( Le transept Nord abrite une magnifique statue en calcaire polychrome datant du 16 ième siècle , cette vierge allaitante représente Marie donnant le sein à l'enfant Jésus . Sous le pied de la vierge se tient un mystérieux coffret dont la clef , suspendue à un ruban , se trouve dans la main du christ . Cette oeuvre fut probablement importée des Flandres pour le couvent des Dominicains de Dinan )<img alt="Statue de la vierge allaitante à la Chapelle Sainte Catherine à Dinan (22)

Representing the two main generic Platinum liveries, 6827 and 6891 contrast at Frankley Holly Hill terminus, working 63 Bristol Road Services into Birmingham. Although not an official Platinum route, it sees frequent use of them, with numerous spares available due to Birmingham Centrals extra 6 recently received (6945-50)

Nos encontramos ante una pintura de caballete de formato rectangular que muestra a varias figuras de cuerpo entero representadas al aire libre, en concreto en un bosque o huerto de árboles frutales, en concreto naranjos. Parece que se trata de una alegoría protagonizada por personajes mitológicos.

 

De izquierda a derecha se distinguen:

 

- Un joven vestido con una túnica roja que parece remover unas nubes con un bastón. Aparece calzado, en concreto con una especie de borceguíes.

- Tres doncellas descalzas y ataviadas con ropajes transparentes en actitud de baile.

- Otra mujer que lleva sandalias y que va vestida con túnica y manto rojo con forro azul. Esta figura parece presidir la escena.

- Un niño alado con los ojos cubiertos por una venda y que dispara una flecha en dirección a las doncellas. El pintor lo ubicó por encima de la mujer que se acaba de describir.

- Otra dama que avanza hacia el espectador y que destaca por su sonrisa, por su corona de flores y por su vestido estampado con motivos vegetales. Atrae nuestra atención por que es la única figura que mira hacia el espectador. Pisa el prado con sus pies desnudos.

- Por último un grupo que rompe la quietud de la escena. Está formado por otra joven descalza y vestida con túnica transparente que sufre el asalto de un personaje singular: un joven pintado enteramente de azul y que parece flotar o volar. Entre el ramaje de los árboles apenas se distinguen sus alas con alguna dificultad.

 

Pasando a la organización de la escena, el pintor integra la mayor parte de las figuras en un esquema triangular que tiene un vértice en el amorcillo, otro en las doncellas que bailan y el tercero en la figura acosada. Los dos varones quedan a un lado y a otro de este esquema, equilibrando la composición

 

En cuanto a la organización del espacio, todas las figuras se hallan en un mismo plano, menos la mujer que preside la escena, que se halla en un segundo plano, más retirada. Lógicamente, el niño alado se sitúa en otro nivel completamente distinto. De hecho se halla sobrevolando la escena.

 

La línea del horizonte, que apenas si se distingue, se halla algo más elevada de lo normal, en concreto al nivel de la cintura de los personajes situados en primer plano. La perspectiva que emplea el artista resulta puramente intuitiva: los personajes parecen flotar sobre un prado que a lo que más se parece es a un tapiz y el bosque del fondo se dispone como un telón. Esta relativa torpeza se revela muy útil para datar la obra, pues resulta habitual encontrar en los pintores del siglo XV, esta construcción del espacio realizada de forma más o menos espontánea y, sobre todo, la elección de ese punto de vista algo elevado, que permite representar el suelo con más altura de la conveniente, recurso que recuerda a la perspectiva caballera. Estos rasgos se encuentran tanto en los pintores renacentistas, como en los seguidores del gótico flamenco.

 

Las figuras y la vegetación se encuentran perfectamente delimitadas con un trazo fino, de tal forma que la línea predomina sobre la policromía. Los colores son nítidos, existiendo un claro contraste entre el de los personajes, más vivos y los de la vegetación, más apagados. Existe un cuidado equilibrio entre los tonos cálidos y los fríos. Parece que el artista pintó la escena con minuciosidad, usando una pincelada muy fina. Es de destacar lo bien conseguidas que están las veladuras en las vestiduras transparentes.

 

El uso de veladuras es típico de la pintura al óleo, pero este cuadro debe tratarse más bien de una pintura al temple, porque los colores parecen planos y relativamente apagados, predominando ese acabado de brillo mate típico de esta técnica.

 

El temple o témpera es un tipo de pintura de origen muy antiguo que emplea como disolvente el agua y como aglutinante una emulsión de yema de huevo, cola u otras materias orgánicas. Con frecuencia, la aplicación de esta técnica se combina con fondos de oro, en el que el metal era dispuesto en láminas extremadamente finas. En el caso de una pintura de caballete, como la que nos ocupa, el soporte habitual del temple es la tabla.

 

Volviendo al análisis del cuadro, señalemos que la luz está aplicada de forma uniforme, como conviene a una escena desarrollada al aire libre.

 

El volumen de las figuras se expresa mediante el plegado de los ropajes y la gradación tonal, esto es indicando la musculatura y las distintas texturas con ligeras variaciones de color, reflejando con un ligero claroscuro la musculatura o el plegado de las vestiduras. Estos recursos no se emplean en el prado y los árboles que, como queda dicho, parecen planos como si se tratase de un decorado.

 

Respecto a la plasmación de la figura humana, el artista representa a los personajes con corrección anatómica, bien que buscando la armonía y la idealización. El canon empleado alarga a los protagonistas de la escena haciéndoles parecer altos y esbeltos.

 

Menos la dama que centra la composición, todas las figuras se hallan en movimiento, bien que con actitudes reposadas y lánguidas. Un dinamismo particular expresan las tres doncellas y la dama de las flores, personajes que parecen encontrarse en la ejecución de los pasos de una danza. Hay que señalar que estas actitudes calmosas no se pueden aplicar al grupo de la izquierda que sorprende por lo brusco de las actitudes y la violencia que respira esta especie de asalto o rapto.

 

Parecido contraste se observa en los gestos: serenos y ensimismados en las figuras de la izquierda y del centro, y muy expresivos los de la derecha: la dama de las flores sonríe abiertamente, la doncella del vestido transparente mira con sorpresa y temor, mientras que su agresor la contempla con furia.

 

Respecto a las facciones, algunos autores han supuesto que en el cuadro figuran retratos de algunas personalidades, e incluso se han avanzado las identificaciones. Con todo, parecen rostros impersonales, dotados de una belleza ideal en consonancia con la armónica perfección de los cuerpos y la refinada elegancia de sus vestiduras.

 

Armonía, belleza ideal, reposo y una atmósfera de refinamiento son los valores que parece transmitir esta obra. Debe añadirse la erudición y la estimación por la cultura clásica, pues la imagen, aunque muy hermosa, permanece indescifrable para los ojos del espectador poco avezado.

 

Respecto a la clasificación de esta obra, el empleo de una perspectiva intuitiva y el uso del temple nos sitúan en el siglo XV, en el tránsito entre la Edad Media y el Renacimiento. Por otra parte el tema mitológico o alegórico y la atmósfera de lujo y elegancia aconsejan emplazar esta obra en el Quattrocento, la primera fase del arte renacentista.

 

Dentro de los artistas de este período la obra debe adscribirse a Sandro Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi) por esas figuras elegantes y cargadas de distinción, por esa ambiente de belleza ideal que presenta cierta melancolía y, también, por el pobre conocimiento de la perspectiva.

 

Este pintor vivió en Florencia en la segunda mitad del siglo XV y el primer decenio del siglo XVI. Se formó en el taller de Fra Filippo Lippi, en Prato, y en su obra, desarrollada casi por entero en Florencia, se distingue un largo período de plenitud con figuras elegantes, vaporosas y monumentales y un último período de gran intensidad religiosa con obras de ejecución nerviosa y composición excéntrica y descuidada.

 

Botticelli destacó como pintor de temática religiosa (tanto pinturas monumentales al fresco como pequeños cuadros de devoción), como retratista y, especialmente, como autor de temas profanos de contenido alegóricos y mitológicos, como «La calumnia de Apeles», «El Nacimiento de Venus» y la obra que nos ocupa que es «La Alegoría de la Primavera», conservada en la Galería Uffizi de Florencia.

 

Se trata de un cuadro monumental (Mide 203 cm de alto por 314 cm de ancho) y la técnica empleada es, como queda dicho el temple. El soporte empleado es la tabla. Se fecha por 1477 o 1476

 

El primer poseedor de la obra fue Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de Medici, conocido como «Il Popolano» («El Populista»), fue miembro de la familia Médici, primo de Lorenzo el Magnífico. Dado que este personaje tenía 15 años cuando la obra se pintó, y para entonces se había quedado huérfano, se especula con que fue encargada por sus tutores, como estímulo para su formación en la filosofía neoplatónica o exhortación moral según los principios de esta doctrina. Tal vez fuera un regalo de su primo Lorenzo «el Magnífico», bajo cuya tutela se encontraba.

 

Posteriormente pasó a la colección de la rama principal de los Médici, que fueron primeros duques de Florencia y posteriormente grandes duques de Toscana). Vasari la contempló y la admiró en 1550, cuando pertenecía al duque Cosme I.

 

La interpretación de esta pintura requiere un amplio conocimiento de la mitología clásica, bien que algunas figuras como Cupido o las Tres Gracias se identifican con facilidad. De izquierda a derecha se reconoce a:

 

- El dios Mercurio (con un sombrero o casco denominado petaso y con la vara llamada caduceo). Con este objeto parece jugar con unas nubecillas, escena enigmática que sólo se comprende por un pasaje de la Eneida en el que describe al veloz mensajero de los dioses, dominando las nubes y los vientos con sólo alzar el mágico caduceo. Con todo, algunos especialistas creen que realmente representa al dios Marte.

- Las tres Gracias, divinidades menores que presiden el encanto, la belleza y la fertilidad.

- La diosa Venus, seguramente en su advocación de Venus Genetrix, esto es como madre, lo que explicaría que se hubieran destacado sus pechos y el que vientre aparezca abultado. Por detrás de esta figura el pintor dispuso un arbusto que se ha identificado como el mirto (o arrayán), planta consagrada a esta deidad, al igual que los naranjos.

- Cupido, hijo de Venus, otra divinidad menor considerado dios del amor.

- Flora, divinidad secundaria del panteón latino encargada de las flores y los jardines. Ese patronazgo explica su corona de flores y su vestido ornamentado con plantas y ramos. Su representación derramando flores se encuentra ya en las pinturas de Pompeya.

- Cloris, ninfa que en la mitología griega desempeña el mismo papel que Flora en el panteón latino, de ahí que a veces se consideren que son el mismo personaje. Su vínculo con la vegetación queda resaltado por las flores que salen de su boca.

- Céfiro o bien Bóreas, personificaciones del viento del oeste y del norte, respectivamente. Ambas deidades raptaron a Cloris, de ahí que su identificación permanezca dudosa. Aunque tradicionalmente se ha visto en él a Céfiro, la brusquedad con la que aparece y su color azul oscuro, propio de las tormentas, parece convenir mejor al tempestuoso Bóreas que al tranquilo y fecundante viento del oeste.

 

Si en la identificación existe cierto consenso, la crítica no se ha puesto de acuerdo sobre su verdadero significado y ninguna de las interpretaciones ha conseguido imponerse, bien que suele vincularse a la filosofía neoplatónica.

 

Una explicación bastante verosímil (y alternativa) es la que considera la obra una alegoría de los tres meses de la primavera: A la derecha marzo, mes caracterizado por los repentinos y negativos efectos del viento y del frío sobre la primera floración; en el centro abril mes consagrado a Venus; y a la izquierda mayo, mes vinculado a Mercurio, pues se creía que estaba dedicado a la madre del dios, la pléyade Maya.

 

La obra estaría inspirada en los tapices flamencos dedicados a las estaciones y meses del año, lo que explicaría la deficiente construcción del espacio y ese prado poblado por diminutas flores y plantas, muy similar a los fondos de tapiz de estilo «mille fleur» confeccionado en aquella época en Francia y en Flandes

 

Para situar el monumento en su contexto histórico, social, político y cultural señalemos que el arte renacentista surge en Italia en el siglo XV, difundiéndose por el resto de Europa en el siglo siguiente. La expansión colonial de españoles y portugueses extenderán este estilo por Iberoamérica y otros territorios que estas potencias incorporan a sus imperios.

 

La cronología de este estilo abarca, pues, desde el siglo XV hasta inicios del siglo XVII. Se distinguen varias fases: Quattrocento (siglo XV), Cinquecento (primer cuarto del siglo XVI) y Manierismo (resto del siglo XVI). Existe una suave etapa de transición hacia el Barroco conocida como protobarroco o arte tridentino (por hallarse marcado por la influencia del Concilio de Trento).

 

El mundo del Quattrocento se caracteriza en lo político por el predominio del sistema de la ciudad-estado en Italia. Se trata de una forma de gobierno oligárquica, pues unas pocas familias controlaban el poder de estas urbes. Estos linajes solían pertenecer a una burguesía mercantil que desarrolla un capitalismo inicial, basado en el comercio de tejidos y en las operaciones bancarias. Esta centuria se caracteriza por un período de expansión económica, caracterizada por el incremento de la circulación monetaria.

 

Respecto a la cultura, la Iglesia sigue desempeñando un papel preponderante, bien que se asiste a una recuperación de la herencia clásica, desarrollándose la filosofía neoplatónica, que fomenta el antropocentrismo y la estima por los números, la proporción y la armonía.

 

Socialmente, la valoración de los artistas comenzará a ser tenida en cuenta, y como se observa en esta obra, arquitectos, escultores y pintores colaboraran en el retorno de la Antigüedad clásica bien estudiando los restos arqueológicos, leyendo y comentando a los autores de la literatura grecorromana o frecuentando las academias filosóficas. Con todo, la producción artística siguió siendo considerada como un mero trabajo mecánico y manual, en el que sólo importaba la destreza, a diferencia de las artes liberales (la Gramática, la Retórica, la Dialéctica, la Aritmética, la Geometría, la Música y la Astronomía) en las que se hacía precisa la aplicación del intelecto.

 

El mecenazgo cobrará un gran impulso en este período como forma de distinción y prestigio. A los promotores de obras tradicionales en la Italia del momento (el Papado, las órdenes religiosas mendicantes y las corporaciones cívicas), se unirán la burguesía mercantil y los condottieros o capitanes de las tropas mercenarias.

 

Para terminar, señalemos que «la Primavera» y otras obras alegóricas y/o mitológicas de Botticelli han sido consideradas un retorno del arte profano, olvidado en la Edad Media o reducido en este período a la mínima expresión ante la preponderancia del arte sacro. Lo cierto es que aunque no puedan competir con el arte religioso, los temas y la decoración seculares tuvieron un amplio desarrollo en la Europa medieval cristiana, bien que los testimonios conservados son muy escasos. Destacaron los tapices (cuya pervivencia resulta muy difícil) o bien mosaicos, vidrieras, pinturas murales y otros ornamentos cuya suerte va ligada a los palacios para los que se realizaron.

 

Dado que estas construcciones sufrieron continuas renovaciones, o al contrario fueron abandonados o pasaron por los rigores de la guerra, los testimonios que nos han llegado de arte profano se han preservado en algunos casos por pasar a las colecciones de iglesias o monasterios, como el tapiz de Bayeux. Algunos otros, como las pinturas de las techumbres de la catedral de Teruel, albergan un contenido profano pese a que se realizaron para un templo.

 

Por tanto hay que recurrir muchas veces a las crónicas o a las representaciones contenidas en los libros miniados para reconstruir el esplendor decorativo de las residencias medievales y de algunos edificios como juzgados o casas consistoriales.

 

El repertorio era amplísimo: escenas de batallas más o menos históricas, o bien basadas en ciclos de romances y leyendas; series de personajes de la Antigüedad, en especial Alejandro Magno; complicadas alegorías mitológicas inspiradas en la obra de Marciano Capela y en Ovidio (bien que se trata del Ovidio «moralizado»); alegorías sobre el gobierno de la ciudad; fábulas protagonizadas por animales; episodios cinegéticos, bailes y otros esparcimientos de los nobles, entre ellos las escenas de baños, llamada de «estufa» (termas); representaciones cartográficas y de las constelaciones celestes, cargadas de los simbolismos propios de la época… En cambio el retrato tuvo un escaso desarrollo y, con alguna excepción, estuvo ligado más bien al arte religioso, apareciendo los personajes como donantes.

 

Estas obras suelen mostrar una originalidad sorprendente y un naturalismo desconocidos en el envarado arte sacro. Las pinturas (o tapices) sobre campañas militares están realizados con una óptica casi «periodística», en el que la narración histórica se presenta como un verdadero reportaje (bien que realizado en muchos casos con decenios de retraso). Por lo demás, los testimonios conservados asombran por su altísima calidad.

 

Se comprende que de la alta Edad Media se conserven muy pocos ejemplos. Destacan los mosaicos del pavimento del Palacio Sagrado de Constantinopla y la decoración anicónica de la iglesia de San Julián de los Prados de Oviedo.

 

De la etapa gótica, destacan en primer lugar los murales que relatan hazañas militares, como los frescos del monasterio de Santa María de Valbuena en Valladolid, las pinturas de la conquista de Mallorca del Palacio Aguilar en Barcelona, y otros frescos de la misma temática conservados en el Palacio Real de Barcelona, en Cardona, Alcañiz y Melfi, en el sur de Italia.

 

Con una temática más mundana, nos encontramos con la vidriera denominada «La cacería» de la catedral de León, las pinturas mudéjares de la catedral de Teruel, los frescos de la llamada Sala del Ciervo, en el Palacio de los Papas en Aviñón, las pinturas del Palacio Comunal de Siena, el ciclo pictórico de Castello della Manta, en el Piamonte y las imágenes de constelaciones realizadas por Fernando Gallego para la Universidad de Salamanca.

 

Mención aparte merecen las tapicerías conservadas: el mencionado tapiz de Bayeux, el ciclo de tapices de la Dama y el Unicornio del Museo de Cluny de París; el llamado tapiz «de las Naves» de la seo zaragozana y los cuatro tapices de Pastrana que describen las conquistas portuguesas en el Norte de África.

 

Las muestras de escultura profana son aún más escasas. Mencionaremos el misterioso Regisole de Pavía, destruido en el siglo XVIII y de cronología muy discutida. Otra obra no menos enigmática es la escultura ecuestre de Rávena (¿de Teodorico?) que Carlomagno mando trasladar a Aquisgrán. Se han conservado la estatuilla de Carlomagno ecuestre del Louvre, el León de Brunswick (Alemania) y el busto de Federico II Hohenstaufen de Barletta (Italia). En relieve, y ya en el arte gótico, hay que mencionar los marfiles franceses dedicados al Roman de la Rose y otros temas galantes y el coro bajo de la catedral de Toledo que talló Rodrigón Alemán y que está dedicado a la conquista del Reino de Granada.

 

Por lo demás los mosaicos de la mezquita omeya de Damasco, las pinturas del castillo sirio de Qusair Amra, Damasco o las conservadas en la Alhambra nos señalan que tampoco el mundo árabe fue ajeno a esta práctica de decorar con escenas libres de todo contenido religioso o doctrinal.

 

En conclusión las alegorías de Botticelli o los esposos Arnolfini de Jan van Eyck hay que verlos más bien como cambios de rumbo o renovaciones de la temática del arte civil y profano, más que la supuesta resurrección de esta vertiente del arte perdida en los mal llamados «siglos oscuros»

 

Procedencia de la imagen:

 

www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/b/botticel/index.html

 

One of the most characteristic and poorly-understood features of the Mysteries is the naked lion-headed figure often found in Mithraic temples, named by the modern scholars with descriptive terms such as leontocephaline (lion-headed) or leontocephalus (lion-head). He is entwined by a serpent (or two serpents, like a caduceus), with the snake’s head often resting on the lion’s head. The lion’s mouth is often open, giving a horrifying impression. He is usually represented as having four wings, two keys (sometimes a single key), and a scepter in his hand. Sometimes the figure is standing on a globe inscribed with a diagonal cross. In the figure shown here, the four wings carry the symbols of the four seasons, and a thunderbolt is engraved on the breast. At the base of the statue are the hammer and tongs of Vulcan, the cock, and the wand of Mercury. A variation the same figure, but with a human head instead of the lion-mask, is also found, but is rare..Although animal-headed figures are prevalent in contemporary Egyptian and Gnostic mythological representations, an exact parallel to the Mithraic leontocephaline figure has not been found.[47] The name of the figure has been deciphered from dedicatory inscriptions to be Arimanius, a Latinized form of the name Ahriman – a demonic figure in the Zoroastrian pantheon. Arimanius is known from inscriptions to have been a god in the Mithraic cult as seen, for example, in images from the Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae (CIMRM) such as 222 from Ostia, 369 from Rome, and 1773 and 1775 from Pannonia.Some scholars identify the lion-man as Aion, or Zurvan, or Cronus, or Chronos, while others assert that it is a version of the Zoroastrian Ahriman.[There is also speculation that the figure is the Gnostic demiurge, (Ariel) Ialdabaoth.[51] Although the exact identity of the lion-headed figure is debated by scholars, it is largely agreed that the god is associated with time and seasonal change.] An occultist, D. J. Cooper, speculates to the contrary that the lion-headed figure is not a god, but rather represents the spiritual state achieved in Mithraism's "adept" level, the Leo (lion) degree.

Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries, was a mystery religion centred around the god Mithras that was practised in the Roman Empire from about the 1st to the 4th century. The religion was inspired by Persian worship of the god Mithra (proto-Indo-Iranian Mitra), though the Greek Mithras was linked to a new and distinctive imagery, and the level of continuity between Persian and Greco-Roman practice is debated.[1] The mysteries were popular in the Roman military.Worshippers of Mithras had a complex system of seven grades of initiation and communal ritual meals. Initiates called themselves syndexioi, those “united by the handshake”.[3] They met in underground temples, called mithraea, which survive in large numbers. The cult appears to have had its centre in Rome.Numerous archaeological finds, including meeting places, monuments and artifacts, have contributed to modern knowledge about Mithraism throughout the Roman Empire. The iconic scenes of Mithras show him being born from a rock, slaughtering a bull, and sharing a banquet with the god Sol (the Sun). About 420 sites have yielded materials related to the cult. Among the items found are about 1000 inscriptions, 700 examples of the bull-killing scene (tauroctony), and about 400 other monuments.[6] It has been estimated that there would have been at least 680 mithraea in Rome. No written narratives or theology from the religion survive; limited information can be derived from the inscriptions and brief or passing references in Greek and Latin literature. Interpretation of the physical evidence remains problematic and contested.The Romans regarded the mysteries as having Persian or Zoroastrian sources. Since the early 1970s the dominant scholarship has noted dissimilarities between Persian Mithra-worship and the Roman Mithraic mysteries. In this context, Mithraism has sometimes been viewed as a rival of early Christianity with similarities such as liberator-saviour, hierarchy of adepts (bishops, presbyters, deacons), communal meal and a hard struggle of Good and Evil (bull-killing/crucifixion).The name Mithras (Latin, equivalent to Greek "Μίθρας",is a form of Mithra, the name of an Old Persian god – a relationship understood by Mithraic scholars since the days of Franz Cumont. An early example of the Greek form of the name is in a 4th century BCE work by Xenophon, the Cyropaedia, which is a biography of the Persian king Cyrus the Great.The exact form of a Latin or classical Greek word varies due to the grammatical process of declension. There is archeological evidence that in Latin worshippers wrote the nominative form of the god’s name as "Mithras". However, in Porphyry’s Greek text De Abstinentia («Περὶ ἀποχῆς ἐμψύχων»), there is a reference to the now-lost histories of the Mithraic mysteries by Euboulus and Pallas, the wording of which suggests that these authors treated the name "Mithra" as an indeclinable foreign word.Related deity-names in other languages include.Sanskrit Mitra (मित्रः), the name of a god praised in the Rig Veda. In Sanskrit, "mitra" means "friend" or "friendship".the form mi-it-ra-, found in an inscribed peace treaty between the Hittites and the kingdom of Mitanni, from about 1400 BCE.Iranian "Mithra" and Sanskrit "Mitra" are believed to come from an Indo-Iranian word mitra meaning contract / agreement / covenant.Modern historians have different conceptions about whether these names refer to the same god or not. John R. Hinnells has written of Mitra / Mithra / Mithras as a single deity worshipped in several different religions.On the other hand, David Ulansey considers the bull-slaying Mithras to be a new god who began to be worshipped in the 1st Century BCE, and to whom an old name was applied.Mary Boyce, a researcher of ancient Iranian religions, writes that even though Roman Empire Mithraism seems to have had less Iranian content than historians used to think, none the less “as the name Mithras alone shows, this content was of some importance.”.Mithra was the god of light, purity, goodness, truth and occupied an important place in the faith of the ancient India-European peoples.There are various opinions on the spread of the Mithra (or Mithras, Mitra) cult, but the most reliable one is the first written protocol about the Mithraic cult from 14th century BC.In the treaty text signed between the powerful kingdom of Mitanni (Mitanni was situated in the North of Armenian Plateau) of king Shativaza (unknown-1350 BC), and the Hittite king of Suppiluliuma (1380-1346 BC) we can see the name of Mithra. So the Mithraic cult was mentioned in Persian cuneiform inscriptions and in the Indian Vedic texts since the fourth century BC.As a result of the religious revolution of Ardashir II, the Sassanid King of Persia in 395 AD, the cults of Mithra and Anahita, the Iranian goddess, were imported to Persia and combined with Zoroastrianism. In the first century BC the cult of Mithra penetrated into Rome, and in the third century AD this religion had become international and spread from India to the Black Sea, from the Balkans to Britain and Spain. Now there are more than four hundred Mithraic temple ruins throughout the Europe.So at first, in fourth century BC this cult spread from the Armenian Plateau to South Persia and India and in first century BC to North-West Europe. The Mysteries of Mithras.....The upper grades, known as the “Participants,” were: 4th . Lion, of the element of FireI died as a mineral and became a vegetable, I passed away as vegetation and became animal. Leaving the animal state I became man. Why should I fear? When was I less through death? I shall once more die: from manhood, to soar with angels: and I must pass beyond angelhood—all perish but God. When I have given up my angel self, I shall be what no mind has conceived.—Jalaluddin Rum.Perhaps it was fitting to begin the following article on the Mithraic Mysteries on the day of the recent Winter Solstice. According to tradition, the god Mithras was born of (“sprang from”) the rock on the shortest day of the year, his birthday celebration occurring on December 25, marking the return of Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun.Prior to the vision of Roman Emperor Constantine later establishing Christianity as state religion, a fraternity centered upon the Rites of Mithras once captivated the Western world. Originating in India and later spreading to Persia, Mithraism moved across Europe along with the sprawl of the late Roman Empire.Plutarch, in his Life of Pompey credits the introduction of Mithraism in Rome to pirates arriving from Cilicia, an ancient region south of the Tarsus Mountains in southeast Asia Minor along the Mediterranean Sea.The Indo-Persian myth describing Ahura-Mazda’s battle of Light against Darkness casts Mithras as an associate of the Sun.As the tale begins, Mithras captures the wild bull, the first creation of Ahura-Mazda, and confines it within a cave. The bull escapes, and the Sun sends his messenger the Raven to look for it. Mithras is also sent by Ahura-Mazda and with the help of his dog, he recaptures the beast. He drags it back to the cave and straddles it, cutting the bull’s throat. From the resulting issue of blood springs corn, wheat, and other forms of life. In retaliation, Ahriman, the Chief of Darkness, orders his minions, the ant, snake, and scorpion, to drink up the miraculous fluid, but to no avail: it spreads all over the world giving it life. In a gesture of acknowledgement, the Sun kneels before Mithras offering a crown to seal a covenant with him. The two part ways after a sacramental meal.As we shall see, the reenactment of the myth in the rites of initiation involved passing through seven grades that correspond to seven planets. The worship of Mithras at this time required the construction of a Mithraea, a temple in the form of an underground vault or “cave.” The temple interior consisted of a torch-lit hall with side benches culminating in a central sculpted image of Mithras. Adorned with a Phrygian (“Persian”) cap, he is depicted holding a bull by the nostrils from behind in the act of stabbing it in the neck with a dagger. His image is often accompanied by two torchbearers, possibly representing the Sun and the Moon: Cautes, with upraised torch, and Cautopates, with torch pointed earthward. The ceiling of the sanctuary was painted to resemble the starry “cave” of the night sky. Franz Cumont has mapped the dispersion of various Mithraea across Europe and Asia Minor. The number of them, and of other related Mithraic artifacts is astounding, and indeed, many temples remain intact to this day.

Roman Mithraism appropriated and adapted occult knowledge from the Pythagorean Mysteries, through the astronomical revelations of Hipparchus and the later speculations of the Stoics.Accordingly, Mithraic scholar David Ulansey feels that The Rites of Mithra may be explained by examining the astral religion of the Hellenistic period. The position of the images depicted in the sanctuary suggest that they are directly related to constellations observable at that time: the bull to Taurus, scorpion to Scorpio, snake to Hydra, raven to Corvus, dog to Canus minor, lion to Leo major.Ulansey connects Mithras with the Greek god Perseus of the constellation just above Taurus, who was also known as “the Persian.” Perseus was popularly worshipped in Cilicia, home to the pirates described by Plutarch. In myth, Perseus kills the Gorgon and similarly, as we have seen, Mithras kills the bull. The astral adaptation is a metaphor for the precession of the equinoxes signaling the end of the Age of Taurus, and the beginning of the Age of Aries. Mithras is seen as a diety with the power to move the universe on its cosmic axis, one who controls Fate. Identification with such a God through ritual would seem to confer similar gifts upon the initiate, bestowing the promise of everlasting life.8)One writer has labeled Mithraism “the Alchemy of the Roman World.”

However, initiation into the Mysteries of Mithras in a Roman Mithraea involved austerities and hardships that would make the most rugged Freemason of today blanch.10) The candidate entered the ritual space blindfolded and naked. An oath of secrecy was obtained. Ordeals by fire, by branding upon the forehead, scourging, striking with the leg of a bull, as well as the laying on of hands, pouring on of water, and the bestowing of a solar crown upon the head are reported. Masks and costumes representing key figures found in the myth were worn by participants who had previously achieved the various grades in the hierarchy of the Rite.The “grades” accompanying initiation correspond to the principal participants and their activity found within the myth.The lower grades, known collectively as “Servitors” were in ascending order: 1st. Raven, of the element of Air, is under the sign of Mercury messenger of the gods. Symbols of this degree include the raven, cup, and caduceus of Mercury. 2nd. Bride(groom?), of the element of Water, is under the sign of Venus. Fragments suggest that symbols of this degree included a lamp and a crown. The joining of hands was part of this grade, hence the allusion to a “wedding ceremony.” 3rd. Soldier, of the element of Earth, is under the sign of Mars. Symbols are the soldier’s pouch worn over his shoulder, a helmet, and a lance.The upper grades, known as the “Participants,” were: 4th . Lion, of the element of Fire, under the sign of Jupiter. Symbols of this degree include a fire shovel, a sistrum, and thunderbolts. 5th. Persian, of the element of Water, under the sign of the Moon. Symbols include a hooked knife, a scythe or plow, and the moon and a star. 6th. Courier of the Sun, of the element of Fire, under the sign of the Sun. Symbols are a torch, crown, and a whip (to drive his chariot across the sky). 7th. Father (Pater) under the sign of Saturn. Symbols include a ring or dish, a staff, the Phrygian cap, and a sickle. The holder of this highest rank dressed like Mithras himself. During initiations and other regular ritual activity including sacramental meals, the holders of the various grades were regarded as the earthly representatives of celestial, archetypal participants in the myth.Were the Rites of Mithras “co-alchemic?” Not in the Roman rite, which was most popular among men in the military. At its peak, it was a warrior’s religion. However, evidence suggests that there were fraternal relationships with women from the Cybele-cult, who possibly shared the taurobolium—a “baptism” in bull’s blood, with initiates of Mithraism. This point is controversial, and it is not clear how it may have been performed in a typically small Mithraea.A final sculptural image of Mithras depicts him as the Aeonic Mithras, the Mithraic Cronus, representative of Boundless Time.According to Armenian ancient beliefs, 365 saints are living in the heart of the Sun and each of them is the owner of one day of the year, appointed in order to prevent evil.It is said that within the salty sea (Lake of the Van), there was a rock, and when heaven was darkened the light fell on the rock and shortly after was born Mithra, almost naked but with a Phrygian hat on his head, and torch in his left hand, and it illuminated the world. By killing the bull, Mithra was creating the world from its parts.Strabo chronicled that during the ruling of Achaemenid Empire the Armenian Satrap donated 20,000 horses to the annual Mithra celebration. The observations dedicated to Mithra were celebrated by Armenians in the Month of Areg, which coincided with Iranian month of Mithra. The Armenian seventh month is named Mehekan and each month’s eighth day was called Mithra.Mithra, the god of light, kindness and contracts was indeed born from the very rock—this characteristic is affirmed either by archaeological finds or by the Geghard temple in Armenia, which is carved into the rocky landscape.In 1953-54 during research in Eskikale (Turkey) a tunnel was unearthed which reached depths of 160 meters (525 feet) consisting of a long mountain slope ending with two circular rooms. It is similar to the tunnel at Bagaritch in Upper Armenia with the temple complex dedicated to Mithra.From the mythological point of view, tunnels are the place of birth of Mithra as it said “the beam, separated from the star, penetrates into the depths of the tunnel, giving birth to Mithra, from where he ascended to heaven.” The carved temple of Geghard has also been seen as the birthplace of Mithra during the pre-Christian period.In Vedic texts Mithra is the god who protected the Sun and is always mentioned with Varuna.In Indian sources Mithra is the god of love, light, tenderness and sun shine. The closeness and affection of Mithra and Varuna is inseparable and stable. Varuna is the god of heaven and night. Mithra is the god of light, sunshine and day. These gods of night and day are fellows in cult rituals. Varuna is also the god of waters and seas , and is the husband of Varun, god of wine.Vedic texts are notable for the main ritual of the Mithraic cult, such as sacrificing a bull, which penetrated to Europe. One of the noblest gods is Soma (in Avesta, the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism, he is instead named Haoma). Soma is the god of invincible power, the god who cures all the diseases. It is Soma who gave life, wealth, and wish fulfillment.In Sanskrit, the name Soma is used for the Moon. They are the same only by name, however, as all the characteristics of the Moon are attributed to a goddess of plants. So, they believed the moon presided over healing plants and thus sacrificed oblations and offerings in worship rituals.Also Soma is the name of a sacred plant. From the leaf of this plant was made a strong alcoholic beverage loved by the gods, and which was dedicated to the gods. During rituals, priests drank this beverage in order to come close to and join with the gods. Soma was the life deity and life essence, and even though the gods received their eternity from this beverage, mortal men could attain temporary ‘eternity’ by drinking the beverage too, allegorically meaning the joining with the God and Essence.According to legend a riot arose between the gods. The god Shiva got involved in the formidable fighting and in one stoke divided god Soma in two, which demonstrates the tradition of sacred bull killing.In other versions the gods decided to kill Soma. The god Wayuu ordered the execution and asked help from Mithra-Varuna. Mithra refused to help and said, “I wish love, boon and affection to everybody.” At the end Mithra agreed to participate in ritual killing in order to benefit from the sacrifice. After the killing they crushed Soma between two stones. It was Mithra’s responsibility to spill on the ground the part of his Soma juice from which would germinate the plants and the animals.In pictures and sculptures of the bull sacrifice ritual, Mithra is often seen turning his face and eyes away, indicating the rejection or distaste of this action. But the bull is the source of life, and the ritual is necessary.“A Being with lion’s head, and eagles wings, and brute’s feet, and human body, enwrapped with a serpent, standing on a globe and holding the keys of life and death in its two hands….The Autozoon, or Living Creature in itself the summation of all forms of life, including man.”14)“It was this God, that the adepts of the mysteries placed at the head of the celestial hierarchy, and considered the first Principal.”15) Surrounded by the signs of the zodiac, he is the winged, invincible Soul emerging from the Cosmic Egg, coiled in the form of the rising serpent representing the manifestation of matter out of the central mystery of Eternity.The fraternal Mithraic Rites fulfill the function of a Mystery School designed to join the temporal nature of the initiate with the Eternal Reality of Spiritual Truth. Establishing a Golden Chain linking Heaven and Earth through the intermediary of human experience, the follower of Mithras walks a path mirroring that of the stars moving through the Universe, and beyond, into a timeless realm that truly, no mind may conceive.Mithraism.......Lion-headed figure... He will say: 'Where ... ?One of the most characteristic and poorly-understood features of the Mysteries is the naked lion-headed figure often found in Mithraic temples, named by the modern scholars with descriptive terms such as leontocephaline (lion-headed) or leontocephalus (lion-head). He is entwined by a serpent (or two serpents, like a caduceus), with the snake’s head often resting on the lion’s head. The lion’s mouth is often open, giving a horrifying impression. He is usually represented as having four wings, two keys (sometimes a single key), and a scepter in his hand. Sometimes the figure is standing on a globe inscribed with a diagonal cross. In the figure shown here, the four wings carry the symbols of the four seasons, and a thunderbolt is engraved on the breast. At the base of the statue are the hammer and tongs of Vulcan, the cock, and the wand of Mercury. A variation the same figure, but with a human head instead of the lion-mask, is also found, but is rare.Although animal-headed figures are prevalent in contemporary Egyptian and Gnostic mythological representations, an exact parallel to the Mithraic leontocephaline figure has not been found.The name of the figure has been deciphered from dedicatory inscriptions to be Arimanius, a Latinized form of the name Ahriman – a demonic figure in the Zoroastrian pantheon. Arimanius is known from inscriptions to have been a god in the Mithraic cult as seen, for example, in images from the Corpus Inscriptionum et Monumentorum Religionis Mithriacae (CIMRM) such as 222 from Ostia, 369 from Rome, and 1773 and 1775 from Pannonia.Some scholars identify the lion-man as Aion, or Zurvan, or Cronus, or Chronos, while others assert that it is a version of the Zoroastrian Ahriman.There is also speculation that the figure is the Gnostic demiurge, (Ariel) Ialdabaoth.[51] Although the exact identity of the lion-headed figure is debated by scholars, it is largely agreed that the god is associated with time and seasonal change.[52] An occultist, D. J. Cooper, speculates to the contrary that the lion-headed figure is not a god, but rather represents the spiritual state achieved in Mithraism's "adept" level, the Leo (lion) degree. According to M. J. Vermaseren, the Mithraic New Year and the birthday of Mithras was on December 25.[54][55] However, Beck disagrees strongly.[56] Clauss states: "the Mithraic Mysteries had no public ceremonies of its own. The festival of Natalis Invicti, held on 25 December, was a general festival of the Sun, and by no means specific to the Mysteries of Mithras."Mithraic initiates were required to swear an oath of secrecy and dedication,[58] and some grade rituals involved the recital of a catechism, wherein the initiate was asked a series of questions pertaining to the initiation symbolism and had to reply with specific answers. An example of such a catechism, apparently pertaining to the Leo grade, was discovered in a fragmentary Egyptian papyrus (P.Berolinensis 21196), He will say: 'Where ... ?... he is/(you are?) there (then/thereupon?) at a loss?' Say: ... Say: 'Night'. He will say: 'Where ... ?' ... Say: 'All things ...' (He will say): '... you are called ... ?' Say: 'Because of the summery ...' ... having become ... he/it has the fiery ... (He will say): '... did you receive/inherit?' Say: 'In a pit'. He will say: 'Where is your ...?... (Say): '...(in the...) Leonteion.' He will say: 'Will you gird?' The (heavenly?) ...(Say): '... death'. He will say: 'Why, having girded yourself, ...?' '... this (has?) four tassels. Very sharp and ... '... much'. He will say: ...? (Say: '... because of/through?) hot and cold'. He will say: ...? (Say): '... red ... linen'. He will say: 'Why?' Say: '... red border; the linen, however, ...' (He will say): '... has been wrapped?' Say: 'The savior's ...' He will say: 'Who is the father?' Say: 'The one who (begets?) everything ...' (He will say): '('How ?)... did you become a Leo?' Say: 'By the ... of the father'. ... Say: 'Drink and food'. He will say '...Almost no Mithraic scripture or first-hand account of its highly secret rituals survives;[29] with the exception of the aforementioned oath and catechism, and the document known as the Mithras Liturgy, from 4th century Egypt, whose status as a Mithraist text has been questioned by scholars including Franz Cumont.[60][61] The walls of Mithraea were commonly whitewashed, and where this survives it tends to carry extensive repositories of graffiti; and these, together with inscriptions on Mithraic monuments, form the main source for Mithraic texts.Nevertheless, it is clear from the archeology of numerous Mithraea that most rituals were associated with feasting – as eating utensils and food residues are almost invariably found. These tend to include both animal bones and also very large quantities of fruit residues.[63] The presence of large amounts of cherry-stones in particular would tend to confirm mid-summer (late June, early July) as a season especially associated with Mithraic festivities. The Virunum album, in the form of an inscribed bronze plaque, records a Mithraic festival of commemoration as taking place on 26 June 184. Beck argues that religious celebrations on this date are indicative of special significance being given to the Summer solstice; but this time of the year coincides with ancient recognition of the solar maximum at midsummer, whilst iconographically identical holidays such as Litha, St John's Eve, and Jāņi are observed also.For their feasts, Mithraic initiates reclined on stone benches arranged along the longer sides of the Mithraeum – typically there might be room for 15 to 30 diners, but very rarely many more than 40 men.[64] Counterpart dining rooms, or triclinia, were to be found above ground in the precincts of almost any temple or religious sanctuary in the Roman empire, and such rooms were commonly used for their regular feasts by Roman 'clubs', or collegia. Mithraic feasts probably performed a very similar function for Mithraists as the collegia did for those entitled to join them; indeed, since qualification for Roman collegia tended to be restricted to particular families, localities or traditional trades, Mithraism may have functioned in part as providing clubs for the unclubbed.[65] However, the size of the Mithraeum is not necessarily an indication of the size of the congregation.Each Mithraeum had several altars at the further end, underneath the representation of the tauroctony, and also commonly contained considerable numbers of subsidiary altars, both in the main Mithraeum chamber and in the ante-chamber or narthex. These altars, which are of the standard Roman pattern, each carry a named dedicatory inscription from a particular initiate, who dedicated the altar to Mithras "in fulfillment of his vow", in gratitude for favours received. Burned residues of animal entrails are commonly found on the main altars indicating regular sacrificial use. However, Mithraea do not commonly appear to have been provided with facilities for ritual slaughter of sacrificial animals (a highly specialised function in Roman religion), and it may be presumed that a Mithraeum would have made arrangements for this service to be provided for them in co-operation with the professional victimarius[68] of the civic cult. Prayers were addressed to the Sun three times a day, and Sunday was especially sacred.It is doubtful whether Mithraism had a monolithic and internally consistent doctrine.It may have varied from location to location.However, the iconography is relatively coherent.[38] It had no predominant sanctuary or cultic centre; and, although each Mithraeum had its own officers and functionaries, there was no central supervisory authority. In some Mithraea, such as that at Dura Europos, wall paintings depict prophets carrying scrolls,[72] but no named Mithraic sages are known, nor does any reference give the title of any Mithraic scripture or teaching. It is known that intitates could transfer with their grades from one Mithraeum to another.HomeThe Red Cap of Liberty is also known as the Phrygian Cap, Mithraic Cap, sacrificial Cap, mitre and in French as the bonnet de laLiberté or bonnet rouge. It symbolizes the sacred acts of Initiation, Sacrifice, Liberty, Revolution, Enlightenment, and Brotherhood...It has been worn by various Abrahamic priesthoods over the last few thousand years and also newly emancipated slaves since the time of Ancient Rome. The red cap not only an ancient symbol, it is one of the oldest magical talismans that is still in use to this very day by various religions, secret societies, and governments all around the world.British Alchemist and Rosicrucian, Hargrave Jennings had written, "The Phrygian Cap, the classic Mithraic Cap, sacrificial Cap, and mitre all derive from one common ancestor." He continues, The whole is a sign of “initiation,” and of baptism of a peculiar kind. The Phrygian cap, ever after this first inauguration, has stood as the sign of the “Enlightened.” The heroic figures in most Gnostic Gems, which we give in our illustrations, have caps of this kind.""Mithras, God of the Sunset, low on the Western main. Thou descending immortal, immortal to rise again! Now when the watch is ended, now when the wine is drawn, Mithras, also a soldier, keep us pure till the dawn!”~From Song to Mithras, Rudyard Kipling."The significance of Mithraism as the first historical, pan-Eurasian religion has never been fully appreciated by European scholarship, which persistently has tried to draw an Iron Curtain between the East and West. In various forms, however, Mithraism has left an indelible and defining mark on the religious history of that vast continent. Christianity was at the same time the greatest benefactor as well as the most destructive scourge of Mithraic tradition. While destroying or vandalizing the material cultural remains of that once great religion, early Christians also copied and co-opted its outward forms in many details, building upon its successes and learning from its limitations. Indeed, both literally and figuratively, Christianity was built upon Mithraic foundations.2Such dependence was a great liability to a Church claiming a new and original dispensation, and every effort was made to suppress the commonalities. For the most part, this meant emphasizing the more obvious (and superficial) mythological and dogmatic differences, but this was hardly enough to demonstrate an essential practical difference between the visionary Eucharistic practices of the two competing Mystery Religions. In fact, the shared gnosis seemed to validate the syncretism and co-option that had so obviously occurred—even in the outward expressions—of the old and new “official” religions of the Empire. For the ancients, such a situation was the norm; that the unitive experiences elicited by the various Mysteries all demonstrated an essential and universal identification not only between the rites of particular gods and goddesses, but also between deities and the celebrant, and between the celebrant and the co-creative Cosmos as a whole.

Given such an underlying assumption of gnosis as a kind of basic and defining experience at the esoteric core of all the Mysteries, dogmatic and doctrinal differences were only of marginal concern and interest, and crass literal interpretations were easily abandoned in favor of a mythological richness infused and sacralized by a common gnosis.Mithraism, as we have shown, was a key and formative element in the radical syncretism that characterized much of Classical spirituality. Considered in these terms, it is important to note that Christianity came to stand in polar opposition to this synthesizing and comparatively tolerant attitude toward other religions. In fact, it is justifiable to consider the Christian claim, that of being the sole source of Salvation, as the only truly original and distinguishing characteristic of the new religion—this along with its insistence on the literal historical veracity of its Savior and His miracles. While Imperial Rome was singularly influential in popularizing and codifying both religions, we must recognize a common ecstatic and communal thread in them that starts in the earliest strata of Indo-European traditions and extends even into the present—intact in its esoteric, entheogenic essence.At the very root of the Mithraic Mysteries lay esoteric mythological, astrological, and pharmacological lore that was not easily to be suppressed, let alone destroyed. The long and almost unbelievably complex history of Mithraism in Eurasia had inseparably woven its mythopoeia into the very fabric of religious-intellectual, artistic, and literary culture throughout the Persian and Classical worlds. As Mithraism faded as a world religion, its venerable esoteric cannon became a river, fed by streams of derivative and original gnostic tradition. It is quite clearly this ancient torrent that sustained and characterized the post-Christian Hermetic and literary undercurrent, erupting throughout history in the various popular gnostic revivals, which were, repeatedly (and often violently), suppressed by the Church Triumphant, which opposed personal mysticism and insisted on imposing itself politically as the essential mediator with the deity.Surviving into modern times, and deriving from uncertain and legendary sources, Freemasonry3 is the most notable of the secret societies that have perpetuated the pre-Christian Mysteries. Although it is true that over the centuries the Masons have been accused of all manner of conspiratorial and diabolical activity (as has been the case with other ‘secret’ societies throughout history), this has been done with largely circumstantial evidence, partial understanding and paranoid zealotry. There can be no doubt, however, that Masonic lodges were indeed hotbeds of pro-revolutionary sentiment and the philosophies of the Enlightenment that opposed the feudal “Ancién Regime” with a “New World Order.”4 This new philosophy, in turn, was illuminated and inspired by the Classical Revival that had first found popular expression during the Renaissance. There can also be no doubt that Masonic membership was often made up of the social and intellectual elite who were the driving force behind the Revolutions that established the political reality of a new social paradigm—a paradigm that is at least as defining a characteristic of ‘modernity’ as the Industrial Revolution.Claiming to be the inheritors and preservers of ancient mysteries via direct lines of descent going back at least the time of the Knights Templar, Masonic symbolism does seem to betray a cohesive and accurate synopsis of the ancient Mysteries. Iconographic items such as the Sun, the all-seeing disembodied eye, the ouroboros, the sacred evergreen, and, most importantly for us, the red Phrygian cap atop a spear or Sword of the Accord are all elements well known to the ancient religions, possessing profound meanings to those initiates who learned of their true significance and interconnection.While most of these symbols are common to alchemical and Masonic imagery, the origins of the so-called ‘liberty pole’ and ‘liberty cap’ are less familiar. It goes without saying, however, that all elements are to be understood as cryptic references that simultaneously conceal and reveal arcane mysteries. The fundamental innovation promulgated in the revolutionary ideal is the dependence upon a kind of Natural Law—as well as the necessary and ongoing revelation of the natural, inalienable and sacred rights of citizens—as the nourishing and necessary spirit upon which a republican democracy might stand. Similarly, Thomas Jefferson appealed to the need for ‘eternal vigilance’ on the part of citizens in maintaining such a government.

While the American Revolution unfolded a world removed from the entrenched monarchies of Europe, the philosophical and political culture in which its revolutionary ideas fermented was fundamentally Continental. Encouraged by the American success, a democratic fervor set Europe—and especially France—ablaze with a call for an inevitable and radical reappraisal of basic political and social suppositions.The uncanny

correspondence between Mithraic, Alchemic, and revolutionary esoteric symbolism is clearly displayed in the various illuminated versions of the Declaration of the Rights of Man (Déclaration des droits de l’homme).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithraism

REPRESENTING pt. 2 - Most likely cute

Le registre supérieur représente le monde divin sous forme humaine. Des symboles astraux représentent la Lune et le Soleil, qui est parfois figuré avec un visage. Le signe de Tanit, parfois sous forme humaine, est parfois figuré avec un cortège de divinités romaines dont Mercure, Cupidon ou Vénus représentés sur les deux côtés du fronton de la chapelle figurant le dédicant. Le personnage central tient une corne d'abondance d'où sortent gerbes de blé, raisins et grenades.

 

Le registre médian est occupé par un élément d'inspiration gréco-romaine, avec colonnes et fronton d'édifice.

Le dédicant est situé au milieu : il est debout dans ce qui semble être un temple ou une chapelle, avec colonnes et fronton.

 

Le dernier registre figure parfois des Atlantes portant l'étage supérieur comportant la chapelle, accompagnés parfois d'une scène de sacrifice, auquel est destiné un bœuf. Le sacrificateur est parfois figuré, comme sur l'une des stèles du musée du Bardo.

Si Lalibela representa la religión cristiana ortodoxa de Etiopía, este mausoleo del siglo XIII es el lugar de peregrinación islámica más importante de Etiopía, a pesar de estar ubicado en un pequeño y remoto pueblo, en medio de un paraje seco y caluroso.

Llegamos al pueblo por la tarde, con el tiempo justo de visitar el mausoleo antes del anochecer y tuvimos la suerte de asistir a una ceremonia para pedir que lloviera. Eso hizo que estuviera allí concentrado todo el pueblo.

Para entrar en el recinto, que está a la intemperie, hay que descalzarse, a pesar de que no se trata del habitual suelo alfombrado de las mezquitas de las ciudades, sino de tierra, piedras y matorral. La tumba se encuentra debajo de la cúpula. Se puede entrar por una pequeña puerta y recorrer, casi a oscuras, el pasillo que la rodea.

Un detalle que nos llamó poderosamente la atención es que la gente se embadurnaba la cara con tierra e, incluso, la comía, como parte de sus ritos.

Nikon D4 @ 200 iso with 35mm f/1.4G.

 

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Representing a sizeable component of the China Motor Bus fleet before the gradual dismembering of its franchised operations from 1993 onwards, were the class of Leyland Victory 2, most of which carried Alexander kit-built bodywork assembled locally. LV142 was one of the last examples of this combination and was leaving the Stanley Village terminus of the 73 in this view from October 1992 and just under a year before the route was handed over to Citybus as part of its 'Network 26' franchise.

 

This image is copyright and must not be reproduced or downloaded without the permission of the photographer.

Represent the title of a book in your image.

 

Shug points out to Celie that life must be enjoyed. When they are in a field of purple flowers,

Shug tells Celie to look at the flowers and embrace their beauty. "You must look at all the good

and acknowledge them because God placed them all on earth." The Color Purple by Alice Walker.

Taken at The Regency, Laguna Woods, California. © 2013 All Rights Reserved.

My images are not to be used, copied, edited, or blogged without my explicit permission.

Please!! NO Glittery Awards or Large Graphics...Buddy Icons are OK. Thank You!

 

Thank you for playing along yesterday! You are the best, my Flickr friends! Enjoy your weekend!

Representing the Black Prince preserved fleet at the event is 202, Mercedes Benz O405 Optare Prisma TIL 7902, originally R202 YOR. This was purchased from Tillingbourne along with two others, but this entered service with Black Prince on May 19 2001 already repainted into a version of the fleet livery (in this case the Tillingbourne Blue repainted into red) followed in March 2004 by the lower panels being replaced and repainted with a bit more of a repaint being done in september 2004 when proper logos were then applied. Oddly when this arrived with Black Prince it had been given back it's R202 YOR plate as Tillingbourne wanted their private plate for another vehicle, but the registration transfer hadn't gone through and so this regained its TIL plate.

One second the bird was there and the next he was gone.

This monument represents a white marble temple house, cut in two in the middle. Inside the thin gap, two red granite walls, arranged face to face, bear the names of the peoples who were victims of genocide in the 20th century. The space between the two parts is lit, symbolizing the energy of healing. The broken house rests on five sleepers representing the five continents: an allegory of our responsibility towards a humanity repeatedly struck by all sorts of misfortunes.

 

A strong commemorative gesture, Reparation constrains memory and chases the genocides of the 20th century and their victims from oblivion. The monument makes this public space a place in the heart of the city which, beyond pain, loss and resentment, offers forgiveness and peace, as its title says: the beginning of reparation. Furthermore, Larivée decided to develop the site as a set of small places for reflection. Paths, analogies of human existence in its movements and deportations, go up temporal spaces in a slow ascent, which leads us to the summit, where the white temple stands.

 

Parc Marcelin-Wilson, Montréal (Ahuntsic-Cartierville), Québec.

about 300 tealights in wax paper bags

Fish, any of approximately 34,000 species of vertebrate animals (phylum Chordata) found in the fresh and salt waters of the world. Living species range from the primitive jawless lampreys and hagfishes through the cartilaginous sharks, skates, and rays to the abundant and diverse bony fishes. Most fish species are cold-blooded; however, one species, the opah (Lampris guttatus), is warm-blooded.

 

The term fish is applied to a variety of vertebrates of several evolutionary lines. It describes a life-form rather than a taxonomic group. As members of the phylum Chordata, fish share certain features with other vertebrates. These features are gill slits at some point in the life cycle, a notochord, or skeletal supporting rod, a dorsal hollow nerve cord, and a tail. Living fishes represent some five classes, which are as distinct from one another as are the four classes of familiar air-breathing animals—amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. For example, the jawless fishes (Agnatha) have gills in pouches and lack limb girdles. Extant agnathans are the lampreys and the hagfishes. As the name implies, the skeletons of fishes of the class Chondrichthyes (from chondr, “cartilage,” and ichthyes, “fish”) are made entirely of cartilage. Modern fish of this class lack a swim bladder, and their scales and teeth are made up of the same placoid material. Sharks, skates, and rays are examples of cartilaginous fishes. The bony fishes are by far the largest class. Examples range from the tiny seahorse to the 450-kg (1,000-pound) blue marlin, from the flattened soles and flounders to the boxy puffers and ocean sunfishes. Unlike the scales of the cartilaginous fishes, those of bony fishes, when present, grow throughout life and are made up of thin overlapping plates of bone. Bony fishes also have an operculum that covers the gill slits.

 

The study of fishes, the science of ichthyology, is of broad importance. Fishes are of interest to humans for many reasons, the most important being their relationship with and dependence on the environment. A more obvious reason for interest in fishes is their role as a moderate but important part of the world’s food supply. This resource, once thought unlimited, is now realized to be finite and in delicate balance with the biological, chemical, and physical factors of the aquatic environment. Overfishing, pollution, and alteration of the environment are the chief enemies of proper fisheries management, both in fresh waters and in the ocean. (For a detailed discussion of the technology and economics of fisheries, see commercial fishing.) Another practical reason for studying fishes is their use in disease control. As predators on mosquito larvae, they help curb malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases.

 

Fishes are valuable laboratory animals in many aspects of medical and biological research. For example, the readiness of many fishes to acclimate to captivity has allowed biologists to study behaviour, physiology, and even ecology under relatively natural conditions. Fishes have been especially important in the study of animal behaviour, where research on fishes has provided a broad base for the understanding of the more flexible behaviour of the higher vertebrates. The zebra fish is used as a model in studies of gene expression.

 

There are aesthetic and recreational reasons for an interest in fishes. Millions of people keep live fishes in home aquariums for the simple pleasure of observing the beauty and behaviour of animals otherwise unfamiliar to them. Aquarium fishes provide a personal challenge to many aquarists, allowing them to test their ability to keep a small section of the natural environment in their homes. Sportfishing is another way of enjoying the natural environment, also indulged in by millions of people every year. Interest in aquarium fishes and sportfishing supports multimillion-dollar industries throughout the world.

 

Fishes have been in existence for more than 450 million years, during which time they have evolved repeatedly to fit into almost every conceivable type of aquatic habitat. In a sense, land vertebrates are simply highly modified fishes: when fishes colonized the land habitat, they became tetrapod (four-legged) land vertebrates. The popular conception of a fish as a slippery, streamlined aquatic animal that possesses fins and breathes by gills applies to many fishes, but far more fishes deviate from that conception than conform to it. For example, the body is elongate in many forms and greatly shortened in others; the body is flattened in some (principally in bottom-dwelling fishes) and laterally compressed in many others; the fins may be elaborately extended, forming intricate shapes, or they may be reduced or even lost; and the positions of the mouth, eyes, nostrils, and gill openings vary widely. Air breathers have appeared in several evolutionary lines.

 

Many fishes are cryptically coloured and shaped, closely matching their respective environments; others are among the most brilliantly coloured of all organisms, with a wide range of hues, often of striking intensity, on a single individual. The brilliance of pigments may be enhanced by the surface structure of the fish, so that it almost seems to glow. A number of unrelated fishes have actual light-producing organs. Many fishes are able to alter their coloration—some for the purpose of camouflage, others for the enhancement of behavioral signals.

 

Fishes range in adult length from less than 10 mm (0.4 inch) to more than 20 metres (60 feet) and in weight from about 1.5 grams (less than 0.06 ounce) to many thousands of kilograms. Some live in shallow thermal springs at temperatures slightly above 42 °C (100 °F), others in cold Arctic seas a few degrees below 0 °C (32 °F) or in cold deep waters more than 4,000 metres (13,100 feet) beneath the ocean surface. The structural and, especially, the physiological adaptations for life at such extremes are relatively poorly known and provide the scientifically curious with great incentive for study.

 

Almost all natural bodies of water bear fish life, the exceptions being very hot thermal ponds and extremely salt-alkaline lakes, such as the Dead Sea in Asia and the Great Salt Lake in North America. The present distribution of fishes is a result of the geological history and development of Earth as well as the ability of fishes to undergo evolutionary change and to adapt to the available habitats. Fishes may be seen to be distributed according to habitat and according to geographical area. Major habitat differences are marine and freshwater. For the most part, the fishes in a marine habitat differ from those in a freshwater habitat, even in adjacent areas, but some, such as the salmon, migrate from one to the other. The freshwater habitats may be seen to be of many kinds. Fishes found in mountain torrents, Arctic lakes, tropical lakes, temperate streams, and tropical rivers will all differ from each other, both in obvious gross structure and in physiological attributes. Even in closely adjacent habitats where, for example, a tropical mountain torrent enters a lowland stream, the fish fauna will differ. The marine habitats can be divided into deep ocean floors (benthic), mid-water oceanic (bathypelagic), surface oceanic (pelagic), rocky coast, sandy coast, muddy shores, bays, estuaries, and others. Also, for example, rocky coastal shores in tropical and temperate regions will have different fish faunas, even when such habitats occur along the same coastline.

 

Although much is known about the present geographical distribution of fishes, far less is known about how that distribution came about. Many parts of the fish fauna of the fresh waters of North America and Eurasia are related and undoubtedly have a common origin. The faunas of Africa and South America are related, extremely old, and probably an expression of the drifting apart of the two continents. The fauna of southern Asia is related to that of Central Asia, and some of it appears to have entered Africa. The extremely large shore-fish faunas of the Indian and tropical Pacific oceans comprise a related complex, but the tropical shore fauna of the Atlantic, although containing Indo-Pacific components, is relatively limited and probably younger. The Arctic and Antarctic marine faunas are quite different from each other. The shore fauna of the North Pacific is quite distinct, and that of the North Atlantic more limited and probably younger. Pelagic oceanic fishes, especially those in deep waters, are similar the world over, showing little geographical isolation in terms of family groups. The deep oceanic habitat is very much the same throughout the world, but species differences do exist, showing geographical areas determined by oceanic currents and water masses.

 

All aspects of the life of a fish are closely correlated with adaptation to the total environment, physical, chemical, and biological. In studies, all the interdependent aspects of fish, such as behaviour, locomotion, reproduction, and physical and physiological characteristics, must be taken into account.

 

Correlated with their adaptation to an extremely wide variety of habitats is the extremely wide variety of life cycles that fishes display. The great majority hatch from relatively small eggs a few days to several weeks or more after the eggs are scattered in the water. Newly hatched young are still partially undeveloped and are called larvae until body structures such as fins, skeleton, and some organs are fully formed. Larval life is often very short, usually less than a few weeks, but it can be very long, some lampreys continuing as larvae for at least five years. Young and larval fishes, before reaching sexual maturity, must grow considerably, and their small size and other factors often dictate that they live in a habitat different than that of the adults. For example, most tropical marine shore fishes have pelagic larvae. Larval food also is different, and larval fishes often live in shallow waters, where they may be less exposed to predators.

 

After a fish reaches adult size, the length of its life is subject to many factors, such as innate rates of aging, predation pressure, and the nature of the local climate. The longevity of a species in the protected environment of an aquarium may have nothing to do with how long members of that species live in the wild. Many small fishes live only one to three years at the most. In some species, however, individuals may live as long as 10 or 20 or even 100 years.

 

Fish behaviour is a complicated and varied subject. As in almost all animals with a central nervous system, the nature of a response of an individual fish to stimuli from its environment depends upon the inherited characteristics of its nervous system, on what it has learned from past experience, and on the nature of the stimuli. Compared with the variety of human responses, however, that of a fish is stereotyped, not subject to much modification by “thought” or learning, and investigators must guard against anthropomorphic interpretations of fish behaviour.

 

Fishes perceive the world around them by the usual senses of sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste and by special lateral line water-current detectors. In the few fishes that generate electric fields, a process that might best be called electrolocation aids in perception. One or another of these senses often is emphasized at the expense of others, depending upon the fish’s other adaptations. In fishes with large eyes, the sense of smell may be reduced; others, with small eyes, hunt and feed primarily by smell (such as some eels).

 

Specialized behaviour is primarily concerned with the three most important activities in the fish’s life: feeding, reproduction, and escape from enemies. Schooling behaviour of sardines on the high seas, for instance, is largely a protective device to avoid enemies, but it is also associated with and modified by their breeding and feeding requirements. Predatory fishes are often solitary, lying in wait to dart suddenly after their prey, a kind of locomotion impossible for beaked parrot fishes, which feed on coral, swimming in small groups from one coral head to the next. In addition, some predatory fishes that inhabit pelagic environments, such as tunas, often school.

 

Sleep in fishes, all of which lack true eyelids, consists of a seemingly listless state in which the fish maintains its balance but moves slowly. If attacked or disturbed, most can dart away. A few kinds of fishes lie on the bottom to sleep. Most catfishes, some loaches, and some eels and electric fishes are strictly nocturnal, being active and hunting for food during the night and retiring during the day to holes, thick vegetation, or other protective parts of the environment.

 

Communication between members of a species or between members of two or more species often is extremely important, especially in breeding behaviour (see below Reproduction). The mode of communication may be visual, as between the small so-called cleaner fish and a large fish of a very different species. The larger fish often allows the cleaner to enter its mouth to remove gill parasites. The cleaner is recognized by its distinctive colour and actions and therefore is not eaten, even if the larger fish is normally a predator. Communication is often chemical, signals being sent by specific chemicals called pheromones.

 

Many fishes have a streamlined body and swim freely in open water. Fish locomotion is closely correlated with habitat and ecological niche (the general position of the animal to its environment).

 

Many fishes in both marine and fresh waters swim at the surface and have mouths adapted to feed best (and sometimes only) at the surface. Often such fishes are long and slender, able to dart at surface insects or at other surface fishes and in turn to dart away from predators; needlefishes, halfbeaks, and topminnows (such as killifish and mosquito fish) are good examples. Oceanic flying fishes escape their predators by gathering speed above the water surface, with the lower lobe of the tail providing thrust in the water. They then glide hundreds of yards on enlarged, winglike pectoral and pelvic fins. South American freshwater flying fishes escape their enemies by jumping and propelling their strongly keeled bodies out of the water.

 

So-called mid-water swimmers, the most common type of fish, are of many kinds and live in many habitats. The powerful fusiform tunas and the trouts, for example, are adapted for strong, fast swimming, the tunas to capture prey speedily in the open ocean and the trouts to cope with the swift currents of streams and rivers. The trout body form is well adapted to many habitats. Fishes that live in relatively quiet waters such as bays or lake shores or slow rivers usually are not strong, fast swimmers but are capable of short, quick bursts of speed to escape a predator. Many of these fishes have their sides flattened, examples being the sunfish and the freshwater angelfish of aquarists. Fish associated with the bottom or substrate usually are slow swimmers. Open-water plankton-feeding fishes almost always remain fusiform and are capable of rapid, strong movement (for example, sardines and herrings of the open ocean and also many small minnows of streams and lakes).

 

Bottom-living fishes are of many kinds and have undergone many types of modification of their body shape and swimming habits. Rays, which evolved from strong-swimming mid-water sharks, usually stay close to the bottom and move by undulating their large pectoral fins. Flounders live in a similar habitat and move over the bottom by undulating the entire body. Many bottom fishes dart from place to place, resting on the bottom between movements, a motion common in gobies. One goby relative, the mudskipper, has taken to living at the edge of pools along the shore of muddy mangrove swamps. It escapes its enemies by flipping rapidly over the mud, out of the water. Some catfishes, synbranchid eels, the so-called climbing perch, and a few other fishes venture out over damp ground to find more promising waters than those that they left. They move by wriggling their bodies, sometimes using strong pectoral fins; most have accessory air-breathing organs. Many bottom-dwelling fishes live in mud holes or rocky crevices. Marine eels and gobies commonly are found in such habitats and for the most part venture far beyond their cavelike homes. Some bottom dwellers, such as the clingfishes (Gobiesocidae), have developed powerful adhesive disks that enable them to remain in place on the substrate in areas such as rocky coasts, where the action of the waves is great.

 

The methods of reproduction in fishes are varied, but most fishes lay a large number of small eggs, fertilized and scattered outside of the body. The eggs of pelagic fishes usually remain suspended in the open water. Many shore and freshwater fishes lay eggs on the bottom or among plants. Some have adhesive eggs. The mortality of the young and especially of the eggs is very high, and often only a few individuals grow to maturity out of hundreds, thousands, and in some cases millions of eggs laid.

 

Males produce sperm, usually as a milky white substance called milt, in two (sometimes one) testes within the body cavity. In bony fishes a sperm duct leads from each testis to a urogenital opening behind the vent or anus. In sharks and rays and in cyclostomes the duct leads to a cloaca. Sometimes the pelvic fins are modified to help transmit the milt to the eggs at the female’s vent or on the substrate where the female has placed them. Sometimes accessory organs are used to fertilize females internally—for example, the claspers of many sharks and rays.

 

In the females the eggs are formed in two ovaries (sometimes only one) and pass through the ovaries to the urogenital opening and to the outside. In some fishes the eggs are fertilized internally but are shed before development takes place. Members of about a dozen families each of bony fishes (teleosts) and sharks bear live young. Many skates and rays also bear live young. In some bony fishes the eggs simply develop within the female, the young emerging when the eggs hatch (ovoviviparous). Others develop within the ovary and are nourished by ovarian tissues after hatching (viviparous). There are also other methods utilized by fishes to nourish young within the female. In all live-bearers the young are born at a relatively large size and are few in number. In one family of primarily marine fishes, the surfperches from the Pacific coast of North America, Japan, and Korea, the males of at least one species are born sexually mature, although they are not fully grown.

 

Some fishes are hermaphroditic—an individual producing both sperm and eggs, usually at different stages of its life. Self-fertilization, however, is probably rare.

 

Successful reproduction and, in many cases, defense of the eggs and the young are assured by rather stereotypical but often elaborate courtship and parental behaviour, either by the male or the female or both. Some fishes prepare nests by hollowing out depressions in the sand bottom (cichlids, for example), build nests with plant materials and sticky threads excreted by the kidneys (sticklebacks), or blow a cluster of mucus-covered bubbles at the water surface (gouramis). The eggs are laid in these structures. Some varieties of cichlids and catfishes incubate eggs in their mouths.

 

Some fishes, such as salmon, undergo long migrations from the ocean and up large rivers to spawn in the gravel beds where they themselves hatched (anadromous fishes). Some, such as the freshwater eels (family Anguillidae), live and grow to maturity in fresh water and migrate to the sea to spawn (catadromous fishes). Other fishes undertake shorter migrations from lakes into streams, within the ocean, or enter spawning habitats that they do not ordinarily occupy in other ways.

 

The basic structure and function of the fish body are similar to those of all other vertebrates. The usual four types of tissues are present: surface or epithelial, connective (bone, cartilage, and fibrous tissues, as well as their derivative, blood), nerve, and muscle tissues. In addition, the fish’s organs and organ systems parallel those of other vertebrates.

 

The typical fish body is streamlined and spindle-shaped, with an anterior head, a gill apparatus, and a heart, the latter lying in the midline just below the gill chamber. The body cavity, containing the vital organs, is situated behind the head in the lower anterior part of the body. The anus usually marks the posterior termination of the body cavity and most often occurs just in front of the base of the anal fin. The spinal cord and vertebral column continue from the posterior part of the head to the base of the tail fin, passing dorsal to the body cavity and through the caudal (tail) region behind the body cavity. Most of the body is of muscular tissue, a high proportion of which is necessitated by swimming. In the course of evolution this basic body plan has been modified repeatedly into the many varieties of fish shapes that exist today.

 

The skeleton forms an integral part of the fish’s locomotion system, as well as serving to protect vital parts. The internal skeleton consists of the skull bones (except for the roofing bones of the head, which are really part of the external skeleton), the vertebral column, and the fin supports (fin rays). The fin supports are derived from the external skeleton but will be treated here because of their close functional relationship to the internal skeleton. The internal skeleton of cyclostomes, sharks, and rays is of cartilage; that of many fossil groups and some primitive living fishes is mostly of cartilage but may include some bone. In place of the vertebral column, the earliest vertebrates had a fully developed notochord, a flexible stiff rod of viscous cells surrounded by a strong fibrous sheath. During the evolution of modern fishes the rod was replaced in part by cartilage and then by ossified cartilage. Sharks and rays retain a cartilaginous vertebral column; bony fishes have spool-shaped vertebrae that in the more primitive living forms only partially replace the notochord. The skull, including the gill arches and jaws of bony fishes, is fully, or at least partially, ossified. That of sharks and rays remains cartilaginous, at times partially replaced by calcium deposits but never by true bone.

 

The supportive elements of the fins (basal or radial bones or both) have changed greatly during fish evolution. Some of these changes are described in the section below (Evolution and paleontology). Most fishes possess a single dorsal fin on the midline of the back. Many have two and a few have three dorsal fins. The other fins are the single tail and anal fins and paired pelvic and pectoral fins. A small fin, the adipose fin, with hairlike fin rays, occurs in many of the relatively primitive teleosts (such as trout) on the back near the base of the caudal fin.

 

The skin of a fish must serve many functions. It aids in maintaining the osmotic balance, provides physical protection for the body, is the site of coloration, contains sensory receptors, and, in some fishes, functions in respiration. Mucous glands, which aid in maintaining the water balance and offer protection from bacteria, are extremely numerous in fish skin, especially in cyclostomes and teleosts. Since mucous glands are present in the modern lampreys, it is reasonable to assume that they were present in primitive fishes, such as the ancient Silurian and Devonian agnathans. Protection from abrasion and predation is another function of the fish skin, and dermal (skin) bone arose early in fish evolution in response to this need. It is thought that bone first evolved in skin and only later invaded the cartilaginous areas of the fish’s body, to provide additional support and protection. There is some argument as to which came first, cartilage or bone, and fossil evidence does not settle the question. In any event, dermal bone has played an important part in fish evolution and has different characteristics in different groups of fishes. Several groups are characterized at least in part by the kind of bony scales they possess.

 

Scales have played an important part in the evolution of fishes. Primitive fishes usually had thick bony plates or thick scales in several layers of bone, enamel, and related substances. Modern teleost fishes have scales of bone, which, while still protective, allow much more freedom of motion in the body. A few modern teleosts (some catfishes, sticklebacks, and others) have secondarily acquired bony plates in the skin. Modern and early sharks possessed placoid scales, a relatively primitive type of scale with a toothlike structure, consisting of an outside layer of enamel-like substance (vitrodentine), an inner layer of dentine, and a pulp cavity containing nerves and blood vessels. Primitive bony fishes had thick scales of either the ganoid or the cosmoid type. Cosmoid scales have a hard, enamel-like outer layer, an inner layer of cosmine (a form of dentine), and then a layer of vascular bone (isopedine). In ganoid scales the hard outer layer is different chemically and is called ganoin. Under this is a cosminelike layer and then a vascular bony layer. The thin, translucent bony scales of modern fishes, called cycloid and ctenoid (the latter distinguished by serrations at the edges), lack enameloid and dentine layers.

 

Skin has several other functions in fishes. It is well supplied with nerve endings and presumably receives tactile, thermal, and pain stimuli. Skin is also well supplied with blood vessels. Some fishes breathe in part through the skin, by the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between the surrounding water and numerous small blood vessels near the skin surface.

 

Skin serves as protection through the control of coloration. Fishes exhibit an almost limitless range of colours. The colours often blend closely with the surroundings, effectively hiding the animal. Many fishes use bright colours for territorial advertisement or as recognition marks for other members of their own species, or sometimes for members of other species. Many fishes can change their colour to a greater or lesser degree, by movement of pigment within the pigment cells (chromatophores). Black pigment cells (melanophores), of almost universal occurrence in fishes, are often juxtaposed with other pigment cells. When placed beneath iridocytes or leucophores (bearing the silvery or white pigment guanine), melanophores produce structural colours of blue and green. These colours are often extremely intense, because they are formed by refraction of light through the needlelike crystals of guanine. The blue and green refracted colours are often relatively pure, lacking the red and yellow rays, which have been absorbed by the black pigment (melanin) of the melanophores. Yellow, orange, and red colours are produced by erythrophores, cells containing the appropriate carotenoid pigments. Other colours are produced by combinations of melanophores, erythrophores, and iridocytes.

 

The major portion of the body of most fishes consists of muscles. Most of the mass is trunk musculature, the fin muscles usually being relatively small. The caudal fin is usually the most powerful fin, being moved by the trunk musculature. The body musculature is usually arranged in rows of chevron-shaped segments on each side. Contractions of these segments, each attached to adjacent vertebrae and vertebral processes, bends the body on the vertebral joint, producing successive undulations of the body, passing from the head to the tail, and producing driving strokes of the tail. It is the latter that provides the strong forward movement for most fishes.

 

The digestive system, in a functional sense, starts at the mouth, with the teeth used to capture prey or collect plant foods. Mouth shape and tooth structure vary greatly in fishes, depending on the kind of food normally eaten. Most fishes are predacious, feeding on small invertebrates or other fishes and have simple conical teeth on the jaws, on at least some of the bones of the roof of the mouth, and on special gill arch structures just in front of the esophagus. The latter are throat teeth. Most predacious fishes swallow their prey whole, and the teeth are used for grasping and holding prey, for orienting prey to be swallowed (head first) and for working the prey toward the esophagus. There are a variety of tooth types in fishes. Some fishes, such as sharks and piranhas, have cutting teeth for biting chunks out of their victims. A shark’s tooth, although superficially like that of a piranha, appears in many respects to be a modified scale, while that of the piranha is like that of other bony fishes, consisting of dentine and enamel. Parrot fishes have beaklike mouths with short incisor-like teeth for breaking off coral and have heavy pavementlike throat teeth for crushing the coral. Some catfishes have small brushlike teeth, arranged in rows on the jaws, for scraping plant and animal growth from rocks. Many fishes (such as the Cyprinidae or minnows) have no jaw teeth at all but have very strong throat teeth.

 

Some fishes gather planktonic food by straining it from their gill cavities with numerous elongate stiff rods (gill rakers) anchored by one end to the gill bars. The food collected on these rods is passed to the throat, where it is swallowed. Most fishes have only short gill rakers that help keep food particles from escaping out the mouth cavity into the gill chamber.

 

Once reaching the throat, food enters a short, often greatly distensible esophagus, a simple tube with a muscular wall leading into a stomach. The stomach varies greatly in fishes, depending upon the diet. In most predacious fishes it is a simple straight or curved tube or pouch with a muscular wall and a glandular lining. Food is largely digested there and leaves the stomach in liquid form.

 

Between the stomach and the intestine, ducts enter the digestive tube from the liver and pancreas. The liver is a large, clearly defined organ. The pancreas may be embedded in it, diffused through it, or broken into small parts spread along some of the intestine. The junction between the stomach and the intestine is marked by a muscular valve. Pyloric ceca (blind sacs) occur in some fishes at this junction and have a digestive or absorptive function or both.

 

The intestine itself is quite variable in length, depending upon the fish’s diet. It is short in predacious forms, sometimes no longer than the body cavity, but long in herbivorous forms, being coiled and several times longer than the entire length of the fish in some species of South American catfishes. The intestine is primarily an organ for absorbing nutrients into the bloodstream. The larger its internal surface, the greater its absorptive efficiency, and a spiral valve is one method of increasing its absorption surface.

 

Sharks, rays, chimaeras, lungfishes, surviving chondrosteans, holosteans, and even a few of the more primitive teleosts have a spiral valve or at least traces of it in the intestine. Most modern teleosts have increased the area of the intestinal walls by having numerous folds and villi (fingerlike projections) somewhat like those in humans. Undigested substances are passed to the exterior through the anus in most teleost fishes. In lungfishes, sharks, and rays, it is first passed through the cloaca, a common cavity receiving the intestinal opening and the ducts from the urogenital system.

 

Oxygen and carbon dioxide dissolve in water, and most fishes exchange dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide in water by means of the gills. The gills lie behind and to the side of the mouth cavity and consist of fleshy filaments supported by the gill arches and filled with blood vessels, which give gills a bright red colour. Water taken in continuously through the mouth passes backward between the gill bars and over the gill filaments, where the exchange of gases takes place. The gills are protected by a gill cover in teleosts and many other fishes but by flaps of skin in sharks, rays, and some of the older fossil fish groups. The blood capillaries in the gill filaments are close to the gill surface to take up oxygen from the water and to give up excess carbon dioxide to the water.

 

Most modern fishes have a hydrostatic (ballast) organ, called the swim bladder, that lies in the body cavity just below the kidney and above the stomach and intestine. It originated as a diverticulum of the digestive canal. In advanced teleosts, especially the acanthopterygians, the bladder has lost its connection with the digestive tract, a condition called physoclistic. The connection has been retained (physostomous) by many relatively primitive teleosts. In several unrelated lines of fishes, the bladder has become specialized as a lung or, at least, as a highly vascularized accessory breathing organ. Some fishes with such accessory organs are obligate air breathers and will drown if denied access to the surface, even in well-oxygenated water. Fishes with a hydrostatic form of swim bladder can control their depth by regulating the amount of gas in the bladder. The gas, mostly oxygen, is secreted into the bladder by special glands, rendering the fish more buoyant; the gas is absorbed into the bloodstream by another special organ, reducing the overall buoyancy and allowing the fish to sink. Some deep-sea fishes may have oils, rather than gas, in the bladder. Other deep-sea and some bottom-living forms have much-reduced swim bladders or have lost the organ entirely.

 

The swim bladder of fishes follows the same developmental pattern as the lungs of land vertebrates. There is no doubt that the two structures have the same historical origin in primitive fishes. More or less intermediate forms still survive among the more primitive types of fishes, such as the lungfishes Lepidosiren and Protopterus.

 

The circulatory, or blood vascular, system consists of the heart, the arteries, the capillaries, and the veins. It is in the capillaries that the interchange of oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, and other substances such as hormones and waste products takes place. The capillaries lead to the veins, which return the venous blood with its waste products to the heart, kidneys, and gills. There are two kinds of capillary beds: those in the gills and those in the rest of the body. The heart, a folded continuous muscular tube with three or four saclike enlargements, undergoes rhythmic contractions and receives venous blood in a sinus venosus. It passes the blood to an auricle and then into a thick muscular pump, the ventricle. From the ventricle the blood goes to a bulbous structure at the base of a ventral aorta just below the gills. The blood passes to the afferent (receiving) arteries of the gill arches and then to the gill capillaries. There waste gases are given off to the environment, and oxygen is absorbed. The oxygenated blood enters efferent (exuant) arteries of the gill arches and then flows into the dorsal aorta. From there blood is distributed to the tissues and organs of the body. One-way valves prevent backflow. The circulation of fishes thus differs from that of the reptiles, birds, and mammals in that oxygenated blood is not returned to the heart prior to distribution to the other parts of the body.

 

The primary excretory organ in fishes, as in other vertebrates, is the kidney. In fishes some excretion also takes place in the digestive tract, skin, and especially the gills (where ammonia is given off). Compared with land vertebrates, fishes have a special problem in maintaining their internal environment at a constant concentration of water and dissolved substances, such as salts. Proper balance of the internal environment (homeostasis) of a fish is in a great part maintained by the excretory system, especially the kidney.

 

The kidney, gills, and skin play an important role in maintaining a fish’s internal environment and checking the effects of osmosis. Marine fishes live in an environment in which the water around them has a greater concentration of salts than they can have inside their body and still maintain life. Freshwater fishes, on the other hand, live in water with a much lower concentration of salts than they require inside their bodies. Osmosis tends to promote the loss of water from the body of a marine fish and absorption of water by that of a freshwater fish. Mucus in the skin tends to slow the process but is not a sufficient barrier to prevent the movement of fluids through the permeable skin. When solutions on two sides of a permeable membrane have different concentrations of dissolved substances, water will pass through the membrane into the more concentrated solution, while the dissolved chemicals move into the area of lower concentration (diffusion).

 

The kidney of freshwater fishes is often larger in relation to body weight than that of marine fishes. In both groups the kidney excretes wastes from the body, but the kidney of freshwater fishes also excretes large amounts of water, counteracting the water absorbed through the skin. Freshwater fishes tend to lose salt to the environment and must replace it. They get some salt from their food, but the gills and skin inside the mouth actively absorb salt from water passed through the mouth. This absorption is performed by special cells capable of moving salts against the diffusion gradient. Freshwater fishes drink very little water and take in little water with their food.

 

Marine fishes must conserve water, and therefore their kidneys excrete little water. To maintain their water balance, marine fishes drink large quantities of seawater, retaining most of the water and excreting the salt. Most nitrogenous waste in marine fishes appears to be secreted by the gills as ammonia. Marine fishes can excrete salt by clusters of special cells (chloride cells) in the gills.

 

There are several teleosts—for example, the salmon—that travel between fresh water and seawater and must adjust to the reversal of osmotic gradients. They adjust their physiological processes by spending time (often surprisingly little time) in the intermediate brackish environment.

 

Marine hagfishes, sharks, and rays have osmotic concentrations in their blood about equal to that of seawater and so do not have to drink water nor perform much physiological work to maintain their osmotic balance. In sharks and rays the osmotic concentration is kept high by retention of urea in the blood. Freshwater sharks have a lowered concentration of urea in the blood.

 

Endocrine glands secrete their products into the bloodstream and body tissues and, along with the central nervous system, control and regulate many kinds of body functions. Cyclostomes have a well-developed endocrine system, and presumably it was well developed in the early Agnatha, ancestral to modern fishes. Although the endocrine system in fishes is similar to that of higher vertebrates, there are numerous differences in detail. The pituitary, the thyroid, the suprarenals, the adrenals, the pancreatic islets, the sex glands (ovaries and testes), the inner wall of the intestine, and the bodies of the ultimobranchial gland make up the endocrine system in fishes. There are some others whose function is not well understood. These organs regulate sexual activity and reproduction, growth, osmotic pressure, general metabolic activities such as the storage of fat and the utilization of foodstuffs, blood pressure, and certain aspects of skin colour. Many of these activities are also controlled in part by the central nervous system, which works with the endocrine system in maintaining the life of a fish. Some parts of the endocrine system are developmentally, and undoubtedly evolutionarily, derived from the nervous system.

 

As in all vertebrates, the nervous system of fishes is the primary mechanism coordinating body activities, as well as integrating these activities in the appropriate manner with stimuli from the environment. The central nervous system, consisting of the brain and spinal cord, is the primary integrating mechanism. The peripheral nervous system, consisting of nerves that connect the brain and spinal cord to various body organs, carries sensory information from special receptor organs such as the eyes, internal ears, nares (sense of smell), taste glands, and others to the integrating centres of the brain and spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system also carries information via different nerve cells from the integrating centres of the brain and spinal cord. This coded information is carried to the various organs and body systems, such as the skeletal muscular system, for appropriate action in response to the original external or internal stimulus. Another branch of the nervous system, the autonomic nervous system, helps to coordinate the activities of many glands and organs and is itself closely connected to the integrating centres of the brain.

 

The brain of the fish is divided into several anatomical and functional parts, all closely interconnected but each serving as the primary centre of integrating particular kinds of responses and activities. Several of these centres or parts are primarily associated with one type of sensory perception, such as sight, hearing, or smell (olfaction).

 

The sense of smell is important in almost all fishes. Certain eels with tiny eyes depend mostly on smell for location of food. The olfactory, or nasal, organ of fishes is located on the dorsal surface of the snout. The lining of the nasal organ has special sensory cells that perceive chemicals dissolved in the water, such as substances from food material, and send sensory information to the brain by way of the first cranial nerve. Odour also serves as an alarm system. Many fishes, especially various species of freshwater minnows, react with alarm to a chemical released from the skin of an injured member of their own species.

 

Many fishes have a well-developed sense of taste, and tiny pitlike taste buds or organs are located not only within their mouth cavities but also over their heads and parts of their body. Catfishes, which often have poor vision, have barbels (“whiskers”) that serve as supplementary taste organs, those around the mouth being actively used to search out food on the bottom. Some species of naturally blind cave fishes are especially well supplied with taste buds, which often cover most of their body surface.

 

Sight is extremely important in most fishes. The eye of a fish is basically like that of all other vertebrates, but the eyes of fishes are extremely varied in structure and adaptation. In general, fishes living in dark and dim water habitats have large eyes, unless they have specialized in some compensatory way so that another sense (such as smell) is dominant, in which case the eyes will often be reduced. Fishes living in brightly lighted shallow waters often will have relatively small but efficient eyes. Cyclostomes have somewhat less elaborate eyes than other fishes, with skin stretched over the eyeball perhaps making their vision somewhat less effective. Most fishes have a spherical lens and accommodate their vision to far or near subjects by moving the lens within the eyeball. A few sharks accommodate by changing the shape of the lens, as in land vertebrates. Those fishes that are heavily dependent upon the eyes have especially strong muscles for accommodation. Most fishes see well, despite the restrictions imposed by frequent turbidity of the water and by light refraction.

 

Fossil evidence suggests that colour vision evolved in fishes more than 300 million years ago, but not all living fishes have retained this ability. Experimental evidence indicates that many shallow-water fishes, if not all, have colour vision and see some colours especially well, but some bottom-dwelling shore fishes live in areas where the water is sufficiently deep to filter out most if not all colours, and these fishes apparently never see colours. When tested in shallow water, they apparently are unable to respond to colour differences.

 

Sound perception and balance are intimately associated senses in a fish. The organs of hearing are entirely internal, located within the skull, on each side of the brain and somewhat behind the eyes. Sound waves, especially those of low frequencies, travel readily through water and impinge directly upon the bones and fluids of the head and body, to be transmitted to the hearing organs. Fishes readily respond to sound; for example, a trout conditioned to escape by the approach of fishermen will take flight upon perceiving footsteps on a stream bank even if it cannot see a fisherman. Compared with humans, however, the range of sound frequencies heard by fishes is greatly restricted. Many fishes communicate with each other by producing sounds in their swim bladders, in their throats by rasping their teeth, and in other ways.

 

A fish or other vertebrate seldom has to rely on a single type of sensory information to determine the nature of the environment around it. A catfish uses taste and touch when examining a food object with its oral barbels. Like most other animals, fishes have many touch receptors over their body surface. Pain and temperature receptors also are present in fishes and presumably produce the same kind of information to a fish as to humans. Fishes react in a negative fashion to stimuli that would be painful to human beings, suggesting that they feel a sensation of pain.

 

An important sensory system in fishes that is absent in other vertebrates (except some amphibians) is the lateral line system. This consists of a series of heavily innervated small canals located in the skin and bone around the eyes, along the lower jaw, over the head, and down the mid-side of the body, where it is associated with the scales. Intermittently along these canals are located tiny sensory organs (pit organs) that apparently detect changes in pressure. The system allows a fish to sense changes in water currents and pressure, thereby helping the fish to orient itself to the various changes that occur in the physical environment.

  

Representing the latest inventions right from the busy workshops of Stonewald, the LW2000 model SE is here!

Featuring the agile yet durable design that has made Lenfald Wagons famous, the practical, lightweight design and the addition of the newly invented LW Spotted Accelerator Pig © makes this wagon a must-have for any fashionable Roawian with a speedy lifestyle!

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A little late-night tablescrap I built yesterday in honour of Ádám's hilarious LW 2000 ;)

 

A photograph that represents both the South Wales Valleys and the Maltese Islands.

 

In 1968 Aberdare Urban District Council bought six AEC Reliances with Willowbrook dual-door bodies, numbered 1-6 (TNY 491-6G). Three of these - 4-6 - were exported to Malta in the early 1980s with a large number of Bedford and Ford buses and coaches.

 

All three subsequently had their centre doors removed.

 

Former 5 was allocated number 300 in the Route Bus fleet, initially carrying green and white livery and plate Y-300-M, and in the yellow, white and orange livery era, was further re-registered DBY 300

 

Whilst the other pair operated more or less in the same condition as when they were imported (bar the loss of their centre doors), DBY 300 was subject to a number of modifications, including the loss of her AEC engine in favour of a Cummins unit. She was always immaculately presented and would often be found operating what were then Services 45 (Cirkewwa-Valletta) and 49 (Bugibba-Valletta).

 

This shot from February 2010 shows her approaching Cirkewwa, from where the ferry service operates to and from the neighbouring island of Gozo.

 

When the Government Transport Reforms were introduced in June 2011, I believe that she was retained by her owner. However, I don't know her subsequent fate.

Entrevaux

BRF HQ, Ballymurphy Street,

Belfast

____

The 9th august 1971, 11 civilians where killed by the british army during Operation Demetrius in Belfast.

40 years later the catholic community prepare to commemorate the anniversary of the Ballymurphy Massacre.

Each catholic district is striving to erect its giant bonfire, where the union jack colors will burn at midnight.

Belfast Bonfires 18/20

Part of www.flickr.com/photos/tranuf/sets/72157627800291813/

The Story of March @ Represent Festival Balingen 2018

 

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Phillip Mould:

 

The recent rediscovery of this important portrait represents a significant addition to the iconography of Henry VIII. Holbein’s emphatically dominating mural portrait of Henry VIII in the Royal Palace at Whitehall has come to define the image of Henry VIII as the strong, statuesque Tudor monarch. Its destruction by fire in the seventeenth century has meant that only two portraits of Henry VIII by Holbein himself survive: the much smaller and more intimate head and shoulders portrait in the Thyssen Collection; and one half of the cartoon for the mural, now in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

 

History’s most striking images of Henry have therefore depended on a small number of highly finished portraits produced by talented followers from within Holbein’s circle, and perhaps even his own workshop. It has long been thought that were only two high quality versions of the three-quarter length portrait derived from the Whitehall mural; one in the Royal Collection, and the other in the National Gallery of Art, Rome. The Hamilton portrait now represents a third version.

 

A lack of comparable technical evidence makes it difficult to ascertain if all three are by the same hand. All three versions are almost identical in pose and dimensions, suggesting that the same cartoon was used for each (the presence of pouncing marks under infra-red examination confirms that the Hamilton portrait was based on a cartoon). The three portraits also share Holbein’s trademark blue smalt background – but they differ in costume, confirming the apparent rule that no two commissioned portraits of a monarch should be identical. The dendrochronological suggestion of an earliest felling date of 1538 for the panels used in this portrait dates the portrait to well within Holbein’s lifetime. It seems, therefore, that although there is insufficient evidence on Holbein’s working practice to know if he certainly employed studio assistants, this portrait was undoubtedly completed by one who was well acquainted with his techniques and designs. Certainly, the fine detailing in this example rivals that of the Rome version (considered until recently to be by Holbein himself), while the drawing seen here, such as in the dagger’s hilt, is entirely redolent of the vigour and exquisite draughtmanship of Holbein’s own designs.

 

The provenance of this portrait is particularly important. This picture was sold by the present Duke of Hamilton & Brandon, marking the completion of a gradual dispersal of one of the greatest picture collections yet assembled in Britain. The dispersal began with a famous sale in 1882, with more sales following the demolition of Hamilton Palace in the 1930s. Until now, the present portrait has hung at Holyroodhouse, the Queen’s official residence in Scotland, of which the Dukes of Hamilton are hereditary Keepers.

 

The portrait is first recorded as being in the possession of James, 3rd Marquess of Hamilton KG, and later 1st Duke of Hamilton. He was a noted favourite of Charles I, the King signing his letters ‘Your faithful friend and loving cousin, Charles R’. Hamilton was not only an ardent Royalist, but, after Charles himself, perhaps the greatest art collectors of his generation – thought it should be remembered occasionally Hamilton and Charles’ mutual art collecting had positive political benefits for the Duke. Hamilton’s father was a noted collector, and his brother-in-law, Basil Feilding, was ambassador to Venice, and acted as art agent to him and the King. Between 1634-39 Hamilton purchased over 400 pieces, mostly through acquiring entire collections in Europe. He also bought works of art while campaigning in Germany, and gave, exchanged and sold paintings to Charles I (of which more below). As Master of the Horse and Gentleman to the King’s Bedchamber, Hamilton lived in Whitehall Palace, occupying a suite of about 20 rooms, as well as maintaining accommodation at Hampton Court, which he used to house part of his picture collection. He was building a large house in Chelsea, with a gallery to house his pictures, when the approaching Civil War intervened. Unable to resist acquiring works offered him; ‘[I am] to much bewitched with those intysing things’.’

 

As a great collecting family, the Hamiltons were astute in keeping inventories of their pictures. The earliest inventory is dated 1624, and lists the collection of the 1st Duke’s father, the 2nd Marquess. There is no mention here of a portrait of Henry VIII, nor in the subsequent inventories from between 1634-9, entitled ‘Note of pictures for my Lord Marquis from my Lord Fielding’. This would suggest that the picture was not in the collection of the 1st Duke’s father, and nor was it acquired from abroad.

 

An inventory [MSS5] dated pre- 1643 of the 1st Duke’s pictures, headed ‘A Catalogue of My Lord Marquis’s pictures’ lists over thirty cases (it is possible that this refers to pictures packed in cases for Hamilton’s journey from London to Scotland c. 1638, as tensions between King and Parliament grew.) Here the ‘Thirty One Case’ contains one ‘Kinge Harry 8th’. A later inventory dated 1643-49 [MSS6] contains a similar list of cases, but not a case 31. Instead there is ‘In the Closet’ a ‘King Henry, the 8 picture’ [location unstated]. An inventory dated 1704 [MSS12] ‘A List of His Grace’s the Duke of Hamiltons pictures in the Abby of Holyrood House, taken this 5 day of October 1704,as they are now hung an numbred, the numbers being on the forepart of some, and on the back of Others’, reveals, ‘In the Great Dining Roome’ of Holyroodhouse, a ‘square picture [no. 154] of King Hnery 8th a halfe length by Holbin.’ It seems almost certain therefore that the present portrait was acquired by the 1st Duke of Hamilton in the 1630s, and has hung in Holyrood since at least 1704.

 

The question then arises as to where the Duke of Hamilton acquired the portrait. First, it seems certain the picture did not come from Fielding’s purchases in Italy. Germany seems a possible, though unlikely, source with Hamilton writing to Charles I about acquiring paintings and sculptures in Munich . No detailed list survives of any purchases in Germany, however, and it seems most of these were acquired for Charles I. It therefore seems most likely that an English source is the most probable.

 

Though there is at present no documentary evidence that suggests a direct source, it is possible that the Hamilton portrait may have come from Charles I himself, not least because we know that Hamilton was at the nexus of art collecting in England with Charles from between 1620s to 1640s. There is plenty evidence of pictures being given or exchanged with the Hamilton in Van der Doort’s inventory of Charles I’s collection . Indeed, we know that Charles gave Hamilton’s father, the 2nd Marquess of Hamilton, a portrait by Holbein; Van der Doort tells us of a picture “Chaunged with the decd Lo. Marquess of Hambleton when yor Maatie was Prince” “Item a little intire Picture with a little white dogg lying by, said to be the Lord Daker – Comprtoller to King Henry the 8ts houshould” [p.78 in the Walpole edition, St James’ Cabinet Room no. 9] Van der Doort lists 13 pictures either given, exchanged, or bought by Charles I with the 1st Duke of Hamilton. Furthermore, the presence of Rubens’ Daniel in the Lions’ Den in the 1643 Hamilton inventory confirms that exchanges either continued between Charles I and Hamilton post the 1639 date of Van der Doort’s inventory (for it appears in the 1639 inventory of the Royal Collection with no note by Van der Doort of an exchange or gift to Hamilton) or that Van der Doort’s keeping of records was not overly accurate as far as Charles’ dealings with the Hamilton’s were concerned. It seems unlikely that the exchanges of art continued between Charles and Hamilton after the latter’s move to Scotland in 1638.

 

Though there is no direct evidence, for example in Van der Doort’s inventory of Charles I’s collection, of a Henry VIII passing from Charles I’s collections in Whitehall - but there were many other palaces from where exchanges or gifts could have been made. It seems that there is evidence from, for example, the inventories of King Edward VI, that there were a number of paintings of Henry VIII for Charles to exchange or give away. There are at least eight contemporary examples of what we would now call ‘portraits’ of Henry VIII in the Royal Collection in the mid sixteenth century. Two are of the King when young, one is listed as a ‘physionamy’ (head and shoulders), two are listed as ‘whole stature’, and one, intriguingly, as ‘nott finished’. The two portraits of Henry VIII when young were still in the Royal Collection in 1639. However, both the ‘whole statures’, the ‘nott finished’, the ‘physionomye’, the diptych, and one other portrait of Henry VIII appear to have left the Royal Collection according to Van der Doort. This supposition would appear to be confirmed by at most four portraits of Henry VIII in the Commonwealth Sales of the Royal Collection after the execution of Charles I.

 

p139 Scally, Political Career of James, Duke of Hamilton PhD thesis, Cambridge 1992

30th April 1632, SRO GD406/1/158, Burnet's Memoirs, p.28.

Walpole Soceity, 27th Volume 1958-1960, Abraham Van Der Doort’s Catalogue of the Collections of Charles I, edited by Oliver Millar.

A renaissance moment for Alfa Romeo, the 8C represented a return to rear-wheel-drive with a premium sports car.

 

Styling was reminiscent of great Alfa sportscars of the past: circular tail lamps, long bonnet (hood), fastback coupe shape, and famous heart-shaped grille and flanking mustache-shaped inlets.

 

Power came from a derivative of the premium FIAT division - Ferrari/Maserati. A vee-eight of 4.7 litres, 450 PS (331 kW) and 354 lb.ft (480 Nm).

 

Production was limited to a strict 500 units. Styling themes were continued into various volume production Alfar Romeos, the MiTo, Giulietta and 4C.

 

This Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione coupe has been built miniland-scale Lego for Flickr LUGNuts 76th Build Challenge - 'Viva Italia' - celebrating all things Italian and automotive.

 

Bella Machina!

Model "US Truck T1 MkII" is build with LEGO® in scale 1:17,5 and motorized using LEGO® Power Functions. It is not build after a specific brand or type of truck. This build represents the more aerodynamic US truck models like for example the Freightliner Cascadia.

The truck features: solid axle suspension on all axles, PF powered driving with power transmitted independently to both rear axles, Ackerman geometry on steering axle, Servo powered steering, fully functional fifth wheel, modeled engine, detailed cabin interior and 3 light units.

Also can you build it yourself. To do so you can buy the building instructions and check the inventory/parts lists!.

 

The original build of this model is in Red, but maybe you prefer to build it in a different colors. So here are the different colors this model could be build in. Please feel free to change even more if you want to, but be aware of availability of the needed parts. I checked these color schemes and parts can be found as easy as with the original Red color scheme.

 

The LEGO® Power Functions® Servo is used to enable the steering. Aligned with the trucks chassis the Servo is sitting inside of the cabin right behind the modeled engine in between both seats. With a 90 degrees conversion the motion of the Servo is transferred to the steering axle.

 

This truck model is powered by a CAT® CT15 which is revealed with the hood opened and its yellow color makes is an eye catcher. This power source is an inline 6 cylinder engine with a displacement of 15.21L. With a horsepower range from 450 up to 550 HP and this engine has a torque range from 1550 to 1850 lb-ft. (1202 - 2508 Nm) at 1200 rpm peak torque.

The modeled engine is a small object that really improves the realism of this model. The engine is very nice to build and to give it those realistic looks a total number of about 120 parts is used. Engine is detailed with for example engine oil dipstick, fan, fan belt, pulleys, hoses, oil filters including by-pass oil filter, turbo, exhaust manifold and so on. Together with much more engine bay details which are added the looks are phenomenal. These include break fluid reservoir, windshield washer container, internal air cleaner system and steering shaft.

 

A lot of detail is added to the cabin's interior as well in the colors Tan and Dark Bluish Gray. By opening this model’s doors one can access the cabin. Openable doors give the model very realistic looks and makes the detailed interior visible. The interior's colors really standout because of the rather dark color scheme of the truck's body work.

Dark Bluish Gray is used for both the interior and the exterior in order to link both color palettes. For the driver's comfort the interior has gauges, switches, speakers, cup holders, comfortable seats. Other details are a glove compartment, more compartments in both doors, angled dash and gauge panel, a steering wheel and a gear shift.

 

The Burgtheater at Dr.-Karl -Lueger-Ring (from now on, Universitätsring) in Vienna is an Austrian Federal Theatre. It is one of the most important stages in Europe and after the Comédie-Française, the second oldest European one, as well as the greatest German speaking theater. The original 'old' Burgtheater at Saint Michael's square was utilized from 1748 until the opening of the new building at the ring in October, 1888. The new house in 1945 burnt down completely as a result of bomb attacks, until the re-opening on 14 October 1955 was the Ronacher serving as temporary quarters. The Burgtheater is considered as Austrian National Theatre.

Throughout its history, the theater was bearing different names, first Imperial-Royal Theater next to the Castle, then to 1918 Imperial-Royal Court-Burgtheater and since then Burgtheater (Castle Theater). Especially in Vienna it is often referred to as "The Castle (Die Burg)", the ensemble members are known as Castle actors (Burgschauspieler).

History

St. Michael's Square with the old K.K. Theatre beside the castle (right) and the Winter Riding School of the Hofburg (left)

The interior of the Old Burgtheater, painted by Gustav Klimt. The people are represented in such detail that the identification is possible.

The 'old' Burgtheater at St. Michael's Square

The original castle theater was set up in a ball house that was built in the lower pleasure gardens of the Imperial Palace of the Roman-German King and later Emperor Ferdinand I in 1540, after the old house 1525 fell victim to a fire. Until the beginning of the 18th Century was played there the Jeu de Paume, a precursor of tennis. On 14 March 1741 finally gave the Empress Maria Theresa, ruling after the death of her father, which had ordered a general suspension of the theater, the "Entrepreneur of the Royal Court Opera" and lessees of 1708 built theater at Kärntnertor (Carinthian gate), Joseph Karl Selliers, permission to change the ballroom into a theater. Simultaneously, a new ball house was built in the immediate vicinity, which todays Ballhausplatz is bearing its name.

In 1748, the newly designed "theater next to the castle" was opened. 1756 major renovations were made, inter alia, a new rear wall was built. The Auditorium of the Old Burgtheater was still a solid timber construction and took about 1200 guests. The imperial family could reach her ​​royal box directly from the imperial quarters, the Burgtheater structurally being connected with them. At the old venue at Saint Michael's place were, inter alia, several works of Christoph Willibald Gluck, Ludwig van Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as well as Franz Grillparzer premiered .

On 17 February 1776, Emperor Joseph II declared the theater to the German National Theatre (Teutsches Nationaltheater). It was he who ordered by decree that the stage plays should not deal with sad events for not bring the Imperial audience in a bad mood. Many theater plays for this reason had to be changed and provided with a Vienna Final (Happy End), such as Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet. From 1794 on, the theater was bearing the name K.K. Court Theatre next to the castle.

1798 the poet August von Kotzebue was appointed as head of the Burgtheater, but after discussions with the actors he left Vienna in 1799. Under German director Joseph Schreyvogel was introduced German instead of French and Italian as a new stage language.

On 12 October 1888 took place the last performance in the old house. The Burgtheater ensemble moved to the new venue at the Ring. The Old Burgtheater had to give way to the completion of Saint Michael's tract of Hofburg. The plans to this end had been drawn almost 200 years before the demolition of the old Burgtheater by Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach.

The "new" K.K. Court Theatre (as the inscription reads today) at the Ring opposite the Town Hall, opened on 14 October 1888 with Grillparzer's Esther and Schiller's Wallenstein's Camp, was designed in neo-Baroque style by Gottfried Semper (plan) and Karl Freiherr von Hasenauer (facade), who had already designed the Imperial Forum in Vienna together. Construction began on 16 December 1874 and followed through 14 years, in which the architects quarreled. Already in 1876 Semper withdrew due to health problems to Rome and had Hasenauer realized his ideas alone, who in the dispute of the architects stood up for a mainly splendid designed grand lodges theater.

However, created the famous Viennese painter Gustav Klimt and his brother Ernst Klimt and Franz Matsch 1886-1888 the ceiling paintings in the two stairwells of the new theater. The three took over this task after similar commissioned work in the city theaters of Fiume and Karlovy Vary and in the Bucharest National Theatre. In the grand staircase on the side facing the café Landtmann of the Burgtheater (Archduke stairs) reproduced ​​Gustav Klimt the artists of the ancient theater in Taormina on Sicily, in the stairwell on the "People's Garden"-side (Kaiserstiege, because it was reserved for the emperor) the London Globe Theatre and the final scene from William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". Above the entrance to the auditorium is Molière's The Imaginary Invalid to discover. In the background the painter immortalized himself in the company of his two colleagues. Emperor Franz Joseph I liked the ceiling paintings so much that he gave the members of the company of artists of Klimt the Golden Cross of Merit.

The new building resembles externally the Dresden Semper Opera, but even more, due to the for the two theaters absolutely atypical cross wing with the ceremonial stairs, Semper's Munich project from the years 1865/1866 for a Richard Wagner Festspielhaus above the Isar. Above the middle section there is a loggia, which is framed by two side wings, and is divided from a stage house with a gable roof and auditorium with a tent roof. Above the center house there decorates a statue of Apollo the facade, throning between the Muses of drama and tragedy. Above the main entrances are located friezes with Bacchus and Ariadne. At the exterior facade round about, portrait busts of the poets Calderon, Shakespeare, Moliere, Schiller, Goethe, Lessing, Halm, Grillparzer, and Hebbel can be seen. The masks which also can be seen here are indicating the ancient theater, furthermore adorn allegorical representations the side wings: love, hate, humility, lust, selfishness, and heroism. Although the theater since 1919 is bearing the name of Burgtheater, the old inscription KK Hofburgtheater over the main entrance still exists. Some pictures of the old gallery of portraits have been hung up in the new building and can be seen still today - but these images were originally smaller, they had to be "extended" to make them work better in high space. The points of these "supplements" are visible as fine lines on the canvas.

The Burgtheater was initially well received by Viennese people due to its magnificent appearance and technical innovations such as electric lighting, but soon criticism because of the poor acoustics was increasing. Finally, in 1897 the auditorium was rebuilt to reduce the acoustic problems. The new theater was an important meeting place of social life and soon it was situated among the "sanctuaries" of Viennese people. In November 1918, the supervision over the theater was transferred from the High Steward of the emperor to the new state of German Austria.

1922/1923 the Academy Theatre was opened as a chamber play stage of the Burgtheater. On 8th May 1925, the Burgtheater went into Austria's criminal history, as here Mentscha Karnitschewa perpetrated a revolver assassination on Todor Panitza.

The Burgtheater in time of National Socialism

The National Socialist ideas also left traces in the history of the Burgtheater. In 1939 appeared in Adolf Luser Verlag the strongly anti-Semitic characterized book of theater scientist Heinz Kindermann "The Burgtheater. Heritage and mission of a national theater", in which he, among other things, analyzed the "Jewish influence "on the Burgtheater. On 14 October 1938 was on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Burgtheater a Don Carlos production of Karl-Heinz Stroux shown that served Hitler's ideology. The role of the Marquis of Posa played the same Ewald Balser, who in a different Don Carlos production a year earlier (by Heinz Hilpert) at the Deutsches Theater in the same role with the sentence in direction of Joseph Goebbels box vociferated: "just give freedom of thought". The actor and director Lothar Müthel, who was director of the Burgtheater between 1939 and 1945, staged 1943 the Merchant of Venice, in which Werner Kraus the Jew Shylock clearly anti-Semitic represented. The same director staged after the war Lessing's parable Nathan the Wise. Adolf Hitler himself visited during the Nazi regime the Burgtheater only once (1938), and later he refused in pure fear of an assassination.

For actors and theater staff who were classified according to the Reich Citizenship Law of 1935 as "Jews ", were quickly imposed stage bans, within a few days, they were on leave, fired or arrested. The Burgtheater ensemble ​​between 1938 and 1945 did not put up significant resistance against the Nazi ideology, the repertoire was heavily censored, only a few joined the Resistance, as Judith Holzmeister (then also at the People's Theatre engaged) or the actor Fritz Lehmann. Although Jewish members of the ensemble indeed have been helped to emigrate, was still an actor, Fritz Strassny, taken to a concentration camp and murdered there.

The Burgtheater at the end of the war and after the Second World War

In summer 1944, the Burgtheater had to be closed because of the decreed general theater suspension. From 1 April 1945, as the Red Army approached Vienna, camped a military unit in the house, a portion was used as an arsenal. In a bomb attack the house at the Ring was damaged and burned down on 12th April 1945 completely. Auditorium and stage were useless, only the steel structure remained. The ceiling paintings and part of the lobby were almost undamaged.

The Soviet occupying power expected from Viennese City Councillor Viktor Matejka to launch Vienna's cultural life as soon as possible again. The council summoned on 23 April (a state government did not yet exist) a meeting of all Viennese cultural workers into the Town Hall. Result of the discussions was that in late April 1945 eight cinemas and four theaters took up the operation again, including the Burgtheater. The house took over the Ronacher Theater, which was understood by many castle actors as "exile" as a temporary home (and remained there to 1955). This venue chose the newly appointed director Raoul Aslan, who championed particularly active.

The first performance after the Second World War was on 30 April 1945 Sappho by Franz Grillparzer directed by Adolf Rott from 1943 with Maria Eis in the title role. Also other productions from the Nazi era were resumed. With Paul Hoerbiger, a few days ago as Nazi prisoner still in mortal danger, was shown the play of Nestroy Mädl (Girlie) from the suburbs. The Academy Theatre could be played (the first performance was on 19 April 1945 Hedda Gabler, a production of Rott from the year 1941) and also in the ball room (Redoutensaal) at the Imperial Palace took place performances. Aslan the Ronacher in the summer had rebuilt because the stage was too small for classical performances. On 25 September 1945, Schiller's Maid of Orleans could be played on the enlarged stage.

The first new productions are associated with the name of Lothar Müthel: Everyone and Nathan the Wise, in both Raoul Aslan played the main role. The staging of The Merchant of Venice by Müthel in Nazi times seemed to have been fallen into oblivion.

Great pleasure gave the public the return of the in 1938 from the ensemble expelled Else Wohlgemuth on stage. She performaed after seven years in exile in December 1945 in Clare Biharys The other mother in the Academy Theater. 1951 opened the Burgtheater its doors for the first time, but only the left wing, where the celebrations on the 175th anniversary of the theater took place.

1948, a competition for the reconstruction was tendered: Josef Gielen, who was then director, first tended to support the design of ex aequo-ranked Otto Niedermoser, according to which the house was to be rebuilt into a modern gallery theater. Finally, he agreed but then for the project by Michael Engelhardt, whose plan was conservative but also cost effective. The character of the lodges theater was largely taken into account and maintained, the central royal box but has been replaced by two balconies, and with a new slanted ceiling construction in the audience was the acoustics, the shortcoming of the house, improved significantly.

On 14 October 1955 was happening under Adolf Rott the reopening of the restored house at the Ring. For this occasion Mozart's A Little Night Music was played. On 15 and on 16 October it was followed by the first performance (for reasons of space as a double premiere) in the restored theater: King Ottokar's Fortune and End of Franz Grillparzer, staged by Adolf Rott. A few months after the signing of the Austrian State Treaty was the choice of this play, which the beginning of Habsburg rule in Austria makes a subject of discussion and Ottokar of Horneck's eulogy on Austria (... it's a good country / Well worth that a prince bow to it! / where have you yet seen the same?... ) contains highly symbolic. Rott and under his successors Ernst Haeusserman and Gerhard Klingenberg the classic Burgtheater style and the Burgtheater German for German theaters were finally pointing the way .

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Burgtheater participated (with other well-known theaters in Vienna) on the so-called Brecht boycott.

Gerhard Klingenberg internationalized the Burgtheater, he invited renowned stage directors such as Dieter Dorn, Peter Hall, Luca Ronconi, Giorgio Strehler, Roberto Guicciardini and Otomar Krejča. Klingenberg also enabled the castle debuts of Claus Peymann and Thomas Bernhard (1974 world premiere of The Hunting Party). Bernhard was as a successor of Klingenberg mentioned, but eventually was appointed Achim Benning, whereupon the writer with the text "The theatrical shack on the ring (how I should become the director of the Burgtheater)" answered.

Benning, the first ensemble representative of the Burgtheater which was appointed director, continued Klingenberg's way of Europeanization by other means, brought directors such as Adolf Dresen, Manfred Wekwerth or Thomas Langhoff to Vienna, looked with performances of plays of Vaclav Havel to the then politically separated East and took the the public taste more into consideration.

Directorate Claus Peymann 1986-1999

Under the by short-term Minister of Education Helmut Zilk brought to Vienna Claus Peymann, director from 1986 to 1999, there was further modernization of the programme and staging styles. Moreover Peymann was never at a loss for critical contributions in the public, a hitherto unusual attitude for Burgtheater directors. Therefore, he and his program within sections of the audience met with rejection. The greatest theater scandal in Vienna since 1945 occurred in 1988 concerning the premiere of Thomas Bernhard's Heldenplatz (Place of the Heroes) drama which was fiercly fought by conservative politicians and zealots. The play deals with the Vergangenheitsbewältigung (process of coming to terms with the past) and illuminates the present management in Austria - with attacks on the then ruling Social Democratic Party - critically. Together with Claus Peymann Bernhard after the premiere dared to face on the stage applause and boos.

Bernard, to his home country bound in love-hate relationship, prohibited the performance of his plays in Austria before his death in 1989 by will. Peymann, to Bernhard bound in a difficult friendship (see Bernhard's play Claus Peymann buys a pair of pants and goes eating with me) feared harm for the author's work, should his plays precisely in his homeland not being shown. First, it was through permission of the executor Peter Fabjan - Bernhard's half-brother - after all, possible the already in the schedule of the Burgtheater included productions to continue. Finally, shortly before the tenth anniversary of the death of Bernard it came to the revival of the Bernhard play Before retirement by the first performance director Peymann. The plays by Bernhard are since then continued on the programme of the Burgtheater and they are regularly newly produced.

In 1993, the rehearsal stage of the Castle theater was opened in the arsenal (architect Gustav Peichl). Since 1999, the Burgtheater has the operation form of a limited corporation.

Directorate Klaus Bachler 1999-2009

Peymann was followed in 1999 by Klaus Bachler as director. He is a trained actor, but was mostly as a cultural manager (director of the Vienna Festival) active. Bachler moved the theater as a cultural event in the foreground and he engaged for this purpose directors such as Luc Bondy, Andrea Breth, Peter Zadek and Martin Kušej.

Were among the unusual "events" of the directorate Bachler

* The Theatre of Orgies and Mysteries by Hermann Nitsch with the performance of 122 Action (2005 )

* The recording of the MTV Unplugged concert with Die Toten Hosen for the music channel MTV (2005, under the title available)

* John Irving's reading from his book at the Burgtheater Until I find you (2006)

* The 431 animatographische (animatographical) Expedition by Christoph Schlingensief and a big event of him under the title of Area 7 - Matthew Sadochrist - An expedition by Christoph Schlingensief (2006).

* Daniel Hoevels cut in Schiller's Mary Stuart accidentally his throat (December 2008). Outpatient care is enough.

Jubilee Year 2005

In October 2005, the Burgtheater celebrated the 50th Anniversary of its reopening with a gala evening and the performance of Grillparzer's King Ottokar's Fortune and End, directed by Martin Kušej that had been performed in August 2005 at the Salzburg Festival as a great success. Michael Maertens (in the role of Rudolf of Habsburg) received the Nestroy Theatre Award for Best Actor for his role in this play. Actor Tobias Moretti was awarded in 2006 for this role with the Gertrude Eysoldt Ring.

Furthermore, there were on 16th October 2005 the open day on which the 82-minute film "burg/private. 82 miniatures" of Sepp Dreissinger was shown for the first time. The film contains one-minute film "Stand portraits" of Castle actors and guest actors who, without saying a word, try to present themselves with a as natural as possible facial expression. Klaus Dermutz wrote a work on the history of the Burgtheater. As a motto of this season served a quotation from Lessing's Minna von Barnhelm: "It's so sad to be happy alone."

The Burgtheater on the Mozart Year 2006

Also the Mozart Year 2006 was at the Burgtheater was remembered. As Mozart's Singspiel Die Entführung aus dem Serail in 1782 in the courtyard of Castle Theatre was premiered came in cooperation with the Vienna State Opera on the occasion of the Vienna Festival in May 2006 a new production (directed by Karin Beier) of this opera on stage.

Directorate Matthias Hartmann since 2009

From September 2009 to 2014, Matthias Hartmann was Artistic Director of the Burgtheater. A native of Osnabrück, he directed the stage houses of Bochum and Zurich. With his directors like Alvis Hermanis, Roland Schimmelpfennig, David Bösch, Stefan Bachmann, Stefan Pucher, Michael Thalheimer, came actresses like Dorte Lyssweski, Katharina Lorenz, Sarah Viktoria Frick, Mavie Hoerbiger, Lucas Gregorowicz and Martin Wuttke came permanently to the Burg. Matthias Hartmann himself staged around three premieres per season, about once a year, he staged at the major opera houses. For more internationality and "cross-over", he won the Belgian artist Jan Lauwers and his Need Company as "Artists in Residence" for the Castle, the New York group Nature Theater of Oklahoma show their great episode drama Live and Times of an annual continuation. For the new look - the Burgtheater presents itself without a solid logo with word games around the BURG - the Burgtheater in 2011 was awarded the Cultural Brand of the Year .

Since 2014, Karin Bergmann is the commander in chief.

Coulee City represents the western end of the Palouse River & Coulee City RR's northern line to Cheney. Formerly operated by the Eastern Washington Gateway, today's operation is owned by a Canadian firm. The blue SD40s of the former operator are gone, replaced by exCSX C40-8Ws. Luckily the LHF leader would shortly be joined by a correct-facing leader down the road.

A feeling and nature and thought to live together to be interested in naturally.

The mosaic represents two masks leaning on a socle projecting out from two walls that meet at an angle, seen in perspective. Two flutes lean on one wall. Their shadows project onto the wall. The female mask depicts a woman with large eyes and wide-open mouth. A ribbon, knotted into a bow at the center of her brow, appears in her curly hair with long ringlets. The physiognomic features of the man are exaggerated and ridiculed. The mouth is enormous, the nose is large and squashed. The eyes bulge out, and the cheeks are wrinkled. On his head is a crown of ivy and berries, decoration associated with the cult of Dionysus, which was linked closely to the birth of the Greek theater.

 

en.museicapitolini.org/collezioni/percorsi_per_sale/palaz...

 

Adhaidvipa / Représentation de la cosmologie jaïna

Selon le jaînisme, cette peinture, qui est à la fois objet d’art, de culte et de pédagogie, représente le monde « médian », dans lequel les hommes vivent et peuvent atteindre la délivrance....Au centre, en jaune, le mont Meru est le cœur de l’île du Pommier rose. (lire la description complète à l'adresse suivante)

bnf.hal.science/BNF_MSS/hal-01763092v1

 

fin 19ème-début 20ème,

Gujarat, Inde

Peinture à la détrempe sur toile

Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris

 

Peinture présentée dans l'exposition, "Une autre histoire du monde", Musée des Civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée, Marseille

 

Le Mucem propose de parcourir l’Histoire du monde du XIIIe au XXIe siècle en abandonnant la perspective occidentale. À travers sculptures, peintures, textiles, cartes, objets archéologiques, manuscrits et arts décoratifs, cette exposition révèle l’infinie diversité des expériences africaines, asiatiques, américaines et océaniennes. Elle donne à voir d’autres mondialisations, dont l’Europe n’est pas le seul moteur...

Extrait du site de l'exposition

www.mucem.org/programme/exposition-et-temps-forts/une-aut...

D'Austerlitz à La Chapelle, l'errance des migrants à Paris. Juin-Novembre 2015.

 

Sur le camp dit La Chapelle - Pajol, compte-rendu oral de la réunion des partis politiques de ce jour où des représentants de la Chapelle étaient présents.

De fin juin à fin juillet, jusqu'à plus de trois cents personnes sont installées sur l'esplanade de la halle Pajol dans la plus grande précarité.

Paris, 22 juin 2015.

  

Si les opérations dites de « mise à l'abri » se succèdent depuis juin 2015 en région parisienne, force est de constater qu'aucun dispositif d'accueil digne de ce nom n'est mis en place pour faire face à l'afflux de nouveaux arrivants à Paris et plus généralement en France.

  

Suite au démantèlement du campement de La Chapelle par les autorités le 2 juin 2015, les migrants non pris en compte pour les hébergements, harcelés par la police, errent plusieurs jours dans le XVIIIe arrondissement jusqu'à l'esplanade de la halle Pajol, où, le lundi 8 juin, une très violente rafle est menée par les forces de l'ordre.

 

Réfugiés pendant quelques jours au Bois Dormoy, un jardin collectif, les migrants et leurs soutiens le quittent le 11 juin pour partir occuper pour un soir la caserne désaffectée de sapeurs-pompiers du Xe. Ils obtiennent alors 110 places d'hébergement d'urgence.

 

Le soir même, un campement réapparait au parc Éole, avec ceux une nouvelle fois non pris en charge. Soit une soixantaine de personnes et plus encore les jours suivants, jusqu'à l'évacuation du 19 juin, avec la proposition de 220 places supplémentaires de la mairie, venue sur le campement accompagnée de l'OFPRA et de l'association Emmaüs. Les CRS suivront après le départ des migrants... Des dizaines de personnes sont laissées à la rue. Les migrants absents du camp ce matin-là, par exemple occupés à des démarches auprès d'une association ou de la préfecture, n'ont pas été pris en compte. Certains ont pris peur en arrivant sur les lieux d'hébergement et reviennent dans le quartier. D'autres encore ont refusé la proposition, doutant des promesses qui leur ont été faites sans garantie.

 

Le 20 juin, faute d'alternative, le campement se reforme sur l'esplanade de la halle Pajol avec quelques dizaines de personnes. Il atteint à nouveau plus de 200 personnes lorsque la mairie, toujours accompagnée de l'OFPRA et d'Emmaüs, mais sans la police, revient et procède à l'évacuation le 9 juillet de près de 200 personnes vers des centres d'hébergement d'urgence ou à l'hôtel. Des migrants ne sont pas pris en charge et le camp se reconstitue le soir même. Plus de 300 personnes y vivent dans la plus grande précarité lorsque la mairie, l'OFPRA, Emmaüs et le cabinet du ministère de l'Intérieur procèdent le 29 juillet à une nouvelle évacuation qui sera, elle, définitive.

 

Le lendemain, les migrants restés sur la carreau et leur soutiens partent alors occuper pacifiquement les locaux de l'association Ni putes ni soumises. Après une nuit sur place, ils s'installent le 31 juillet dans l'ancien lycée Jean Quarré, désaffecté depuis plusieurs années. Deux mois plus tard, ce sont plus de 600 personnes qui ont trouvé refuge au lycée occupé, dit désormais « Maison des Réfugiés ».

  

Pendant ce temps-là, les campements dits d'Austerlitz attendent tout l'été, dans l'incertitude, leur évacuation régulièrement annoncée par la rumeur depuis le démantèlement de La Chapelle le 2 juin... Apparus à l'hiver 2012-13 sur les quais le long de la Seine, aux alentours et sous la Cité de la mode et du design, ces camps passent de près de 200 à plus de 400 personnes entre juin et septembre 2015.

Le démantèlement des camps du quai d'Austerlitz a finalement lieu le 17 septembre.

 

Ce même 17 septembre, de façon simultanée est évacué le camp apparu devant la mairie du XVIIIe le 4 septembre avec les personnes laissées sur le carreau après le démantèlement du camp du square Jessaint de La Chapelle. En quinze jours, le camp de la mairie du XVIIIe était passé de 30 à plus de 200 personnes.

 

Au cours de cette double opération, le lycée Jean Quarré, déjà surpeuplé, est bouclé par les forces de l'ordre pour empêcher ses occupants de rallier les points d'évacuation.

 

Avec la fermeture des camps d'Austerlitz et de la mairie du XVIIIe, le lycée offre désormais la seule alternative à la rue.

Le 25 septembre le tribunal administratif, saisi par la mairie de Paris, propriétaire de l'ancien lycée Jean Quarré, en ordonne l'expulsion. Le nombre d'occupants continue dangereusement d'augmenter de semaine en semaine jusqu'à l'évacuation et la fermeture du lieu le 23 octobre 2015. Près de 1300 personnes sont alors évacuées vers des hébergements d'urgence.

 

Une nouvelle fois des laissés pour compte restent à la rue après l'opération. Un rassemblement le jour même devant l'Hôtel de ville de Paris permet d'obtenir 80 hébergements supplémentaires. Dès le lendemain un campement extrêmement précaire se reforme place de la République, régulièrement dispersé de force par la police au petit matin. Une première évacuation avec 88 hébergements a lieu le 30 octobre, puis une seconde, avec environ 350 hébergements, le 13 novembre.

 

Quelques heures plus tard, la place de la République devient l'épicentre des attentats qui frappent Paris. L'état d'urgence est décrété, les rassemblements et manifestations interdits.

 

C'est la dispersion...

 

Jusqu'aux prochains campements qui ne manquent pas de réapparaître dans les semaines suivantes...

pictureaday #578

Project 365: 212/365

"The Gothic tower of the Holy Gate, also called Mikulovická, represents one of the most important parts of the historical fortifications of the city of Kadana. It was the main gate, separating the Old Town of Kadaňské from the New Town on the west side.

 

The Holy Gate was built at the end of the 13th century as part of the massive city fortifications, which surrounded the entire royal city in two to three belts. During visits to Kadana, many Czech monarchs passed through the gate, such as Wenceslas II. (1287, 1295, 1297), Charles IV. (1367, 1374), Wenceslas IV. (1374), Ferdinand I. (1534, 1562), Maximilian II. (1562) and Joseph II. (1779). From the Holy Gate, the merchant route continued towards Přísečnica in the Ore Mountains and to Saxony, or Poohřím to Cheb and Nuremberg.

 

Around the year 1500, at the instigation of Jan Hasištejnský of Lobkowicz, a leading Czech aristocrat and humanist, the suburban district of Nové Město Kadaňské began to emerge right in front of the Holy Gate. At that time, the gate was still called Mikulovická, because the road leading from it led to Mikulovice . The name was changed to the Holy Gate only in 1532, because from there it was possible to reach the pilgrimage church of the Fourteen Saints. Helpers under the Holy Mountain in Kadani. On June 14, 1639, at two o'clock in the morning, the city of Kadaň was attacked by about 300 Swedish horsemen, who conquered the suburbs and began to attack the Holy Gate, setting fire to the straw in front of it and shelling it. After several attacks, the Swedes gave up the siege due to the large number of dead and wounded. However, the city later succumbed to the Swedes, even on March 25, 1641, General Johan Banér personally passed through the Holy Gate.

 

In the passage there is a latticed baroque niche. It originally housed a late-Gothic statue of the Black Mother of God (today in the Chomutov museum), which was installed here at his own expense in 1738 by the Kadanz burgher of arms, Franz Max Köllisch from Köllischsheim.

 

The Holy Gate used to have a complexly structured forecourt, popularly called Šance. This consisted of the first gate, which used to be decorated with a relief with a now unknown biblical motif. This gate was also covered by a circular bastion with eight embrasures. Between the first gate and the Holy Gate in the tower there was a second gate. The bastion was demolished together with the circular bastion in 1842. The Holy Gate got its present form between 1877 and 1878, when it was also supplemented with a new clockwork. A statue of Emperor Joseph II was erected in 1882 in the forecourt of the gate. and this public space has been called Josefské náměstí ever since.

 

Kadaň (Czech pronunciation: [ˈkadaɲ]; German: Kaaden) is a town in Chomutov District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 18,000 inhabitants. It lies on the banks of the Ohře river. Kadaň is a tourist centre with highlights being the Franciscan Monastery and the historical square with late Gothic Town Hall Tower. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation.

 

The name is most likely derived from the personal name Kadan, meaning "Kadan's (court)".

 

Kadaň is located about 13 kilometres (8 mi) southwest of Chomutov and 31 km (19 mi) northeast of Karlovy Vary. It lies on the border between the Most Basin and Doupov Mountains. The northern tip of the municipal territory extends into the Ore Mountains. The highest point is the hill Dubový vrch at 691 m (2,267 ft) above sea level, located on the southern border of the territory. A notable feature is also the Úhošť hill, which is together with its surroundings protected as a national nature reserve.

 

Kadaň is situated on the banks of the Ohře river. On the Ohře, there is Kadaň Reservoir with an area of 67.2 ha (166 acres). It was completed in 1972. Its main purpose is to ensure a minimum flow under the reservoir, but it also serves for the energy use and for recreation and water sports.

 

In the Bronze Age, the plateau on the Úhošť hill was inhabited, on which there was a Celtic hillfort. According to some theories, the Wogastisburg Castle stood here, which was the scene of the Battle of Wogastisburg between Franks and Slavs in 631.

 

The first written mention of Kadaň is from 1183. it was probably founded as a market settlement during the colonization of the area at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries. In 1186, Duke Frederick donated the settlement to the Knights Hospitaller. Around 1260, Kadaň was promoted to a free royal town and the castle was built. An extensive fire in 1362 destroyed the town and the castle, but everything was restored and supplemented with better fortifications. However, King Charles IV granted it several municipal rights (a vineyard, and an annual market) that made it flourish again.

 

In 1421, during the Hussite Wars, the town was conquered by the Hussites, who controlled it until the end of the wars. From the mid-15th century, the town was pledged to various creditors of the royal chamber. The most notable of them was the Lobkowicz family, who held the town from 1469 to 1519. Jan Hasištejnský of Lobkowicz founded the Franciscan Monastery and the Church of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.

 

In 1534, "Kadaň religious peace" was negotiated here between Württemberg Protestants and Emperor Ferdinand I for the Catholic side. After the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, violent re-Catholicization began in Kadaň. During the Thirty Years' War, in 1631, 1635 and 1648, Kadaň suffered from fires and plundering by various armies. The Kadaň Castle remained a ruin until the second half of the 18th century, when it was rebuilt into barracks by Empress Maria Theresa.

 

The last great fire damaged the town in 1811. After the Revolution of 1848, the town became a district centre. The institute of the district town lasted in Kadaň for 110 years when it was affiliated with Chomutov District.

 

After Czechoslovakia was established in 1918 and Kadaň became its part, most of the Sudeten German disagreed with this decision. On 4 March 1919, they demonstrated for self determination and joining Austria. The Czechoslovak military forces were sent in and tried to control the crowd by shooting. The result of the so-called Kadaň massacre was at least 25 dead and dozens injured.

 

After the Munich Agreement in 1938, Kadaň was annexed by Nazi Germany and administered as part of Reichsgau Sudetenland. The local Czechs were forced to move to central Czechoslovakia and the Jewish community was sent to concentration camps in Germany. The synagogue was burned down during the Kristallnacht of 9 November 1939. According to Beneš decrees, after World War II, the German population was expelled and the area was re-settled by Czechs.

 

Bohemia (Latin Bohemia, German Böhmen, Polish Czechy) is a region in the west of the Czech Republic. Previously, as a kingdom, they were the center of the Czech Crown. The root of the word Czech probably corresponds to the meaning of man. The Latin equivalent of Bohemia, originally Boiohaemum (literally "land of Battles"), which over time also influenced the names in other languages, is derived from the Celtic tribe of the Boios, who lived in this area from the 4th to the 1st century BC Bohemia on it borders Germany in the west, Austria in the south, Moravia in the east and Poland in the north. Geographically, they are bounded from the north, west and south by a chain of mountains, the highest of which are the Krkonoše Mountains, in which the highest mountain of Bohemia, Sněžka, is also located. The most important rivers are the Elbe and the Vltava, with the fertile Polabean Plain extending around the Elbe. The capital and largest city of Bohemia is Prague, other important cities include, for example, Pilsen, Karlovy Vary, Kladno, Ústí nad Labem, Liberec, Hradec Králové, Pardubice and České Budějovice, Jihlava also lies partly on the historical territory of Bohemia." - info from Wikipedia.

 

Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.

 

Now on Instagram.

 

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When my family and I just arrived in the US I had this mindset that I am no longer a Filipino and I do not have to follow our culture anymore. I was so young and so stupid. Whenever my parents would talk about me not respecting our culture anymore I would think to myself "Why do I have to follow a stupid culture when I am no longer there?" Now that I am older, I do realize my mistakes and I am proud to be a Filipino. I finally understand what my parents were telling me. No matter where I am, I AM still a Filipino and always will be.

According to a 2011 survey, Central Park had more than 20,000 trees, representing a decrease from the 26,000 trees that were recorded in the park in 1993. The majority of them are native to New York City, but there are several clusters of non-native species. With few exceptions, the trees in Central Park were mostly planted or placed manually. Over four million trees, shrubs, and plants representing approximately 1,500 species were planted or imported to the park. In Central Park's earliest years, two plant nurseries were maintained within the park boundaries: a demolished nursery near the Arsenal, and the still-extant Conservatory Garden. Central Park Conservancy later took over regular maintenance of the park's flora, allocating gardeners to one of 49 "zones" for maintenance purposes.

 

Central Park contains ten "great tree" clusters that are specially recognized by NYC Parks. These include four individual American Elms and one American Elm grove; the 600 pine trees in the Arthur Ross Pinetum; a Black Tupelo in the Ramble; 35 Yoshino Cherries on the east side of the Onassis Reservoir; one of the park's oldest London Plane trees at 96th Street; and an Evodia at Heckscher Playground. The American Elms in Central Park are the largest remaining stands in the northeastern U.S., protected by their isolation from the Dutch elm disease that devastated the tree throughout its native range. There are several "tree walks" that run through Central Park.

Roman Holiday

This wooden statue by Zadkine represents the body of a man. He is stretched out with a slight rotating movement from the ankles up to the raised left arm which has been cut off. The head is bent and hangs down onto the right shoulder. Zadkine's statue follows the natural form of the tree trunk

 

Featuring 120 artworks, the Dwarsverbanden (Delinking and Relinking) exhibition spans all five floors of the museum's collection wing. The exhibition invites you to experience art differently. Sometimes in the literal sense, by touching, smelling or listening to it; other times metaphorically, by giving expression to different, lesser-known voices.

 

The Van Abbemuseum is a museum of modern and contemporary art in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Established in 1936, the museum is named after its founder, the cigar businessman Henri van Abbe, who loved modern art and wanted his collection to be enjoyed in Eindhoven.

The theme this week is any song with Money as the title...well for me it has to be Money by Paul Revere and the Raiders.

It was a cover song, but they covered it with such amazing energy and life, it was one of my favorite songs when I was younger. It was on an album called "Here they come" and the first side was actually recorded live, and was my first taste of the raw energy of live music. And I loved it! I remember my mother telling me that she liked most of my albums...except for that one! I'm posting a link, and if you've never heard them, I hope you will understand that they were a big part of the 60's generation, I've heard that they were such an inspiration to many groups who followed, Jimi Hendrix was supposedly inspired by the style of their guitar player, Drake Levin. (who sadly passed away last year)

Mark Lindsay was my favorite singer.

The band was actually from the area I grew up in, so there is a tie in with this image. They are an Idaho band, and several of them grew up in Nampa, my home town. (So I featured an Idaho quarter...colored it gold to represent gold records : )

 

For Friday's Lyrical Imagery

Money: Paul Revere and the Raiders

 

They say the best things in life are free

But you can give them to the birds and bees

I want money, Oh I want some money, child

now stomp shout run it all out now

hey hey hey...hey...alright!

 

They say your lovin give me such a thrill

but now your lovin don't pay my bill

Give me money, yeah that's what I want

hey hey hey...hey...alright!

 

Now money don't get everything, it's true

But what it don't get, I can't use

I want money, yeah thats what I want, alright

that's what I want, want want, yeah, alright!

 

As they would say on American Bandstand...

It's got a great beat, and you can dance to it !!! : )

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7CeJnCd5hM

 

This also represents my week...learning how to get a good shot of coins! One of my toughest subjects yet! : )

  

View On Black

Objet qui me représente (artiste peintre à l'acrylique)

The paintings represent the return of a warrior on horseback and a woman driving a cart.

 

Tomb 1799, necropolis at Sarno, loc. Galitta del Capitano.

Excavated 17 September 2002.

 

The chamber tomb was reopened in antiquity and contained two depositions; the first, found swept to one corner and including a miniature bronze belt, is dated to the late 4th or early 3rd c. BCE (early Hellenistic period).

 

Museo Archeologico della Valle del Sarno, Sarno, Campania, Italy

www.polomusealecampania.beniculturali.it/index.php/il-mus...

www.beniculturali.it/mibac/opencms/MiBAC/sito-MiBAC/Luogo...

 

#85 Represent a well-known advertising slogan (119 Pictures in 2019)

 

This past weekend, the girls performed excellent work in very challenging hunting conditions (see comments box below) to earn double ribbons at the Valley Forge Field Trial Association annual upland hunt tests! This was Phoebe's (right) first tests, and she and Trudi did brilliant work on land and in water. Good girls!

 

Maybe a lesser known advertising slogan from Lancaster, PA pretzel shop, Auntie Anne's, is more appropriate -- "I smelled it so I had to get it!" :-)

 

Represent Festival Reutlingen 2016, Tag 1

2016 Michael Lamertz

This map represents distance to playgrounds in the Cascais Municipality, Portugal. It uses several QGIS2.0 new features. The "background" raster uses the new Blending feature with multiply over the streets layer. All labels use the great buffer transparency feature. (In 1.8, both this "effects" would have to be done in Inkscape) The distance isometric lines uses curved labels along lines. The legend is a single legend with columns (I 1.8 we would need to create two legends). Also, using composer new snapping to other elements feature was quite handy, and made map composing much faster.

Sculpture showing boat designs, four large steel chains and silhouettes of faces to represent the town's fishing fleet and blast furnace. It is the first of two of Randall's sculptures celebrating the history of fishing and steelmaking in Redcar, the first is Lifelines, standing 1 km to the east. The name Sinterlation, comes from sinter, a granulated material applied to the top of a blast furnace

 

Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located 7 miles (11 km) east of Middlesbrough.

 

The Teesside built-up area's Redcar subdivision had a population of 37,073 at the 2011 Census. The town is made up of Coatham, Dormanstown, Kirkleatham, Newcomen, West Dyke, Wheatlands and Zetland.

 

It gained a town charter in 1922, from then until 1968 it was governed by the municipal borough of Redcar. Since the abolition of County Borough of Teesside, which existed from 1968 until 1974, the town has been unparished.

 

Redcar occupies a low-lying site by the sea; the second element of its name is from Old Norse kjarr, meaning 'marsh', and the first may be either Old English (Anglo-Saxon) rēad meaning 'red' or OE hrēod 'reed'. The town originated as a fishing hamlet in the 14th century, trading with the larger adjacent hamlet of Coatham. Until the mid-19th century it was within the parish of Marske-by-the-Sea – mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.

 

Numerous ships have foundered off the Redcar coastline and many of their wrecks still exist. The Zetland is the world's oldest surviving lifeboat. It was built by Henry Greathead of South Shields and is housed in a volunteer-led sea-front museum. The lifeboat was first stationed at Redcar in 1802.

 

As seaside holidays became fashionable in the early 19th century, Redcar's facilities expanded. By 1841, Redcar had 794 inhabitants. In 1846, work was completed on the Middlesbrough and Redcar Railway and the presently named Redcar Central station, created to attract tourism and trade.

 

Redcar's population expansion corresponded with Middlesbrough's, with the discovery in 1850 of iron ore in the Eston area of Cleveland Hills. Redcar prospered as a seaside town drawing tourists attracted by eight miles of sands stretching from South Gare to Saltburn-by-the-Sea.

 

Plans for a pier were drawn up in 1866, but lay dormant until prompted by the announcement of plans to build a pier at Coatham in 1871. Coatham Pier was wrecked before it was completed when two sailing ships were driven through it in a storm. It had to be shortened because of the cost of repairs and was re-opened with an entrance with two kiosks and a roller-skating rink on the Redcar side, and a bandstand halfway along its length.

 

Redcar Racecourse was created in 1875. Redcar Pier, another pier as well as Coatham Pier, was built in the late 1870s. In October 1880 the brig Luna caused £1,000 worth of damage to this pier. In New Year's Eve 1885 SS Cochrane demolished the landing stage. and in 1897 the schooner Amarant went through the pier. A year later, its head and bandstand burned down.

 

In October 1898 the Coatham Pier was almost wrecked when the barque Birger struck it and the pier was thereafter allowed to disintegrate. An anchor from the Birger can be seen on the sea front pavement close to the Zetland Lifeboat Museum.

 

In 1907 a pavilion ballroom was built on Redcar Pier behind the entrance kiosks and in 1928 it was extended. A glass house for concerts was added to the remains of Coatham Pier's entrance. The presently named Redcar East railway station was built in 1929.

 

In 1929 Coatham Pier's glasshouse was replaced by the New Pavilion theatre. After the war, comedian and entertainer Larry Grayson coined his catchphrase "Shut that Door!" while performing there, since the stage door was open to the cold North Sea breeze.

 

Redcar Pier was deliberately breached (sectioned) in 1940 to prevent its use by enemy invasion forces. As a result of sectioning, damage by a mine explosion and deterioration it was never reconnected and instead allowed to become even more dilapidated.

 

In 1964 the New Pavilion Theatre was transformed into the Regent Cinema. The Redcar Pier pavilion continued in use after the war but storm damage led to it being declared unsafe and it was demolished in 1980–1981.

 

The town's main employers in the post-war era were the nearby Teesside Steelworks at Warrenby, founded by Dorman Long in 1917, and the ICI Wilton chemical works. The steel produced at Dorman Long was used to build the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Tyne Bridge, Auckland Harbour Bridge and many others. Both the Warrenby and Lackenby sites became part of Tata Steel when Corus was taken over in 2007, but continued to trade under the Corus name until at least February 2008. SSI bought the plant from Tata Steel in February 2011, for £320 million.

 

After a two-year hiatus following the mothballing of the plant in February 2010, steel was once again being made at Redcar. The Thai owners of the former Corus Plant at Lackenby, Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI), re-ignited the blast furnace, one of the largest in Europe, on 15 April 2012.

 

On 18 September 2015, production was paused due to the decline in steel prices. On 28 September 2015, the plant was "mothballed" amid poor steel trading conditions across the world and a drop in steel prices. On 2 October, the owner of the site, SSI UK, entered liquidation. On 12 October 2015 the administrator announced that there was no realistic prospect of finding a buyer and the ovens would be extinguished.

 

Wards periodically change, as of 2018 the town is made up of Coatham, Dormanstown, Kirkleatham, Newcomen, West Dyke, Wheatlands and Zetland. Redcar is made up of areas that do not lend their name to a ward: Warrenby, Lakes Estate, Redcar East, The Ings, Ings Farm, Mickledales and Westfield.

 

On 5 May 2011 Redcar elected its councillors to Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council. There was a by-election on 18 November 2011 for two vacant seats in the Zetland ward, held onto by the Liberal Democrats, and on 19 January 2012 there was a by-election for a vacant seat in Newcomen ward subsequently gained by Labour from the Liberal Democrats.

 

Redcar was formerly a township and chapelry in the parishes of Marske and Upleatham, in 1866 Redcar became a separate civil parish. A district in Redcar's name formed in 1885. Three years after the district was formed, the centuries-old Yorkshire authority was replaced by the North Riding of Yorkshire county council. The district became an urban district in 1894.

 

The settlement's town charter occurred in 1922, the district was able to be styled as a municipal borough and the settlement as a town. On 1 April 1974 the parish was abolished and merged with Teesside and Marske. On 1 April 1968 the municipal borough was abolished merged into the County Borough of Teesside, part also went to Saltburn and Marske by the Sea Urban District. This removed it from the administrative county however still ceremonially in the area. In 1961 the parish had a population of 31,460.

 

The 1974 reform created the non-metropolitan County of Cleveland, under the Langbaurgh non-metropolitan district. The county was also inserted into the North East England region. After further changes in 1996, the district became a unitary authority called Redcar & Cleveland in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, the county straddling two regions of England.

 

The North East England region was sub-divided into combined authorities, in May 2017 the Tees Valley area voted for their first mayor. The Conservative candidate, Ben Houchen, won the election and is now in his second term.

 

From 1987 to 2001, the local Member of Parliament (MP) was Mo Mowlam. From 2001 to 2010 the MP was Vera Baird. In the 2010 general election there was a swing to the Liberal Democrats with Ian Swales being elected. But, in the 2015 general election, Anna Turley, a Labour MP, won back Redcar. In the snap 2017 general election, Anna Turley held onto that seat. In the general election on 12 December 2019, Anna Turley lost her seat to Conservative candidate Jacob Young with a majority of 3,527 votes. Young becomes the third conservative MP to represent Redcar, the first being Royal Naval Commander Robert Tatton Bower 1931 to 1945 and Scarborough businessman Wilfred Proudfoot between 1959 and 1964 when Redcar was part of the Cleveland constituency.

 

The Palace Hub, on the beach front, was built by Redcar and Cleveland Council for the creative and cultural sector of the town. An art gallery and business start up centre are located in the building. The main library is in the Redcar Heart building in the centre of the town and there is a long-standing Redcar Literary Institute, which was founded in 1896.

 

Redcar is home to the Tuned In! Centre, which opened in 2011 and overlooks the sea front. The multi purpose venue hosts live music as well as creative workshops for young people. The annual event Clubland on the Beach, which showcases dance acts attracting visitors from across the country, has been held at Majuba Road in Redcar for the past three years.

 

The town has had several parks built for tourism: Coatham Enclosure, Locke Park, Zetland Park, Lily Park, an Amusement Park with a roller coaster, and a small sea front park known locally as Titty Bottle Park. The Amusement Park near the railway closed decades ago, and Titty Bottle Park was absorbed into the redeveloped sea front around Redcar Beacon.

 

At the west end of High Street is a Grade II listed clock tower, a memorial to King Edward VII who was a regular visitor to Redcar. The tower has now been refurbished.

 

Construction of the Redcar Beacon started in 2011. In 2013, when the building had been completed, it was nominated for the Building Design Carbuncle Cup for worst new building. It came third in the whole of the UK. In December 2015, the Beacon was damaged by winds from Storm Desmond, with several large pieces of panelling falling onto the beach below. It was also damaged in winter 2016, where a panel from the top fell off in a storm.

 

There are 23 listed buildings in Redcar. The Grade I Listed Sir William Turner's Hospital in Kirkleatham was built between 1674–1676 and listed on the 14 June 1952.

 

On the Esplanade is the Grade II-Listed Zetland Lifeboat Museum housing the world's oldest lifeboat Zetland Lifeboat.

 

The Victorian, former Coatham Hotel stands on Newcomen Terrace sea front.[36][37] The ballroom of the hotel was home to the Redcar Jazz Club, a venue for the up-and-coming bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

 

In the south-east of Redcar is an aircraft listening post built in 1916 during the First World War as part of a regional defence system to detect approaching aircraft, principally Zeppelins, and give early warning.It is an example of an acoustic mirror, of which other examples can be found along the east coast of Britain. The mirror was used up until the invention of radar and although it was built on open fields today a modern housing estate now surrounds it. Only the concrete sound mirror remains and is now a Grade II listed building.

 

To the east of Redcar is the grade II* listed Church of St Peter, designed by Ignatius Bonomi and built 1822–29. In 1818, Lord Dundas gave land for a church, St Peters. The foundation stone was laid by Lady Turner of Kirkleatham in 1823. Initially it was a daughter church of Marske, but became an independent parish in 1867. It has a window commemorating local benefactor Sir William Turner.

 

Redcar has two railway stations, on the Tees Valley line, with trains operated by Northern and TransPennine Express, namely Redcar Central and Redcar East. A third station Redcar British Steel, which closed in December 2019, served the steelworks.

 

The main roads through the town are the A1085 and the A1042, with the A174 bypassing. Redcar is served primarily by Arriva North East buses, connecting Redcar with the surrounding towns and villages.

 

The Pangea North and CANTAT-3 submarine telecommunication cables both come ashore between Redcar and Marske-by-the-Sea.

 

See also: List of schools in Redcar and Cleveland

The town's further education college is Redcar & Cleveland College.

 

The town's secondary schools are: Outwood Academy Redcar, Sacred Heart Catholic Secondary and Rye Hills Academy.

 

There are eleven primary schools in Redcar: Coatham, Dormanstown, Green Gates, Ings Farm, John E Batty, Lakes, Newcomen, Riverdale, St Benedict's, Wheatlands and Zetland.

 

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC North East and Cumbria and ITV Tyne Tees, the local television station TalkTeesside also broadcasts to the area. Television signals are received from the Bilsdale TV transmitter.

 

Local radio stations are BBC Radio Tees, Heart North East, Capital North East, Smooth North East, Greatest Hits Radio Teesside, and Zetland FM, a community based radio station which broadcast from its studios on Newcomen Terrace in the town.

 

The town is served by the local newspapers, East Cleveland Herald & Post which is published by the TeessideLive. The Northern Echo also covers the area.

 

In Coatham is Cleveland Golf Club, the first golf club to be formed in Yorkshire. It was established in 1887 and is a links course. Also in Coatham is Redcar Cricket Club, which play in the NYSD league, and Redcar Running Club.

 

In association football, Redcar Athletic currently compete in the Northern League Division One while Redcar Town play in Northern League Division Two. Redcar Rugby Union Football club play at Mackinlay Park.

 

Redcar Racecourse is one of nine thoroughbred horse racecourses in Yorkshire. There is also a motorcycle speedway racing team, the Redcar Bears racing in the SGB Championship. The race track is at the South Tees Motorsport Park in Southbank Street, South Bank and is unusual in that one bend is more highly banked than the other. The team was formerly captained by 1992 World Champion Gary Havelock and was formerly managed by his father Brian.

 

The town is set to host the 2022 Tour of Britain stage four, UCI Europe Tour cycling race. The town was previously set to host a stage of the Tour de Yorkshire, the event was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Notable people

Gertrude Bell, colonial administrator and contemporary of Lawrence of Arabia spent her youthful years at Red Barns House in Coatham,[ which became, for a time, the Red Barns Hotel and a listed building.

The surviving negatives of Redcar photographer Alfred Edward Graham (1882–1945) were acquired by Redcar Urban District Council's Library and Museum Committee and are now held by the Redcar and Cleveland Museum Service.

Rex Hunt, governor of the Falkland Islands during the 1982 invasion by Argentina, attended Coatham School.

The former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam, represented Redcar parliamentary constituency in the House of Commons.

Film and television actors Pip Donaghy June Laverick, and Wendy Hall, and actor/director/producer Robert Porter were all born in Redcar.

Actor and radio actor Felicity Finch, famous for her part in the Archers BBC Radio 4 drama series, playing Ruth Archer, was also born and grew up in Redcar.

Singer David Coverdale, lead singer with Deep Purple and Whitesnake lived in Redcar as a youth and worked in the Gentry clothes shop on Coatham Road.

Chris Norman, founder member and former lead singer of Smokie was born in Redcar.

Pete York, drummer with the Spencer Davis Group and session drummer was born in Redcar.

Paralympian, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, originally from Wales, lived in Redcar for a number of years with her husband and daughter.

2011 and 2016 UCI Downhill World Champion Danny Hart was born in and currently lives in Redcar, he is frequently nicknamed "The Redcar Rocket" by commentators.

David Wheater, Bolton Wanderers and England national football team central defender, grew up and still lives in Redcar.

Snooker player Mike Dunn was born in Middlesbrough but lives in Redcar.[citation needed]

Jordan Jones, Rangers FC and Northern Ireland national football team midfielder was born in Redcar

Hayden Hackney, Middlesbrough F.C. midfielder was born in Redcar

Dylan Cartlidge, singer and multi-instrumentalist grew up in Redcar

 

Film and television

A location from the film Atonement

In 2006, Redcar was used as a location for the film adaptation of the Ian McEwan novel Atonement. The Coatham Hotel, Regent Cinema, a section of Newcomen Terrace and part of the beach were dressed as 1940s Dunkirk. Filming took place across three days in August 2006, with local men playing the soldiers.

 

In 2010, Redcar was featured on the Channel 4 television programme The Secret Millionaire. David Jamilly a humanitarian, philanthropist and self-made millionaire, visited the Redcar community and gave £25,000 to Zoë's Place for a sensory room, £25,000 to Redcar Amateur Boxing Club to start an Olympic fund, and £25,000 to Sid's Place for special counselling.

 

There was a subsequent visit on 14 May to a screening at Redcar's cinema, attended by the mayor and mayoress along with all the charities and people involved. The feature of the documentary involved the closure of the nearby Corus steelworks as well as the charities. On 9 December 2011, Jamilly opened the new Redcar Education Development centre in Park Avenue, Redcar. The centre provides day care for adults with learning difficulties. He also opened the Redcar Primary Care Hospital on 9 December 2011 and the new Sid's Place on 15 December 2011.

 

The town was filmed for the 2018 BBC television documentary The Mighty Redcar. The four-part series followed young people from Redcar and surrounding towns as they completed their studies and looked for work.

 

North Yorkshire is a ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber and North East regions of England. It borders County Durham to the north, the North Sea to the east, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the south-east, South Yorkshire to the south, West Yorkshire to the south-west, and Cumbria and Lancashire to the west. Northallerton is the county town.

 

The county is the largest in England by land area, at 9,020 km2 (3,480 sq mi), and has a population of 1,158,816. The largest settlements are Middlesbrough (174,700) in the north-east and the city of York (152,841) in the south. Middlesbrough is part of the Teesside built-up area, which extends into County Durham and has a total population of 376,663. The remainder of the county is rural, and the largest towns are Harrogate (73,576) and Scarborough (61,749). For local government purposes the county comprises four unitary authority areas — York, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and North Yorkshire — and part of a fifth, Stockton-on-Tees.

 

The centre of the county contains a wide plain, called the Vale of Mowbray in the north and Vale of York in the south. The North York Moors lie to the east, and south of them the Vale of Pickering is separated from the main plain by the Howardian Hills. The west of the county contains the Yorkshire Dales, an extensive upland area which contains the source of the River Ouse/Ure and many of its tributaries, which together drain most of the county. The Dales also contain the county's highest point, Whernside, at 2,415 feet (736 m).

 

North Yorkshire non-metropolitan and ceremonial county was formed on 1 April 1974 as a result of the Local Government Act 1972. It covered most of the North Riding of Yorkshire, as well as northern parts of the West Riding of Yorkshire, northern and eastern East Riding of Yorkshire and the former county borough of York. Northallerton, as the former county town for the North Riding, became North Yorkshire's county town. In 1993 the county was placed wholly within the Yorkshire and the Humber region.

 

Some areas which were part of the former North Riding were in the county of Cleveland for twenty-two years (from 1974 to 1996) and were placed in the North East region from 1993. On 1 April 1996, these areas (Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton borough south of the River Tees) became part of the ceremonial county as separate unitary authorities. These areas remain within the North East England region.

 

Also on 1 April 1996, the City of York non-metropolitan district and parts of the non-metropolitan county (Haxby and nearby rural areas) became the City of York unitary authority.

 

On 1 April 2023, the non-metropolitan county became a unitary authority. This abolished eight councils and extended the powers of the county council to act as a district council.

 

The York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority held its first meeting on 22 January 2024, assumed its powers on 1 February 2024 and the first mayor is to be elected in May 2024.

 

The geology of North Yorkshire is closely reflected in its landscape. Within the county are the North York Moors and most of the Yorkshire Dales, two of eleven areas in England and Wales to be designated national parks. Between the North York Moors in the east and the Pennine Hills. The highest point is Whernside, on the Cumbrian border, at 2,415 feet (736 m). A distinctive hill to the far north east of the county is Roseberry Topping.

 

North Yorkshire contains several major rivers. The River Tees is the most northerly, forming part of the border between North Yorkshire and County Durham in its lower reaches and flowing east through Teesdale before reaching the North Sea near Redcar. The Yorkshire Dales are the source of many of the county's major rivers, including the Aire, Lune, Ribble, Swale, Ure, and Wharfe.[10] The Aire, Swale, and Wharfe are tributaries of the Ure/Ouse, which at 208 km (129 mi) long is the sixth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The river is called the Ure until it meets Ouse Gill beck just below the village of Great Ouseburn, where it becomes the Ouse and flows south before exiting the county near Goole and entering the Humber estuary. The North York Moors are the catchment for a number of rivers: the Leven which flows north into the Tees between Yarm and Ingleby Barwick; the Esk flows east directly into the North Sea at Whitby as well as the Rye (which later becomes the Derwent at Malton) flows south into the River Ouse at Goole.

 

North Yorkshire contains a small section of green belt in the south of the county, which surrounds the neighbouring metropolitan area of Leeds along the North and West Yorkshire borders. It extends to the east to cover small communities such as Huby, Kirkby Overblow, and Follifoot before covering the gap between the towns of Harrogate and Knaresborough, helping to keep those towns separate.

 

The belt adjoins the southernmost part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and the Nidderdale AONB. It extends into the western area of Selby district, reaching as far as Tadcaster and Balne. The belt was first drawn up from the 1950s.

 

The city of York has an independent surrounding belt area affording protections to several outlying settlements such as Haxby and Dunnington, and it too extends into the surrounding districts.

 

North Yorkshire has a temperate oceanic climate, like most of the UK. There are large climate variations within the county. The upper Pennines border on a Subarctic climate. The Vale of Mowbray has an almost Semi-arid climate. Overall, with the county being situated in the east, it receives below-average rainfall for the UK. Inside North Yorkshire, the upper Dales of the Pennines are one of the wettest parts of England, where in contrast the driest parts of the Vale of Mowbray are some of the driest areas in the UK.

 

Summer temperatures are above average, at 22 °C. Highs can regularly reach up to 28 °C, with over 30 °C reached in heat waves. Winter temperatures are below average, with average lows of 1 °C. Snow and Fog can be expected depending on location. The North York Moors and Pennines have snow lying for an average of between 45 and 75 days per year. Sunshine is most plentiful on the coast, receiving an average of 1,650 hours a year. It reduces further west in the county, with the Pennines receiving 1,250 hours a year.

 

The county borders multiple counties and districts:

County Durham's County Durham, Darlington, Stockton (north Tees) and Hartlepool;

East Riding of Yorkshire's East Riding of Yorkshire;

South Yorkshire's City of Doncaster;

West Yorkshire's City of Wakefield, City of Leeds and City of Bradford;

Lancashire's City of Lancaster, Ribble Valley and Pendle

Cumbria's Westmorland and Furness.

 

The City of York Council and North Yorkshire Council formed the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority in February 2024. The elections for the first directly-elected mayor will take place in May 2024. Both North Yorkshire Council and the combined authority are governed from County Hall, Northallerton.

 

The Tees Valley Combined Authority was formed in 2016 by five unitary authorities; Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland Borough both of North Yorkshire, Stockton-on-Tees Borough (Uniquely for England, split between North Yorkshire and County Durham), Hartlepool Borough and Darlington Borough of County Durham.

 

In large areas of North Yorkshire, agriculture is the primary source of employment. Approximately 85% of the county is considered to be "rural or super sparse".

 

Other sectors in 2019 included some manufacturing, the provision of accommodation and meals (primarily for tourists) which accounted for 19 per cent of all jobs. Food manufacturing employed 11 per cent of workers. A few people are involved in forestry and fishing in 2019. The average weekly earnings in 2018 were £531. Some 15% of workers declared themselves as self-employed. One report in late 2020 stated that "North Yorkshire has a relatively healthy and diverse economy which largely mirrors the national picture in terms of productivity and jobs.

 

Mineral extraction and power generation are also sectors of the economy, as is high technology.

 

Tourism is a significant contributor to the economy. A study of visitors between 2013 and 2015 indicated that the Borough of Scarborough, including Filey, Whitby and parts of the North York Moors National Park, received 1.4m trips per year on average. A 2016 report by the National Park, states the park area gets 7.93 million visitors annually, generating £647 million and supporting 10,900 full-time equivalent jobs.

 

The Yorkshire Dales have also attracted many visitors. In 2016, there were 3.8 million visits to the National Park including 0.48 million who stayed at least one night. The parks service estimates that this contributed £252 million to the economy and provided 3,583 full-time equivalent jobs. The wider Yorkshire Dales area received 9.7 million visitors who contributed £644 million to the economy. The North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales are among England's best known destinations.

 

York is a popular tourist destination. A 2014 report, based on 2012 data, stated that York alone receives 6.9 million visitors annually; they contribute £564 million to the economy and support over 19,000 jobs. In the 2017 Condé Nast Traveller survey of readers, York rated 12th among The 15 Best Cities in the UK for visitors. In a 2020 Condé Nast Traveller report, York rated as the sixth best among ten "urban destinations [in the UK] that scored the highest marks when it comes to ... nightlife, restaurants and friendliness".

 

During February 2020 to January 2021, the average property in North Yorkshire county sold for £240,000, up by £8100 over the previous 12 months. By comparison, the average for England and Wales was £314,000. In certain communities of North Yorkshire, however, house prices were higher than average for the county, as of early 2021: Harrogate (average value: £376,195), Knaresborough (£375,625), Tadcaster (£314,278), Leyburn (£309,165) and Ripon (£299,998), for example.

 

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added for North Yorkshire at current basic prices with figures in millions of British pounds sterling.

 

Unemployment in the county was traditionally low in recent years, but the lockdowns and travel restrictions necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative effect on the economy during much of 2020 and into 2021. The UK government said in early February 2021 that it was planning "unprecedented levels of support to help businesses [in the UK] survive the crisis". A report published on 1 March 2021 stated that the unemployment rate in North Yorkshire had "risen to the highest level in nearly 5 years – with under 25s often bearing the worst of job losses".

 

York experienced high unemployment during lockdown periods. One analysis (by the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership) predicted in August 2020 that "as many as 13,835 jobs in York will be lost in the scenario considered most likely, taking the city's unemployment rate to 14.5%". Some critics claimed that part of the problem was caused by "over-reliance on the booming tourism industry at the expense of a long-term economic plan". A report in mid June 2020 stated that unemployment had risen 114 per cent over the previous year because of restrictions imposed as a result of the pandemic.

 

Tourism in the county was expected to increase after the restrictions imposed due the pandemic are relaxed. One reason for the expected increase is the airing of All Creatures Great and Small, a TV series about the vet James Herriot, based on a successful series of books; it was largely filmed within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The show aired in the UK in September 2020 and in the US in early 2021. One source stated that visits to Yorkshire websites had increased significantly by late September 2020.

 

The East Coast Main Line (ECML) bisects the county stopping at Northallerton,Thirsk and York. Passenger service companies in the area are London North Eastern Railway, Northern Rail, TransPennine Express and Grand Central.

 

LNER and Grand Central operate services to the capital on the ECML, Leeds Branch Line and the Northallerton–Eaglescliffe Line. LNER stop at York, Northallerton and on to County Durham or spur over to the Tees Valley Line for Thornaby and Middlesbrough. The operator also branch before the county for Leeds and run to Harrogate and Skipton. Grand Central stop at York, Thirsk Northallerton and Eaglescliffe then over to the Durham Coast Line in County Durham.

 

Northern operates the remaining lines in the county, including commuter services on the Harrogate Line, Airedale Line and York & Selby Lines, of which the former two are covered by the Metro ticketing area. Remaining branch lines operated by Northern include the Yorkshire Coast Line from Scarborough to Hull, York–Scarborough line via Malton, the Hull to York Line via Selby, the Tees Valley Line from Darlington to Saltburn via Middlesbrough and the Esk Valley Line from Middlesbrough to Whitby. Last but certainly not least, the Settle-Carlisle Line runs through the west of the county, with services again operated by Northern.

 

The county suffered badly under the Beeching cuts of the 1960s. Places such as Richmond, Ripon, Tadcaster, Helmsley, Pickering and the Wensleydale communities lost their passenger services. Notable lines closed were the Scarborough and Whitby Railway, Malton and Driffield Railway and the secondary main line between Northallerton and Harrogate via Ripon.

 

Heritage railways within North Yorkshire include: the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, between Pickering and Grosmont, which opened in 1973; the Derwent Valley Light Railway near York; and the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway. The Wensleydale Railway, which started operating in 2003, runs services between Leeming Bar and Redmire along a former freight-only line. The medium-term aim is to operate into Northallerton station on the ECML, once an agreement can be reached with Network Rail. In the longer term, the aim is to reinstate the full line west via Hawes to Garsdale on the Settle-Carlisle line.

 

York railway station is the largest station in the county, with 11 platforms and is a major tourist attraction in its own right. The station is immediately adjacent to the National Railway Museum.

 

The main road through the county is the north–south A1(M), which has gradually been upgraded in sections to motorway status since the early 1990s. The only other motorways within the county are the short A66(M) near Darlington and a small stretch of the M62 motorway close to Eggborough. The other nationally maintained trunk routes are the A168/A19, A64, A66 and A174.

 

Long-distance coach services are operated by National Express and Megabus. Local bus service operators include Arriva Yorkshire, Stagecoach, Harrogate Bus Company, The Keighley Bus Company, Scarborough & District (East Yorkshire), Yorkshire Coastliner, First York and the local Dales & District.

 

There are no major airports in the county itself, but nearby airports include Teesside International (Darlington), Newcastle and Leeds Bradford.

 

The main campus of Teesside University is in Middlesbrough, while York contains the main campuses of the University of York and York St John University. There are also two secondary campuses in the county: CU Scarborough, a campus of Coventry University, and Queen's Campus, Durham University in Thornaby-on-Tees.

 

Colleges

Middlesbrough College's sixth-form

Askham Bryan College of agriculture, Askham Bryan and Middlesbrough

Craven College, Skipton

Middlesbrough College

The Northern School of Art, Middlesbrough

Prior Pursglove College

Redcar & Cleveland College

Scarborough Sixth Form College

Scarborough TEC

Selby College

Stockton Riverside College, Thornaby

York College

 

Places of interest

Ampleforth College

Beningbrough Hall –

Black Sheep Brewery

Bolton Castle –

Brimham Rocks –

Castle Howard and the Howardian Hills –

Catterick Garrison

Cleveland Hills

Drax Power Station

Duncombe Park – stately home

Eden Camp Museum –

Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway –

Eston Nab

Flamingo Land Theme Park and Zoo –

Helmsley Castle –

Ingleborough Cave – show cave

John Smith's Brewery

Jorvik Viking Centre –

Lightwater Valley –

Lund's Tower

Malham Cove

Middleham Castle –

Mother Shipton's Cave –

National Railway Museum –

North Yorkshire Moors Railway –

Ormesby Hall – Palladian Mansion

Richmond Castle –

Ripley Castle – Stately home and historic village

Riverside Stadium

Samuel Smith's Brewery

Shandy Hall – stately home

Skipton Castle –

Stanwick Iron Age Fortifications –

Studley Royal Park –

Stump Cross Caverns – show cave

Tees Transporter Bridge

Theakston Brewery

Thornborough Henges

Wainman's Pinnacle

Wharram Percy

York Castle Museum –

Yorkshire Air Museum –

The Yorkshire Arboretum

Stele. On it are represented in bas-relief a flabellum and a small box containing an ointment-holder and a mirror - Tuff (2nd century BC) from Cuma - Inscription in oscan alphabet, written to right to left: "the bones of the buried one go into the earth, the soul up into the sky". - The depicted objects indicate that the stele originally belonged to a female burial - Epigraphic Collection - Naples, Archaeological Museum

119 Pictures in 2019 ... #85. Represent a well known advertising slogan

 

Sony α7 II

Minolta 100-200m lens

Empereur Charles V.

Leone Leoni (c. 1509-1590)

Milan, 1555, bronze

Charles V ici se fit représenter dans cette armure qu'il avait porté dans la bataille à Mühlberg 1547, pour lui victorieuse. Les figures au socle se référent au victorieux et sage Imperator (aigle, Mars, Minerva). Rudolf II acquit le buste pour son Kunstkammer (chambre d'art) et il le choisit comme modèle pour son propre portrait.

 

Kaiser Karl V.

Leone Leoni (um 1509 - 1590)

Mailand, um 1555

Bronze

Karl V. ließ sich hier in jener Rüstung darstellen, die er in der für ihn siegreichen Schlacht bei Mühlberg 1547 getragen hatte. Die Figuren am Sockel nehmen Bezug auf den siegreichen und weisen Imperator (Adler, Mars, Minerva). Rudolf II. erwarb die Büste für seine Kunstkammer und wählte sie als Vorbild für sein eigenes Bildnis.

  

Chamber of Art Vienna

The Chamber of Art of Vienna is a collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History) in Vienna. It is the portrayal of the art and curiosities chambers of the late Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Baroque period and it mainly goes back to the earlier collections of the Habsburgs.

Look into the Vienna Chamber of Art

Marble sculpture of the Giulia Albani degli Abati Olivieri by Camillo Rusconi (Rome, 1719 ) in the Chamber of Art of Vienna

Equipment for perspective drawing of Jost Bürgi (Kassel, 1604) in the Chamber of Art of Vienna

Ivory statuette "Apollo and Daphne" by Jakob Auer (Vienna, 1688/90) in the Chamber of Art of Vienna

Collection History

The Chamber of Art of Vienna grew out of several individual collections, which have been collected by various clients. The following collections are the foundation for today's Chamber of Art:

The Chamber of Art and Curiosities of Ferdinand II of Tyrol (1529-1595). It was originally housed at Schloss Ambras near Innsbruck. From this stems the larger part of the surviving pieces from older collections of Emperors Frederick III, Maximilian I and Ferdinand I.

The Kunstkammer of Rudolf II (1552-1612), which was compiled in Prague. Many of the treasures of Rudolph went lost in the Thirty Years War in the sack of the Prague Castle, but this were enriched from the previously to Vienna transported collections with works of the goldsmithing and gem carving art of the time around 1600 as well as to bronzes.

In the 17th century the collections from the Kunstkammer of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm (1614-1662) have been added. He is considered as one of the fathers of today in the Cultural History Museum housed paintings gallery, but also acquired Renaissance bronzes mostly of Italian origin and small sculptures made ​​of stone and wood.

Into the Treasury Chamber in the Swiss Wing of the Vienna Hofburg in the 17th century also came at that time popular works of semi-precious stones, fine works of ivory, rhinoceros horn carvings and miniature-like wax models.

The collection at Ambras Castle in 1806 in front of Napoleon's troops was brought to Vienna in safety, where it initially in the Lower Belvedere Palace kept its independence. Only the under the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I from 1875 tackled major reform of the imperial collections finally united all the Treasure Chamber collections in the 1891 opened Kunsthistorisches Museum and left only the objects with insignia character and those that are reminiscent of members of the imperial family in the Treasury Chamber.

The newly formed collection found its place on the mezzanine floor of the building and was initially referred to as "collection of art industrial objects". In 1919, it was named "collection for sculpture and arts and crafts". Since this collection but only to a small extent contains large sculptures and objects for a specific purpose of arts and crafts, this name was considered to be inappropriate and in 1990 it was decided to return to the naming of "Kunstkammer".

After the collapse of the monarchy in 1918 the collections of the sideline Austria-Este was affiliated to the Viennese Kunstkammer, in 1921 the Tapisseriensammlung (collection of tapestries) consisting of 800 tapestries was added, which originally had served the design of the imperial palaces. This collection is in addition to the one in possession of the Spanish crown one of the most important of its kind. In 1938 Gustav von Benda with a bequest the collection donated more important works of the Florentine Early Renaissance. The Second World War the art collection survived with very low losses. Only parts of the Tapisseriensammlung, which had to be given as a loan to Berlin and to the the facilities of Goering's hunting lodge Carin Hall, since the end of war are considered to be lost.

Since 1963, all stores of the collection are reunited in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. 2002 the structural and technical conditions required the temporary closure of the Kunstkammer. This was followed by a major renovation and expansion of the premises as well as the restructuring and up-to-date presentation of the objects. To the artistically significant exhibits belong gold works like the famous Saliera by Benvenuto Cellini, sculptures such as the Madonna of Krumlov, bronze figures, ivory objects and stone vessels, but also watches, mechanical machines, scientific instruments, gadgets and much more.

After in December 2012 in a public premiere presentation the first room of the museum could be visited, the as one of the most important art collections of the world considered Vienna Chamber of Art on 1 March 2013 was reopened. In the future, on an area of ​​around 2,700 m² more than 2,200 objects can be seen, which are presented in 20 theme rooms.

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunstkammer_Wien

 

Austria Kunsthistorisches Museum

Federal Museum

Logo KHM

Regulatory authority (ies)/organs to the Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Culture

Founded 17 October 1891

Headquartered Castle Ring (Burgring), Vienna 1, Austria

Management Sabine Haag

www.khm.at website

Main building of the Kunsthistorisches Museum at Maria-Theresa-Square

The Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM abbreviated) is an art museum in Vienna. It is one of the largest and most important museums in the world. It was opened in 1891 and 2012 visited of 1.351.940 million people.

The museum

The Kunsthistorisches Museum is with its opposite sister building, the Natural History Museum (Naturhistorisches Museum), the most important historicist large buildings of the Ringstrasse time. Together they stand around the Maria Theresa square, on which also the Maria Theresa monument stands. This course spans the former glacis between today's ring road and 2-line, and is forming a historical landmark that also belongs to World Heritage Site Historic Centre of Vienna.

History

Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his Gallery

The Museum came from the collections of the Habsburgs, especially from the portrait and armor collections of Ferdinand of Tyrol, the collection of Emperor Rudolf II (most of which, however scattered) and the art collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm into existence. Already In 1833 asked Joseph Arneth, curator (and later director) of the Imperial Coins and Antiquities Cabinet, bringing together all the imperial collections in a single building .

Architectural History

The contract to build the museum in the city had been given in 1858 by Emperor Franz Joseph. Subsequently, many designs were submitted for the ring road zone. Plans by August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Null planned to build two museum buildings in the immediate aftermath of the Imperial Palace on the left and right of the Heroes' Square (Heldenplatz). The architect Ludwig Förster planned museum buildings between the Schwarzenberg Square and the City Park, Martin Ritter von Kink favored buildings at the corner Währingerstraße/ Scots ring (Schottenring), Peter Joseph, the area Bellariastraße, Moritz von Loehr the south side of the opera ring, and Ludwig Zettl the southeast side of the grain market (Getreidemarkt).

From 1867, a competition was announced for the museums, and thereby set their current position - at the request of the Emperor, the museum should not be too close to the Imperial Palace, but arise beyond the ring road. The architect Carl von Hasenauer participated in this competition and was able the at that time in Zürich operating Gottfried Semper to encourage to work together. The two museum buildings should be built here in the sense of the style of the Italian Renaissance. The plans got the benevolence of the imperial family. In April 1869, there was an audience with of Joseph Semper at the Emperor Franz Joseph and an oral contract was concluded, in July 1870 was issued the written order to Semper and Hasenauer.

Crucial for the success of Semper and Hasenauer against the projects of other architects were among others Semper's vision of a large building complex called "Imperial Forum", in which the museums would have been a part of. Not least by the death of Semper in 1879 came the Imperial Forum not as planned for execution, the two museums were built, however.

Construction of the two museums began without ceremony on 27 November 1871 instead. Semper moved to Vienna in the sequence. From the beginning, there were considerable personal differences between him and Hasenauer, who finally in 1877 took over sole construction management. 1874, the scaffolds were placed up to the attic and the first floor completed, built in 1878, the first windows installed in 1879, the Attica and the balustrade from 1880 to 1881 and built the dome and the Tabernacle. The dome is topped with a bronze statue of Pallas Athena by Johannes Benk.

The lighting and air conditioning concept with double glazing of the ceilings made ​​the renunciation of artificial light (especially at that time, as gas light) possible, but this resulted due to seasonal variations depending on daylight to different opening times .

Kuppelhalle

Entrance (by clicking the link at the end of the side you can see all the pictures here indicated!)

Grand staircase

Hall

Empire

The Kunsthistorisches Museum was on 17 October 1891 officially opened by Emperor Franz Joseph I. Since 22 October 1891 , the museum is accessible to the public. Two years earlier, on 3 November 1889, the collection of arms, Arms and Armour today, had their doors open. On 1 January 1890 the library service resumed its operations. The merger and listing of other collections of the Highest Imperial Family from the Upper and Lower Belvedere, the Hofburg Palace and Ambras in Tyrol will need another two years.

189, the farm museum was organized in seven collections with three directorates:

Directorate of coins, medals and antiquities collection

The Egyptian Collection

The Antique Collection

The coins and medals collection

Management of the collection of weapons, art and industrial objects

Weapons collection

Collection of industrial art objects

Directorate of Art Gallery and Restaurieranstalt (Restoration Office)

Collection of watercolors, drawings, sketches, etc.

Restoration Office

Library

Very soon the room the Court Museum (Hofmuseum) for the imperial collections was offering became too narrow. To provide temporary help, an exhibition of ancient artifacts from Ephesus in the Theseus Temple was designed. However, additional space had to be rented in the Lower Belvedere.

1914, after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne, his " Estonian Forensic Collection " passed to the administration of the Court Museum. This collection, which emerged from the art collection of the house of d' Este and world travel collection of Franz Ferdinand, was placed in the New Imperial Palace since 1908. For these stocks, the present collection of old musical instruments and the Museum of Ethnology emerged.

The First World War went by, apart from the oppressive economic situation without loss. The farm museum remained during the five years of war regularly open to the public.

Until 1919 the K.K. Art Historical Court Museum was under the authority of the Oberstkämmereramt (head chamberlain office) and belonged to the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. The officials and employees were part of the royal household.

First Republic

The transition from monarchy to republic, in the museum took place in complete tranquility. On 19 November 1918 the two imperial museums on Maria Theresa Square were placed under the state protection of the young Republic of German Austria. Threatening to the stocks of the museum were the claims raised in the following weeks and months of the "successor states" of the monarchy as well as Italy and Belgium on Austrian art collection. In fact, it came on 12th February 1919 to the violent removal of 62 paintings by armed Italian units. This "art theft" left a long time trauma among curators and art historians.

It was not until the Treaty of Saint-Germain of 10 September 1919, providing in Article 195 and 196 the settlement of rights in the cultural field by negotiations. The claims of Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Italy again could mostly being averted in this way. Only Hungary, which presented the greatest demands by far, was met by more than ten years of negotiation in 147 cases.

On 3 April 1919 was the expropriation of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine by law and the acquisition of its property, including the "Collections of the Imperial House" , by the Republic. Of 18 June 1920 the then provisional administration of the former imperial museums and collections of Este and the secular and clergy treasury passed to the State Office of Internal Affairs and Education, since 10 November 1920, the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Education. A few days later it was renamed the Art History Court Museum in the "Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna State", 1921 "Kunsthistorisches Museum" . Of 1st January 1921 the employees of the museum staff passed to the state of the Republic.

Through the acquisition of the former imperial collections owned by the state, the museum found itself in a complete new situation. In order to meet the changed circumstances in the museum area, designed Hans Tietze in 1919 the "Vienna Museum program". It provided a close cooperation between the individual museums to focus at different houses on main collections. So dominated exchange, sales and equalizing the acquisition policy in the interwar period. Thus resulting until today still valid collection trends. Also pointing the way was the relocation of the weapons collection from 1934 in its present premises in the New Castle, where since 1916 the collection of ancient musical instruments was placed.

With the change of the imperial collections in the ownership of the Republic the reorganization of the internal organization went hand in hand, too. Thus the museum was divided in 1919 into the

Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection (with the Oriental coins)

Collection of Classical Antiquities

Collection of ancient coins

Collection of modern coins and medals

Weapons collection

Collection of sculptures and crafts with the Collection of Ancient Musical Instruments

Picture Gallery

The Museum 1938-1945

Count Philipp Ludwig Wenzel Sinzendorf according to Rigaud. Clarisse 1948 by Baroness de Rothschildt "dedicated" to the memory of Baron Alphonse de Rothschildt; restituted to the Rothschilds in 1999, and in 1999 donated by Bettina Looram Rothschild, the last Austrian heiress.

With the "Anschluss" of Austria to the German Reich all Jewish art collections such as the Rothschilds were forcibly "Aryanised". Collections were either "paid" or simply distributed by the Gestapo at the museums. This resulted in a significant increase in stocks. But the KHM was not the only museum that benefited from the linearization. Systematically looted Jewish property was sold to museums, collections or in pawnshops throughout the empire.

After the war, the museum struggled to reimburse the "Aryanised" art to the owners or their heirs. They forced the Rothschild family to leave the most important part of their own collection to the museum and called this "dedications", or "donations". As a reason, was the export law stated, which does not allow owners to perform certain works of art out of the country. Similar methods were used with other former owners. Only on the basis of international diplomatic and media pressure, to a large extent from the United States, the Austrian government decided to make a change in the law (Art Restitution Act of 1998, the so-called Lex Rothschild). The art objects were the Rothschild family refunded only in the 1990s.

The Kunsthistorisches Museum operates on the basis of the federal law on the restitution of art objects from the 4th December 1998 (Federal Law Gazette I, 181 /1998) extensive provenance research. Even before this decree was carried out in-house provenance research at the initiative of the then archive director Herbert Haupt. This was submitted in 1998 by him in collaboration with Lydia Grobl a comprehensive presentation of the facts about the changes in the inventory levels of the Kunsthistorisches Museum during the Nazi era and in the years leading up to the State Treaty of 1955, an important basis for further research provenance.

The two historians Susanne Hehenberger and Monika Löscher are since 1st April 2009 as provenance researchers at the Kunsthistorisches Museum on behalf of the Commission for Provenance Research operating and they deal with the investigation period from 1933 to the recent past.

The museum today

Today the museum is as a federal museum, with 1st January 1999 released to the full legal capacity - it was thus the first of the state museums of Austria, implementing the far-reaching self-financing. It is by far the most visited museum in Austria with 1.3 million visitors (2007).

The Kunsthistorisches Museum is under the name Kunsthistorisches Museum and Museum of Ethnology and the Austrian Theatre Museum with company number 182081t since 11 June 1999 as a research institution under public law of the Federal virtue of the Federal Museums Act, Federal Law Gazette I/115/1998 and the Museum of Procedure of the Kunsthistorisches Museum and Museum of Ethnology and the Austrian Theatre Museum, 3 January 2001, BGBl II 2/ 2001, in force since 1 January 2001, registered.

In fiscal 2008, the turnover was 37.185 million EUR and total assets amounted to EUR 22.204 million. In 2008 an average of 410 workers were employed.

Management

1919-1923: Gustav Glück as the first chairman of the College of science officials

1924-1933: Hermann Julius Hermann 1924-1925 as the first chairman of the College of the scientific officers in 1925 as first director

1933: Arpad Weixlgärtner first director

1934-1938: Alfred Stix first director

1938-1945: Fritz Dworschak 1938 as acting head, from 1938 as a chief in 1941 as first director

1945-1949: August von Loehr 1945-1948 as executive director of the State Art Collections in 1949 as general director of the historical collections of the Federation

1945-1949: Alfred Stix 1945-1948 as executive director of the State Art Collections in 1949 as general director of art historical collections of the Federation

1949-1950: Hans Demel as administrative director

1950: Karl Wisoko-Meytsky as general director of art and historical collections of the Federation

1951-1952: Fritz Eichler as administrative director

1953-1954: Ernst H. Buschbeck as administrative director

1955-1966: Vincent Oberhammer 1955-1959 as administrative director, from 1959 as first director

1967: Edward Holzmair as managing director

1968-1972: Erwin Auer first director

1973-1981: Friderike Klauner first director

1982-1990: Hermann Fillitz first director

1990: George Kugler as interim first director

1990-2008: Wilfried Seipel as general director

Since 2009: Sabine Haag as general director

Collections

To the Kunsthistorisches Museum are also belonging the collections of the New Castle, the Austrian Theatre Museum in Palais Lobkowitz, the Museum of Ethnology and the Wagenburg (wagon fortress) in an outbuilding of Schönbrunn Palace. A branch office is also Ambras in Innsbruck.

Kunsthistorisches Museum (main building)

Picture Gallery

Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection

Collection of Classical Antiquities

Vienna Chamber of Art

Numismatic Collection

Library

New Castle

Ephesus Museum

Collection of Ancient Musical Instruments

Arms and Armour

Archive

Hofburg

The imperial crown in the Treasury

Imperial Treasury of Vienna

Insignia of the Austrian Hereditary Homage

Insignia of imperial Austria

Insignia of the Holy Roman Empire

Burgundian Inheritance and the Order of the Golden Fleece

Habsburg-Lorraine Household Treasure

Ecclesiastical Treasury

Schönbrunn Palace

Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna

Armory in Ambras Castle

Ambras Castle

Collections of Ambras Castle

Major exhibits

Among the most important exhibits of the Art Gallery rank inter alia:

Jan van Eyck: Cardinal Niccolò Albergati, 1438

Martin Schongauer: Holy Family, 1475-80

Albrecht Dürer : Trinity Altar, 1509-16

Portrait Johann Kleeberger, 1526

Parmigianino: Self Portrait in Convex Mirror, 1523/24

Giuseppe Arcimboldo: Summer 1563

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio: Madonna of the Rosary 1606/ 07

Caravaggio: Madonna of the Rosary (1606-1607)

Titian: Nymph and Shepherd to 1570-75

Portrait of Jacopo de Strada, 1567/68

Raffaello Santi: Madonna of the Meadow, 1505 /06

Lorenzo Lotto: Portrait of a young man against white curtain, 1508

Peter Paul Rubens: The altar of St. Ildefonso, 1630-32

The Little Fur, about 1638

Jan Vermeer: The Art of Painting, 1665/66

Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Fight between Carnival and Lent, 1559

Kids, 1560

Tower of Babel, 1563

Christ Carrying the Cross, 1564

Gloomy Day (Early Spring), 1565

Return of the Herd (Autumn), 1565

Hunters in the Snow (Winter) 1565

Bauer and bird thief, 1568

Peasant Wedding, 1568/69

Peasant Dance, 1568/69

Paul's conversion (Conversion of St Paul), 1567

Cabinet of Curiosities:

Saliera from Benvenuto Cellini 1539-1543

Egyptian-Oriental Collection:

Mastaba of Ka Ni Nisut

Collection of Classical Antiquities:

Gemma Augustea

Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós

Gallery: Major exhibits

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunsthistorisches_Museum

 

Author's Note: The contents of this chapter include very sensitive subject matter and may be triggering to some individuals. Scenes of abuse of various forms are represented as not only for storytelling, but to raise awareness of what this behavior looks like. Abusive behavior in this story includes, but is not limited to: physical abuse, mental abuse, verbal abuse, gaslighting, manipulation, intentional triggering of another's PTSD, and trauma. In no way are these scenes intended to purposely trigger or harm anyone.

 

~~~

 

The following morning after Aiden's moonlit flight with Vincent, he'd woken up late just as Vincent was emerging from his quarters. His captain was already fully dressed and ready to run errands. As Vincent explained it to the yawning Aiden, now that he was going to the masquerade, there was much to be done! A short while later, Vincent departed in a determined but cheerful mood to get everything set in motion. And when he returned that evening he had an official invitation to the ball for Aiden in hand! He sat Aiden down and explained in greater detail what preparations would need to be done. While Vincent had informed him that there would be fittings, dancing and etiquette lessons, and even promenades for social practice, the days following were unexpectedly much busier for Aiden than he'd anticipated.

The first order of business was a visit to the tailor! The shop they went to belonged to a highly skilled older man who knew Vincent by sight and greeted the captain enthusiastically. As it turned out, this was where Vincent and the other men in his family frequented as regular customers! After Aiden's nervous last attempt to get himself to visit a shop like this, he was grateful to have Vincent there to guide him through the process. As soon as Vincent explained that they were here for a suit for Aiden for the upcoming ball, the tailor got straight to work! Vincent helped Aiden sort through different fabrics and finally settle on a nice dark teal and gold lining which, as Vincent put it, brought out the color in his eyes. The comment had made Aiden blush slightly; something Vincent noticed which made him feel a little pleased with himself.

When the topic of how much everything was going to cost came up, Aiden felt panic rearing up inside him. He knew it would be expensive but to actually spend the money? Aside from the tiny piece of Fulgora's Eye that he'd gotten for Pete, this was the most expensive purchase he'd ever made for himself! However, with a few quiet, carefully chosen words of reassurance from Vincent, Aiden remembered that he was, in fact, wealthy. He could afford this suit hundreds of times over and then some! With Vincent's encouragement, Aiden went ahead and made the down payment purchase for his suit! Once measurements had been taken some time later and they were free to go, they went next door to the cordwainer. There Aiden got measured again; this time for boots to go specifically for his ballroom attire! This time, Aiden didn't hesitate to pay for his boots which Vincent felt proud of him for.

The lessons Vincent promised began just two days later. While Vincent didn't really care much for all the niceties and politeness of upper class society, he was still a part of it and therefore educated thus. During these lessons, Aiden began to learn the basics of gentlemanly ballroom etiquette. He'd be learning how to dance very soon but first Aiden would need to learn how to properly walk, stand, and even how to talk. While Vincent stressed the importance of these lessons, most of the time the two men were just laughing and enjoying each other's company. Vincent was having such a grand time with his friend that he was often smiling and full of spirit. Vincent suggested Aiden put to practice what he'd learned while they were out and about. Aiden remembered that this was just a part of the facade; the mask that must be put on for society. So, that's what he did. Following Vincent's example, he began to learn. He would gladly play the part. Aiden knew deep down that Vincent liked Aiden just as he was now... but a big part of him wanted to fit into Vincent's world more. He wanted to show Vincent that he was capable of being a part of ALL aspects of his life; not just on the ship.

When it came time for Aiden to learn to dance, Vincent knew that Charlotte would be the most logical choice to be Aiden's dance partner. When the young lady learned to dance a few years ago, it had been Vincent, himself, who was her dance partner as she learned the art. He knew she was a lovely dancer for her age; a talented one, at that. She'd also proven herself to be a patient teacher. Besides all that, Aiden and she got along well and clearly there was chemistry between them. Vincent knew that this would be a perfect opportunity for the two of them to get to know each other and spend time together. There was every reason for him to allow them to practice together! Yet, Vincent knew without a doubt that Charlotte would be all over Aiden...which was why when Aiden arrived for his first day of dance lessons it was not Charlotte there to greet him alongside Vincent....it was Abigail!

Abigail was happy to join Vincent in teaching Aiden how to dance! Of course, she knew the real reason he was asking her even if he didn't want to admit it, and the alternative would have been Bernadette. While Bernie excelled in many other things, Abigail knew just how skilled her sister was on the dance floor....and something told her Aiden would prefer to keep his toes intact.

And so, practice began! Aiden discovered that he liked dancing and the chemistry between the three of them was very pleasant and enjoyable. Abigail was fond of Aiden already and the more she learned and saw of him, the more she found him a pleasure to be around. He was a fun student who made the task of teaching him an enjoyable experience. When the cousins demonstrated to Aiden the various popular dances that he'd see at the ball, the young man was in awe. They appeared to move flawlessly to the music coming out of the phonograph. As it turned out, Abigail had a small passion for dance, and Vincent, while he didn't like to show off, was quite skilled as well. Despite the intricate dances he was shown, Aiden was told he'd be learning the easiest of the dances first: the waltz.

The days passed and things were starting to come together quickly! Aiden's confidence with the waltz was starting to build. Soon, he was guiding Abigail with less mistakes and even felt brave enough to add in a small flourish in his step! Not only was his dancing skills improving, his suit for the masquerade was coming along nicely.

On the topic of his suit one afternoon, Vincent pointed out that dancing in full formal attire was different than practicing in comfortable clothes. It would be heavier and warmer than what they were doing now. He mused that Aiden should be more dressed up while practicing to get used to it; much the way Vincent dressed when out as a member of high society. It got Aiden thinking that maybe it was time he finally got something a little nicer to wear after all.

Normally, these things took time to make so when Aiden went back to the tailor's the next day, he was not expecting to be able to walk out with a brand new outfit in hand. The tailor happened to have a complete set on display that he sold to Aiden at a discounted price. Apparently, it had been made for another customer some time ago who had changed their mind at the very last minute. Amazingly, the entire ensemble fit Aiden like a glove! There were only a couple quick adjustments needed for the pants but that was it!

Finally Aiden stepped up to the mirror. He almost didn't recognize himself! The young man staring back at him looked older and more mature. There was a growing confidence which showed in how he stood tall and smiled with approval.

The next time Aiden was due to meet Abigail and Vincent marked two weeks until the masquerade! While it also meant Damien was officially back in town as well, Aiden had other things on his mind. This was the day he would be arriving dressed like a gentleman; not some commoner who worked aboard a ship.

Aiden was feeling nervous! His hands kept fidgeting and tugging at his fitted blue waistcoat as he stepped off the lift. Just ahead of him was the open door that invitingly led into Vincent's office. What would Vincent think? Would he approve of him? Aiden peeked into the room and took a cursory glance around to see who was all here. His eyes appreciatively settled on the slender yet curvy shape standing by one of the bookshelves beside the tea station.

It was Vincent, of course! He hadn't realized he had company yet. He was standing in front of a small mirror up on one of the bookshelves and was actually humming softly to himself. Intent upon his task, he deftly pinned the last strands of hair into his updo. It was a more effeminate style than Aiden had ever seen on him. It wasn't just his hair but also the way he was dressed that gave him such an androgynous appearance. He was a little more dressed up and the way his corset and trousers flattered and hugged his figure? There was just something different about him today. Whatever it was, Aiden found it attractive.

Just as Vincent finished with his hair and gave a satisfied smile at his appearance there was a soft knock at the door. Ah, that had to be Aiden. He was right on time! As he turned to greet Aiden, he saw Aiden's smile which bemused him. And while he'd never admit it aloud, it made him feel shy. His mind tried to reason why Aiden would be smiling at him as if...as if he were the loveliest creature in the world.

No, his mind reasoned, that couldn't be right! And as if to prove him right, Aiden suddenly began to grin. That's right...he must be amused by his appearance! However, he was completely unaware that, in truth, Aiden was actually grinning at the sight of Vincent's deepening blush that had blossomed across his cheeks at the sight of his friend staring at him...

But now, Vincent was feeling awkward and second-guessing his decision to dress up. He nibbled his lower lip and glanced off to the side. As he reached up with one hand and toyed with his bangs, he said just loud enough for Aiden to hear, "I know, I know. I look silly."

"What? No, you don't!" Aiden chuckled as he stepped into the room. "I think the whole look is very flattering on you."

"You really think so? It's not too much?"

"I really think so. You look great!"

Vincent saw that sweet, reassuring smile and suddenly he felt much better as he found himself suddenly smiling as well. Once upon a time, he would have not believed it so quickly, if at all. But Aiden had a way about him that made him feel safe to be himself. And it seemed that was turning into confidence that was taking hold more firmly in Vincent's life. And though Vincent didn't realize it, he was finally starting to come into himself and blossom; something those closest to him 'had' started to notice.

As it turned out, Abigail had come down with a small cold and wouldn't be joining them today...but Vincent didn't want to cancel Aiden's lesson. After all, Vincent knew how to be led in a dance just as well as he could lead! So, when he offered himself as Aiden's dance partner, he was pleased with Aiden's enthusiastic response.

Once Vincent turned the phonograph on, he turned to face his friend and saw Aiden offering out his hand towards him with a grin. It was much like he'd done the night he'd asked Vincent to join him on their moonlit flight. Vincent grinned back and placed his hand in Aiden's before allowing himself to be guided to the middle of the room.

Aiden slid his hand around Vincent's waist and stepped close, his gaze shifting down to gaze into Vincent's as Vincent's hand came to sit upon his upper arm and gently took his hand. Then after what felt like several quiet, wonderful minutes of suspended time (but was really only a couple of breaths), Aiden began to lead on the next beat of melody that was playing for them.

Aiden had proven by now that he had a pretty good handle on the waltz. So after a couple of dances together, Vincent decided how to show him the first steps of another type of dance he'd demonstrated the first day: the quadrille!

A couple of hours had passed and Aiden was finally ready to give leading a real try! So after a quick break, the men got back to it! It was about halfway through the first dance when Aiden first accidentally treaded on Vincent's toes and bumped into him. At first, Aiden was apologetic, but Vincent laughed it off.

And as they continued to dance, he told Aiden about a few collisions on the dance floor that he'd witnessed. Vincent was no longer keeping an eye on Aiden's dance moves because he was too preoccupied talking and laughing all while still dancing! As natural as can be, Aiden still led Vincent around the small space while listening and tossing in his own laughter and commentary. They were no longer dancing the quadrille, exactly, but instead just dancing for fun while they interacted. In fact, they were so engrossed with each other, their dance, and the music that they were unaware that they were no longer alone.

As seconds turned to nearly a minute, Damien's composure was starting to crack. So this was why Vincent couldn't spend time with him earlier today! Of course, it was because of fucking Aiden! What the bloody Hell was going on? Finally deciding to just get their attention before he completely lost himself, Damien forced another smile upon his face and knocked loudly on the door.

"Damien! Is it three o'clock already?!" Vincent exclaimed before quickly glancing towards the clock. With a small chuckle he added, "Oh, you're early!" He gently detached himself from Aiden's embrace so he could go turn off the music. And as he moved, he glanced out the window and was made aware that it was suddenly getting dark outside as if it were going to pour any moment. And indeed, there was the gentle sound of thunder in the distance.

"Well, you said to just come in when I got here so here I am!"

"I meant at three, but it's fine. It looks like it's going to rain anyways."

It wasn't fine, Vincent felt, but he moved onto the next topic as he joined Aiden and Damien in the center of the room. Vincent realized how nicely Damien was dressed and he complimented him, "Well, don't you look extra sharp today? What's the occasion?"

Damien beamed as Vincent praised his outfit. He'd dressed up just for him for this very reason! He'd even let his hair grow out which he thought gave him a more roguish appearance. He felt handsome and confident; especially now that he knew Vincent approved (just as he already knew he would)!

"Well, thank you! I think I appear rather dashing."

Vincent gave a nod of approval then smiled and gestured over at Aiden. "Aiden's gotten a new outfit, too. Well, two. He's been practicing his dancing for the ball! Didn't you see? He's doing great! He's only just started learning a couple of weeks ago!"

At Vincent's proud grin and praise, Aiden felt himself blush deeply and smile bashfully. He glanced towards Vincent who stood beside him and nudged Aiden's arm with a chuckle. But across the way, Damien wasn't as pleased.

"Wait, wait, wait. The ball?" Damien wondered aloud condescendingly. "Since when is Aiden coming to the ball?"

"Since I invited him!" Vincent retorted more defensively than he'd intended. Damien blinked in surprise and even Aiden felt a little surprised...though also a bit pleased. Mysteriously, a shade of red appeared on Vincent's cheeks as he cleared his throat. He'd invited Aiden there so that he'd not dread the event so much. And...and he wanted him there. Aiden always made things better when he was there!

Unaware that he was still blushing, he quickly glanced up at Aiden then looked back at Damien before explaining a little timidly, "I just thought it would be fun, you know? I wanted to have my best friends with me." And suddenly there was a weight on Vincent's shoulders as Aiden daringly slid his arm over them and leaned towards him with a handsome smile.

"And it's going to be absolutely fantastic. I'm looking forward to it. And...thanks again for teaching me how to dance. These past couple weeks have been...wonderful. You're wonderful."

"Well, gosh! I've been enjoying your company, too. Practice is just a good excuse to see you! It...it HAS been wonderful."

And as Vincent and Aiden teased the boundaries of flirting, the realization of how good they looked side by side was more obvious than ever! Damien suddenly realized that they were even dressed to match in similar colors! It made them look even more like a couple! And with how had Vincent turned to look up at Aiden and seemed to lean into his touch? It took everything in Damien not to punch Aiden in his cocky, smiling face!

'...These past couple of weeks...' Aiden had said. What else had happened during this past month while he was gone?! Maybe he should have come home sooner, after all.

"So, tell us about your trip!" Vincent exclaimed as he was suddenly approaching Damien and tugged him further into the room towards the armchairs. "Would you like some tea? I was just thinking about making some! Aiden?" With both his friends acknowledging his offer, Vincent left Damien to sit and started up the kettle. Meanwhile, Aiden went to lean against the desk as he watched and listened silently.

Damien took his seat and groaned softly as he settled in. His eyes remained focused on Vincent (ignoring Aiden's existence as much as possible) and responded enthusiastically, "It was a lot of fun! I saw lots of family and some old friends..."

Damien began to elaborate on his visit, to which Aiden found a bit dull. However, Vincent seemed to know who Damien was talking about and was much more invested in this conversation. Even as Vincent finished serving their teas, Damien was still talking. It was as Damien's tea finally cooled enough for him to drink some that Aiden finally had a chance to speak.

"After this cup, I think I am going to let you two finish catching up and head out, myself," Aiden informed them. "When you decide when you want to take Leon's Claw up in the air, let me know."

"Mm, that's right. You and I need to decide on that!" Damien replied with a pleased grin to which Vincent smiled and nodded before sipping contently at his tea. Good, Damien thought to himself. Aiden was leaving! As soon as Aiden was gone, he'd get to the bottom of all this.

Aiden finished his tea fairly quickly, and it didn't take long before he reluctantly bid Vincent and Damien farewell. He'd be seeing Vincent the day after tomorrow for sure but that already felt like too far away. And there was something in the way Vincent hesitantly gave Aiden an umbrella to borrow and how he looked at him with a touch of longing that convinced Aiden that Vincent may, in fact, be feeling the exact same way.

Damien watched silently from where he leaned against the desk, arms rising and folding across his chest as the door finally closed behind Aiden. He watched as Vincent turned to face him with a smile. However, Vincent's smile immediately faded as he caught sight of Damien's slight frown and how his brows creased with irritation.

"What's-?" Vincent started but was cut off by Damien's abrupt, "What the fuck is going on?" Vincent drew in a deep breath and defensively responded, "What are you talking about exactly?"

"You know what I mean, Vincent!"

Vincent's lips parted but no words came out. He was flabbergasted! Where was all this coming from?! He really had no idea what Damien was so upset over so quickly! Yet as seconds passed and Vincent couldn't come up with an answer, Damien finally huffed and took a step away and ran his fingers through his hair frustratedly. Though a moment later he took a deep breath and glanced over his shoulders. He let out another sigh and asked Vincent, "I'm your best friend right?"

"Of course you are!"

"You know you can tell me anything."

"I know that."

"So, then what has he done to you?"

"What are you talking about?!"

"Aiden!" Damien placed his hands on Vincent's shoulders and squeezed tightly. Vincent winced and felt a headache take immediate siege as Aiden was being blamed yet again. "Come on, Vincent! This isn't you! I told you: you look silly when you dress like this. What's with the hair?"

Vincent felt his confidence start to sink as he glanced off to the side towards his mirror. Earlier, he'd felt pride in his appearance. He found he liked dressing more androgynously sometimes for personal reasons. Secretly, honestly... Vincent liked pretty things and had always wanted to dress more like this. It wasn't that he wanted to do it all the time but just on those rare occasions...but thanks to Damien, he was starting to question himself again and already wanted to unpin his hair. But then he remembered how Aiden had told him that it was flattering on him and that he looked great!

Remembering that, Vincent shifted his gaze up to look at Damien and placed his hands atop of his and pulled them off before stating a little sharply, "I'm trying something new. It's MY decision, Damien. No one makes that for me. No. One."

Drawing his hands back as if struck, Damien's brow furrowed as if hurt as Vincent walked past him with a sigh. Vincent placed his hands on his prized orrery and stared down at the planets as they rotated around. It was a moment later when Damien's voice appeared right behind him in his ear in a way that sent uncomfortable shivers down his spine.

"You're not the same anymore," Damien murmured. "It's like you're becoming a different person. I just miss my best friend. Is that such a bad thing?"

"No. It's-"

Vincent had turned around and found himself practically sandwiched between the orrery and Damien who was standing very, very close. Vincent wet his lips nervously and glanced off to the side uncomfortably.

"It's not a bad thing. I get it," Vincent relented as he maneuvered away towards his desk. Now feeling much less confident about himself, Vincent folded his arms over his abdomen and hunched slightly. This whole conversation had knocked the wind out of his sails.

Sensing Vincent's drop in mood, Damien reached out to touch his shoulder and explained, "It's just...not you. That's all. But I suppose I can get used to it. I just like good old Vincent, you know? I like how things used to be when it's just us...like now! It's okay, though. So..." And with that, Damien walked past Vincent towards the chair and went to plop down and folded his arms across his chest as he demanded, "...so, what's been going on with you this past month? What brought you to giving 'dancing' lessons?"

Vincent took a deep breath and then let it out and forced a smile on his face. He may as well try to keep the mood light. However, he decided to tread a little more carefully as he shrugged and went to the mirror across the way. He began to unpin the pins in his hair as he explained, "It's not just me. Abby's been helping as his dance partner but she's got a cold so I just stepped in for today."

"Oh! Well why didn't you say SHE was his dance partner?"

And though Vincent's back was turned and he couldn't see it, he could hear and feel Damien's demeanor easing down and becoming less tense. Thank God! He replied, "Because I didn't think it mattered? Anyway, I invited him to come to the ball because I thought it would be fun to have him there. Besides, there will be people he knows and it's a good opportunity. Plus, I was bored! You took TWO extra weeks to come back!"

"Yeah, but it was worth it. At least I had fun! I'm back now. That's what matters and things can go back to as they should be! Tell you what, why don't I come help out with Aiden's lessons? It would be fun! It would be easier to practice with another couple and you and I can dance together! How's that sound? We can practice for the ball!"

Vincent unwound his hair and let it fall across his shoulders; his hair falling forward across his brow and he stared at himself unhappily. And as he did, Damien suddenly appeared behind him, blocking his light and placing his hands around Vincent's upper arms. Vincent glanced off to the side though he felt Damien looming over him and pressing right up against his back and making him shrink and feel very small. Damien's eyes pierced the side of his head and his fingers dug in just the tiniest bit into his arms as he asked, "Don't you think that's a grand idea?"

"I do!" Vincent quickly lied as he plastered a smile on his face and glanced up at him up over his shoulder. Though, honestly, he wanted to crawl and hide for a while. While Damien was right that Aiden could practice better with another couple present for the quadrille, he didn't want to put them together right now. It seemed 4 weeks apart hadn't helped matters at all. "But he's already gotten so good that he won't need much more practice, I think. But if we do, I'll definitely be letting you know first."

Quickly, Vincent turned in place and pushed his long hair over his shoulder, "I'm tired of all this ball talk! Let's decide when we want to go flying!" He hoped Damien would allow himself to be distracted with plans and leave the rest of it alone. He just wanted to enjoy the rest of the day. And thankfully it seemed he was in luck!

Damien grinned and went to take his seat again all while going on a tangent about how eager he was for that. For now, it was best to let Damien enjoy that while he, Vincent, came down from whatever the fuck that argument had been about.

Vincent still wasn't sure what the core of Damien's actual problem was. It always felt like he was running in circles and never directly clarifying what upset him so much. Sometimes, Vincent wondered if even Damien knew. But it was as they parted ways much later in the evening, hours after the whole incident had even happened...that Damien finally started to hint what was really wrong.

"Tell me that you're not going to fall for Aiden."

"That's preposterous! Ha! What in the Hell has you thinking I'm going to fall for Aiden?!"

Vincent actually laughed at the idea! He shook his head as he leaned against the door jamb and folded his arms over his chest. And, if Damien was being honest with himself, Vincent sure did look surprised by this idea. Damien was standing before him in the hallway, peering back at Vincent with slightly narrowed eyes. He didn't want to go until he got that promise.

"Just....promise me you won't!"

"Pfft. Now you're just being ridiculous! Aiden? And 'me?' We're just friends! And crewmates...like you and me. Nothing's going to change, okay? Besides, I am absolutely sure Aiden doesn't see me as anything like that. Don't be a worry wart! You'll see! As soon as this damned masquerade is over with and we're back in the air, everything will be back to normal as it should be."

Vincent smirked and pushed on Damien's shoulder to nudge him to go home. The sooner Damien was gone, the sooner he could lock up and depart, himself. Thankfully, they were heading in opposite directions so he could finally get some peace and quiet.

It took a long moment, but Damien finally gave a satisfied nod and chuckle before responding, "I'm not a worry wart! Just call me a concerned best friend. I care about you. You know that."

"I do know. Be off with you! Get some rest! I'll see you in two days. Five o'clock at Leon's Claw. I'll make sure to get everything arranged ahead of time."

"See you then!"

And as soon as Damien's back was turned, Vincent ducked back into his office and slumped back against the door. Why the Hell was Damien so worried? Sure, Damien was never a person who enjoyed change but who ever truly did? Usually, the two worked very well together and got on well enough. They just needed to work through these few rough patches!

And besides, he was certain that whatever had Damien paranoid would soon pass because sooner or later he'd see that there was only friendship between Aiden and Vincent. It was absurd to think otherwise!

Absolutely...absurd.

  

---

NEXT PART:

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To select another chapter (or even start from the beginning), here's the album link:

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***Please note this is a BOY LOVE (LGBTQ+) series. It is a slow burn and is rated YOUNG ADULT!***

 

Special thank you to my husband Vin (Be My Mannequin? Pose Store) for collaborating with me on this series and co-starring as The Captain!

  

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