1.
National Gallery
–
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the century to 1900. The Gallery is a charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media. Its collection belongs to the public of the United Kingdom and entry to the collection is free of charge. It is among the most visited art museums in the world, after the Musée du Louvre, the British Museum, unlike comparable museums in continental Europe, the National Gallery was not formed by nationalising an existing royal or princely art collection. It came into being when the British government bought 38 paintings from the heirs of John Julius Angerstein, after that initial purchase the Gallery was shaped mainly by its early directors, notably Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, and by private donations, which comprise two-thirds of the collection. It used to be claimed that this was one of the few national galleries that had all its works on permanent exhibition, the present building, the third to house the National Gallery, was designed by William Wilkins from 1832 to 1838. Only the façade onto Trafalgar Square remains essentially unchanged from this time, wilkinss building was often criticised for the perceived weaknesses of its design and for its lack of space, the latter problem led to the establishment of the Tate Gallery for British art in 1897. The Sainsbury Wing, an extension to the west by Robert Venturi, the current Director of the National Gallery is Gabriele Finaldi. The late 18th century saw the nationalisation of royal or princely art collections across mainland Europe, great Britain, however, did not emulate the continental model, and the British Royal Collection remains in the sovereigns possession today. In 1777 the British government had the opportunity to buy an art collection of international stature, the MP John Wilkes argued for the government to buy this invaluable treasure and suggested that it be housed in a noble gallery. The twenty-five paintings from that now in the Gallery, including NG1, have arrived by a variety of routes. This offer was declined and Bourgeois bequeathed the collection to his old school, Dulwich College, the collection opened in Britains first purpose-built public gallery, the Dulwich Picture Gallery, in 1814. The British Institution, founded in 1805 by a group of aristocratic connoisseurs, the members lent works to exhibitions that changed annually, while an art school was held in the summer months. However, as the paintings that were lent were often mediocre, some resented the Institution. One of the Institutions founding members, Sir George Beaumont, Bt, in 1823 another major art collection came on the market, which had been assembled by the recently deceased John Julius Angerstein. Angerstein was a Russian-born émigré banker based in London, his collection numbered 38 paintings, including works by Raphael, on 1 July 1823 George Agar Ellis, a Whig politician, proposed to the House of Commons that it purchase the collection. The appeal was given added impetus by Beaumonts offer, which came with two conditions, that the government buy Angersteins collection, and that a building was to be found
2.
Flemish painting
–
Flemish painting flourished from the early 15th century until the 17th century. These painters were invited to work at foreign courts and had a Europe-wide influence, since the end of the Napoleonic era, Flemish painters had again been contributing to a reputation that had been set by the Old Masters. The Franco-Flemish School of musical composition flourished at the same time, the so-called Flemish Primitives were the first to popularize the use of oil paint. Their art has its origins in the painting of the late Gothic period. Chief among them were Jan van Eyck, Hans Memling, Hugo van der Goes, Robert Campin, the court of the Duchy of Burgundy was an important source of patronage. From the early 16th century, the Italian Renaissance started to influence the Flemish painters, the result was very different from the typical Italian Renaissance painting. The leading artist was Pieter Brueghel the Elder, who avoided direct Italian influence, after the Siege of Antwerp, the Southern Provinces of the Netherlands remained under Spanish rule and were separated from the independent Dutch Republic. Following the deaths of major artists like Rubens in 1640 and the end of the Eighty Years War in 1648, a revival of painting in this region came in the advent of the Belgian Revolution of 1830 and work around that time is often considered Flemish. The painters, who flourished in the aftermath of this period, are usually referred to as Belgian rather than Flemish. That kingdom comprising Flanders, often influences also more recent artistss categorization, new York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Moderne Vlaamse schilderkunst van 1850 tot 1950 van Leys tot Permeke, cS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list Liedtke, Walter A. Flemish paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
3.
Early Netherlandish painting
–
Their work follows the International Gothic style and begins approximately with Robert Campin and Jan van Eyck in the early 1420s. It lasts at least until the death of Gerard David in 1523, the major Netherlandish painters include Campin, van Eyck, Rogier van der Weyden, Dieric Bouts, Petrus Christus, Hans Memling, Hugo van der Goes and Hieronymus Bosch. These artists made significant advances in natural representation and illusionism, and their subjects are usually religious scenes or small portraits, with narrative painting or mythological subjects being relatively rare. Landscape is often richly described but relegated as a background detail before the early 16th century, the painted works are generally oil on panel, either as single works or more complex portable or fixed altarpieces in the form of diptychs, triptychs or polyptychs. The period is noted for its sculpture, tapestries, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass. Assisted by the system, panels and a variety of crafts were sold to foreign princes or merchants through private engagement or market stalls. A majority were destroyed during waves of iconoclasm in the 16th and 17th centuries, Early northern art in general was not well regarded from the early 17th to the mid-19th century, and the painters and their works were not well documented until the mid-19th century. Art historians spent almost another century determining attributions, studying iconography, attribution of some of the most significant works is still debated. These artists became a driving force behind the Northern Renaissance. In this political and art-historical context, the north follows the Burgundian lands which straddled areas that encompass parts of modern France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlandish artists have been known by a variety of terms. Late Gothic is a designation which emphasises continuity with the art of the Middle Ages. In the early 20th century, the artists were variously referred to in English as the Ghent-Bruges school or the Old Netherlandish school. In this context, primitive does not refer to a lack of sophistication. When the Burgundian dukes established centres of power in the Netherlands, in the 19th century the Early Netherlandish artists were classified by nationality, with Jan van Eyck identified as German and van der Weyden as French. Scholars were at times preoccupied as to whether the schools genesis was in France or Germany, in the 14th century, as Gothic art gave way to the International Gothic era, a number of schools developed in northern Europe. Early Netherlandish art originated in French courtly art, and is tied to the tradition. Modern art historians see the era as beginning with 14th-century manuscript illuminators and this patronage continued in the low countries with the Burgundian dukes, Philip the Good and his son Charles the Bold. The demand for illuminated manuscripts declined towards the end of the century, following van Eycks innovations, the first generation of Netherlandish painters emphasised light and shadow, elements usually absent from 14th-century illuminated manuscripts
4.
Notname
–
In art history, a notname is an invented name given to an artist whose identity has been lost. The practice arose from the need to such artists and their typically untitled, or generically titled works. Linking a generically titled old master with a person is usually a tempting and exciting prospect. The given notname usually depends on the location, the most distinctive feature of their work. Some notnames created based on an artwork, called namepiece. The Berlin Painter was named by Sir John Beazley for a large lidded amphora in the Antikensammlung Berlin, in the case of 14th and early 15th-century Netherlandish, French and German painters and illuminators, the problem is particularly acute and stems from a number of factors. Primarily, the practice of signing and dating works is seen in the region until the 1420s. It is probably a truism to say that, as Susie Nash put it, some art historians believe that this has led to a lack of caution in connecting works with historical persons, and that such connections often hang on thin threads of circumstantial evidence. Examples include Hugo van der Goes, Robert Campin, Stefan Lochner, list of anonymous masters Nash, Susie
5.
Triptych
–
A triptych is a work of art that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works, the middle panel is typically the largest and it is flanked by two smaller related works, although there are triptychs of equal-sized panels. The form can also be used for pendant jewelry, despite its connection to an art format, the term is sometimes used more generally to connote anything with three parts, particularly if they are integrated into a single unit. The triptych form arises from early Christian art, and was a standard format for altar paintings from the Middle Ages onwards. Its geographical range was from the eastern Byzantine churches to the Celtic churches in the west, renaissance painters such as Hans Memling and Hieronymus Bosch used the form. Triptych forms also allow ease of transport, from the Gothic period onward, both in Europe and elsewhere, altarpieces in churches and cathedrals were often in triptych form. One such cathedral with an altarpiece triptych is Llandaff Cathedral, the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp, Belgium, contains two examples by Rubens, and Notre Dame de Paris is another example of the use of triptych in architecture. One can also see the form echoed by the structure of many stained glass windows. Although strongly identified as a form, triptychs outside that context have been created, some of the best-known examples being works by Hieronymus Bosch, Max Beckmann. The then highest price paid for an artwork at auction was $142.4 million for a 1969 triptych, Three Studies of Lucian Freud. The record was broken in May 2015 by $179.4 million for Pablo Picassos 1955 painting Les Femmes d’Alger, the format has migrated and been used in other religions, including Islam and Buddhism. Likewise, Tibetan Buddhists have used it in traditional altars, a photographic triptych is a common style used in modern commercial artwork. The photographs are arranged with a plain border between them. The work may consist of images that are variants on a theme
6.
Polyptych
–
A polyptych is a painting which is divided into sections, or panels. Polyptychs typically display one central or main panel that is usually the largest of the attachments, while the panels are called side panels. Sometimes, as evident in the Ghent and Isenheim works, the panels can be varied in arrangement to show different views or openings in the piece. Polyptychs were most commonly created by early Renaissance painters, the majority of which designed their works to be altarpieces in churches, the polyptych form of art was also quite popular among ukiyo-e printmakers of Edo period Japan. Some medieval manuscripts are polyptychs, particularly Carolingian works, in which the columns on the page are framed with borders that resemble polyptych paintings, altar displays may also form polyptychs. Dominic Polyptych by Lorenzo Lotto Media related to polyptychs at Wikimedia Commons
7.
Tournai
–
Tournai, known in Dutch as Doornik, is a Walloon city and municipality of Belgium located 85 kilometres west-southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut. Tournai is part of the Eurometropolis Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai, which had 2,155,161 residents in 2008, along with Tongeren, Tournai is the oldest city in Belgium and it has played an important role in the countrys cultural history. Tournai is located in the Wallonia region of Belgium, at the limit of the Flemish plain, in the basin of the River Scheldt. Administratively, the town is part of the Province of Hainaut and it is also a municipality that is part of the French-speaking Community of Belgium. Tournai has its own arrondissements, both administrative and judicial and its area of 213.75 square kilometres makes it the largest municipality in size in Belgium, it is also the largest in population in Western Hainaut. Rocks from the Tournai area date from the Carboniferous Period and have used to define the Tournaisian Age. Tournai stone is a limestone which takes a polish and was used particularly in the Romanesque period for sculpted items such as Tournai fonts. It is also enough to have been used locally for pavements. It is sometimes called Tournai marble, though this is geologically inaccurate, Tournai, known as Tornacum, was a place of minor importance in Roman times, a stopping place where the Roman road from Cologne on the Rhine to Boulogne on the coast crossed the river Scheldt. It was fortified under Maximian in the 3rd century AD, when the Roman limes was withdrawn to the string of outposts along the road and it came into the possession of the Salian Franks in 432. Under king Childeric I, whose tomb was discovered there in 1653, in 486, Clovis moved the center of power to Paris. In turn, a son of Tournai, Eleutherius, became bishop of the newly created bishopric of Tournai. In 862 Charles the Bald, first king of Western Francia and still to become Holy Roman Emperor, after the partition of the Frankish empire by the Treaties of Verdun and of Meerssen, Tournai remained in the western part of the empire, which in 987 became France. The city participated in 11th-century rise of towns in the Low Countries, with a cloth industry based on English wool. An ambitious rebuilding of the cathedral was initiated in 1030, the stone Pont des Trous over the Scheldt, with defensive towers at either end, was built in 1290, replacing an earlier wooden structure. During the 15th century, the textile trade boomed and it became an important supplier of tapestry. The art of painting flourished too, Jacques Daret, Robert Campin and it was captured in 1513 by Henry VIII of England, making it the only Belgian city ever to have been ruled by England. It was also represented in the 1515 Parliament of England, the city was handed back to French rule in 1519, following the Treaty of London
8.
Jan van Eyck
–
Jan van Eyck was a Flemish/Netherlandish painter active in Bruges. He is often considered one of the founders of Early Netherlandish painting school, the few surviving records of his early life indicate that he was born c. After Johns death in 1425 he was employed in Lille as court painter to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, until 1429 before moving to Bruges, where he lived until his death. Apart from the Ghent Altarpiece and the miniatures of the Turin-Milan Hours, about 20 surviving paintings are confidently attributed to him. Ten, including the Ghent altarpiece, are dated and signed with a variation of his motto, ALS IK KAN always written in Greek characters, Van Eyck painted both secular and religious subject matter, including altarpieces, single panel religious figures and commissioned portraits. His work includes single panels, diptychs, triptychs, and polyptych panels and he was well paid by Philip, who sought that the painter was secure financially and had artistic freedom and could paint whenever he pleased. Van Eycks work comes from the International Gothic style, but he soon eclipsed it, through his developments in the use of oil paint he achieved a new level of virtuosity. Van Eyck was highly influential and his techniques and style were adopted and refined by the Early Netherlandish painters, little is known of Jan van Eycks early life and neither the date nor place of his birth is documented. This suggests a date of birth of 1395 at the latest, however, his apparent age in the London probable self-portrait of 1433 suggests to most scholars a date closer to 1380. He was identified in the late 1500s as having been born in Maaseik and this claim is still considered credible on etymological grounds, considering that Van Eyck means of Eyck which is an old variant spelling of eik. He had a sister Margareta, and at least two brothers, Hubert and Lambert, both painters, but the order of their births has not been established. Another significant, and rather younger, painter who worked in Southern France and it is not known where Jan was educated, but he had knowledge of Latin and used the Greek and Hebrew alphabets in his inscriptions, indicating that he was schooled in the classics. This level of education was rare among painters, and would have made him attractive to the cultivated Philip. Van Eyck served John of Bavaria-Straubing, ruler of Holland, Hainault, by this time van Eyck had assembled a small workshop and was involved in redecorating the Binnenhof palace in The Hague. After Johns death in 1425 he moved to Bruges and came to the attention of Philip the Good c and his emergence as a collectable painter generally follows his appointment to Philips court, and from this point his activity in the court is comparatively well documented. He served as court artist and diplomat, and a was a member of the Tournai painters guild. On 18 October 1427, the Feast of St. Luke, he travelled to Tournai to attend a banquet in his honour, also attended by Robert Campin, a court salary freed him from commissioned work, and allowed a large degree of artistic freedom. Over the following decade van Eycks reputation and technical ability grew, unlike most of his peers his reputation never diminished and he remained well regarded over the following centuries
9.
Revolt of the Brotherhoods
–
The Revolt of the Brotherhoods was a revolt by artisan guilds against the government of King Charles I in the Kingdom of Valencia, part of the Crown of Aragon. It took place from 1519–1523, with most of the fighting occurring during 1521, the Valencian revolt inspired a related revolt in the island of Majorca, also part of Aragon, which lasted from 1521–1523. The revolt was an anti-monarchist, anti-feudal autonomist movement inspired by the Italian republics and it also bore a strong anti-Islamic aspect, as rebels rioted against Valencias peasant Muslim population and imposed forced conversions to Christianity. The agermanats are comparable to the comuneros of neighboring Castile, who fought a similar revolt against Charles from 1520–1522, Valencia was dealing with a variety of problems in the early 16th century. In King Ferdinand IIs later years as ruler, the government slowly decayed, the economy in Aragon was not as vibrant as in Andalusia, as it was more based on agriculture and less on the lucrative maritime trade. Outbreaks of famine, flood, and plague impeded the economy still further, however, the most imminent threat to the country was that of warfare. Ferdinand pursued a foreign policy, participating in the Italian Wars. This stretched the finances of Aragon and Castile to their limit, Spanish relations with Muslim nations and North Africa were still exceedingly poor after the Reconquista, and the coast of Aragon was constantly raided by Barbary pirates. Revolt of the oppressed Muslim-convert population in the recently conquered Granada was also a concern, royal troops were required to be stationed in Granada and Navarre to maintain order. In order to maintain a coastal defense against the pirates without the cost of deploying the army, Ferdinand gave the Germanies permission to arm themselves and form their own paramilitary brigades. The local nobles did not approve of this and initially tried to prevent the Germanies from arming, Ferdinand died in January 1516 and was succeeded by his mentally unstable daughter Joanna. Within a few weeks, her son proclaimed himself her co-ruler as King Charles I of Castile, Charles had been raised in Netherlands and his affairs were mostly controlled by the Flemish noble William de Croÿ, sieur de Chièvres. In 1517, the seventeen-year-old King sailed to Castile, where he was recognised as King of Castile. There, his Flemish court provoked much scandal, as de Croÿ shamelessly sold government privileges for personal money, in May 1518, Charles traveled to Barcelona in Aragon, where he would remain for nearly two years. Here, he haggled with Aragons slightly stronger cortes, the Generalitat, for privileges and his formal recognition as King of Aragon. Aragon managed to more local control than Castile did, but mostly because Aragon was poorer. In 1519, the Kings paternal grandfather, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, Charles competed with King Francis I of France to win the imperial election by aggressively bribing prince-electors. Charles won, becoming Emperor Charles V and he left Aragon to return to Castile to raise funds to pay down the debts he had incurred in the election
10.
International Gothic
–
International Gothic is a period of Gothic art which initially developed in Burgundy, France and northern Italy in the late 14th and early 15th century. It then spread widely across Western Europe, hence the name for the period. The main influences were northern France, the Duchy of Burgundy, the Imperial court in Prague, royal marriages such as that between Richard II of England and Anne of Bohemia helped to spread the style. It was initially a style of courtly sophistication, but somewhat more robust versions spread to art commissioned by the mercantile classes. Usage of the terms by art historians varies somewhat, with using the term more restrictively than others. Some art historians feel the term is in many ways, since it tends to skate over both differences and details of transmission. The important Bohemian version of the style developed in the court of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor in Prague, which for a brief period became a leading force in the development of European art. Charles came from the Luxembourg dynasty, was tutored by the future Pope Clement VI, the Bohemian style initially lacked the elongated figures of other centres, but had a richness and sweetness in female figures that were very influential. Charles had at least one Italian altarpiece, apparently made in Italy and sent to Prague, for St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, he first used a French architect, and then the German Peter Parler. As the style developed in Northern Europe, Italian artists were in turn influenced by it, from this period come the earliest surviving panel portraits of monarchs, and royal manuscripts show a greatly increased number of realistic portraits of the monarch who commissioned them. In painting and sculpture, the style is known in German as the Schöne Stil or Weicher Stil. Stylistic features are a dignified elegance, which replaces monumentality, along with rich decorative colouring, elongated figures and it also makes a more practised use of perspective, modelling, and setting. Figures begin to be more space in their settings, and interest is taken in realistically depicted plants. In some works, above all the calendar scenes of the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. Decoration became increasingly ornate as the style developed in Northern Europe, claus Sluter was the leading sculptor in Burgundy, and was one artist able to use the style with a strongly monumental effect. Most sculptors are unknown, and the style tended to survive longer in Northern sculpture than painting, smaller painted wood figures, most often of the Madonna, were significant, and being relatively portable, probably helped to disseminate the style across Europe. In Burgundy Jean Malouel, Melchior Broederlam and Henri Bellechose were succeeded by Robert Campin, master Bertram and Conrad von Soest were leading regional masters in Germany, working largely for city burghers. Surviving panel paintings of the best quality from before 1390 are very rare except from Italy, many of these artists moved between countries or regions during their careers, exposing them to the styles of other centres
11.
Limbourg brothers
–
The Limbourg brothers, or in Dutch Gebroeders van Limburg, were famous Dutch miniature painters from the city of Nijmegen. They were active in the early 15th century in France and Burgundy and they created what is certainly the best known late medieval illuminated manuscript, the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. Around 1398, after their fathers death, the brothers were sent for by their uncle Jean Malouel, Herman and Johan learned the craft of goldsmithing in Paris. At the end of 1399 they were travelling to visit Nijmegen but, owing to a war, since their mother could not pay the ransom of 55 gold escuz, the local goldsmiths guild started to collect the money. Eventually Philip the Bold paid the ransom for the sake of their uncle Malouel, the two boys were released in May 1400. From surviving documents it is known that in February 1402 Paul and this may or may not have been the Bible Moralisée, Ms. fr.166 in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, which is indisputably an early work by the Limbourg brothers. Philip II died in 1404 before the brothers had completed their work, after Philips death, Herman, Paul, and Johan later in 1405 came to work for his brother John, Duke of Berry, who was an extravagant collector of arts and especially books. Their first assignment was to illuminate a Book of Hours, now known as the Belles Heures du Duc de Berry and this work was finished in 1409 much to the satisfaction of the duke, and he assigned them to an even more ambitious project for a Book of Hours. This became the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, which is regarded as the peak of late medieval book illumination. It is kept as Ms.65 in the Musée Condé in Chantilly, Paul especially was on good terms with the duke, and received a court position as valet de chambre or personal attendant. The duke gave him jewelry and a house in Bourges. Paul was attracted to a girl, Gillette la Mercière. The duke had the girl confined, and released her only on the kings command, in 1411 Paul and Gillette married anyway, but the marriage remained childless. In the first half of 1416, Jean de Berry and the three Limbourg brothers, all less than 30 years old, died, possibly of the plague, the work of the Limbourg brothers, being mostly inaccessible, became forgotten until the 19th century. Nevertheless, they set an example for the generations of painters. They worked in a Northern European tradition, but display influences from Italian models, rob Dückers and Pieter Roelofs, The brothers van Limburg. The Art of Illumination, The Limbourg Brothers and the Belles Heures of Jean de France, the Metropolitan Museum of Art/Yale University Press,2008
12.
Melchior Broederlam
–
Melchior Broederlam was one of the earliest Early Netherlandish painters to whom surviving works can be confidently attributed. He worked mostly for Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, although only a single large pair of panel paintings can confidently be attributed to him, no history of Western painting can neglect his contribution. His early career included a stay in Italy, where he adopted a sense of space. Like many court artists, including Jan van Eyck, he was appointed valet de chambre to the Duke and he continued to work for Philips successor John the Fearless, but last appears in the Ducal accounts in 1409. Guild rules usually mandated that carving and painting were performed by members of different guilds, broederlams use of oil paint had a strong impact on the painters of the following generation, including Robert Campin and Jan van Eyck. Both panels include two scenes, with a landscape, and look into pavilion-like buildings in a manner derived from Italy. Although the skies are painted in gold in the Dijon panels, some other works have been attributed to him or his workshop, but without being generally accepted
13.
Oil paint
–
Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. The viscosity of the paint may be modified by the addition of a solvent such as turpentine or white spirit, Oil paints have been used in Europe since the 12th century for simple decoration, but were not widely adopted as an artistic medium until the early 15th century. Common modern applications of oil paint are in finishing and protection of wood in buildings and exposed metal structures such as ships and its hard-wearing properties and luminous colors make it desirable for both interior and exterior use on wood and metal. Due to its properties, it has recently been used in paint-on-glass animation. Thickness of coat has considerable bearing on time required for drying, the literature abounds with incorrect theories and information, in general, anything published before 1952 is suspect. Until 1991 nothing was known about the aspect of cave paintings from the Paleolithic era. Many assumptions were made about the chemistry of the binders, the oldest known oil paintings date from 650 AD, found in 2008 in caves in Afghanistans Bamiyan Valley, using walnut and poppy seed oils. Though the ancient Mediterranean civilizations of Greece, Rome, and Egypt used vegetable oils, indeed, linseed oil was not used as a medium because of its tendency to dry very slowly, darken, and crack, unlike mastic and wax. Greek writers such as Aetius Amidenus recorded recipes involving the use of oils for drying, such as walnut, poppy, hempseed, pine nut, castor, when thickened, the oils became resinous and could be used as varnish to seal and protect paintings from water. Additionally, when yellow pigment was added to oil, it could be spread over tin foil as an expensive alternative to gold leaf. Early Christian monks maintained these records and used the techniques in their own artworks, theophilus Presbyter, a 12th-century German monk, recommended linseed oil but advocated against the use of olive oil due to its long drying time. Oil paint was used as it is today in house decoration, as a tough waterproof cover for exposed woodwork. In the 13th century, oil was used to detail tempera paintings, in the 14th century, Cennino Cennini described a painting technique utilizing tempera painting covered by light layers of oil. The slow-drying properties of organic oils were commonly known to early painters, however, the difficulty in acquiring and working the materials meant that they were rarely used. As public preference for naturalism increased, the quick-drying tempera paints became insufficient to achieve the very detailed and precise effects that oil could achieve. Van Eyck’s mixture may have consisted of piled glass, calcined bones, the new mixture had a honey-like consistency and better drying properties. This mixture was known as oglio cotto—cooked oil, leonardo da Vinci later improved these techniques by cooking the mixture at a very low temperature and adding 5 to 10% beeswax, which prevented darkening of the paint. Giorgione, Titian, and Tintoretto each may have altered this recipe for their own purposes, the use of any cooked oils or Litharge darkens an oil painting rapidly
14.
Rogier van der Weyden
–
Rogier van der Weyden or Roger de la Pasture was an Early Netherlandish painter whose surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces and commissioned single and diptych portraits. By the latter half of the 15th century, he had eclipsed Jan van Eyck in popularity, however his fame lasted only until the 17th century, and largely due to changing taste, he was almost totally forgotten by the mid-18th century. There are few facts of van der Weydens life. What else is known of him has come from records and secondary sources. However the paintings now attributed to him are generally accepted, despite a tendency in the 19th century to attribute his work to others, all of his forms are rendered with rich, warm colourisation and a sympathetic expression, while he is known for his expressive pathos and naturalism. His portraits tend to be half length and half profile, Van der Weyden used an unusually broad range of colours and varied tones, in his finest work the same tone is not repeated in any other area of the canvas, even the whites are varied. Due to the loss of archives in 1695 and again in 1940, Rogelet de le Pasture was born in Tournai in 1399 or 1400. His parents were Henri de le Pasture and Agnes de Watrélos and he married around 1426, to Elisabeth Goffaert, and was made town painter of Brussels in 1436, and changed his name from the French to the Flemish format, becoming van der Weyden. The Pasture family had settled before in the city of Tournai where Rogiers father worked as a maître-coutelier, in 1426 Rogier married Elisabeth, the daughter of a Brussels shoemaker Jan Goffaert and his wife Cathelyne van Stockem. Rogier and Elisabeth had four children, Cornelius, who became a Carthusian monk, was born in 1427, a daughter Margaretha in 1432. Before 21 October 1435 the family settled in Brussels where the two children were born, Pieter in 1437 and Jan in 1438, who would go on to become a painter. On his move to Brussels, Rogier began using the Flemish version of his name, little is known about Rogiers training as a painter. The archival sources from Tournai were completely destroyed during World War II, the sources on his early life are confusing and have led to different interpretations by scholars. It is known that the city council of Tournai offered eight pitchers of wine in honour of a certain Maistre Rogier de le Pasture on the 17th November 1426. However, on 5 March of the year the records of the painters guild show a Rogelet de le Pasture entered the workshop of Robert Campin together with Jacques Daret. Records show that de le Pasture was already established as a painter, only five years later, on the first of August 1432, de le Pasture obtained the title of a Master painter. His later entry into apprenticeship might be explained by the fact that during the 1420s the city of Tournai was in crisis, the late apprenticeship may have been a legal formality. Also Jacques Daret was then in his twenties and had living and working in Campins household for at least a decade
15.
Jacques Daret
–
Jacques Daret was an Early Netherlandish painter born in Tournai, where he would spend much of his life. Daret spent 15 years as a pupil in the studio of Robert Campin, alongside Rogier or Rogelet de le Pasture and he became a favorite of the Burgundian court, and his patron for 20 years was the abbot of St. Vaast in Arras, Jean de Clercq. These paintings show a resemblance to the Flemish realism of the Master of Flémalle. This is argued by most scholars to be evidence that the Master of Flémalle was Darets master, the stylistic similarity between him and the Master of Flémalle is therefore crucial evidence in the identification of the latter with Campin. This then becomes an important connection in establishing a link between Robert Campin/the Master of Flémalle and his major pupil, Rogier van der Weyden. Darets four surviving securely identified works, all from the Arras Altarpiece, are the Visitation and Adoration of the Magi, the Nativity, and the Presentation in the Temple
16.
Guild of painters
–
The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the saint of artists. One of the most famous such organizations was founded in Antwerp and it continued to function until 1795, although by then it had lost its monopoly and therefore most of its power. In most cities, including Antwerp, the government had given the Guild the power to regulate defined types of trade within the city. Guild membership, as a master, was required for an artist to take on apprentices or to sell paintings to the public. Similar rules existed in Delft, where members could sell paintings in the city or have a shop. The guild of Saint Luke not only represented painters, sculptors, and other artists, but also—especially in the seventeenth century—dealers, amateurs. In traditional guild structures, house-painters and decorators were often in the same guild, however, as artists formed under their own specific guild of St. Luke, particularly in the Netherlands, distinctions were increasingly made. In general, guilds also made judgments on disputes between artists and other artists or their clients, in such ways, it controlled the economic career of an artist working in a specific city, while in different cities they were wholly independent and often competitive against each other. Although it did not become an artistic center until the sixteenth century, Antwerp was one of, if not the first. It is first mentioned in 1382, and was given privileges by the city in 1442. The registers, or Liggeren, from the guild exist, cataloging when artists became masters, who the dean for each year was, what their specialities were, and the names of any students. Perhaps because of this link, for a period they had a rule that all miniatures needed a tiny mark to identify the artist, only under special privileges, such as court artist, could an artist effectively practice their craft without holding membership in the guild. Membership also allowed members to sell works at the guild-owned showroom, Antwerp, for example, opened a market stall for selling paintings in front of the cathedral in 1460, and Bruges followed in 1482. Guilds of St. Luke in the Dutch Republic began to reinvent themselves as cities there changed over to Protestant rule, many St. Luke guilds reissued charters to protect the interests of local painters from the influx of southern talent from places like Antwerp and Bruges. Many cities in the republic became more important artistic centres in the late sixteenth. Amsterdam was the first city to reissue a St. Lukes charter after the reformation in 1579, and it included painters, sculptors, engravers, for example, Gouda, Rotterdam, and Delft, all founded guilds between 1609 and 1611. On the other hand, these distinctions did not take effect at that time in Amsterdam or Haarlem, in the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke, however, a strict hierarchy was attempted in 1631 with panel painters at the top, though this hierarchy was eventually rejected
17.
Valenciennes
–
Valenciennes is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It lies on the Scheldt river, although the city and region experienced a steady population decline between 1975 and 1990, it has since rebounded. The 1999 census recorded that the population of the commune of Valenciennes was 41,278, Valenciennes is first mentioned in 693 in a legal document written by Clovis II. In the 843 Treaty of Verdun, it was made a city between Neustria and the Austrasia. Later in the 9th century the region was overrun by the Normans, in 923 it passed to the Duchy of Lower Lotharingia dependent on the Holy Roman Empire. Once the Empire of the Franks was established, the city began to develop, under the Ottonian emperors, Valenciennes became the centre of marches on the border of the Empire. In 1008, a famine brought the Plague. According to the tradition, the Virgin Mary held a cordon around the city which. Since then, every year at that time, the Valenciennois used to walk around the 14 kilometres road round the town, many Counts succeeded, first as Margraves of Valenciennes and from 1070 as counts of Hainaut. In 1285, the currency of Hainaut was replaced by the currency of France, Valenciennes was full of activity, with numerous corporations, and outside its walls a large number of convents developed, like that of the Dominicans. In the 14th century, the Tower of Dodenne was built by Albert of Bavaria, where even today, in the 15th century, the County of Hainault, of which Valenciennes is part, was re-attached to Burgundy, losing its autonomy. On the Journée des Mals Brûlés in 1562, a mob freed some Protestants condemned to die at the stake, in the wave of iconoclastic attacks called the Beeldenstorm that swept the Low Countries in the summer of 1566, the city was the furthest south to see an attack. In 1576, when for a time the Southern Netherlands joined the revolt, however, in 1580, Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma took Valenciennes and Protestantism was eradicated there. Hereafter, Valenciennes remained under Spanish protection, no longer involved in later fighting of the Eighty Years War. With its manufacturers of wool and fine linens, the city was able to economically independent. In 1591, the Jesuits built a school and then the foundations of a church of Sainte-Croix, in 1611, the façade of the town hall was completely rebuilt in magnificent Renaissance style. In the seventeenth century the Scheldt was channelled between Cambrai and Valenciennes, benefitting Valenciennes wool, fabric and fine arts, to use up flax yarn, women began to make the famous Valenciennes lace. The French army laid siege to the city in 1656, defending the city, Albert de Merode, marquis de Trélon was injured during a sortie on horseback, died as a result of his injuries and was buried in the Church of St. Paul
18.
Tournai Cathedral
–
The Tournai Cathedral, or Cathedral of Our Lady, is a Roman Catholic church, see of the Diocese of Tournai in Tournai, Belgium. It has been classified both as a Wallonias major heritage since 1936 and as a World Heritage Site since 2000, the transept is the most distinctive part of the building, with its cluster of five bell towers and apsidal ends. The nave belongs mostly to the first third of the 12th century, prefiguring the Early Gothic style, it has a second-tier gallery between the ground-floor arcade and the triforium. Pilasters between the windows in the clerestory help support the 18th-century vaulting that replaced the original ceiling, which was of wood. The square towers flank the transept arms reach a height of 83 metres. They vary in detail, some of the work with which they are enriched being in the round-arched. The construction of the new choir began in 1242, and ended in 1255, the rood screen is a renaissance masterpiece by Flemish sculptor Cornelis Floris and dates from 1573. The Cathedral was damaged by a tornado on the 24 August 1999. Assessment of the damage revealed underlying structural problems and the Cathedral has been undergoing extensive repairs, the Brunin Tower was stabilised in 2003. In recognition of Tournai cathedrals cultural value, UNESCO designated the building a World Heritage Site in the year 2000, eleutherius of Tournai Nicolas Gombert Adolf, Duke of Guelders Roman Catholic Marian churches Citations Bibliography Tournai Cathedral. French Gothic architecture of the 12th and 13th centuries, media related to Cathédrale Notre-Dame, Tournai at Wikimedia Commons Complete catalogue of images of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Tournai. Royal Institute for the Study and Conservation of Belgiums Artistic Heritage, architectural images of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Tournai. Royal Institute for the Study and Conservation of Belgiums Artistic Heritage, Tournai, Our Ladys Cathedral - from Belgium Travel Network Tournai Cathedral - UNESCO site, contains detailed description and history Cathedral Notre-Dame - from official site of the city of Tournai
19.
Pilgrimage
–
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a persons beliefs and faith, a person who makes such a journey is called a pilgrim. As a common experience, pilgrimage has been proposed as a Jungian archetype by Wallace Clift. The Holy Land acts as a point for the pilgrimages of the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity. Baháulláh decreed pilgrimage to two places in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the House of Baháulláh in Baghdad, Iraq, and the House of the Báb in Shiraz, later, Abdul-Bahá designated the Shrine of Baháulláh at Bahji, Israel as a site of pilgrimage. Other pilgrimage places in India and Nepal connected to the life of Gautama Buddha are, Savatthi, Pataliputta, Nalanda, Gaya, Vesali, Sankasia, Kapilavastu, Kosambi, Rajagaha, Varanasi, other famous places for Buddhist pilgrimage include, India, Sanchi, Ellora, Ajanta. Thailand, Sukhothai, Ayutthaya, Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Doi Suthep, tibet, Lhasa, Mount Kailash, Lake Nam-tso. Sri Lanka, Polonnaruwa, Temple of the Tooth, Anuradhapura, malaysia, Kek Lok Si, Cheng Hoon Teng, Maha Vihara Myanmar, Bagan, Sagaing Hill. The Four Sacred Mountains Japan, Shikoku Pilgrimage,88 Temple pilgrimage in the Shikoku island, Japan 100 Kannon, pilgrimage composed of the Saigoku, Bandō and Chichibu pilgrimages. Saigoku 33 Kannon, pilgrimage in the Kansai region, Bandō33 Kannon, pilgrimage in the Kantō region. Chichibu 34 Kannon, pilgrimage in Saitama Prefecture, Chūgoku 33 Kannon, pilgrimage in the Chūgoku region. Christian pilgrimage was first made to sites connected with the birth, life, pilgrimages were, and are, also made to Rome and other sites associated with the apostles, saints and Christian martyrs, as well as to places where there have been apparitions of the Virgin Mary. A popular pilgrimage journey is along the Way of St. James to the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, in Galicia, Spain, chaucers The Canterbury Tales recounts tales told by Christian pilgrims on their way to Canterbury Cathedral and the shrine of Thomas Becket. According to Karel Werners Popular Dictionary of Hinduism, most Hindu places of pilgrimage are associated with events from the lives of various gods. Almost any place can become a focus for pilgrimage, but in most cases they are sacred cities, rivers, lakes, Hindus are encouraged to undertake pilgrimages during their lifetime, though this practice is not considered absolutely mandatory. Most Hindus visit sites within their region or locale, Kumbh Mela, Kumbh Mela is one of the largest gatherings of humans in the world. The location is rotated among Allahabad, Haridwar, Nashik, Char Dham, The four holy sites Puri, Rameswaram, Dwarka, and Badrinath compose the Char Dham pilgrimage circuit. Kanwar Pilgrimage, The Kanwar is Indias largest annual religious pilgrimage, as part of this phenomenon, millions of participants gather sacred water from the Ganga and carry it across hundreds of miles to dispense as offerings in Śiva shrines
20.
Abbey of Saint-Gilles
–
The Abbey of Saint-Gilles is a Benedictine monastery in Saint-Gilles, southern France. Founded by Saint Giles, it is included in the UNESCO Heritage List, as part of the World Heritage Sites of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France. According to the legend, it was founded in the 7th century by saint Giles and his relics were housed in the abbey church and attracted numerous pilgrims. In the 11th century, the monastery was attached to that of Cluny, thanks to its prosperity, it was enlarged and decorated from the 12th to the 15th century, when the cloiser was finished. In the 16th century the church, in the course of the Wars of Religion, was devastated when the Huguenots took shelter in it, restorations were held in the 17th century and again, after further damage during the French Revolution, in the 19th century. The tomb of St. Giles was rediscovered in 1865, becoming again a destination from 1965. The abbey church is in typical southern French Romanesque style, the façade, built from 1120 to 1160, has a decorated entrance portico with three portals with Corinthian columns and medieval sculpture decorations. The frieze scenes are inspired to Roman ones, the upper part of the façade had originally also a classical-inspired decoration, which has now disappeared. The bell tower dates to the 18th century, the crypt, or lower church, dates to the early 11th century. It measures 50 by 25 meters, and occupies the whole section of the nave. In its center is the tomb of St. Giles, a place of veneration until in the 16th century. The upper church, with a nave and two apses, mostly belongs to the 17th-century reconstruction, aside from the pillars in Corinthian style. Behind the apse are the remains of the ancient choir, which once were part of the originally longer church. Inside the northern wall of the ancient choir is a spiral staircase known as Screw of St. Gilles, dating to the 12th century, made of cantilevered stone steps. Eric White, Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Gilles Regordane Info - The independent portal for The Regordane Way or St Gilles Trail, which commences at St-Gilles-du-Gard. and
21.
Margaret of Burgundy, Duchess of Bavaria
–
Margaret of Burgundy was Duchess of Bavaria as the wife of Duke William II. Margaret was the child and first daughter out of nine children born to Philip II, Duke of Burgundy. Margarets father used the marriages of his children to achieve far-sighted goals, in keeping with this strategy, Margaret and her brother John were wedded in a double marriage to William of Bavaria and his sister Margaret. This marriage, celebrated on 12 April 1385 in Cambrai, would have later influence the union of Hainaut and Holland with Burgundy and Flanders, as carried out by Margarets nephew Philip the Good. Margaret exerted a lot of influence during the reign of her spouse. Margaret was thus governed Hainaut in his name, after 16 years of childless marriage, Margaret gave birth to a daughter, Jacqueline, on 16 August 1401. Margarets political position increased in the 1410s, as she was granted several towns, William died in 1417 of a dog bite. Although he and Margaret attempted to ensure that their daughter would inherit all his lands, Jacqueline would eventually come to inherit Hainaut, Holland, and Zeeland, but not Bavaria. During the reign of her daughter, Margaret was involved in several political acts and she preferred the Le Quesnoy castle as her residence, which was also her personal fief. She died at Le Quesnoy on 8 March 1441, having outlived her childless daughter, media related to Margaret of Burgundy at Wikimedia Commons
22.
William II, Duke of Bavaria
–
Duke William II of Bavaria-Straubing KG was also count William IV of Holland, count William VI of Hainaut and count William V of Zeeland. He ruled from 1404 until 1417, when he died from an infection caused by a dog bite, William was a son of Albert I and Margaret of Brieg. William, allied with the Hooks, was in conflict with his father until 1394, in 1404 he succeeded him as Count of Holland, Zeeland and Hainaut and duke of Bavaria-Straubing. As a result, he was no longer, as count of Hainaut, Williams reign was marked by internal strife within the county of Holland. In particular, Lord John V of Arkel supported Williams enemies in Holland, William conquered Arkel in 1412, at which point John accepted his defeat and Arkel was annexed by Holland. William claimed Friesland as the count of Holland, duke William I of Bavaria-Straubing had previously sent five expeditions to conquer Friesland. Only Stavoren was captured in 1398, William II also sent expeditions to the region but Stavoren was regained by the Frisians in 1414. Prior to his death, William ensured his nobles swore allegiance to his only daughter, however, on Williams death in 1417, a war of succession broke out between his brother John, the bishop of Liège and his daughter Jacqueline of Hainaut. This would be the last episode of the Hook and Cod wars and finally place Holland, the duchy of Bavaria-Straubing was divided between the dukes of Bavaria, the major portion went to Bavaria-Munich in 1429
23.
John the Fearless
–
John the Fearless, also known as John of Valois and John I of Burgundy, was Duke of Burgundy from 1404 to 1419. He was a member of the Burgundian branch of the Valois Dynasty, for a period of time, he served as regent of France on behalf of his first cousin King Charles VI of France, who suffered from severe mental illness. John was born in Dijon on 27 May 1371 to Philip II the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, in 1385, a double wedding for the Burgundian family took place in Cambrai. The marriage took place after John cancelled his engagement to Catherine of France, before his accession to the Duchy of Burgundy, John was one of the principal leaders of the French forces sent to aid King Sigismund of Hungary in his war against Sultan Bayezid I. John fought in the Battle of Nicopolis of 25 September 1396 with such enthusiasm, despite his personal bravery, his impetuous leadership ended in disaster for the European expedition. He was captured and did not recover his liberty until the year after an enormous ransom was paid. Both men attempted to fill the vacuum left by the demented king. John played a game of marriages by exchanging his daughter Margaret of Burgundy for Michelle of Valois, for her part, Margaret was married to Louis, Duke of Guyenne, the heir to the French throne from 1401 until his death in 1415. For all his concentration on aristocratic politics, John nonetheless did not overlook the importance of the class of merchants. Louis tried to gain the favour of the wife of Charles VI, Queen Isabeau of France and this did not improve relations between John and the Duke of Orléans. Soon the two descended into making open threats. Their uncle, John, Duke of Berry, secured a vow of solemn reconciliation on 20 November 1407, the order, no one doubted, had come from the Duke of Burgundy, who shortly admitted to the deed and declared it to be a justifiable act of tyrannicide. After an escape from Paris and a few skirmishes against the Orléans party, in the treaty of Chartres, signed on 9 March 1409, the King absolved the Duke of Burgundy of the crime, and he and Louis son Charles pledged a reconciliation. A later edict renewed Johns guardianship of the Dauphin, even with the Orléans dispute resolved in his favour, John did not lead a tranquil life. Chief among these allies was his father-in-law Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac, because of this alliance, their faction became known as the Armagnacs in opposition to the Burgundians. With peace between the factions solemnly sworn in 1410, John returned to Burgundy and Bernard remained in Paris, at this time, King Henry V of England invaded French territory and threatened to attack Paris. During the peace negotiations with the Armagnacs, Henry was also in contact with John, despite this, he continued to be wary of forming an alliance with the English for fear of destroying his immense popularity with the common people of France. When Henry demanded Burgundys support for his claim to be the rightful King of France, John backed away and decided to ally himself with the Armagnacs
24.
Duke of Burgundy
–
Under the Ancien Régime, the Duke of Burgundy was the premier lay peer of the kingdom of France. Beginning with Robert II of France, the title was held by the Capetians and it was granted to Roberts younger son, Robert, who founded the House of Burgundy. When the senior line of the House of Burgundy became extinct, John granted the duchy as an appanage for his younger son, Philip the Bold. The Valois Dukes of Burgundy became dangerous rivals to the line of the House of Valois. When the male line of the Valois Dukes of Burgundy became extinct, today, the title is used by the House of Bourbon as a revived courtesy title. His descendants and their relatives by marriage ruled the duchy until its annexation over a century later by the French crown, their suzerain. Richard the Justiciar Rudolph, then King of France Hugh the Black Gilbert Otto Eudes Henry the Great Otto William In 1004, Burgundy was annexed by the king, Otto William continued to rule what would come to be called the Free County of Burgundy. His descendants formed another House of Ivrea, Robert Henry Robert, son of Robert II of France, received the Duchy as a peace settlement, having disputed the succession to the throne of France with his brother Henry. John II of France, the second Valois king, successfully claimed the Duchy after the death of Philip, John then passed the duchy to his youngest son Philip as an apanage. In 1477, the territory of the Duchy of Burgundy was annexed by France, in the same year, Mary married Maximilian, Archduke of Austria, giving the Habsburgs control of the remainder of the Burgundian Inheritance. They often used the term Burgundy to refer to it, until the late 18th century, at the same time, various members of the French royal family, most notably Louis, Dauphin of France, the father of Louis XV of France, also used the title. Duchess of Burgundy Kingdom of Burgundy King of Burgundy Duchy of Burgundy County of Burgundy Count of Burgundy Dukes of Burgundy family tree Calmette, the Golden Age of Burgundy, the Magnificent Dukes and Their Courts. Les Origines du Duché de Bourgogne
25.
The Werl Triptych
–
The Werl Triptych is a triptych altarpiece completed in Cologne in 1438, of which the center panel is now lost. The two remaining wings are now in the Prado in Madrid and it was long attributed to the Master of Flémalle, now generally believed to have been Robert Campin, although this identity is not universally accepted. Some art historians believe it may have been painted as a pastiche by either the workshop or a follower of Campin or the Master of Flémalle. The left wing has a portrait of Heinrich von Werl, who kneels in prayer in the company of John the Baptist facing the missing devotional center-panel scene. The two extant panels are in Madrid and renowned for their treatment of both light and form. From an inscription in the wing, the panels are known to have been commissioned by Heinrich von Werl. He is shown in the left wing kneeling in devotion alongside Saint John the Baptist. This panel contains a number of elements indebted to Jan van Eyck, notably the convex mirror in the midground, which as with the 1434 Arnolfini Marriage, reflects the scene back at the viewer. Although the center panel is lost with no surviving copies, inventory records or descriptions and this is likely given the abrupt end of the lines of the beams of the roof and the frames of the window, as well as the direction of the falling light. The center panel may have formed the setting for a Virgo inter Virgines, however it became influential from the mid-15th century. Of the two panels, that of Barbara, although flawed in some respects, is richer in detail. The woman in this panel can be identified as Saint Barbara from the tower visible beyond the window to her top left. A popular saint in the Middle Ages, she was a Christian martyr believed to have lived in the 3rd century, according to hagiography, her wealthy pagan father Dioscorus, seeking to preserve her from unwelcome suitors, imprisoned her in a tower. Captive Barbara let in a priest who baptised her, an act for which she was hunted and she became a popular subject for artists of Campins generation. Jan van Eyck left a detailed but unfinished 1437 oak panel which focuses on the highly complex architectural details of an imagined Gothic tower. The artist depicts Barbara imprisoned in her tower, but engrossed in her reading of a book with her back against an open fireplace. Her brown hair is unbound and falling to her shoulders and she is seated on a wooden bench draped with deep red velvet cushions. She wears a green dress lined with heavy angular folds
26.
Prado
–
The Prado Museum is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. Founded as a museum of paintings and sculpture in 1819, it contains important collections of other types of works. El Prado is one of the most visited sites in the world, and it is considered one of the greatest art museums in the world. The collection currently comprises around 8,200 drawings,7,600 paintings,4,800 prints, and 1,000 sculptures, in addition to a large number of other works of art and historic documents. As of 2012, the museum displayed about 1,300 works in the buildings, while around 3,100 works were on temporary loan to various museums. The museum received 2.8 million visitors in 2012 and it is one of the largest museums in Spain. The best-known work on display at the museum is Las Meninas by Velázquez, Velázquez and his keen eye and sensibility were also responsible for bringing much of the museums fine collection of Italian masters to Spain, now the largest outside of Italy. The museum is planning a 16% extension in the nearby Salón de Reinos and their efforts and determination led to the Royal Collection being enriched by some of the masterpieces now to be seen in the Prado. In addition to works from the Spanish royal collection, other holdings increased and enriched the Museum with further masterpieces, such as the two Majas by Goya. Among the now closed museums whose collections have been added to that of the Prado were the Museo del la Trinidad in 1872, in addition, numerous legacies, donations and purchases have been of crucial importance for the growth of the collection. Upon the deposition of Isabella II in 1868, the museum was nationalized and acquired the new name of Museo del Prado, the building housed the royal collection of arts, and it rapidly proved too small. The first enlargement to the museum took place in 1918, particularly important donations include Barón Emile dErlangers gift of Goyas Black Paintings in 1881. Between 1873 and 1900, the Prado helped decorate city halls, new universities, during the Second Spanish Republic from 1931 to 1936, the focus was on building up provincial museums. The art had to be returned across French territory in night trains to the museum upon the commencement of World War II, during the early years of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, many paintings were sent to embassies. The main building was enlarged with short pavilions in the rear between 1900 and 1960, in 1993, an extension proposed by the Prados director at the time, Felipe Garin, was quickly abandoned after a wave of criticism. In the late 1990s, a $14 million roof work forced the Velázquez masterpiece Las Meninas to change galleries twice, in 1998, the Prado annex in the nearby Casón del Buen Retiro closed for a $10 million two-year overhaul that included three new underground levels. In 2007, the finally executed Rafael Moneos project to expand its exposition room to 16,000 square meters. A glass-roofed and wedge-shaped foyer now contains the shops and cafeteria
27.
Museo del Prado
–
The Prado Museum is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. Founded as a museum of paintings and sculpture in 1819, it contains important collections of other types of works. El Prado is one of the most visited sites in the world, and it is considered one of the greatest art museums in the world. The collection currently comprises around 8,200 drawings,7,600 paintings,4,800 prints, and 1,000 sculptures, in addition to a large number of other works of art and historic documents. As of 2012, the museum displayed about 1,300 works in the buildings, while around 3,100 works were on temporary loan to various museums. The museum received 2.8 million visitors in 2012 and it is one of the largest museums in Spain. The best-known work on display at the museum is Las Meninas by Velázquez, Velázquez and his keen eye and sensibility were also responsible for bringing much of the museums fine collection of Italian masters to Spain, now the largest outside of Italy. The museum is planning a 16% extension in the nearby Salón de Reinos and their efforts and determination led to the Royal Collection being enriched by some of the masterpieces now to be seen in the Prado. In addition to works from the Spanish royal collection, other holdings increased and enriched the Museum with further masterpieces, such as the two Majas by Goya. Among the now closed museums whose collections have been added to that of the Prado were the Museo del la Trinidad in 1872, in addition, numerous legacies, donations and purchases have been of crucial importance for the growth of the collection. Upon the deposition of Isabella II in 1868, the museum was nationalized and acquired the new name of Museo del Prado, the building housed the royal collection of arts, and it rapidly proved too small. The first enlargement to the museum took place in 1918, particularly important donations include Barón Emile dErlangers gift of Goyas Black Paintings in 1881. Between 1873 and 1900, the Prado helped decorate city halls, new universities, during the Second Spanish Republic from 1931 to 1936, the focus was on building up provincial museums. The art had to be returned across French territory in night trains to the museum upon the commencement of World War II, during the early years of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, many paintings were sent to embassies. The main building was enlarged with short pavilions in the rear between 1900 and 1960, in 1993, an extension proposed by the Prados director at the time, Felipe Garin, was quickly abandoned after a wave of criticism. In the late 1990s, a $14 million roof work forced the Velázquez masterpiece Las Meninas to change galleries twice, in 1998, the Prado annex in the nearby Casón del Buen Retiro closed for a $10 million two-year overhaul that included three new underground levels. In 2007, the finally executed Rafael Moneos project to expand its exposition room to 16,000 square meters. A glass-roofed and wedge-shaped foyer now contains the shops and cafeteria
28.
Illuminated manuscript
–
An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented with such decoration as initials, borders and miniature illustrations. Comparable Far Eastern and Mesoamerican works are described as painted, islamic manuscripts may be referred to as illuminated, illustrated or painted, though using essentially the same techniques as Western works. This article covers the technical, social and economic history of the subject, for an art-historical account, the earliest surviving substantive illuminated manuscripts are from the period 400 to 600, produced in the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths and the Eastern Roman Empire. The significance of these works lies not only in their inherent artistic and historical value, had it not been for the monastic scribes of Late Antiquity, most literature of Greece and Rome would have perished in Europe. As it was, the patterns of textual survivals were shaped by their usefulness to the severely constricted literate group of Christians, the majority of surviving manuscripts are from the Middle Ages, although many survive from the Renaissance, along with a very limited number from Late Antiquity. The majority of manuscripts are of a religious nature. However, especially from the 13th century onward, a number of secular texts were illuminated. Most illuminated manuscripts were created as codices, which had superseded scrolls, a very few illuminated manuscript fragments survive on papyrus, which does not last nearly as long as vellum or parchment. Most medieval manuscripts, illuminated or not, were written on parchment, beginning in the late Middle Ages manuscripts began to be produced on paper. Illuminated manuscripts continued to be produced in the early 16th century, Manuscripts are among the most common items to survive from the Middle Ages, many thousands survive. They are also the best surviving specimens of medieval painting, indeed, for many areas and time periods, they are the only surviving examples of painting. There are a few examples from later periods, the type of book that was most often heavily and richly illuminated, sometimes known as a display book, varied between periods. In the first millennium, these were most likely to be Gospel Books, such as the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Romanesque period saw the creation of many huge illuminated complete Bibles – one in Sweden requires three librarians to lift it. Many Psalters were also illuminated in both this and the Gothic period. Finally, the Book of Hours, very commonly the personal book of a wealthy layperson, was often richly illuminated in the Gothic period. Other books, both liturgical and not, continued to be illuminated at all periods, the Byzantine world also continued to produce manuscripts in its own style, versions of which spread to other Orthodox and Eastern Christian areas. See Medieval art for other regions, periods and types, reusing parchments by scraping the surface and reusing them was a common practice, the traces often left behind of the original text are known as palimpsests. The Gothic period, which saw an increase in the production of these beautiful artifacts, also saw more secular works such as chronicles
29.
Realism (arts)
–
Realism in the arts is the attempt to represent subject matter truthfully, without artificiality and avoiding artistic conventions, implausible, exotic and supernatural elements. Realism has been prevalent in the arts at many periods, and is in part a matter of technique and training. In the visual arts, illusionistic realism is the depiction of lifeforms, perspective. Realist works of art may emphasize the mundane, ugly or sordid, such as works of realism, regionalism. There have been various movements in the arts, such as the opera style of verismo, literary realism, theatrical realism. The realism art movement in painting began in France in the 1850s, the realist painters rejected Romanticism, which had come to dominate French literature and art, with roots in the late 18th century. Realism is the precise, detailed and accurate representation in art of the appearance of scenes. Realism in this sense is also called naturalism, mimesis or illusionism, realistic art was created in many periods, and it is in large part a matter of technique and training, and the avoidance of stylization. It becomes especially marked in European painting in the Early Netherlandish painting of Jan van Eyck, however such realism is often used to depict, for example, angels with wings, which were not things the artists had ever seen in real life. It is the choice and treatment of matter that defines Realism as a movement in painting. The development of increasingly accurate representation of the appearances of things has a long history in art. It includes elements such as the depiction of the anatomy of humans and animals, of perspective and effects of distance. Ancient Greek art is recognised as having made great progress in the representation of anatomy. Pliny the Elders famous story of birds pecking at grapes painted by Zeuxis in the 5th century BC may well be a legend, roman portraiture, when not under too much Greek influence, shows a greater commitment to a truthful depiction of its subjects. The art of Late Antiquity famously rejected illusionism for expressive force, scientific methods of representing perspective were developed in Italy and gradually spread across Europe, and accuracy in anatomy rediscovered under the influence of classical art. As in classical times, idealism remained the norm, intriguingly, having led the development of illusionic painting, still life was to be equally significant in its abandonment in Cubism. The depiction of ordinary, everyday subjects in art also has a history, though it was often squeezed into the edges of compositions. However these objects are at least largely there because they carry layers of complex significance, pieter Bruegel the Elder pioneered large panoramic scenes of peasant life
30.
Northern Renaissance
–
The Northern Renaissance was the Renaissance that occurred in Europe north of the Alps. Before 1497, Italian Renaissance humanism had little influence outside Italy, from the late 15th century, its ideas spread around Europe. In France, King Francis I imported Italian art, commissioned Venetian artists, writers and humanists such as Rabelais, Pierre de Ronsard and Desiderius Erasmus were greatly influenced by the Italian Renaissance model and were part of the same intellectual movement. During the English Renaissance writers such as William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe composed works of lasting influence, the Renaissance was brought to Poland directly from Italy by artists from Florence and the Low Countries, starting the Polish Renaissance. In some areas the Northern Renaissance was distinct from the Italian Renaissance in its centralization of political power, while Italy and Germany were dominated by independent city-states, most of Europe began emerging as nation-states or even unions of countries. Feudalism had dominated Europe for a thousand years, but was on the decline at the beginning of the Renaissance, as in Italy, the decline of feudalism opened the way for the cultural, social, and economic changes associated with the Renaissance in Europe. Finally, the Renaissance in Europe would also be kindled by a weakening of the Roman Catholic Church, the slow demise of feudalism also weakened a long-established policy in which church officials helped keep the population of the manor under control in return for tribute. Consequently, the early 15th century saw the rise of secular institutions. Among the most significant of these, humanism, would lay the grounds for much of Renaissance art, music. Desiderius Erasmus, for example, was important in spreading humanist ideas in the north, forms of artistic expression which a century ago would have been banned by the church were now tolerated or even encouraged in certain circles. The velocity of transmission of the Renaissance throughout Europe can also be ascribed to the invention of the printing press and its power to disseminate knowledge enhanced scientific research, spread political ideas and generally impacted the course of the Renaissance in northern Europe. As in Italy, the press increased the availability of books written in both vernacular languages and the publication of new and ancient classical texts in Greek and Latin. Furthermore, the Bible became widely available in translation, a factor often attributed to the spread of the Protestant Reformation, one of the most important technological development of the Renaissance was the invention of the caravel. This combination of European and African ship building technologies for the first time made extensive trade and these states all began to conduct extensive trade with Africa and Asia, and in the Americas began extensive colonisation activities. This period of exploration and expansion has become known as the Age of Discovery, eventually European power spread around the globe. The detailed realism of Early Netherlandish painting was greatly respected in Italy, around the same time, Albrecht Dürer made his two trips to Italy, where he was greatly admired for his prints. Dürer, in turn, was influenced by the art he saw there, Northern painters in the 16th century increasingly looked and travelled to Rome, becoming known as the Romanists. The High Renaissance art of Michelangelo and Raphael and the late Renaissance stylistic tendencies of Mannerism that were in vogue had a impact on their work
31.
Panel painting
–
A panel painting is a painting made on a flat panel made of wood, either a single piece, or a number of pieces joined together. Panel painting is very old, it was a very prestigious medium in Greece and Rome, a series of 6th century BC painted tablets from Pitsa represent the oldest surviving Greek panel paintings. Most classical Greek paintings that were famous in their day seem to have been of a size comparable to modern works - perhaps up to a half-length portrait size. We can only attempt to imagine what these looked like from some detailed literary descriptions, the Severan Tondo, also from Egypt is one of the handful of non-funerary Graeco-Roman specimens to survive. Encaustic and tempera are the two used in antiquity. Encaustic largely ceased to be used after the early Byzantine icons, the earliest forms of panel painting were dossals, altar fronts and crucifixes. All were painted with images, commonly the Christ or the Virgin, with the saints appropriate to the dedication of the church. Donor portraits including members of the family are also often shown. Painted panels for altars are most numerous in Spain, especially Catalonia, the 13th and 14th centuries in Italy were a great period of panel painting, mostly altarpieces or other religious works. However, it is estimated that of all the paintings produced there,99.9 percent have been lost. The vast majority of Early Netherlandish paintings are on panel, and these include most of the earliest portraits, such as those by Jan van Eyck, and some other secular scenes. However, one of the earliest surviving oils on canvas is a French Madonna with angels of about 1410 in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, which is very early indeed for oil painting also. By the 15th century with the wealth of Europe, and later the appearance of humanism. Secular art opened the way to the creation of chests, painted beds, birth trays, many such works are now detached and hung framed on walls in museums. Many double-sided wings of altarpieces have also been sawn into two one-sided panels, canvas took over from panel in Italy by the first half of the 16th century, a change led by Mantegna and the artists of Venice. His panels are of notoriously complicated construction, containing as many as seventeen pieces of wood, for smaller cabinet paintings, copper sheets were another rival support, from the end of the 16th century, used by many artists including Adam Elsheimer. Many Dutch painters of the Golden Age used panel for their small works, by the 18th century it had become unusual to paint on panel, except for small works to be inset into furniture, and the like. But, for example, The National Gallery in London has two Goya portraits on panel, many other painting traditions also painted, and still paint, on wood, but the term is usually only used to refer to the Western tradition described above
32.
The Cloisters
–
The Cloisters is a museum in Upper Manhattan, New York City specializing in European medieval architecture, sculpture and decorative arts. Its early collection was built by the American sculptor, art dealer and collector George Grey Barnard, Rockefeller extended the collection and in 1931 purchased the site at Washington Heights and contracted the design for a new building that was to become the Cloisters. The museum today is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and its architectural and artistic works are largely from the Romanesque and Gothic periods. Its four cloisters, the Cuxa, Bonnefont, Trie and Saint-Guilhem cloisters, were sourced from French monasteries, between 1934 and 1939 they were excavated and reconstructed in Washington Heights, in a large project overseen by the architect Charles Collens. They are surrounded by a series of chapels and rooms grouped by period and source location. The design, layout and ambiance of the building is intended to evoke in visitors a sense of the Medieval European monastic life through its distinctive architecture, the area around the buildings contains reconstructed early medieval gardens. Barnards collection was purchased along with a pieces from Rockefellers holdings and these became the foundation and core of the Cloisters collection. The Cloisters and the adjacent 4 acres gardens are situated in Fort Tryon Park, construction took place over a five-year period beginning in 1934. He also bought several hundred acres of the New Jersey Palisades and this land is now part of the Palisades Interstate Park. Rockefeller was impacted by the depression of the early 1930s. The Cloisters building was designed by Charles Collens, and incorporated elements from the five cloistered abbeys of Catalan, Occitan, in 1988, the Treasury Gallery within the Cloisters, containing objects used for liturgical celebrations, personal devotions, and secular uses, was renovated. Other galleries were refurbished in 1998 and 1999, the Cloisters is a well-known New York City landmark and has been used as a filming location. In 1948, the filmmaker Maya Deren used its ramparts as a backdrop for her experimental film Meditation on Violence, in the same year, German director William Dieterle used the Cloisters as the location for a convent school in his film Portrait of Jennie. The 1968 film Coogans Bluff used the sites pathways and lanes for a motorcycle chase. The museum contains architecture elements and settings relocated mostly from four French medieval abbeys, between 1934 and 1939 they were transported, reconstructed and integrated with new buildings, in a project overseen by the architect Charles Collens. The exterior building is influenced by and contains elements from the 13th century church at Saint-Geraud at Monsempron, France and it was primarily designed by Collins, who took influence from Bernards original Cloisters Museum. The exterior contains stone from a number of European sources, and was built from 1935, primarily from limestone and it includes four Gothic windows from the refectory at Sens, and nine arcades from a priory at Firiory. The bulbous Fuentidueña Chapel was especially difficult to fit into the area, the Cuxa Cloisters are located on the south side of the building and structurally and thematically are the museums centerpiece
33.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
–
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially the Met, is located in New York City and is the largest art museum in the United States, and is among the most visited art museums in the world. Its permanent collection contains two million works, divided among seventeen curatorial departments. The main building, on the edge of Central Park along Manhattans Museum Mile, is by area one of the worlds largest art galleries. A much smaller second location, The Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan, contains a collection of art, architecture. On March 18,2016, the museum opened the Met Breuer museum at Madison Avenue in the Upper East Side, it extends the museums modern, the Met maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, Indian, and Islamic art. The museum is home to collections of musical instruments, costumes and accessories, as well as antique weapons. Several notable interiors, ranging from first-century Rome through modern American design, are installed in its galleries, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in 1870. The founders included businessmen and financiers, as well as leading artists and thinkers of the day and it opened on February 20,1872, and was originally located at 681 Fifth Avenue. The Met maintains extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanian, Byzantine, the museum is also home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, costumes and accessories, and antique weapons and armor from around the world. A number of interiors, ranging from 1st century Rome through modern American design, are permanently installed in the Mets galleries. In addition to its permanent exhibitions, the Met organizes and hosts traveling shows throughout the year. The director of the museum is Thomas P. Campbell, a long-time curator and it was announced on February 28th,2017 that Campbell will be stepping down as the Mets director and CEO, effective June. On March 1st,2017 the BBC reported that Daniel Weiss shall be the acting CEO until a replacement is found, Beginning in the late 19th century, the Met started to acquire ancient art and artifacts from the Near East. From a few tablets and seals, the Mets collection of Near Eastern art has grown to more than 7,000 pieces. The highlights of the include a set of monumental stone lamassu, or guardian figures. The Mets Department of Arms and Armor is one of the museums most popular collections. Among the collections 14,000 objects are many pieces made for and used by kings and princes, including armor belonging to Henry VIII of England, Henry II of France, Rockefeller donated his more than 3, 000-piece collection to the museum. The Mets Asian department holds a collection of Asian art, of more than 35,000 pieces, the collection dates back almost to the founding of the museum, many of the philanthropists who made the earliest gifts to the museum included Asian art in their collections
34.
Frankfurt
–
The city is at the centre of the larger Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, which has a population of 5.8 million and is Germanys second-largest metropolitan region after Rhine-Ruhr. Since the enlargement of the European Union in 2013, the centre of the EU is about 40 km to the east of Frankfurts CBD. Frankfurt is culturally and ethnically diverse, with half of the population. A quarter of the population are foreign nationals, including many expatriates, Frankfurt is an alpha world city and a global hub for commerce, culture, education, tourism and traffic. Its the site of many global and European headquarters, Frankfurt Airport is among the worlds busiest. Automotive, technology and research, services, consulting, media, Frankfurts DE-CIX is the worlds largest internet exchange point. Messe Frankfurt is one of the worlds largest trade fairs, major fairs include the Frankfurt Motor Show, the worlds largest motor show, the Music Fair, and the Frankfurt Book Fair, the worlds largest book fair. Frankfurt is home to educational institutions, including the Goethe University, the UAS, the FUMPA. Its renowned cultural venues include the concert hall Alte Oper, Europes largest English Theatre and many museums, Frankfurts skyline is shaped by some of Europes tallest skyscrapers. In sports, the city is known as the home of the top football club Eintracht Frankfurt, the basketball club Frankfurt Skyliners, the Frankfurt Marathon. Its the seat of German sport unions for Olympics, football, Frankfurt is the largest financial centre in continental Europe. It is home to the European Central Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is one of the worlds largest stock exchanges by market capitalization and accounts for more than 90 percent of the turnover in the German market. Frankfurt is considered a city as listed by the GaWC groups 2012 inventory. Among global cities it was ranked 10th by the Global Power City Index 2011, among financial centres it was ranked 8th by the International Financial Centers Development Index 2013 and 9th by the Global Financial Centres Index 2013. Its central location within Germany and Europe makes Frankfurt a major air, rail, Frankfurt Airport is one of the worlds busiest international airports by passenger traffic and the main hub for Germanys flag carrier Lufthansa. Frankfurter Kreuz, the Autobahn interchange close to the airport, is the most heavily used interchange in the EU, in 2011 human-resource-consulting firm Mercer ranked Frankfurt as seventh in its annual Quality of Living survey of cities around the world. According to The Economist cost-of-living survey, Frankfurt is Germanys most expensive city, Frankfurt has many high-rise buildings in the city centre, forming the Frankfurt skyline. It is one of the few cities in the European Union to have such a skyline and because of it Germans sometimes refer to Frankfurt as Mainhattan, the other well known and obvious nickname is Bankfurt
35.
Nativity (Campin)
–
Nativity is a 1420 panel painting by the Early Netherlandish painter Robert Campin. The work is noted for distilling three episodes from the life of Christ into a panel, rather than presenting them in triptych format. The scenes are, from left to right, the birth of Christ, the Adoration of the Magi, in this Campin abandons the traditional narrative. The Virgin is presented as in her teens, Joseph as an older man. Four angels hover above them, holding gifts, two of them hold a banner with lettering addressed to midwives in the lower portion of the panel, it reads Tangue puerum et sanabaris. From the little record we have of Campin, he was a pioneer and innovator of painting. The hut is slanted compared to the outline of the frame, Campin places a landscape complete with a view of a lake beyond of the stable, just above the two midwives. Reinforcing the idea of redemption, Salome is given a prominent position, the panel is housed in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon. At the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon
36.
Courtauld Institute of Art
–
The Courtauld Institute of Art, commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious institutions in the world for these disciplines and is known for the disproportionate number of directors of major museums drawn from its small body of alumni. The art collection of the Institute is known particularly for its French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings and is housed in the Courtauld Gallery, the Institute and the Gallery are both in Somerset House, in the Strand in London. Originally the Courtauld Institute was based in Home House, a Robert Adam-designed townhouse in Londons Portman Square, the Strand block of Somerset House, designed by William Chambers from 1775–1780, has housed the Courtauld Institute since 1989. The Courtauld celebrated its 75th anniversary during the 2007–08 academic year, the Courtauld Institute of Art is the major centre for the study of the history and conservation of art and architecture in the United Kingdom. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate teaching to around 400 students each year, degrees are awarded by the University of London. The Independent has called it probably the most prestigious specialist college for the study of the history of art in the world, the Courtauld was ranked, again, first in the United Kingdom for History and History of Art in The Guardian’s 2017 University Guide. The only undergraduate course offered by the Courtauld is a BA in the History of Art and this is a full-time course designed to introduce students to all aspects of the study of western art. Students in the history of art masters programme have to choose a specialisation ranging from antiquity to modern to global contemporary artwork. Special options are taught in class sizes of 5–10 students. In 2009, it was decided that the Witt Library would not continue to add new material to the collection, the book library is one of the UKs largest archives of art history books, periodicals and exhibition catalogues. There is a library which also covers films, and an IT suite. Two other websites and sell high resolution digital files to scholars, publishers and broadcasters, the Courtauld uses a virtual learning environment to deliver course material to its students. Since 2004, the Courtauld has published a research journal, immediations. Each cover of the journal has been commissioned by a contemporary artist. The art collection of the Institute is housed in the Courtauld Gallery, the collection was begun by the founder of the Institute, Samuel Courtauld, who presented an extensive collection of mainly French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings in 1932. It was enhanced by further gifts in the 1930s and a bequest in 1948, the Gallery contains some 530 paintings and over 26,000 drawings and prints. The Courtauld Gallery is open to the public, since 1989 it has been housed in the Strand block of Somerset House, which was the first home of the Royal Academy, founded in 1768
37.
Annunciation
–
Gabriel told Mary to name her son Yehoshua, meaning YHWH is salvation. According to Luke 1,26, the Annunciation occurred in the month of Elizabeths pregnancy with John the Baptist. Many Christians observe this event with the Feast of the Annunciation on 25 March, an approximation of the vernal equinox nine full months before Christmas. In England, this came to be known as Lady Day and it marked the new year until 1752. The 2nd-century writer Irenaeus of Lyon regarded the conception of Jesus as 25 March coinciding with the Passion, the Annunciation has been a key topic in Christian art in general, as well as in Marian art in the Catholic Church, particularly during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. A work of art depicting the Annunciation is sometimes called an Annunciation. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured,29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary,31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be,36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing shall be impossible,38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her,19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS,35 In answer the angel said to her, Holy spirit will come upon you, and power of the Most High will overshadow you. And for that reason the one who is born will be called holy, manuscript 4Q246 of the Dead Sea Scrolls reads, shall be great upon the earth. O king, all people shall make peace, and all shall serve him and he shall be called the son of the Great God, and by his name shall he be hailed as the Son of God, and they shall call him Son of the Most High. It has been suggested that the similarity in content is such that Lukes version may in some way be dependent on the Qumran text, the Annunciation is described in the Quran, in Sura 003,045 verses 45–51,45 Behold. Muslim tradition holds that the Annunciation took place during the month of Ramadan, in Greek, the Annunciation is known as the Good Tidings or Evangelism. In the Orthodox Churches that use a new style Calendar, the feast is celebrated on March 25, in churches using the old style Julian calendar, the feast day is April 7. The traditional hymn for the feast of the Annunciation goes back to St Athanasius, indeed, the Divine Liturgy is celebrated on Great and Holy Friday only when the latter coincides with the feast of the Annunciation
38.
Gabriel
–
Gabriel, in the Abrahamic religions, is an angel who typically serves as Gods messenger. Gabriel is mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, in the Old Testament, he appears to the prophet Daniel, explaining Daniels visions. In the Gospel of Luke, Gabriel appeared to Zechariah and the Virgin Mary, foretelling the births of John the Baptist and Jesus, respectively. In the Book of Daniel, he is referred to as the man Gabriel, while in the Gospel of Luke, Gabriel is not called an archangel in the Bible, but is so called in Intertestamental period sources like the Book of Enoch. In the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican churches, the archangels Michael, Raphael, in Islam, Gabriel is considered an archangel whom God is believed to have sent with revelation to various prophets, including Muhammad. The 96th chapter of the Quran, The Clot, is believed by Muslims to have been the first chapter revealed by Gabriel to Muhammad, in the LDS Faith, The Angel Gabriel was The Prophet Noah, and Michael the Archangel was the Prophet Adam in their Mortal Ministries. Jewish rabbis interpreted the man in linen as Gabriel in the Book of Daniel, in the Book of Daniel, Gabriel is responsible for interpreting Daniels visions. Gabriels main function in Daniel is that of revealer, a role he continues in later literature, in the Book of Ezekiel, Gabriel is understood to be the angel that was sent to destroy Jerusalem. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, Gabriel takes the form of a man, shimon ben Lakish concluded that the angelic names of Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel came out of the Babylonian exile. In Kabbalah, Gabriel is identified with the sephirot of Yesod, Gabriel also has a prominent role as one of Gods archangels in the Kabbalah literature. There, Gabriel is portrayed as working in concert with Michael as part of Gods court, Gabriel is not to be prayed to because only God can answer prayers and sends Gabriel as his agent. According to Jewish mythology, in the Garden of Eden there is a tree of life or the tree of souls that blossoms and produces new souls, which fall into the Guf, Gabriel reaches into the treasury and takes out the first soul that comes into his hand. Then Lailah, the Angel of Conception, watches over the embryo until it is born, the intertestamental period produced a wealth of literature, much of it having an apocalyptic orientation. The names and ranks of angels and devils were greatly expanded, and each had particular duties and status before God. In 1 Enoch 9, 1–3, Gabriel, along with Michael, Uriel and Suriel, saw much blood being shed upon the earth and heard the souls of men cry, Bring our cause before the Most High. —1 Enoch 10,9 Gabriel is the fifth of the five angels who watch, Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who is over Paradise and the serpents. And these are the four angels of the Lord of Spirits, the angel Gabriel is mentioned in Daniel 8, 16-26 and 9, 20-27. Gabriel, one who looked like a man, interprets Daniels visions, Gabriel speaks to Daniel while he is in a deep sleep, and Daniel is tired and sick for days after being with Gabriel
39.
Hermitage Museum
–
The State Hermitage Museum is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums in the world, it was founded in 1754 by Catherine the Great and has open to the public since 1852. Its collections, of only a small part is on permanent display. The collections occupy a complex of six historic buildings along Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace. Apart from them, the Menshikov Palace, Museum of Porcelain, Storage Facility at Staraya Derevnya, the museum has several exhibition centers abroad. The Hermitage is a state property. Since July 1992, the director of the museum has been Mikhail Piotrovsky, of the six buildings in the main museum complex, five, namely the Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage, New Hermitage and Hermitage Theatre, are open to the public. The entrance ticket for foreign tourists more than the fee paid by citizens of Russia. However, entrance is free of charge the first Thursday of every month for all visitors, the museum is closed on Mondays. The entrance for visitors is located in the Winter Palace. A hermitage is the dwelling of a hermit or recluse, the word derives from Old French hermit, ermit hermit, recluse, from Late Latin eremita, from Greek eremites, literally people who live alone, which is in turn derived from ἐρημός, desert. Originally, the building housing the collection was the Small Hermitage. Today, the Hermitage Museum encompasses many buildings on the Palace Embankment, apart from the Small Hermitage, the museum now also includes the Old Hermitage, the New Hermitage, the Hermitage Theatre, and the Winter Palace, the former main residence of the Russian tsars. In recent years, the Hermitage has expanded to the General Staff Building on the Palace Square facing the Winter Palace, the Western European Art collection includes European paintings, sculpture, and applied art from the 13th to the 20th centuries. It is displayed, in about 120 rooms, on the first, drawings and prints are displayed in temporary exhibitions. Since 1940, the Egyptian collection, dating back to 1852 and it serves as a passage to the exhibition of Classical Antiquities. A modest collection of the culture of Ancient Mesopotamia, including a number of Assyrian reliefs from Babylon, Dur-Sharrukin, the collection of Classical Antiquities occupies most of the ground floor of the Old and New Hermitage buildings. Its floor is made of a marble mosaic imitating ancient tradition, while the stucco walls
40.
Dilsen-Stokkem
–
Dilsen-Stokkem is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On January 1,2006, Dilsen-Stokkem had a population of 19,106. The total area is 65.61 km² which gives a density of 291 inhabitants per km². The municipality consists of the following sub-municipalities, Dilsen, Elen, Lanklaar, Rotem, luca Brecel, professional snooker player Jacky Mathijssen, football player and manager Jos Vaessen Sonja Doumen Media related to Dilsen-Stokkem at Wikimedia Commons Official website
41.
Meuse
–
The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea. It has a length of 925 km. Its lower Belgian portion, part of the sillon industriel, was the first fully industrialized area in continental Europe. The Meuse and its crossings were a key objective of the last major German WWII counter-offensive on the Western Front, the Meuse River is represented in the documentary The River People released in 2012 by Xavier Istasse. The name Meuse is derived from the French name of the river, the Dutch name Maas descends from Middle Dutch Mase, which comes from the presumed but unattested Old Dutch form *Masa, from Proto-Germanic *Masō. Only modern Dutch preserves this Germanic form, however, despite the similarity, the Germanic name is not derived from the Latin name, judging from the change from earlier o into a, which is characteristic of the Germanic languages. Therefore, both the Latin and Germanic names were derived from a Proto-Celtic source, which would have been *Mosā. The Meuse rises in Pouilly-en-Bassigny, commune of Le Châtelet-sur-Meuse on the Langres plateau in France from where it flows northwards past Sedan, at Namur it is joined by the River Sambre. Beyond Namur the Meuse winds eastwards, skirting the Ardennes, the river then forms part of the Belgian-Dutch border, except that at Maastricht the border lies further to the west. The river has been divided near Heusden into the Afgedamde Maas on the right, the Bergse Maas continues under the name of Amer, which is part of De Biesbosch. Near Lage Zwaluwe, the Nieuwe Merwede joins the Amer, forming the Hollands Diep, between Maastricht and Maasbracht, an unnavigable section of the Meuse is bypassed by the 36 km Juliana Canal. South of Namur, further upstream, the river can carry more modest vessels. From Givet, the river is canalized over a distance of 272 kilometres, the canalized Meuse used to be called the Canal de lEst — Branche Nord but was recently rebaptized into Canal de la Meuse. The waterway can be used by the smallest barges that are still in use commercially, just upstream of the town of Commercy, the Canal de la Meuse connects with the Marne–Rhine Canal by means of a short diversion canal. The Cretaceous sea reptile Mosasaur is named after the river Meuse, the first fossils of it were discovered outside Maastricht 1780. An international agreement was signed in 2002 in Ghent, Belgium about the management of the river amongst France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, also participating in the agreement were the Belgian regional governments of Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels. Most of the area is in Wallonia, followed by France. An International Commission on the Meuse has the responsibility of the implementation of the treaty, the map of the basin area of Meuse was joined to the text of the treaty
42.
Maasmechelen
–
Maasmechelen is a municipality located on the Meuse river in the Belgian province of Limburg. It comprises the municipalities of Mechelen-aan-de-Maas, Vucht, Leut, Meeswijk, Uikhoven, Eisden, Opgrimbie, Boorsem. As a result of both Maasmechelen’s location near the border and its coalmining history quite a few of its current inhabitants are from Dutch, German, Eastern European or Mediterranean origin. The plateau of Campine was built up during the ice age deposits of sand. In Roman times, this region was at the border between the provinces of Gallia Belgica and Germania Inferior, the main Roman road crossed the river near Maastricht, to the south. Settlements were built where Maasmechelen lies today to service the garrison that was maintained to protect the bridge in Maastricht, the few centuries that followed the fall of the Roman Empire were marked by a sharp decline in travel and trade. The Franks were now the new masters of the land, international commercial activities resumed on the river around the 7th century. This was also a time when the river progressively moved eastward, the Roman colonies that were originally built on the right bank of the river now found themselves on the left bank. The abundance of streams and wetlands favoured stockbreeding over agriculture, the feudal system and the practice of paying civil servants with land resulted in endless territory subdivisions. Some parcels, including Mechelen-aan-de-Maas and parts of Opgrimbie, were given to the abbey of Saint Servatius in Maastricht, other parcels came into the hands of local lords, who pledged allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor. Yet other parts of the territory came into the possession of religious communities. Churches and cloisters were built and enlarged to accommodate a growing population, during the 19th century, the area had still an unmistakable rural character. On May 20,1901, André Dumont found commercial-grade coal in neighbouring As and this led to the exploitation of coal mines in Eisden from 1923 to 1987. A garden city and a new church dedicated to Saint Barbara, the industrial development attracted workers from all over Europe, which accounts for the numerous international restaurants still found today in Eisden. The largest part of the natural reservation Nationaal Park Hoge Kempen is located on Maasmechelen’s territory and it was established to protect the unique fauna and flora of the plateau of Campine. The Eisdense cité, a 20th-century garden city with typical cottage-like houses in a park setting, one of the houses has been converted into a museum. Maasmechelen Village, a shopping center was built near the old mining district. In 2010,2.5 million visitors were counted, a functional windmill dating from 1801 was recently restored and is open to the public every other Sunday
43.
Maaseik
–
Maaseik is a town and municipality in the Belgian province of Limburg. Both in size as in population, it is the 8th largest municipality in Limburg, the town is the seat of the administrative arrondissement of Maaseik. Internationally, Maaseik is known as the birthplace of the famous Flemish painters Jan. The town of Maaseik is located on the bank of the river Meuse. For this reason the river is called Grensmaas here, two smaller rivers, the Bosbeek and the Zanderbeek, flow into the Meuse near Maaseik. Because of its location in the Meuse valley, Maaseik has mostly fertile soils, the northwestern part of the municipality is situated on the plain of Bocholt and has less fertile soils. The Meuse valley at Maaseik is about 4 kilometers wide, Maaseik has mostly been safeguarded of floods by its slightly elevated position on a fluvial terrace. The riverbed has moved eastwards considerably over the centuries and has left several anabranches, meanders, an old anabranche of the Meuse can be seen in Heppeneert, a hamlet south of Maaseik. Deposition of sediments occurred on the edges of the meanders. For many decades gravel has been extracted from the area, resulting in a multitude of disused gravel pits, the Maaseik municipality includes the town of Maaseik and the sub-municipalities of Neeroeteren and Opoeteren. Smaller villages and hamlets include Aldeneik, Heppeneert, Wurfeld, t Ven, Gremelslo, Berg, Schootsheide, Voorshoven, Waterloos, De Riet, as its name would suggest, Aldeneik is older than Maaseik. Although most toponyms with the affix -eik refer to a landscape with oaks, it is possible that it is derived from the German word Ecke. Old corner or bend may in that case be linked to the fact that historically, an oaktree, however, is present in the towns coat of arms, which includes three crosses and a fish. According to tradition, Aldeneik Abbey was established by Adelard, a local Frankish lord, around 700 AD and his two daughters, Herlindis and Relindis, both became abbesses of the monastery and eventually became saints. The abbey at Aldeneik soon became the center of a village community. The abbey probably suffered destruction by the Vikings in the 9th century, around 950, emperor Otto I gave the restored monastery to the bishop of Liège, who turned it into a religious chapter for canons. The reason for this reform may have been that there were several religious institutions for noble women in the area, Susteren Abbey, Thorn Abbey. Aldeneik Abbey was abandoned at the beginning of the 80-Year War but the chapter continued in Nieuw-Eycke, the town of Maaseik was probably founded around 1000, perhaps by the canons of nearby Aldeneik
44.
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
_MET_DP273206.jpg)
.jpg)
Media related to Robert Campin at Wikimedia Commons