1.
Italy
–
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
2.
Mannerism
–
Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, lasting until about 1580 in Italy, when the Baroque style began to replace it. Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century, stylistically, Mannerism encompasses a variety of approaches influenced by, and reacting to, the harmonious ideals associated with artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and early Michelangelo. Where High Renaissance art emphasizes proportion, balance, and ideal beauty, Mannerism exaggerates such qualities, Mannerism is notable for its intellectual sophistication as well as its artificial qualities. Mannerism favors compositional tension and instability rather than the balance and clarity of earlier Renaissance painting, Mannerism in literature and music is notable for its highly florid style and intellectual sophistication. The definition of Mannerism and the phases within it continue to be a subject of debate among art historians, for example, some scholars have applied the label to certain early modern forms of literature and music of the 16th and 17th centuries. The term is used to refer to some late Gothic painters working in northern Europe from about 1500 to 1530. Mannerism also has been applied by analogy to the Silver Age of Latin literature, the word mannerism derives from the Italian maniera, meaning style or manner. Like the English word style, maniera can either indicate a type of style or indicate an absolute that needs no qualification. Vasari was also a Mannerist artist, and he described the period in which he worked as la maniera moderna, james V. Mirollo describes how bella maniera poets attempted to surpass in virtuosity the sonnets of Petrarch. This notion of bella maniera suggests that artists thus inspired looked to copying and bettering their predecessors, in essence, bella maniera utilized the best from a number of source materials, synthesizing it into something new. As a stylistic label, Mannerism is not easily defined, “High Renaissance” connoted a period distinguished by harmony, grandeur and the revival of classical antiquity. The term Mannerist was redefined in 1967 by John Shearman following the exhibition of Mannerist paintings organised by Fritz Grossmann at Manchester City Art Gallery in 1965. The label “Mannerism” was used during the 16th century to comment on social behaviour, however, for later writers, such as the 17th-century Gian Pietro Bellori, la maniera was a derogatory term for the perceived decline of art after Raphael, especially in the 1530s and 1540s. From the late 19th century on, art historians have used the term to describe art that follows Renaissance classicism. By the end of the High Renaissance, young artists experienced a crisis, no more difficulties, technical or otherwise, remained to be solved. The young artists needed to find a new goal, and they sought new approaches, at this point Mannerism started to emerge. The new style developed between 1510 and 1520 either in Florence, or in Rome, or in both cities simultaneously and this period has been described as a natural extension of the art of Andrea del Sarto, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Michelangelo from an early age had developed a style of his own, one of the qualities most admired by his contemporaries was his terribilità, a sense of awe-inspiring grandeur, and subsequent artists attempted to imitate it
3.
Caravaggio
–
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian painter active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1592 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, in scarcely a year or so’s sojourn in Naples, he rapidly established himself once more as the most prominent painter, exploiting high-ranking connections. It was not long before these connections gave him an opening to travel on in 1607 to Malta, governed by the Order of Knights Hospitallers, Caravaggio probably hoped that the Knights would provide a channel whereby he could obtain a pardon from the Papacy. Once more his talents made an instant impression, along with the support of noble patrons and his hopes dashed, he contrived to escape and flee once, which before the end of 1608 led to his cancellation from the rolls of the Order. He made for Syracuse in Sicily, where he was received as a guest by a friend from his Roman days, the painter’s face was disfigured and rumours started to circulate of his death. Various commentators have formulated opinions about his state from works supposedly executed at this period. In fact, Caravaggio’s end is shrouded in mystery, mystery that is rendered only denser by conflicting hypotheses, some speak of a natural death from a persistent fever, others of an assassination by emissaries of the Knights of Malta. The loss of the paintings put the deal and his future in doubt, there is evidence that dogged by a serious fever, he was tended by a local religious confraternity near Porto Ercole, then in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, but succumbed. His death was certified by them as taking place on 18 July 1610, if the story to this point is exact, it is likely he was buried in a paupers’ common grave. As to the place, though this continues to be contested. Famous while he lived, Caravaggio was forgotten almost immediately after his death, despite this, his influence on the new Baroque style that eventually emerged from the ruins of Mannerism was profound. The 20th-century art historian André Berne-Joffroy claimed, What begins in the work of Caravaggio is, quite simply, modern painting. Caravaggio was born in Milan where his father, Fermo, was an administrator and architect-decorator to the Marchese of Caravaggio. His mother, Lucia Aratori, came from a family of the same district. In 1576 the family moved to Caravaggio to escape a plague which ravaged Milan, Caravaggios mother died in 1584, the same year he began his four-year apprenticeship to the Milanese painter Simone Peterzano, described in the contract of apprenticeship as a pupil of Titian. Following his initial training under Simone Peterzano, in 1592 Caravaggio left Milan for Rome, in flight after certain quarrels, in Rome, where there was a demand for paintings to fill the many huge new churches and palazzos being built at the time. It was also a period when the Church was searching for an alternative to Mannerism in religious art that was tasked to counter the threat of Protestantism. Caravaggios innovation was a radical naturalism that combined close observation with a dramatic, even theatrical
4.
Fabriano
–
Fabriano is a town and comune of Ancona province in the Italian region of the Marche, at 325 metres above sea level. It lies in the Esino valley 44 kilometres upstream and southwest of Jesi and its location on the main highway and rail line from Umbria to the Adriatic make it a mid-sized regional center in the Apennines. Fabriano is the headquarters of the giant appliance maker Indesit, Fabriano, with Bologna, is the only Italian creative city. The town is in the category Folk Arts, Fabriano appears to have been founded in the early Middle Ages by the inhabitants of a small Roman town 5 kilometres south at Attiggio, of which some slight remains and inscriptions are extant. Fabrianos wealth and commitment to the arts in the late medieval period have left it with many monuments. Fabriano Cathedral, dedicated to San Venanzio, from the Baroque restoration are the stucco decoration of the interior and the canvasses by Gregorio Preti, Salvator Rosa, Giovanni Francesco Guerrieri, Giuseppe Puglia and Orazio Gentileschi. To the original Cathedral belong the polygonal apse, the cloister, also important are the frescoes with Stories of the True Cross by the Folignate painter Giovanni di Corraduccio. Nicholas Santa Maria del Piangato St Benedict Oratory of the Gonfalone Palazzo del Podestà built in stone from Vallemontagnana. It has a bridge structure, a memory of the stream which once flowed under it. The central arcade has frescoes from the 13th-14th centuries portraying warriors, sturinalto Fountain, designed by Jacopo di Grondolo, who was inspired by the Fontana Maggiore in Perugia. It was the residence of the Chiavelli family, lords of the city until 1435, in the courtyard is a lapidarium with fragments of buildings of the ancient Roman cities of Attidium, Tuficum and Sentinum. Pinacoteca Civica Bruno Malajoli displayed in the former Hospital - The hospital was first built in 1456, the art collection of the Pinacoteca were moved here in 1994. Loggiato of St. Saint John dal Bastone 12th-century Silvestrine monk, jessica Rizzo, an actress and businesswoman. Fabriano official website Museo della Carta Fabriano Storica - history, art, culture, legend, curiosity Bill Thayers site Made in Fabriano Academy
5.
Genoa
–
Genoa is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015,594,733 people lived within the administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of Genoa, over 1.5 million people live in the wider metropolitan area stretching along the Italian Riviera. Genoa has been nicknamed la Superba due to its glorious past, part of the old town of Genoa was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2006. The citys rich history in notably its art, music. It is the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, Niccolò Paganini, Giuseppe Mazzini, Genoa, which forms the southern corner of the Milan-Turin-Genoa industrial triangle of north-west Italy, is one of the countrys major economic centres. The city has hosted massive shipyards and steelworks since the 19th century, the Bank of Saint George, founded in 1407, is among the oldest in the world and has played an important role in the citys prosperity since the middle of the 15th century. Today a number of leading Italian companies are based in the city, including Fincantieri, Selex ES, Ansaldo Energia, Ansaldo STS, Edoardo Raffinerie Garrone, Piaggio Aerospace, the Genoa area has been inhabited since the fifth or fourth millennium BC. In ancient times this area was frequented and inhabited by Ligures, Phoenicians, Phocaeans, Greeks, and Etruscans. The city cemetery, dating from the 6th and 5th centuries BC, testifies to the occupation of the site by the Greeks, but the fine harbour probably saw use much earlier, perhaps by the Etruscans. In the 5th century BC was founded the first oppidum at the foot of the today called the Castle Hill which now is inside the medieval old town. The ancient Ligurian city was known as Stalia, so referred to by Artemidorus Ephesius and Pomponius Mela, Ligurian Stalia was overshadowed by the powerful Marseille and Vada Sabatia, near modern Savona. Stalia had an alliance with Rome through a foedus aequum in the course of the Second Punic War, the Carthaginians accordingly destroyed it in 209 BC. The town was rebuilt and, after the Carthaginian Wars ended in 146 BC. it received municipal rights, the original castrum thenceforth expanded towards the current areas of Santa Maria di Castello and the San Lorenzo promontory. Trades included skins, wood, and honey, goods were shipped to the mainland, up to major cities like Tortona and Piacenza. Among the archeological remains from the Roman period, an amphitheatre was also found, another theory traces the name to the Etruscan word Kainua which means New City and still another from the Latin word ianua, related to the name of the God Janus, meaning door or passage. The latter is in reference to its position at the centre of the Ligurian coastal arch. The Latin name, oppidum Genua, is recorded by Pliny the Elder as part of the Augustean Regio IX Liguria, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Ostrogoths occupied Genoa
6.
Marie de' Medici
–
Marie de Medici was Queen of France as the second wife of King Henry IV of France, of the House of Bourbon. She was a member of the wealthy and powerful House of Medici, following the assassination of her husband in 1610, which occurred the day after her coronation, she acted as regent for her son, King Louis XIII of France, until he came of age. She was noted for her ceaseless political intrigues at the French court and she was born as Maria at the Palazzo Pitti of Florence, Italy, the sixth daughter of Francesco I de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Archduchess Joanna of Austria. Marie was one of seven children, but only she and her sister Eleonora survived to adulthood, Marie is not a male-line descendant of Lorenzo the Magnificent but from Lorenzo the Elder, a branch of the Medici family sometimes referred to as the cadet branch. She does descend from Lorenzo in the female-line however, through his daughter Lucrezia de Medici, nonetheless this cadet branch produced every Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1537 to 1737, and the kings of France from Louis XIII in 1601 to Louis XVI in 1793. This cadet branch is already 700 years old, beginning with Averardo de Medici in 1320 and flourishes to this day with Louis Alphonse and her daughter, Henrietta Maria was queen consort of England, Scotland, and Ireland as the wife of King Charles I. Henrietta Maria, in turn, was mother of two successors, Charles II and James II. Lorenzo the Magnificents line instead became extinct shortly after the death of Lorenzo in 1492, at the time of his death the Medici Bank was already in bankruptcy. A portrait of Marie as a girl shows her with regular features. Her wavy hair was light brown in colour, and she had honey-brown eyes, the painter was from the school of Santi di Tito. She married Henry IV of France in October 1600 following the annulment of his marriage to Margaret of Valois. The wedding ceremony in Florence, Italy was celebrated with 4,000 guests and lavish entertainments, including examples of the newly invented musical genre of opera and she brought as part of her dowry 600,000 crowns. Her eldest son, the future King Louis XIII, was born at Fontainebleau the following year and her husband was almost 47 at the marriage and had a long succession of mistresses. Dynastic considerations required him to take a second wife, the marriage was successful in producing children, but it was not a happy one. The queen feuded with Henrys mistresses in language that shocked French courtiers, when he failed to do so, and instead married Marie, the result was constant bickering and political intrigues behind the scenes. Catherine referred to Maria as the fat bankers daughter, Henry used Maria for breeding purposes exactly as Henry II had treated Catherine de Medici, although the king could have easily banished his mistress, supporting his queen, he never did so. She, in turn, showed sympathy and support to her husbands banished ex-wife Marguerite de Valois. Marie was crowned Queen of France on 13 May 1610, a day before her husbands death, hours after Henrys assassination, she was confirmed as regent by the Parliament of Paris
7.
Charles I of England
–
Charles I was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles was the son of King James VI of Scotland, but after his father inherited the English throne in 1603, he moved to England. He became heir apparent to the English, Irish, and Scottish thrones on the death of his brother, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. Two years later, he married the Bourbon princess Henrietta Maria of France instead, after his succession, Charles quarrelled with the Parliament of England, which sought to curb his royal prerogative. Charles believed in the right of kings and thought he could govern according to his own conscience. Many of his subjects opposed his policies, in particular the levying of taxes without parliamentary consent and he supported high church ecclesiastics, such as Richard Montagu and William Laud, and failed to aid Protestant forces successfully during the Thirty Years War. From 1642, Charles fought the armies of the English and Scottish parliaments in the English Civil War, after his defeat in 1645, he surrendered to a Scottish force that eventually handed him over to the English Parliament. Charles refused to accept his captors demands for a constitutional monarchy, re-imprisoned on the Isle of Wight, Charles forged an alliance with Scotland, but by the end of 1648 Oliver Cromwells New Model Army had consolidated its control over England. Charles was tried, convicted, and executed for treason in January 1649. The monarchy was abolished and a called the Commonwealth of England was declared. The monarchy was restored to Charless son, Charles II, in 1660, the second son of King James VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark, Charles was born in Dunfermline Palace, Fife, on 19 November 1600. James VI was the first cousin twice removed of Queen Elizabeth I of England, in mid-July 1604, Charles left Dunfermline for England where he was to spend most of the rest of his life. His speech development was slow, and he retained a stammer, or hesitant speech. In January 1605, Charles was created Duke of York, as is customary in the case of the English sovereigns second son, Thomas Murray, a Presbyterian Scot, was appointed as a tutor. Charles learnt the usual subjects of classics, languages, mathematics, in 1611, he was made a Knight of the Garter. Eventually, Charles apparently conquered his physical infirmity, which might have been caused by rickets and he became an adept horseman and marksman, and took up fencing. Even so, his public profile remained low in contrast to that of his stronger and taller elder brother, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. However, in early November 1612, Henry died at the age of 18 of what is suspected to have been typhoid, Charles, who turned 12 two weeks later, became heir apparent
8.
Artemisia Gentileschi
–
Artemisia Gentileschi was an Italian Baroque painter, today considered one of the most accomplished painters in the generation following that of Caravaggio. In an era when women painters were not easily accepted by the community or patrons. She painted many pictures of strong and suffering women from myth and her best-known work is Judith Slaying Holofernes, which shows the decapitation of Holofernes, a scene of horrific struggle and blood-letting. That she was a painting in the seventeenth century and that she was raped and participated in the prosecution of the rapist long overshadowed her achievements as an artist. For many years she was regarded as a curiosity, today she is regarded as one of the most progressive and expressive painters of her generation. Artemisia was introduced to painting in her fathers workshop, showing much more talent than her brothers and she learned drawing, how to mix color, and how to paint. Since her fathers style took inspiration from Caravaggio during that period and her approach to subject matter was different from her fathers, however, as her paintings are highly naturalistic, where Orazios are idealized. At the same time, Artemisia had to resist the traditional attitude and psychological submission to this brainwashing, by doing so, she gained great respect and recognition for her work. The first work of the young seventeen-year-old Artemisia was the Susanna e i Vecchioni, at the time some, influenced by the prevailing misconceptions, suspected that she was helped by her father. The painting shows how Artemisia assimilated the realism of Caravaggio without being indifferent to the language of the Bologna school and it is one of the few paintings on the theme of Susanna showing the sexual accosting by the two Elders as a traumatic event. During this tutelage, Tassi raped Artemisia, another man, Cosimo Quorlis, was also involved. After the rape, Artemisia continued to have relations with Tassi, with the expectation that they were going to be married and with the hope to restore her dignity. Tassi reneged on his promise to marry Artemisia, nine months after the rape, when he learnt that Artemisia and Tassi were not going to be married, Orazio pressed charges against Tassi. Orazio also claimed that Tassi stole a painting of Judith from the Gentileschi household, the major issue of this trial was the fact that Tassi had taken Artemisias virginity. If Artemisia had not been a virgin before Tassi raped her, during the ensuing seven-month trial, it was discovered that Tassi had planned to murder his wife, had engaged in adultery with his sister-in-law, and planned to steal some of Orazio’s paintings. During the trial, Artemisia was subjected to a gynecological examination, at the end of the trial Tassi was sentenced to imprisonment for one year, although he never served the time. The trial influenced the feminist view of Artemisia Gentileschi during the twentieth century. Artemisia was surrounded mainly by the presence of males since the loss of her mother at age 12, when Artemisia was 17, Orazio rented the upstairs apartment of their home to a female tenant, Tuzia
9.
Pisa
–
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its tower, the city of over 90,834 residents contains more than 20 other historic churches, several medieval palaces. Much of the architecture was financed from its history as one of the Italian maritime republics. The origin of the name, Pisa, is a mystery, while the origin of the city had remained unknown for centuries, the Pelasgi, the Greeks, the Etruscans, and the Ligurians had variously been proposed as founders of the city. Archaeological remains from the 5th century BC confirmed the existence of a city at the sea, trading with Greeks, the presence of an Etruscan necropolis, discovered during excavations in the Arena Garibaldi in 1991, confirmed its Etruscan origins. Ancient Roman authors referred to Pisa as an old city, strabo referred Pisas origins to the mythical Nestor, king of Pylos, after the fall of Troy. Virgil, in his Aeneid, states that Pisa was already a center by the times described. The Virgilian commentator Servius wrote that the Teuti, or Pelops, the maritime role of Pisa should have been already prominent if the ancient authorities ascribed to it the invention of the naval ram. Pisa took advantage of being the port along the western coast from Genoa to Ostia. Pisa served as a base for Roman naval expeditions against Ligurians, Gauls, in 180 BC, it became a Roman colony under Roman law, as Portus Pisanus. In 89 BC, Portus Pisanus became a municipium, Emperor Augustus fortified the colony into an important port and changed the name in Colonia Iulia obsequens. It is supposed that Pisa was founded on the shore, however, due to the alluvial sediments from the Arno and the Serchio, whose mouth lies about 11 kilometres north of the Arnos, the shore moved west. Strabo states that the city was 4.0 kilometres away from the coast, currently, it is located 9.7 kilometres from the coast. However it was a city, with ships sailing up the Arno. In the 90s AD, a complex was built in the city. During the later years of the Roman Empire, Pisa did not decline as much as the cities of Italy, probably thanks to the complexity of its river system. After Charlemagne had defeated the Lombards under the command of Desiderius in 774, Pisa went through a crisis, politically it became part of the duchy of Lucca
10.
Agostino Tassi
–
Agostino Tassi was an Italian painter, mostly of landscapes and seascapes, who is now best known as the rapist of Artemisia Gentileschi. Because he aspired to nobility he modified the details of his early life, though he was born in Perugia he claimed to have been born in Rome. His family name was Buonamici, but Agostino adopted the surname Tassi to give substance to his story that he was adopted by the Marchese Tassi and he was actually the son of a furrier named Domenico. Tassi may have worked for a time in Livorno, as well as in Florence, among his followers or pupils in Livorno is thought to be Pietro Ciafferi. During his sojourn in Florence it is believed that was he was made a slave in the Grand Dukes convict galleys for some unspecified crime. However, he was allowed to move freely on the ship instead of pulling on an oar. More importantly, he was able to paint and draw on the galley, and was provided with ample material from which to execute his seascapes and images of ports, ships. Regarding his artistic formation, Tassi is said to have been a pupil of Paul Bril and he later worked in Rome with Orazio Gentileschi, who painted figures, after being commissioned by Pope Paul V. In Rome, Tassi also served as the master of French painter Claude Lorrain, Tassi hired Lorrain to grind his colors and to do all of the household work. Though better known as a painter of frescoes, Tassi also painted some canvases and his depictions of night scenes had a certain influence on the Dutch Leonaert Bramer. In 1612, Tassi was convicted of raping Artemisia Gentileschi, Orazio Gentileschis daughter, Tassi originally denied the accusation, stating, Never have I had carnal relations nor tried to have it with the said Artemisia. Ive never been alone in Artemisias house with her and he afterwards claimed that he had visited her house in order to safeguard her honor. Tassi had already run afoul of the law, and had earlier accused of raping both his sister-in-law and one of his wives. His wife had been missing for a time, and it was believed that Tassi had hired bandits to kill her. In the ensuing 7-month rape trial, it was discovered that Tassi had planned to murder his wife, had committed incest with his sister-in-law, at the end of the trial Tassi was imprisoned for two years. His verdict was annulled and he was at liberty in 1613. The trial has subsequently influenced the feminist view of Artemisia Gentileschi during the late 20th century, in the 1997 film Artemisia, directed by Agnès Merlet and starring Valentina Cervi, the role of Tassi is played by Serbian actor Miki Manojlovic. The movie, contrary to accepted historical knowledge, depicts the relationship between Agostino Tassi and Artemisia Gentileschi as one of mutual passion
11.
Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi
–
The Palazzo Pallavicini-Rospigliosi is a palace in Rome, Italy. Its first inhabitant was the art collector Cardinal Scipione Borghese, the nephew of Pope Paul V. The palace and garden of the Pallavicini-Rospigliosi were the product of the sites and were designed by Giorgio Vasanzio. Scipione owned this site for less than a decade, 1610–16, the Roman palace of this name should not be mistaken for the panoramic Villa Pallavicino on the shores of Lake Como in Lombardy. The palaces main attraction, beside the art gallery, is the Casino dellAurora, the casino was designed by Vasanzio is located overlooking the Piazza del Quirinale. On the walls are four frescoes of the Seasons by Paul Bril and its ceiling displays what is considered the Bolognese painter Guido Renis fresco masterpiece, commonly called LAurora. It is surrounded by a frame or quadro riportato and depicts Apollo in his Chariot preceded by Dawn bringing light to the world. The incorporated heraldic symbols were meant to link Scipione with Apollo, the work is classically restrained and mimics poses from ancient Roman sarcophagi, many of which are part of the museums collection. The chariot procession, which recalls the Annibale Carracci paintings in the Farnese Gallery in the Farnese Palace, the pergolata is decorated by Paul Bril. The architect Vasanzio succeeded in achieving a balance between the architectural structure and the lavish decoration of the façade. It is characterised by slabs from Roman sarcophagi of the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, which recount ancient mythological tales linked to the subject of love-death and the immortality of the soul. Later the site was sold to Giovanni Angelo Altemps for the sum of 115,000 scudi with the Reni Aurora fresco valued at 200 scudi and it was then sold to the Bentivoglio family, followeed by the Lante family, and then to Cardinal G. Mazarini. It is during the ownership by these families and individuals that the building of the palace took its final shape. The palace served as the French embassy in Rome prior before it moved to its more spacious current accommodation at the Palazzo Farnese. In 1704, the became a property of the Rospigliosi-Pallavicini family, who still own it. The casino is rented out for meetings, the art gallery, the Galleria Pallavicini, was begun by Cardinal Lazzaro Pallavicini, and includes more than 540 paintings, designs and sculptures. Aside from the collections of the Doria-Pamphili and Colonna families, this is the largest private collection in Rome, the rooms are frescoed by Paul Brill, and a loggia in a garden is decorated with frescoes by Orazio Gentileschi and Agostino Tassi. Among the paintings remain in the collection, following some sales and losses in previous centuries, are works by artists such as
12.
Quirinal Palace
–
It is located on the Quirinal Hill, the highest of the seven hills of Rome. It has housed thirty Popes, four Kings of Italy and twelve presidents of the Italian Republic, the palace extends for an area of 110,500 square metres and is the ninth-largest palace in the world in terms of area. By way of comparison, the White House in the United States is one-twentieth of its size, the current site of the palace has been in use since Roman times, as excavations in the gardens testify. On this hill, the Romans built temples to several deities, from Flora to Quirinus, during the reign of Constantine the last complex of Roman baths was built here, as the statues of the twins Castor and Pollux taming the horses decorating the fountain in the square testify. The Quirinal, being the highest hill in Rome, was sought after and became a popular spot for the Roman patricians. An example of those are the remains of a villa in the Quirinal gardens, the palace, located on the Via del Quirinale and facing onto the Piazza del Quirinale, was built in 1583 by Pope Gregory XIII as a papal summer residence. On the site, there was already a small villa owned by the Carafa family, the pope commissioned the architect Ottaviano Mascherino to build a palace with porticoed parallel wings and an internal court. To the latter, a tower was added according to a project by Carlo Maderno. Pope Paul V commissioned the completion of the work on the building of the palace. The Palace was also used as the location for papal conclaves in 1823,1829,1831 and it served as a papal residence and housed the central offices responsible for the civil government of the Papal States until 1870. In September 1870, what was left of the Papal States was overthrown, about five months later, in 1871, Rome became the capital of the new Kingdom of Italy. The monarchy was abolished in 1946 and the Palace became the residence and workplace for the Presidents of the Italian Republic. Still, some declined the Colle residence and kept their usual Roman residence, for example, the façade was designed by Domenico Fontana. Its Great Chapel was designed by Carlo Maderno and it contains frescos by Guido Reni, but the most famous fresco is the Blessing Christ by Melozzo da Forlì, placed over the stairs. Its grounds include a set of gardens laid out in the 17th century. The palace, in its totality has 1,200 rooms, within the Quirinals gardens lies the famous water organ built between 1997 and 1999 by Barthélemy Formentelli based on the characteristics of the previous nineteenth century organ. The organ is fed by a waterfall with a jump of 18 meters and has a keyboard of 41 notes with a first short octave. Overall, the Quirinals gardens measure a 4 hectares, under the gardens, through a trap door one can reach the archaeological excavations that have unearthed the remains of the original temple to the god Quirinus and some insulae of the imperial age
13.
Giovanni Lanfranco
–
Giovanni Lanfranco was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Giovanni Gaspare Lanfranco was born in Parma, the son of Stefano and Cornelia Lanfranchi. Lanfranco is considered to have contributed to the panel of Polyphemus and Galatea, afterwards, while still technically a member of the Carracci studio of Carracci, Lanfranco, along with Guido Reni and Francesco Albani, frescoed the Herrera Chapel in San Giacomo degli Spagnoli. He also participated in the decoration of San Gregorio Magno. The camerino had been constructed by Cardinal Odoardo Farnese, next to his palace and gardens, of the canvases and frescoes by Domenichino, Girolamo Pulzone, Paul Bril, and Lanfranco, some are conserved in the new church. Among other works, Lanfranco contributed to series, the eccentric Translation of the Magdalen. After the death of Annibale Carracci in 1609, and with the Emilian school of painting out of favor. There, he met Bartolomeo Schedoni and painted the altarpiece for the Ognissanti church, Lanfranco also produced paintings and altarpieces in Orvieto, Vallerano, Leonessa and Fermo. After his return to Rome by 1612, Lanfranco and competed with other Carracci students and assistants—including Reni, Albani, Reni, however, was soon to depart for Naples and then Bologna. During the following decades in Rome, through the 1620s, Lanfranco, unlike Domenichino, Lanfranco was fairly eclectic in terms of style but preferred a visionary, theatrical approach suitable for the ceiling paintings gaining currency in the early 17th century. His Annunciation in San Carlo ai Catinari in regarded as one of his best works, soon, Lanfranco became the pre-eminent painter of circle of Pope Paul V. He painted frescoes for the Palazzo Costaguti and a ceiling fresco in quadratura at the Villa Borghese. In the following year, Lanfranco together with Agostino Tassi and Carlo Saraceni decorated the Sala de Corazzieri and his formal Presentation at the Temple has the sunlit Carraci-like style. In 1622, he painted the Ectasy of Saint Margaret of Cortona as an altarpiece for Santa Maria Nuova in Cortona, the painting could well have inspired the pose in Berninis famous St Theresa in ecstasy. In 1623-1624, he decorated the Sacchetti Chapel in San Giovanni dei Fiorentini in Rome, while Paul Vs successor, Gregory XV, preferred works by Guercino and Domenichino, Lanfranco won commissions for the Crucifix Chapel in Santa Maria in Vallicella. Lanfrancos crowning masterpiece, however, and one of the major church fresco decoration of the late 1620s, was his Assumption of the Virgin frescoed on the dome of SantAndrea della Valle. Completed in 1627 in sotto in su perspective, the array of figures is a landmark in Baroque painting with bright golden coloration. Lanfranco was influenced by Correggios pioneering decoration of the Duomo di Parma, urban VIII commissioned him a large fresco portraying St. Peter Walking on Waters, for which Lanfranco gained the title of Knight of the Order of Christ
14.
Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
–
The Basilica is located at 34 Piazza dellEsquilino, some five blocks southwest of Stazione Termini. Pursuant to the Lateran Treaty of 1929 between the Holy See and Italy, the Basilica is within Italian territory and not the territory of the Vatican City State and they prayed that she might make known to them how they were to dispose of their property in her honour. On 5 August, at the height of the Roman summer, in obedience to a vision of the Virgin Mary which they had the same night, the couple built a basilica in honour of Mary on the very spot which was covered with snow. From the fact that no mention whatever is made of this alleged miracle until a few hundred years later and it would seem that the legend has no historical basis. The legend is first reported only after AD1000 and it may be implied in what the Liber Pontificalis, of the early 13th century, says of Pope Liberius, He built the basilica of his own name near the Macellum of Livia. Its prevalence in the 15th century is shown in the painting of the Miracle of the Snow by Masolino da Panicale. The feast was originally called Dedicatio Sanctae Mariae, and was celebrated only in Rome until inserted for the first time into the General Roman Calendar, with ad Nives added to its name, in 1568. A congregation appointed by Pope Benedict XIV in 1741 proposed that the reading of the legend be struck from the Office, no action was taken on the proposal until 1969, when the reading of the legend was removed and the feast was called In dedicatione Basilicae S. Mariae. The legend is commemorated by dropping white rose petals from the dome during the celebration of the Mass. The earliest building on the site was the Liberian Basilica or Santa Maria Liberiana, Liberiana is still included in some versions of the basilicas formal name, and Liberian Basilica may be used as a contemporary as well as historical name. This building was replaced under Pope Sixtus III by the present structure dedicated to Mary. No Catholic church can be honoured with the title of basilica unless by apostolic grant or from immemorial custom, St. Mary Major is one of the only four that hold the title of major basilica. The other three are the Basilicas of St. John in the Lateran, St. Peters, along with all of the other four Major Basilicas, St. Mary Major is also styled a Papal basilica. St. Mary Major was associated with the Patriarchate of Antioch, Philip Neri on 25 February 1552. It is agreed that the present church was built under Pope Sixtus III, the dedicatory inscription on the triumphal arch, Sixtus Episcopus plebi Dei, is an indication of that Popes role in the construction. The church retains the core of its structure, despite several additional construction projects. Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the first churches built in honour of the Virgin Mary, was erected in the aftermath of the Council of Ephesus of 431. Pope Sixtus III built it to commemorate this decision and these fines enabled the papacy to carry out through the 5th century an ambitious building program, including Santa Maria Maggiore
15.
San Nicola in Carcere
–
San Nicola in Carcere is a titular church in Rome near the Forum Boarium in rione SantAngelo. It is one of the stational churches of Lent. The inscriptions found in S. Angelo, a valuable source illustrating the history of the Basilica, have collected and published by Vincenzo Forcella. It was constructed in and from the ruins of the Forum Holitorium and its temples, however, the in Carcere part of the name of the church was only changed to in Carcere Tulliano in the 14th century, owing to an erroneous identification. The prison was really that of Byzantine times, the columns of the Temple of Janus, dedicated by Gaius Duilius after his naval victory at the Battle of Mylae in 260 BC, can still be seen as being incorporated into the wall of the church. The dedication to St Nicholas was made by the Greek population in the area, in the 11th century, it was known as the church of Petrus Leonis, referring to the converted Jewish family, the Pierleoni, who rebuilt the nearby Theatre of Marcellus as a fortress. One of their members, Pietro Pierleone, was an important cardinal in the 1120s and was elected Pope Anacletus II, the church was rebuilt in 1599, with a new facade by Giacomo della Porta. Stairs under the lead to the crypt and to the base of the former Roman temples. Beneath the high altar is also an ancient basalt bath tub containing martyrs relics, franco Astolfi, I templi di San Nicola in Carcere. Giovanni Battista Proja, San Nicola in Carcere, Vincenzo Golzio, San Nicola in Carcere e i tre templi del Foro Olitorio. Spherical panorama of the church interior Underground ruins
16.
Santa Maria della Pace
–
Santa Maria della Pace is a church in Rome, central Italy, not far from Piazza Navona. The building lies in rione Ponte, the current building was built on the foundations of the pre-existing church of SantAndrea de Aquarizariis in 1482, commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV. The church was rededicated to the Virgin Mary to remember a miraculous bleeding of a Madonna image there in 1480, the author of the original design is not known, though Baccio Pontelli has been proposed. The church presses forward almost to fill its tiny piazza, several houses had to be demolished by Pietro da Cortona to create even this miniature trapezoidal space. The monumental effect of the plasticity of forms, spatial layering, the inscription around the porch architrave is taken from Psalm 72, SUSCIPIANT MONTES PACEM POPULO ET COLLES IUSTITIAM. This reference to the mountains of the coat of arms of the Chigi family, oak leaf motifs, another Chigi family emblem, can also be found on the facade. On the upper facade, Cortona had the curved travertine panels cut to make grained matching patterns, through the tall central window, the circular window of the Quattrocento church facade is visible. The Church of Santa Maria della Pace was designated as a titulus for a Cardinal-Priest on 13 April 1587 by Pope Sixtus V. The holders of the title were, The interior, which can be reached from the original door, has a short nave with cruciform vaulting. Cortona articulated the interior of the dome with octagonal coffering and a series of radiating from the lantern. This is an example of combining these two forms of dome decoration and was employed by Gianlorenzo Bernini in his later churches at Ariccia. Carlo Maderno designed the altar to enframe the venerable icon of the Madonna. Raphael began to fresco the Four Sibyls receiving angelic instruction above the arch of the Chigi Chapel, commissioned by Agostino Chigi, the Deposition over the altar is by Cosimo Fancelli. The first chapel on the left has noteworthy Renaissance frescoes by Baldassarre Peruzzi, the second chapel has marble taken from the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. The tribune has paintings by Carlo Maratta, Peruzzi, Orazio Gentileschi, Francesco Albani, a main feature of the church and monastery complex is the Bramante cloister. Built in 1500-1504 for Cardinal Oliviero Carafa, it was the first work of Donato Bramante in the city, mariano Armellini, Le chiese di Roma dalle loro origini sino al secolo XIX, pp. 433-434. Nunzia Di Girolamo, Santa Maria della Pace, saggio monografico, Pietro da Cortona urbanistic plan of Santa Maria della Pace Roman Catholic Marian churches
17.
Archbasilica of St. John Lateran
–
It is the oldest of and has precedence among the four papal major basilicas, all of which are in Rome, because it is the oldest church in the West and houses the cathedra of the Roman Pontiff. It has the title of ecumenical mother church of the Roman Catholic faithful, the current archpriest is Agostino Vallini, Cardinal Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome. The archbasilica stands over the remains of the Castra Nova equitum singularium, the fort was established by Septimius Severus in AD193. Following the victory of Emperor Constantine I over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, the guard was abolished, substantial remains of the fort lie directly beneath the nave. The remainder of the site was occupied during the early Roman Empire by the palace of the gens Laterani, sextius Lateranus was the first plebeian to attain the rank of consul, and the Laterani served as administrators for several emperors. One of the Laterani, Consul-designate Plautius Lateranus, became famous for being accused by Nero of conspiracy against the Emperor, the accusation resulted in the confiscation and redistribution of his properties. The Lateran Palace fell into the hands of the Emperor when Constantine I married his second wife Fausta, known by that time as the Domus Faustae or House of Fausta, the Lateran Palace was eventually given to the Bishop of Rome by Constantine I. The palace basilica was converted and extended, becoming the residence of Pope St. Silvester I, eventually becoming the Cathedral of Rome, Pope Sylvester I presided over the official dedication of the archbasilica and the adjacent Lateran Palace in 324, declaring both to be a Domus Dei. The papal cathedra was placed in its interior, rendering it the cathedral of the Pope qua Bishop of Rome, the archbasilica and Lateran Palace were re-dedicated twice. Pope Sergius III dedicated them to St. John the Baptist in the 10th century in honor of the newly consecrated baptistry of the archbasilica, Pope Lucius II dedicated them to St. John the Evangelist in the 12th century. Consequently, the archbasilica remains dedicated to the Savior, and its titular feast is the Feast of the Transfiguration, the archbasilica became the most important shrine of the two St. Johns, albeit infrequently jointly venerated. In later years, a Benedictine monastery was established in the Lateran Palace, and was devoted to serving the archbasilica, the Lateran Palace has also been the site of five ecumenical councils. During the time the papacy was seated in Avignon, France, the Lateran Palace, two fires ravaged them in 1307 and 1361. After both fires the pope sent money from Avignon to pay for their reconstruction and maintenance, nonetheless, the archbasilica and Lateran Palace lost their former splendor. When the papacy returned from Avignon and the pope again resided in Rome, the archbasilica, the popes resided at the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere and later at the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. Eventually, the Palace of the Vatican was built adjacent to the Basilica of St. Peter, which existed since the time of Emperor Constantine I, and it has remained the official residence of the pope. The original Lateran Palace was demolished and replaced with a new edifice, on the square in front of the Lateran Palace is the largest standing obelisk in the world, known as the Lateran Obelisk. It weighs an estimated 455 tons and it was commissioned by the Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III and erected by Thutmose IV before the great Karnak temple of Thebes, Egypt
18.
Giovanni Baglione
–
Giovanni Baglione was an Italian Late Mannerist and Early Baroque painter and art historian. He was born and died in Rome, but from his own account came from a family of Perugia. A pupil of the obscure Florentine artist working in Rome, Francesco Morelli, he worked mainly in Rome, to Rudolf Wittkower, his style vacillated between progressive trends, without absorbing them fully. He spent 1621–1622 in Mantua as the court artist of Duke Ferdinando Gonzaga, otherwise he remained in Rome, where he was long successful in attracting commissions from the Papal court and aristocracy. His paintings have been described by the art historian Steven F, the quality of his work declined sharply in the 1630s, by which time he was in his late sixties. He was a member of the Accademia from 1593 until his death, apart from the regular later title of first historian of the Roman Baroque, in his lifetime he was also nicknamed Il Sordo del Barozzo as he suffered from deafness. He died in Rome on 30 December 1643 at the age of 77 and he published two books, The nine churches of Rome, and The Lives of Painters, Sculptors, Architects and Engravers, active from 1572–1642. The latter is seen as an important historical source for artists living in Rome during the lifetime of Baglione. It marks a watershed in the literature of Rome-the turning point between the older tradition of devotional guidebooks. and the modern tradition of artistic guides. His biographies cover over two hundred artists in various media, all of whom had worked in Rome and were dead by the time he published. He carefully notes information about the status and progress of his subjects. He recorded all signs of status, including houses, dress, collections, permission to wear a sword, splendid funerals. Running throughout Le vite, in words, is an abiding concern with the honor of the profession-with the elevated status. As far as possible, his descriptions of works concentrated on those accessible to the public, bagliones best known painting, Sacred Love and Profane Love, was a direct response to Caravaggios Amor Vincit Omnia. Bagliones painting exists in two versions, the earlier in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin and the later in the Galleria Nazionale dArte Antica at Palazzo Barberini in Rome. Both show Sacred Love as a winged figure interrupting a meeting between Cupid, shown as in the Caravaggio as a smaller and naked winged figure. In the later Rome version the devil is portrayed with the features of Caravaggio. What in the two brothers was probably a family joke reflected serious rivalry between the artists concerned
19.
Defamation
–
Under common law, to constitute defamation, a claim must generally be false and must have been made to someone other than the person defamed. Some common law jurisdictions also distinguish between spoken defamation, called slander, and defamation in other such as printed words or images. False light laws protect against statements which are not technically false, in some civil law jurisdictions, defamation is treated as a crime rather than a civil wrong. A person who defames another may be called a defamer, libeler, slanderer, or, rarely, the common law origins of defamation lie in the torts of slander, each of which gives a common law right of action. Defamation is the term used internationally, and is used in this article where it is not necessary to distinguish between slander and libel. Libel and slander both require publication, the fundamental distinction between libel and slander lies solely in the form in which the defamatory matter is published. If the offending material is published in some fleeting form, as by words or sounds, sign language, gestures or the like. Libel is defined as defamation by written or printed words, pictures, the law of libel originated in the 17th century in England. With the growth of publication came the growth of libel and development of the tort of libel, an early example of libel is the case of John Peter Zenger in 1735. Zenger was hired to publish New York Weekly Journal, when he printed another mans article that criticized William Cosby, who was then British Royal Governor of Colonial New York, Zenger was accused of Seditious Libel. Another example of libel is the case of New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, there are several ways a person must go about proving that libel has taken place. For example, in the United States, the person must prove that the statement was false, caused harm and these steps are for an ordinary citizen. Many nations have criminal penalties for defamation in some situations, there can be regional statutes that may differ from the national norm. For example, in the United States, defamation is generally limited to the living, however, there are nine states that have criminal statutes regarding defamation of the dead. Early cases of criminal defamation Questions of group libel have been appearing in law for hundreds of years. One of the earliest known cases of a defendant being tried for defamation of a group was the case of Rex v. Orme and Nutt. In this case, the found that the defendant was guilty of libeling several subjects. Since the jury was unable to identify the people who were being defamed
20.
Ottavio Leoni
–
Ottavio Leoni was an Italian painter and printmaker of the early-Baroque, active mainly in Rome. Ottavio Leoni, draughtsman and engraver was in his day the most fashionable portraitist in Rome and he has long since been almost entirely forgotten. Only The Most painstaking histories of engraving even mention his name, * He was born in Rome, where he first trained with his father, Lodovico Leoni. He became a member, and later president, of the Accademia di San Luca, ottavio Leoni was also the engraver of a set of portraits of painters. His portrait of Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio is the only documented portrait of the painter by another artist, the Print Collectors Quarterly/Vol 6, NO4. Houghton Mifflin Company,4 Park Street, Boston, ralph Nicholson Wornum, ed. Biographical catalogue of the principal Italian painters. Woodfall & Kinder, Angel Court, Skinner Street, London, walter Armstrong & Robert Edmund Graves, ed. 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
21.
Ancona
–
Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of c.101,997 as of 2015. Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region, the city is located 280 km northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic Sea, between the slopes of the two extremities of the promontory of Monte Conero, Monte Astagno and Monte Guasco. Ancona is one of the ports on the Adriatic Sea, especially for passenger traffic. Greek merchants established a Tyrian purple dye factory here, in Roman times it kept its own coinage with the punning device of the bent arm holding a palm branch, and the head of Aphrodite on the reverse, and continued the use of the Greek language. When it became a Roman colony is uncertain and it was occupied as a naval station in the Illyrian War of 178 BC. Julius Caesar took possession of it immediately after crossing the Rubicon and its harbour was of considerable importance in imperial times, as the nearest to Dalmatia, and was enlarged by Trajan, who constructed the north quay with his Syrian architect Apollodorus of Damascus. At the beginning of it stands the marble triumphal arch with a single archway, Ancona was successively attacked by the Goths, Lombards and Saracens between the 3rd and 5th centuries, but recovered its strength and importance. It was one of the cities of the Pentapolis of the Roman Exarchate of Ravenna in the 7th and 8th centuries, in 840, Saracen raiders sacked and burned the city. After Charlemagnes conquest of northern Italy, it became the capital of the Marca di Ancona, after 1000, Ancona became increasingly independent, eventually turning into an important maritime republic, often clashing against the nearby power of Venice. An oligarchic republic, Ancona was ruled by six Elders, elected by the three terzieri into which the city was divided, S. Pietro, Porto and Capodimonte. It had a coin of its own, the agontano, Ancona was usually allied with Ragusa and the Byzantine Empire. In 1137,1167 and 1174 it was enough to push back the forces of the Holy Roman Empire. Anconitan ships took part in the Crusades, and their navigators included Cyriac of Ancona, in the struggle between the Popes and the Holy Roman Emperors that troubled Italy from the 12th century onwards, Ancona sided with the Guelphs. Differently from other cities of northern Italy, Ancona never became a seignory, the sole exception was the rule of the Malatesta, who took the city in 1348 taking advantage of the black death and of a fire that had destroyed many of its important buildings. The Malatesta were ousted in 1383, in 1532 it definitively lost its freedom and became part of the Papal States, under Pope Clement VII. Symbol of the authority was the massive Citadel. Together with Rome, and Avignon in southern France, Ancona was the city in the Papal States in which the Jews were allowed to stay after 1569. The southern quay was built in 1880, and the harbour was protected by forts on the heights, from 1797 onwards, when the French took it, it frequently appears in history as an important fortress
22.
Sampierdarena
–
Sampierdarena is a major port and industrial area of Genoa, in northwest Italy. With San Teodoro it forms the West Central municipio, Sampierdarena lies on the coast about 4 kilometres west of the centre of Genoa. In 2000 the population was 67,741, Sampierdarena was an ancient fishing village, named after the church of San Pietro dArena. During the Renaissance it became an area, with great palaces being built such as the Palazzo Spinola. After the coming of the railways it became one of the industrial centres of Italy. Ansaldo & C. was one of the companies of the area involved in shipbuilding and armaments. In 1926 the comune of Sampierdarena was absorbed by Greater Genoa, becoming in 1969 a delegazione, historically the area was dominated by heavy industry such as shipbuilding. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. Lighthouse of Genoa Media related to Sampierdarena at Wikimedia Commons
23.
Paris
–
Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
24.
Luxembourg Palace
–
The Luxembourg Palace is located at 15 rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It was originally built to the designs of the French architect Salomon de Brosse to be the residence of the regent Marie de Medici. After the Revolution it was refashioned by Jean Chalgrin into a legislative building, since 1958 it has been the seat of the French Senate of the Fifth Republic. Immediately west of the palace on the rue de Vaugirard is the Petit Luxembourg, now the residence of the Senate President, and slightly further west, the Musée du Luxembourg, in the former orangery. On the south side of the palace, the formal Luxembourg Garden presents a 25-hectare green parterre of gravel and lawn populated with statues, after the death of Henry IV in 1610, his widow, Marie de Médicis, became regent to her son, Louis XIII. Marie de Médicis desired to make a similar to her native Florences Palazzo Pitti. Marie de Médicis bought the Hôtel de Luxembourg and its fairly extensive domain in 1612 and commissioned the new building, the suites of paintings she commissioned, in the subjects of which she expressed her requirements through her agents and advisers, are scattered among museums. Marie de Médicis installed her household in 1625, while work on interiors continued, the apartments in the right wing on the western side were reserved for the Queen and the matching suite to the east, for her son, Louis XIII, when he was visiting. The 24 Marie de Medici cycle canvases, a series commissioned from Peter Paul Rubens, were installed in the Galerie de Rubens on the floor of the western wing. A series of paintings executed for her Cabinet doré was identified by Anthony Blunt in 1967, Louis XIII commissioned further decorations for the Palace from Nicolas Poussin and Philippe de Champaigne. In 1642, Marie bequeathed the Luxembourg to her second and favourite son, Gaston, duc dOrléans, who called it the Palais dOrléans, but by popular will it was still known by its original name. Upon Gastons death, the passed to his widow, Marguerite de Lorraine, then to his elder daughter by his first marriage, Anne, duchesse de Montpensier. In 1660, Anne de Montpensier sold the Luxembourg to her younger half-sister, Élisabeth Marguerite dOrléans, duchesse de Guise who, in turn, gave it to her cousin, King Louis XIV, in 1694. In 1715, the became the residence of Marie Louise Elisabeth dOrleans. The widowed Duchess was notoriously promiscuous, having the reputation of a French Messalina, the Luxembourg palace and its gardens thus became stages where the radiantly beautiful princess acted out her ambitions, enthroned like a queen surrounded by her court. According to various songs which scurrilously evoked her amours the Lady of the Luxembourg hid several pregnancies. Her taste for strong liquors and her sheer gluttony also scandalised the court, on 21 May 1717, Madame de Berry received Peter the Great at the Luxembourg. On 28 February 1718, the Duchess of Berry threw a magnificent party for her visiting aunt, the entire palace and its gardens were elaborately illuminated
25.
Louvre
–
The Louvre or the Louvre Museum is the worlds largest museum and a historic monument in Paris, France. A central landmark of the city, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the citys 1st arrondissement, approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are exhibited over an area of 72,735 square metres. The Louvre is the second most visited museum after the Palace Museum in China. The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built as a fortress in the late 12th century under Philip II, remnants of the fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. Due to the expansion of the city, the fortress eventually lost its defensive function and. The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace, in 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years, during the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum to display the nations masterpieces. The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801. The collection was increased under Napoleon and the museum renamed Musée Napoléon, the collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and bequests since the Third Republic, whether this was the first building on that spot is not known, it is possible that Philip modified an existing tower. According to the authoritative Grand Larousse encyclopédique, the name derives from an association with wolf hunting den, in the 7th century, St. Fare, an abbess in Meaux, left part of her Villa called Luvra situated in the region of Paris to a monastery. This territory probably did not correspond exactly to the modern site, the Louvre Palace was altered frequently throughout the Middle Ages. In the 14th century, Charles V converted the building into a residence and in 1546, Francis acquired what would become the nucleus of the Louvres holdings, his acquisitions including Leonardo da Vincis Mona Lisa. After Louis XIV chose Versailles as his residence in 1682, constructions slowed, however, on 14 October 1750, Louis XV agreed and sanctioned a display of 96 pieces from the royal collection, mounted in the Galerie royale de peinture of the Luxembourg Palace. Under Louis XVI, the museum idea became policy. The comte dAngiviller broadened the collection and in 1776 proposed conversion of the Grande Galerie of the Louvre – which contained maps – into the French Museum, many proposals were offered for the Louvres renovation into a museum, however, none was agreed on. Hence the museum remained incomplete until the French Revolution, during the French Revolution the Louvre was transformed into a public museum. In May 1791, the Assembly declared that the Louvre would be a place for bringing together monuments of all the sciences, on 10 August 1792, Louis XVI was imprisoned and the royal collection in the Louvre became national property
26.
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
–
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, KG, was an English courtier, statesman, and patron of the arts. He was a favourite—and a lover—of King James I, George Villiers was born in Brooksby, Leicestershire, on 28 August 1592, the son of the minor gentleman Sir George Villiers. His mother Mary, daughter of Anthony Beaumont of Glenfield, Leicestershire, was left an early and educated him for a courtiers life. Villiers took very well to the set by his mother, he could dance and fence well, spoke a little French. Bishop Godfrey Goodman declared Villiers to be the man in all of England, his limbs so well compacted, and his conversation so pleasing. In August 1614 at age twenty-one, Villiers caught the eye of James I at a hunt in Apethorpe, opponents of the kings favourite Robert Carr saw an opportunity to usurp the Earl of Somerset and began promoting Villiers. Money was raised to purchase Villiers a new wardrobe, and intense lobbying secured his appointment as Royal Cupbearer, a position that allowed him to make conversation with the king. Villiers began to appear as a dancer in masques from 1615, in which he could exhibit his grace of movement and beauty of body, under the kings patronage Villiers advanced rapidly through the ranks of the nobility, and his court appointments grew in importance. In 1615 he was knighted as a Gentleman of the Bedchamber, in 1616, when he was made Master of the Kings Horses, he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Whaddon, Viscount Villiers, and made a Knight of the Garter. The next year he was made Earl and in 1618 promoted Marquess of Buckingham, Villiers new rank allowed him to dance side by side with the royal heir Charles I, with whom his friendship developed through his tutoring of the prince in dance. Villiers was appointed Lord Admiral of the Fleet in 1619, since reductions in the peerage had taken place during the Tudor period, Buckingham was now the highest-ranking subject outside the royal family. The personal relationships of James are much debated, with Villiers the last in a succession of handsome young favourites the king lavished with affection, contemporaneous evidence is interpreted by some to suggest that Villiers was James lover. Edward Peyton wrote, the king sold his affections to Sir George Villiers, Jamess nickname for Buckingham was Steenie, after St. Stephen who was said to have had the face of an angel. I wish to speak in my own behalf and not to have it thought to be a defect, for Jesus Christ did the same, Christ had John, and I have George. In a letter to Buckingham in 1623, the King ends with, God bless you, my child and wife. Restoration of Apethorpe Palace in 2004–8 revealed a previously unknown passage linking his bedchamber with that of James, until James I died in 1625, Buckingham was the kings constant companion and closest advisor, enjoying control of all royal patronage. Buckingham used his influence to enrich his relatives and advance their social positions. In his rise to power, Buckingham became connected with the philosopher, Bacon wrote letters of advice to the young favourite and drafted the patent of nobility when Buckingham ascended to the peerage
27.
Strand, London
–
Strand is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster, Central London. The roads name comes from the Old English strond, meaning the edge of a river, the street was popular with the British upper classes between the 12th and 17th centuries, with many historically important mansions being built between the Strand and the river. These included Essex House, Arundel House, Somerset House, Savoy Palace, Durham House, the aristocracy moved to the West End over the 17th century, following which the Strand became well known for coffee shops, restaurants and taverns. The street was a point for theatre and music hall during the 19th century. At the east end of the street are two churches, St Mary le Strand and St Clement Danes. Several authors, poets and philosophers have lived on or near the Strand, including Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson, the street has been commemorated in the song Lets All Go Down the Strand, now recognised as a typical piece of Cockney music hall. The street is the link between the two cities of Westminster and London. It runs eastward from Trafalgar Square, parallel to the River Thames, traffic travelling eastbound follows a short crescent around Aldwych, connected at both ends to the Strand. The road marks the boundary of the Covent Garden district. The name was first recorded in 1002 as strondway, then in 1185 as Stronde and it is formed from the Old English word strond, meaning the edge of a river. Initially it referred to the bank of the once much wider Thames. The name was applied to the road itself. In the 13th century it was known as Densemanestret or street of the Danes, Strand Bridge was the name given to Waterloo Bridge during its construction, it was renamed for its official opening on the second anniversary of the coalition victory in the Battle of Waterloo. London Bus routes 6,23,139 and 176 all run along the Strand, as do numerous night bus services. During Roman Britain, what is now the Strand was part of the route to Silchester, known as Iter VIII on the Antonine Itinerary, and it was briefly part of a trading town called Lundenwic that developed around 600 AD, and stretched from Trafalgar Square to Aldwych. Alfred the Great gradually moved the settlement into the old Roman town of Londinium from around 886 AD onwards, leaving no mark of the old town, and the area returned to fields. In the Middle Ages, the Strand became the route between the separate settlements of the City of London and the royal Palace of Westminster. The landmark Eleanors Cross was built in the 13th century at the end of the Strand at Charing Cross by Edward I commemorating his wife Eleanor of Castile
28.
Henrietta Maria
–
Henrietta Maria of France was queen consort of England, Scotland, and Ireland as the wife of King Charles I. She was mother of his two successors, Charles II and James II. Her Roman Catholicism made her unpopular in England, and also prohibited her from being crowned in an Anglican service, the execution of King Charles in 1649 left her impoverished. She settled in Paris, and then returned to England after the Restoration of her eldest son, Charles, in 1665, she moved back to Paris, where she died four years later. The North American Province of Maryland was named in her honour, Henrietta Maria was the youngest daughter of King Henry IV of France and his second wife, Marie de Medici. She was born at the Palais du Louvre on 25 November 1609, in England, where the Julian calendar was still in use, her date of birth is often recorded as 16 November. Henrietta Maria was brought up as a Catholic, as daughter of the Bourbon king of France, she was a Fille de France and a member of the House of Bourbon. She was the youngest sister of the future King Louis XIII of France and her father was assassinated on 14 May 1610, in Paris, before she was a year old. Henrietta was trained, along with her sisters, in riding, dancing, and singing, although tutored in reading and writing, she was not known for her academic skills, the princess was heavily influenced by the Carmelites at French court. By 1622, Henrietta was living in Paris with a household of some 200 staff, Henrietta Maria and Charles I of England were married on 13 June 1625, during a brief period in which Englands pro-Spanish policy was replaced by a pro-French policy. After an initial period, she and Charles formed an extremely close partnership. Henrietta never fully assimilated herself into English society, she did not speak English before her marriage, Charles was outraged, and upon returning to England in October, he and Buckingham demanded that King James declare war on Spain. Searching elsewhere for a bride, Charles looked to France instead, the English agent Kensington was sent to Paris in 1624 to examine the potential French match, and the marriage was finally negotiated in Paris by James Hay and Henry Rich. Henrietta was aged just 15 at the time of her marriage, views on Henriettas appearance vary, her husbands niece, Sophia of Hanover commented that the. Her arms were long and lean, her shoulders uneven, and she did, however, have pretty eyes, nose, and a good complexion. Henrietta married Charles by proxy on 11 May 1625, shortly after his accession to the throne and they were then married in person at St. Henrietta was allowed to watch Charles being crowned, at a discreet distance. Henrietta had strong Catholic beliefs, which would influence her time as queen. Charles liked to call Henrietta Maria simply Maria, with the English people calling her Queen Mary, in due course, Henrietta would unsuccessfully try to convert her Calvinist nephew Prince Rupert during his stay in England
29.
Queen's House
–
Queens House is a former royal residence built between 1616 and 1635 in Greenwich, then a few miles down-river from London and now a district of the city. Its architect was Inigo Jones, for whom it was an early commission, for Anne of Denmark. Queens House is one of the most important buildings in British architectural history and it was Joness first major commission after returning from his 1613–1615 grand tour of Roman, Renaissance, and Palladian architecture in Italy. Furthermore, the form of buildings was not informed by an understanding of classical precedents. Queens House would have appeared revolutionary to English eyes in its day, today the building is both a Grade I listed building and a scheduled ancient monument, a status that includes the 115-foot-wide, axial vista to the River Thames. The house now part of the National Maritime Museum and is used to display parts of their substantial collection of maritime paintings. It was used as a VIP centre during the 2012 Olympic Games, the Queens House is located in Greenwich, London. Construction of the began in 1616 but work on the house stopped in April 1618 when Anne became ill. Work restarted when the house was given to the queen consort Henrietta Maria in 1629 by King Charles I, and the house was structurally complete by 1635. However, the Houses original use was short – no more than seven years – before the English Civil War began in 1642, of its interiors, three ceilings and some wall decorations survive in part, but no interior remains in its original state. This process began as early as 1662, when masons removed a niche and term figures and this is now called the Old Royal Naval College, after its later use from 1873 to 1998. From 1806 the House itself was the centre of what, from 1892 and this necessitated new accommodation wings, and a flanking pair to east and west were added and connected to the House by colonnades from 1807, with further surviving extensions up to 1876. In 1933 the school moved to Holbrook, Suffolk and its Greenwich buildings, including the House, were converted and restored to become the new National Maritime Museum, created by Act of Parliament in 1934 and opened in 1937. The grounds immediately to the north of the House were reinstated in the late 1870s following construction of the tunnel between Greenwich and Maze Hill stations. The tunnel comprised the continuation of the London and Greenwich Railway, the House underwent a 14-month restoration beginning in 2015, and reopened on October 11,2016. One controversial feature was a new ceiling in the hall created by artist Richard Wright. The House was further restored between 1986 and 1999, with contemporary insertions that modernised the building and it is now largely used to display the Museums substantial collection of marine paintings and portraits of the 17th to 20th centuries, and for other public and private events. It is normally open to the daily, free of charge, along with the other museum galleries and the 17th-century Royal Observatory, Greenwich
30.
Greenwich
–
Greenwich is an early-established district of todays London, England, centred 5.5 miles east south-east of Charing Cross. The town lends its name to the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Greenwich is generally described as being part of South-east London and sometimes as being part of East London. Greenwich is notable for its history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian. The town became the site of a palace, the Palace of Placentia from the 15th century. The palace fell into disrepair during the English Civil War and was rebuilt as the Royal Naval Hospital for Sailors by Sir Christopher Wren and his assistant Nicholas Hawksmoor. These buildings became the Royal Naval College in 1873, and they remained an establishment for military education until 1998 when they passed into the hands of the Greenwich Foundation. The historic rooms within these buildings remain open to the public, other buildings are used by University of Greenwich and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. The town became a resort in the 18th century and many grand houses were built there, such as Vanbrugh Castle established on Maze Hill. From the Georgian period estates of houses were constructed above the town centre, Greenwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created. The place-name Greenwich is first attested in a Saxon charter of 918 and it is recorded as Grenewic in 964, and as Grenawic in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 1013. It is Grenviz in the Domesday Book of 1086, and Grenewych in the Taxatio Ecclesiastica of 1291, the name means green wic or settlement. An article in The Times of 13 October 1967 stated, East Greenwich, gateway to the Blackwall Tunnel, remains solidly working class, the manpower for one eighth of Londons heavy industry. West Greenwich is a hybrid, the spirit of Nelson, the Cutty Sark, the Maritime Museum, an industrial waterfront and a number of elegant houses, ripe for development. Royal charters granted to English colonists in North America, often used the name of the manor of East Greenwich for describing the tenure as that of free socage, New England charters provided that the grantees should hold their lands as of his Majesty’s manor of East Greenwich. Grants named the castle of Windsor, places in North America that have taken the name East Greenwich include a township in Gloucester County, New Jersey, a hamlet in Washington County, New York, and a town in Kent County, Rhode Island. Tumuli to the south-west of Flamsteed House, in Greenwich Park, are thought to be early Bronze Age barrows re-used by the Saxons in the 6th century as burial grounds, to the east between the Vanbrugh and Maze Hill Gates is the site of a Roman villa or temple. A small area of red paving tesserae protected by railings marks the spot and it was excavated in 1902 and 300 coins were found dating from the emperors Claudius and Honorius to the 5th century. This was excavated by the Channel 4 television programme Time Team in 1999, broadcast in 2000, the Roman road from London to Dover, Watling Street crossed the high ground to the south of Greenwich, through Blackheath
31.
Marlborough House
–
It was built for Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, the favourite and confidante of Queen Anne. For over a century it served as the London residence of the Dukes of Marlborough, the Duchess wanted her new house to be strong, plain and convenient and good. The architect Christopher Wren and his son of the name designed a brick building with rusticated stone quoins that was completed in 1711. The house was taken up by the Crown in 1817, Marlborough House was primarily used by members of the Royal Family, especially dowager queens and by Prince Albert Edward of Wales and his wife Alexandra. Queen Adelaide, widow of William IV, was given the use of Marlborough House from 1831 until her death in 1849. From 1853 to 1861 Prince Albert, the consort of Queen Victoria, arranged for the building to be used by the National Art Training School, later the Royal College of Art. From 1861-1863, the building was enlarged to designs by Sir James Pennethorne, who added a range of rooms on the north side. This was done for the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, and his wife the Princess of Wales, Alexandra of Denmark, after Edward VII died in 1910, Alexandra reverted to Marlborough House as her London home, until her death in 1925. A late Art Nouveau-Gothic memorial fountain by Alfred Gilbert in the Marlborough Road wall of the house commemorates her, in 1936 Marlborough House became the London residence of their sons widow, Queen Mary. Mary survived George by 17 years, in the grounds of the house remains her pet cemetery. A thatch-roofed rotating summer house built for her still is in place, a plaque to commemorate Queen Mary was unveiled by the Queen in 1967 in the exterior wall closest to the corner with the Mall. The nearly cubical saloon retains wall-paintings by Louis Laguerre of the Battle of Blenheim, a cupola inserted in the ceiling is surrounded by paintings by Orazio Gentileschi for the Queens House, Greenwich,1636. There are paired staircases flanking the saloon, with further battle pieces by Laguerre, most of the interiors have been altered. Marlborough House is usually open to the public for Open House Weekend each September, the house is also open for group tours by prior arrangement. Visiting Information at The Commonwealth Secretariat Virtual tour Flickr images tagged Marlborough House
32.
Anthony van Dyck
–
Sir Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England, after enjoying great success in Italy and Flanders. He also painted biblical and mythological subjects, displayed outstanding facility as a draughtsman, the Van Dyke beard is named after him. Antoon van Dyck was born to parents in Antwerp. By the age of fifteen he was already an accomplished artist, as his Self-portrait, 1613–14. He was admitted to the Antwerp painters Guild of Saint Luke as a master by February 1618. His influence on the young artist was immense, Rubens referred to the nineteen-year-old van Dyck as the best of my pupils. At the same time the dominance of Rubens in the small and declining city of Antwerp probably explains why, despite his periodic returns to the city, van Dyck spent most of his career abroad. In 1620, at the instigation of George Villiers, Marquess of Buckingham, van Dyck went to England for the first time where he worked for King James I of England, receiving £100. After about four months he returned to Flanders, but moved on in late 1621 to Italy and he was already presenting himself as a figure of consequence, annoying the rather bohemian Northern artists colony in Rome, says Giovan Pietro Bellori, by appearing with the pomp of Zeuxis. He was mostly based in Genoa, although he travelled extensively to other cities. In 1627, he went back to Antwerp where he remained for five years, a life-size group portrait of twenty-four City Councillors of Brussels he painted for the council-chamber was destroyed in 1695. He was evidently very charming to his patrons, and, like Rubens, well able to mix in aristocratic and court circles, by 1630 he was described as the court painter of the Habsburg Governor of Flanders, the Archduchess Isabella. In this period he produced many religious works, including large altarpieces. King Charles I was the most passionate and generous collector of art among the British monarchs, and saw art as a way of promoting his elevated view of the monarchy. In 1628, he bought the collection that the Gonzagas of Mantua were forced to dispose of. In 1626, he was able to persuade Orazio Gentileschi to settle in England, later to be joined by his daughter Artemisia and some of his sons. Rubens was a target, who eventually came on a diplomatic mission, which included painting, in 1630. He was very well-treated during his visit, during which he was knighted
33.
Somerset House
–
Somerset House is a large Neoclassical building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The building, originally the site of a Tudor palace, was designed by Sir William Chambers in 1776, the East Wing forms part of the adjacent Strand campus of Kings College London. In the sixteenth century, the Strand, the bank of the Thames between the City of London and the Palace of Westminster was a favoured site for the mansions of the nobility. In 1539 Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford, obtained a grant of land at Chester Place, outside Temple Bar, when his nephew the boy-king Edward VI came to the throne in 1547, Seymour became Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector. Pauls Cathedral which were demolished partly at his behest as part of the ongoing Dissolution of the Monasteries and it was a two storey house built around a quadrangle with a gateway rising to three stories and was one of the earliest examples of Renaissance architecture in England. It is not known who designed the building, before it was finished, however, Somerset was overthrown, attainted by Parliament and in 1552 was executed on Tower Hill. Somerset Place then came into the possession of the Crown and his royal nephews half-sister the future Queen Elizabeth I lived there during the reign of her half-sister Queen Mary I. The process of completion and improvement was slow and costly, as late as 1598 Stow refers to it as yet unfinished. In the 17th century, the house was used as a residence by queens consort, during the reign of King James I, the building became the London residence of his wife, Anne of Denmark, and was renamed Denmark House. She commissioned a number of additions and improvements, some to designs by Inigo Jones. In particular, during the period between 1630 and 1635 he built a Chapel where Henrietta Maria of France, wife of King Charles I and this was in the care of the Capuchin Order and was on a site to the south-west of the Great Court. A small cemetery was attached and some of the tombstones are still to be built into one of the walls of a passage under the present quadrangle. Royal occupation of Somerset House was interrupted by the English Civil War and they failed to find a buyer, though a sale of the contents realised the very considerable sum of £118,000. Use was still found for it however, part of it served as an Army headquarters, General Fairfax being given official quarters there, lodgings were also provided for certain other Parliamentary notables. It was in Somerset House that Oliver Cromwells body lay in state after his death in 1658, however she returned to France in 1665 before it was finished. It was then used as a residence by Catherine of Braganza. During her time it received a certain notoriety as being, in the popular mind, Somerset House was refurbished by Sir Christopher Wren in 1685. After the Glorious Revolution in 1688, Somerset House entered on a period of decline, being used for grace
34.
International Standard Book Number
–
The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
35.
Judith Slaying Holofernes (Artemisia Gentileschi)
–
Judith Slaying Holofernes is a painting by the Italian early Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi completed between 1614–20. The subject takes an episode from the apocryphal Book of Judith in the Old Testament, the painting shows the moment when Judith, helped by her maidservant, beheads the general after he has fallen asleep drunk. The painting is relentlessly physical, from the wide spurts of blood to the energy of the two women as they perform the act. Although the painting depicts a scene from the Bible, Gentileschi drew herself as Judith and her mentor Agostino Tassi. Gentileschi painted two versions of this piece, the first is at the Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte in Naples, Gentileschi painted another piece, Judith and her Maidservant, which shows Judith holding a dagger while her maidservant carries a basket containing a severed head. Judith and her Maidservant, is displayed in the Palazzo Pitti, Judith beheading Holofernes has been depicted by a number of artists including Giorgione, Titian, Rembrandt, Peter Paul Rubens and Caravaggio. Caravaggios Judith Beheading Holofernes is believed to be the source of this work. In both there is an absence of decorative detail in the background. Gentileschis father was a painter, he was also very much influenced by Caravaggios style
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
_-_WGA08586.jpg)
.jpg)
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gentileschi, Artemisia and Orazio de'". Encyclopædia Britannica. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 602.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "