1.
Scottish National Gallery
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The Scottish National Gallery is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, in a building designed by William Henry Playfair. The gallery houses the Scottish national collection of art, including Scottish. The origins of Scotlands national collection lie with the Royal Institution for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts in Scotland and it began to acquire paintings, and in 1828 the Royal Institution building opened on The Mound. In 1826, the Scottish Academy was founded by a group of artists as an offshoot of the Royal Institution, a key aim of the RSA was the founding of a national collection. It began to build up a collection and from 1835 rented exhibition space within the Royal Institution building, in the 1840s, plans were put in place for a new building to house the RSA. William Henry Playfair was commissioned to prepare designs, and on 30 August 1850, in 1912 the RSA moved into the Royal Institution building, which remains known as the Royal Scottish Academy Building. At this time, internal remodelling was carried out by William Thomas Oldrieve, when it re-opened, the gallery concentrated on building its permanent collection of Scottish and European art for the nation of Scotland Additional basement galleries were constructed in 1970. Construction took five years and cost £32 million, the new underground space was opened as the Weston Link in August 2004. The Print Room or Research Library can be accessed by appointment, at the heart of the National Gallerys collection is a group of paintings transferred from the Royal Scottish Academy Building. This includes masterpieces by Jacopo Bassano, Van Dyck and Giambattista Tiepolo, the National Gallery did not receive its own purchase grant until 1903
2.
Genre painting
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Genre painting, also called genre scene or petit genre, depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. A work would often be considered as a genre work even if it could be shown that the artist had used a known member of his family. In this case it would depend on whether the work was likely to have intended by the artist to be perceived as a portrait—sometimes a subjective question. The depictions can be realistic, imagined, or romanticized by the artist, because of their familiar and frequently sentimental subject matter, genre paintings have often proven popular with the bourgeoisie, or middle class. Genre subjects appear in many traditions of art and these were part of a pattern of Mannerist inversion in Antwerp painting, giving low elements previously in the decorative background of images prominent emphasis. The generally small scale of these paintings was appropriate for their display in the homes of middle class purchasers. Often the subject of a painting was based on a popular emblem from an Emblem book. The merry company showed a group of figures at a party, other common types of scenes showed markets or fairs, village festivities, or soldiers in camp. In Italy, a school of painting was stimulated by the arrival in Rome of the Dutch painter Pieter van Laer in 1625. He acquired the nickname Il Bamboccio and his followers were called the Bamboccianti, whose works would inspire Giacomo Ceruti, Antonio Cifrondi, jean-Baptiste Greuze and others painted detailed and rather sentimental groups or individual portraits of peasants that were to be influential on 19th-century painting. Spain had a tradition predating The Book of Good Love of social observation and commentary based on the Old Roman Latin tradition, practiced by many of its painters and illuminators. More than a later, the Spanish artist Francisco de Goya used genre scenes in painting and printmaking as a medium for dark commentary on the human condition. His The Disasters of War, a series of 82 genre incidents from the Peninsular War, with the decline of religious and historical painting in the 19th century, artists increasingly found their subject matter in the life around them. In French art this was known as the Troubador style, in the second half of the century interest in genre scenes, often in historical settings or with pointed social or moral comment, greatly increased across Europe. Other 19th-century English genre painters include Augustus Leopold Egg, George Elgar Hicks, William Holman Hunt, scotland produced two influential genre painters, David Allan and Sir David Wilkie. Wilkies The Cottars Saturday Night inspired a work by the French painter Gustave Courbet. Famous Russian realist painters like Vasily Perov and Ilya Repin also produced genre paintings, in Germany, Carl Spitzweg specialized in gently humorous genre scenes, and in Italy Gerolamo Induno painted scenes of military life. Subsequently the Impressionists, as well as such 20th-century artists as Pierre Bonnard, Itshak Holtz, Edward Hopper, other notable 19th-century genre painters from the United States include George Caleb Bingham, William Sidney Mount, and Eastman Johnson
3.
Seville
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Seville is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville, Spain. It is situated on the plain of the river Guadalquivir, the inhabitants of the city are known as sevillanos or hispalenses, after the Roman name of the city, Hispalis. Its Old Town, with an area of 4 square kilometres, the Seville harbour, located about 80 kilometres from the Atlantic Ocean, is the only river port in Spain. Seville is also the hottest major metropolitan area in the geographical Western Europe, Seville was founded as the Roman city of Hispalis. It later became known as Ishbiliya after the Muslim conquest in 712, in 1519, Ferdinand Magellan departed from Seville for the first circumnavigation of the Earth. Spal is the oldest known name for Seville and it appears to have originated during the Phoenician colonisation of the Tartessian culture in south-western Iberia and, according to Manuel Pellicer Catalán, meant lowland in the Phoenician language. During Roman rule, the name was Latinised as Hispalis, nO8DO is the official motto of Seville. It is popularly believed to be a rebus signifying the Spanish No me ha dejado, meaning It has not abandoned me, the eight in the middle represents a madeja, or skein of wool. The emblem is present on the flag and features on city property such as manhole covers. Seville is approximately 2,200 years old, the passage of the various civilisations instrumental in its growth has left the city with a distinct personality, and a large and well-preserved historical centre. The city was known from Roman times as Hispalis, important archaeological remains also exist in the nearby towns of Santiponce and Carmona. The walls surrounding the city were built during the rule of Julius Caesar. Following Roman rule, there were successive conquests of the Roman province of Hispania Baetica by the Vandals, the Suebi, Seville was taken by the Moors, Muslims from North of Africa, during the conquest of Hispalis in 712. It was the capital for the kings of the Umayyad Caliphate, the Moorish urban influences continued and are present in contemporary Seville, for instance in the custom of decorating with herbaje and small fountains the courtyards of the houses. However, most buildings of the Moorish aesthetic actually belong to the Mudéjar style of Islamic art, developed under Christian rule and inspired by the Arabic style. Original Moorish buildings are the Patio del Yeso in the Alcázar, the city walls, in 1247, the Christian King Ferdinand III of Castile and Leon began the conquest of Andalusia. The decisive action took place in May 1248 when Ramon Bonifaz sailed up the Guadalquivir, the city surrendered on 23 November 1248. The citys development continued after the Castilian conquest in 1248, Public buildings constructed including churches, many of which were built in the Mudéjar style, and the Seville Cathedral, built during the 15th century with Gothic architecture
4.
Madrid
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Madrid is the capital city of the Kingdom of Spain and the largest municipality in both the Community of Madrid and Spain as a whole. The city has a population of almost 3.2 million with an area population of approximately 6.5 million. It is the third-largest city in the European Union after London and Berlin, the municipality itself covers an area of 604.3 km2. Madrid lies on the River Manzanares in the centre of both the country and the Community of Madrid, this community is bordered by the communities of Castile and León. As the capital city of Spain, seat of government, and residence of the Spanish monarch, Madrid is also the political, economic, the current mayor is Manuela Carmena from Ahora Madrid. Madrid is home to two football clubs, Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid. Madrid is the 17th most liveable city in the according to Monocle magazine. Madrid organises fairs such as FITUR, ARCO, SIMO TCI, while Madrid possesses modern infrastructure, it has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighbourhoods and streets. Cibeles Palace and Fountain have become one of the monument symbols of the city, the first documented reference of the city originates in Andalusan times as the Arabic مجريط Majrīṭ, which was retained in Medieval Spanish as Magerit. A wider number of theories have been formulated on possible earlier origins, according to legend, Madrid was founded by Ocno Bianor and was named Metragirta or Mantua Carpetana. The most ancient recorded name of the city Magerit comes from the name of a built on the Manzanares River in the 9th century AD. Nevertheless, it is speculated that the origin of the current name of the city comes from the 2nd century BC. The Roman Empire established a settlement on the banks of the Manzanares river, the name of this first village was Matrice. In the 8th century, the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula saw the changed to Mayrit, from the Arabic term ميرا Mayra. The modern Madrid evolved from the Mozarabic Matrit, which is still in the Madrilenian gentilic, after the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba, Madrid was integrated in the Taifa of Toledo. With the surrender of Toledo to Alfonso VI of León and Castile, the city was conquered by Christians in 1085, Christians replaced Muslims in the occupation of the centre of the city, while Muslims and Jews settled in the suburbs. The city was thriving and was given the title of Villa, since 1188, Madrid won the right to be a city with representation in the courts of Castile. In 1202, King Alfonso VIII of Castile gave Madrid its first charter to regulate the municipal council, which was expanded in 1222 by Ferdinand III of Castile
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Frying
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Frying is the cooking of food in oil or another fat. Chemically, oils and fats are the same, differing only in melting point, foods can be fried in a variety of fats, including lard, vegetable oil, rapeseed oil and olive oil. In commerce, many fats are called oils by custom, e. g. palm oil and coconut oil, a variety of foods may be fried, including the potato chip, bread, eggs and foods made from eggs, such as omelettes or pancakes. Frying is believed to have first appeared in the Ancient Egyptian kitchen, during the Old Kingdom, fats can reach much higher temperatures than water at normal atmospheric pressure. Through frying, one can sear or even carbonize the surface of foods while caramelizing sugars, the food is cooked much more quickly and has a characteristic crispness and texture. Depending on the food, the fat will penetrate it to varying degrees, contributing richness, lubricity, Frying techniques vary in the amount of fat required, the cooking time, the type of cooking vessel required, and the manipulation of the food. Sautéing, stir frying, pan frying, shallow frying, pan frying, sautéing and stir-frying involve cooking foods in a thin layer of fat on a hot surface, such as a frying pan, griddle, wok, or sauteuse. Stir frying involves frying quickly at high temperatures, requiring that the food be stirred continuously to prevent it from adhering to the cooking surface. Shallow frying is a type of pan frying using only enough fat to immerse approximately one-third to one-half of each piece of food, fat used in this technique is typically only used once. Deep-frying, on the hand, involves totally immersing the food in hot oil. Deep-frying is typically a more involved process, and may require specialized oils for optimal results. Deep frying is now the basis of a large and expanding worldwide industry. The end products can then be easily packaged for storage and distribution, examples are potato chips, french fries, nuts, doughnuts, instant noodles, etc. Media related to Frying at Wikimedia Commons
6.
Chiaroscuro
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Chiaroscuro is an oil painting technique, developed during the Renaissance, that uses strong tonal contrasts between light and dark to model three-dimensional forms, often to dramatic effect. The underlying principle is that solidity of form is best achieved by the light falling against it, artists known for developing the technique include Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio, and Rembrandt. It is a mainstay of black and white photography and these in turn drew on traditions in illuminated manuscripts going back to late Roman Imperial manuscripts on purple-dyed vellum. Such works used to be called chiaroscuro drawings, but are often described in modern museum terminology by such formulae as pen on prepared paper. Chiaroscuro woodcuts began as imitations of this technique, when discussing Italian art, the term sometimes is used to mean painted images in monochrome or two colours, more generally known in English by the French equivalent, grisaille. The term broadened in meaning early on to cover all strong contrasts in illumination between light and dark areas in art, which is now the primary meaning. The invention of these effects in the West, skiagraphia or shadow-painting to the Ancient Greeks, traditionally was ascribed to the famous Athenian painter of the fifth century BC, Apollodoros. Chose her place to sit for that purpose in the alley of a goodly garden. In drawings and prints, modelling chiaroscuro often is achieved by the use of hatching, washes, stipple or dotting effects, and surface tone in printmaking are other techniques. Chiaroscuro woodcuts are old master prints in woodcut using two or more blocks printed in different colours, they do not necessarily feature strong contrasts of light and they were first produced to achieve similar effects to chiaroscuro drawings. Other printmakers to use the technique include Hans Wechtlin, Hans Baldung Grien, in Germany the technique achieved its greatest popularity around 1520, but it was used in Italy throughout the sixteenth century. Later artists such as Goltzius sometimes made use of it, in most German two-block prints, the keyblock was printed in black and the tone block or blocks had flat areas of colour. In Italy, chiaroscuro woodcuts were produced without keyblocks to achieve a different effect. Manuscript illumination was, as in areas, especially experimental in attempting ambitious lighting effects since the results were not for public display. The development of compositional chiaroscuro received an impetus in northern Europe from the vision of the Nativity of Jesus of Saint Bridget of Sweden. Hugo van der Goes and his followers painted many scenes lit only by candle or the light from the infant Christ. As with some later painters, in their hands the effect was of stillness, strong chiaroscuro became a popular effect during the sixteenth century in Mannerism and Baroque art. Divine light continued to illuminate, often rather inadequately, the compositions of Tintoretto, Veronese, tenebrism was especially practiced in Spain and the Spanish-ruled Kingdom of Naples, by Jusepe de Ribera and his followers
7.
Rokeby Venus
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The Rokeby Venus is a painting by Diego Velázquez, the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age. The painting is in the National Gallery, London, numerous works, from the ancient to the baroque, have been cited as sources of inspiration for Velázquez. The nude Venuses of the Italian painters, such as Giorgiones Sleeping Venus, in this work, Velázquez combined two established poses for Venus, recumbent on a couch or a bed, and gazing at a mirror. She is often described as looking at herself on the mirror and this phenomenon is known as the Venus effect. In a number of ways the painting represents a departure, through its central use of a mirror. The Rokeby Venus is the surviving female nude by Velázquez. Nudes were extremely rare in seventeenth-century Spanish art, which was policed actively by members of the Spanish Inquisition, in 1906, the painting was purchased by National Art Collections Fund for the National Gallery, London. Although it was attacked and badly damaged in 1914 by the suffragette Mary Richardson and she is shown without the mythological paraphernalia normally included in depictions of the scene, jewellery, roses, and myrtle are all absent. Unlike most earlier portrayals of the goddess, which show her with blond hair, the female figure can be identified as Venus because of the presence of her son, Cupid. Venus gazes into a mirror held by Cupid, who is without his usual bow, when the work was first inventoried, it was described as a nude woman, probably owing to its controversial nature. Venus looks outward at the viewer of the painting through her reflected image in the mirror, however, the image is blurred and reveals only a vague reflection of her facial characteristics, the reflected image of the head is much larger than it would be in reality. According to Wallace, There is nothing spiritual about face or picture, the classical setting is an excuse for a very material aesthetic sexuality—not sex, as such, but an appreciation of the beauty that accompanies attraction. Intertwining pink silk ribbons are draped over the mirror and curl over its frame, the folds of the bed sheets echo the goddesss physical form, and are rendered to emphasise the sweeping curves of her body. The Rokeby Venus is the only surviving nude by Velázquez, two were mentioned in the Royal collection, but may have been lost in the 1734 fire that destroyed the main Royal Palace of Madrid. A further one was recorded in the collection of Domingo Guerra Coronel and these records mention a reclining Venus, Venus and Adonis, and a Psyche and Cupid. Although the work is thought to have been painted from life. In contemporary Spain it was acceptable for artists to employ male nude models for studies, however and it has been claimed that the painting depicts a mistress Velázquez is known to have had while in Italy, who is supposed to have borne his child. Others have claimed that the model is the same as in Coronation of the Virgin and Las Hilanderas, the figures of both Venus and Cupid were significantly altered during the painting process, the result of the artists corrections to the contours as initially painted
8.
Portrait of Mariana of Austria
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Portrait of Mariana of Austria is an oil-on-canvas painting by Diego Velázquez completed in 1652–53. Mariana, then nineteen years old, was the daughter of Emperor Ferdinand III and the Infanta Maria and she was known as Maria Anna to contemporaries and is shown here as rather plain looking, wearing an unhappy expression. The painting shows Mariana full-length in a dress with silver braid. She wears a close-fitting bodice adorned with jewellery that includes a gold necklace, bracelets and her right hand rests on the back of a chair, and she holds a lace scarf in her left hand. The picture is bathed in harmonious shades of black and red, portrait of Mariana of Austria is one of a series of female Spanish courtiers painted by Velázquez in the 1650s. A complicated rivalry existed between the courts of Madrid, Paris and Vienna, Velázquez played a key role in depicting the relative attractiveness of those that might bear successors to the respective kings. The portraits are marked by an emphasis on brighter hues, dark backgrounds, extravagant head dress, fashionably wide dresses and these court portraits culminates in his 1556 Las Meninas, which includes an older maternal Mariana, and center-stage her daughter, the Infanta Margarita Teresa. Based on the description of a portrait sent to Ferdinand in Vienna, Marianas mother Maria was Philip IVs sister. Maria had been betrothed to Baltasar Carlos, Philips son and her cousin, then over forty years old, Philip sought Mariana, his niece, then fourteen. Velázquez accepted the commission during his 1649–50 stay in Italy, Ferdinand requested a portrait of his daughter, Mariana did not meet Philip before their marriage, and when they did meet they had little in common. She was then thirteen years, described by art historian Rose-Marie Hagen as a ruddy-cheeked, when Philip died in 1665 she became regent for her son Charles II, the last of the Spanish Habsburgs. Margarita had a life, and her bid to provide Charles with an heir included a number of false hopes and miscarriages. Her surviving children were portrayed by Velázquez – most famously her first, the Infanta Margaret Theresa who he painted a number of times. Margarita Teresa was later portrayed in a pose to the current work, complete with wide haircut and dress. Velázquez painted a number of portraits of Mariana after Philips death and they emphasise her loss and the effect of widowhood. Although most of his portraits of Mariana are dour or mournful in tone, in life she was vivacious, portrait of Mariana of Austria is bathed in harmonious shades of white, black and red, although the dramatically drawn curtain has been painted over by another hand. Its material and colour is similar to the table behind her. This table and clock are likely intended to represent her courtly duties as Queen consort, the picture is the only known full length portrait of Mariana
9.
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
10.
Las Meninas
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Las Meninas is a 1656 painting in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, by Diego Velázquez, the leading artist of the Spanish Golden Age. Its complex and enigmatic composition raises questions about reality and illusion, because of these complexities, Las Meninas has been one of the most widely analyzed works in Western painting. Some look out of the canvas towards the viewer, while others interact among themselves, the young Infanta Margaret Theresa is surrounded by her entourage of maids of honour, chaperone, bodyguard, two dwarfs and a dog. Just behind them, Velázquez portrays himself working at a large canvas, Velázquez looks outwards, beyond the pictorial space to where a viewer of the painting would stand. In the background there is a mirror that reflects the upper bodies of the king, Las Meninas has long been recognised as one of the most important paintings in Western art history. In 17th-century Spain, painters rarely enjoyed high social status, Painting was regarded as a craft, not an art such as poetry or music. Nonetheless, Velázquez worked his way up through the ranks of the court of Philip IV, the post brought him status and material reward, but its duties made heavy demands on his time. During the remaining eight years of his life, he painted only a few works, when he painted Las Meninas, he had been with the royal household for 33 years. Philip IVs first wife, Elizabeth of France, died in 1644, lacking an heir, Philip married Mariana of Austria in 1649, and Margaret Theresa was their first child, and their only one at the time of the painting. Subsequently, she had a short-lived brother Philip Prospero, and then Charles arrived, Velázquez painted portraits of Mariana and her children, and although Philip himself resisted being portrayed in his old age he did allow Velázquez to include him in Las Meninas. In the early 1650s he gave Velázquez the Pieza Principal of the late Balthasar Charless living quarters, by serving as the palace museum. It is here that Las Meninas is set, Philip had his own chair in the studio and would often sit and watch Velázquez at work. Although constrained by rigid etiquette, the king seems to have had an unusually close relationship with the painter. After Velázquezs death, Philip wrote I am crushed in the margin of a memorandum on the choice of his successor, during the 1640s and 1650s, Velázquez served as both court painter and curator of Philip IVs expanding collection of European art. He seems to have given an unusual degree of freedom in the role. He supervised the decoration and interior design of the holding the most valued paintings, adding mirrors. He was also responsible for the sourcing, attribution, hanging, by the early 1650s, Velázquez was widely respected in Spain as a connoisseur. Much of the collection of the Prado today—including works by Titian, Raphael, the painting was referred to in the earliest inventories as La Familia
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