1.
Jacques-Louis David
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Jacques-Louis David was a French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the preeminent painter of the era. David later became a supporter of the French Revolution and friend of Maximilien Robespierre. Imprisoned after Robespierres fall from power, he aligned himself with yet another political regime upon his release, at this time he developed his Empire style, notable for its use of warm Venetian colours. After Napoleons fall from Imperial power and the Bourbon revival, David exiled himself to Brussels, then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, where he remained until his death. David had a number of pupils, making him the strongest influence in French art of the early 19th century. Jacques-Louis David was born into a family in Paris on 30 August 1748. When he was nine his father was killed in a duel. He covered his notebooks with drawings, and he said, I was always hiding behind the instructors chair. Soon, he desired to be a painter, but his uncles and he overcame the opposition, and went to learn from François Boucher, the leading painter of the time, who was also a distant relative. Boucher was a Rococo painter, but tastes were changing, Boucher decided that instead of taking over Davids tutelage, he would send David to his friend, Joseph-Marie Vien, a painter who embraced the classical reaction to Rococo. There David attended the Royal Academy, based in what is now the Louvre, each year the Academy awarded an outstanding student the prestigious Prix de Rome, which funded a three- to five-year stay in the Eternal City. Each pensionnaire was lodged in the French Academys Roman outpost, which from the years 1737 to 1793 was the Palazzo Mancini in the Via del Corso. David competed for, and failed to win, the prize for three years, each failure contributing to his lifelong grudge against the institution. After his second loss in 1772, David went on a hunger strike, confident he now had the support and backing needed to win the prize, he resumed his studies with great zeal—only to fail to win the Prix de Rome again the following year. Finally, in 1774, David was awarded the Prix de Rome on the strength of his painting of Erasistratus Discovering the Cause of Antiochus Disease, a subject set by the judges. In October 1775 he made the journey to Italy with his mentor, Joseph-Marie Vien, while in Italy, David especially studied the works of 17th-century masters such as Poussin, Caravaggio, and the Carracci. Mengs principled, historicizing approach to the representation of classical subjects profoundly influenced Davids pre-revolutionary painting, such as The Vestal Virgin, mengs also introduced David to the theoretical writings on ancient sculpture by Johann Joachim Winckelmann, the German scholar held to be the founder of modern art history. In 1779, David toured the newly excavated ruins of Pompeii, while in Rome, David also assiduously studied the High Renaissance painters, Raphael making a profound and lasting impression on the young French artist
2.
National Gallery of Art
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The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D. C. located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was established in 1937 for the American people by a joint resolution of the United States Congress. Andrew W. Mellon donated an art collection and funds for construction. The Gallery often presents temporary special exhibitions spanning the world and the history of art and it is one of the largest museums in North America. In 1930 Mellon formed the A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, when quizzed by Abbot, he explained that the project was in the hands of the Trust and that its decisions were partly dependent on the attitude of the Government towards the gift. Designed by architect John Russell Pope, the new structure was completed and accepted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on behalf of the American people on March 17,1941. Neither Mellon nor Pope lived to see the completed, both died in late August 1937, only two months after excavation had begun. At the time of its inception it was the largest marble structure in the world, as anticipated by Mellon, the creation of the National Gallery encouraged the donation of other substantial art collections by a number of private donors. The Gallerys East Building was constructed in the 1970s on much of the land left over from the original congressional joint resolution. It was funded by Mellons children Paul Mellon and Ailsa Mellon Bruce, designed by famed architect I. M. Pei, the contemporary structure was completed in 1978 and was opened on June 1 of that year by President Jimmy Carter. The new building was built to house the Museums collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures. The design received a National Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects in 1981, the final addition to the complex is the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden. Completed and opened to the public on May 23,1999, the National Gallery of Art is supported through a private-public partnership. The United States federal government provides funds, through annual appropriations, to support the museums operations, all artwork, as well as special programs, are provided through private donations and funds. The museum is not part of the Smithsonian Institution, noted directors of the National Gallery have included David E. Finley, Jr. John Walker, and J. Carter Brown. Rusty Powell III is the current director, entry to both buildings of the National Gallery of Art is free of charge. From Monday through Saturday, the museum is open from 10 a. m. –5 p. m. it is open from 11 –6 p. m. on Sundays and it is closed on December 25 and January 1. The museum comprises two buildings, the West Building and the East Building linked by an underground passage
3.
Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
4.
Napoleon
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Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He won most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles, one of the greatest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide. Napoleons political and cultural legacy has ensured his status as one of the most celebrated and he was born Napoleone di Buonaparte in Corsica to a relatively modest family from the minor nobility. When the Revolution broke out in 1789, Napoleon was serving as an officer in the French army. Seizing the new opportunities presented by the Revolution, he rose through the ranks of the military. The Directory eventually gave him command of the Army of Italy after he suppressed a revolt against the government from royalist insurgents, in 1798, he led a military expedition to Egypt that served as a springboard to political power. He engineered a coup in November 1799 and became First Consul of the Republic and his ambition and public approval inspired him to go further, and in 1804 he became the first Emperor of the French. Intractable differences with the British meant that the French were facing a Third Coalition by 1805, in 1806, the Fourth Coalition took up arms against him because Prussia became worried about growing French influence on the continent. Napoleon quickly defeated Prussia at the battles of Jena and Auerstedt, then marched the Grand Army deep into Eastern Europe, France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807, bringing an uneasy peace to the continent. Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire, hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia and declared his brother Joseph the King of Spain in 1808. The Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support, the Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, and ended in victory for the Allies. The Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia, unwilling to bear the economic consequences of reduced trade, the Russians routinely violated the Continental System and enticed Napoleon into another war. The French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse of the Grand Army, the destruction of Russian cities, in 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France. A lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, the Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April. He was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power, however, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again. The Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June, the British exiled him to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died six years later at the age of 51
5.
Tuileries Palace
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The Tuileries Palace was a royal and imperial palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine. It was the usual Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from Henry IV to Napoleon III, built in 1564, it was gradually extended until it closed off the western end of the Louvre courtyard and displayed an immense façade of 266 metres. After the accidental death of Henry II of France in 1559 and she sold the medieval Hôtel des Tournelles, where her husband had died, and began building the palace of Tuileries in 1564, using architect Philibert de lOrme. The name derives from the tile kilns or tuileries which had occupied the site. The palace was formed by a range of long, narrow buildings. During the reign of Henry IV, the building was enlarged to the south, so it joined the long gallery, the Grande Galerie. During the reign of Louis XIV major changes were made to the Tuileries Palace, from 1659 to 1661 it was extended to the north by the addition of the Théâtre des Tuileries. From 1664 to 1666 the architect Louis Le Vau and his assistant François dOrbay made other significant changes, a new grand staircase was installed in the entrance of the north wing of the palace, and lavishly decorated royal apartments were constructed in the south wing. The kings rooms were on the floor, facing toward the Louvre. At the same time, Louis gardener, André Le Nôtre, the Court moved into the Tuileries Palace in November 1667, but left in 1672, and soon thereafter went to the Palace of Versailles. The Tuileries Palace was virtually abandoned and used only as a theatre, the boy-king Louis XV was moved from Versailles to the Tuileries Palace on 1 January 1716, four months after ascending to the throne. He moved back to Versailles on 15 June 1722, three months before his coronation, both moves were made at the behest of the Regent, the duc dOrléans. The king also resided at the Tuileries for short periods during the 1740s, on 6 October 1789, during the French Revolution, Louis XVI and his family were forced to leave Versailles and brought to the Tuileries where they were kept under surveillance. For the next two years the palace remained the residence of the king. The Tuileries covered riding ring, the Salle du Manège, home to the royal equestrian academy, the royal family tried to escape after dark, on 20 June 1791, but were captured at Varennes and brought back to the Tuileries. The Paris National Guard defended the King, but the daughter of King Louis XVI claimed that many of the guard were already in favor of the revolution, in November 1792, the Armoire de fer incident took place at the Tuileries palace. This was the discovery of a place at the royal apartments. The incident created a scandal that served to discredit the King
6.
Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton
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Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton, 7th Duke of Brandon KG PC FRS FSA was a Scottish politician and art collector. Born on 3 October 1767 at St. Jamess Square, London, Hamilton was a Whig, and his political career began in 1802, when he became MP for Lancaster. He received the titles at his fathers death in 1819. He was Lord High Steward at King William IVs coronation in 1831 and Queen Victorias coronation in 1838 and he became a Knight of the Garter in 1836. He held the office of Grand Master of the Freemasons between 1820 and 1822 and he held the office of President of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland between 1827 and 1831. He held the office of Trustee of the British Museum between 1834 and 1852 and he married Susan Euphemia Beckford, daughter of William Thomas Beckford and Lady Margaret Gordon, daughter of Charles Gordon, 4th Earl of Aboyne, on 26 April 1810 in London, England. Beckford was the son of a Lord Mayor of London, William Beckford and his wife Maria Hamilton, Hamilton was a well-known dandy of his day. An obituary notice states that timidity and variableness of temperament prevented his rendering much service to, with a great predisposition to over-estimate the importance of ancient birth. He well deserved to be considered the proudest man in England and he also supported Napoleon and commissioned the painting The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries by Jacques-Louis David. He was always dressed in a military laced undress coat, tights and Hessian boots, Lady Stafford in letters to her son mentioned his great Coat, long Queue, and Fingers coverd with gold Rings, and his foreign appearance. According to another obituary, this time in Gentlemans Magazine he had an intense family pride, Hamilton had a strong interest in Ancient Egyptian mummies, and was so impressed with the work of mummy expert Thomas Pettigrew that he arranged for Pettigrew to mummify him after his death. He died on 18 August 1852 at age 84 at 12 Portman Square, London, England and was buried on 4 September 1852 at Hamilton Palace, Hamilton, Scotland. At the same time he had acquired the sarcophagus of Pabasa, in 1842 Hamilton had begun construction of the Hamilton Mausoleum as repository for the overcrowded family vault at the Palace. His collection of paintings, objects, books and manuscripts was sold for £397,562 in July 1882, the manuscripts were purchased by the German government for £80,000. Some were repurchased by the British government and are now in the British Museum, hansard 1803–2005, contributions in Parliament by the Duke of Hamilton Portrait The Peerage. com Genealogics. org
7.
Hamilton Palace
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Hamilton Palace was a large country house located north-east of Hamilton in Lanarkshire, Scotland. The former seat of the Dukes of Hamilton, it was built in 1695, widely acknowledged as having been one of the grandest houses in Britain, the palace was demolished in 1927, due to the prohibitive cost of upkeep and the subsidence caused by nearby coal mines. A new North Front had been planned by the fifth Duke in the 1730s, the external plans were never executed, but Adam did redesign several important staterooms, with stucco work by Clayton. The tenth Duke, who succeeded in 1819, began a wave of total refurbishment and this included heraldic carvings in the main pediment over the entrance, carved by John Greenshields in 1822. The North Front itself was finally completed 1842 by architect David Hamilton using Adams original plans as a structure, carving was by the 16-year-old Patric Park. The north front was 265 feet long and 60 feet high, the state rooms, which included extensive stucco-work, were by Smith and Adam. This largely ensued from his wife Susan/Susannas inheritance of a huge collection from her father William Thomas Beckford. A sumptuous chimneypiece by William Morgan adorned the Dining Rooms fireplace, Hamilton Palace stood at the centre of extensive parklands which, as the main axis, had a great north–south tree-lined avenue over three miles in length. Adam also added a very grand dog kennels at the time to hold dogs for the hunts. The decline began in 1882 when William, the twelfth Duke, after the thirteenth Duke lent his home for use as a naval hospital during World War I, the state of the palace was one of severe neglect necessitating vast sums for restoration. It was returned from use in 1919, but by this time the Duke preferred the smaller. At this time the magazine Country Life featured a number of articles on the palace, as such they represent an invaluable record of the house before the massive sale of contents and fittings, and its demolition in 1921. The Rubens Daniel in the Lions Den is now in The National Gallery of Art, the site of the palace is now occupied by the Hamilton Palace Sports Grounds. Most of the grounds were incorporated into Strathclyde Country Park. When the park was being constructed in 1974, vaulted cellars were discovered which may have belonged to the original house, however, these were not excavated but instead infilled with rubble. Several metres of wrought iron railing from the grounds can be seen outside Hamilton College. Some of the fittings, and photographs of the interior, can be viewed in the Low Parks Museum in Hamilton. The dining room from Hamilton Palace is on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in the European period rooms, where it remains the only extant, assembled room from the Palace
8.
Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery
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Between the death of his father, in 1851, and the death of his grandfather, the 4th Earl, in 1868, he was known by the courtesy title of Lord Dalmeny. Rosebery first came to attention in 1879–1880 by sponsoring the successful Midlothian campaign of William Ewart Gladstone. He briefly was in charge of Scottish affairs and this finest performance in office came as chairman of the London County Council in 1889. He entered the cabinet in 1885 and served twice as minister, paying special attention to French. He succeeded Gladstone as prime minister and leader of the Liberal party in 1894 and he resigned the party leadership in 1896 and never again held political office. He was widely known as a brilliant orator, a sportsman and marksman. All of these activities attracted him more politics, which grew boring. Furthermore, he drifted to the right of the Liberal party, winston Churchill, observing that he never adapted to democratic electoral competition, quipped, He would not stoop, he did not conquer. Rosebery was a Liberal Imperialist who favoured strong national defence and imperialism abroad and social reform at home, historians judge him a failure as foreign minister and as prime minister. Archibald Philip Primrose was born on 7 May 1847 in his parents house in Charles Street, Mayfair and his father was Archibald Primrose, Lord Dalmeny, son and heir apparent to Archibald Primrose, 4th Earl of Rosebery, whom he predeceased. Lord Dalmeny was a title used by the Earls eldest son and heir apparent, during the Earls lifetime. Lord Dalmeny was MP for Stirling from 1832 to 1847 and served as First Lord of the Admiralty under Lord Melbourne. Roseberys mother was Lady Wilhelmina Stanhope, a historian who wrote under her second married name the Duchess of Cleveland. Lord Dalmeny died on 23 January 1851, having predeceased his father, when the title passed to his son. In 1854 his mother remarried to Lord Harry Vane, the relationship between mother and son was very poor. His elder and favourite sister Lady Leconfield was the wife of Henry Wyndham, Dalmeny attended preparatory schools in Hertfordshire and Brighton and then Eton which he attended between 1860 and 1863, he then went to Brighton College between 1863 and 1865. His remarkable intellect, displayed in debates, attracted the attention of William Johnson Cory, michael Matthew Kaylors Secreted Desires, The Major Uranians, Hopkins, Pater and Wilde explores their personal relationship. Dalmeny proceeded to Christ Church, Oxford, through the years 1865 until 1869, remarkably the three Prime Ministers from 1880 to 1902, namely Gladstone, Salisbury and Rosebery, all attended both Eton and Christ Church
9.
Samuel Henry Kress
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Samuel Henry Kress was a businessman and philanthropist, founder of the S. H. Kress & Co. five and ten cent store chain. With his fortune, Kress amassed one of the most significant collections of Italian Renaissance, in the 1950s and 1960s, a foundation established by Kress would donate 776 works of art from the Kress collection to 18 regional art museums in the United States. Kress was born in the village of Cherryville, near Allentown, Pennsylvania and his father was a retail merchant. His siblings were Mary Conner Kress, Jennie Weston Kress, Palmer John Kress, Claude Washington Kress, another sibling, Elmer Kress, died ten days after birth. Kress never married or had children, young Kress worked in the stone quarries. Intelligent, energetic and precocious, he earned his credentials by the age of 17. His first position was instructor for a class of 80 students and he walked 3 miles each way to the schoolhouse. In 1887, Kress opened a stationery and notions store in Nanticoke, as the business prospered he used his profits to open additional stores, naming his chain S. H. Kress & Co. These eventually would become known as the Kress Five and Dime stores. Unlike many businessmen of his day who only opened their stores in urban areas. These stores became the jewel of many of cities, which only had a dry goods or general store until then. By the mid-1920s, he was living in a penthouse at 1020 Fifth Avenue in New York City, across the street from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and he was a major art collector, and created a foundation to hold and dispose of his vast art collection. Kress died in 1955 and is interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, S. H. Kress & Co. a chain of five and dime retail department stores, was started in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, by Samuel H. Kress in 1896. Eventually expanding to over 200 locations nationwide, Kress stores were long a familiar sight in many cities, the Kress chain was known for the fine architecture of the stores, with a number of locations being hailed by architects for their design. A number of former Kress stores, now put to uses, are ranked as landmarks. Some of the most well-known Kress locations included New York Citys Fifth Avenue, Canal Street, New Orleans, in 1964 ownership of Kress was acquired by Genesco, Inc. The company abandoned its center-city stores and moved to the shopping malls, Genesco began liquidating Kress and closing down the Kress stores in 1980. Kress was founder and president of the eponymous Samuel H. Kress Foundation, an avid art lover, he acquired, through art dealer Joseph Duveen, a collection of paintings and sculpture, primarily of the Italian Baroque school
David's The Emperor Napoleon In His Study at the Tuileries, Smarthistory[3]
