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This is going to be long but hey... its my 365th picture, so I am entitled to it right?
365 of 365 – that’s my 365 project done! But really? Was it a 365 project? Technically speaking and to be honest, NO... it wasn’t! A 365 project is where you take a shot every day for 365 days in a year. Of course, you are going to miss some days especially when you are doing it as a hobby and have a job, commitments etc but I would expect this rate to be less than 5%. I started my 365 on 1st April 2009 and it has taken me 511 days to complete it. Within that time, I had to take 2 breaks of about 2 months each to accommodate holidays, personal commitments and to take some time off from the 365! Even when I was doing the 365 I missed so many days that I can’t be bothered counting! So, I really, really, really can’t put myself in the same league as all those 365ers who do this day in day out for a year with such commitment and enthusiasm. Hats off to those 365ers – I really know the effort you put in to it.
But what was I trying to achieve with this project? I wanted to start using my camera, start learning to use it, expand my knowledge, be more creative, understand lighting, be able to shoot people without freezing up, confuse people with all my strobist info, etc. Have I achieved all that? The answer to that questions is a resounding YES! I was able to do all that and more. There is no denying the advantages of doing a 365 project if you are really passionate about photography. It really gets you off your backside and makes you want to do better. It’s a constant challenge trying to be better and do better.
One of the best things to result from this 365 is the contacts that I have made on flickr and other sites! You guys are truly awesome. Thank you so very much for all the comments, faves, encouragement and advice you have given me. I truly appreciate the time and effort. I hope that I will be able to give back as much as I have been given.
There is so much to say but I will end up by giving some sagely advice. A 365 is what you make it – it really is not worth taking a shot every day just so that you are fulfilling this criteria. You may have taken a shot every day for a year but if you are not happy with your project by the end of it, you really haven’t achieved anything. You should be happy with what you are doing and be proud of it as well. Which is why I needed to take a break from my 365 – I was suffering from 365 burnout and I felt my photography was suffering because of it. By taking a break, I was able to re-evaluate, regroup and come back to the project with enthusiasm. And I think this helped me a great deal to improve my pictures. A 365 project is something that you do for yourself – you make the rules, you decide on how to stick to it.
Small note - All this wouldn't be possible without my one and only true love - who got me interested in photography, encouraged me, gave me ideas and kicked my backside when I was slacking. Love you very much and thank you for being with me!
Over and out.
Oh.... I almost forgot to confuse you with the Lighting info – bare Sigma EF500 and bare 430EX both at 1/8 behind model on either side; generic Ying Yang flash at 1/1 (no output control) bounced against white board in front of model and slightly to camera left; triggered by Cactus V4 and optical trigger (on 430EX); A bit of flare was added on in photoshop.
Nandi is the name for the bull which serves as the mount (Sanskrit: Vahana) of the god Shiva and as the gatekeeper of Shiva and Parvati. In Hindu Religion, he is the chief guru of eighteen masters (18 Siddhar) including Patanjali and Thirumular. Temples venerating Shiva display stone images of a seated Nandi, generally facing the main shrine. There are also a number of temples dedicated solely to Nandi.
The application of the name Nandi to the bull (Sanskrit: vṛṣabha) is in fact a development of recent centuries, as Gouriswar Bhattacharya has documented in an illustrated article entitled "Nandin and Vṛṣabha". The name Nandi was earlier widely used instead for an anthropomorphic deity who was one of Shiva’s two door-keepers, the other being Mahākāla. The doorways of pre-tenth-century North Indian temples are frequently flanked by images of Mahākāla and Nandi, and it is in this role of Shiva’s watchman that Nandi figures in Kālidāsa’s poem the Kumārasambhava.
ETYMOLOGY
The word “Nandi” is derived from the ancient Indian Language of Sanskrit. The Sanskrit word 'Nandi' in English translates as Happy, Joyous or Happy Person.
BIRTH OF NANDI
There was a sage named Shilada who underwent severe penance to have a boon — a child with immortality. Lord Indra pleased of the austerities of Shilada appeared in front of him to offer a boon. After hearing the request of Shilada and his desire to have an immortal child, Lord Indra suggested he pray to Lord Shiva: nobody else could provide such a boon. Sage Shilada continued his penance for 1,000 years. He was totally immovable for many years, so the termites settled on his body and slowly started to build up their nest. Finally, his whole body was covered up by them. The insects started to eat his flesh and imbibed his blood. At last, only bones remained.
Lord Shiva appeared in front of him and provided the boon for the child. Moreover, Lord Shiva provided Sage Shilada his old form with a single touch. Sage Shilada performed Yagna and a child appeared from the sacrificial fire. His body was clad in armour made out of diamonds. The celestial dancers and singers performed on this auspicious occasion and the deities showered flowers on the child. The boy was named ’Nandi’ — who brings joy. Shilada brought the child home. Immediately the boy lost his divine appearance to an ordinary child. The child completely forgot all about his birth. Sage Shilada was worried about the sudden change. He devoted his time for Nandi's upbringing his education etc. By the age of seven, the boy was well versed in Veda and all sacred texts.
One day the deities Mitra and Varuna visited Sage Shilada. At the first sight of the boy, they commented: Though the boy had all auspicious signs, he would have a very short life. He would not live after the age of eight. Sage Shilada was mortified at this remark. Nandi could not bear his father's sorrow; he began to pray to Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva appeared before him and blessed him. Lord Shiva adorned the boy with a necklace and made him immortal. Lord Shiva blessed the child and declared that he would be worshiped along with Him and become his vahana (vehicle). Immediately the boy got all the divine powers and transformed into half bull-half human. He and Shilada went to Lord Shiva's abode to live.
IN HINDUISM
Bulls appear on the Indus Valley seals, including the 'Pasupati Seal', which depicts a seated figure and, according to some scholars, is similar to Shiva. However, most scholars agree that the horned bull on the Indus Valley seals is not identical to Nandi.
DESCRIPTIONS ON NANDI IN HINDU RELIGIOUS TEXTS INCLUDE:
- Some Puranas describe Nandi or Nandikeshvara as bull face with a human body that resembles that of Shiva in proportion and aspect, although with four hands — two hands holding the Parasu (the axe) and Mruga (the antelope) and the other two hands joined together in the Anjali (obeisance). Brahma Vaivarta Purana mentions Krishna himself to have taken the form of a bull as no one else in the Universe can bear Shiva.
- Vehicle of Shiva: The bull Nandi is Shiva's primary vehicle and is the principal gana (follower) of Shiva.
- Gate keeper of Shiva's abode: The close association of Shiva and Nandi explains the presence of a statue of Nandi at the gate of many temples dedicated to Shiva. It also explains why the word "nandi" in the Tamil, Kannada and Telugu languages is used as a metaphor for a person blocking the way.[citation needed] In Sanskrit, a bull is called vrisha, which has another connotation — that of righteousness or Dharma. It is important to seek the blessings of Nandi before proceeding to worship Lord Shiva.
- Chief in Shiva's army: Some Puranas mention that Nandi lead the Shiva Ganas, Shiva's attendants.
- A Guru of Saivism: In addition to being his mount, Nandi is Shiva's foremost disciple. In the Natha/Siddhar tradition, Nandi is one of the primal gurus. He was the guru to Siddhar Thirumulanathar, Patanjalinathar and others.
- From the yogic perspective, Nandi/Nandhi/Nandikeshvara is the mind dedicated to Lord Siva, the Absolute. In other words, to understand and absorb Light, the 'experience and the wisdom' is Nandi which is the Guru within.
- Spiritually, Nandi represents an individual jiva (soul) and the message that the jiva should always be focused on the Atman (Paramatman).
LEGENDS
According to some puranas, Nandi was born to sage Shilada who got him by the grace of Shiva.
It was Nandi who cursed Ravana (the demon King of Lanka) that his kingdom would be burnt by a monkey (Vanara). And later Hanuman burnt Lanka when he went in search of Sita, who was kept prisoner by Ravana in Ashok Vatika.
In one puranic story, it is stated that once Siva and Parvathi were playing a game of dice. For any game there has to be an umpire, who has to declare who is the winner. Siva and Parvathi agreed to have Nandi (the divine bull) as the umpire. Nandi is a favorite of Siva, as he is Siva's vehicle. Although Siva lost the game, Nandi declared him the winner. It is stated that Parvathi was indignant over Nandi's partiality for Siva and cursed him that he should die from an incurable disease. Thereupon Nandi fell at the feet of Parvathi and pleaded for forgiveness. "Mother forgive me. Should I not show at least this amount of gratitude to one who is my master? Is it not humiliating for me to declare that my master has lost the game? To uphold his honor I no doubt uttered a lie. But am I to be punished with such severity for so small an offence?" Nandi prayed for forgiveness in this manner. Parvathi forgave Nandi and taught him the means to atone for his lapse. She told him. "The Chaturdasi day in the month of Bhadrapada is the day when my son's birthday is celebrated. On that day you have to offer to my son what pleases you most (green grass)". This means that one atones for one's sins when one offers to the Lord what is most pleasing and enjoyable to him. For Nandi the most enjoyable and relishing food is green grass. As directed by Parvathi Nandi worshipped Ganapathi by offering green grass. Nandi was then relieved of his dreaded disease. His health improved and by the grace of Parvathi he was redeemed.
When the positive forces, the devas, and the negative forces, the asuras, joined together on a rare occasion to churn the ocean with a mountain to obtain the nectar of immortality they utilized Vasuki, the serpent, as the rope. The devas pulled from one end and the asuras from the other. Lots of precious herbs and gems were produced during the Churning and one of them was a poison (halāhala) which became human karma. This "poison" was so dangerous that none of the devas or asuras wanted to go near it. It was extremely sticky and coming into contact with this poison, i.e., human karma, would drag the divinity down to the realms of human suffering and ego. As everyone else ran away, Lord Siva, followed by Nandi, came forward to help as he was the only one who could counteract this deadly poison. Siva took the poison into his hand and drank it, the descent of the poison was in turn stopped at His throat, by His divine consort. Siva is therefore also known as Nīlakaṇṭha (the blue-throated one) and Viṣakaṇṭha (the poison-throated one). Nandi saw some of the poison spill out of Siva's mouth and immediately drank if off the ground. The devas and asuras watching were shocked and wondered aloud what would happen to Nandi. Lord Siva calmed their fears saying, "Nandi has surrendered into me so completely that he has all my powers and my protection".
LARGEST NANDIS IN INDIA
1. Lepakshi, Andhra Pradesh
2. Brahadishwara Temple, Tamil Nadu
4. Bull Temple, Bangalore, Karnataka
5. Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu
6. Hoysaleswara Temple, Halebidu, Karnataka
7. Shanthaleswara Temple, Halebidu, Karnataka
8. Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur, Kerala
9. Virupaksha Temple, Hampi, Karnataka
10. Nandi Temple, Western Group of Temples, Khajuraho,
Madhya Pradesh
11. Kedareshvara Temple at Balligavi (Karnataka)
12. Doddabasaveshvara temple, Kurugodu Bellary dist
MISCELLANEOUS
The white color of the bull symbolizes purity and justice.
Women visit images of Nandi, bringing floral offerings, and touch the stone. Their prayers are for fertility. Additionally, it is also considered a custom among some to whisper the fact of their visit, to that shrine, while requesting the faithful attendant to inform his master of the same.
WIKIPEDIA
Mural entitled "The Devil is in the Details" by Elle Street Art aka @ellestreetart, seen at 121 Church Street in Lexington, Kentucky.
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
Mural entitled "Make a Splash" by Nate Dee aka @miaminate for the Esquina De Abuela project in the Allapattah area of Miami, Florida.
Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
An original poster entitled “Paratrooper: The 82nd Airborne Division Fort Bragg, North Carolina.” The poster was a recruitment poster for the 82nd Airborne Division, printed on May 1, 1973. The scene features paratroopers with deployed parachutes drifting down in the sky, with a paratrooper standing on the ground at right. The poster measures 14 15/16” x 21.” It was used as a recruitment poster during the end of the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War.
From 1973 82nd Airborne Paratrooper Recruitment Poster, VW 4, Vietnam War Papers, Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C.
William Ashley China Window Display - Bloor Street West, Toronto
"I love a warm pig belly for my aching feet."
"Alice' is a song written and performed by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne for the soundtrack to the 2010 film Alice in Wonderland, entitled Almost Alice, released on March 2, 2010. In addition to appearing on the soundtrack, the song was played over the film's end credits. The song is a mid-tempo ballad sung from the perspective of the film's lead character, Alice. According to Lavigne, she wrote the song after asking Disney executives and director Tim Burton for a role on the soundtrack. The song was produced by Butch Walker and mixed by Lavigne's former husband Deryck Whibley.
The song was first played on radio on January 27, 2010, when Lavigne appeared on the show, On Air with Ryan Seacrest. 'Alice' sold 45,000 copies within the first four weeks of its release.
In his review for the soundtrack Almost Alice, William Ruhlmann of Allmusic described 'Alice' as 'a typical piece of self-assertive adolescent pop/rock,' noting that it was 'ideally suited for heavy rotation on Radio Disney.' Todd Martens, writing for the Los Angeles Times, approved of the song's 'darker, more angsty vision', adding that it was a return to Lavigne's sound in Under My Skin. He described the beginning of the song as, 'promising, with wavy synths caught somewhere between a nightmare and a dream.'
Bill Lamb of About.com gave the song 4 stars out of 5, appreciating Lavigne's interpretation of Alice's dilemma. He found her vocals emotional, 'expressing the confusion of Alice falling through that rabbit hole.'
'Alice' works both as an emotional, dramatic evocation of struggles with confusing times in life, and setting the scene for the movie making listeners eager to see the story that generates this heart-pounding, raw statement of the survival instinct. There is a raw immediacy to the sound which grabs listeners instantly. It's hard to know if it will be a major pop hit, but the song does provide a suitably dramatic intro to publicity for the upcoming film. —Bill Lamb, About.com
The Calgary Herald wrapped its opinion of 'Alice' in succinct praise, calling it 'one of the best songs of Avril's career,' adding that Avril's repertoire doesn't otherwise live up to its hype. Digital Spy's Nick Levine called the song 'a big angsty rock ballad,' finding the track 'cinematic' and at times 'ghostly,' before mentioning that the song took several listens to appreciate.
Several critics focused on the lyrics of the song, with mixed reaction. Lamb expounded, 'Lyrically, with words of 'trippin' out,' Avril Lavigne brings Alice directly into a contemporary context. This will allow young fans to see more clearly the metaphorical application of Alice In Wonderland to contemporary issues and dilemmas.' Becky Bain of Idolator began her review commending Lavigne's lyrics for 'carry[ing] genuine sentiment,' believing that her 'words of encouragement' would 'resonate' with her teenage fans. Mark Ingoldsby, of 411mania.com, had little to praise in Lavigne's lyrics, stating that Lavigne is '[a]pparently incapable of crafting witty lyrics that paint an interesting picture through creative metaphors.' Martens had similar feelings, writing, '[The] listener never really gets a picture of [the] trippy world Lavigne has found herself in.'
There was general consensus among critics regarding the chorus of the song, in which Lavigne repeatedly holds a high note for an extended period. Lamb simply called it 'shouty,' while others elaborated. Although Ingoldsby, who sub-titled his review Wail of a Fail, could appreciate the beginning of the song, calling it 'eerie and captivating,' and describing Lavigne's voice as 'unremarkable, yet pleasant,' Ingoldsby found the rest of the song — from "the second part of the first verse" onwards — to be a 'recreation of an Alanis Morissette-style spaz-out session.' Bain was also unimpressed with the chorus. '[The] biggest problem with the song is that Lavigne, trying to come off like Amy Lee, is constantly screeching while attempting to hit those high notes. It’s difficult to enjoy a song while you’re wincing during the chorus.'
The music video opens with Lavigne finding and following a white rabbit into a forest. As the piano in the soundtrack begins playing, the video briefly cuts to Lavigne's hands playing the notes on a piano. The video returns to Lavigne's character, who trips and falls into a hole near a large tree. Her fall is intercut with shots of Alice (from Burton's film) colliding with objects, including a piano. When Lavigne opens her eyes, she is lying at the bottom of a deep hole, dressed in a black gothic corset dress and stockings imprinted with playing card suits.
When Lavigne climbs out of the hole, she finds herself in Wonderland. The song enters the chorus, and the video cuts and dissolves between Lavigne's character running through the forest and Lavigne singing and performing the song on the piano. The only Wonderland character to make an appearance is a fleeting glimpse of the Cheshire Cat.
She arrives at a tea party, and the Mad Hatter stands, welcoming her with open arms. The scene is edited with footage of the Mad Hatter from Burton's film. As Lavigne sinks into a chair singing, her 'echo' is visually emphasized with her face quickly dissolving in and out. As the verse ends, Lavigne stands and runs away from the scene. The chorus of the song returns to shots of Lavigne running through the forest, arriving at a piano surrounded by giant mushrooms. The video cuts between shots of Lavigne playing the instrument and singing, eventually showing Lavigne running through a misty copse of thin trees. Various scenes from the film are shown in succession, before Lavigne is reintroduced running toward an opening in the forest. As she exits the forest, she is dressed in her normal clothing." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_(Avril_Lavigne_song)
Mural entitled "Seek" by CERA aka @cera_streetart for Wabash Walls seen on an underpass of the Sagamore Parkway at 9th Street in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
Entitled "Astilleros" (shipyards), this is generic scene done in the artist's "pintura nuif" style. The setting could be any seaport of eastern Spain or the Balearics.
Private press book entitled 'The History of Reynard The Fox' by William Caxton. Published by the Kelmscott Press, 1892.
Reprinted by William Morris at the Kelmscott Press translated from the Dutch original by William Caxton. The text is printed in red and black in the Troy type with woodcut initials and foliate borders.
William Morris designed three types for use at the Kelmscott Press: Golden type, this combined elements taken from Nicolas Jension's Roman Type and Gothic types, the Troy type which is purely Gothic, inspired by the types of fifteenth-century German printers and Chaucer. Chaucer was a smaller version of the Troy type and is named after the publication for which it was first used.
CAGM.1991.1016.996.E34
Entitled "Fallen-Angel." It figures. You become an adult and the process itself can destroy your purity and innocence.
It's still the holidays, here are four angels demonstrating four stages of male growth as painted by various artists- enjoy your Christmas week!
On 17 May 1979 a report entitled “Mount Ruapehu: Cable Laying by Helicopter” was produced by the Hamilton District Engineer’s Office of the Post Office.
The task was to lay telephone cable from the Tararua Tramping Club Hut to the top of the number 2 chairlift. It was decided to use a Llama helicopter, which could lift up to one tonne. However, when the cable was delivered it was found to have been loaded onto heavier drums than expected, and these were over the lifting capacity of the helicopter. The solution was to use two helicopters “joined via wire rope to a boom …. capable of supporting up to 2 tonnes.” For safety either pilot could release the boom if needed.
The cable was fed into a trench, and up to 15 staff worked on the job. “Ideally the speed of laying is about walking speed so the gang can follow the cable. The men should position themselves to be able to see the drum at all times.”
“All flying should be downhill, backwards. The pilots have more control over the load when flying downhill, and it is preferred that the helicopter tail be away from the mountain.”
The report concluded that the job was complicated by the extra weight of the cable drums, which increased the cost and caused delays.
From a Post Office Engineer record -
Archives New Zealand Reference: BBKX 1009/30/c
An exhibition entitled “Brazil – In the Footsteps of Innovation and Creativity”, co-organized by WIPO and Brazil, was held on the sidelines of the WIPO Assemblies, which met in Geneva from October 3 to 11, 2016.
The exhibition showcased some of Brazil’s well-known geographical indications, including alcoholic drinks, coffee and lace. It also featured notable Brazilian innovations and designs in the field of aviation (Embraer jets), as well as precision engineering, handicraft and clothing.
Delegates to the WIPO Assemblies were also treated to a musical performance of “Capoeira” – an Afro-Brazilian mix of martial art and dance that was recognized as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2014.
Copyright: WIPO. Photo: Violaine Martin. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 IGO License.
Entitled 'Cyberman Contemplates'. Thanks to Mr. Tyler Rhoads for the topic suggestion. The pipe was all mine. Watch the creation of it all on my Livestream! Hope you love yourself some Time Lord Rock!
[Unidentified woman resting her arm on a book entitled History of Slavery]
[between 1860 and 1870]
1 photograph : sixth-plate ambrotype ; 9.3 x 8.1 cm (case)
Notes:
Title devised by Library staff.
Case: Rinhart, no. 141.
Use digital images. Original served only by appointment because material requires special handling. For more information see: (www.loc.gov/rr/print/info/617_apptonly.html)
Deposit; Tom Liljenquist; 2011; (D066).
Forms part of: Liljenquist Family Collection of Civil War Photographs (Library of Congress).
Forms part of: Ambrotype/Tintype photograph filing series (Library of Congress).
Subjects:
Women--1860-1870.
Books--1860-1870.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
Format: Portrait photographs--1860-1870.
Ambrotypes--1860-1870.
Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.
Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Part Of: Ambrotype/Tintype filing series (Library of Congress) (DLC) 2010650518
Liljenquist Family collection (Library of Congress) (DLC) 2010650519
More information about this collection is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.lilj
Higher resolution image is available (Persistent URL): hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.32642
Call Number: AMB/TIN no. 2883
Broadway malls, Jun 2008 - 024
Note: this photo was published in a Jul 24, 2008 NowPublic blog article entitled "US cancer boss in mobiles warning." And it was published in an Oct 9, 2009 blog titled "Cell Phone Addiction." It was also published in a Dec 29, 2009 blog titled "Code Protecting 80 Percent of Cellphone Convos Finally Cracked." And it was published in a Jul 3, 2010 Shebayer blog, with the same title as the caption that I used on this Flickr page. It was also published in an Oct 7, 2010 blog titled "AOKA AK08 Single Card Tri-Band Touch Screen Watch Cellphone."
Moving into 2011, the photo was published in a Feb 10, 2011 blog titled "Cellphone Spy- How to Spy on Cell Phone Text Messages." And it was published in a Feb 14, 2011 blog titled "Catch A Cheating Husband With Reverse Cellphone Lookup Service." It was also published in an Oct 14, 2011 blog titled "Study of the Day: 1 in 6 Cell Phones Contaminated With Harmful E. Coli."
Moving into 2012, the photo was published in a Jan 22, 2012 Club Asteria Team TLT Club Asteria Review blog, with the same caption and detailed notes that I had written on this Flickr page. It was also published in a May 17, 2012 blog titled "Current Top cheat codes now revealed."
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In late June, I spent three afternoons walking up and down Broadway, on Manhattan's Upper West Side, from 72nd Street to Columbia University at 115th Street. My objective was to photograph the variety of people sitting on park benches along what is formally known as the "Broadway malls" -- ie., benches located on the north side and south side of the median strip that separates the uptown side of Broadway from the downtown side.
Since my travels did encompass three separate days, I saw an even wider variety than I might have seen on a single afternoon; on the other hand, the pictures all reflect a single season. At Toni's suggestion, I'm going to make a similar photo-journal in the fall, winter, and spring -- to see if there are entirely different people, or whether it's basically the same people, but wearing different clothes...
In any case, on this occasion I saw young and old, black and white, men and women, rich and poor -- students, children, retired people, widows, widowers, homeless people, construction workers, babysitters, and tourists. As is common in today's society, a remarkable number of them were chatting on cellphones; but it was refreshing to see that many of them were chatting with each other. It was also a little sad to see several people sitting alone, with a wistful, melancholy look on their face.
Most of the park benches were occupied, though a few were empty. Most of the empty benches were fairly uninteresting, but a few looked sufficiently inviting that I felt they deserved a photo of their own.
For the most part, I ignored the photo opportunities that I saw on the sidewalk as I strolled along. But there were two major exceptions, as you'll see midway through this collection: a young man with a bubble-making gadget, blowing the largest soap-bubbles I have ever seen; and a chess game between two middle-aged men. I also photographed a few of the street signs along the way -- actually, I photographed *every* street sign, so that I could identify (and geotag) the location of all the other photographs.
I must have looked fairly serious as I went about my picture-taking activities, for three different people asked me if I was a photographer; and two different people asked me if I liked the Nikon D300 that I was using. As for the subjects of the pictures: most didn't even realize I was photographing them, for I took advantage of a long telephoto lens to shoot them from afar. But a few did notice, and I got a couple of smiles and scowls. If any of them do happen to stumble upon the Flickr site where these pictures will live, I hope they'll feel I've treated them kindly... I love them all ...
The caricature sculpture of a cinema usher, entitled Mr. Screen, which stands outside the Screen Cinema was created in 1988 by sculptor, Vincent Browne. I like it but most of my friends do not like it.
The cinema has been operating since 1984, showing world cinema, and independent and Irish films. The Screen Cinema, originally named The New Metropole, opened on 16 March 1972 on the corner of Hawkins Street and Townsend Street on the site of the previous cinema, The Regal, which had been demolished since 1962 to make way for offices. The New Metropole name derived from the more famous Metropole Cinema on O'Connell Street (Penney's department store now occupies the building), and after the latter closed in 1973, the New Metropole became the Metropole.
Originally a single screen cinema, the auditorium was subdivided in 1982 to create two additional auditoria. The new screens were suspended from the ceiling, meaning the main screen was not reduced.
In 1984, it was renamed the Screen Cinema, which became the sister cinema to the more well known Savoy Cinema on O'Connell Street. After this, the Screen showed more unusual, independent, and foreign language films rather than mainstream Hollywood films, which attracted a cult audience to the cinema.
The Screen received a face-lift between 2004–2005 when the interior was upgraded and the cinema lost its original marquee and neon sign in favour of an electronic board displaying the programme.
It was reported in February 2012 that the George's Quay Local Area Plan, prepared by Dublin City Council to regenerate Dublin's southeast inner city, indicated that the Screen Cinema could be demolished and later re-housed in replacement property development in the Hawkins Street area. In the same month, another report suggested that the cinema was in danger of closing altogether – in the previous decade, audience numbers fell from 200,000 to 60,000 per annum.
Last November [2015] it was reported that staff had been put on protective notice.
Entitled "The Last Stand", my brother Bleau and I tried our best to replicate the climax in Alcatraz at the end of the X-Men 3 movie. The fun part, in creating this scene, is in sourcing the right materials for our diorama which had to be in scale with our featured action figure (1:6 SCale Real Action Heroes Wolverine). With a little imagination combined with McGyver-resque ingenuity, we were able to pull-off a set for our photo shoot using regular household items. For the prison fence, we used a meshed magazine rack. The barbed wires were painfully hand-made using scrap chicken wires while the metal crates were cooking containers which we borrowed from our mom's kitchen. With a little soil from our garden pots, various Marvel Legends accessories and several lamp shades for lighting, we were able to achieve the look and feel that we wanted for this shot.
My brother and I were really proud all that hard work paid of when it won 1st place at the Toy Clicks Toy Photography Competition (with Batman 'Why So Serious' coming in at 3rd!). This motivates us to work even harder to outdo this next year! Wahhh! As long as we still have the passion, we'll keep clicking! Now, we really need to buy our own DSLR camera!
From my set entitled “Roses”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157607214064416/
In my collection entitled “The Garden”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215760718...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A rose is a perennial flowering shrub or vine of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae, that contains over 100 species. The species form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp thorns. Most are native to Asia, with smaller numbers of species native to Europe, North America, and northwest Africa. Natives, cultivars and hybrids are all widely grown for their beauty and fragrance. [1]
The leaves are alternate and pinnately compound, with sharply toothed oval-shaped leaflets. The plants fleshy edible fruit is called a rose hip. Rose plants range in size from tiny, miniature roses, to climbers that can reach 20 metres in height. Species from different parts of the world easily hybridize, which has given rise to the many types of garden roses.
The name originates from Latin rosa, borrowed through Oscan from colonial Greek in southern Italy: rhodon (Aeolic form: wrodon), from Aramaic wurrdā, from Assyrian wurtinnu, from Old Iranian *warda (cf. Armenian vard, Avestan warda, Sogdian ward, Parthian wâr).[2][3]
Attar of rose is the steam-extracted essential oil from rose flowers that has been used in perfumes for centuries. Rose water, made from the rose oil, is widely used in Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine. Rose hips are occasionally made into jam, jelly, and marmalade, or are brewed for tea, primarily for their high Vitamin C content. They are also pressed and filtered to make rose hip syrup. Rose hips are also used to produce Rose hip seed oil, which is used in skin products.
The leaves of most species are 5–15 centimetres long, pinnate, with (3–) 5–9 (–13) leaflets and basal stipules; the leaflets usually have a serrated margin, and often a few small prickles on the underside of the stem. The vast majority of roses are deciduous, but a few (particularly in Southeast Asia) are evergreen or nearly so.
The flowers of most species roses have five petals, with the exception of Rosa sericea, which usually has only four. Each petal is divided into two distinct lobes and is usually white or pink, though in a few species yellow or red. Beneath the petals are five sepals (or in the case of some Rosa sericea, four). These may be long enough to be visible when viewed from above and appear as green points alternating with the rounded petals. The ovary is inferior, developing below the petals and sepals.
The aggregate fruit of the rose is a berry-like structure called a rose hip. Rose species that produce open-faced flowers are attractive to pollinating bees and other insects, thus more apt to produce hips. Many of the domestic cultivars are so tightly petalled that they do not provide access for pollination. The hips of most species are red, but a few (e.g. Rosa pimpinellifolia) have dark purple to black hips. Each hip comprises an outer fleshy layer, the hypanthium, which contains 5–160 "seeds" (technically dry single-seeded fruits called achenes) embedded in a matrix of fine, but stiff, hairs. Rose hips of some species, especially the Dog Rose (Rosa canina) and Rugosa Rose (Rosa rugosa), are very rich in vitamin C, among the richest sources of any plant. The hips are eaten by fruit-eating birds such as thrushes and waxwings, which then disperse the seeds in their droppings. Some birds, particularly finches, also eat the seeds.
While the sharp objects along a rose stem are commonly called "thorns", they are actually prickles — outgrowths of the epidermis (the outer layer of tissue of the stem). True thorns, as produced by e.g. Citrus or Pyracantha, are modified stems, which always originate at a node and which have nodes and internodes along the length of the thorn itself. Rose prickles are typically sickle-shaped hooks, which aid the rose in hanging onto other vegetation when growing over it. Some species such as Rosa rugosa and R. pimpinellifolia have densely packed straight spines, probably an adaptation to reduce browsing by animals, but also possibly an adaptation to trap wind-blown sand and so reduce erosion and protect their roots (both of these species grow naturally on coastal sand dunes). Despite the presence of prickles, roses are frequently browsed by deer. A few species of roses only have vestigial prickles that have no points.
Roses are popular garden shrubs, as well as the most popular and commonly sold florists' flowers. In addition to their great economic importance as a florists crop, roses are also of great value to the perfume industry.
Many thousands of rose hybrids and cultivars have been bred and selected for garden use; most are double-flowered with many or all of the stamens having mutated into additional petals. As long ago as 1840 a collection numbering over one thousand different cultivars, varieties and species was possible when a rosarium was planted by Loddiges nursery for Abney Park Cemetery, an early Victorian garden cemetery and arboretum in England.
Twentieth-century rose breeders generally emphasized size and colour, producing large, attractive blooms with little or no scent. Many wild and "old-fashioned" roses, by contrast, have a strong sweet scent.
Roses thrive in temperate climates, though certain species and cultivars can flourish in sub-tropical and even tropical climates, especially when grafted onto appropriate rootstock.
Rose pruning, sometimes regarded as a horticultural art form, is largely dependent on the type of rose to be pruned, the reason for pruning, and the time of year it is at the time of the desired pruning.
Most Old Garden Roses of strict European heritage (albas, damasks, gallicas, etc.) are shrubs that bloom once yearly, in late spring or early summer, on two-year-old (or older) canes. As such, their pruning requirements are quite minimal, and are overall similar to any other analogous shrub, such as lilac or forsythia. Generally, only old, spindly canes should be pruned away, to make room for new canes. One-year-old canes should never be pruned because doing so will remove next year's flower buds. The shrubs can also be pruned back lightly, immediately after the blooms fade, to reduce the overall height or width of the plant. In general, pruning requirements for OGRs are much less laborious and regimented than for Modern hybrids.
Modern hybrids, including the hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, modern miniatures, and English roses, have a complex genetic background that almost always includes China roses (R. chinensis). China roses were evergrowing, everblooming roses from humid subtropical regions that bloomed constantly on any new vegetative growth produced during the growing season. Their modern hybrid descendants exhibit similar habits: Unlike Old Garden Roses, modern hybrids bloom continuously (until stopped by frost) on any new canes produced during the growing season. They therefore require pruning away of any spent flowering stem, in order to divert the plant's energy into producing new growth and thence new flowers.
Additionally, Modern Hybrids planted in cold-winter climates will almost universally require a "hard" annual pruning (reducing all canes to 8"–12" in height) in early spring. Again, because of their complex China rose background, Modern Hybrids are typically not as cold-hardy as European OGRs, and low winter temperatures often desiccate or kill exposed canes. In spring, if left unpruned, these damanged canes will often die back all the way to the shrub's root zone, resulting in a weakened, disfigured plant. The annual "hard" pruning of hybrid teas, floribundas, etc. should generally be done in early spring; most gardeners coincide this pruning with the blooming of forsythia shrubs. Canes should be cut about 1/2" above a vegetative bud (identifiable as a point on a cane where a leaf once grew).
For both Old Garden Roses and Modern Hybrids, any weak, damaged or diseased growth should be pruned away completely, regardless of the time of year. Any pruning of any rose should also be done so that the cut is made at a forty five degree angle above a vegetative bud. This helps the pruned stem callus over more quickly, and also mitigates moisture buildup over the cut, which can lead to disease problems.
For all general rose pruning (including cutting flowers for arrangements), sharp secateurs (hand-held, sickle-bladed pruners) should be used to cut any growth 1/2" or less in diameter. For canes of a thickness greater than 1/2", pole loppers or a small handsaw are generally more effective; secateurs may be damaged or broken in such instances.
Deadheading is the simple practice of manually removing any spent, faded, withered, or discoloured flowers from rose shrubs over the course of the blooming season. The purpose of deadheading is to encourage the plant to focus its energy and resources on forming new offshoots and blooms, rather than in fruit production. Deadheading may also be perfomed, if spent flowers are unsightly, for aethestic purposes. Roses are particularly responsive to deadheading.
Deadheading causes different effects on different varieties of roses. For continual blooming varieties, whether Old Garden roses or more modern hybrid varieties, deadheading allows the rose plant to continue forming new shoots, leaves, and blooms. For "once-blooming" varieties (that bloom only once each season), deadheading has the effect of causing the plant to form new green growth, even though new blooms will not form until the next blooming season.
For most rose gardeners, deadheading is used to refresh the growth of the rose plants to keep the rose plants strong, vibrant, and productive.
The rose has always been valued for its beauty and has a long history of symbolism. The ancient Greeks and Romans identified the rose with their goddesses of love referred to as Aphrodite and Venus. In Rome a wild rose would be placed on the door of a room where secret or confidential matters were discussed. The phrase sub rosa, or "under the rose", means to keep a secret — derived from this ancient Roman practice.
Early Christians identified the five petals of the rose with the five wounds of Christ. Despite this interpretation, their leaders were hesitant to adopt it because of its association with Roman excesses and pagan ritual. The red rose was eventually adopted as a symbol of the blood of the Christian martyrs. Roses also later came to be associated with the Virgin Mary.
Rose culture came into its own in Europe in the 1800s with the introduction of perpetual blooming roses from China. There are currently thousands of varieties of roses developed for bloom shape, size, fragrance and even for lack of prickles.
Roses are ancient symbols of love and beauty. The rose was sacred to a number of goddesses (including Isis and Aphrodite), and is often used as a symbol of the Virgin Mary. 'Rose' means pink or red in a variety of languages (such as Romance languages, Greek, and Polish).
The rose is the national flower of England and the United States[4], as well as being the symbol of England Rugby, and of the Rugby Football Union. It is also the provincial flower of Yorkshire and Lancashire in England (the white rose and red rose respectively) and of Alberta (the wild rose), and the state flower of four US states: Iowa and North Dakota (R. arkansana), Georgia (R. laevigata), and New York[5] (Rosa generally). Portland, Oregon counts "City of Roses" among its nicknames, and holds an annual Rose Festival.
Roses are occasionally the basis of design for rose windows, such windows comprising five or ten segments (the five petals and five sepals of a rose) or multiples thereof; however most Gothic rose windows are much more elaborate and were probably based originally on the wheel and other symbolism.
A red rose (often held in a hand) is a symbol of socialism or social democracy; it is also used as a symbol by the British and Irish Labour Parties, as well as by the French, Spanish (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), Portuguese, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Brazilian, Dutch (Partij van de Arbeid) and European socialist parties. This originated when the red rose was used as a badge by the marchers in the May 1968 street protests in Paris. White Rose was a World War II non violent resistance group in Germany.
Roses are often portrayed by artists. The French artist Pierre-Joseph Redouté produced some of the most detailed paintings of roses.
Henri Fantin-Latour was also a prolific painter of still life, particularly flowers including roses. The Rose 'Fantin-Latour' was named after the artist.
Other impressionists including Claude Monet and Paul Cézanne have paintings of roses among their works.
Rose perfumes are made from attar of roses or rose oil, which is a mixture of volatile essential oils obtained by steam distilling the crushed petals of roses. The technique originated in Persia (the word Rose itself is from Persian) then spread through Arabia and India, but nowadays about 70% to 80% of production is in the Rose Valley near Kazanluk in Bulgaria, with some production in Qamsar in Iran and Germany.[citation needed]
The Kaaba in Mecca is annually washed by the Iranian rose water from Qamsar. In Bulgaria, Iran and Germany, damask roses (Rosa damascena 'Trigintipetala') are used. In the French rose oil industry Rosa centifolia is used. The oil, pale yellow or yellow-grey in color, is sometimes called 'Rose Absolute' oil to distinguish it from diluted versions. The weight of oil extracted is about one three-thousandth to one six-thousandth of the weight of the flowers; for example, about two thousand flowers are required to produce one gram of oil.
The main constituents of attar of roses are the fragrant alcohols geraniol and l-citronellol; and rose camphor, an odourless paraffin. β-Damascenone is also a significant contributor to the scent.
Quotes
What's in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet. — William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet act II, sc. ii
O, my love's like a red, red rose/That's newly sprung in June — Robert Burns, A Red, Red Rose
Information appears to stew out of me naturally, like the precious ottar of roses out of the otter. Mark Twain, Roughing It
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses. — James Oppenheim, "Bread and Roses"
Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose — Gertrude Stein, Sacred Emily (1913), a poem included in Geography and Plays.
Entitled "Hat in Three Stages of Landing" by Claes Oldenburg, this outdoor metal sculpture is adjacent to the Sherwood Hall, Salinas Community Center, Monterey County, California. The Hat in this photo is just one of the three hats in this complete work of art, which is adjacent to the Salinas Sports Complex, home of the California Rodeo.
From an article entitled Malibu U. in the May 1967 issue of Teen Magazine.
See the entire multi-paged article on my blog.
Missouri painter Sidney Larson completed this painting entitled "The Baths of Dioclesian" in 1969 as part of the "The Riback Mural," commissioned by Harold H. Riback for the Riback Pipe and Steel Company building on the east end of Business Loop 70 in Columbia, Missouri.
The Ribacks sold the business to Plumb Supply Company in 2015. The building housing the mural is scheduled to be remodeled in January of 2022, and the paintings will be destroyed. According to the State Historical Society of Missouri's Art Collections Manager Greig Thompson, the mural can't be preserved due to the method the mural was installed.
Notley Hawkins took photographs of the mural on December 21, 2021, at the request of Vicky Riback-Wilson to preserve a record of the paintings. Notley Hawkins studied painting and drawing with Sidney Larson at Columbia College and earned his BFA in 1987.
With the help of S.C. Steinberg, Sidney Larson published a booklet entitled The Riback Mural in 1980. The following description was included when noting the painting:
"Before reading about this panel, we recommend that you step back and take a careful look at the painting. Try and absorb some of the details. Note how Mr. Larson has cut away the building to show details that would not otherwise be visible. Notice too the placing of people or objects for balance; the vibrant use of color. Then once you feel you "know" the painting, continue with your reading. Dioclesian was Emperor of Rome from 284 to 305 BC. It was he who had the baths pictured above, built.
Baths were built for more than sanitation. They played an important part in the life of the Romans both politically and socially. Likewise they were involved in their business lives. The baths pictured, in addition to the large outdoor pool and the much smaller indoor, heated pool, had smaller, more private pools. Undoubtedly, your status politically, socially or financially, decided which pool or pools were available to you.
Bear in mind that pumps had not been invented at this time so gravity was the means by which the waters were carried through the building. Rome was built on seven hills and if you look into the background you will see one of the aqueducts bringing the water into the bath. If you will look directly over the head of the man shown in the foreground, you will see about half way up the pictures, a rectangular opening. This is a water-way and the means of getting the water across the building from end to end. The water then went down one of the columns shown or across the tiles similar to those being set under the man working on a water race-way. The floor has also been cut away to show how the central pool was heated. By building a fire under one end, that end would be the hottest and the water would get cooler the further one got away from the hot end. The fires were maintained by slaves, who brought fagots in on their backs.
The man in the foreground is squeeging off the oils and ointments used after the bath.
The ruins of the Baths of Dioclesian still may be seen not far from the Railroad Station in Rome. Life magazine used it as background for a fashion story in 1966.
Bathing was considered a luxury through ancient time but died out when the church looked on it with disfavor. The monks brought the bath back into use ... in wooden tubs...and this is credited with keeping the bubonic plaque away from the monasteries. Thus bathing became popular again. Bathing was not always a private affair and it received much blame for the spread of social diseases. At times only royalty and the papacy could afford baths. King John allowed himself a bath every three weeks, in his large, sunken bath pool. Queens Elizabeth and Anne had huge sunken marble tubs.
Pope Clements VII had a tub shaped very much like the ones in use now."
The photograph was taken with a Canon EOS R5 camera with a Canon RF24-70mm F2.8 L IS USM lens at ƒ/5.6 with a 1/200-second exposure at ISO 500. Processed with Adobe Lightroom CC.
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I have recently been interested in the idea of photographs which essentially contain very little 'stuff' in them, possible as a series entitled 'Next to Nothing'. This is a first contender, although it might already contain too much! It is interesting that there is always something in a photograph, unlike a painting or drawing, even if it is white. Fog is still fog, an expanse of sky is something. Maybe the closer we get to nothing, the more we actually experience.
I shot this at my favourite misty haunt, and saw it as I walked back to the car. The fit seemed too good to ignore. I have more contenders for the new series from this session. Thanks for looking and for the massive amount of traffic around my last upload.
Entitled "Girl of Joy of The Italian Quarter In a Spring Dress" (Fille De Joie Du Quartier Italien Dans Une Robe Printaniere) and photographed by Brassai in Paris, France, 1931.
Brassaï, the pseudonym of Jules (Gyula) Halász;(1899-1984), was a Hungarian–French photographer, sculptor, medallist, writer, and filmmaker who rose to international fame in France in the 20th century. He was one of numerous Hungarian artists who flourished in Paris beginning between the World Wars. Brassaï captured the essence of the city in his photographs.
Technical panel entitled "On-Site Insight! Technical SEO Advice from the
Pros", including presentations from:
Aaron Kahlow - Top 10 Technical SEO Recommendations
moderated by Sean McMahon
copyright © 2009 sean dreilinger
view aaron kahlow and susan moskwa - on-site insight! technical seo advice from the pros - sempdx searchfest 2009 - _MG_9404 on a black background.
However, these three boy kittens live harmoniously together. I never saw them anywhere but with each other. They may have shuffled body position, but they stuck together. I think they are littermates, but I'm not sure. The tabby is named Lupin, I believe, and I don't know about the other two. I saw them at Heartland Humane Society in Corvallis, Oregon on August 4, 2006.
(5200-3boykittenslupinq&2unknowneyeworktuoil)
This remarkable sculpture, entitled 'Iron-Bowl' (the famous Alabama Vs. Auburn annual matchup) stands on the campus of the United States Sports Academy in nearby Daphne, Alabama...it is one of several sports sculptures on campus by Alabama artist Bruce Larsen who transforms discarded scrap into powerful, compelling works of art...he has received world-wide recognition for his work and is also a prominent special effects artist for major motion pictures...
Paying homage to 'the boys of Autumn' from 5 to 50 who bring extra excitement to Autumn on football fields from backyard flag football to high school pep rallies to frenzied college stadiums to the pros on our HD flat screens, America loves its chance to cheer for brilliant plays and stunning upsets and that timeless thrill of victory...all under a deep blue Fall sky! The traditional rivalries, the legendary coaches and Hall of Fame players, the cheerleaders and mascots all carry over to each new generation and have sparked a million game day fire-up-the-grill get togethers and tailgate parties...and sold about a trillion team logo T-shirts and such...and winning seasons are still talked about wistfully 40 years later...this is something of substance and magic; this is football season!
Every fan loves bragging rights and as a diehard Alabama Crimson Tide fan, I'm proud of their 3-0 season so far...ROLL TIDE!!! : )
I seldom ever repost a shot from my archives but this one from last year just had to return...it's football season! ; )
Photograph entitled 'Hon. Arthur Annesley' showing Annesley in the uniform of the Grenadier Guards, endorsed '1855'.
Photograph from an album containing black and white photographs taken by the Hon. Hugh Annesley. The front end board of this album is endorsed with a printed card, which overlays an earlier manuscript endorsement. From these two endorsements it is clear that the album belonged to Captain the Hon. Hugh Annesley, Scots Fusilier Guards. The album is also endorsed 1855.
Date: 1855
Ref: D1854/5/1/3 No. 8
Federal Flag Code - Public Law 94-344
JOINT RESOLUTION
To amend the joint resolution entitled "Joint resolution to codify and emphasize existing rules and customs pertaining to the display and use of the flag of the United States of America."
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the joint resolution entitled "Joint resolution to codify and emphasize existing rules and customs pertaining to the display and use of the flag of the United States of America", as amended (36 U.S.C. 171-178), is amended —
SEC. 1. That the following codification of existing rules and customs pertaining to the display and use of the flag of the United States of America be, and is hereby, established for the use of such civilians or civilian groups or organizations as may not be required to conform with regulations promulgated by one or more executive departments of the Government of the United States. The flag of the United States for the purpose of this chapter shall be defined according to title 4, United States Code, Chapter I, section I and section 2 and Executive Order 10834 issued pursuant thereto.
SEC. 2
(a) It is the universal custom to display the flag only from sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flagstaffs in the open. However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed twenty-four hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness.
(b) The flag should be hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously.
(c) The flag should not be displayed on days when the weather is inclement, except when an all weather flag is displayed.
(d) The flag should be displayed on all days, especially on New Year's Day, January 1; Inauguration Day, January 20; Lincoln's Birthday, February- 12; Washington's Birthday, third Monday in February; Easter Sunday (variable); Mother's Day, second Sunday in May; Armed Forces Day, third Saturday in May; Memorial Day (half-staff until noon), the last Monday in May; Flag Day, June 14; Independence Day, July 4; Labor Day, first Monday in September; Constitution Day, September 17; Columbus Day, second Monday in October; Navy Day, October 27; Veterans Day, November 11; Thanksgiving Day, fourth Thursday in November; Christmas Day, December 25; and such other days as may be proclaimed by the President of the United States; The birthdays of States (date of admission); and on State holidays.
(e) The flag should be displayed daily on or near the main administration building of every public institution.
(f) The flag should be displayed in or near every polling place on election days.
(g) The flag should be displayed during school days in or near every schoolhouse.
SEC. 3. That the flag, when carried in a procession with another flag or flags, should be either on the marching right; that is, the flag's own right, or, if there is a line of other flags, in front of the center of that line.
(a) The flag should not be displayed on a float in a parade except from a staff, or as provided in subsection (j).
(b) The flag should not be draped over the hood, top, sides, or back of a vehicle or of a railroad train or a boat. When the flag is displayed on a motor car, the staff should be fixed firmly to the chassis or clamped to the right fender.
(c) No other flag or pennant should be placed above or, if on the same level, to the right of the flag of the United States of America, except during church services conducted by naval chaplains at sea, when the church pennant may be flown above the flag during church services for the personnel of the Navy. (See Public Law 107, page 4)
(d) The flag of the United States of America, when it is displayed with another flag against a wall from crossed staffs, should be on the right, the flag's own right, and its staff should be in front of the staff of the other flag.
(e) The flag of the United States of America should be at the center and at the highest point of the group when a number of flags of States or localities or pennants of societies are grouped and displayed from staffs.
(f) When flags of states, cities, or localities, or pennants of societies are flown on the same halyard with the flag of the United States, the latter should always be at the peak. When the flags are flown from adjacent staffs, the flag of the United States should be hoisted first and lowered last. No such flag or pennant may be placed above the flag of the United States or to the United States Flag's right.
(g) When flags of two or more nations are displayed, they are to be flown from separate staffs of the same height. The flags should be of approximately equal size. International usage forbids the display of the flag of one nation above that of another nation in time of peace.
(h) When the flag of the United States is displayed from a staff projecting horizontally or at an angle from the window sill, balcony, or front of a building, the union of the flag should be placed at the peak of the staff unless the flag is at half staff. When the flag is suspended over a sidewalk from a rope extending from a house to a pole at the edge of the sidewalk, the flag should be hoisted out, union first, from the building.
(i) When displayed either horizontally or vertically against a wall, the union should be uppermost and to the flag's own right, that is, to the observer's left. When displayed in a window, the flag should be displayed in the same way, with the union or blue field to the left of the observer in the street.
(j) When the flag is displayed over the middle of the street, it should be suspended vertically with the union to the north in an east and west street or to the east in a north and south street.
(k) When used on a speaker's platform, the flag, if displayed flat, should be displayed above and behind the speaker. When displayed from a staff in a church or public auditorium, the flag of the United States of America should hold the position of superior prominence, in advance of the audience, and in the position of honor at the clergyman's or speaker's right as he faces the audience. Any other flag so displayed should be placed on the left of the clergyman or speaker or to the right of the audience.
(l) The flag should form a distinctive feature of the ceremony of unveiling a statue or monument, but it should never be used as the covering for the statue or monument.
(m) The flag, when flown at half-staff, should be first hoisted to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position. The flag should be again raised to the peak before it is lowered for the day. On Memorial Day the flag should be displayed at half-staff until noon only, then raised to the top of the staff. By order of the President, the flag shall be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, as a mark of respect to their memory. In the event of the death of other officials or foreign dignitaries, the flag is to be displayed at half-staff according to Presidential instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law. In the event of the death of a present or former official of the government of any State, territory, or possession of the United States, the Governor of that State, territory, or possession may proclaim that the National flag shall be flown at half-staff. The flag shall be flown at half-staff thirty days from the death of the President or a former President; ten days from the day of death of the Vice President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice of the United States, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives; from the day of death until interment of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a Secretary of an executive or military department, a former Vice President, or the Governor of a State, territory, or possession; and on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress. As used in this subsection -
(1) the term 'half-staff' means the position of the flag when it is one-half the distance between the top and bottom of the staff;
(2) the term 'executive or military department' means any agency listed under sections 101 and 102 of title 5, United States Code; and
(3) the term Member of Congress' means a Senator, a Representative, a Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico.
(n) When the flag is used to cover a casket, it should be so placed that the union is at the° head and over the left shoulder. The flag should not be lowered into the grave or allowed to touch the ground.
(o) When the flag is suspended across a corridor or lobby in a building with only one main entrance, it should be suspended vertically with the union of the flag to the observer's left upon entering. If the building has more than one main entrance, the flag should be suspended vertically near the center of the corridor or lobby with the union to the north, when entrances are to the east and west or to the east when entrances are to the north and south. If there are entrances in more than two directions, the union should be to the east.
SEC. 4. That no disrespect should be shown to the flag the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor.
(a) The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.
(b) The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water,
(c) The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free.
(d) The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker's desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general.
(e) The flag should never be fastened, displayed, used, or stored in such a manner as to permit it to be easily torn, soiled, or damaged in any way.
(f) The flag should never be used as a covering for a ceiling.
(g) The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature.
(h) The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying or delivering anything.
(i) The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard. Advertising signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag is flown.
(j) No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the lapel flag pin being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart.
(k) The Flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.
SEC. 5. During the ceremony of hoisting or lowering the flag or when the flag is passing in a parade or in review, all persons present except those in uniform should face the flag and stand at attention with the right hand over the heart. Those present in uniform should render the military salute. When not in uniform, men should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Aliens should stand at attention. The salute to the flag in a moving column should be rendered at the moment the flag passes.
SEC. 6. During rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. Men not in uniform should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should render the military salute at the first note of the anthem and retain this position until the last note. When the flag is not displayed, those present should face toward the music and act in the same manner they would if the flag were displayed there.
SEC. 7. The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all", should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. When not in uniform men should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag and render the military salute.
SEC. 8. Any rule or custom pertaining to the display of the flag of the United States of America, set forth herein, may be altered, modified, or repealed, or additional rules with respect thereto may be prescribed, by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, whenever he deems it to be appropriate or desirable; and any such alteration or additional rule shall be set forth in proclamation.
Note - "Half-staff" is further amplified per MCO P10520.3_, Marine Corps Flag Manual as: "The middle point of the hoist of the flag at half-mast should, in the cases of an unguyed mast of one piece, be halfway between the peak and foot of the mast or, in the case of a mast with a yard or guys, halfway between the peak and the yard or point of attachment of the guys. Local conditions, such as the liability of fouling the flag may, however, dictate other positions, a graceful one being with the top of the flag the depth of the hoist below the peak."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
1. All human beings are free and equal
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
2. No discrimination
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs.
3. Right to life
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
4. No slavery
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
5. No torture and inhuman treatment
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
6. Same right to use law
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
7. Equal before the law
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation and against any incitement to such discrimination.
8. Right to treated fair by court
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
9. No unfair detainment
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
10. Right to trial
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
11. Innocent until proved guilty
Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed.
12. Right to privacy
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
13. Freedom to movement and residence
Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
14. Right to asylum
Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
15. Right to nationality
Everyone has the right to a nationality. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality
16. Rights to marry and have family
Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
17. Right to own things
Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
18. Freedom of thought and religion
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
19. Freedom of opinion and expression
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
20. Right to assemble
Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
21. Right to democracy
Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
22. Right to social security
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.
23. Right to work
Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
24. Right to rest and holiday
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
25. Right of social service
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children shall enjoy the same social protection.
26. Right to education
Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
27. Right of cultural and art
Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
28. Freedom around the world
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
29. Subject to law
Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
30. Human rights can’t be taken away
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.
So those are all Universal Declaration of Human Rights list by United Nations General Assembly. All universal human rights list above commonly known as 30 basic human rights that must be respected and protected by the law.
_________________
www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/universal-declaration-of-hu...
Mural entitled "Pantera Poderosa" by Marcus Grabs aka @grabster, seen at 527 NW 22nd Street in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami, Florida.
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
A colourful folding brochure entitled "Lincoln and Lincolnshire" issued by the Great Northern Railway in c.1907 with covers decorated by colour sketches of Lincoln by "E.W.". As well as Lincoln and the surrounding county the brochure looks at the various cathedrals found en route from London Kings Cross toward Yorkshire. The covers also show the GNR's unusual, for the UK, almost American style 'herald' or badge.
The Great Northern Railway was incorporated in 1846 and began operations in a small way in 1848. It took some years to finally construct and open what is now the East Coast Main lIne southcof Doncaster to London but this was to become, along witht he GNR, part of the vital main line from London to Scotland via York and Newcastle that was jointly operated by the GNR, the North Eastern Railway and the North British Railway. The GNR also operated a network of branch lines in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, the latter being of particular importance in terms of access to the county's great coalfields.
This inner fold shows a wonderful view of the city, somewhat dominated by the cathedral, across the meadows.
Franz Boas posing for figure in US National Museum exhibit entitled "Hamats'a coming out of a secret room", 1895 or before.
Notations on back: "U.S.N.M. Rept. (1895) Plate 29 Hamats'a coming out of secret room," and "Kwakiutl Indian ceremony for expelling cannibals."
See also:
Aaron Glass, "On the Circulation of Ethnographic Knowledge" (Material World Blog).
Alice Beck Kehoe, "Boas as Hamatsa: Appropriate for the Medal for Exemplary Service to Anthropology Award?", Anthropology News, February 2006, Vol. 47, No. 2, pp. 4-5.
SIRIS Record Information.
Mural entitled "The Struggle of Tonanzin" by David "Ocelot" Garcia for the Street Wise Mural Festival, seen at Walnut and 26th Street in Boulder, Colorado.
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
Mural entitled "Same Team" by Kilia Llano aka @kiliallano, seen at 115 NW 6th Street in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
Mural entitled "Justice for Luís D. Góngora Pat", Clarion Alley, San Francisco, California. The artists are Elaine Chu and Marina Perez-Wong. Luís Demetrio Góngora Pat was a 45-year-old man from the Mayan village of Teabo, in the Mexican province of Yucatán. In San Francisco, Luís Demetrio Góngora Pat was a resident of a homeless encampment on 18th and Shotwell Streets. On April 7, 2016, Luís Góngora was shot by two police officers. Within 30 seconds of exiting their patrol vehicles, San Francisco Police Department’s officers unloaded four beanbag rounds and seven live rounds at Luís. The SFPD’s officers’ statement alleges that Luís lunged at them with a knife. However, eight eyewitness statements, security video footage, images of Luís’ body presented to the press from the independent autopsy and the Medical Examiner’s Report contradict the officers’ account. According to forensic evidence and eyewitness accounts, Luís never threatened the officers. He did not hold a knife. He was facing away from the officers when they shot him with beanbag rounds. He was killed by a bullet to the head following a steep downwards trajectory as the officers continued to shoot him after Luís had fallen. In 2019 an SFPD investigation ruled the officers actions were "out of policy" and escalated the situation. The police department recommended 30- and 45-day suspensions for the officers as punishment, as well as retraining.
Mural entitled "Awesome Opossum" by Simie Alexander aka @simiealex_art and SEIP.INTUIT aka @seip.intuit, seen at 30 NW 19th Street in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami, Florida.
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
Mural entitled "Atlas of Tomorrow" by Candy Chang aka @candychangland, seen at 1352 South Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Cats believe that they are entitled to be treated as royalty. They walk into a place and expect to get their way, no questions. "I live here now take care of me, I deserve it."
Lenny Green was a a skinny, scraggly, wretched & sopping wet abandoned cat when came to our back door several years ago. Now he is the ruler of this domain.
Running a comp at the moment entitled Beauty and the Beast....Obviously I can't enter, however I wanted to be part of the fun...and really this is about as beastly as I can come up with.
7 frame self portrait
The Palace of Versailles is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about 19 kilometers (12 mi) west of Paris, France.
The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, under the direction of the French Ministry of Culture, by the Public Establishment of the Palace, Museum and National Estate of Versailles. About 15,000,000 people visit the palace, park, or gardens of Versailles every year, making it one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world.
Louis XIII built a simple hunting lodge on the site of the Palace of Versailles in 1623. With his death came Louis XIV who expanded the château into the beginnings of a palace that went through several changes and phases from 1661 to 1715. It was a favorite residence for both kings, and in 1682, Louis XIV moved the seat of his court and government to Versailles, making the palace the de facto capital of France. This state of affairs was continued by Kings Louis XV and Louis XVI, who primarily made interior alterations to the palace, but in 1789 the royal family and capital of France returned to Paris. For the rest of the French Revolution, the Palace of Versailles was largely abandoned and emptied of its contents, and the population of the surrounding city plummeted.
Napoleon, following his coronation as Emperor, used Versailles as a summer residence from 1810 to 1814, but did not restore it. Following the Bourbon Restoration, when the king was returned to the throne, he resided in Paris and it was not until the 1830s that meaningful repairs were made to the palace. A museum of French history was installed within it, replacing the apartments of the southern wing.
The palace and park were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979 for its importance as the center of power, art, and science in France during the 17th and 18th centuries. The French Ministry of Culture has placed the palace, its gardens, and some of its subsidiary structures on its list of culturally significant monuments.
History
Main article: History of the Palace of Versailles
An engraving of Louis XIII's château as it appeared in 1652
Versailles around 1652, engraving by Jacques Gomboust [fr]
In 1623, Louis XIII, King of France, built a hunting lodge on a hill in a favorite hunting ground, 19 kilometers (12 mi) west of Paris and 16 kilometers (10 mi) from his primary residence, the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye The site, near a village named Versailles, was a wooded wetland that Louis XIII's court scorned as being generally unworthy of a king; one of his courtiers, François de Bassompierre, wrote that the lodge "would not inspire vanity in even the simplest gentleman". From 1631 to 1634, architect Philibert Le Roy replaced the lodge with a château for Louis XIII, who forbade his queen, Anne of Austria, from staying there overnight, even when an outbreak of smallpox at Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1641 forced Louis XIII to relocate to Versailles with his three-year-old heir, the future Louis XIV.
When Louis XIII died in 1643, Anne became Louis XIV's regent, and Louis XIII's château was abandoned for the next decade. She moved the court back to Paris, where Anne and her chief minister, Cardinal Mazarin, continued Louis XIII's unpopular monetary practices. This led to the Fronde, a series of revolts against royal authority from 1648 to 1653 that masked a struggle between Mazarin and the princes of the blood, Louis XIV's extended family, for influence over him. In the aftermath of the Fronde, Louis XIV became determined to rule alone. Following Mazarin's death in 1661, Louis XIV reformed his government to exclude his mother and the princes of the blood, moved the court back to Saint-Germain-en-Laye, and ordered the expansion of his father's château at Versailles into a palace.
Louis XIV had hunted at Versailles in the 1650s, but did not take any special interest in Versailles until 1661. On 17 August 1661, Louis XIV was a guest at a sumptuous festival hosted by Nicolas Fouquet, the Superintendent of Finances, at his palatial residence, the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte. Louis XIV was impressed by the château and its gardens, which were the work of Louis Le Vau, the court architect since 1654, André Le Nôtre, the royal gardener since 1657, and Charles Le Brun, a painter in royal service since 1647. Vaux-le-Vicomte's scale and opulence inspired Louis XIV's aesthetic sense, but also led him to imprison Fouquet that September, as he had also built an island fortress and a private army. Louis XIV was also inspired by Vaux-le-Vicomte, and he recruited its authors for his own projects. Louis XIV replaced Fouquet with Jean-Baptiste Colbert, a protégé of Mazarin and enemy of Fouquet, and charged him with managing the corps of artisans in royal employment. Colbert acted as the intermediary between them and Louis XIV, who personally directed and inspected the planning and construction of Versailles.
Construction
Work at Versailles was at first concentrated on gardens, and through the 1660s, Le Vau only added two detached service wings and a forecourt to the château. But in 1668–69, as a response to the growth of the gardens, and victory over Spain in the War of Devolution, Louis XIV decided to turn Versailles into a full-scale royal residence. He vacillated between replacing or incorporating his father's château, but settled on the latter by the end of the decade, and from 1668 to 1671, Louis XIII's château was encased on three sides in a feature dubbed the enveloppe. This gave the château a new, Italianate façade overlooking the gardens, but preserved the courtyard façade, resulting in a mix of styles and materials that dismayed Louis XIV and that Colbert described as a "patchwork". Attempts to homogenize the two façades failed, and in 1670 Le Vau died, leaving the post of First Architect to the King vacant for the next seven years.
Le Vau was succeeded at Versailles by his assistant, architect François d'Orbay. Work at the palace during the 1670s focused on its interiors, as the palace was then nearing completion, though d'Orbay expanded Le Vau's service wings and connected them to the château, and built a pair of pavilions for government employees in the forecourt. In 1670, d'Orbay was tasked by Louis XIV with designing a city, also called Versailles, to house and service Louis XIV's growing government and court. The granting of land to courtiers for the construction of townhouses that resembled the palace began in 1671. The next year, the Franco-Dutch War began and funding for Versailles was cut until 1674, when Louis XIV had work begun on the Ambassadors' Staircase , a grand staircase for the reception of guests, and demolished the last of the village of Versailles.
Following the end of the Franco-Dutch War with French victory in 1678, Louis XIV appointed as First Architect Jules Hardouin-Mansart, an experienced architect in Louis XIV's confidence, who would benefit from a restored budget and large workforce of former soldiers. Mansart began his tenure with the addition from 1678 to 1681 of the Hall of Mirrors, a renovation of the courtyard façade of Louis XIII's château, and the expansion of d'Orbay's pavilions to create the Ministers' Wings in 1678–79. Adjacent to the palace, Mansart built a pair of stables called the Grande and Petite Écuries from 1679 to 1682 and the Grand Commun, which housed the palace's servants and general kitchens, from 1682 to 1684. Mansart also added two entirely new wings in Le Vau's Italianate style to house the court, first at the south end of the palace from 1679 to 1681 and then at its north end from 1685 to 1689.
War and the resulting diminished funding slowed construction at Versailles for the rest of the 17th century. The Nine Years' War, which began in 1688, stopped work altogether until 1698. Three years later, however, the even more expensive War of the Spanish Succession began and, combined with poor harvests in 1693–94 and 1709–10, plunged France into crisis. Louis XIV thus slashed funding and canceled some of the work Mansart had planned in the 1680s, such as the remodeling of the courtyard façade in the Italianate style. Louis XIV and Mansart focused on a permanent palace chapel, the construction of which lasted from 1699 to 1710.
Louis XIV's successors, Louis XV and Louis XVI, largely left Versailles as they inherited it and focused on the palace's interiors. Louis XV's modifications began in the 1730s, with the completion of the Salon d'Hercule, a ballroom in the north wing, and the expansion of the king's private apartment, which required the demolition of the Ambassadors' Staircase In 1748, Louis XV began construction of a palace theater, the Royal Opera of Versailles at the northernmost end of the palace, but completion was delayed until 1770; construction was interrupted in the 1740s by the War of the Austrian Succession and then again in 1756 with the start of the Seven Years' War. These wars emptied the royal treasury and thereafter construction was mostly funded by Madame du Barry, Louis XV's favorite mistress. In 1771, Louis XV had the northern Ministers' Wing rebuilt in Neoclassical style by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, his court architect, as it was in the process of falling down. That work was also stopped by financial constraints, and it remained incomplete when Louis XV died in 1774. In 1784, Louis XVI briefly moved the royal family to the Château de Saint-Cloud ahead of more renovations to the Palace of Versailles, but construction could not begin because of financial difficulty and political crisis. In 1789, the French Revolution swept the royal family and government out of Versailles forever.
Role in politics and culture
The Palace of Versailles was key to Louis XIV's politics, as an expression and concentration of French art and culture, and for the centralization of royal power. Louis XIV first used Versailles to promote himself with a series of nighttime festivals in its gardens in 1664, 1668, and 1674, the events of which were disseminated throughout Europe by print and engravings. As early as 1669, but especially from 1678, Louis XIV sought to make Versailles his seat of government, and he expanded the palace so as to fit the court within it. The moving of the court to Versailles did not come until 1682, however, and not officially, as opinion on Versailles was mixed among the nobility of France.
By 1687, however, it was evident to all that Versailles was the de facto capital of France, and Louis XIV succeeded in attracting the nobility to Versailles to pursue prestige and royal patronage within a strict court etiquette, thus eroding their traditional provincial power bases. It was at the Palace of Versailles that Louis XIV received the Doge of Genoa, Francesco Maria Imperiale Lercari in 1685, an embassy from the Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1686, and an embassy from Safavid Iran in 1715.[
Louis XIV died at Versailles on 1 September 1715 and was succeeded by his five-year-old great-grandson, Louis XV, then the duke of Anjou, who was moved to Vincennes and then to Paris by Louis XV's regent, Philippe II, Duke of Orléans. Versailles was neglected until 1722, when Philippe II removed the court to Versailles to escape the unpopularity of his regency, and when Louis XV began his majority. The 1722 move, however, broke the cultural power of Versailles, and during the reign of Louis XVI, courtiers spent their leisure in Paris, not Versailles.
During Christmas 1763, Mozart and his family visited Versailles and dined with the kings. The 7-year-old Mozart played several works during his stay and later dedicated his first two harpsichord sonatas, published in 1764 in Paris, to Madame Victoria, daughter of Louis XV.
In 1783, the palace was the site of the signing of the last two of the three treaties of the Peace of Paris (1783), which ended the American Revolutionary War. On September 3, British and American delegates, led by Benjamin Franklin, signed the Treaty of Paris at the Hôtel d'York (now 56 Rue Jacob) in Paris, granting the United States independence. On September 4, Spain and France signed separate treaties with England at the Palace of Versailles, formally ending the war.
The King and Queen learned of the Storming of the Bastille in Paris on 14 July 1789, while they were at the palace, and remained isolated there as the Revolution in Paris spread. The growing anger in Paris led to the Women's March on Versailles on 5 October 1789. A crowd of several thousand men and women, protesting the high price and scarcity of bread, marched from the markets of Paris to Versailles. They took weapons from the city armory, besieged the palace, and compelled the King and royal family and the members of the National Assembly to return with them to Paris the following day.
As soon as the royal family departed, the palace was closed. In 1792, the National Convention, the new revolutionary government, ordered the transfer of all the paintings and sculptures from the palace to the Louvre. In 1793, the Convention declared the abolition of the monarchy and ordered all of the royal property in the palace to be sold at auction. The auction took place between 25 August 1793 and 11 August 1794. The furnishings and art of the palace, including the furniture, mirrors, baths, and kitchen equipment, were sold in seventeen thousand lots. All fleurs-de-lys and royal emblems on the buildings were chambered or chiseled off. The empty buildings were turned into a storehouse for furnishings, art and libraries confiscated from the nobility. The empty grand apartments were opened for tours beginning in 1793, and a small museum of French paintings and art school was opened in some of the empty rooms.
By virtue of an order issued by the Versailles district directorate in August 1794, the Royal Gate was destroyed, the Cour Royale was cleared and the Cour de Marbre lost its precious floor.
19th century – history museum and government venue
When Napoleon became Emperor of the French in 1804, he considered making Versailles his residence but abandoned the idea because of the cost of the renovation. Prior to his marriage with Marie-Louise in 1810, he had the Grand Trianon restored and refurnished as a springtime residence for himself and his family, in the style of furnishing that it is seen today.
In 1815, with the final downfall of Napoleon, Louis XVIII, the younger brother of Louis XVI, became King, and considered returning the royal residence to Versailles, where he had been born. He ordered the restoration of the royal apartments, but the task and cost was too great. Louis XVIII had the far end of the south wing of the Cour Royale demolished and rebuilt (1814–1824) to match the Gabriel wing of 1780 opposite, which gave greater uniformity of appearance to the front entrance. Neither he nor his successor Charles X lived at Versailles.
The French Revolution of 1830 brought a new monarch, Louis-Philippe to power, and a new ambition for Versailles. He did not reside at Versailles but began the creation of the Museum of the History of France, dedicated to "all the glories of France", which had been used to house some members of the royal family. The museum was begun in 1833 and inaugurated on 30 June 1837. Its most famous room is the Galerie des Batailles (Hall of Battles), which lies on most of the length of the second floor of the south wing. The museum project largely came to a halt when Louis Philippe was overthrown in 1848, though the paintings of French heroes and great battles still remain in the south wing.
Emperor Napoleon III used the palace on occasion as a stage for grand ceremonies. One of the most lavish was the banquet that he hosted for Queen Victoria in the Royal Opera of Versailles on 25 August 1855.
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, the palace was occupied by the general staff of the victorious German Army. Parts of the château, including the Gallery of Mirrors, were turned into a military hospital. The creation of the German Empire, combining Prussia and the surrounding German states under William I, was formally proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors on 18 January 1871. The Germans remained in the palace until the signing of the armistice in March 1871. In that month, the government of the new Third French Republic, which had departed Paris during the War for Tours and then Bordeaux, moved into the palace. The National Assembly held its meetings in the Opera House.
The uprising of the Paris Commune in March 1871, prevented the French government, under Adolphe Thiers, from returning immediately to Paris. The military operation which suppressed the Commune at the end of May was directed from Versailles, and the prisoners of the Commune were marched there and put on trial in military courts. In 1875 a second parliamentary body, the French Senate, was created and held its meetings for the election of a President of the Republic in a new hall created in 1876 in the south wing of the palace. The French Senate continues to meet in the palace on special occasions, such as the amendment of the French Constitution.
20th century
The end of the 19th and the early 20th century saw the beginning of restoration efforts at the palace, first led by Pierre de Nolhac, poet and scholar and the first conservator, who began his work in 1892. The conservation and restoration were interrupted by two world wars but have continued until the present day.
The palace returned to the world stage in June 1919, when, after six months of negotiations, the Treaty of Versailles, formally ending the First World War, was signed in the Hall of Mirrors. Between 1925 and 1928, the American philanthropist and multi-millionaire John D. Rockefeller, Jr. gave $2,166,000, the equivalent of about thirty million dollars today, to restore and refurbish the palace.
More work took place after World War II, with the restoration of the Royal Opera of Versailles. The theater was reopened in 1957, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
In 1978, parts of the palace were heavily damaged in a bombing committed by Breton terrorists.
Starting in the 1950s, when the museum of Versailles was under the directorship of Gérald van der Kemp, the objective was to restore the palace to its state – or as close to it as possible – in 1789 when the royal family left the palace. Among the early projects was the repair of the roof over the Hall of Mirrors; the publicity campaign brought international attention to the plight of post-war Versailles and garnered much foreign money including a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation.
One of the more costly endeavors for the museum and France's Fifth Republic has been to repurchase as much of the original furnishings as possible. Consequently, because furniture with a royal provenance – and especially furniture that was made for Versailles – is a highly sought-after commodity on the international market, the museum has spent considerable funds on retrieving much of the palace's original furnishings.
21st century
In 2003, a new restoration initiative – the "Grand Versailles" project – was started, which began with the replanting of the gardens, which had lost over 10,000 trees during Cyclone Lothar on 26 December 1999. One part of the initiative, the restoration of the Hall of Mirrors, was completed in 2006. Another major project was the further restoration of the backstage areas of the Royal Opera of Versailles in 2007 to 2009.
The Palace of Versailles is currently owned by the French state. Its formal title is the Public Establishment of the Palace, Museum and National Estate of Versailles. Since 1995, it has been run as a Public Establishment, with an independent administration and management supervised by the French Ministry of Culture.
The grounds of the palace will host the equestrian competition during the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Architecture and plan
The Palace of Versailles is a visual history of French architecture from the 1630s to the 1780s. Its earliest portion, the corps de logis, was built for Louis XIII in the style of his reign with brick, marble, and slate, which Le Vau surrounded in the 1660s with Enveloppe, an edifice that was inspired by Renaissance-era Italian villas. When Mansart made further expansions to the palace in the 1680s, he used the Enveloppe as the model for his work. Neoclassical additions were made to the palace with the remodeling of the Ministers' Wings in the 1770s, by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, and after the Bourbon Restoration.
The palace was largely completed by the death of Louis XIV in 1715. The eastern facing palace has a U-shaped layout, with the corps de logis and symmetrical advancing secondary wings terminating with the Dufour Pavilion on the south and the Gabriel Pavilion to the north, creating an expansive cour d'honneur known as the Royal Court (Cour Royale). Flanking the Royal Court are two enormous asymmetrical wings that result in a façade of 402 metres (1,319 ft) in length. Covered by around a million square feet (10 hectares) of roof, the palace has 2,143 windows, 1,252 chimneys, and 67 staircases.[
The palace and its grounds have had a great influence on architecture and horticulture from the mid-17th century to the end of the 18th century. Examples of works influenced by Versailles include Christopher Wren's work at Hampton Court Palace, Berlin Palace, the Palace of La Granja, Stockholm Palace, Ludwigsburg Palace, Karlsruhe Palace, Rastatt Palace, Nymphenburg Palace, Schleissheim Palace, and Esterházy Palace.
Royal Apartments
The construction in 1668–1671 of Le Vau's enveloppe around the outside of Louis XIII's red brick and white stone château added state apartments for the king and the queen. The addition was known at the time as the château neuf (new château). The grands appartements (Grand Apartments, also referred to as the State Apartments[141][142]) include the grand appartement du roi and the grand appartement de la reine. They occupied the main or principal floor of the château neuf, with three rooms in each apartment facing the garden to the west and four facing the garden parterres to the north and south, respectively. The private apartments of the king (the appartement du roi and the petit appartement du roi) and those of the queen (the petit appartement de la reine) remained in the château vieux (old château). Le Vau's design for the state apartments closely followed Italian models of the day, including the placement of the apartments on the main floor (the piano nobile, the next floor up from the ground level), a convention the architect borrowed from Italian palace design.
The king's State Apartment consisted of an enfilade of seven rooms, each dedicated to one of the known planets and their associated titular Roman deity. The queen's apartment formed a parallel enfilade with that of the grand appartement du roi. After the addition of the Hall of Mirrors (1678–1684) the king's apartment was reduced to five rooms (until the reign of Louis XV, when two more rooms were added) and the queen's to four.
The queen's apartments served as the residence of three queens of France – Marie-Thérèse d'Autriche, wife of Louis XIV, Marie Leczinska, wife of Louis XV, and Marie-Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI. Additionally, Louis XIV's granddaughter-in-law, Princess Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy, duchesse de Bourgogne, wife of the Petit Dauphin, occupied these rooms from 1697 (the year of her marriage) to her death in 1712.
Ambassador's Staircase
The Ambassadors' Staircase (Escalier des Ambassadeurs) was an imperial staircase built from 1674 to 1680 by d'Orbay. Until Louis XV had it demolished in 1752 to create a courtyard for his private apartments, the staircase was the primary entrance into the Palace of Versailles and the royal apartments especially. It was entered from the courtyard via a vestibule that, cramped and dark, contrasted greatly with the tall, open space of the staircase – famously lit naturally with a skylight – so as to overawe visitors.
The staircase and walls of the room that contained it were clad in polychrome marble and gilded bronze, with decor in the Ionic order. Le Brun and painted the walls and ceiling of the room according to a festive theme to celebrate Louis XIV's victory in the Franco-Dutch War. On the wall immediately above the staircase were trompe-l'œil paintings of people from the Four Parts of the World looking into the staircase over a balustrade, a motif repeated on the ceiling fresco. There they were joined by allegorical figures for the twelve months of the year and various Classical Greek figures such as the Muses. A marble bust of Louis XIV, sculpted by Jean Warin in 1665–66, was placed in a niche above the first landing of the staircase.
The State Apartments of the King
The construction of the Hall of Mirrors between 1678 and 1686 coincided with a major alteration to the State Apartments. They were originally intended as his residence, but the King transformed them into galleries for his finest paintings, and venues for his many receptions for courtiers. During the season from All-Saints Day in November until Easter, these were usually held three times a week, from six to ten in the evening, with various entertainments.
The Salon of Hercules
This was originally a chapel. It was rebuilt beginning in 1712 under the supervision of the First Architect of the King, Robert de Cotte, to showcase two paintings by Paolo Veronese, Eleazar and Rebecca and Meal at the House of Simon the Pharisee, which was a gift to Louis XIV from the Republic of Venice in 1664. The painting on the ceiling, The Apotheosis of Hercules, by François Lemoyne, was completed in 1736, and gave the room its name.
The Salon of Abundance
The Salon of Abundance was the antechamber to the Cabinet of Curios (now the Games Room), which displayed Louis XIV's collection of precious jewels and rare objects. Some of the objects in the collection are depicted in René-Antoine Houasse's painting Abundance and Liberality (1683), located on the ceiling over the door opposite the windows.
The Salon of Venus
This salon was used for serving light meals during evening receptions. The principal feature in this room is Jean Warin's life-size statue of Louis XIV in the costume of a Roman emperor. On the ceiling in a gilded oval frame is another painting by Houasse, Venus subjugating the Gods and Powers (1672–1681). Trompe-l'œil paintings and sculpture around the ceiling illustrate mythological themes.
The Salon of Mercury
The Salon of Mercury was the original State Bedchamber when Louis XIV officially moved the court and government to the palace in 1682. The bed is a replica of the original commissioned by King Louis-Philippe in the 19th century when he turned the palace into a museum. The ceiling paintings by the Flemish artist Jean Baptiste de Champaigne depict the god Mercury in his chariot, drawn by a rooster, and Alexander the Great and Ptolemy surrounded by scholars and philosophers. The Automaton Clock was made for the King by the royal clockmaker Antoine Morand in 1706. When it chimes the hour, figures of Louis XIV and Fame descend from a cloud.
The Salon of Mars
The Salon of Mars was used by the royal guards until 1782, and was decorated on a military theme with helmets and trophies. It was turned into a concert room between 1684 and 1750, with galleries for musicians on either side. Portraits of Louis XV and his Queen, Marie Leszczinska, by the Flemish artist Carle Van Loo decorate the room today.
The Salon of Apollo
The Salon of Apollo was the royal throne room under Louis XIV, and was the setting for formal audiences. The eight-foot-high silver throne was melted down in 1689 to help pay the costs of an expensive war, and was replaced by a more modest throne of gilded wood. The central painting on the ceiling, by Charles de la Fosse, depicts the Sun Chariot of Apollo, the King's favorite emblem, pulled by four horses and surrounded by the four seasons.
The Salon of Diana
The Salon of Diana was used by Louis XIV as a billiards room, and had galleries from which courtiers could watch him play. The decoration of the walls and ceiling depicts scenes from the life of the goddess Diana. The celebrated bust of Louis XIV by Bernini made during the famous sculptor's visit to France in 1665 is on display here.
Private apartments of the King and Queen
The apartments of the King were the heart of the château; they were in the same location as the rooms of Louis XIII, the creator of the château, on the first floor (second floor US style). They were set aside for the personal use of Louis XIV in 1683. He and his successors Louis XV and Louis XVI used these rooms for official functions, such as the ceremonial lever ("waking up") and the coucher ("going to bed") of the monarch, which was attended by a crowd of courtiers.
The King's apartment was accessed from the Hall of Mirrors from the Oeil de Boeuf antechamber or from the Guardroom and the Grand Couvert, the ceremonial room where Louis XIV often took his evening meals, seated alone at a table in front of the fireplace. His spoon, fork, and knife were brought to him in a golden box. The courtiers could watch as he dined.
The King's bedchamber had originally been a Drawing Room before Louis XIV transformed it into his own bedroom in 1701. He died there on 1 September 1715. Both Louis XV and Louis XVI continued to use the bedroom for their official awakening and going to bed. On 6 October 1789, from the balcony of this room Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, joined by the Marquis de Lafayette, looked down on the hostile crowd in the courtyard, shortly before the King was forced to return to Paris.
The bed of the King is placed beneath a carved relief by Nicolas Coustou entitled France watching over the sleeping King. The decoration includes several paintings set into the paneling, including a self-portrait of Antony van Dyck.
Private apartments of The Queen
The petit appartement de la reine is a suite of rooms that were reserved for the personal use of the queen. Originally arranged for the use of the Marie-Thérèse, consort of Louis XIV, the rooms were later modified for use by Marie Leszczyńska and finally for Marie-Antoinette. The Queen's apartments and the King's Apartments were laid out on the same design, each suite having seven rooms. Both suites had ceilings painted with scenes from mythology; the King's ceilings featured male figures, the Queen's featured females.
Hall of Mirrors
The Hall of Mirrors is a long gallery at the westernmost part of the palace that looks out onto the gardens. The hall was built from 1678 to 1681 on the site of a terrace Le Vau built between the king and queen's suites. The hall is clad in marble and decorated in a modified version of the Corinthian order, with 578 mirrors facing 17 windows and reflecting the light provided by them. The ceiling fresco, painted by Le Brun over the next four years, embellishes the first 18 years of Louis XIV's reign in 30 scenes, 17 of which are military victories over the Dutch. The fresco depicts Louis XIV himself alongside Classical figures in the scenes celebrating moments in his reign such as the beginning of personal rule in 1661, breaking from earlier frescoes at Versailles that used allegories derived from Classical and mythological scenes.
The Salon of War and the Salon of Peace bookend the Hall of Mirrors on its northern and southern ends respectively. The Salon of War, constructed and decorated from 1678 to 1686, celebrates French victories in the Franco-Dutch War with marble panels, gilded bronze trophies of arms, and a stucco bas-relief of Louis XIV on horsebask riding over his enemies. The Salon of Peace is decorated in the same fashion but according to its eponymous theme.
Royal Chapel
The Royal Chapel of Versailles is located at the southern end of the north wing. The building stands 40-meter (130 ft) high, and measures 42 meters (138 ft) long and 24 meters (79 ft) wide. The chapel is rectangular with a semicircular apse, combining traditional, Gothic royal French church architecture with the French Baroque style of Versailles. The ceiling of the chapel is constituted by an unbroken vault, divided into three frescos by Antoine Coypel, Charles de La Fosse, and Jean Jouvenet. The palette of motifs beneath the frescoes glorify the deeds of Louis IX, and include images of David, Constantine, Charlemagne, and Louis IX, fleur de lis, and Louis XIV's monogram. The organ of the chapel was built by Robert Clicquot and Julien Tribuot in 1709–1710.
Louis XIV commissioned the chapel, its sixth, from Mansart and Le Brun in 1683–84. It was the last building constructed at Versailles during Louis XIV's reign. Construction was delayed until 1699, however, and it was not completed until 1710. The only major modification to the chapel since its completion was the removal of a lantern from its roof in 1765. A full restoration of the chapel began in late 2017 and lasted into early 2021.
Royal Opera
The Royal Opera of Versailles was originally commissioned by Louis XIV in 1682 and was to be built at the end of the North Wing with a design by Mansart and Vigarani. However, due to the expense of the King's continental wars, the project was put aside. The idea was revived by Louis XV with a new design by Ange-Jacques Gabriel in 1748, but this was also temporarily put aside. The project was revived and rushed ahead for the planned celebration of the marriage of the Dauphin, the future Louis XVI, and Marie-Antoinette. For economy and speed, the new opera was built almost entirely of wood, which also gave it very high quality acoustics. The wood was painted to resemble marble, and the ceiling was decorated with a painting of the Apollo, the god of the arts, preparing crowns for illustrious artists, by Louis Jean-Jacques Durameau. The sculptor Augustin Pajou added statuary and reliefs to complete the decoration. The new Opera was inaugurated on 16 May 1770, as part of the celebration of the royal wedding.
In October 1789, early in the French Revolution, the last banquet for the royal guardsmen was hosted by the King in the opera, before he departed for Paris. Following the Franco-German War in 1871 and then the Paris Commune until 1875, the French National Assembly met in the opera, until the proclamation of the Third French Republic and the return of the government to Paris.
Museum of the History of France
Shortly after becoming King in 1830, Louis Philippe I decided to transform the palace into a museum devoted to "All the Glories of France," with paintings and sculpture depicting famous French victories and heroes. Most of the apartments of the palace were entirely demolished (in the main building, practically all of the apartments were annihilated, with only the apartments of the king and queen remaining almost intact), and turned into a series of several large rooms and galleries: the Coronation Room (whose original volume was left untouched by Louis-Philippe), which displays the celebrated painting of the coronation of Napoleon I by Jacques-Louis David; the Hall of Battles; commemorating French victories with large-scale paintings; and the 1830 room, which celebrated Louis-Philippe's own coming to power in the French Revolution of 1830. Some paintings were brought from the Louvre, including works depicting events in French history by Philippe de Champaigne, Pierre Mignard, Laurent de La Hyre, Charles Le Brun, Adam Frans van der Meulen, Nicolas de Largillière, Hyacinthe Rigaud, Jean-Antoine Houdon, Jean-Marc Nattier, Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Hubert Robert, Thomas Lawrence, Jacques-Louis David, and Antoine-Jean Gros. Others were commissioned especially for the museum by prominent artists of the early 19th century, including Eugène Delacroix, who painted Saint Louis at the French victory over the British in the Battle of Taillebourg in 1242. Other painters featured include Horace Vernet and François Gérard. A monumental painting by Vernet features Louis Philippe himself, with his sons, posing in front of the gates of the palace.
The overthrow of Louis Philippe in 1848 put an end to his grand plans for the museum, but the Gallery of Battles is still as it was, and is passed through by many visitors to the royal apartments and grand salons. Another set of rooms on the first floor has been made into galleries on Louis XIV and his court, displaying furniture, paintings, and sculptures. In recent years, eleven rooms on the ground floor between the Chapel and the Opera have been turned into a history of the palace, with audiovisual displays and models.
Estate of Versailles
The estate of Versailles consists of the palace, the subsidiary buildings around it, and its park and gardens. As of June 2021, the estate altogether covers an area of 800 hectares (8.0 km2; 2,000 acres), with the park and gardens laid out to the south, west, and north of the palace. The palace is approached from the east by the Avenue de Paris, measuring 17 miles (27 km) from Paris to a gate between the Grande and Petite Écuries. Beyond these stables is the Place d'Armes, where the Avenue de Paris meets the Avenue de Sceaux and Avenue de Saint-Cloud (see map), the three roads that formed the main arteries of the city of Versailles. Exactly where the three roads meet is a gate leading into the cour d'honneur. hemmed in by the Ministers' Wings. Beyond is the Royal Gate and the main palace, which wraps around the Royal and finally Marble Courts
The estate was established by Louis XIII as a hunting retreat, with a park just to the west of his château. From 1661, Louis XIV expanded the estate until, at its greatest extent, the estate was made up by the Grand Parc , a hunting ground of 15,000 hectares (150 km2; 37,000 acres), and the gardens, called the Petit Parc, which covered 1,700 hectares (17 km2; 4,200 acres). A 25-mile (40 km) long, 10-foot (3.0 m) high wall with 24 gateways enclosed the estate.
The landscape of the estate had to be created from the bog that surrounded Louis XIII's château using landscape architecture usually employed in fortress building. The approach to the palace and the gardens were carefully laid out via the moving of earth and construction of terraces. The water from the marsh was marshalled into a series of lakes and ponds around Versailles, but these reservoirs were not sufficient for the palace, city, or gardens. Great lengths were taken to supply Versailles with water, such as the damming of the river Bièvre to create an inflow in the 1660s, the construction of an enormous pumping station at the river Seine near Marly-le-Roi in 1681, and an attempt to divert water from the river Eure with a canal in the later 1680s.
Gardens
The gardens of Versailles, as they have existed since the reign of Louis XIV, are the work of André Le Nôtre. Le Nôtre's gardens were preceded by a simple garden laid out in the 1630s by landscape architects Jacques Boyceau and Jacques de Nemours, which he rearranged along an east–west axis that, because of Louis XIV's land purchases and the clearing of woodland, were expanded literally as far as could be seen. The resulting gardens were a collaboration between Le Nôtre, Le Brun, Colbert, and Louis XIV, marked by rigid order, discipline, and open space, with axial paths, flowerbeds, hedges, and ponds and lakes as motifs. They became the epitome of the French formal garden style, and have been very influential and widely imitated or reproduced.
Subsidiary structures
The first of the subsidiary structures of the Palace of Versailles was the Versailles Menagerie [fr],[199][200] built by Le Vau between the years 1662 and 1664, at the southern end of the Grand Canal. The apartments, overlooking the pens, were renovated by Mansart from 1698 to 1700, but the Menagerie fell into disuse in 1712. After a long period of decay, it was demolished in 1801. The Versailles Orangery, just to the south of the palace, was first built by Le Vau in 1663, originally as part of the general moving of earth to create the Estate.[191] It was also modified by Mansart, who, from 1681 to 1685, totally rebuilt it and doubled its size.
In late 1679, Louis XIV commissioned Mansart to build the Château de Marly, a retreat at the edge of Versailles's estate, about 5 miles (8.0 km) from the palace. The château consisted of a primary residential building and twelve pavilions, in Palladian style placed in two rows on either side of the main building. Construction was completed in 1686, when Louis XIV spent his first night there. The château was nationalized and sold in 1799, and subsequently demolished and replaced with industrial buildings. These were themselves demolished in 1805, and then in 1811 the estate was purchased by Napoleon. On 1 June 2009, the grounds of the Château de Marly were ceded to the Public Establishment of the Palace, Museum and National Estate of Versailles.
La Lanterne, is a hunting lodge named after the lantern that topped the nearby Menagerie that was built in 1787 by Philippe Louis de Noailles, then the palace governor. It has since 1960 been a state residence.
Petit Trianon
The Petit Trianon, whose construction from 1762 to 1768 led to the advent of the names "Grand" and "Petit Trianon", was constructed for Louis XV and the Madame du Barry in the Neoclassical style by Gabriel. The building has a piano nobile, basement, and attic, with five windows on each floor. On becoming king, Louis XVI gave the Petit Trianon to Marie Antoinette, who remodeled it, relaid its gardens in the then-current English and Oriental styles, and formed her own court there.
In 1668, Louis XIV purchased and demolished the hamlet of Trianon, near the northern tip of the Grand Canal, and in its place, he commissioned Le Vau to construct a retreat from court, remembered as the Porcelain Trianon. Designed and built by Le Vau in 1670, it was the first example of Chinoiserie (faux Chinese) architecture in Europe, though it was largely designed in French style. The roof was clad not with porcelain but with delftware, and was thus prone to leaks, so in 1687 Louis XIV ordered it demolished. Nevertheless, the Porcelain Trianon was itself influential and copycats were built across Europe.
The Grand Trianon
The Grand Trianon with courtyard and gardens. The wing at left is a residence of the President of France.
The Grand Trianon with courtyard and gardens. The wing at left is a residence of the President of France.
To replace the Porcelain Trianon, Louis XIV tasked Mansart with the construction in 1687 of the Grand Trianon, built from marble in three months. The Grand Trianon has a single story, except for its attached service wing, which was modified by Mansart in 1705–06. The east façade has a courtyard while the west faces the gardens of the Grand Trianon, and between them a peristyle. The interiors are mostly original,[214] and housed Louis XIV, the Madame de Maintenon, Marie Leszczynska, and Napoleon, who ordered restorations to the building. Under de Gaulle, the north wing of the Grand Trianon became a residence of the President of France.
The Queen's hamlet and Theater
Near the Trianons are the French pavilion, built by Gabriel in 1750 between the two residences, and the Queen's Theater and Queen's Hamlet, built by architect Richard Mique in 1780 and from 1783 to 1785 respectively. These were both built at the behest of Marie Antoinette; the theater, hidden in the gardens, indulged her appreciation of opera and is absolutely original, and the hamlet to extend her gardens with rustic amenities. The building scheme of the Queen's Hamlet includes a farmhouse (the farm was to produce milk and eggs for the queen), a dairy, a dovecote, a boudoir, a barn that burned down during the French Revolution, a mill and a tower in the form of a lighthouse.
Modern political and ceremonial functions
The palace still serves political functions. Heads of state are regaled in the Hall of Mirrors; the bicameral French Parliament—consisting of the Senate (Sénat) and the National Assembly (Assemblée nationale)—meet in joint session (a congress of the French Parliament) in Versailles to revise or otherwise amend the French Constitution, a tradition that came into effect with the promulgation of the 1875 Constitution. For example, the Parliament met in joint session at Versailles to pass constitutional amendments in June 1999 (for domestic applicability of International Criminal Court decisions and for gender equality in candidate lists), in January 2000 (ratifying the Treaty of Amsterdam), and in March 2003 (specifying the "decentralized organization" of the French Republic).
In 2009, President Nicolas Sarkozy addressed the global financial crisis before a congress in Versailles, the first time that this had been done since 1848, when Charles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte gave an address before the French Second Republic. Following the November 2015 Paris attacks, President François Hollande gave a speech before a rare joint session of parliament at the Palace of Versailles. This was the third time since 1848 that a French president addressed a joint session of the French Parliament at Versailles. The president of the National Assembly has an official apartment at the Palace of Versailles. In 2023 a state visit by Charles III to France included a state banquet at the Palace.
Originally untitled, entitled after the note written by Paolo in the bottom right corner of the picture.
The Postcard
A postally unused postcard that was printed and published by J. Salmon of Sevenoaks. The card, which was printed in Great Britain, has a divided back.
The card is referring to a song entitled 'Who Were You with Last Night?' which was written in 1912 by Fred Godfrey and Mark Sheridan.
Lyrics to the Song
The words to the song are as follows:
'In an office up the west,
Obadiah, smartly dressed,
Wandered in one Friday morn,
In a brand new fancy vest.
His pals all rose and said,
"My word, you're a naughty, naughty boy.
Last night we saw you making eyes
At a nice little lump of joy.
You kissed her twice,
On the same place twice,
And gave her waist a squeeze,
So we'd like you to inform us,
Mister Obadiah, please".
Chorus:
"Who were you with last night?
Who were you with last night?
It wasn't your sister,
It wasn't your ma,
Ah ah, ah ah,
Ah ah ah ah!
Who were you with last night,
Out in the pale moonlight?
Are you going to tell your missus,
When you get home,
Who you were with last night?".
Like a rosy apple red,
Obadiah blushed and said,
"You're mistaken, boys, because
I was out with uncle Fred".
His pals looked round and winked, then said,
As they gave a knowing grin,
"Do you always squeeze your uncle's waist,
And tickle his bristly chin?
Does your uncle, too,
Wear a high heeled shoe,
And a dainty powdered face?
Does he sport a hobble skirt
And bits of furbelows and lace?".
(Chorus)
Obadiah said, "I'm sure
My brother, p'raps, you fellows saw!".
They said, "Wow wow Obadiah,
You can tell that tale to Noah!
We knew you by your sprightly walk,
And the tale you told was grand.
Last night we saw you in the park,
There listening to the band.
Your darling wife,
She would have your life,
and put your hair in curl,
If she knew you'd been out walking
With some other little girl!".
(Chorus)
The song has been recorded by many performers, including:
-- Mark Sheridan - 1912
-- Jack Charman - 1912
-- Arthur Lovell - 1912
-- Harry Fay - 1912
-- Stanley Kirkby - 1912
-- Albert Whelan - 1912
-- Arthur Leslie - 1912
-- Debroy Somers' Band - 1930
-- Four Happy Tommies & Nat Star's Orchestra - 1930
-- Don Porto's Novelty Accordion Band - 1933
-- Bertha Wilmott with Fred & Leslie Douglas - 1933
-- Larry Brennan & His Winter Gardens Band - 1934
-- The Coronets - 1956
-- Mickey Ashman & His Band - 1959
-- Celia Hunt - 1964
-- The Gaiety Playboys - 1967
-- Tommy Trinder - 1974
-- Beryl Reid - 1974
J. Salmon Ltd.
Alas, J. Salmon no longer produce postcards. Having churned out small coloured rectangles of card from its factory in Kent for more than 100 years, the company stopped publishing postcards in 2017.
The fifth-generation brothers who still ran the company sent a letter to their clients in the autumn of 2017, advising them that the presses would cease printing at the end of 2017, with their remaining stock being sold off throughout the following year.
The firm’s story began in 1880, when the original J. Salmon acquired a printing business on Sevenoaks high street, and produced a collection of twelve black and white scenes of the town.
In 1912, the business broke through into the big time by commissioning the artist Alfred Robert Quinton (1853 - 1934), who produced 2,300 scenes of British life for them up until his death.
From Redruth to King’s Lynn, his softly coloured, highly detailed watercolours of rosy milkmaids, bucolic pumphouses and picturesque harbour towns earned him a place in the hearts of the public, despite references to his 'chocolate-box art' by some art critics.
J. Salmon also produced photographs and cheery oils of seaside imagery captioned with a garrulous enthusiasm: “Eat More Chips!”, “Sun, Sand & Sea”, “We’re Going Camping!”
It commissioned the comic artist Reg Maurice (who often worked under the pseudonym Vera Paterson), to produce pictures of comically bulbous children with cutesy captions, alongside the usual stock images of British towns.
It was this century’s changing habits – and technology – that did for Salmon. Co-managing director Charles Salmon noted:
“People are going for shorter breaks,
not for a fortnight, so you’re back home
before your postcards have arrived."
He barely needed to say that Instagram and Facebook had made their product all but redundant, almost wiping out the entire industry in a decade.
Michelle Abadie, co-director of the John Hinde Collection, said:
“When I heard the news, I was
actually surprised they still existed."
John Hinde was once J Salmon’s biggest rival; it sold 50-60 million postcards a year at its peak in the 1960's, but it, too, shuttered four years previously. The licensing for its rich archive of images was sold off, and repurposed in art books.
However, in one sense, the death of the postcard is overstated. Like vinyl records, our fetish for the physical objects we left behind is already making its presence felt.
Michelle Abadie points out:
“If you go into Waterstones now, they
sell lots of postcards of book covers.
The idea itself isn’t dead – as a
decorative object, people still want
them.”
-- Beryl Reid
Beryl Elizabeth Reid OBE, who was born on the 17th. June 1919, was a British actress.
She won the 1967 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for The Killing of Sister George, the 1980 Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for Born in the Gardens, and the 1982 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for Smiley's People.
Her film appearances included The Belles of St. Trinian's (1954), The Killing of Sister George (1968), The Assassination Bureau (1969), and No Sex Please, We're British (1973).
-- Beryl Reid - The Early Years
Born in Hereford, Herefordshire, Reid was the daughter of Scottish parents and grew up in Manchester, where she attended Withington and Levenshulme High Schools.
As a child, she established a lifelong friendship with Nancy Wrigley, the daughter of the prominent classical soprano, Dame Isobel Baillie. Years later, Reid fondly recalled:
"Baillie would tell us the most wonderful
things...you can imagine nine-year-old girls
goggle-eyed at six princes serenading her
in Hawaii!"
-- Beryl Reid's Career
Leaving school at 16, Beryl made her debut in 1936 as a music hall performer at the Floral Hall, Bridlington.
Before and during the Second World War, she took part in variety shows and pantomimes.
She had no formal training, but later worked at the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Her first big success came in the BBC radio show Educating Archie as naughty schoolgirl Monica and later as the Brummie, "Marlene."
Beryl's many film and television roles as a character actor were usually well received. She reprised her Tony Award-winning performance of a lesbian soap opera star in The Killing of Sister George for the 1968 screen version, and was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Drama.
The tour of the play was not a success; people in shops refused to serve her and other performers due to the gay characters in the play.
Beryl was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1976 when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews in the car park of Thames Television's Teddington Studios.
In both Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979) and Smiley's People, (1982) Reid played Connie Sachs. For Smiley's People, she won a BAFTA for Best Actress on Television.
Between 1981 and 1983, Reid co-presented the Children's TV programme Get up and Go for Yorkshire Television, her co-presenter "Mooncat" being a green, talking, puppet cat. Stephen Boxer was her human co-star. After she left the show, it became titled simply Mooncat and Co.
In 1982 she was in Dr. Who, Earthshock Ep 2, 3 & 4, as Captain Briggs, when the Peter Davison incarnation of The Doctor first met the Cybermen.
Reid wrote an autobiography in 1984 titled So Much Love.
She played the part of an elderly feminist and political subversive in the 1987 television drama, The Beiderbecke Tapes.
Beryl appeared in many situation comedies and variety programmes on TV, including BBC TV's long running music hall show, The Good Old Days.
-- Personal Life and Death of Beryl Reid
Beryl married twice, but had no children. Her second husband, Derek Franklin, was a member of the Hedley Ward Trio.
An authorised biography, Roll Out the Beryl, was published by Fantom Films in August 2016. Written by Kaye Crawford, it was the first biography of the actress, and coincided with the twentieth anniversary of her death.
Beryl Reid died at the age of 77 from kidney failure (according to some obituaries, she had also developed pneumonia) at a hospital in Wexham, Buckinghamshire on the 13th. October 1996, after complications following knee replacement surgery for arthritis.
Mural entitled "Soul Kitty" by SKELA aka @sanguineskills, seen at 3320 NW 2nd Avenue in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami, Florida.
Photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
Sculpture entitled "La Main Créatrice" (The creative hand) showing Adam and Eva in God's hand. Masterpiece by Michel Serraz in 1989.
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Church built for the numerous workers in charge of Paris World's Fairs (Expositions Universelles) at the turning of the 20th century.
Location: rue Vercingétorix / rue Guilleminot, 75014 Paris near Montparnasse railway station
Construction: 1897-1902
Architect: Jules-Godefroy Astruc (1862-1955)
Highlights: the metallic structure (just like in a factory)
www.unjourdeplusaparis.com/en/paris-culture/eglise-notre-...
Optimistically entitled, this treaty promised an alliance between England and Scotland, sealed with a marriage alliance. James IV of Scotland was betrothed to Princess Margaret, the daughter of Henry VII of England. The borders of this document illustrate the thistle (James’ emblem), the Tudor rose and the marguerete representing Margaret.
This document is held in the National Archives.
A picture by Vic Millington, entitled Wenford Farewell, bought in Cornwall in 1985, while I was visiting for the GWR anniversary celebrations, it is now displayed in my railway room. Note the ghost of a Beattie well tank.
The gentleman with the beard and hat I believe to be Samuel Worth, born at St Mabyn in 1815. He joined the Bodmin & Wenford Railway when it opened in 1834 as a look-out man on the front of the engine, opening and shutting gates and chasing stray cattle off the line. The following year he was seriously injured in a shunting accident at Helland Bridge; despite being absent for over a year, the Company held him in such high regard that they paid him full wages, surly a very early example of such benevolence. He became a Wharfinger at Bodmin in 1839, a position he held for 58 years until his retirement at the age of 80 in 1895.
Published by Pictures (Cornwall) Ltd.
Delegates to the WIPO Assemblies, which met in Geneva from October 3 to 11, 2016 enjoyed a performance of traditional Slovak dance and music on October 4, 2016.
The performance was part of a Slovak cultural event co-organized by WIPO and Slovakia on the sidelines of the WIPO Assemblies. The performance was by the Slovak State Traditional Dance Company, a professional artistic ensemble involved in the performance of folklore, music, dance theater and other artistic genres in Slovakia since 1949.
The event entitled “Flying Innovations, Protecting Heritage and Art of Glass” showcased Slovak innovation and creativity, including presentation of the world’s first flying car prototype designed by Slovak designer Štefan Klein, and Slovakia’s world renown glass work.
Copyright: WIPO. Photo: Emmanuel Berrod. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 IGO License.