mary is reading a book, as in the Madonna and Child in the Norton Simon Museum, the Connestabile Madonna, the Madonna Colonna and the Madonna del cardellino. As in that last painting a small bird, a goldfinch, is part of the scene, the painting is located in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. It is called the Solly Madonna because it was owned by the British banker and art collector Edward Solly
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Mond Crucifixion
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The Mond Crucifixion is a painting by the Italian renaissance artist Raphael. An early work influenced by Perugino, it was originally an altarpiece in the church of San Domenico, Città di Castello, the painting shows Jesus on the cross, who is looking peaceful even though he is dying. There are two angels catching his blood in chalices, on Jesus left kneels Mary Magdalene, with John the Evangelist standing behind her. On his right Mary stands, and St. Jerome, to whom the altar was dedicated, is kneeling, at the foot of the cross is the inscription RAPHAEL/ VRBIN / AS /. P. in silver letters. The painting was bequeathed to the National Gallery by Ludwig Mond, the sun and moon at the top are present despite the Council of Constantinople prohibition of such symbology for its reference to other religions. The painting was analyzed in the National Gallery London and the pigments of the Renaissance period were identified. He painted the Crucifixion among other pigments with natural ultramarine, lead-tin-yellow, verdigris, vermilion and ochres
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Three Graces (Raphael)
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The Three Graces is an oil painting by Italian painter Raphael, housed in the Musée Condé of Chantilly, France. The date of origin has not been determined, though it seems to have been painted at some point after his arrival to study with Pietro Perugino in about 1500. According to James Patrick in 2007s Renaissance and Reformation, the painting represents the first time that Raphael had depicted the nude form in front. The image depicts three of the Graces of classical mythology, julia Cartwright in Early Work of Raphael proposes that the painting bears far more influence of the school of Ferrara than classical sculpture, making clear that the statue was not Raphaels model. Some art historians disagree with Panofskys conclusion, cole presents the figures as handmaidens of Venus, holding the golden apples with which she is associated and affirming the proper connection of Virtus and Amor. The Three Graces remain a motif in pop culture
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St. Michael (Raphael)
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St. Michael is an oil painting by Italian artist Raphael. Also called the Little St. Michael to distinguish it from a larger, later treatment of the theme, St. Michael Vanquishing Satan. The work depicts the Archangel Michael in combat with the demons of Hell, along with St. George, it represents the first of Raphaels works on martial subjects. Whatever the impetus for its creation, by 1548 it hung in the collection at the Palace of Fontainebleau, the punishments depicted reflect Dantes treatment of hypocrites and thieves. A little more than a decade after completing the little St. Michael, Raphael was commissioned to revisit the theme, media related to Saint Michael with the Dragon by Raffaello Sanzio at Wikimedia Commons
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Conestabile Madonna
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The Conestabile Madonna is a small painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It was likely the last work painted by Raphael in Umbria before moving to Florence and its name comes from the Conestabile family of Perugia, from whom it was acquired by Alexander II of Russia in 1871. The Tsar presented it to his consort, Maria Alexandrovna, since then, the painting has been on exhibit in the Hermitage Museum of St. Petersburg. The painting portrays the Madonna holding the Child while reading a book, in 1881, when the picture was moved to canvas, it was discovered that in the original version the Madonna contemplated a pomegranate instead of the book
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The Marriage of the Virgin (Raphael)
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The Marriage of the Virgin, also known as Lo Sposalizio, is an oil painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Raphael. Completed in 1504 for the Franciscan church of San Francesco, Città di Castello and it changed hands several times before settling in 1806 at the Pinacoteca di Brera. In the early years of the 15th century, patrons in Citta di Castello sent three commissions to Raphaels teacher Pietro Perugino which, in Peruginos absence, were completed by Raphael, the Marriage of the Virgin was the last of these. Evidently inspired by one of Peruginos paintings, also known as Marriage of the Virgin, Raphael completed his own work, according to the date placed next to his signature and this particular piece was commissioned by one Filippo degli Albezzini to hang in a church dedicated to Saint Francis. It remained in its home until General Giuseppe Lechi led forces to Città di Castello to liberate it from Austrian occupation. Restoring Raphael in the Cambridge Companion to Raphael reports that the painting remained with Lechi to his death in 1804, but Lechi died in 1836. The Cyclopedia of Painters and Paintings states rather that Lechi sold the piece in 1801 to one Giacomo Sannazaro, who himself sold the piece in 1804 to the Ospedale Maggiore in Milan. By whatever means it arrived there, it was in the possession of the hospital for a short time and it has since then been displayed in the Pinacoteca di Brera, in spite of an 1859 proposal to donate the image to France after that countrys army had entered Milan. Through these various relocations, the painting was damaged, the panel had several cracks in the upper half, while there was rippling and bowing throughout. This decision on the part of Molteni has permitted 20th-century art historians to use infrared reflectography to study the underdrawing beneath the art work. Molteni also undertook to clean the surface of the painting, which had subjected to restoration before. He did not clean aggressively, as he wanted to be sure that elements of the painting were preserved. The Cyclopedia of Painters and Paintings indicates that the painting is somewhat discoloured, in this work, he continued, there is a temple drawn in perspective with such evident care that it is marvellous to behold the difficulty of the problems which he has there set himself to solve. Franz Liszt wrote a composition for piano based on Raphaels painting with the title Sposalizio in his Années de pèlerinage. Sprezzatura The Marriage of the Virgin Raffaello e Brera, exh. cat, bertelli and M. Olivari, Milan 1984 Raffaello. Lo Sposalizio della Vergine restaurato, exh. cat, ed. by E. Daffra and M. Ceriana, Milan 2009 Champlin, John Denison, Charles Callahan Perkins. Masters in Art, a series of illustrated monographs, mazzucchelli, Francesco, Luigi Mazzuchelli, Sergio Onger. Caro figlio, stimato padre, famiglia, educazione e società nobiliare nel carteggio tra Francesco e Luigi Mazzuchelli
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Vision of a Knight (Raphael)
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The Vision of a Knight, also called The Dream of Scipio or Allegory, is a small egg tempera painting on poplar by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael, finished in 1504–1505. It is in the National Gallery in London and it probably formed a pair with the Three Graces panel, also 17 cm square, now in the Château de Chantilly museum. There are a number of theories as to what the panel is intended to represent, some art historians think the sleeping knight represents the Roman general Scipio Africanus who dreamed that he had to choose between Virtue and Pleasure. However, the two figures are not presented as contestants. They may represent the attributes of the knight, the book, sword and flower which they hold suggest the ideals of scholar. The most likely source for the allegory depicted is from a passage in the Punica, the panel was moved to England by William Young Ottley in 1800. Raphael used a palette of paints to depict this colourful scene, pigments such as lead-tin yellow, ultramarine, verdigris. Details of the piece, National Gallery
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St. George (Raphael, Louvre)
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St. George or St. George and the Dragon is a small painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It is housed in the Louvre in Paris, a later version of the same subject is the St. George in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. This painting and the equally small Saint Michael, also in the Louvre, are a pair, in the Mazarin Collection they were joined together, forming a diptych, and bound in leather. Louis XIV acquired them from Mazarins heirs in 1661, Saint George has sometimes been ascribed to the artists Roman period, because the horse resembles one of the horses of Monte Cavallo. However, Raphael could easily have known this particular horse from a drawing of it, to judge by the still somewhat naïve and Peruginesque style of the painting, it is really one of Raphaels early works, dating from about 1504. He did another painting of the subject a little later. Giovanni Lomazzo, in his Trattato della Pittura, mentions a Saint George by Raphael, commissioned by the Duke of Urbino, which was painted on a little chess-board. According to the old catalogues the small Saint Michael, if not the saint George as well, had a draught-board on the back which is now covered over, examination by means of X-rays and infrared has not confirmed this statement. In the abovementioned book, Lomazzo seems to have confused various pictures of the same subject, if one can rely to some extent on his late and somewhat muddled testimony, it is possible that the two paintings in the Louvre were painted for the Duke of Urbino. The Uffizi Gallery has a cartoon for the Saint George. J. Pitman, Raphael Trail, The Secret History of One of the Worlds Most Precious Works of Art
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Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints (Raphael)
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The Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints, also known as the Colonna Altarpiece, is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Raphael, c. It is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City and it is the only altarpiece by Raphael in the United States. The collection of Metropolitan Museum of Art also contains a painting of the Agony in the Garden from the predella of the altarpiece. Other panels from the predella can be found in the collections of the National Gallery, London, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, in Boston, a preparatory drawing by Raphael for the composition of the agony in the garden is in the collection of the Morgan Library New York. The Altarpiece was the last Raphael altar in private hands when J. P. Morgan purchased it in the early 20th century for a record price, sources Linda Wolk-Simon, Raphael at the Metropolitan, The Colonna Altarpiece, Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2006
