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Memoria dell'occhio - Memory of the eye.
S’incontrano passanti d’ogni genere. Vi sono coloro che non guardano attorno a sé e hanno fretta d’arrivare in un luogo preciso e coloro che distrattamente attraversano il mondo o da lui si lasciano attraversare. Ma preferiremmo far parte di coloro che si soffermano sulle cose, sui luoghi in continua metamorfosi dove ci si perde per meglio ritrovarsi. Perché siamo consapevoli di vivere nella “multifonia” del nostro immaginario, sotto il sole delle fresche mattine di primavera e contemporaneamente sull’orlo dell’abisso. L’occhio, nei momenti d’ozio creativo, cercherà non la forma perfetta delle cose ma la bellezza della sua imperfezione, la sua complessità, la “sbavatura”, per usare un termine caro al filosofo Merleau-Ponty.
On rencontre des passants de tout genre. Il y a ceux qui ne regardent rien autour d’eux et n’ont qu’ un désir, celui d’arriver vite à un endroit précis et ceux qui traversent distraitement le monde où se laissent traverser par le monde. Mais nous préférons faire partie de ceux qui s’arrêtent sur les choses, sur les lieux en perpétuelle métamorphose, là où l’on se perd pour mieux se retrouver. Car nous sommes conscients de vivre dans la « multiphonie » de notre imaginaire, sous le soleil des frais matins de printemps ainsi qu’au bord de l’abîme. L’œil, dans les moments d’oisiveté créative cherchera non pas la forme parfaite des choses mais la beauté dans ce qu’elle a d’imparfait, dans sa complexité, dans la « bavure », comme dirait le philosophe Merleau-Ponty.
Texts and photo Viviane Ciampi
Diritti riservati
Ever since the first installment of this series hit the scene, fans have been enamored with its presence at the parks. Whether not being able to turn around without seeing High School Musical merchandise, or constantly seeing this show (which seemed like every hour), or having "What time is is!?!?!" or "We're all in this together!!!!" unfortunately stuck in our heads; you can't deny that this is a force to be reckoned with.
High School Musical 3: Senior Year - Right Here! Right Now!
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Walt Disney World, FL
Check out my Disney's Human Element Photo Blog
AND
Almost all electric kettles work the same way: there's a steam tube running down from the water compartment to a bimetallic thermostat at the bottom that clicks the heating element off when the water boils.
This photo shows the concealed element in the base of a modern kettle. It's from our article about electric kettles.
Our images are published under a Creative Commons Licence (see opposite) and are free for noncommercial use. We also license our images for commercial use. Please contact us directly via our website for more details.
IR HDR. IR converted Canon 40D. Canon 17-55 F2.8 IS lens. Shot at ISO 100, F16, AEB +/-3 total of 7 exposures processed with Photomatix. Levels adjusted in PSE.
High Dynamic Range (HDR)
High-dynamic-range imaging (HDRI) is a high dynamic range (HDR) technique used in imaging and photography to reproduce a greater dynamic range of luminosity than is possible with standard digital imaging or photographic techniques. The aim is to present a similar range of luminance to that experienced through the human visual system. The human eye, through adaptation of the iris and other methods, adjusts constantly to adapt to a broad range of luminance present in the environment. The brain continuously interprets this information so that a viewer can see in a wide range of light conditions.
HDR images can represent a greater range of luminance levels than can be achieved using more 'traditional' methods, such as many real-world scenes containing very bright, direct sunlight to extreme shade, or very faint nebulae. This is often achieved by capturing and then combining several different, narrower range, exposures of the same subject matter. Non-HDR cameras take photographs with a limited exposure range, referred to as LDR, resulting in the loss of detail in highlights or shadows.
The two primary types of HDR images are computer renderings and images resulting from merging multiple low-dynamic-range (LDR) or standard-dynamic-range (SDR) photographs. HDR images can also be acquired using special image sensors, such as an oversampled binary image sensor.
Due to the limitations of printing and display contrast, the extended luminosity range of an HDR image has to be compressed to be made visible. The method of rendering an HDR image to a standard monitor or printing device is called tone mapping. This method reduces the overall contrast of an HDR image to facilitate display on devices or printouts with lower dynamic range, and can be applied to produce images with preserved local contrast (or exaggerated for artistic effect).
In photography, dynamic range is measured in exposure value (EV) differences (known as stops). An increase of one EV, or 'one stop', represents a doubling of the amount of light. Conversely, a decrease of one EV represents a halving of the amount of light. Therefore, revealing detail in the darkest of shadows requires high exposures, while preserving detail in very bright situations requires very low exposures. Most cameras cannot provide this range of exposure values within a single exposure, due to their low dynamic range. High-dynamic-range photographs are generally achieved by capturing multiple standard-exposure images, often using exposure bracketing, and then later merging them into a single HDR image, usually within a photo manipulation program). Digital images are often encoded in a camera's raw image format, because 8-bit JPEG encoding does not offer a wide enough range of values to allow fine transitions (and regarding HDR, later introduces undesirable effects due to lossy compression).
Any camera that allows manual exposure control can make images for HDR work, although one equipped with auto exposure bracketing (AEB) is far better suited. Images from film cameras are less suitable as they often must first be digitized, so that they can later be processed using software HDR methods.
In most imaging devices, the degree of exposure to light applied to the active element (be it film or CCD) can be altered in one of two ways: by either increasing/decreasing the size of the aperture or by increasing/decreasing the time of each exposure. Exposure variation in an HDR set is only done by altering the exposure time and not the aperture size; this is because altering the aperture size also affects the depth of field and so the resultant multiple images would be quite different, preventing their final combination into a single HDR image.
An important limitation for HDR photography is that any movement between successive images will impede or prevent success in combining them afterwards. Also, as one must create several images (often three or five and sometimes more) to obtain the desired luminance range, such a full 'set' of images takes extra time. HDR photographers have developed calculation methods and techniques to partially overcome these problems, but the use of a sturdy tripod is, at least, advised.
Some cameras have an auto exposure bracketing (AEB) feature with a far greater dynamic range than others, from the 3 EV of the Canon EOS 40D, to the 18 EV of the Canon EOS-1D Mark II. As the popularity of this imaging method grows, several camera manufactures are now offering built-in HDR features. For example, the Pentax K-7 DSLR has an HDR mode that captures an HDR image and outputs (only) a tone mapped JPEG file. The Canon PowerShot G12, Canon PowerShot S95 and Canon PowerShot S100 offer similar features in a smaller format.. Nikon's approach is called 'Active D-Lighting' which applies exposure compensation and tone mapping to the image as it comes from the sensor, with the accent being on retaing a realistic effect . Some smartphones provide HDR modes, and most mobile platforms have apps that provide HDR picture taking.
Camera characteristics such as gamma curves, sensor resolution, noise, photometric calibration and color calibration affect resulting high-dynamic-range images.
Color film negatives and slides consist of multiple film layers that respond to light differently. As a consequence, transparent originals (especially positive slides) feature a very high dynamic range
Tone mapping
Tone mapping reduces the dynamic range, or contrast ratio, of an entire image while retaining localized contrast. Although it is a distinct operation, tone mapping is often applied to HDRI files by the same software package.
Several software applications are available on the PC, Mac and Linux platforms for producing HDR files and tone mapped images. Notable titles include
Adobe Photoshop
Aurora HDR
Dynamic Photo HDR
HDR Efex Pro
HDR PhotoStudio
Luminance HDR
MagicRaw
Oloneo PhotoEngine
Photomatix Pro
PTGui
Information stored in high-dynamic-range images typically corresponds to the physical values of luminance or radiance that can be observed in the real world. This is different from traditional digital images, which represent colors as they should appear on a monitor or a paper print. Therefore, HDR image formats are often called scene-referred, in contrast to traditional digital images, which are device-referred or output-referred. Furthermore, traditional images are usually encoded for the human visual system (maximizing the visual information stored in the fixed number of bits), which is usually called gamma encoding or gamma correction. The values stored for HDR images are often gamma compressed (power law) or logarithmically encoded, or floating-point linear values, since fixed-point linear encodings are increasingly inefficient over higher dynamic ranges.
HDR images often don't use fixed ranges per color channel—other than traditional images—to represent many more colors over a much wider dynamic range. For that purpose, they don't use integer values to represent the single color channels (e.g., 0-255 in an 8 bit per pixel interval for red, green and blue) but instead use a floating point representation. Common are 16-bit (half precision) or 32-bit floating point numbers to represent HDR pixels. However, when the appropriate transfer function is used, HDR pixels for some applications can be represented with a color depth that has as few as 10–12 bits for luminance and 8 bits for chrominance without introducing any visible quantization artifacts.
History of HDR photography
The idea of using several exposures to adequately reproduce a too-extreme range of luminance was pioneered as early as the 1850s by Gustave Le Gray to render seascapes showing both the sky and the sea. Such rendering was impossible at the time using standard methods, as the luminosity range was too extreme. Le Gray used one negative for the sky, and another one with a longer exposure for the sea, and combined the two into one picture in positive.
Mid 20th century
Manual tone mapping was accomplished by dodging and burning – selectively increasing or decreasing the exposure of regions of the photograph to yield better tonality reproduction. This was effective because the dynamic range of the negative is significantly higher than would be available on the finished positive paper print when that is exposed via the negative in a uniform manner. An excellent example is the photograph Schweitzer at the Lamp by W. Eugene Smith, from his 1954 photo essay A Man of Mercy on Dr. Albert Schweitzer and his humanitarian work in French Equatorial Africa. The image took 5 days to reproduce the tonal range of the scene, which ranges from a bright lamp (relative to the scene) to a dark shadow.
Ansel Adams elevated dodging and burning to an art form. Many of his famous prints were manipulated in the darkroom with these two methods. Adams wrote a comprehensive book on producing prints called The Print, which prominently features dodging and burning, in the context of his Zone System.
With the advent of color photography, tone mapping in the darkroom was no longer possible due to the specific timing needed during the developing process of color film. Photographers looked to film manufacturers to design new film stocks with improved response, or continued to shoot in black and white to use tone mapping methods.
Color film capable of directly recording high-dynamic-range images was developed by Charles Wyckoff and EG&G "in the course of a contract with the Department of the Air Force". This XR film had three emulsion layers, an upper layer having an ASA speed rating of 400, a middle layer with an intermediate rating, and a lower layer with an ASA rating of 0.004. The film was processed in a manner similar to color films, and each layer produced a different color. The dynamic range of this extended range film has been estimated as 1:108. It has been used to photograph nuclear explosions, for astronomical photography, for spectrographic research, and for medical imaging. Wyckoff's detailed pictures of nuclear explosions appeared on the cover of Life magazine in the mid-1950s.
Late 20th century
Georges Cornuéjols and licensees of his patents (Brdi, Hymatom) introduced the principle of HDR video image, in 1986, by interposing a matricial LCD screen in front of the camera's image sensor, increasing the sensors dynamic by five stops. The concept of neighborhood tone mapping was applied to video cameras by a group from the Technion in Israel led by Dr. Oliver Hilsenrath and Prof. Y.Y.Zeevi who filed for a patent on this concept in 1988.
In February and April 1990, Georges Cornuéjols introduced the first real-time HDR camera that combined two images captured by a sensor3435 or simultaneously3637 by two sensors of the camera. This process is known as bracketing used for a video stream.
In 1991, the first commercial video camera was introduced that performed real-time capturing of multiple images with different exposures, and producing an HDR video image, by Hymatom, licensee of Georges Cornuéjols.
Also in 1991, Georges Cornuéjols introduced the HDR+ image principle by non-linear accumulation of images to increase the sensitivity of the camera: for low-light environments, several successive images are accumulated, thus increasing the signal to noise ratio.
In 1993, another commercial medical camera producing an HDR video image, by the Technion.
Modern HDR imaging uses a completely different approach, based on making a high-dynamic-range luminance or light map using only global image operations (across the entire image), and then tone mapping the result. Global HDR was first introduced in 19931 resulting in a mathematical theory of differently exposed pictures of the same subject matter that was published in 1995 by Steve Mann and Rosalind Picard.
On October 28, 1998, Ben Sarao created one of the first nighttime HDR+G (High Dynamic Range + Graphic image)of STS-95 on the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. It consisted of four film images of the shuttle at night that were digitally composited with additional digital graphic elements. The image was first exhibited at NASA Headquarters Great Hall, Washington DC in 1999 and then published in Hasselblad Forum, Issue 3 1993, Volume 35 ISSN 0282-5449.
The advent of consumer digital cameras produced a new demand for HDR imaging to improve the light response of digital camera sensors, which had a much smaller dynamic range than film. Steve Mann developed and patented the global-HDR method for producing digital images having extended dynamic range at the MIT Media Laboratory. Mann's method involved a two-step procedure: (1) generate one floating point image array by global-only image operations (operations that affect all pixels identically, without regard to their local neighborhoods); and then (2) convert this image array, using local neighborhood processing (tone-remapping, etc.), into an HDR image. The image array generated by the first step of Mann's process is called a lightspace image, lightspace picture, or radiance map. Another benefit of global-HDR imaging is that it provides access to the intermediate light or radiance map, which has been used for computer vision, and other image processing operations.
21st century
In 2005, Adobe Systems introduced several new features in Photoshop CS2 including Merge to HDR, 32 bit floating point image support, and HDR tone mapping.
On June 30, 2016, Microsoft added support for the digital compositing of HDR images to Windows 10 using the Universal Windows Platform.
HDR sensors
Modern CMOS image sensors can often capture a high dynamic range from a single exposure. The wide dynamic range of the captured image is non-linearly compressed into a smaller dynamic range electronic representation. However, with proper processing, the information from a single exposure can be used to create an HDR image.
Such HDR imaging is used in extreme dynamic range applications like welding or automotive work. Some other cameras designed for use in security applications can automatically provide two or more images for each frame, with changing exposure. For example, a sensor for 30fps video will give out 60fps with the odd frames at a short exposure time and the even frames at a longer exposure time. Some of the sensor may even combine the two images on-chip so that a wider dynamic range without in-pixel compression is directly available to the user for display or processing.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-dynamic-range_imaging
Infrared Photography
In infrared photography, the film or image sensor used is sensitive to infrared light. The part of the spectrum used is referred to as near-infrared to distinguish it from far-infrared, which is the domain of thermal imaging. Wavelengths used for photography range from about 700 nm to about 900 nm. Film is usually sensitive to visible light too, so an infrared-passing filter is used; this lets infrared (IR) light pass through to the camera, but blocks all or most of the visible light spectrum (the filter thus looks black or deep red). ("Infrared filter" may refer either to this type of filter or to one that blocks infrared but passes other wavelengths.)
When these filters are used together with infrared-sensitive film or sensors, "in-camera effects" can be obtained; false-color or black-and-white images with a dreamlike or sometimes lurid appearance known as the "Wood Effect," an effect mainly caused by foliage (such as tree leaves and grass) strongly reflecting in the same way visible light is reflected from snow. There is a small contribution from chlorophyll fluorescence, but this is marginal and is not the real cause of the brightness seen in infrared photographs. The effect is named after the infrared photography pioneer Robert W. Wood, and not after the material wood, which does not strongly reflect infrared.
The other attributes of infrared photographs include very dark skies and penetration of atmospheric haze, caused by reduced Rayleigh scattering and Mie scattering, respectively, compared to visible light. The dark skies, in turn, result in less infrared light in shadows and dark reflections of those skies from water, and clouds will stand out strongly. These wavelengths also penetrate a few millimeters into skin and give a milky look to portraits, although eyes often look black.
Until the early 20th century, infrared photography was not possible because silver halide emulsions are not sensitive to longer wavelengths than that of blue light (and to a lesser extent, green light) without the addition of a dye to act as a color sensitizer. The first infrared photographs (as distinct from spectrographs) to be published appeared in the February 1910 edition of The Century Magazine and in the October 1910 edition of the Royal Photographic Society Journal to illustrate papers by Robert W. Wood, who discovered the unusual effects that now bear his name. The RPS co-ordinated events to celebrate the centenary of this event in 2010. Wood's photographs were taken on experimental film that required very long exposures; thus, most of his work focused on landscapes. A further set of infrared landscapes taken by Wood in Italy in 1911 used plates provided for him by CEK Mees at Wratten & Wainwright. Mees also took a few infrared photographs in Portugal in 1910, which are now in the Kodak archives.
Infrared-sensitive photographic plates were developed in the United States during World War I for spectroscopic analysis, and infrared sensitizing dyes were investigated for improved haze penetration in aerial photography. After 1930, new emulsions from Kodak and other manufacturers became useful to infrared astronomy.
Infrared photography became popular with photography enthusiasts in the 1930s when suitable film was introduced commercially. The Times regularly published landscape and aerial photographs taken by their staff photographers using Ilford infrared film. By 1937 33 kinds of infrared film were available from five manufacturers including Agfa, Kodak and Ilford. Infrared movie film was also available and was used to create day-for-night effects in motion pictures, a notable example being the pseudo-night aerial sequences in the James Cagney/Bette Davis movie The Bride Came COD.
False-color infrared photography became widely practiced with the introduction of Kodak Ektachrome Infrared Aero Film and Ektachrome Infrared EIR. The first version of this, known as Kodacolor Aero-Reversal-Film, was developed by Clark and others at the Kodak for camouflage detection in the 1940s. The film became more widely available in 35mm form in the 1960s but KODAK AEROCHROME III Infrared Film 1443 has been discontinued.
Infrared photography became popular with a number of 1960s recording artists, because of the unusual results; Jimi Hendrix, Donovan, Frank and a slow shutter speed without focus compensation, however wider apertures like f/2.0 can produce sharp photos only if the lens is meticulously refocused to the infrared index mark, and only if this index mark is the correct one for the filter and film in use. However, it should be noted that diffraction effects inside a camera are greater at infrared wavelengths so that stopping down the lens too far may actually reduce sharpness.
Most apochromatic ('APO') lenses do not have an Infrared index mark and do not need to be refocused for the infrared spectrum because they are already optically corrected into the near-infrared spectrum. Catadioptric lenses do not often require this adjustment because their mirror containing elements do not suffer from chromatic aberration and so the overall aberration is comparably less. Catadioptric lenses do, of course, still contain lenses, and these lenses do still have a dispersive property.
Infrared black-and-white films require special development times but development is usually achieved with standard black-and-white film developers and chemicals (like D-76). Kodak HIE film has a polyester film base that is very stable but extremely easy to scratch, therefore special care must be used in the handling of Kodak HIE throughout the development and printing/scanning process to avoid damage to the film. The Kodak HIE film was sensitive to 900 nm.
As of November 2, 2007, "KODAK is preannouncing the discontinuance" of HIE Infrared 35 mm film stating the reasons that, "Demand for these products has been declining significantly in recent years, and it is no longer practical to continue to manufacture given the low volume, the age of the product formulations and the complexity of the processes involved." At the time of this notice, HIE Infrared 135-36 was available at a street price of around $12.00 a roll at US mail order outlets.
Arguably the greatest obstacle to infrared film photography has been the increasing difficulty of obtaining infrared-sensitive film. However, despite the discontinuance of HIE, other newer infrared sensitive emulsions from EFKE, ROLLEI, and ILFORD are still available, but these formulations have differing sensitivity and specifications from the venerable KODAK HIE that has been around for at least two decades. Some of these infrared films are available in 120 and larger formats as well as 35 mm, which adds flexibility to their application. With the discontinuance of Kodak HIE, Efke's IR820 film has become the only IR film on the marketneeds update with good sensitivity beyond 750 nm, the Rollei film does extend beyond 750 nm but IR sensitivity falls off very rapidly.
Color infrared transparency films have three sensitized layers that, because of the way the dyes are coupled to these layers, reproduce infrared as red, red as green, and green as blue. All three layers are sensitive to blue so the film must be used with a yellow filter, since this will block blue light but allow the remaining colors to reach the film. The health of foliage can be determined from the relative strengths of green and infrared light reflected; this shows in color infrared as a shift from red (healthy) towards magenta (unhealthy). Early color infrared films were developed in the older E-4 process, but Kodak later manufactured a color transparency film that could be developed in standard E-6 chemistry, although more accurate results were obtained by developing using the AR-5 process. In general, color infrared does not need to be refocused to the infrared index mark on the lens.
In 2007 Kodak announced that production of the 35 mm version of their color infrared film (Ektachrome Professional Infrared/EIR) would cease as there was insufficient demand. Since 2011, all formats of color infrared film have been discontinued. Specifically, Aerochrome 1443 and SO-734.
There is no currently available digital camera that will produce the same results as Kodak color infrared film although the equivalent images can be produced by taking two exposures, one infrared and the other full-color, and combining in post-production. The color images produced by digital still cameras using infrared-pass filters are not equivalent to those produced on color infrared film. The colors result from varying amounts of infrared passing through the color filters on the photo sites, further amended by the Bayer filtering. While this makes such images unsuitable for the kind of applications for which the film was used, such as remote sensing of plant health, the resulting color tonality has proved popular artistically.
Color digital infrared, as part of full spectrum photography is gaining popularity. The ease of creating a softly colored photo with infrared characteristics has found interest among hobbyists and professionals.
In 2008, Los Angeles photographer, Dean Bennici started cutting and hand rolling Aerochrome color Infrared film. All Aerochrome medium and large format which exists today came directly from his lab. The trend in infrared photography continues to gain momentum with the success of photographer Richard Mosse and multiple users all around the world.
Digital camera sensors are inherently sensitive to infrared light, which would interfere with the normal photography by confusing the autofocus calculations or softening the image (because infrared light is focused differently from visible light), or oversaturating the red channel. Also, some clothing is transparent in the infrared, leading to unintended (at least to the manufacturer) uses of video cameras. Thus, to improve image quality and protect privacy, many digital cameras employ infrared blockers. Depending on the subject matter, infrared photography may not be practical with these cameras because the exposure times become overly long, often in the range of 30 seconds, creating noise and motion blur in the final image. However, for some subject matter the long exposure does not matter or the motion blur effects actually add to the image. Some lenses will also show a 'hot spot' in the centre of the image as their coatings are optimised for visible light and not for IR.
An alternative method of DSLR infrared photography is to remove the infrared blocker in front of the sensor and replace it with a filter that removes visible light. This filter is behind the mirror, so the camera can be used normally - handheld, normal shutter speeds, normal composition through the viewfinder, and focus, all work like a normal camera. Metering works but is not always accurate because of the difference between visible and infrared refraction. When the IR blocker is removed, many lenses which did display a hotspot cease to do so, and become perfectly usable for infrared photography. Additionally, because the red, green and blue micro-filters remain and have transmissions not only in their respective color but also in the infrared, enhanced infrared color may be recorded.
Since the Bayer filters in most digital cameras absorb a significant fraction of the infrared light, these cameras are sometimes not very sensitive as infrared cameras and can sometimes produce false colors in the images. An alternative approach is to use a Foveon X3 sensor, which does not have absorptive filters on it; the Sigma SD10 DSLR has a removable IR blocking filter and dust protector, which can be simply omitted or replaced by a deep red or complete visible light blocking filter. The Sigma SD14 has an IR/UV blocking filter that can be removed/installed without tools. The result is a very sensitive digital IR camera.
While it is common to use a filter that blocks almost all visible light, the wavelength sensitivity of a digital camera without internal infrared blocking is such that a variety of artistic results can be obtained with more conventional filtration. For example, a very dark neutral density filter can be used (such as the Hoya ND400) which passes a very small amount of visible light compared to the near-infrared it allows through. Wider filtration permits an SLR viewfinder to be used and also passes more varied color information to the sensor without necessarily reducing the Wood effect. Wider filtration is however likely to reduce other infrared artefacts such as haze penetration and darkened skies. This technique mirrors the methods used by infrared film photographers where black-and-white infrared film was often used with a deep red filter rather than a visually opaque one.
Another common technique with near-infrared filters is to swap blue and red channels in software (e.g. photoshop) which retains much of the characteristic 'white foliage' while rendering skies a glorious blue.
Several Sony cameras had the so-called Night Shot facility, which physically moves the blocking filter away from the light path, which makes the cameras very sensitive to infrared light. Soon after its development, this facility was 'restricted' by Sony to make it difficult for people to take photos that saw through clothing. To do this the iris is opened fully and exposure duration is limited to long times of more than 1/30 second or so. It is possible to shoot infrared but neutral density filters must be used to reduce the camera's sensitivity and the long exposure times mean that care must be taken to avoid camera-shake artifacts.
Fuji have produced digital cameras for use in forensic criminology and medicine which have no infrared blocking filter. The first camera, designated the S3 PRO UVIR, also had extended ultraviolet sensitivity (digital sensors are usually less sensitive to UV than to IR). Optimum UV sensitivity requires special lenses, but ordinary lenses usually work well for IR. In 2007, FujiFilm introduced a new version of this camera, based on the Nikon D200/ FujiFilm S5 called the IS Pro, also able to take Nikon lenses. Fuji had earlier introduced a non-SLR infrared camera, the IS-1, a modified version of the FujiFilm FinePix S9100. Unlike the S3 PRO UVIR, the IS-1 does not offer UV sensitivity. FujiFilm restricts the sale of these cameras to professional users with their EULA specifically prohibiting "unethical photographic conduct".
Phase One digital camera backs can be ordered in an infrared modified form.
Remote sensing and thermographic cameras are sensitive to longer wavelengths of infrared (see Infrared spectrum#Commonly used sub-division scheme). They may be multispectral and use a variety of technologies which may not resemble common camera or filter designs. Cameras sensitive to longer infrared wavelengths including those used in infrared astronomy often require cooling to reduce thermally induced dark currents in the sensor (see Dark current (physics)). Lower cost uncooled thermographic digital cameras operate in the Long Wave infrared band (see Thermographic camera#Uncooled infrared detectors). These cameras are generally used for building inspection or preventative maintenance but can be used for artistic pursuits as well.
Gold-quartz hydrothermal vein (public display, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA)
A mineral is a naturally-occurring, solid, inorganic, crystalline substance having a fairly definite chemical composition and having fairly definite physical properties. At its simplest, a mineral is a naturally-occurring solid chemical. Currently, there are over 5600 named and described minerals - about 200 of them are common and about 20 of them are very common. Mineral classification is based on anion chemistry. Major categories of minerals are: elements, sulfides, oxides, halides, carbonates, sulfates, phosphates, and silicates.
Elements are fundamental substances of matter - matter that is composed of the same types of atoms. At present, 118 elements are known. Of these, 98 occur naturally on Earth (hydrogen to californium). Most of these occur in rocks & minerals, although some occur in very small, trace amounts. Only some elements occur in their native elemental state as minerals.
To find a native element in nature, it must be relatively non-reactive and there must be some concentration process. Metallic, semimetallic (metalloid), and nonmetallic elements are known in their native state as minerals.
Gold (Au) is the most prestigious metal known, but it's not the most valuable. Gold is the only metal that has a deep, rich, metallic yellow color. Almost all other metals are silvery-colored. Gold is very rare in crustal rocks - it averages about 5 ppb (parts per billion). Where gold has been concentrated, it occurs as wires, dendritic crystals, twisted sheets, octahedral crystals, and variably-shaped nuggets. It most commonly occurs in hydrothermal quartz veins, disseminated in some contact- & hydrothermal-metamorphic rocks, and in placer deposits. Placers are concentrations of heavy minerals in stream gravels or in cracks on bedrock-floored streams. Gold has a high specific gravity (about 19), so it easily accumulates in placer deposits. Its high density allows prospectors to readily collect placer gold by panning.
In addition to its high density, gold has a high melting point (over 1000º C). Gold is also relatively soft - about 2.5 to 3 on the Mohs Hardness Scale. The use of pure gold or high-purity gold in jewelry is not desirable as it easily gets scratched. The addition of other metals to gold to increase the hardness also alters the unique color of gold. Gold jewelry made & sold in America doesn’t have the gorgeous rich color of high-purity gold.
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Photo gallery of gold:
Faithful fans, and one unlucky young soul, line up to see Paul Revere & the Raiders.
For those that are wondering; lines this long are typical for the various concerts during the Flower & Garden Fest, as well as during the Food & Wine Fest.
Flower & Garden Festival - 2010
Italy/American Pavilion
EPCOT World Showcase
Walt Disney World, FL
P.S. I was actually there with that young "whipper-snapper".
P.P.S. There are already some topiaries out for this year's festival.
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Spotted this Honda Element parked in a woodland car park and had to turn round and get a photo. A right hand drive example imported in January 2015.
Changdeokgung (Hangul, 창덕궁, 昌德宮; literally, "Prospering Virtue Palace") - also known as Changdeokgung Palace or Changdeok Palace - is set within a large park in Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the "Five Grand Palaces" built by the kings of the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897). As it is located east of Gyeongbok Palace, Changdeokgung - along with Changgyeonggung - is also referred to as the "East Palace" (동궐, 東闕, Donggwol).
Changdeokgung was the most favored palace of many Joseon princes and retained many elements dating from the Three Kingdoms of Korea period that were not incorporated in the more contemporary Gyeongbokgung. One such element is the fact that the buildings of Changdeokgung blend with the natural topography of the site instead of imposing themselves upon it. It, like the other Five Grand Palaces in Seoul, was heavily damaged during the Japanese occupation of Korea (1910-1945). Currently, only about 30% of the pre-Japanese structures survive.
HISTORY
Changdeokgung was the second palace after Gyeongbokgung which had been established in 1395 as a primary palace. In the midst of strife for the throne between princes and vassals, authority of Gyeongbokgung was deteriorated. King Jeongjong enthroned by Prince Jeong-an (Yi Bang-won, later became King Taejong) moved the capital to Gaegyeong, the one of Goryeo Dynasty, again in 1400 on the pretext of superior geographical features of it, in fact, in order to avert the power struggle. King Taejong (Yi Bang-won) soon taking over the throne returned to Hanseong(present-day Seoul) had a new palace named Changdeokgung instead of Gyeongbokgung because he had killed his half brothers in Gyeongbokgung whose construction was led by Jeong Do-jeon, the king's rival before. Construction of Changdeok Palace began in 1405, and was completed in 1412. King Seonjo expanded the palace grounds by about 500,000 square meters, including Huwon (see below).
The Palace was burnt to the ground during the Japanese invasion in 1592 and reconstructed in 1609 by King Seonjo and King Gwanghaegun. The palace burnt back down in 1623 because of King Injo a political Revolt against Gwanghaegun. The palace was also attacked by the Manchu Qing but throughout its history of reconstruction and repair has remained faithful to its original design. Changdeokgung was the site of the royal court and the seat of government until 1868, when the neighboring Gyeongbokgung was rebuilt. Korea's last Emperor, Sunjong lived here until his death in 1926. Other members of the former Royal family were permitted to live in parts of the palace such as former Crown Prince Yi Un who lived in the Nakseon- jae (hall) Buildings with his wife Princess Bangja and sister Princess Deokhye until their respective deaths; this arrangement was periodically interrupted by differing Presidential orders supporting and objecting to their use of the historic facilities. The son of Yi-Un, Yi-Gu also lived in the Palace for variant intervals prior to moving to semi-permanent residence in Tokyo due to mental health issues having been unable to fully adapt to the new Korea.
Today there are 13 buildings remaining on the palace grounds and 28 pavilions in the gardens, occupying 110 acres (45 hectares) in all and the area is designated as Historical Site No. 122. Buildings of note include Donhwamun (built in 1412, rebuilt in 1607, with a copper bell weighing 9 short tons or 8 metric tons), Injeongjeon (main hall), Seongjeongjeon (auxiliary office in the main hall), Huijeongdang (the king's private residence, later used as a conference hall), Daejojeon (living quarters), and Nakseon-jae. The Palace chosen to worldwide travel expert evaluation and reader preferences is registered the world's 500 attractions in research.
STRUCTURES
The palace was built between Peak Maebong of Mt. Bugaksan in the back and Rivulte Geumcheon having flowing in the front influenced by the principle "baesanimsu" (배산임수) in Feng Shui theory. Contrary to Gyeongbokgung whose main buildings are arranged in accurate architectural principle, however, buildings in Changdeokgung are disposed more freely without a regular system. Though its structure seems chaotic at a glance, all buildings are in harmony with the environment surrounding them.
Changdeokgung consists of governmental area (치조, 治朝, chijo) centering on Injeongjeon and Seonjeongjeon, royal private area (침전, 寢殿, chimjeon, meaning 'a house of king's bedroom'), Nakseonjae area in the east, and Huwon beyond the north hills. Most of major official buildings such as Injeongjeon, main hall of Changdeokgung, Seonjeongjeon, king's office, and many of government offices (궐내각사, 闕內各司, gwollaegaksa) are placed in the front parts of the palace, beyond which there are royal private court for king and queen. King's houses like Seonjeongjeon, Huijeongdang, and Nakseonjae are surrounded in many folds of buildings and courts in case any outsider break through. The architectural style of Changdeokgung overall features simplicity and frugality because of Confucian ideology.
Structures of particular interest include:
- Donhwamun Gate - The main palace gate. Built in 1412, Donhwamun has a two-story pavilion-type wooden structure, and is the largest of all palace gates. Donhwamun was burned down during the Japanese invasion of 1592 and was restored in 1608.
- Geumcheongyo Bridge - Oldest bridge still extant in Seoul. Built 1411.
- Injeongjeon Hall (National Treasure) - the throne hall of Changdeokgung, it was used for major state affairs including the coronation of a new king and receiving foreign envoys. Originally built in 1405, it was rebuilt in 1610 after being burned down during the 1592 Japanese invasion, and a third time in 1804 after being destroyed by a fire.
- Seonjeongjeon Hall - An office for ruling officials, the king held daily meetings with ministers, reported on state affairs and seminars here.
- Huijeongdang Hall - Originally the king's bed chamber, it became his workplace after Seonjeongjeon was deemed too small for conducting routine state affairs. The original Huijeongdang was destroyed by a fire in 1917. The reconstructed structure is completely different from the original due to recent Western influences. Wooden floorboards and carpets, glass windows, and chandeliers can be seen inside the building.
- Daejojeon Hall - Official residence of the queen. Destroyed by fire in 1917, it was rebuilt with materials taken from Gyeongbokgung. Daejojeon was used as a residence for the last empress of Joseon, allowing us a glimpse into the final years of the royal household of the Joseon Dynasty.
- Juhamnu Pavilion (Kyujanggak) - Royal libraries stood in this area. State exams were conducted in front of the pavilion on special occasions in presence of the king.
- Yeon-gyeongdang Residence - Built in 1827, it was an audience hall modeled after a typical literati house.
HUWON
Behind the palace lies the 78-acre (32 ha) Huwon (후원, 後苑, Rear garden) which was originally constructed for the use of the royal family and palace women. The garden incorporates a lotus pond, pavilions, and landscaped lawns, trees, and flowers. There are over 26,000 specimens of a hundred different species of trees in the garden and some of the trees behind the palace are over 300 years old. The garden for the private use of the king had been called 'Geumwon' (금원, 禁苑, Forbidden garden) because even high officials were not allowed to enter without the king's permission. It had also been called 'Naewon' (내원, 內苑, 'Inner garden'). Today Koreans often call it 'Biwon' (비원, 秘院, Secret garden) which derived from the office of same name in the late 19th century. Though the garden had many other names, the one most frequently used through Joseon dynasty period was 'Huwon'.
In September 2012, the Buyongjeong pavilion in the garden was re-open after a year-long restoration project. The pavilion was restored based on the Donggwoldo from 1820, National Treasures of South Korea No. 249.
A variety of ceremonies host by the king were held in Huwon. In early period of Joseon dynasty, military inspections participated with king himself had been practiced many times. King Sejo had troops parade and array before him or commanded them by himself in the garden. In addition, giving feasts, playing archery games, or enjoy fireworks in Huwon.
The Ongnyucheon (옥류천, 玉流川, "Jade Stream") area is of particular interest. It contains a U-shaped water channel carved in 1636 for floating wine cups, with a small waterfall and an inscribed poem on the boulder above it. The area also contains five small pavilions.
WORLD HERITAGE SITE
Changdeokgung was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997. The UNESCO committee inscribing the site stated the place was an "outstanding example of Far Eastern palace architecture and garden design" being exceptional because the buildings are "integrated into and harmonized with the natural setting" and adapted "to the topography and retaining indigenous tree cover."
Portions of the palace were used to film the hugely popular Korean drama Dae Jang Geum in the first decade of the 21st century.
WIKIPEDIA
Members of 3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment (3 RCR) conduct an insertion extraction with the Latvian search and rescue helicopter during EXERCISE Summer Shield XII in Adazi, Latvia on March 27, 2015.
Photo: Land Task Element, DND
TN2015-0009-C0261
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Des membres du 3e Bataillon du Royal Canadian Regiment (3 RCR) pratiquent des techniques d’insertion et d’extraction à l’aide de l’hélicoptère de recherche et sauvetage letton au cours de l’exercice Summer Shield XII, à Adazi, en Lettonie, le 27 mars 2015.
Photo : Élément opérationnel terrestre, MDN
TN2015-0009-C0261
Having friends who are friends of club owners has it's advantages :)
The door bitch outside reluctantly gave us entry tokens, while a queue was starting to form just before 11pm.
Still, an unplanned club visit left me feeling a little underdressed in jeans and slightly ratty casual shoes.
The club was filled with incense, which was not entirely unpleasant, although it was a bit confusing to the senses which insisted of thinking of a quiet temple. Eventually, the doof doof of the RnB and House music won out.
Element Lounge
The Basement 85 Queen St Melbourne 3000
(03) 9670 4880
Reviews:
- www.inthemix.com.au/events/reviews/35451/Intermission_Ele...
- www.melbournepubs.com/v/1931/
We had tried to get into Silk Road, but it looked a bit too posh for an unplanned visit. Perhaps next time...
Just as well we didn't try... the decor is over the top!
- Silk Road on Collins - Deck of Secrets
- Silk Road, by Dani Valent, The Age April 8, 2008 - "Can I have some whitebait with my salt here, mate?"
Harsh comments though!
I love the eating concept at Silk Road, kind of like a food court, except the builder was Kubla Khan not Westfield and your stately pleasure dome is fuelled by flashy $29 cocktails rather than opium pipes. If the food had been better and it had arrived in reasonable time, I'd be happy to hitch another ride.
Silk Road
425 Collins St Melbourne 3000
(03) 9614 4888
Photos:
- Bar Area
- Julia, Isabel, Shanny, Lilian, David, Molley, Ann dancing
- Julia
Architectural element from a grainary.
Toba Batak Peoples
North Sumatra, Indonesia
19th century
Ironwood and pigment
Stanford Art Museum
Stanford, California
She naturally masters the element of fire, but like to use it through her spear.
She's a simple girl who just love to play, her favorite game is to burn, blow up, and so kill everyone who gets in her way.
My cousin and I rented a Teepee in Montana while traveling across the US of A. We attempted to make the Element logo as a light painting!
While eating lunch I was talking to my girlfriend and she had one of my shirts on. I looked down at the sleeve and was like, "I bet I could do that on PMG." So I did, lol.
Basilica di San Clemente al Laterano
La basilica di San Clemente a Roma, dedicata a papa Clemente I, sorge nella valle tra l'Esquilino e il Celio, sulla direttrice che unisce il Colosseo al Laterano, nel rione Monti. Ha la dignità di basilica minore.[1] Attualmente è retta dalla provincia irlandese dei domenicani.
La basilica che oggi vediamo è stata edificata nel XII secolo ed è collegata al convento domenicano. Il complesso riveste una grande importanza perché si trova al di sopra di antichi edifici interrati per due livelli di profondità, il più antico dei quali risale al I secolo d.C.; i due livelli al di sotto dell'attuale basilica sono stati riscoperti e portati alla luce dal 1857 grazie a padre Joseph Mullooly O.P., allora priore del convento. I tre livelli sono, dall'alto: la basilica attuale, medioevale; la basilica antica, in un edificio già dimora di un patrizio romano; un insieme di costruzioni romane di epoca post-neroniana. Ad un quarto livello sotto i precedenti appartengono tracce di costruzioni romane più antiche.
Queste sovrapposizioni, che si riscontrano in altri edifici romani, sono avvenute in modo particolarmente evidente in virtù delle notevoli sedimentazioni dovute alla posizione (la valle tra i colli Esquilino e Celio) ed a particolari avvenimenti storici (l'incendio neroniano, il saccheggio di Roberto il Guiscardo).
I primi due livelli sotterranei sono stati portati alla luce e consolidati, e sono oggi in buona parte comodamente percorribili e visitabili. La ricchezza di elementi architettonici, artistici e storici, comprendenti l'arco di vita di quasi tutta l'era cristiana, ne fa un monumento unico nella storia dell'arte di Roma.
La Basilica attuale
La basilica superiore fu realizzata nel XII secolo da Anastasio, che fu cardinale titolare tra il 1099 ed il 1120, e fu consacrata in data ancora non precisata. È noto solo che Papa Pasquale II, che ne era già stato cardinale titolare dal 1076 ca. al 1099 in questo ultimo anno venne nominato papa nella stessa basilica. Con queste opere la basilica antica fu demolita nella parte superiore ed interrata fino alla quota di ca. 4 mt, utilizzando le vecchie strutture come fondazioni di quelle nuove e restringendone la larghezza (la navata centrale della basilica sotterranea è larga quanto la navata centrale più la navatella destra della basilica attuale).
La motivazione più ricorrente della demolizione dell'antica basilica è considerata quella del suo cattivo stato di conservazione, nonché l'accumulo di macerie a seguito dell'incendio delle truppe normanne del 1084 (Sacco di Roma); tuttavia si sono successivamente reperite ulteriori e più profonde motivazioni nel clima di rinnovamento romanico che i benedettini portarono nel clero romano ed italiano in genere, e anche nella profonda relazione della basilica inferiore con l'antipapa Clemente III/Guiberto di Ravenna.
Numerosi interventi successivi ne hanno modificato l'aspetto interno ed esterno; l'aspetto attuale è stato infine definito in un importante restauro effettuato tra il 1713 ed il 1719 voluto da papa Clemente XI e realizzato a cura dell'architetto Carlo Stefano Fontana, nipote del più famoso Domenico Fontana.
L'interno
L'interno della basilica è suddiviso in tre navate, senza transetto, con un'abside semicircolare; le navate sono separate da colonne romane di spoglio. Nell'abside centrale è conservato il meraviglioso mosaico, con al centro Cristo crocifisso tra la Vergine e San Giovanni Evangelista. In esso, la croce, sulla quale si trovano dodici colombe a rappresentare gli apostoli, è rappresentata come arbor vitae, sorgente da un cespo di acanto, tra i cui girali si trovano figure di animali e uomini. Al di sotto del mosaico è un affresco con gli Apostoli, risalente al XIV. Il pavimento intarsiato di marmi policromi è un esempio molto bello di stile cosmatesco; nel centro della navata, prima del presbiterio, si trova la schola cantorum, del XII secolo, elemento tipico delle basiliche paleocristiane e qui in S. Clemente di particolare importanza perché reimpiega diversi frammenti provenienti dalla chiesa inferiore; essa è costituita dal recinto lungo il quale si innestano i due pulpiti. Al termine della schola cantorum si trova l'altare maggiore, sovrastato dal ciborio medievale. Alcuni elementi appartenevano alla basilica inferiore e sono: parte della schola cantorum, come detto, l'altare, la cattedra vescovile (detto anche seggio vescovile).
La porzione superiore della navata centrale presenta uno stile barocco che ha inizio dalle arcate dei colonnati, interessa le pareti con ricchi stucchi ed affreschi, raffiguranti scene della vita di S. Clemente, ed un soffitto a cassettoni con cornici dorate. L'ingresso ordinario alla basilica avviene dall'esterno direttamente sulla navata sinistra tramite una porta laterale realizzata nel 1590; l'ingresso principale della chiesa, usato solo in occasioni cerimoniali, avviene dal quadriportico.
Sulla navata destra si trova l'accesso ad un locale che conduce alla sagrestia, al convento domenicano ed agli scavi dei livelli inferiori.
L'impianto originale della basilica era privo delle cappelle e dell'ingresso laterale nella navata sud; su questo lato vi erano altri locali del complesso conventuale, poi demoliti per la realizzazione della via dei SS. Quattro Coronati con il Piano Sistino.
Le cappelle, poste alle due estremità di ciascuna navata laterale ed una lateralmente nella navata destra, furono realizzate nei secoli successivi: nel 1430 ca. quella di S. Caterina, nell'estremo sud-est, nel 1450 ca. quella S. Giovanni Battista, nell'estremo nord-ovest, nel 1615 quella di S. Cirillo, poi dedicata a S. Domenico nel 1715, nell'estremo nord-est, nel 1617 quella del SS. Sacramento, nell'estremo sud-ovest, nel 1886 quella di S. Cirillo, lungo la navatella nord.
La facciata ed il campanile
La facciata attuale, sobria ed elegante, è stata disegnata da Carlo Stefano Fontana e realizzata nel 1716 sopra le arcate del portico esistente, reca al centro un grande finestrone ad arco a tutto sesto inquadrato fra due lesene.
Nella parte inferiore si trova un portico ad archi con colonne romane di spoglio che si trova in corrispondenza del nartece della basilica inferiore. Prima dei restauri settecenteschi vi era una facciata in mattoni (come il resto del corpo della basilica) allineata con il portone d'ingresso alla chiesa, con alcune finestrelle ed esisteva solo il portico di facciata.
Sul lato sinistro si trova il campanile, con lo stesso stile barocco, realizzato intorno tra la fine del XVII e l'inizio del XVIII secolo. In precedenza era situato sul lato opposto, come mostrano la veduta di Roma di Antonio Tempesta e la veduta di Francino, con la stile tipico dei campanili del Lazio nel medioevo. Le fondazioni del vecchio campanile sono ancora visibili al livello inferiore della chiesa antica.
Il quadriportico
L'ingresso ufficiale alla basilica, utilizzato solo in occasioni cerimoniali, avviene dalla piazza di S. Clemente attraverso un piccolo protiro in mattoni e due colonne romane.
Da questo si entra nell'atrio a quadriportico; questo presenta quattro portici differenti tra di loro: il portico d'ingresso (lato est) è realizzato su due piani e retto da possenti pilastri quadrangolari in muratura, i portici a nord e sud, con colonne romane diverse tra loro, sono coperti con una semplice falda in legno e tegole, del portico di facciata si è detto. Sul portico nord si trova un ulteriore accesso al convento domenicano.
La basilica attuale di San Clemente, grazie anche alla presenza del quadriportico, è stata spesso citata come modello di basilica paleocristiana, in realtà l'aspetto descritto è anch'esso frutto dei restauri del 1700. Ulteriori testimonianze e studi sulle murature visibili hanno di fatto evidenziato come l'atrio non fosse porticato inizialmente su tutti i lati, e che abbia subito notevoli modifiche nel corso dei secoli, ridotto anche in stato di abbandono e che i portici nord e sud erano, in un periodo non meglio determinato, composti da due livelli, con un solaio intermedio in legno.
La basilica antica
Intorno alla metà del III secolo il piano superiore dell'horreum fu demolito, il piano inferiore fu interrato ed al posto del suo livello superiore fu realizzato un nuovo edificio adibito ad abitazione privata, residenza di un patrizio. Alcune testimonianze letterarie hanno fatto supporre agli studiosi paleocristiani che in questo edificio avvennero le prime riunioni di culto cristiano che lo hanno fatto individuare come titulus Clementi. Girolamo riferisce che ai suoi tempi non era nuova: ...nominis eius [Clementis] memoriam usque hodie Romae exstructa ecclesia custodit, ponendo la datazione del titolo in precedenza all'anno 385. La presenza della chiesa di San Clemente è successivamente menzionata anche in una lettera di papa Zosimo (417-418) ed in una di papa Leone I (440-461); altre testimonianze epigrafiche sono state considerate meno certe.
Nei secoli successivi l'edificio originale è stato oggetto di varie modifiche:
nel IV secolo l'edificio fu modificato e gli fu data una forma più simile a quella di una basilica cristiana, con una navata centrale e due navate laterali.
all'inizio del V secolo fu aggiunta un'abside, realizzata occupando parte del livello superiore dell'edificio del Mitreo.
nel VI secolo furono realizzati l'altare e la schola cantorum (un recinto dedicato ai cantori dei salmi) e fu posato un nuovo pavimento in mosaico floreale, per una buona parte ancora visibile;
tra l'VIII ed il IX secolo vi fu l'inserimento di colonne marmoree, ed alcuni affreschi;
nell'XI secolo, successivamente all'incendio di questa parte di Roma dovuta al saccheggio delle truppe normanne di Roberto il Guiscardo, si resero necessarie opere di rinforzo nel colonnato sud e nel nartece che furono ricoperte da nuovi affreschi.
Nella basilica inferiore, all'estremità ovest della navata sud, si reputa siano conservate le reliquie di san Cirillo, evangelizzatore degli Slavi, che portò a Roma dalla Crimea le reliquie di san Clemente.
Gli affreschi presenti nella basilica inferiore costituiscono un notevole interesse storico ed artistico e sono oggetto di studi particolari.
Negli affreschi della basilica sono raffigurati alcuni miracoli attribuiti a san Clemente. In uno degli affreschi è raccontata la leggenda miracolosa del prefetto Sisinnio, il quale, arrabbiato a causa della conversione della propria moglie Teodora, la seguì con alcuni soldati; quando la trovò in una sala mentre assisteva ad una messa celebrata da Clemente, ordinò il suo arresto, ma Dio non lo permise accecando Sisinnio e i soldati, che, credendo di portare via Teodora e Clemente, in realtà trascinarono colonne. Il prefetto restò cieco fino al suo ritorno a casa.
Iscrizione di san Clemente e Sisinnio
Nella navata centrale, vicino l'accesso alla navata sinistra, si trova uno dei più famosi affreschi della basilica non solo per l'importanza artistica, ma anche perché nel riquadro inferiore del dipinto si trovano trascrizioni di frasi espresse in una lingua intermedia fra il latino e il volgare. Queste iscrizioni (databili tra il 1084 e l'inizio del 1100) costituiscono il primo esempio in cui il volgare italiano appare scritto ed anche usato con intento artistico[19].
Il dipinto rappresenta un frammento della Passio Sancti Clementis, in cui il patrizio Sisinnio è nell'atto di ordinare ai suoi servi (Gosmario, Albertello e Carboncello) di legare e trascinare san Clemente. I servi, accecati come il loro padrone, trasportano invece una colonna di marmo. Si leggono queste espressioni (la cui attribuzione ai singoli personaggi è incerta; quella proposta è la più condivisa): Sisinium: «Fili de le pute, traite, Gosmari, Albertel, traite. Falite dereto co lo palo, Carvoncelle!», San Clemente: «Duritiam cordis vestris, saxa traere meruistis». Traduzione: Sisinnio: «Figli di puttana, tirate! Gosmario, Albertello, tirate! Carvoncello, spingi da dietro con il palo», San Clemente: «A causa della durezza del vostro cuore, avete meritato di trascinare sassi». La prima parte è tutta in volgare, con chiare influenze romanesche. Da notare che le espressioni de le e co lo sono già preposizioni articolate, che non esistevano nella lingua latina. La seconda parte è scritta in latino, ma vi sono varie stranezze; duritiam, ad esempio, è un accusativo, ma dovrebbe essere un ablativo: è un chiaro segnale che ormai non si usino più i casi latini, ma ci si affidi ad un caso unico. Inoltre, in luogo del latino trahere si nota la caduta dell'h, traere.
L'atrio antico
Le numerose campagne di scavo non hanno mai interessato l'atrio, cosicché non si hanno prove archeologiche dell'esistenza di un atrio di fronte alla basilica inferiore; dalle misurazioni degli edifici inferiori e da analisi stilistiche si può affermare che è molto probabile che ne esistesse uno, ma non si può essere certi che si trattasse di un quadriportico.
Le costruzioni romane
Gli edifici riscoperti al livello più basso sui quali insiste la basilica sono due, separati da uno stretto vicolo largo ca. 70 cm, oggi percorribile grazie agli scavi: un grosso edificio destinato probabilmente a magazzino (horreum) ed un edificio residenziale (insula), meglio noto tra gli studiosi come l'edificio del Mitreo. Al di sotto di questo sono state rinvenute tracce di edifici precedenti, che tuttavia non sono stati scavati e studiati sufficientemente per conoscerli a fondo.
L'horreum
L'edificio principale e più grande sul quale è fondata la basilica è costituito da una grossa struttura rettangolare (da taluni creduta del periodo repubblicano della storia di Roma), originariamente di due piani, realizzata nel I secolo d.C. con grossi blocchi di tufo, suddivisa in celle coperte con volta a botte poste sul perimetro, e con un vasto cortile interno (attualmente non scavato); la larghezza dell'edificio è di 29,60 m (ca. 100 piedi romani), mentre non è ancora stato possibile rilevarne la lunghezza esatta. La forma e la struttura dell'edificio hanno fatto ipotizzare che si trattasse di un horreum, cioè un magazzino, realizzato a servizio della vicina area dei Ludi edificata nel I secolo intorno al Colosseo.
L'edificio del Mitreo
Il secondo edificio, situato oltre il vicolo, era costituito da un'insula, cioè una casa suddivisa in vari appartamenti posti intorno ad un cortile centrale interno, realizzata in opus latericium intorno al I secolo. In questo cortile, tra la fine del II e l'inizio del III secolo, fu realizzato un Mitreo, piccolo tempio dedicato al culto del dio Mitra, di origine orientale ed importato a Roma molto probabilmente con le legioni di ritorno dalle campagne in Asia Minore, intorno al 67 a.C. Nel Mitreo fu rinvenuta una statua del Buon Pastore.
Il clero di San Clemente
Il Titulus di San Clemente era uno dei venticinque tituli che nel III secolo costituivano i centri pastorali cristiani a Roma, retti da sacerdoti chiamati cardinali; le origini pastorali di tale titolo sono ancora attestate dall'assegnazione ad ogni nuovo cardinale eletto di una chiesa Titolare (come per esempio San Clemente). Non si dà attualmente per certo che gli edifici intorno alla basilica superiore fossero occupati da una comunità religiosa fin dalla sua consacrazione; la prima data storica certa è quella del 1403, quando papa Bonifacio IX vi introdusse la congregazione dei frati di S. Ambrogio ad Nemus, che vi rimasero fino al 1643, anno in cui furono soppressi da papa Urbano VIII.
Nel 1645 la basilica ed il convento furono affidati ai Domenicani di S. Sisto; quando poi l'Inghilterra dichiarò fuorilegge la Chiesa Cattolica Irlandese e ne espulse il clero, la basilica ed il convento nel 1677 furono assegnati ai Domenicani Irlandesi, che ancora vi risiedono e li amministrano.
Da Wikipedia, l'enciclopedia libera.
Incisione di Giuseppe Vasi; Raccolta Foto de Alvariis;
So Comfy; Earth Element rooms are an enfolding haven adorned by Thai primeval wall paintings – mythical creatures, shadows flickering in the light. When the new day beckons, brew up a refined morning boost with your personal illy espresso machine and take in the stunning Lumpini Park views while you gear up for the action and inspirations of the Thai capital.
Always pack a snorkeling mask with you
on the Kona coast you never know what little bay you might find
Wood Element rooms represent Elegance and Tranquility. Wooden floor invites you in to discover the different forms and type of wood creations like no other, brought to life with featured lighting and soft textures. Calmness instills whilst the bustling city outside continues. Hand-sketched mural by national artist of Thailand.
I guess I've never posted my 2x6 brick collection here...
Well this is the perfect time to do so, since I just received three new additions thanks to Matthias and Dan! :)
Non-Production colors in my collection are:
-Medium Brown
-Dark Tan
-Light Nougat
-Nougat
-Medium Orange
-Bright Light Orange
-Medium Yellowish Orange
-Bright Light Yellow
-Yellowish Green
-Olive Green
-Light Aqua
-Dark Azure
-Maersk Blue
-Medium Violet
-Purple
-Trans-Clear
-Trans-Brown
-Trans-Neon Orange
-Trans-Orange
-Trans-Bright Green
-Trans-Dark Blue
-Trans-Light Blue
-Pearl Light Gray
-Flat Silver
-Satin Trans-Clear
-Metallic Silver
-Metallic Gold
-Glitter Milky White
-Glitter Trans-Light Blue
Still looking for:
-Light Brown (ID Only)
-Warm Yellowish Orange (Found by another collector)
-Very Light Orange (ID Only)
-Bright Light Blue (Found by another collector)
-Sand Blue (ID Only)
-Lavender (ID Only)
-Trans-Red (ID | Seen)
-Trans-Yellow (ID | Seen)
-Trans-Neon Green (Found by another collector)
-Trans-Green (ID Only)
-Trans-Dark Pink (ID Only)
-Chrome Gold (Found by another collector)
-Milky White (Seen)
-Glitter Trans-Purple (May exist)
I never realize how many non-production colors there are until I list them out! Totaling 43 possible non-production colors!
As always, more info can be found on theqelement.
(Sorry for the low quality photo, I couldn't get the lighting to play nice with all the different colors)