The Parnassus is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna, executed in 1497. It is now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris.

The Parnassus is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna, executed in 1497. It is now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris.

The traditional interpretation of the work is based on a late 15th-century poem by Battista Fiera, which identified it as a representation of Mount Parnassus, culminating in the allegory of Isabella as Venus and Francesco II Gonzaga as Mars.

The two gods are shown on a natural arch of rocks in front a symbolic bed; in the background the vegetation has many fruits in the right part (the male one) and only one in the left (female) part, symbolizing the fecundation. The posture of Venus derives from the ancient sculpture. They are accompanied by Anteros (the heavenly love), opposed to the carnal one. The latter is still holding the arch, and has a blowpipe which aims at the genitals of Vulcan, Venus' husband, portrayed in his workshop in a grotto. Behind him is the grape, perhaps a symbol of the drunk's intemperance.

In a clearing under the arch is Apollo playing a lyre. Nine Muses are dancing, in an allegory of universal harmony. The touch of Pegasus's hoof (right) can generate the spring which fed the falls of Mount Helicon, which can be seen in the background. The Muses danced traditionally in wood of this mount, and thus the traditional naming of Mount Parnassus is wrong.

Near Pegasus is Mercury, with his traditional winged hat, caduceus (the winged staff with entwined snakes), and messenger shoes. He is present to protect the two adulterers.

"Execute Order 66."

A shot-

Then the Jedi tumbled over the habours walls, and where he touched the ground, his cold blood colored the water dark red.

This is my entry for the Dark Times Group, hope you all like it:)

The style is inspired by the cancelled game Star Wars 1313 and maybe some Cyber Punk...:D

Benji

King Charles 1st hid here before he was caught and executed. The house has parts dating back at least to the 1600's

Boscable House Staffordshire UK 25th July 2018

This cowboy executed a technique used back when the Pony Express riders were a bit behind schedule.

He lands as the horse stops and pulls the mochila from his saddle to throw it over the saddle of his next mount.

If I were an Olympic Judge, he would get added, "degree of difficulty" points.

Fuji Finepix S2 Pro / 28 to 105mm Nikon lens / post work done in Adobe Lightroom and PSCS

A collection of buildings designed by Kerry sculptor James Scanlon, and executed by local stoneworkers, they are located overlooking the Sneem River near St.Michael's Church.

"The Kapellbrücke (literally, Chapel Bridge) is a covered wooden footbridge spanning the river Reuss diagonally in the city of Lucerne in central Switzerland. Named after the nearby St. Peter's Chapel, the bridge is unique in containing a number of interior paintings dating back to the 17th century, although many of them were destroyed along with a larger part of the centuries-old bridge in a 1993 fire. Subsequently restored, the Kapellbrücke is the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe, as well as the world's oldest surviving truss bridge. It serves as the city's symbol and as one of Switzerland's main tourist attractions.

Part of the bridge complex is the octagonal 34.5 m (113 ft) tall (from ground) Wasserturm, which translates to "water tower," in the sense of 'tower standing in the water.' The tower pre-dated the bridge by about 30 years. Over the centuries, the tower has been used as a prison, torture chamber, and later a municipal archive as well as a local treasury. Today, the tower is closed to the public, although it houses a local artillery association and a tourist gift shop.

The bridge itself was originally built c.1365 as part of Lucerne's fortifications. It linked the old town on the right bank of the Reuss to the new town on the left bank, securing the town from attack from the south (i.e. from the lake). The bridge was initially over 270 metres (890 ft) long, although numerous shortenings over the years and river bank replenishments mean the bridge now totals only 204.7 metres (672 ft) long. It is the oldest surviving truss bridge in the world, consisting of strutted and triangulated trusses of moderate span, supported on piled trestles; as such, it is probably an evolution of the strutted bridge.

The Kapellbrücke almost burned down on 18 August 1993, destroying two thirds of its interior paintings. Shortly thereafter, the Kapellbrücke was reconstructed and again opened to the public on 14 April 1994 for a total of CHF 3.4 million.

Lucerne is unique in that its three wooden pedestrian bridges, the 14th-century Hofbrücke (now destroyed) and Kapellbrücke and the 16th-century Spreuerbrücke, all featured painted interior triangular frames. None of Europe's other wooden footbridges have this feature. The paintings, dating back to the 17th century and executed by local Catholic painter Hans Heinrich Wägmann, depict events from Lucerne's history. Of the original 158 paintings, 147 existed before the 1993 fire. After the fire, the remains of 47 paintings were collected, but ultimately only 30 were fully restored.

The wooden boards that held the paintings varied from 150 centimetres (59 in) to 181 centimetres (71 in) wide and 85 centimetres (33 in) to 95 centimetres (37 in) wide. Most of the panels were made from spruce wood boards, and only a few were made from linden wood and maple. The paintings were created during the Counter-Reformation, featuring scenes promoting the Catholic Church. The paintings were sponsored by the city's council members, who, upon sponsoring a panel, were allowed to attribute their personal coat of arms on it. An explanation of each painting was printed below each scene. The paintings ran all along the bridge, dating from the life and death of Lucerne's patron saint St.Leger to the legends of the city's other patron saint St. Maurice.

Lucerne is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the district of the same name. With a population of approximately 82,000 people, Lucerne is the most populous town in Central Switzerland, and a nexus of economics, transportation, culture, and media in the region. The city's urban area consists of 19 municipalities and towns with an overall population of about 220,000 people.

Owing to its location on the shores of Lake Lucerne (German: Vierwaldstättersee) and its outflow, the river Reuss, within sight of the mounts Pilatus and Rigi in the Swiss Alps, Lucerne has long been a destination for tourists. One of the city's famous landmarks is the Chapel Bridge (German: Kapellbrücke), a wooden bridge first erected in the 14th century.

The official language of Lucerne is the Swiss variety of Standard German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect." - info from Wikipedia.

During the summer of 2018 I went on my first ever cycling tour. On my own I cycled from Strasbourg, France to Geneva, Switzerland passing through the major cities of Switzerland. In total I cycled 1,185 km over the course of 16 days and took more than 8,000 photos.

Now on Instagram.

Become a patron to my photography on Patreon.

Is it the BN Executive Train? Not quite, but close. BNSF (ex-BN) SD70MAC #9766 is on the point of the westbound California Zephyr accounting for Amtrak's power shortage problem. It's something other than dragging coal for this unit.

Day 2 of Spring Break for the kid and I. My turn is over, and we sure packed it in today with a lot of imperfectly planned and executed adventures, but we both had fun. Tons of photos that I haven't seen yet, but this one is from the phone, of a semi-muddy BMX track we stopped at to ride and he's inspecting. It was soft but still fun. I might swap this out once I look at the "real camera" images, but I'm trying not to fall further behind and I like the simplicity of it. Phone>Flickr>Aviary = #103?

The Madonna of Foligno is a painting by the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael, executed c. 1511–1512. First painted on wood panel, it was later transferred to canvas.

The painting was executed for Sigismondo de' Conti, chamberlain to Pope Julius II. It was placed on the high altar of Santa Maria in Aracoeli on the Capitoline Hill in Rome, the church in which Sigismondo was buried in 1512.

It was moved by Anna Conti, a descendant of Sigismondi de' Conti, to the monastery of St. Anne in Foligno in 1565, and remained there for more than two centuries, hence the name.

In 1799 it was one of many paintings which Napoleon ordered moved to Paris. There, in 1802, the painting was transferred from panel to canvas by François-Toussaint Hacquin and restored by Mathias Barthélémy Röser of Heidelberg. A note was made by the restorer: "Rapporto dei cittadini Guijon Vincent Tannay e Berthollet sul ristauro dei quadri di Raffaello conosciuto sotto il nome di Madonna di Foligno."

In 1815, after the Battle of Waterloo, the painting was returned to the Papal States where it was allocated to the Pinacoteca Vaticana of the Vatican Museum. It was hung in the same room as Raphael's Transfiguration.

The painting is a sacra conversazione, where holy figures seem to be in conversation and draw the audience into their discussion. Rather than sitting under a canopy, of the Umbrian or Florentine style, the Virgin is seated on clouds, embracing Jesus, while surrounded by angels. They look down upon Sigismondo de' Conti, kneeling in a red, fur-lined cape. Conti is presented by St. Jerome on the right with his lion, appealing for the Virgin's protection. On the left are the kneeling St. Francis of Assisi and St. John the Baptist, who is standing and wearing a tunic of skins. As St. John points to Jesus, he clearly looks out to us, pulling us in, while St. Francis points to us and looks at the Christ Child. Between the men is an angel, linking the saints of earth to the Heavenly host. Behind them are the towers of Foligno.

Painted during Raphael's Roman period, it is a testament to his artistic maturity, evidenced in the painting's composition, coloring and form.

Conti commissioned the painting to commemorate his survival of a shell that exploded near him during the Siege of Foligno, his hometown. He credited his safety to heavenly intervention. According to the historian Massimo Polidoro, this painting has been used by UFO websites as evidence of a flying saucer crash. Polidoro states that the house of Sigismondo Conti and a fireball are visible in the painting, and that painters at this time used "symbolic meanings that were anything but random". The angel is holding a sign with nothing written on it; according to Polidoro this was because Sigismondo died before he could tell Raphael what "thank you" to the Virgin he wanted written on the sign. Polidoro describes the UFO explanation as "reinterpreting with the eyes of twenty-first-century Europeans the product of other cultures".

The church is renowned for its 12th century mosaics executed by craftsmen working in the Byzantine style. The mosaics show many iconographic and formal similarities to the roughly contemporary programs in the Cappella Palatina, in Monreale Cathedral, and in Cefalù Cathedral, although they were probably executed by a distinct atelier.[16]

The walls display two mosaics taken from the original Norman façade, depicting King Roger II, George of Antioch's lord, receiving the crown of Sicily from Jesus, and, on the northern side of the aisle, George himself, at the feet of the Virgin. The depiction of Roger was highly significant in terms of its iconography. In Western Christian tradition, kings were customarily crowned by the Pope or his representatives; however, Roger is shown in Byzantine dress being crowned by Jesus in the Byzantine fashion. Roger was renowned for presenting himself as an emperor during his reign, being addressed as basileus ("king" in koine Greek). The mosaic of the crowning of Roger carries a Latin inscription written in koine Greek characters (Rogerios Rex ΡΟΓΕΡΙΟΣ ΡΗΞ "king Roger").

The nave dome is occupied by the traditional byzantine image of Christ Pantokrator surrounded by the archangel saints: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel. The register below depicts the eight prophets of the Old Testament and, in the pendentives, the four evangelists of the New Testament. The nave vault depicts the Nativity and the Death of the Virgin.

c/o Wikipedia

Saint Louis of Toulouse is a gilded bronze sculpture of Louis of Toulouse by Donatello with a marble niche all'antica on the facade of Orsanmichele, executed in 1423–1425. It is now in the refectory of the Museo di Santa Croce in Florence.

The statue was commissioned by the Parte Guelfa for their external niche at the centre of the east facade of Orsanmichele facing via de' Calzaiuoli. Their patron saint (canonized in 1317) had given up his crown for the religious life, an idea that favorably symbolized the Guelphs' believe in the Papacy. They backed the papal party against the Holy Roman Emperor in the Investiture Controversy and later conflicts.

The Saint Louis of Toulouse was Donatello's earliest bronze sculpture, that we know of, not only of this size. It measures 2.26 m high with a widest diameter of about 0.75 m and 0.85 m at the bottom. An (above) life-sized bronze statue wasn't done since late-antiquity and the knowledge was almost lost, at least in Tuscany. For the first Baptistry door (1330–1336) modeled after its sole predecessor, Bonanno Pisano's doors for Pisa Cathedral from the end of the 12th century, a hundred and fifty years later Andrea Pisano needed the help of bronze-casters from Venice, where the late-antique/byzantine tradition and the knowledge about casting bigger pieces had been preserved. At the turn of the 15th century, the second door for the Florence Baptistry then marked a new beginning. For Lorenzo Ghiberti, a trained goldsmith, it was a huge challenge, and it took him 20 years (1403–1424), before he immediately took on the commission for the third door.

But in 1412 Ghiberti also had the chance to create the first life-size bronze figure since antiquity, his Saint John the Baptist (finished by 1416). No surprise that it also was commissioned for one of the niches of Orsanmichele again by one of the most wealthiest guilds in Florence, the Arte di Calimala , who were responsible for the Baptistery and for the commission of its bronze doors to Ghiberti. Subsequently the Arte del Cambio and the Arte della Lana were evenly keen to promote their prestige and show their wealth by commissioning also bronze statues of their patron saints for the designated niches at Orsanmichele, and both asked Ghiberti to do it. The Bankers Guild even demanded explicitly that their Saint Matthew should be taller than the Baptist of the Calimala. Ghiberti executed the Saint Matthew between 1419–1422, the Saint Stephen for the Arte della Lana in 1427–1428, replacing an earlier, less prestigious marble figure of their patron saint.

Completed in 1425 the Saint Louis of Toulouse was then the third monumental bronze statue since several centuries, with Donatello also designing its niche according to Vasari, but in 1459 the niche was instead sold to the Tribunale della Mercanzia and used for their commission of the Christ and St. Thomas.

Donatello was still alive when due to political pressure the Parte Guelfa had to give up their prestigious representational space at Orsanmichele, the economical centre of Florence. The statue was instead taken to "the next best location" (Janson), Santa Croce, which their patron saint Louis of Anjou had visited and therefore the Guelphs were affiliated with. It was placed in a niche above the central portal of the facade, in which the coat of arms of the Parte Guelfa were formerly displayed. Aesthetically the niche was "a poor choice", it was too high up, but it also was too shallow for the statue. Today the statues's hollow shell is open on its back, and it is believed that parts of the drapery on the back were taken off the figure to make it fit into its new space. An indicator for this to be true is the fact that the statue doesn't sustain itself and tilts forwards so it has to be held by additional support that is not original.

When the 19th-century facade was built (in 1860) the sculpture was put into store and then into the museum. In 1943 the Orsanmichele sculptures and others were placed in secure storage for the duration of the war. After the war the Saint Louis was briefly placed in then the supposedly original niche at Orsanmichele, and it was first prooven that it was indeed Donatello's sculpture for the Guelphs.

U memorijalnom parku Dotrščina spomenik je u čast žrtava fašizma strijeljanima u ovoj šumi. Spomenik je djelo Vojina Bakića (1915.- 1992.), koji je bio istaknuti hrvatski kipar srpskog podrijetla.

Zbog odbijanja svjetla od metalne površine ovog lijepog spomenika, on se mijenja od sata do sata, od jednog do drugog godišnjeg doba. Nikad se ne čini isti.

Ova je fotografija snimljena gotovo s istog mjesta kao prethodna, ali vrijeme je drugačije. Pogledajte koju razliku čini sunčani dan.

In memorial park Dotrščina there is a monument in honour of victims of fascism executed in this forest. The monument is work of Vojin Bakić, ( born 1915 , died 1992) who was a prominent Croatian sculptor of Serbian descent.

Due to reflection of the light from the metallic surface of this beautiful monument, it changes from hour to hour and from season to season. It never seems to be the same.

This photo was taken almost from the same place as previous photo, but the weather was different. Look what a difference makes a sunny day.

For some time I have been wanting to execute this shot. For the lighting, I used one strobe light with a 10% grid pointing directly at Kerron's face. The only other light was spill coming from the white background sweep.

Background shot HDR with five exposures in one stop increments.

Please visit my blog for more details.

Visit my blog: www.joelgrimesworkshops.com

This image is protected by copyright, no use of this image shall be granted without the written permission from Joel Grimes.

www.joelgrimes.com

Stormtroopers execute Order 51. Darth Vader has ordered the complete genocidal destruction of Classic Spacemen.

_

Once news of the slaughter reached Blacktron leaders (allies to the Classic Space Federation), they declared war on The Empire and began mobilizing forces to save the remaining remote outposts of Spacemen.

_

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The 492d FS is a combat-ready F-15E Strike Eagle squadron capable of executing strategic attack, interdiction, and counter air missions in support of United States Air Forces in Europe, United States European Command, and NATO operations. It employs the full array of air superiority and surface attack munitions to include the most advanced precision-guided weapons in the USAF inventory. The squadron is capable of deploying to any theater of operations in the world.[1]

NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer, OSIRIS-REx, spacecraft executed its first deep space maneuver Dec. 28, 2016, putting it on course for an Earth flyby in September 2017. The team will continue to examine telemetry and tracking data as it becomes available at the current low data rate and will have more information in January.

Image credit: University of Arizona

NASA image use policy.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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Executing a heavy and low departure from Runway 09R at Bengaluru headed back to Dubai

Excerpt from Wikipedia:

The St. Paul's Church or Sint-Pauluskerk (in Dutch) is a Roman Catholic church located at the Veemarkt in Antwerp. Its exterior is mainly Gothic with a Baroque tower while the interior is characterised by its rich Baroque decoration.

On the outside of the church is a group of statues referred to as the Calvary. It was created on the location of an ancient Dominican cemetery by the brothers van Ketwigh who were Dominican friars. Its design dates from 1697. In 1734 construction of the Calvary was completed but further statues were added up to 1747. It is built as a courtyard and leans on one side against the south aisle of the church and the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament.

The structure includes 63 life-size statues and nine reliefs executed in a popular and theatrical style. Most statues are of white stone with some made of wood. Some statues are dated or signed. The principal sculptors were Michiel Van der Voort the Elder, Alexander van Papenhoven and Jan Claudius de Cock with some statues by the hand of father and son Willem Kerricx, Jan Pieter van Baurscheit de Elder and anonymous collaborators.

The statues are arranged into four groups: the angel path, which ascends to the Holy Sepulchre, the garden of the prophets on the left, the garden of the evangelists on the right and the Calvary itself, which consists of an elevated artificial rock, divided into three terraces, on which statues are placed with Christ on the cross at the top.

bsh

Executing a slight modification of Dodge City's official motto...new-used Cimarron Valley (CVR; ex-CSX) C40-8s #4052 and 4053 creep out of Sublette, KS at a less-than-rapid pace after working the elevators for a good 45 minutes. The train is scheduled to run all the way to Dodge City and at this rate, they might even get there before the next day...or maybe not.

The C40s sport the railroad's new Santa Fe inspired paint scheme, and look damn good doing it.

Click the pic to zoom in.

Welcome to 2016! This seven-segment display, executed in origami, shows the current year, and is folded from a single sheet of Elephant Hide paper. With a little work, each segment’s on-off state can be toggled, so you can update the number next year without having to refold the whole thing. It’s probably too slow a process to qualify as action origami, though.

Individual segment design is based on Fujimoto’s Hydrangea (level 0) while the idea of using them to simulate a digital 7-segment display is mine. Others have probably also come up with it as it comes as an obvious thing when one starts folding tiled Hydrangeas.

A 64×32 grid was used. Only 26 grid units vertically are needed for the digits — the remaining 6 make up the foot which allows the tessellation to stand vertically for better viewing.

Noli me tangere is an oil-on-canvas painting by Andrea del Sarto, executed c. 1510, depicting Jesus and Mary Magdalene soon after the resurrection. It was the first painting he produced for the Augustinian San Gallo church in Florence, as recorded by Anonimo Magliabechiano and in Vasari's Lives of the Artists, and he later produced the San Gallo Annunciation and The Disputation on the Trinity for the same church. It is now in the Uffizi.

Noli was commissioned by Leonardo Morelli, as shown by a papal brief of 9 April 1532. During the siege of Florence the monastery's artworks were moved within the city walls to San Jacopo tra i Fossi. The original church outside the walls was razed by Charles V's troops in 1531, but all its chapels were reconstructed at San Jacopo, with Noli ending up in the Morelli chapel. About a third of the painting was underwater during a flood in 1557. The original predella is lost, probably after being damaged in the flood, and replaced by a new one in the late 16th century – the new predella was later removed and is now in the Casa Vasari museum in Arezzo.

The church was suppressed and turned into a barracks in 1849, upon which the Morelli family took back the painting, on the condition that it would remain on public display. However, they did not meet this condition and in 1875 the Italian state took legal action to confiscate the painting, exhibiting it at the Uffizi. Temporarily placed in the museum's stores, the Uffizi's Florentine galleries were reorganised and the work was reassigned to the Museo del Cenacolo di Andrea del Sarto, also in Florence. It remained there until early 2013, when it was returned to the Uffizi upon the redisplay of the latter's Sala di Michelangelo.

Art historians consider the work a product of the artist's youthful phase, when he was strongly influenced by the "school of San Marco" of Fra Bartolomeo and Mariotto Albertinelli.

The scene is set in a walled garden, perhaps monastic, depicted with loving care: regular hedges bordered by a trellis and espaliers of fruit shrubs make up the plant elements. An enormous palm, on the left, alludes to the martyrdom suffered by Christ. Small figures in the background allude to other episodes of the days following the Resurrection, such as the three Marys at the sepulcher and the Samaritan woman at the well.

The protagonist figures stand out in the foreground with the Magdalene on the left, kneeling and stretched out, and the risen Jesus on the right, with the Crusader banner. The iconography and the traditional setting, with the horizon line near the center, and the soft and nuanced drawing, derived from the example of Piero di Cosimo, the artist's first master. The monumentality of the figures instead derives from the example of the colleagues active in the convent of San Marco and marks a clear departure from the fifteenth-century modes of the Florentine repertoire. These elements, together with a certain uncertainty in connecting the near and the far in the background, mark the painting as an early work.

Melancholy is an oil-on-canvas painting executed during 1840–41 by the Italian artist Francesco Hayez, now in the pinacoteca di Brera in Milan.

The artist describes the work in his Memorie:

Melancholy is shown as a medieval young woman taken by a feeling of love, standing in an abandoned pose, who despite her passion for the flowers collected in a vase holds one in her hand, perhaps remembering the person she cares for, keeping her head somewhat bowed the better to nurture the thought which dominates her, not caring for anything around her, and her clothes falling from one shoulder, leaving part of her breast visible. The dress is in light blue satin which I thought best-suited to the subject, also because it contrasts with the live colours of the various flowers, which I painted from life with conscientious attention

The work was a popular success, leading Hayez to paint a second version, completed in 1842 and entitled Pensiero malinconico (Melancholy Thoughts). Hayez wrote in his Memorie that it had "many variations, changing the figure's character and adding flowers", reflecting the few but substantial differences from the previous work – the clothes are differently arranged, leaving the breasts more exposed and enhancing the poignant sense of abandonment, whilst the hands hang down rather than being intertwined and the face is more emotionally charged. The artist's treatment of flowers continued in his 1881 Vase of Flowers at the Window of a Harem.

Pope Alexander VI (Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia was elected pope in 1492) entrusted the decoration of the rooms in his apartment (now known as the Borgia rooms) to Pinturicchio. The paintings, which were executed between 1492 and 1494, drew on a complex iconographical program that used themes from medieval encyclopedias, adding an eschatological layer of meaning and celebrating the supposedly divine origins of the Borgias. The rooms are: Room of the Sibyls, Room of the Creed, Room of the Liberal Arts, Room of the Saints, Room of the Faith.

A fighter is hit with a perfectly executed side kick at the Taphae Stadium in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It is crucial that fighters are physically fit, strong and healthy in order to tolerate such blows.

bsh

A real team of Jewish assassins called ''The Avengers'' tracked down and executed Nazi war criminals after WWII. #NeverForget #Holocaust

Execute "Order Filler Post"

(Yes, my lord.)

Got the Republic Fighter tank (and Vader Transformation. Woo!), which I've been wanting for a while now A) for Aayla Secura, and B) cause I realized the Clone Gunner's helmet, with a few mods, would be perfect for Cody. So, I glued on a painted visor and added a few details. It's not much, but i'm stoked to finally have a Phase 2 Cody fig made.

Also those Airborne troopers are sweet.

Kenobi is 2003 Clone Wars Kenobi cause I didn't wanna go digging for his EpIII parts.

Pay no attention to the 501st chilling in the back.

Cooler things to come, but until then, cheers!

The Madonna della Vittoria is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna; the painting was executed in 1496.

On 6 July 1495 the French army of Charles VIII of France, retreating from Italy after the French Invasion of 1494-1498, fought the Italic League at the Battle of Fornovo. The League, commanded by Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua, was made up of numerous nation-states determined to prevent French dominance in Italy, and included the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Venice, Milan, and the Papal States controlled by Pope Alexander VI. Despite the League failing in its goal to destroy the French army, taking more casualties at Fornovo, and allowing Charles VIII to retreat back to France with his army intact, Francesco claimed victory. As a sign of his self-proclaimed victory at Fornovo, he commissioned Mantegna to paint the Madonna della Vittoria.

During Francesco's absence from Mantua, Daniele da Norsa, a Jewish banker, had purchased a house in the city's San Simone quarter and replaced the image of the Virgin Mary which decorated its façade with his own coat of arms. The regent, Sigismondo Gonzaga, ordered him to restore the depiction. Although Daniele agreed to do so, the populace, inflamed by anti-semitic feeling, destroyed his house.

When Francesco returned, he forced Daniele to fund a chapel and a devotional painting. The painting was to be executed by the Mantuan court painter, Mantegna, and was inaugurated in 1496 on the anniversary of the duke's victory at Fornovo. The work was placed in the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, which had been constructed over the ruins of Daniele da Norsa's house.

The painting was one of the artworks looted by the French during the Napoleonic invasion of Italy, and by 1798 was being exhibited in the Louvre. The painting was never returned; the given excuse was that its large size made the transport difficult. The presence of a sulphur-crested cockatoo in the painting is considered as evidence of Arab trade in the Australasian region which dates all the way to when one such bird was gifted from Sultan al-Kamil to Frederick II in the 1240s.

This beautifully executed sculpture was erected in 2001 close to Minehead harbour, marking the start (or end) of the South West Coastal Path. It was designed by Sarah Ward, a student at West Somerset College who was only 19 at the time, and made by established metal sculptor Owen Cunningham. It's simple and effective and although mentions on Google don't say what it's made of (one said bronze, which it isn't), I'm pretty sure it's galvanised steel. We set out to find it a year or so back but didn't walk close enough to the harbour, so coming across it at last was a bonus.

Studio portrait, executed with strobist technic, using two flashes and Rembrandt lighting setup. It was used one 60cm lightbox with flash in TTL mode and another flash in manual mode for background, using blue gel.

Canon 60d

Canon EF 24-105 f/4 L IS USM

Canon 580EXII

Yongnuo YN-565EXII

Yongnuo YN-622C TX + 2 YN 622C LI

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Vous êtes les bienvenus 😄

Not sure about the way I executed this one. Dont think it did justice compare to the sketch.

But was interesting to do my letters bended by another writer!

Respects 2 SobeKciS MoFoS.

The UH-72A LAKOTA Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) will conduct general support utility helicopter missions and execute tasks as part of an integrated effort with other Joint Services, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations. The LUH is to be deployed only to non-combat, non-hostile environments. It provides a flexible response to Homeland Security requirements such as search and rescue operations, reconnaissance and surveillance, and medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) missions.

The UH-72A is a twin-engine, single-main-rotor commercial helicopter. It has seating for two pilots and up to six passengers or two NATO standard litters (stretchers) along with passenger seating for a medical attendant and a crew chief. Two Turbomeca Arriel 1E2 engines, combined with an advanced four-blade rotor system, provide lift and speed in a wide range of operating conditions.

It is also equipped with modern communication and navigation avionics. It includes a 3-axis autopilot and single pilot Instrument Flight Rules capability. The cockpit is compatible with night vision devices. In addition to the MEDEVAC configuration, the UH-72A is also being fielded in a VIP, ARNG Security & Support (S&S) and Combined Training Center (CTC) configurations.

Three bracketed photos were taken with a handheld Nikon D7200 and combined with Photomatix Pro to create this HDR image. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop CS6.

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11

The best way to view my photostream is through Flickriver with the following link: www.flickriver.com/photos/photojourney57/

shot executed by pinhole Auloma Superpanorama 6x17, negative scanned by Canon EOS 1100D, 120 film Fomapan 100

Castillo, Berlanga de Duero, Soria, Castilla y León, España.

El castillo de Berlanga de Duero se encuentra en la población del mismo nombre, pertenece a la provincia de Soria y fue construido entre los siglos XV, cuando tuvo la función de castillo señorial, y en el XVI cuando se transformó en una fortaleza artillera. Con anterioridad, en los siglos X y XI, hubo una fortaleza musulmana que, en el XII, tras la conquista castellana, se amplió con el cinturón exterior amurallado que se conserva.

Bordeada por el río Escalote y abrazada por el Duero, se corona por la imponente silueta del castillo que la vigila desde el Coborrón. El conjunto monumental está formado por los restos de la fortaleza tardomedieval (siglo XV), la fortaleza artillera de época renacentista (siglo XVI), la muralla que ciñe el cerro en su base (siglo XII) y el Palacio de los Duques de Frías (siglo XVI).

El conjunto se inició entre los años 1460 y 1480 por encargo de D. Luis Tovar y doña María de Guzmán, que ordenaronn levantar el casillo señorial, para servir de fortaleza defensiva y residencia familiar, sobre un castillo anterior situado en lo alto del cerro, donde se localizaba la primitiva villa de Berlanga protegida por la muralla situada a los pies del cerro.

En el año 1512 se proyectó y comenzó a ejecutar el nuevo castillo, configurado como una fortaleza artillera, con fines militares. Esta nueva fortaleza se adaptó tanto a la topografía abrupta del terreno como a la construcción anterior (el castillo medieval señorial).

En el programa constructivo de los linajes Tovar y de los Duques de Frías se encontraba además la erección del palacio en el recinto interior de la muralla del siglo XII, adaptado a los nuevos modos de vida. Este palacio y sus jardines intramuros estructurados en diversos niveles sufrieron, en 1811, un incendio y una destrucción por parte de las tropas napoleónicas, por lo que en la actualidad solo se conserva su fachada principal.

Durante los años 2004-2005 se acometió por parte de la Junta de Castilla y León un Plan Director, un conjunto de planes y actuaciones orientadas a la mejor conservación, protección y revitalización de este rico patrimonio. Se incluyen estudios de investigación, consolidación y restauración de los restos del monumento o actuaciones en el entorno.

El castillo señorial (siglo XV) presenta planta rectangular, en la que destaca el cubo de planta circular, en el ángulo sur, y la torre del homenaje en el lado opuesto. En el interior, dos patios articulan el espacio: uno, a la entrada, más sencillo, funcionó como patio de armas; y el otro, se planteó como patio palacial porticado, con columnas góticas, tiene en el centro un aljibe con una conducción que lleva al depósito de agua.

A partir del castillo señorial medieval, en el siglo XVI se construyó la fortaleza artillera. Tiene planta rectangular con pontentes cubos en cada ángulo, orientados a los puntos cardinales, los dos delanteros albergan sendas casamatas para instalar la artillería de la fortaleza. Los muros, levantados con piedra de sillería de calidad, tienen cinco metros de espesor y se rematan con un parapeto inclinado para desviar los impactos de artillería.

The castle of Berlanga de Duero is located in the town of the same name, belongs to the province of Soria and was built between the fifteenth century, when it served as a stately castle, and the sixteenth when it was transformed into an artillery fortress. Previously, in the 10th and 11th centuries, there was a Muslim fortress that, in the 12th century, after the Castilian conquest, was extended with the outer walled belt that remains.

Bordered by the River Escalote and embraced by the Duero, it is crowned by the imposing silhouette of the castle that watches over it from the Coborrón. The monumental complex is made up of the remains of the late medieval fortress (15th century), the artillery fortress from the Renaissance period (16th century), the wall that surrounds the hill at its base (12th century) and the Palace of the Dukes of Frías ( century XVI).

The complex began between 1460 and 1480 by order of D. Luis Tovar and Doña María de Guzmán, who ordered the building of the stately castle, to serve as a defensive fortress and family residence, on top of a previous castle located on top of the hill. where the primitive town of Berlanga was located, protected by the wall located at the foot of the hill.

In the year 1512 the new castle was projected and began to be executed, configured as an artillery fortress, for military purposes. This new fortress was adapted both to the steep topography of the land and to the previous construction (the stately medieval castle).

In the construction program of the Tovar lineages and the Dukes of Frías was also the erection of the palace in the inner enclosure of the 12th century wall, adapted to the new ways of life. This palace and its intramural gardens structured on various levels suffered, in 1811, a fire and destruction by Napoleonic troops, so that today only its main façade remains.

During the years 2004-2005, the Junta de Castilla y León undertook a Master Plan, a set of plans and actions aimed at the best conservation, protection and revitalization of this rich heritage. Research studies, consolidation and restoration of the remains of the monument or actions in the environment are included.

The stately castle (15th century) has a rectangular floor plan, in which the circular cube in the southern corner stands out, and the homage tower on the opposite side. Inside, two patios articulate the space: one, at the entrance, simpler, functioned as a parade ground; and the other, designed as a porticoed palatial courtyard, with Gothic columns, has a cistern in the center with a conduit that leads to the water tank.

Starting from the medieval stately castle, the artillery fortress was built in the 16th century. It has a rectangular floor plan with powerful cubes at each angle, oriented to the cardinal points, the two front ones house casemates to install the fortress's artillery. The walls, raised with quality ashlar masonry stone, are five meters thick and are finished off with a sloping parapet to deflect artillery impacts.

On the left here we have the beautifully executed “Self-portrait as Sarah Wisse, transported” by Margaret Woodward (1996). The tones and light are Rembrantesque, but the composition is all modern. The convict Sarah Wisse was transported from England in 1795 for stealing food and clothing. One imagines it a crime of desperation. As the great-great-great-granddaughter of Sarah, Margaret Woodward assumes the role and thus links the present with a colourful past. This is wonderful storytelling. www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/artboards/archie-100/wielding-t...

Next to it is a self-portrait with all the traits of graphic art. In 1991/92 the Archibald was compressed into a two year period, and this is the only finalist that Peter Tyndall entered: “detail A Person Looks At A Work Of Art/someone looks at something …” Around the face of the artist sizing something up is a quote from Charles Morgan in 1933: “It was in my mind to say that a portrait should be the image of one spirit received in the mirror of another.” Tyndall painted this using a circular mirror to reflect his face. www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/artboards/archie-100/wielding-t...

The rood in the Augustinerkirche in Zürich. This was executed by local sculptor Franz Fischer during the church's reordering of 1958-9.

The Augustinerkirche in Zürich, located at the south-west of the Münzplatz in the Lindenhof area of the city centre. It is now home to the Old Catholic congregation in the centre of the city.

It was originally one of the five main churches in the old town of Zürich, together with the Fraumünster, Grossmünster, Predigerkirche and St Peter’s.

First built around 1270 as a Romanesque church belonging to the Augustinian abbey, worship in the church was discontinued at the Reformation. The church was rebuilt by Ferdinand Stadler for the Roman Catholic community of the city in 1843-4, a growing minority at the time. The majority of Zürich’s Catholics, however, rejected the decisions of the First Vatican Council of 1870, and consequently the whole community was excommunicated. The Augustinerkirche remains an Old Catholic congregation to this day.

In 1958-9, the church was rebuilt by Max Kopp in accordance with the original and more ambitious plans and with the Gothic Revival elements removed, leading to a much starker modernist aesthetic, a combination which I find very interesting.

A teenage boy jumps from the edge of a swimming pool into the water by way of a well-executed somersault.

Captured at a private inland resort in San Marcelino, Zambales, Philippines.

Executed with software, fractal and photoshop

Executed on 12 x 9 inch drawing paper.

After executing the turn in relatively narrow Loch Goil Waverley ends up close to the steeply sided banks, proving how quickly the loch deepens. She then heads back towards Loch Long and back down to the Clyde.

- Commander Neyo, execute order 66.

- ... Not this time my Lord.

This is my alternate ending to Episode III.

While patrolling the planet Saleucami, CC-8826 (Neyo) and CT-3423 received from the Chancellor the order 66. As you all know, Neyo and his fellow trooper carried out this order by killing Jedi General Stass Allie.

I wanted to show that clones have feelings, and are able to know what is good from bad.

I have taken the example of Commander Neyo, for he is one of the coldest and most unfeeling clones in the Galaxy. This "rebellion" symbolizes the true meaning of being a Clone Trooper of the Republic.

For this contest, I wanted to do something related with order 66, but not just a typical scene. This photo is by far the most difficult I have ever taken, for I had to resume a whole scene in one shot, and I tried to take this iconic scene in a simple, yet significant way.

I hope you guys like how it turned out and may the very best win! :)

(By the way, this is my 100th photo here on Flickr) :p

Ceiling executed in 1617, on designs by Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri 1581-1641), who painted the Assumption - Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere - Rome

A trio, yes, a trio of Ex-BN Executive SD70MAC's leads a coal train as it departs Homewood IL heading towards Michigan. This train had two Executives up front and one as a DPU.

Charles II (29 May 1630 OS – 6 February 1685) was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

Charles II's father King Charles I was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War. The English Parliament did not proclaim Charles II king at this time. Instead they passed a statute making such a proclamation unlawful. England entered the period known to history as the English Interregnum or the English Commonwealth and the country was a de facto republic, led by Oliver Cromwell. The Parliament of Scotland, however, proclaimed Charles II King of Scots on 5 February 1649 in Edinburgh. He was crowned King of Scots at Scone on 1 January 1651. Following his defeat by Cromwell at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651, Charles fled to mainland Europe and spent the next nine years in exile in France, the United Provinces and the Spanish Netherlands.

A political crisis following the death of Cromwell in 1658 resulted in Charles being invited to return and assume the throne in what became known as the Restoration. Charles II arrived on English soil on 27 May 1660 and entered London on his 30th birthday, 29 May 1660. After 1660, all legal documents were dated as if Charles had succeeded his father in 1649. Charles was crowned King of England and Ireland at Westminster Abbey on 23 April 1661.

Charles's English parliament enacted anti-Puritan laws known as the Clarendon Code, designed to shore up the position of the re-established Church of England. Charles acquiesced to the Clarendon Code even though he himself favoured a policy of religious tolerance. The major foreign policy issue of Charles's early reign was the Second Anglo-Dutch War. In 1670, Charles entered into the secret treaty of Dover, an alliance with his first cousin King Louis XIV of France under the terms of which Louis agreed to aid Charles in the Third Anglo-Dutch War and pay Charles a pension, and Charles promised to convert to Roman Catholicism at an unspecified future date. Charles attempted to introduce religious freedom for Catholics and Protestant dissenters with his 1672 Royal Declaration of Indulgence, but the English Parliament forced him to withdraw it. In 1679, Titus Oates's revelations of a supposed "Popish Plot" sparked the Exclusion Crisis when it was revealed that Charles's brother and heir (James, Duke of York) was a Roman Catholic. This crisis saw the birth of the pro-exclusion Whig and anti-exclusion Tory parties. Charles sided with the Tories, and, following the discovery of the Rye House Plot to murder Charles and James in 1683, some Whig leaders were killed or forced into exile. Charles dissolved the English Parliament in 1679, and ruled alone until his death on 6 February 1685. He converted to Roman Catholicism on his deathbed.

Charles was popularly known as the Merrie Monarch, in reference to both the liveliness and hedonism of his court and the general relief at the return to normality after over a decade of rule by Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans. Charles's wife, Catherine of Braganza, bore no children, but Charles acknowledged at least 12 illegitimate children by various mistresses.

On the 28th July 1540 Thomas Cromwell, who had for served as chief minister to King Henry VIII, was executed at Tower Hill in London. For nearly ten years Cromwell was one of the strongest and most powerful proponents of the English Reformation, coming to the fore through his engineering of the annulment of Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon in 1533. During his years in power, he skillfully managed Crown finances and extended royal authority. In 1536, he established the Court of Augmentations to handle the massive windfall to the royal coffers from the Dissolution of the Monasteries. He strengthened royal authority in the north of England through reform of the Council of the North, extended royal power and introduced Protestantism in Ireland, and was the architect of the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542, which promoted stability and gained acceptance for the royal supremacy in Wales. ​

During this period Cromwell made many enemies and there were no shortage of those who would try and to oust him from his position of power. In 1540 he arranged for Henry to marry the German Princess Anne of Cleves, who Cromwell hoped would help breath fresh life into the Reformation in England and help protect England against the possibility of a French / Imperial alliance. This appears to have been a costly mistake, as the king was reportedly shocked by her plain appearance and Cromwell was accused of exaggerating her beauty. The wedding ceremony took place on January 6th at Greenwich, but the marriage was not consummated. For Cromwell’s conservative opponents, most notably the Duke of Norfolk, the King's anger at being forced to marry Anne was the opportunity to topple him they had been waiting for.

Cromwell was arrested at a Council meeting on June 10th and accused of various charges. His initial reaction was defiance: "This then is my reward for faithful service!" he cried out, and angrily defied his fellow Councillors to call him a traitor. A Bill of Attainder containing a long list of indictments, including supporting Anabaptists, corrupt practices, leniency in matters of justice, acting for personal gain, protecting Protestants accused of heresy and thus failing to enforce the Act of Six Articles, and plotting to marry Lady Mary Tudor, was introduced into the House of Lords a week later and passed on June 29th.

All Cromwell's honours were forfeited and it was publicly proclaimed that he could be called only "Thomas Cromwell, cloth carder". The King deferred the execution until his marriage to Anne of Cleves could be annulled: Anne, with remarkable common sense, happily agreed to an amicable annulment and was treated with great generosity by Henry as a result. Hoping for clemency, Cromwell wrote in support of the annulment, in his last personal address to the King. He ended the letter: "Most gracious Prince, I cry for mercy, mercy, mercy."

Cromwell was however condemned to death without trial, lost all his titles and property and was publicly beheaded on Tower Hill on July 28th 1540, on the same day as the King's marriage to Catherine Howard. The circumstances of his execution are a source of debate: whilst some accounts state that the executioner had great difficulty severing the head, others claim that this is apocryphal and that it took only one blow. Afterwards, his head was set on a spike on London Bridge.

​

The king later expressed regret at the loss of his chief minister and later accused his ministers of bringing about Cromwell's downfall by "pretexts" and "false accusations".

"Schooner of Later...". Port Townsend, Washington, USA

October 27th, 2009 © 2009 Doug van Kampen, All Rights Reserved

I don't, by any means, consider this to be a wonderfully executed image, nor do I consider the processing (all five seconds of it) stellar either.

This image of a schooner beginning to raise it's sails, was made when I was out in Port Townsend, Washington on a temporary duty assignment with the U.S. Coast Guard. Funny thing about this part of Washington State; Port Townsend is in a bit of a rain shadow and gets about 1/4 the amount of rain that Seattle gets, which is welcome for someone, such as myself, who cannot stand days upon days of cloudy and rainy weather. What should I expect? IT'S WASHINGTON!!! I digress...

Enjoy this image, or not, for the value that you place on it. Does it inspire you? Does it evoke an idea? Does it speak to you in any particular way?

I would like to know...

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