Executed photos on Flickr

Chapel of Christ in Gethsemane, Coventry Cathedral by Aidan McRae Thomson

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The Chapel of Christ in Gethsemane stands at the end of the liturgical south aisle (immediately to the right of the altar and Tapestry) and featrues a striking gold mosaic of a Byzantine-inspired angel, in the act of offering the chalice, created by artist Stephen Sykes. The figure of the angel, along with the adjoining small group of sleeping apostles is executed in low relief and is visibible upon entering the cathedral by the glazed screen. The chapel is separated by a bronze screen in the form of a crown of thorns.

Coventry's Cathedral is a unique synthesis of old a new, born of wartime suffering and forged in the spirit of postwar optimism, famous for it's history and for being the most radically modern of Anglican cathedrals. Two cathedral's stand side by side, the ruins of the medieval building, destroyed by incendiary bombs in 1940 and the bold new building designed by Basil Spence and opened in 1962.

It is a common misconception that Coventry lost it's first cathedral in the wartime blitz, but the bombs actually destroyed it's second; the original medieval cathedral was the monastic St Mary's, a large cruciform building believed to have been similar in appearance to Lichfield Cathedral (whose diocese it shared). Tragically it became the only English cathedral to be destroyed during the Reformation, after which it was quickly quarried away, leaving only scant fragments, but enough evidence survives to indicate it's rich decoration (some pieces displayed nearby in the Priory Visitors Centre). Foundations of it's apse were found during the building of the new cathedral in the 1950s, thus technically three cathedrals share the same site.

The mainly 15th century St Michael's parish church became the seat of the new diocese of Coventry in 1918, and being one of the largest parish churches in the country it was upgraded to cathedral status without structural changes (unlike most 'parish church' cathedrals created in the early 20th century). It lasted in this role a mere 22 years before being burned to the ground in the 1940 Coventry Blitz, leaving only the outer walls and the magnificent tapering tower and spire (the extensive arcades and clerestoreys collapsed completely in the fire, precipitated by the roof reinforcement girders, installed in the Victorian restoration, that buckled in the intense heat).

The determination to rebuild the cathedral in some form was born on the day of the bombing, however it wasn't until the mid 1950s that a competition was held and Sir Basil Spence's design was chosen. Spence had been so moved by experiencing the ruined church he resolved to retain it entirely to serve as a forecourt to the new church. He envisaged the two being linked by a glass screen wall so that the old church would be visible from within the new.

Built between 1957-62 at a right-angle to the ruins, the new cathedral attracted controversy for it's modern form, and yet some modernists argued that it didn't go far enough, afterall there are echoes of the gothic style in the great stone-mullioned windows of the nave and the net vaulting (actually a free-standing canopy) within. What is exceptional is the way art has been used as such an integral part of the building, a watershed moment, revolutionising the concept of religious art in Britain.

Spence employed some of the biggest names in contemporary art to contribute their vision to his; the exterior is adorned with Jacob Epstein's triumphant bronze figures of Archangel Michael (patron of the cathedral) vanquishing the Devil. At the entrance is the remarkable glass wall, engraved by John Hutton with strikingly stylised figures of saints and angels, and allowing the interior of the new to communicate with the ruin. Inside, the great tapestry of Christ in majesty surrounded by the evangelistic creatures, draws the eye beyond the high altar; it was designed by Graham Sutherland and was the largest tapestry ever made.

However one of the greatest features of Coventry is it's wealth of modern stained glass, something Spence resolved to include having witnessed the bleakness of Chartres Cathedral in wartime, when all it's stained glass had been removed. The first window encountered on entering is the enormous 'chess-board' baptistry window filled with stunning abstract glass by John Piper & Patrick Reyntiens, a symphony of glowing colour. The staggered nave walls are illuminated by ten narrow floor to ceiling windows filled with semi-abstract symbolic designs arranged in pairs of dominant colours (green, red, multi-coloured, purple/blue and gold) representing the souls journey to maturity, and revealed gradually as one approaches the altar. This amazing project was the work of three designers lead by master glass artist Lawrence Lee of the Royal College of Art along with Keith New and Geoffrey Clarke (each artist designed three of the windows individually and all collaborated on the last).

The cathedral still dazzles the visitor with the boldness of it's vision, but alas, half a century on, it was not a vision to be repeated and few of the churches and cathedrals built since can claim to have embraced the synthesis of art and architecture in the way Basil Spence did at Coventry.

The cathedral is generally open to visitors most days, but now charges an entry fee (a fix for recent financial worries; gone are the frequent days I used to wander around it in search of inspiration!)and sadly visitors are also encouraged to enter by the far end of the building, contrary to Spence's intentions.

For more see below:-

www.coventrycathedral.org.uk/

South Korea - Seoul - Deoksugung Palace - Statue Of King Sejong - 2 by Manfred Sommer

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Sejong the Great (Korean pronunciation: [se.dʑoŋ]; 15 May 1397 - 8 April 1450) was the fourth king of Joseon-dynasty Korea. He was the third son of King Taejong and Queen consort Min. He was designated as heir-apparent, Crown Prince, after his older brother Jae was stripped of his title. He ascended to the throne in 1418. During the first four years of his reign, Taejong governed as regent, after which his father-in-law, Sim On, and his close associates were executed.

Sejong reinforced Han Chinese Confucian policies and executed major "legal amendments" (공법; 貢法). He also created the Korean alphabet Hangul, encouraged advancements of scientific technology, and instituted many other efforts to stabilize and improve prosperity. He dispatched military campaigns to the north and instituted the Samin Policy (사민정책; 徙民政策) to attract new settlers to the region. To the south, he subjugated Japanese raiders and captured Tsushima Island.

During his reign from 1418 to 1450, he governed from 1422 to 1442 and governed as regent with his son Crown Prince Munjong until his death in either 1442 or 1450.

Although the appellation "the Great" / "(대왕;大王)" was given posthumously to almost every ruler of Goryeo and Joseon, this title is usually associated with Gwanggaeto and Sejong.

BIOGRAPHY

EARLY LIFE

Sejong was born on May 15, 1397, the third son of King Taejong. When he was twelve, he became Grand Prince Chungnyeong (충녕대군). As a young prince, Sejong excelled in various studies and was favored by King Taejong over his two older brothers.

As the third son of Taejong, Sejong's ascension to the throne was unique. Taejong's eldest son, Yangnyeong (양녕대군), was named heir apparent in 1404. However, Yangnyeong's free spirited nature as well as his preference for hunting and leisure activities resulted in his removal from the position of heir apparent in June 1418. Though it is said that Yangnyeong abdicated in favor of his younger brother, there are no definitive records regarding Yangnyeong's removal. Taejong's second son Grand Prince Hyoryeong became a monk upon the elevation of his younger brother Sejong.

Following the removal of Yangnyeong as heir apparent, Taejong moved quickly to secure his youngest son's position as heir apparent. The government was purged of officials who disagreed with the removal of Yangnyeong. In August 1418, Taejong abdicated in favor of Sejong. However, even in retirement Taejong continued to influence government policy. Sejong's surprising political savvy and creativity did not become apparent until after Taejong's death in 1422.

ACHIEVEMENTS

STARTUNG POLITICS BASED ON CONFUCIANISM

King Sejong revolutionized government by appointing people from different social classes as civil servants. Furthermore, he performed official government events according to Confucianism, and he encouraged people to behave according to Confucianism. As a result, Confucianism became the social norm. He also published some books about Confucianism.

At first, he suppressed Buddhism by banning all Buddhist monks from Seoul, drastically reducing the power and wealth of the Buddhist hierarchy, but later he alleviated his action by building temples and accepting Buddhism by making a test to become a monk (Seung-gwa)

DECREE AGIANST THE HUIHUL COMMUNITY

In the year 1427 Sejong ordered a decree against the Huihui (Korean Muslim) community that had had special status and stipends since the Yuan dynasty. The Huihui were forced to abandon their headgear, to close down their "ceremonial hall" (Mosque in the city of Kaesong) and worship like everyone else. No further mention of Muslims exist during the era of the Joseon.

FOREIGN POLICY

In relationship with the Chinese Ming, he made some successful agreements that benefited Korea. In relationship with Jurchen people, he installed 10 military posts - 4 counties (郡) and 6 garrisons (鎭) - in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula.

He maintained good relations with Japan by opening three ports and allowing trade with them. But he also invaded Tsushima island with military forces in order to stop pirating in the South Sea (East China Sea) since Tsushima island was a base for pirates.

STRENGTHENING ÄOF THE KOREAN MILITARY

King Sejong was an effective military planner. He created various military regulations to strengthen the safety of his kingdom, supported the advancement of Korean military technology, including cannon development. Different kinds of mortars and fire arrows were tested as well as the use of gunpowder.

In May 1419, King Sejong, under the advice and guidance of his father Taejong, embarked upon the Gihae Eastern Expedition, the ultimate goal of this military expedition to remove the nuisance of Japanese pirates who had been operating out of Tsushima Island. During the expedition, 245 Japanese were killed, and another 110 were captured in combat, while 180 Korean soldiers were killed. 146 Chinese and 8 Korean kidnapped were liberated by this expedition. In September 1419 a truce was made and the Korean army returned to Korea, but the Treaty of Gyehae was signed in 1443, in which the Daimyo of Tsushima promised to pay tribute to the King of Joseon; in return, the Joseon court rewarded the Sō clan with preferential rights regarding trade between Japan and Korea.

In 1433, Sejong sent Kim Jongseo (hangul: 김종서, hanja: 金宗瑞), a prominent general, north to destroy the Jurchens (later known as the Manchus). Kim's military campaign captured several castles, pushed north, and expanded Korean territory, to the Songhua River.[8][9][10] 4 counties and 6 garrisons (hangul: 사군육진 hanja: 四郡六鎭) were established to safeguard the people from the Jurchen.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Sejong is credited with great advances in science during his reign. He wanted to help farmers so he decided to create a farmer's handbook. The book - the Nongsa jikseol (hangul: 농사직설, hanja: 農事直說) - contained information about the different farming techniques that he told scientists to gather in different regions of Korea. These techniques were needed in order to maintain the newly adopted methods of intensive, continuous cultivation in Korean agriculture.

During his rule, Jang Yeong-sil (hangul: 장영실, hanja: 蔣英實) became known as a prominent inventor. Jang was naturally a creative and smart thinker as a young person. However, Jang was at the bottom of the social class. Sejong noticed Jang's skill and immediately called him to his court in Seoul. Upon giving Jang a government position and funding for his inventions, officials protested, believing a person from the lower classes should not rise to power among nobles. Sejong instead believed Jang merited support because of his ability. Jang created new significant designs for water clocks, armillary spheres, and sundials. In 1442, Jang made the world's first rain gauge named Cheugugi; it was the idea of Munjong, Sejong's son and heir. This model has not survived, since the oldest existing East Asian rain gauge is one made in 1770, during the reign period of King Yeongjo. According to the Daily Records of the Royal Secretariat (hangul: 승정원일기, hanja:承政院日記) King Yeongjo wanted to revive the glorious times of King Sejong the Great, and so read chronicles of Sejong's era. When he came across mention of a rain gauge, King Yeongjo ordered a reproduction. Since there is a mark of the Qing Dynasty ruler Qianlong (r. 1735–1796) of China, dated 1770, this Korean-designed rain gauge is

sometimes misunderstood as having been imported from China.

Sejong also wanted to reform the Korean calendar system, which was at the time based upon the longitude of the Chinese capital. Sejong, for the first time in Korean history, had his astronomers create a calendar with the Joseon capital of Seoul as the primary meridian. This new system allowed Korean astronomers to accurately predict the timing of solar and lunar eclipses.

In the realm of traditional Korean medicine, two important treatises were written during the reign of Sejong. These were the Hyangyak jipseongbang and the Euibang yuchwi, which historian Kim Yongsik says represents 'Koreans' efforts to develop their own system of medical knowledge, distinct from that of China.

LITERATURE

Sejong depended on the agricultural produce of Joseon's farmers, so he allowed them to pay more or less tax according to fluctuations of economic prosperity or hard times. Because of this, farmers could worry less about tax quotas and work instead at surviving and selling their crops. Once the palace had a significant surplus of food, King Sejong then distributed food to poor peasants or farmers who needed it. In 1429 Nongsa-jikseol (hangul: 농사직설, hanja: 農事直說, "Explanations of Agriculture") was compiled under the supervision of King Sejong. It was the first book about Korean farming, dealing with agricultural subjects such as planting, harvesting, and soil treatment.

Although most government officials and aristocrats opposed usage of hangul, lower classes embraced it, became literate, and were able to communicate with one another in writing.

Sejong's personal writings are also highly regarded. He composed the famous Yongbi Eocheon Ga ("Songs of Flying Dragons", 1445), Seokbo Sangjeol ("Episodes from the Life of Buddha", July 1447), Worin Cheon-gang Jigok ("Songs of the Moon Shining on a Thousand Rivers", July 1447), and the reference Dongguk Jeong-un ("Dictionary of Proper Sino-Korean Pronunciation", September 1447).

In 1420 Sejong established the Hall of Worthies (집현전; 集賢殿; Jiphyeonjeon) at the Gyeongbokgung Palace. It consisted of scholars selected by the king. The Hall participated in various scholarly endeavors, of which the best known may be the compilation of the Hunmin Jeongeum.

HANGUL

King Sejong the Great profoundly affected Korean history with his introduction of hangul, the native phonetic alphabet system for the Korean language.

Before the creation of Hangul, people in Korea (known as Joseon at the time) primarily wrote using Classical Chinese alongside native phonetic writing systems that predate Hangul by hundreds of years, including idu, hyangchal, gugyeol, and gakpil. However, due to the fundamental differences between the Korean and Chinese languages, and the large number of characters needed to be learned, there was much difficulty in learning how to write using Chinese characters for the lower classes, who often didn't have the privilege of education. To assuage this problem, King Sejong created the unique alphabet known as Hangul to promote literacy among the common people. His intention was to establish a cultural identity for Korea through its unique script.

King Sejong presided over the introduction of the 28-letter Korean alphabet, with the explicit goal being that Koreans from all classes would read and write. Each hangul letter is based on a simplified diagram of the patterns made by the human speech organs (the mouth, tongue and teeth) when producing the sound related to the character. Morphemes are built by writing the characters in syllabic blocks. The blocks of letters are then strung together linearly.

The Hangul alphabet was completed in 1443 and published in 1446 along with a 33-page manual titled Hunmin Jeong-um, explaining what the letters are as well as the philosophical theories and motives behind them. The Hunmin Jeong-um purported that anyone could learn Hangul in a matter of days. Persons previously unfamiliar with Hangul can typically pronounce Korean script accurately after only a few hours of study.

DEATH AND LEGACY

Sejong was blinded years later by diabetes complications that eventually took his life in 1450. He was buried at the Yeong Mausoleum (영릉; 英陵). His successor was his first son, Munjong. Sejong judged that his sickly son, Munjong, was unlikely to live long and on his deathbed asked the Hall of Worthies scholars to look after his young grandson, Danjong. As predicted, Munjong died two years after his accession, and political stability enjoyed under Sejong disintegrated when Danjong became the sixth king of Joseon at the age of twelve. Eventually, Sejong's second son, Sejo, usurped the throne from Danjong in 1455. When the six martyred ministers were implicated in a plot to restore Danjong to throne, Sejo abolished the Hall of Worthies, and executed Danjong and several ministers who served during Sejong's reign.

The street Sejongno and the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, both located in central Seoul, are named after King Sejong.

King Sejong is on the Korean 10,000 won bill, along with the various scientific products made under his reign.

In early 2007, the Republic of Korea government decided to create a special administrative district from part of the present Chungcheongnam-do Province, near what is presently Daejeon. The district will be named Sejong Special Autonomous City.

The life of Sejong was depicted in the KBS Korean historical drama King Sejong the Great in 2008. Sejong is also depicted in the 2011 SBS drama Deep Rooted Tree.

FAMILY

Father: King Taejong of Joseon (13 June 1367 - 30 May 1422) (조선 태종)

Grandfather: King Taejo of Joseon (27 October 1335 – 18 June 1408) (조선 태조)

Grandmother: Queen Shinui of the Anbyeon Han clan (September 1337 - 21 October 1391) (신의왕후 한씨)

Mother: Queen Wongyeong of the Yeoheung Min clan (11 July 1365 – 10 July 1420) (원경왕후 민씨)

Grandfather: Min Je (1339 - 1408) (민제)

Grandmother: Lady Song of the Yeosan Song clan (1342 - 1424) (여산 송씨)

CONSORTS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE ISSUES

Queen Soheon of the Cheongsong Shim clan (12 October 1395 – 19 April 1446) (소헌왕후 심씨)[28][29]

Yi Hyang, Crown Prince Hyang (15 November 1414 - 1 June 1452) (왕세자 향)

Yi Yu, Grand Prince Suyang (2 November 1417 – 23 September 1468) (이유 수양대군)

Yi Yong, Grand Prince Anpyeong (18 October 1418 – 18 November 1453) (이용 안평대군)

Yi Gu, Grand Prince Imyeong (6 January 1420 – 21 January 1469) (이구 임영대군)

Yi Yeo, Grand Prince Gwangpyeong (2 May 1425 – 7 December 1444) (이여 광평대군)

Yi Yu, Grand Prince Geumseong (5 May 1426 – 7 November 1457) (이유 금성대군)

Yi Im, Grand Prince Pyeongwon (18 November 1427 – 16 January 1445) (이임 평원대군)

Yi Yeom, Grand Prince Yeongeung (23 May 1434 – 2 February 1467) (이염 영응대군)

Princess Jeongso (1412 - 25 February 1424) (정소공주)

Princess Jeongui (1415 - 11 February 1477) (정의공주)[31]

Royal Noble Consort Yeong of the Jinju Kang clan (영빈 강씨)

Yi Yeong, Prince Hwaui (1425 - 1460) (이영 화의군)

Royal Noble Consort Shin of the Cheongju Kim clan (1406 – 4 September 1464) (신빈 김씨)

Yi Jeung, Prince Gyeyang (1427 – 16 August 1464) (이증 계양군)

Yi Gong, Prince Uichang (1428 – 1460) (이공 의창군)

Yi Chim, Prince Milseong (1430 – 1479) (이침 밀성군)

Yi Yeon, Prince Ikhyeon (1431 – 1463) (이연 익현군)

Yi Dang, Prince Yeonghae (1435 – 1477) (이당 영해군)

Yi Geo, Prince Damyang (1439 – August 1450) (이거 담양군)

2 Unnamed daughters who died at childbirth

Royal Noble Consort Hye of the Cheongju Yang clan (? – 9 November 1455) (혜빈 양씨)

Yi Eo, Prince Hannam (5 October 1429 - 29 June 1459) (이어 한남군)

Yi Hyeon, Prince Suchun (1431 - 1455) (이현 수춘군)

Yi Jeon, Prince Yeongpung (17 September 1434 – 22 July 1456) (이전 영풍군)

Royal Consort Gwi-in of the Miryang Park clan (귀인 박씨)

Royal Consort Gwi-in of the Choi clan (귀인 최씨)## No issue

Royal Consort Suk-ui of the Jo clan (숙의 조씨)

Royal Consort So-yong of the Hong clan (? - 4 February 1452) (소용 홍씨)

Royal Consort Suk-won of the Lee clan (숙원 이씨)

Princess Jeongan (1438 – 16 October 1461) (정안옹주)[40]

Consort Sang-chim of the Song clan (상침 송씨)

Princess Jeonghyeon (1425 – November 1480) (정현옹주)

Consort Sa-gi of the Cha clan (? - 10 July 1444) (사기 차씨)

An unnamed daughter (1430 – 1431)

Lady Sangsik of the Hwang clan (상식 황씨)

Lady Jeonchan of the Park clan (전찬 박씨)

OFFICIAL POSTHUMOUS TITLES

Hanja: 世宗莊憲英文睿武仁聖明孝大王

Hangul: 세종장헌영문예무인성명효대왕

English: King Sejong Jangheon Yeongmun Yemu Inseong Myeonghyo the Great

DEPICTION IN ARTS AND MEDIA

King Sejong the Great

The Divine Weapon

Deep Rooted Tree

Splash Splash Love

DIPICTION IN VIDEO GAMES

Leader of the Korean civilization in Sid Meier's Civilization V

Leader of the Korean civilization in Civilization Revolution 2

King Sejong Station LE, a major tournament map in the game StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm

PORTRAIT IN KOREAN CURRENCY NOTES

Sejong the Great is one of the six linguistic scholars, with Samuel Johnson, Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm, Elias Lönnrot, and Vuk Stefanović Karadžić depicted as a portrait in a national currency.

STATUE AND MUSEUM EXHIBIT

A 9.5 meter high bronze statue of King Sejong was placed in 2009 on a concrete pedestal on the boulevard of Gwanghwamun Square and directly in front of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul. The sculptor was Kim Young-won. The pedestal contains one of several entrances to the 3,200 square meter, underground museum exhibit entitled "The Story of King Sejong". It was dedicated on Hangul Day in celebration of the 563rd anniversary of the invention of the Korean alphabet by King Sejong.

WIKIPEDIA

LONDON FAIRYTALE (Colour version) by DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams)

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LONDON FAIRYTALE

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Who could ever have foretold that Ronnie Davies, a gambling man by necessity and nature, a downbeat, backstreet alley cat with morals and ideals lower than a racing snakes belly and never one to shy away from unseemly odds and form that pummelled his girder-like cranium and screamed out loud at the blunt tool of his uneducated brain to simply turn around and walk away, would end up as yesterday's garbage on this mornings urban street. Dusted with episodes of anger and spite, doused with oodles of latent psychosis and viciousness rife, dumped in a London alleyway with a view over an establishment that in life at least had afforded him some comfort and pleasure. You've got to see the delicious irony in the big man's downfall, you have to smile wryly at the poetic justice in the manner of his undoing. .

His demise was anything other than pleasurable at the hands of notorious henchman, Mac 'The knife' Henderson, one time bare knuckle street hoodlum and latter day right hand man to notorious London gangland boss Jay Reynolds. Stripped unceremoniously to his birthday suit and icy cold flesh gaffa taped to a bright metal and rosewood utility chair with stainless steel fixings and neat domed caps purchased for a not too unreasonable price from the Ikea store in Kensington, poor Ronnie's last moments were peppered with acts of well conceived and perfectly executed violence, suffered and endured in vicious bouts between blackouts brought on by his own body's defence mechanism. Funny how a bucket of water can bring a man round despite the best intentions of his nervous system in saving him from the conscious agony of the onslaught. A well timed hypodermic administered by the wayward hands of a medically trained cohort is a powerful tool in preventing the bodies lifeblood from coagulating, clotting and oozing, and the mind from switching off from the onslaught. How poor Ronnie suffered for their 'art'.

Roll forwards from the wee small hours this very morning to the squalid confines of a secretive and dimly lit hideaway in down town suburbia to the here and now, nine o'Clock or thereabouts as the morning hordes of bored and frustrated commuters streamed into the centre of town on route to another day of monotonous corporate bullshit, and there we find Ronnie in a most undignified and unsavoury manner. Bloodstains adorning the asphalt alley way from the drag and drop placement of the neatly secured and double bagged black bin liner, oozing along the somewhat downhill trajectory of the alleyway, a mixture of body fluids, chemical inducements and once rich ruby red life-force that now seeps like the volcanic magma of a violent eruption into the cracks and crevices, leaving a trail like a beautiful and abstract mosaic on some fancy pants London gallery wall. Ah, but Ronnie would so have loved the delicious irony of his final resting place, his ghost no doubt already waiting at the locked doors to Ladbrokes, nicotine stained right thumb and forefinger nervously pulling on the stub of a bummed cigarette off some passer by flagged down and accommodating in providing a free smoke to the scary looking man with the wolf like piercing grey eyes.

Ronnie had seen it all. Once a man mountain, built like wardrobe, though decidedly more substantial than any of those purchased at said Ikea store, that's for sure. A bully boy thug with psychotic tendencies and shaking hands from time spent and sights seen during three tours of Northern Ireland in the bloody days of the eighties. He spoke of the SAS, though few believed a man who's lies were matched only by his craving for the betting shops and cock fighting dens of inequity that had sprung up in the London underground scene. From bouncer at the Hippodrome and the Café de Paris near London's Trocadero centre, tossing out the drunken inhabitants who let the alcohol fuel false bravado that soon succumbed to the fists of fury at Ronnie's disposal, he knew the places, met the faces, and soon became part of the posse of up and coming hoodlum Jay Reynolds. Diminutive in stature, and with small man hangups like a tiny mutt that felt the need to bare his teeth and nip at the heels of enemies and peers, Reynolds surrounded himself with the toughest and tallest hired hands he could assemble, like Caesar himself and his Praetorian Guard . In his prime, fitness at it's peak, Ronnie was an obvious choice in he days when his eyes little needed the aid of thick spectacles and his front teeth were in tact and less stained through abuse than at his end of reign.

Looking at that scene now, bin liners and body parts within littering the streets, one could almost feel sorry for the old guy. Hey, I did say almost. Strapped to that Ikea chair, Ronnie's addle mind from years of alcohol abuse and ravaged body from his sixty a day, sixty year habit, must have seen the irony in his own demise, in similar fashion to several executions of his own planning back in the day when he was the man. Mac 'The knife' Henderson was not a man to cross in any sense of the word. Spill your overpriced and watered down seedy nightclub Martini over the guy and you'd better buy him a new wardrobe of clothes or else such your food through a tube in Guy's hospital for the rest of your days. An artiste of sorts with any sharp bladed object in those banana-like digits, he took a pride in his work and left no stone unturned in the pursuit of confessional mutterings from his hapless victims. And Ronnie was to be no exception as the serrated blades of assorted size and form cut with surgical precision, Ronnie's eyes registering the agony and pain that his gaffa taped mouth simply could not. Only later when the pieces of Ronnie's body would be placed and reassembled in some semblance of normality on the stark and cold pathologists table would the facts suggesting that the limbs were severed whilst the blood still flowed through very much alive and kicking veins, be established.

A man cannot forever dine on the fairy tales of his illicit youth, nor curry favour from the new order when a conflict of issue sees the establishment in an entirely different light. Out with the old and in with the new as sweeping changes fell those not quick enough to move with the times. Shades of Brando's immortal lines, ' I coulda been a contender, I coulda been somebody ', like echoes in the faltering corridors of Ronnie's memory, chapters closing in the library of his soul as ageing limbs now saggy of flesh where once there were muscles of stone and rippling biceps. Falling from grace is never easy and I guess some folk handle and adapt better than others. Ronnie failed to grasp the concept, clouded judgement gleaned from viewing the world continuously through the bottom of an empty whiskey glass, empty pockets through his gambling addiction. Feed the need, satiate the thirst to win, snuff out your raison d'etre. Poor Ronnie never saw his own demise coming until the glint of the blades matched the glint in Henderson's own eyes. It's amazing just how strong and sticky a roll of gaffa tape from B&Q can be.

There is a lesson to be learned from this sordid tale, this violent occurrence, this grisly and unpalatable story of wanton retribution and the extreme and damning lack of judgement that caused such action, a positive to come from the darkness and depravity of this yarn. A pity then that poor Ronnie could not face his addictions and curb his inner needs prior to falling prey to rival gangland hoodlums like a chicken in a coup falls prey to a wily fox, trapped and bewildered as the fox circles and moves in for the kill, Ronnie bad mouthing the hand that fed him, turning sides in an effort to secure funding for his gambling as his days for Reynolds came to an end. The message? ..... why yes, of course. It is better to live and tell the tales of your glory days in person than have others spin the yarns in your absence. Better not to bite the hand that feeds you, because one day, as dear old Ronnie himself found out, that hand may just serve up your own ones to dine upon as a condemned man's final meal. It is better to fall naturally from grace and favour than unnaturally from the top of a twenty story building in down town London. And far better to grow old disgracefully with failing eyesight, thinning hairs, a failed gambling slip crumpled in your sweaty and disappointed palms and memories of the life you once led, than to simply wake up dead!

Alas dear Ronnie, you were always a nobody, and you could never have been a contender, as dear Marlon himself will tell you if ever the two of you meet......

.

Written March 23rd 2011 Photograph taken On March 17th 2011 in central London just off the main drag in Leicester Square at 0927am.

.

Nikon D700 28mm 1/10s f/6.3 iso200 Nikkor AF-S 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3G ED IF VRII. UV filter

15th MEU Marines execute amphibious assault by 15th MEU

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U.S. Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit provide security during a tactical backload from Red Beach aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., April 20, 2015. Elements of the 15th MEU were executing a tactical withdrawal after completing an amphibious assault – the final event of their Certification Exercise (CERTEX). (U.S. Marine Corps photo/Released)

Operation Leporine by Greater Manchester Police

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Early morning raids saw four arrested as officers executed several drug warrants across Tameside.

Today (Wednesday 19 June 2019) warrants were executed across seven addresses as part of a crackdown on the supply of Class A and B drugs – codenamed Operation Leporine.

Following today’s action, two men – aged 21 and 27 – and two women – aged 21 and 52 - have been arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A and B drugs.

Sergeant Stephanie O’Brien, of GMP’s Tameside district, said: “At present we have four people in custody and as part of this morning’s operation we have been able to seize a significant quantity of drugs.

“I would like to thank the team here in Tameside who, as part of Operation Leporine, have worked tirelessly in order to bring a sophisticated and audacious group of offenders to justice.

“The supply of illegal drugs blights communities and destroys people’s livelihoods; and I hope that today’s very direct and visible action demonstrates to the local community that we are doing all that we to make the streets of Tameside a safer place.

“It will remain a top priority for us to continue to tackle the influx of drugs in the area, however we cannot do this alone and I would appeal directly to the community and those most affected to please come forward with any information that could assist us in what continues to be an ongoing operation.”

Anyone with information should contact police on 101, or alternatively reports can be made to the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111.

To find out more about Greater Manchester Police please visit our website. www.gmp.police.uk

You should call 101, the national non-emergency number, to report crime and other concerns that do not require an emergency response.

Always call 999 in an emergency, such as when a crime is in progress, violence is being used or threatened or where there is danger to life.

IMG_2115 by Alec Frazier

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Studiolo from the Ducal Palace in Gubbio

•Designer: Designed by Francesco di Giorgio Martini (Italian, Siena 1439-1501 Siena)

•Maker: Executed under the supervision of Francesco di Giorgio Martini (Italian, Siena 1439-1501 Siena)

•Maker: Executed in the workshop of Giuliano da Maiano (Italian, Maiano 1432-1490 Naples)

•Maker: and Benedetto da Maiano (Italian, Maiano 1442-1497 Florence)

•Date: ca. 1478-1782

•Culture: Italian, Gubbio

•Medium: Walnut, beech, rosewood, oak and fruitwoods in walnut base

•Dimensions:

oHeight: 15 ft. 10 15/16 in. (485 cm)

oWidth: 16 ft. 11 15/16 in. (518 cm)

oDepth: 12 ft. 7 3/16 in. (384 cm)

•Classification: Woodwork

•Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1939

•Accession Number: 39.153

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 501.

This detail is from a study, (or studiolo), intended for meditation and study. Its walls are carried out in a wood-inlay technique known as intarsia. The latticework doors of the cabinets, shown open or partly closed, indicate the contemporary interest in linear perspective. The cabinets display objects reflecting Duke Federico’s wide-ranging artistic and scientific interests, and the depictions of books recall his extensive library. Emblems of the Montefeltro are also represented. This room may have been designed by Francesco di Giorgio (1439-1502) and was executed by Giuliano da Majano (1432-1490). A similar room, in situ, was made for the duke’s palace at Urbino.

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

•Inscription:

oLatin inscription in elegiac couplets in frieze: ASPICIS AETERNOS VENERANDAE MATRIS ALUMNOS // DOCTRINA EXCELSOS INGENIOQUE VIROS // UT NUDA CERVICE CADANT ANTE //.. // .. GENU // IUSTITIAM PIETAS VINCIT REVERENDA NEC ULLUM // POENITET ALTRICI SUCCUBUISSE SUAE.

oTranslation: (“You see the eternal nurselings of the venerable mother // Men pre-eminent in learning and genius, // How they fall with bared neck before // …… // ………………………………………………knee. // Honored loyalty prevails over justice, and no one // Repents having yielded to his foster mother.”)

Provenance

Duke Federico da Montefeltr, Palazzo Ducale, Gubbio, Italy (ca. 1479-1482); Prince Filippo Massimo Lancellotti, Frascati (from 1874); Lancelotti family, Frascati (until 1937; sold to Adolph Loewi, Venice); [Adolph Loewi, Venice (1937-1939; sold to MMA)]

Timeline of Art History

•Essays

oCollecting for the Kunstkammer

oDomestic Art in Renaissance Italy

oRenaissance Organs

•Timelines

oFlorence and Central Italy, 1400-1600 A.D.

MetPublications

oVermeer and the Delft School

oPeriod Rooms in The Metropolitan Museum of Art

oPainting Words, Sculpting Language: Creative Writing Activities at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

oOne Met. Many Worlds.

oMusical Instruments: Highlights of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

oThe Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 4, The Renaissance in Italy and Spain

oThe Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Spanish)

oThe Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Russian)

oThe Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Portuguese)

oThe Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Korean)

oThe Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Japanese)

oThe Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Italian)

oThe Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (German)

oThe Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (French)

oThe Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Chinese)

oThe Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Arabic)

oThe Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide

oMasterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

o“The Liberal Arts Studiolo from the Ducal Palace at Gubbio”: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 53, no. 4 (Spring, 1996)

oGuide to The Metropolitan Museum of Art

oThe Gubbio Studiolo and Its Conservation. Vol. 2, Italian Renaissance Intarsia and the Conservation of the Gubbio Studiolo

oThe Gubbio Studiolo and Its Conservation. Vol. 1, Federico da Montefeltro’s Palace at Gubbio and Its Studiolo

o“Carpaccio’s Young Knight in a Landscape: Christian Champion and Guardian of Liberty”: Metropolitan Museum Journal, v. 18 (1983)

oThe Artist Project: What Artists See When They Look At Art

oThe Artist Project

oThe Art of Renaissance Europe: A Resource for Educators

oThe Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor from The Metropolitan Museum of Art

oArt and Love in Renaissance Italy

Floor Tiles (Set of 350)

•Factory: San Marco Laterizi di Noale Pottery

•Date: 1995

•Culture: Italian, Venice

•Medium: Earthenware

•Dimensions:

oHeight: 10¾ in. sq. (27.3 cm. sq.)

oWidth: 1¼ in. thick (3.2 cm. thick)

•Classification: Ceramics-Pottery

•Credit Line: Purchase, Anonymous Gift, 1996

•Accession Number: Inst.1996.1.1–.350

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 501.

Provenance

Made by San Marco Laterizi di Noale as reproductions of original tiles in the Ducal Palace in Gubbio

Timeline of Art History

•Timelines

oItalian Peninsula, 1900 A.D.-Present

Entrance to Knole Park Prior to 1905. And the Life and Traumatic Death of Mata Hari. by pepandtim

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The Postcard

A postcard bearing no publisher's name. The people in the photograph have obviously been posed for the shot.

The card was posted in Chislehurst on Monday the 13th. March 1905 to:

Miss Moon,

The Gorse,

Manor Park,

Chislehurst,

Kent.

The left side of the divided back was left blank.

Mata Hari

So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?

Well, on the 13th. March 1905, Mata Hari first presented her sensational dancing act in Paris.

Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod (born Zelle in 1876), better known by her stage name Mata Hari, was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during the Great War.

Despite having admitted under interrogation to taking money to work as a German spy, many people still believe that she was innocent, because the French Army needed a scapegoat. Mata Hari was executed by firing squad in France in 1917.

-- Mata Hari - The Early Years

Margaretha Geertruida Zelle was born on the 7th. August 1876 in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. She was the eldest of four children to Adam Zelle (1840–1910) and his first wife Antje van der Meulen (1842–1891). She had three younger brothers.

She was affectionately called "M'greet" by her family. Despite traditional assertions that Mata Hari was partly of Jewish, Malaysian, or Javanese descent, scholars conclude she had no Jewish or Asian ancestry, and both of her parents were Dutch.

Her father owned a hat shop, made investments in the oil industry, and became affluent enough to give Margaretha and her siblings a lavish early childhood that included exclusive schools until the age of 13.

Soon after Margaretha's father went bankrupt in 1889, her parents divorced, and her mother died in 1891. Her father remarried in Amsterdam on the 9th. February 1893 to Susanna Catharina ten Hoove (1844–1913).

The family fell apart, and Margaretha was sent to live with her godfather, Mr. Visser, in Sneek. Subsequently, she studied to be a kindergarten teacher in Leiden, but when the headmaster began to flirt with her conspicuously, she was removed from the institution by her godfather. A few months later, she fled to her uncle's home in The Hague.

-- Mata Hari and the Dutch East Indies

At 18, Zelle answered an advertisement in a Dutch newspaper placed by Dutch Colonial Army Captain Rudolf MacLeod (1856–1928), who was living in what was then the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), and was looking for a wife.

Zelle married MacLeod in Amsterdam on the 11th. July 1895. He was the son of Captain John Brienen MacLeod and Dina Louisa, Baroness Sweerts de Landas. The marriage enabled Zelle to move into the Dutch upper class, and placed her finances on a sound footing.

She moved with her husband to Malang on Java, traveling out on the SS Prinses Amalia in May 1897. They had two children, Norman-John MacLeod (1897–1899) and Louise Jeanne MacLeod (1898–1919).

The marriage was an overall disappointment. MacLeod was an alcoholic, and regularly beat Zelle, whom he blamed for his lack of promotion. He also openly kept a concubine, a socially accepted practice in the Dutch East Indies at that time.

The disenchanted Zelle abandoned him temporarily, moving in with Van Rheedes, another Dutch officer. She studied Indonesian culture intently for several months and joined a local dance company during that time.

In correspondence to her relatives in the Netherlands in 1897, she revealed her artistic name of Mata Hari, the word for "Sun" in the local Malay language (literally, "Eye of the Day").

At MacLeod's urging, Zelle returned to him, but his behaviour did not change. She escaped her circumstances by studying the local culture. In 1899, their children fell violently ill from complications relating to the treatment of syphilis contracted from their parents, though the family claimed they were poisoned by an irate servant.

Jeanne survived, but Norman died. Some sources maintain that one of MacLeod's enemies may have poisoned their supper to kill both of their children. After moving back to the Netherlands, the couple officially separated on the 30th. August 1902. The divorce became final in 1906, and Zelle was awarded custody of Jeanne.

MacLeod was legally required to pay child support, which he never did. During a visit to Jeanne, MacLeod decided not to return her to her mother. Zelle did not have the resources to fight the situation and accepted it, believing that while MacLeod had been an abusive husband, he had always been a good father. Jeanne later died at the age of 21, also possibly from complications related to syphilis.

-- Mata Hari's Career

-- Paris

In 1903, Zelle moved to Paris, where she performed as a circus horse rider using the name Lady MacLeod, much to the disapproval of the Dutch MacLeods. Struggling to earn a living, she also posed as an artist's model.

By 1904, Mata Hari began to rise to prominence as an exotic dancer. She was a contemporary of dancers Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis, leaders in the early modern dance movement, which around the turn of the 20th. century looked to Asia and Egypt for artistic inspiration.

Promiscuous, flirtatious, and openly flaunting her body, Mata Hari captivated her audiences, and was an overnight success from the debut of her act at the Musée Guimet in Paris on the 13th. March 1905.

Mata became the long-time mistress of the millionaire industrialist Émile Étienne Guimet, who had founded the Musée. She posed as a Javanese princess of priestly Hindu birth, pretending to have been immersed in the art of sacred Indian dance since childhood.

She was photographed numerous times during this period, nude or nearly so. Some of these pictures were obtained by MacLeod and used to strengthen his case for keeping custody of their daughter.

Mata Hari brought a carefree provocative style to the stage in her act, which garnered wide acclaim. The most celebrated segment of her act was her progressive shedding of clothing until she wore only a jewelled breastplate and some ornaments upon her arms and head.

She was never seen bare-chested as she was self-conscious about having small breasts. She wore a body stocking for her performances that was similar in color to her own skin, but that was later omitted.

Although Mata Hari's claims about her origins were fictitious, it was very common for entertainers of her era to invent colourful stories about their origins in order to enhance their image.

Mata Hari's act was successful because it elevated erotic dance to a more respectable status, and so broke new ground in a style of entertainment for which Paris was later to become world-famous. Her style and free-willed attitude made her a popular woman, as did her eagerness to perform in exotic and revealing clothing.

Mata posed for provocative photos, and mingled in wealthy circles. Since most Europeans at the time were unfamiliar with the Dutch East Indies, Mata Hari was thought of as exotic, and it was assumed that her claims were genuine.

One enthusiastic French journalist wrote in a Paris newspaper that:

"Mata Hari is so feline, extremely feminine,

majestically tragic, the thousand curves and

movements of her body trembling in a

thousand rhythms."

Another journalist in Vienna wrote after seeing one of her performances that:

"Mata Hari is slender and tall, with the flexible

grace of a wild animal, and with blue-black hair.

Her face makes a strange foreign impression."

However, critics began to opine that the success and dazzling features of the popular Mata Hari were due to cheap exhibitionism and lacked artistic merit. Although she continued to attend important social events throughout Europe, she was held in disdain by serious cultural institutions as a dancer who did not know how to dance.

By about 1910, myriad imitators had arisen.

Mata Hari's career went into decline after 1912. On the 13th. March 1915, she performed what would be the last show of her career. She had begun her career relatively late for a dancer, and had started putting on weight. However, by this time she had become a successful courtesan, known more for her sensuality and eroticism than for her beauty.

She had relationships with high-ranking military officers, politicians, and others in influential positions in many countries. Her relationships and liaisons with powerful men frequently took her across international borders. Prior to the Great War, she was generally viewed as an artist and a free-spirited bohemian, but as war approached, she began to be seen by some as a wanton and promiscuous woman, and perhaps a dangerous seductress.

-- Espionage

During the Great War, the Netherlands remained neutral. As a Dutch subject, Zelle was thus able to cross national borders freely. To avoid the battlefields, she traveled between France and the Netherlands via Spain and Great Britain, and her movements inevitably attracted attention.

During the war, Zelle was involved in what was described as a very intense romantic-sexual relationship with a Russian pilot serving with the French, the 23-year-old Captain Vadim Maslov, whom she called the love of her life. Maslov was part of the 50,000 strong Russian Expeditionary Force that had been sent to the Western Front in the spring of 1916.

In the summer of 1916, Maslov was shot down and badly wounded during a dogfight with the Germans, losing his sight in both eyes, which led Zelle to ask for permission to visit her wounded lover at the hospital where he was staying near the Front.

As a citizen of a neutral country, Zelle would not normally be allowed near the Front. However, Zelle was met by agents from the Deuxième Bureau who told her that she would be allowed to see Maslov if she agreed to spy for France.

Before the war, Zelle had performed as Mata Hari several times before the Crown Prince Wilhelm, eldest son of Kaiser Wilhelm II, and nominally a senior German general on the Western Front. The Deuxième Bureau believed she might be able to obtain information by seducing the Crown Prince for military secrets.

In fact, his involvement was minimal, and it was German government propaganda that promoted the image of the Crown Prince as a great warrior, the worthy successor to the Hohenzollern monarchs who had made Prussia strong and powerful. They wanted to avoid publicising that the man expected to be the next Kaiser was in fact a playboy noted for womanising, partying, and indulging in alcohol, who spent much of his time associating with far right-wing politicians, with the intent of having his father declared insane and deposed.

Unaware that the Crown Prince did not have much to do with the running of Army Group or the 5th Army, the Deuxième Bureau offered Zelle one million francs if she could seduce him and provide France with good intelligence about German plans.

The fact that the Crown Prince had, before 1914, never commanded a unit larger than a regiment, and was now supposedly commanding both an army and an army group at the same time should have been a clue that his role in German decision-making was mostly nominal.

Zelle's contact with the Deuxième Bureau was Captain Georges Ladoux, who was later to emerge as one of her principal accusers.

In November 1916, she was traveling by steamer from Spain when her ship called at the British port of Falmouth. There she was arrested and brought to London where she was interrogated at length by Sir Basil Thomson, assistant commissioner at New Scotland Yard in charge of counter-espionage.

He gave an account of this in his 1922 book 'Queer People', saying that she eventually admitted to working for the Deuxième Bureau. Initially detained in Cannon Street police station, she was then released and stayed at the Savoy Hotel.

A full transcript of the interview is in Britain's National Archives and was broadcast, with Mata Hari played by Eleanor Bron, on the independent radio station LBC in 1980.

It is unclear if she lied on this occasion, believing the story made her sound more intriguing, or if French authorities were using her in such a way, but would not acknowledge her due to the embarrassment and international backlash it could cause.

In late 1916, Zelle traveled to Madrid, where she met with the German military attaché Major Arnold Kalle and asked if he could arrange a meeting with the Crown Prince. During this period, Zelle apparently offered to share French secrets with Germany in exchange for money, though whether this was because of greed or an attempt to set up a meeting with Crown Prince Wilhelm remains unclear.

In January 1917, Major Kalle transmitted radio messages to Berlin describing the helpful activities of a German spy code-named H-21, whose biography so closely matched Zelle's that it was patently obvious that Agent H-21 could only be Mata Hari.

The Deuxième Bureau intercepted the messages and, from the information they contained, identified H-21 as Mata Hari. The messages were in a code that German intelligence knew had already been broken by the French, suggesting that the messages were contrived to have Zelle arrested by the French.

General Walter Nicolai, the chief IC (intelligence officer) of the German Army, had grown very annoyed that Mata Hari had provided him with no intelligence worthy of the name, instead selling the Germans mere Paris gossip about the sex lives of French politicians and generals, and decided to terminate her employment by exposing her as a German spy to the French.

-- The Trial of Mata Hari

In December 1916, the Second Bureau of the French War Ministry let Mata Hari obtain the names of six Belgian agents. Five were suspected of submitting fake material and working for the Germans, while the sixth was suspected of being a double agent for Germany and France.

Two weeks after Mata Hari had left Paris for a trip to Madrid, the double agent was executed by the Germans, while the five others continued their operations. This development served as proof to the Second Bureau that the names of the six spies had been communicated by Mata Hari to the Germans.

On the 13th. February 1917, Mata Hari was arrested in her room at the Hotel Elysée Palace on the Champs Elysées in Paris. She was put on trial on the 24th. July, accused of spying for Germany, and consequently causing the deaths of at least 50,000 soldiers.

Although the French and British intelligence suspected her of spying for Germany, neither could produce definite evidence against her. Supposedly, secret ink was found in her room, which was incriminating evidence in that period. She contended that it was part of her makeup.

Zelle's principal interrogator, who grilled her relentlessly, was Captain Pierre Bouchardon; he was later to prosecute her at trial. Bouchardon was able to establish that much of the Mata Hari persona was invented, and far from being a Javanese princess, Zelle was actually Dutch, which he was to use as evidence of her dubious and dishonest character at her trial.

Zelle admitted to Bouchardon that she had accepted 20,000 francs from a German diplomat in the Netherlands to spy on France, but insisted she only passed on to the Germans trivial information, as her loyalty was entirely to her adopted nation, France. In the meantime, Ladoux had been preparing a case against his former agent by casting all of her activities in the worst possible light, going so far as to engage in evidence tampering.

-- Mata Hari as a Scapegoat

In 1917, France had been badly shaken by the Great Mutinies of the French Army in the spring of 1917 following the failure of the Nivelle Offensive together with a huge strike wave, and at the time many believed that France might simply collapse as a result of war exhaustion.

In July 1917, a new government under Georges Clemenceau had come into power, utterly committed to winning the war. In this context, having one German spy on whom everything that went wrong with the war so far could be blamed was most convenient for the French government.

This made Mata Hari the perfect scapegoat, which explains why the case against her received maximum publicity in the French press, and led to her importance in the war being greatly exaggerated.

The British historian Julie Wheelwright stated:

"She really did not pass on anything

that you couldn’t find in the local

newspapers in Spain."

Wheelwright went on to describe Zelle as:

"An independent woman, a divorcée,

a citizen of a neutral country, a courtesan

and a dancer, which made her a perfect

scapegoat for the French, who were then

losing the war. She was kind of held up as

an example of what might happen if your

morals were too loose.”

Zelle wrote several letters to the Dutch Ambassador in Paris, claiming her innocence:

"My international connections are due

of my work as a dancer, nothing else ....

Because I really did not spy, it is terrible

that I cannot defend myself."

The most terrible and heart-breaking moment for Mata Hari during the trial occurred when her lover Maslov—by now a deeply embittered man as a result of losing his eyes in combat—declined to testify for her, telling her he did not care if she was convicted or not. It was reported that Zelle fainted when she learned that Maslov had abandoned her.

Her defence counsel, international lawyer Édouard Clunet, faced impossible odds; he was denied permission either to cross-examine the prosecution's witnesses or to examine his own witnesses directly. Bouchardon used the fact that Zelle was a woman as evidence of her guilt, saying:

"Without scruples, accustomed to making

use of men, she is the type of woman who

is born to be a spy."

Zelle has often been portrayed as a femme fatale, the dangerous, seductive woman who uses her sexuality to effortlessly manipulate men, but others view her differently: in the words of the American historians Norman Polmer and Thomas Allen she was "naïve and easily duped", a victim of men rather than a victimizer.

Mata Hari herself admitted under interrogation to taking money to work as a German spy. It is contended by some historians that Mata Hari may have merely accepted money from the Germans without actually carrying out any spy duties.

At her trial, Zelle vehemently insisted that her sympathies were with the Allies and declared her passionate love of France, her adopted homeland.

During her trial, Mata Hari stated:

"A harlot? Yes, but a traitress, never!"

In October 2001, documents released from the archives of MI5 (British counter-intelligence) were used by a Dutch group, the Mata Hari Foundation, to ask the French government to exonerate Zelle, as they argued that the MI5 files proved she was not guilty of the charges for which she was convicted.

A spokesman from the Mata Hari Foundation argued that at most Zelle was a low-level spy who provided no secrets to either side, stating:

"We believe that there are sufficient doubts

concerning the dossier of information that

was used to convict her to warrant re-opening

the case.

Maybe she wasn't entirely innocent, but it seems

clear she wasn't the master-spy whose information

sent thousands of soldiers to their deaths, as has

been claimed."

-- The Execution of Mata Hari

Zelle was executed by a firing squad of 12 French soldiers just before dawn on the 15th. October 1917. She was 41 years of age.

According to an eyewitness account by British reporter Henry Wales, she was not bound, and refused a blindfold. She defiantly blew a kiss to the firing squad.

A 1934 New Yorker article reported that at her execution:

"She wore a neat Amazonian tailored

suit, especially made for the occasion,

and a pair of new white gloves".

However another account indicates that she wore the same suit, low-cut blouse, and tricorn hat ensemble which had been picked out by her accusers for her to wear at trial, and which was still the only full, clean outfit which she had in prison.

Neither description however matches the photographic evidence. One observer recorded her death as follows:

"After the volley of shots rang out, slowly,

inertly, she settled to her knees, her head

up always, and without the slightest change

of expression on her face.

For the fraction of a second it seemed she

tottered there, on her knees, gazing directly

at those who had taken her life.

Then she fell backward, bending at the waist,

with her legs doubled up beneath her."

A non-commissioned officer then walked up to her body, pulled out his revolver, and shot her in the head to make sure that she was dead.

Mata Hari's body was not claimed by any family members, and was accordingly used for medical study. Her head was embalmed, and kept in the Museum of Anatomy in Paris.

However in 2000, archivists discovered that Mata Hari's head had disappeared. Curator Roger Saban has suggested that it could have disappeared as early as 1954, during the museum's relocation. Her head remains missing to this day.

Records dating from 1918 show that the museum also received the rest of the body, although none of her remains could later be accounted for.

Mata Hari's sealed trial and other related documents, a total of 1,275 pages, were de-classified by the French Army in 2017, one hundred years after her execution.

-- The Legacy of Mata Hari

The Frisian museum in Leeuwarden, Netherlands, contains a "Mata Hari Room". Included in the exhibit are two of her personal scrapbooks, and an oriental rug embroidered with the footsteps of her fan dance.

Located in Mata Hari's native town, the museum is well known for research into the life and career of Leeuwarden's world-famous citizen. The largest-ever Mata Hari exhibition was opened in the Museum of Friesland on the 14th. October 2017, one hundred years after her death.

Mata Hari's birthplace is located in a building at Kelders 33. The building suffered smoke and water damage during a fire in 2013, but was later restored. Architect Silvester Adema studied old drawings of the storefront in order to reconstruct it as it appeared when Abraham Zelle, the father of Mata Hari, had a hat shop there. In 2016, an information centre was created in the building displaying mementos of Mata Hari.

-- Mata Hari in Popular Culture

The idea of an exotic dancer working as a lethal double agent using her powers of seduction to extract military secrets from her many lovers made Mata Hari an enduring archetype of the femme fatale.

Her life inspired a number of films, including:

-- Mata Hari (1920)

-- Mata Hari (1927), a German production

-- Mata Hari (1931), a Hollywood motion picture starring Greta Garbo

-- Mata Hari, Agent H21 (1964)

-- Up the Front (1972), a British comedy film in which Zsa Zsa Gabor portrays Mata Hari.

-- Mata Hari (1981), television-series

-- Mata Hari; The Magic Camera, an episode of Fantasy Island (1982)

-- Mata Hari (1985)

-- Mata Hari (2016)

-- Mata Hari (2017), short film

-- Mata Hari: The Naked Spy (2017)

Mata Hari's life has also inspired at least five stage musicals:

-- Mata Hari in 1967, starring Pernell Roberts and Marisa Mell

-- Mata Hari, by Lene Lovich, Judge Smith, and Les Chappell, premiered in 1982 at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith

-- Mata!, with words and music by Stuart Brayson, received its World Premiere at Blackpool Grand Theatre in June 1995

-- Mata Hari at the Moulin Rouge, by Frank Wildhorn, which debuted in Seoul, South Korea in March 2016

-- One Last Night with Mata Hari, written by Craig Walker with music by John Burge, debuted at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, in Kingston, Ontario, in January 2017.

-- Final Thoughts From Mata Hari

"I am a woman who enjoys herself very

much; sometimes I lose, sometimes I win."

"In every woman there is always something

mysterious and interesting."

"I am a woman who knows what men

want, and I give it to them willingly."

"A woman who is not afraid to be herself

is a force to be reckoned with."

"I have been many things in my life, but

above all, I have always been true to myself."

"A woman's power lies in her ability

to seduce and captivate."

"Seduction is an art, and I have perfected it."

"Don't underestimate the power of a woman

who knows her worth."

"A woman's beauty is not limited to her physical

appearance; it is an essence that radiates from

within."

"I may have played many roles in my life,

but the greatest role I have ever played

is being myself."

"True liberation comes from embracing

and celebrating one's own sexuality."

"A woman who embraces her sensuality

has the power to change the world."

"Society may judge, but I refuse to be

defined by its standards."

"A woman's worth is not determined by

the number of men she conquers, but

by the strength of her character."

"I am a masterpiece in progress; ever

evolving, ever growing."

"Powerful ideas are just in your pocket."

"Love is not something to fear, but to

embrace with open arms."

"I may be a femme fatale, but I am also

a woman with a heart."

"In the game of life, you must be willing

to take risks and bet on yourself."

"A woman who embraces her own

desires is unstoppable."

"Life is too short to be bound by societal

norms; live boldly and without regret."

"The power of a woman lies in her ability

to be both vulnerable and resilient."

"The desire to be free is the

essence of living."

"A woman should never apologize for

being herself; she is a force of nature."

"I may be a temptress, but I never

claimed to be an angel."

"The world may judge, but I am not here

to please them; I am here to live my truth."

"Empowerment comes from embracing

and celebrating one's own femininity."

"A fearless woman is a force to be

reckoned with."

"I am a woman who dances to the beat

of her own drum."

U.S. Marines Execute Maritime Interdiction Operation Exercise to Enhance Readiness by U.S. Indo-Pacific Command

1

Philippine Sea (Jun. 24, 2021) - Force Reconnaissance Platoon Marines, assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), fast-rope from a UH-1Y Huey onto the flight deck of amphibious dock landing ship USS Germantown (LSD 42) as they execute a maritime interdiction operation (MIO) exercise. Germantown, part of Amphibious Squadron 11, along with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, is operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility to enhance interoperability with allies and partners and serve as a ready response force to defend peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communications Specialist Seaman Nicholas M. Skyles) 210623-N-JP109-3045

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