1.
Antonio Herrera Toro
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Antonio Herrera Toro was a Venezuelan painter, art critic and professor. He began his studies in 1869, under the tutelage of Martín Tovar y Tovar. Five years later, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Caracas, in 1875, he received a government scholarship that allowed him to study in Paris and Rome. In 1883, he portrayed the final moments of Simón Bolívar, as it turned out, Herrera had to complete the Battle of Ayacucho after Tovars death. He later took up journalistic pursuits in addition to painting, signing his writings with the pseudonym Santoro and he was a major contributor to the cultural affairs bi-weekly, El Cojo Ilustrado, and a co-founder of El Granuja. In 1892, he was appointed Director of the government Office of Buildings and Ornamentation and, in 1908, became Director of the Art Academy, early the following year, he was faced with a strike by a large group of students who were demanding changes in the curriculum. He also tendered his resignation, which was not accepted so, despite being the target of student protests, he retained the position until his death
2.
Caracas
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Caracas, officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital, the center of the Greater Caracas Area, and the largest city of Venezuela. Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the part of the country. Terrain suitable for building lies between 760 and 910 m above sea level, the valley is close to the Caribbean Sea, separated from the coast by a steep 2, 200-metre-high mountain range, Cerro El Ávila, to the south there are more hills and mountains. Libertador holds many of the government buildings and is the Capital District, the Distrito Capital had a population of 2,013,366 as of 2011, while the Metropolitan District of Caracas was estimated at 3,273,863 as of 2013. The Metropolitan Region of Caracas has an population of 5,243,301. Businesses that are located in the city include service companies, banks and it has a largely service-based economy, apart from some industrial activity in its metropolitan area. The Caracas Stock Exchange and Petróleos de Venezuela are headquartered in Caracas, PDVSA is the largest company in Venezuela. Caracas is also Venezuelas cultural capital, with restaurants, theaters, museums. Some of the tallest skyscrapers in Latin America are located in Caracas, in 2015, Venezuela and its capital, Caracas, had the highest per capita murder rates in the world, with 119 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants. Most murders and other violent crimes go unsolved, at the time of the founding of the city in 1567, the valley of Caracas was populated by indigenous peoples. Francisco Fajardo, the son of a Spanish captain and a Guaiqueri cacica, fajardos settlement did not last long. It was destroyed by natives of the led by Terepaima. This was the last rebellion on the part of the natives, on 25 July 1567, Captain Diego de Losada laid the foundations of the city of Santiago de León de Caracas. The foundation −1567 – I take possession of land in the name of God. In 1577 Caracas became the capital of the Spanish Empires Venezuela Province under Governor Juan de Pimentel, during the 17th century, the coast of Venezuela was frequently raided by pirates. With the coastal mountains as a barrier, Caracas was relatively immune to such attacks, encountering little resistance, the invaders sacked and set fire to the town after a failed ransom negotiation. As the cocoa cultivation and exports under the Compañía Guipuzcoana de Caracas grew in importance, in 1777, Caracas became the capital of the Captaincy General of Venezuela. José María España and Manuel Gual led a revolution aimed at independence
3.
Puerto Rico
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Puerto Rico, officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and briefly called Porto Rico, is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeast Caribbean Sea. It is an archipelago that includes the island of Puerto Rico and a number of smaller ones such as Mona, Culebra. The capital and most populous city is San Juan and its official languages are Spanish and English, though Spanish predominates. The islands population is approximately 3.4 million, Puerto Ricos rich history, tropical climate, diverse natural scenery, renowned traditional cuisine, and attractive tax incentives make it a popular destination for travelers from around the world. Four centuries of Spanish colonial government transformed the ethnic, cultural and physical landscapes primarily with waves of African captives, and Canarian. In the Spanish imperial imagination, Puerto Rico played a secondary, in 1898, following the Spanish–American War, the United States appropriated Puerto Rico together with most former Spanish colonies under the terms of the Treaty of Paris. Puerto Ricans are natural-born citizens of the United States, however, Puerto Rico does not have a vote in the United States Congress, which governs the territory with full jurisdiction under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950. As a U. S. territory, American citizens residing on the island are disenfranchised at the level and may not vote for president. However, Congress approved a constitution, allowing U. S. citizens on the territory to elect a governor. A fifth referendum will be held in June 2017, with only Statehood, in early 2017, the Puerto Rican government-debt crisis posed serious problems for the government. The outstanding bond debt that had climbed to $70 billion or $12,000 per capita at a time with 12. 4% unemployment, the debt had been increasing during a decade long recession. Puerto Ricans often call the island Borinquen – a derivation of Borikén, its indigenous Taíno name, the terms boricua and borincano derive from Borikén and Borinquen respectively, and are commonly used to identify someone of Puerto Rican heritage. The island is also known in Spanish as la isla del encanto. Columbus named the island San Juan Bautista, in honor of Saint John the Baptist, eventually traders and other maritime visitors came to refer to the entire island as Puerto Rico, while San Juan became the name used for the main trading/shipping port and the capital city. The islands name was changed to Porto Rico by the United States after the Treaty of Paris of 1898, the anglicized name was used by the US government and private enterprises. The name was changed back to Puerto Rico by a joint resolution in Congress introduced by Félix Córdova Dávila in 1931, the ancient history of the archipelago known today as Puerto Rico is not well known. The scarce archaeological findings and early Spanish scholarly accounts from the colonial era constitute the basis of knowledge about them. The first comprehensive book on the history of Puerto Rico was written by Fray Íñigo Abbad y Lasierra in 1786, the first settlers were the Ortoiroid people, an Archaic Period culture of Amerindian hunters and fishermen who migrated from the South American mainland
4.
Lithography
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Lithography is a method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone or a plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by German author and actor Alois Senefelder as a method of publishing theatrical works. Lithography can be used to print text or artwork onto paper or other suitable material, Lithography originally used an image drawn with oil, fat, or wax onto the surface of a smooth, level lithographic limestone plate. The stone was treated with a mixture of acid and gum arabic, when the stone was subsequently moistened, these etched areas retained water, an oil-based ink could then be applied and would be repelled by the water, sticking only to the original drawing. The ink would finally be transferred to a paper sheet. This traditional technique is used in some fine art printmaking applications. In modern lithography, the image is made of a coating applied to a flexible aluminum plate. The image can be printed directly from the plate, or it can be offset, by transferring the image onto a sheet for printing. In fact, photolithography is used synonymously with offset printing, the technique as well as the term were introduced in Europe in the 1850s. Beginning in the 1960s, photolithography has played an important role in the fabrication, Lithography uses simple chemical processes to create an image. For instance, the part of an image is a water-repelling substance. Thus, when the plate is introduced to a printing ink and water mixture, the ink will adhere to the positive image. This allows a flat print plate to be used, enabling much longer, Lithography was invented by Alois Senefelder in the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1796. In the early days of lithography, a piece of limestone was used. After the oil-based image was put on the surface, a solution of gum arabic in water was applied, during printing, water adhered to the gum arabic surfaces and was repelled by the oily parts, while the oily ink used for printing did the opposite. Lithography works because of the repulsion of oil and water. The image is drawn on the surface of the print plate with a fat or oil-based medium such as a wax crayon, which may be pigmented to make the drawing visible
5.
Study (art)
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In art, a study is a drawing, sketch or painting done in preparation for a finished piece, or as visual notes. Studies are often used to understand the problems involved in rendering subjects and to plan the elements to be used in finished works, such as light, color, form, perspective and composition. Studies can have more impact than more-elaborately planned work, due to the fresh insights the artist gains while exploring the subject, the excitement of discovery can give a study vitality. Even when layers of the show changes the artist made as more was understood. Written notes alongside visual images add to the import of the piece as they allow the viewer to share the process of getting to know the subject. Studies inspired some of the first 20th century conceptual art, where the process itself becomes the subject of the piece. Since the process is what is all-important in studies and conceptual art, studies can be traced back even as long ago as the Italian Renaissance, from which art historians have maintained some of Michelangelos studies. One in particular, his study for the Libyan Sibyl on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, is based on a male model, such details help to reveal the thought processes and techniques of many artists
6.
Federico de Madrazo
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Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz was a Spanish painter. Born in Rome, he was the son of the painter José de Madrazo y Agudo, while still attending the classes at the Royal Academy of San Fernando, he painted his first picture, The Resurrection of Christ, which was purchased by Queen Christina. Not long afterwards he painted Achilles in his Tent, and subsequently presented to the Academy The Continence of Scipio, while decorating the palace of Vista Alegre he took up portraiture. In 1852 he went to Paris, where he studied under Franz Winterhalter, in 1837 he was commissioned to produce a picture for the gallery at Versailles, and painted Godfrey de Bouillon proclaimed King of Jerusalem. The artist then returned to Rome, where he worked at various subjects, sacred and he received the Legion of Honour in 1846. He was made a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts on 10 December 1853, and in 1873, on the death of Schnorr. Three years after his father left office, he also became Director of the Museo del Prado and he originated in Spain the production of art reviews and journals, such as El Artiste, El Renacimiento, and El Semanario pintoresco. His brother, Luis de Madrazo, was known as a painter. Federicos best-known pupils were his sons, Raimundo and Ricardo, media related to Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz at Wikimedia Commons
7.
Exposition Universelle (1867)
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The International Exposition of 1867, was the second worlds fair to be held in Paris, from 1 April to 3 November 1867. Forty two nations were represented at the fair, following a decree of Emperor Napoleon III, the exposition was prepared as early as 1864, in the midst of the renovation of Paris, marking the culmination of the Second French Empire. In 1864, Napoleon III decreed that an international exposition should be held in Paris in 1867, a commission was appointed with Prince Jerome Napoleon as president, under whose direction the preliminary work began. In addition to the building, there were nearly 100 smaller buildings on the grounds. There were 50,226 exhibitors, of whom 15,055 were from France and her colonies,6176 from Great Britain and Ireland,703 from the United States and a small contingent from Canada. In the gallery of Labour History Jacques Boucher de Perthes, exposes one of the first prehistoric tools whose authenticity has been recognized with the accuracy of these theories. The exhibition also included two prototypes of the acclaimed and prize-winning hydrochronometer invented in 1867 by Gian Battista Embriaco. Farcot and sculptor Albert-Ernest Carrier-Be Belleuse, farcot exhibited several units, one of them it is currently in the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans. Its base, which features the face and inner mechanical movements, is carved from solid onyx marble. Atop the base, a sculpture depicting a robed female figure holds a scepter. Rotating soundlessly from the subjects hand, the scepter provides consistent motion that adds to the clocks sense of grandeur. From its base to the top of the figure stands at nearly 10 feet tall. Carrier de Belleuse was one of the most important and renowned sculptors of the 19th century, the exposition was formally opened on 1 April and closed on 31 October 1867, and was visited by 9,238,967 persons, including exhibitors and employees. This exposition was the greatest up to its time of all international expositions, for the first time Japan presented art pieces to the world in a national pavilion, especially pieces from the Satsuma and Saga clans in Kyushu. The Paris street near Champs de Mars, Rue de LExposition was named in hommage to this 1867 universal exhibition. Jules Verne visited the exhibition in 1867, his take on the newly publicized discovery of electricity inspiring him heavily in his writing of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. A famous revival of the ballet Le Corsaire was staged by the Ballet Master Joseph Mazilier in honor of the exhibition at the Théâtre Impérial de l´Opéra on 21 October 1867. The World Rowing Championships were held on the Seine River in July and was won by the underdog Canadian team from Saint John, rejtan This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Gilman, D. C
8.
Battle of Ayacucho
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The Battle of Ayacucho was a decisive military encounter during the Peruvian War of Independence. It was the battle that secured the independence of Peru and ensured independence for the rest of South America, as of late 1824, Royalists still had control of most of the south of Peru as well as of Real Felipe Fort in the port of Callao. On 9 December 1824, the Battle of Ayacucho took place at Pampa de Ayacucho, Independentist forces were led by Simón Bolívars lieutenant Sucre. Viceroy José de la Serna was wounded, and after the battle second commander-in-chief José de Canterac signed the capitulation of the Royalist army. The modern Peruvian Army celebrates the anniversary of this battle, in 1820 Spain began what would shortly become a political disaster. An expedition of 20,000 soldiers waiting to be sent to Río de la Plata to help the royalists of America revolted under the encouragement of General Rafael Riego. In the subsequent weeks the revolt spread and King Ferdinand VII was forced to restore the liberal Spanish Constitution of 1812, the royalists in each viceroyalty, however, took different paths. In Peru Viceroy Joaquín de la Pezuela was discredited after a royalist expedition to Chile under Mariano Osorio was defeated and advances in Peru were made by José de San Martín. The viceroy was overthrown on 29 January 1821, in Asnapukyu, in a coup by General José de la Serna, the independentists started the new year with a promising victory. At Cerro de Pasco they defeated a Peruvian royalist army commanded by Viceroy La Serna, however, the royalists had received solid military training. Their first victory came against the independentist army commanded by Domingo Tristán, a year later, San Martin had withdrawn from the scene after the Interview of Guayaquil and royalist forces had smashed Rudecindo Alvarados Liberating Expedition in campaigns in Torata and Moquegua. After scattering Santa Cruzs isolated troops, La Serna recaptured Arequipa after beating Antonio José de Sucres Gran Colombian force on 10 October. Sucre decided to evacuate the Gran Colombian troops, setting sail on 10 October 1823, saving himself and his troops, Viceroy La Serna ended the campaign after reaching Oruro in Upper Peru. On the political front, the last remnants of optimism among patriots faded away with accusations of treason against Peruvian presidents José de la Riva Agüero, Riva Agüero deported deputies of the Peruvian Congress and organized another congress in Trujillo. After being found guilty of treason by the Peruvian Congress he was banished to Chile. This act, in turn, was considered by Simón Bolívar to be treasonous, Tagle, who had earlier ordered all armies under his command to support Bolívar against the royalist enemy, was now pursued by Bolívar, who was looking to capture and execute him. Tagle took shelter with the royalists in the fortress of Callao, nevertheless, by the end of 1823, the situation had started to become critical for those who defended the kings cause. In spite of the military triumphs, Bolívars request for reinforcements from Colombia made him a threat to the royalist army
9.
Gregor MacGregor
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MacGregors Poyais scheme has been called one of the most brazen confidence tricks in history. From the Clan Gregor, MacGregor was an officer in the British Army from 1803 to 1810 and his successes included a difficult month-long fighting retreat through northern Venezuela in 1816. He captured Amelia Island in 1817 under a mandate from revolutionary agents to conquer Florida from the Spanish and he then oversaw two calamitous operations in New Granada during 1819 that each ended with his abandoning British volunteer troops under his command. A French court tried MacGregor and three others for fraud in 1826 after he attempted a variation on the scheme there, acquitted, MacGregor attempted lesser Poyais schemes in London over the next decade. In 1838, he moved to Venezuela, where he was welcomed back as a hero and he died in Caracas in 1845, aged 58, and was buried with full military honours in Caracas Cathedral. The family was Roman Catholic and part of the Clan Gregor, whose proscription by King James VI, MacGregor would assert in adulthood that a direct ancestor of his had survived the Darien scheme of 1698, the ill-fated Scottish attempt to colonise the Isthmus of Panama. Little is recorded of MacGregors childhood, after his fathers death in 1794, he and his two sisters were raised primarily by his mother with the help of various relatives. MacGregor joined the British Army at 16, the youngest age it was possible for him to do so and his family purchased him a commission as an ensign in the 57th Regiment of Foot, probably for around £450. MacGregors entrance to the military coincided with the start of the Napoleonic Wars following the breakdown of the Treaty of Amiens, southern England was fortified to defend against a possible French invasion, the 57th Foot was at Ashford, Kent. In February 1804, after less than a year in training, later that year, after MacGregor had spent some months in Guernsey with the regiments 1st Battalion, the 57th Foot was posted to Gibraltar. MacGregor was introduced to Maria Bowater, the daughter of a Royal Navy admiral, Maria commanded a substantial dowry and, apart from her by-now-deceased father, was related to two generals, a member of parliament and the botanist Aylmer Bourke Lambert. Gregor and Maria married at St Margarets Church, Westminster in June 1805 and set up home in London, at the residence of the brides aunt. Two months later, having rejoined the 57th Foot in Gibraltar, MacGregor bought the rank of captain for about £900, the 57th Foot remained in Gibraltar between 1805 and 1809. MacGregors regiment disembarked at Lisbon about three months into the campaign, on 15 July, by September it was garrisoning Elvas, near the frontier with Spain. Soon thereafter MacGregor was seconded to the 8th Line Battalion of the Portuguese Army, MacGregor formally retired from the British service on 24 May 1810, receiving back the £1,350 he had paid for the ranks of ensign and captain, and returned to Britain. The 57th Foots actions at the Battle of Albuera on 16 May 1811 would earn it considerable prestige, on his return to Britain the 23-year-old MacGregor and his wife moved into a house rented by his mother in Edinburgh. There he assumed the title of Colonel, wore the badge of a Portuguese knightly order and toured the city in an extravagant, after failing to attain high social status in Edinburgh, MacGregor moved back to London in 1811 and began styling himself Sir Gregor MacGregor, Bart. Falsely claiming to have succeeded to the MacGregor clan chieftainship, he alluded to family ties with a selection of dukes, earls
