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First of all I am sorry for not uploading recently but my flickr was all messed but yahoo has fixed it know so I am back! Anyway I was published again this time with my toad shot this time in Digital SLR magazine!
OK call me stupid, but i am happy to got my pictures published!
A photobook 'about the Dutch - by the Dutch', and out of the 4000 entries they picked 4 out of 4 entries of mine. And on the cover even!
The history of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art
1863 / After many years of efforts by Rudolf Eitelberger decides Emperor Franz Joseph I on 7 March on the initiative of his uncle Archduke Rainer, following the model of the in 1852 founded South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum, London), the establishment of the "k. k. Austrian Museum for Art and Industry" and apponted Rudolf von Eitelberger, the first professor of art history at the University of Vienna, to director. The museum should be serving as a specimen collection for artists, industrialists, and public and as a training and education center for designers and craftsmen.
1864/ on 12th of May, opened the museum - provisionally in premises of the ball house next to the Vienna Hofburg, the architect Heinrich von Ferstel for museum purposes had adapted. First exhibited objects are loans and donations from the imperial collections, monasteries, private property and from the kk polytechnic in Vienna. Reproductions, masters and plaster casts are standing value-neutral next originals.
1865-1897 / The Museum of Art and Industry publishes the journal Communications of Imperial (k. k.) Austrian Museum for Art and Industry .
1866 / Due to the lack of space in the ballroom setting up of an own museum building is accelerated. A first project of Rudolf von Eitelberger and Heinrich von Ferstel provides the integration of the museum in the project of imperial museums in front of the Hofburg Imperial Forum. Only after the failure of this project, the site of the former Exerzierfelds (parade ground) of the defense barracks before Stubentor the museum here is assigned, next to the newly created city park on the still being under development Rind Road.
1867 / Theoretical and practical training are combined with the establishment of the School of Applied Arts. This will initially be housed in the old gun factory, Währinger Straße 11-13/Schwarzspanierstrasse 17, Vienna 9.
1868 / With the construction of the building at Stubenring is started as soon as it is approved by Emperor Franz Joseph I. the second draft of Heinrich Ferstel.
1871 / The opening of the building at Stubering takes place after three years of construction, 15 November. Designed according to plans by Heinrich von Ferstel in the Renaissance style, it is the first built museum building on the ring. Objects from now on could be placed permanently and arranged according to main materials. / / The Arts School moves into the house on Stubenring. / / Opening of Austrian art and crafts exhibition.
1873 / Vienna World Exhibition. / / The Museum of Art and Industry and the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts are exhibiting together at Stubenring. / / Rudolf von Eitelberger organizes in the framework of the World Exhibition the worldwide first international art scientific congress in Vienna, thus emphasizing the orientation of the Museum on teaching and research. / / During the World Exhibition major purchases for the museum of funds of the Ministry are made, eg 60 pages of Indo-Persian Journal Mughal manuscript Hamzanama.
1877 / decision on the establishment of taxes for the award of Hoftiteln (court titels). With the collected amounts the local art industry can be promoted. / / The new building of the School of Applied Arts, adjoining the museum, Stubenring 3 , also designed by Heinrich von Ferstel, is opened.
1878 / participation of the Museum of Art and Industry and the School of Art at the Paris World Exhibition.
1884 / founding of the Vienna Arts and Crafts Association with seat in the museum. Many well-known companies and workshops (led by J. & L. Lobmeyr), personalities and professors of the arts and crafts school join the Arts and Crafts Association. Undertaking of this association is to further develop all creative and executive powers the arts and crafts since the 1860s has obtained. For this reason are organized various times changing, open to the public exhibitions at the Imperial Austrian Museum for Art and Industry. The exhibits can also be purchased. These new, generously carried out exhibitions give the club the necessary national and international resonance.
1885 / After the death of Rudolf von Eitelberger is Jacob von Falke, his longtime deputy, appointed manager. Falke plans all collection areas als well as publications to develop newly and systematically. With his popular publications he influences significantly the interior design style of the historicism in Vienna.
1888 / The Empress Maria Theresa exhibition revives the contemporary discussion with the high baroque in the history of art and in applied arts in particular.
1895 / end of the Directorate of Jacob von Falke. Bruno Bucher, longtime curator of the Museum of metal, ceramic and glass, and since 1885 deputy director, is appointed director.
1896 / The Vienna Congress exhibition launches the confrontation with the Empire and Biedermeier style, the sources of inspiration of Viennese Modernism .
1897 / end of the Directorate of Bruno Bucher. Arthur von Scala, Director of the Imperial Oriental Museum in Vienna since its founding in 1875 (renamed Imperial Austrian Trade Museum 1887), takes over the management of the Museum of Art and Industry. / / Scala wins Otto Wagner, Felician of Myrbach, Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann and Alfred Roller to work at the museum and school of applied arts. / / The style of the Secession is crucial for the Arts and Crafts School. Scala propagated the example of the Arts and Crafts Movement and makes appropriate acquisitions for the museum's collection.
1898 / Due to differences between Scala and the Arts and Crafts Association, which sees its influence on the Museum wane, Archduke Rainer puts down his function as protector. / / New statutes are written.
1898-1921 / The Museum magazine art and crafts replaces the Mittheilungen (Communications) and soon gaines international reputation.
1900 / The administration of Museum and Arts and Crafts School is disconnected.
1904 / The Exhibition of Old Vienna porcelain, the to this day most comprehensive presentation on this topic, brings with the by the Museum in 1867 definitely taken over estate of the " k. k. Aerarial Porcelain Manufactory" (Vienna Porcelain Manufactory) important pieces of collectors from all parts of the Habsburg monarchy together.
1907 / The Museum of Art and Industry takes over the majority of the inventories of the Imperial Austrian Trade Museum, including the by Arthur von Scala founded Asia collection and the extensive East Asian collection of Heinrich von Siebold .
1908 / Integration of the Museum of Art and Industry in the Imperial and Royal Ministry of Public Works.
1909 / separation of Museum and Arts and Crafts School, the latter remains subordinated to the Ministry of Culture and Education. / / After three years of construction, the according to plans of Ludwig Baumann extension building of the museum (now Weiskirchnerstraße 3, Wien 1) is opened. The museum receives thereby rooms for special and permanent exhibitions. / / Arthur von Scala retires, Eduard Leisching follows him as director. / / Revision of the statutes.
1909 / Archduke Carl exhibition. For the centenary of the Battle of Aspern. / / The Biedermeier style is discussed in exhibitions and art and crafts.
1914 / Exhibition of works by the Austrian art industry from 1850 to 1914, a competitive exhibition that highlights, among other things, the role model of the museum of arts and crafts in the fifty years of its existence.
1919 / After the founding of the First Republic it comes to assignments of former imperial possession to the museum, for example, of oriental carpets that are shown in an exhibition in 1920. The Museum now has one of the finest collections of oriental carpets worldwide .
1920 / As part of the reform of museums of the First Republic, the collection areas are delineated. The Antiquities Collection of the Museum of Art and Industry is given away to the Museum of Art History.
1922 / The exhibition of glasses of classicism, the Empire and Biedermeier time offers with precious objects from the museum and private collections an overview of the art of glassmaking from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. / / Biedermeier glass serves as a model for contemporary glass production and designs, such as Josef Hoffmann.
1922 / affiliation of the museal inventory of the royal table and silver collection to the museum. Until the institutional separation the former imperial household and table decoration is co-managed by the Museum of Art and Industry and is inventoried for the first time by Richard Ernst.
1925 / After the end of the Directorate of Eduard Leisching Hermann Trenkwald is appointed director.
1926 / The exhibition Gothic in Austria gives a first comprehensive overview of the Austrian panel painting and of arts and crafts of the 12th to 16th Century.
1927 / August Schestag succeeds Hermann Trenkwald as director .
1930 / The Werkbund (artists' organization) Exhibition Vienna, A first comprehensive presentation of the Austrian Werkbund, takes place on the occasion of the meeting of the Deutscher Werkbund in Austria, it is organized by Josef Hoffmann in collaboration with Oskar Strnad, Josef Frank, Ernst Lichtblau and Clemens Holzmeister.
1931 / August Schestag finishes his Directorate .
1932 / Richard Ernst is the new director .
1936 and 1940 / In exchange with the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History), the museum at Stubenring gives away part of the sculptures and takes over craft inventories of the collection Albert Figdor and the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
1937 / The Collection of the Museum of Art and Industry is re-established by Richard Ernst according to periods. / / Oskar Kokoschka exhibition on the 50th birthday of the artist.
1938 / After the "Anschluss" of Austria by Nazi Germany, the museum was renamed "National Museum of Decorative Arts in Vienna".
1939-1945 / The museums are taking over numerous confiscated private collections. The collection of the "State Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna" is also enlarged in this way.
1945 / Partial destruction of the museum building by impact of war. / / War losses on collection objects, even in the places of rescue of objects.
1946 / The return of the outsourced objects of art begins. A portion of the during the Nazi time expropriated objects is returned in the following years.
1947 / The "State Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna" is renamed "Austrian Museum of Applied Arts".
1948 / The "Cathedral and Metropolitan Church of St. Stephen" organizes the exhibition The St. Stephen's Cathedral in the Museum of Applied Arts. History, monuments, reconstruction.
1949 / The Museum is reopened after repair of the war damages.
1950 / As last exhibition under director Richard Ernst takes place Great art from Austria's monasteries (Middle Ages).
1951 / Ignaz Schlosser is appointed manager.
1952 / The exhibition Social home decor, designed by Franz Schuster, makes the development of social housing in Vienna again the topic of the Museum of Applied Arts.
1955 / The comprehensive archive of the Wiener Werkstätte (workshop) is acquired.
1955-1985 / The Museum publishes the periodical ancient and modern art .
1956 / Exhibition New Form from Denmark, modern design from Scandinavia becomes topic of the museum and model.
1957 / On the occasion of the exhibition Venini Murano glass, the first presentation of Venini glass in Austria, there are significant purchases and donations for the collection of glass.
1958 / End of the Directorate Ignaz Schlosser
1959 / Viktor Griesmaier is appointed as the new director.
1960 / Exhibition Artistic creation and mass production of Gustavsberg, Sweden. Role model of Swedish design for the Austrian art and crafts.
1963 / For the first time in Europe, in the context of a comprehensive exhibition art treasures from Iran are shown.
1964 / The exhibition Vienna 1900 presents Crafts of Art Nouveau for the first time after the Second World War. / / It is started with the systematic processing of the archive of the Wiener Werkstätte. / / On the occasion of the founding anniversary grantes the exhibition 100 years Austrian Museum of Applied Arts using examples of historicism insights into the collection.
1965 / The Geymüllerschlössel is as a branch of the Museum angegliedert (annexed). Gleichzeitig (at the same time) with the building came the important collection of Franz Sobek - old Viennese clocks, emerged between 1760 and the second half of the 19th Century - and furniture from the years 1800 to 1840 in the possession of the MAK.
1966 / In the exhibition Selection 66 selected items of modern Austrian interior designers (male and female ones) are merged.
1967 / The Exhibition The Wiener Werkstätte. Modern Arts and Crafts from 1903 to 1932 is founding the boom that continues to today of Austria's most important design project in the 20th Century.
1968 / On Viktor Griesmaier follows Wilhelm Mrazek as director.
1969 / The exhibition Sitting 69 shows on the international modernism oriented positions of Austrian designers, inter alia by Hans Hollein.
1974 / For the first time outside of China Archaeological Finds of the People's Republic of China are shown in a traveling exhibition in the so-called Western world.
1979 / Gerhart Egger is appointed director .
1980 / The exhibition New Living. Viennese interior design 1918-1938 provides the first comprehensive presentation of the art space in Vienna during the interwar period.
1981 / Herbert Fux follows Gerhart Egger as Director.
1984 / Ludwig Neustift is appointed interim director. / / Exhibition Achille Castiglioni: Designer. First exhibition of the Italian designer in Austria
1986 / Peter NOEVER is appointed as Director and started building up the collection of contemporary art.
1987 / Josef Hoffmann. Ornament between hope and crime is the first comprehensive exhibition on the work of the architect and designer.
1989-1993 / General renovation of thee old buildings and construction of a two-storey underground storeroom and a connecting tract. A generous deposit for collection and additional exhibit spaces arise.
1989 / Exhibition Carlo Scarpa. The other city, the first comprehensive exhibition on the work of the architect outside Italy.
1990 / exhibition Hidden impressions. Japonisme in Vienna 1870-1930, first exhibition on the theme of the Japanese influence on the Viennese Modernism.
1991 / exhibition Donald Judd Architecture, first major presentation of the artist in Austria.
1992 / Magdalena Jetelová domestication of a pyramid (installation in the MAK portico).
1993 / The permanent collection is re-established, interventions of internationally recognized artists (Barbara Bloom, Eichinger oder Knechtl, Günther Förg, GANGART, Franz Graf, Jenny Holzer, Donald Judd, Peter Noever, Manfred Wakolbinger and Heimo Zobernig) update the prospects, in the sense of "Tradition and Experiment". The halls on Stubenring accommodate furthermore the study collection and the temporary exhibitions of contemporary artists reserved gallery. The building in the Weiskirchnerstraße is dedicated to changing exhibitions. / / The opening exhibition Vito Acconci. The City Inside Us shows a room installation by New York artist.
1994 / The Gefechtsturm (defence tower) Arenbergpark becomes branch of the MAK. / / Start of the cooperation MAK/MUAR - Schusev State Museum of Architecture Moscow. / / Ilya Kabakov: The Red Wagon (installation on the MAK terrace plateau).
1995 / The MAK founds the branch of MAK Center for Art and Architecture in Los Angeles, in the Schindler House and at the Mackey Apartments, MAK Artists and Architects-in-Residence Program starts in October 1995. / / Exhibition Sergei Bugaev Africa : Krimania.
1996 / For the exhibition Philip Johnson: Turning Point designs the American doyen of architectural designing the sculpture "Viennese Trio", which is located since 1998 at the Franz-Josefs-Kai/Schottenring.
1998 / The for the exhibition James Turrell. The other Horizon designed Skyspace today stands in the garden of MAK Expositur Geymüllerschlössel. / / Overcoming the utility. Dagobert Peche and the Wiener Werkstätte, the first comprehensive Personale of the work of the designer of Wiener Werkstätte after the Second World War.
1999 / Due to the Restitution Act and the Provenance Research from now on numerous during the Nazi time confiscated objects are returned .
2000 / Outsourcing the federal museums, transforming the museum into a "scientific institution under public law". / / The exhibition of art and industry. The beginnings of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna are dealing with the founding history of the house and the collection.
2001 / As part of the exhibition Franz West: No Mercy, for which the sculptor and installation artist developed his hitherto most extensive work the "Four lemurs heads " are placed at the Stubenbrücke located next to the MAK. / / Dennis Hopper: A System of Moments.
2001-2002 / The CAT Project - Contemporary Art Tower after New York, Los Angeles, Moscow and Berlin in Vienna is presented.
2002 / Exhibition Nodes. symmetrical-asymmetrical. The historic Oriental Carpets of the MAK presents the extensive rug collection.
2003 / Exhibition Zaha Hadid. Architecture. / / For the anniversary of the artist workshop, the exhibition The Price of Beauty. 100 years Wiener Werkstätte takes place. / / Richard Artschwager: The Hydraulic Door Check. Sculpture, painting, drawing.
2004 / James Turrell MAKlite is since November 2004 permanently on the facade of the building installed. / / Exhibition Peter Eisenmann. Barefoot on White-Hot Walls, large-scaled architectural installation on the work of the influential American architect and theorist.
2005 / Atelier Van Lieshout: The Disziplinatornbsp / / The exhibition Ukiyo-e Reloaded for the first time presents the collection of Japanese woodblock prints of the MAK in large scale.
2006 / Since the beginning of the year the birthplace of Josef Hoffmann in Brtnice of the Moravian Gallery in Brno and the MAK Vienna as a joint branch is run and presents special exhibitions annually. / / The exhibition The Price of Beauty. The Wiener Werkstätte and the Stoclet House brings the objects of the Wiener Werkstätte to Brussels. / / Exhibition Jenny Holzer: XX.
2007/2008 / Exhibition Coop Himmelb(l)au. Beyond the Blue, is the hitherto largest and most comprehensive museal presentation of the global team of architects .
2008 / The 1936 according to plans of Rudolph M. Schindler built Fitzpatrick-Leland House, a generous gift from Russ Leland to the MAK Center LA, becomes using a promotion that granted the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department the MAK Center, the center of the MAK UFI project - MAK Urban Future Initiative. / / Julian Opie: Recent Works / / The exhibition Recollecting. Looting and Restitution examines the status of efforts to restitute expropriated objects from Jewish property of museums in Vienna.
2009 / The permanent exhibition Josef Hoffmann: Inspiration is in the Josef Hoffmann Museum, Brtnice opened. / / Exhibition Anish Kapoor. Shooting into the Corner / / The museum sees itself as a promoter of Cultural Interchange and discusses in the exhibition Global:lab Art as a message. Asia and Europe 1500-1700 the intercultural as well as the intercontinental cultural exchange based on objects from the MAK and from international collections.
2011 / After Peter Noevers resignation Martina Kandeler-Fritsch takes over temporarily the management. / / Since 1 September Christoph Thun-Hohenstein is director of the MAK.
Three of my images have been published in a book about reed warblers, by Dr Karl Schulz-Hagen. If German scientific publications about the acrocephalus family of passerine birds become the next big thing, I'll be famous!
Published in the Unicef Desk Diary 2008 worldwide.
Original picture: www.flickr.com/photos/ashish_tibrewal/193981908/
One sunday morning, while passing from a flyover somewhere in Mumbai, I observed these children playing on the streets. As soon as I focused my camera, they imitated me and thus this candid picture.
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this page without written permission and consent.
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La quinta edizione del festival organizzato da Wired Italia. Due lunghi fine settimana in cui vivere l’innovazione nell’economia, nella scienza, nella politica, nell’intrattenimento, nella cultura. Milano e Firenze si trasformano per un fine settimana nel luna park della scienza e della tecnologia. Oltre 150 relatori, performance artistiche, laboratori di stampa 3D, droni in volo, videogame, film, documentari, speed date sul lavoro, maratone di coding e workshop per tutte le età. A Milano da venerdì 26 a domenica 28 maggio ai Giardini Indro Montanelli.
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ore 12:00
Quando la tecnologia diventa un linguaggio
Speaker
Federico Ferri - Direttore Responsabile Sky Sport
Federico Ferri è da fine 2016 Direttore Responsabile di Sky Sport. Torinese, 39 anni, Federico Ferri è stato autore di alcuni dei più importanti prodotti della rete, da Sky Sport Tech, che porta la sua firma, al rinnovato storytelling di programmi di punta come Sky Calcio Live, Sky Calcio Club e Sky Calcio Show, fino ad alcuni format di successo molto apprezzati dal nostro pubblico e dalla critica sportiva, come “Buffa Racconta” e “Mister Condò”.
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ore 12:30
Sempre in prima linea
Speaker
Nadya Tolokonnikova - Fondatrice Pussy Riot
Nadežda Andreevna Tolokonnikova, anche nota come “Nadya Tolokno” è una artista e attivista politica russa. È tra le fondatrici del collettivo Pussy Riot, uno dei più importanti gruppi artisti degli ultimi anni che ha focalizzato la propria attività sulla violazione dei diritti umani in Russia e altrove. Nell’agosto 2012 è stata condannata a due anni di carcere in seguito alla performance anti Putin alla cattedrale di Cristo il Salvatore a Mosca. La protesta ha attirato l’attenzione e il supporto internazionale e l’adesione di personaggi quali Peter Gabriel, Sir Paul McCartney, Madonna, Bjork and Aung San Suu Kyi.
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ore 13:00
Sempre più in alto
Speaker
Gianmarco Tamberi - Atleta
Gianmarco Tamberi (Civitanova Marche, 1º giugno 1992) è un atleta italiano specializzato nel salto in alto, disciplina di cui è campione mondiale indoor a Portland 2016 e campione europeo ad Amsterdam 2016, nonché detentore del record italiano sia outdoor che indoor. In carriera vanta anche una medaglia di bronzo agli Europei juniores di Tallinn 2011.
È figlio dell’ex saltatore in alto e primatista italiano Marco Tamberi, suo attuale allenatore, e fratello di Gianluca, primatista italiano juniores del lancio del giavellotto, modello e attore.
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ore 13:30
10 cose da fare per fare prevenzione - In collaborazione con Airc
Speaker
Geppi Cucciari - Artista e Testimonial Airc
Ugo Pastorino -Dottore e Direttore Scientifico Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori
Geppi Cucciari (Cagliari, 18 agosto 1973) è un’attrice e comica italiana, nota sul piccolo schermo per la sua comicità e le capacità di recitazione.
Il dottor Ugo Pastorino nasce ad Albenga (SV) il 15 luglio 1954. Nel 1979 consegue la Laurea in Medicina e Chirurgia presso l’Università Statale di Milano (110/lode). Dall’ottobre 2014 è Direttore Scientifico della Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori.
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ore 14:30
Insta-star
Speaker
Beatrice Vendramin - Attrice
Attrice, cantante e modella sin da bambina Beatrice Vendramin è un vero e proprio punto di riferimento per la generazione Zeta. É una delle protagoniste di Alex&Co, la situation comedy di Disney dal successo strepitoso dove interpreta il ruolo di Emma. Nel 2016 debutta sul grande schermo a fianco di Giovanna Mezzogiorno e Margherita Buy in “Come Diventare grandi, nonostante i genitori” per la regia di Luca Lucini dove è un’adolescente alle prese con tutte le sfide che la sua giovane età porta con sè.
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ore 15:00
Mediocrazia
Speaker
Alain Deneault - Docente e scrittore
Alain Deneault è un docente e filosofo canadese. Ha scritto saggi sulle politiche governative, sui paradisi fiscali e sulla crisi del pensiero critico. Insegna Scienze Politiche presso l’Università di Montréal e collabora con la rivista Liberté.
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ore 15:30
EPCC@WNF
Speaker
Alessandro Cattelan - Conduttore Radio e Tv
Alessandro Cattelan (Tortona, 11 maggio 1980) è un conduttore televisivo, conduttore radiofonico, scrittore e attore e comico italiano. Presentatore di punta di Sky Italia, tra i suoi programmi di maggior successo vi sono X Factor ed E poi c’è Cattelan.
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ore 16:30
Lo chiamavano cinema italiano
Speaker
Gabriele Mainetti - Attore e Regista
Nato a Roma nel 1976, è attore, regista e produttore cinematografico. Inizia come attore per cinema e fiction, è al contempo un compositore musicale e ha scritto le musiche per molti dei suoi lavori. Come regista inizia con il cortometraggio Basette. Nel 2011 fonda la Goon Films, che raggiunge il successo con Tiger Boy. Vince numerosi premi. Nel 2015 la sua casa di produzione realizza il suo primo cortometraggio: Lo chiamavano Jeeg Robot che, con un budget basso, ottiene grandi incassi e vince 7 statuette al David di Donatello, tra cui quella di miglior regista.
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ore 17:30
Lo strano caso dei TheGiornalisti
Speaker
Tommaso Paradiso - Cantante Thegiornalisti
Tommaso Paradiso è autore e cantante della band Thegiornalisti, ha scritto numerosi testi per artisti italiani. Nato 33 anni fa a Roma, ha iniziato a suonare con alcune band della capitale. Nel 2009 nasce Thegiornalisti. Dopo il debutto nel 2011 col primo album, Vol. 1, seguito dal secondo disco Vecchio, il gruppo ha raggiunto la notorietà grazie all’album Fuoricampo, pubblicato nel 2014. In particolar modo, si sono fatti conoscere nel 2015 con il singolo Fine dell’estate.
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ore 18:15
La critica del giornalismo
Speaker
Ilaria D’Amico - Conduttrice Tv e Giornalista
Ilaria D’Amico è una conduttrice televisiva, giornalista sportiva italiana. Dal 2003 lavora in Sky. Ha frequentato giurisprudenza all’Università La Sapienza di Roma senza conseguire la laurea. La D’Amico raccontò in tv nel 2006 a Fabio Fazio che esordì, grazie all’amico di famiglia Renzo Arbore, in televisione nel 1997 con La giostra dei goal su Rai International, programma che ha condotto per sei edizioni.
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ore 18:45
Tecnologici per caso
Speaker
Federico Russo - Conduttore radio e tv e Musicista
Francesco Mandelli - Attore, Comico e Musicista
Federico Russo nasce a Firenze il 22 dicembre 1980.
Negli anni del liceo, dopo aver abbandonato la “promettente” carriera calcistica, fonda con il suo compagno di banco gli “Scrabbles”, gruppo del quale è cantante, con cui si esibisce in giro per la Toscana sognando Smashing Pumpkins, Rolling Stones, Modern Lovers, Led Zeppelin e tutto ciò che c’è di irraggiungibile!
Francesco Mandelli (Erba, 3 aprile 1979) è un attore, presentatore, autore e musicista, noto per aver esordito nel 1998 nei panni del Nongiovane. Su MTV ha scritto e partecipato a programmi di successo quali Tokusho, Videoclash, BlackBox e Lazarus. Il grande successo è stato raggiunto, assieme al socio Biggio, con I soliti idioti, giunto alla quarta serie e trasformato successivamente in film e in un libro.
Published 1965
Souvenir of Clairol Carousel at the New York World's Fair 1964-65.
Description of the Clairol Carousel:
Ladies can see themselves in various hair colors, view a film on beauty and talk with experts.
Designed for women only, the carousel encloses a revolving turntable, divided into 38 individual booths in which the film is shown. Elsewhere, ladies may peer into a mirrored device to see themselves in several different hair colors, and beauty consultants provide formulas for the colors desired.
Taken on 13 March 2014 in Angola near Catanda Serra-Da-Leba (DSC_0797)
freewheely.com: Cycling Africa beyond mountains and deserts until Cape Town
The Postcard
A postcard that was published by F. Frith & Co. Ltd. of Reigate.
The card was posted in Farnham, Surrey on Monday the 18th. February 1907 to:
Miss Barnett,
'The Laurels',
Brighton Road,
Worthing.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Pleased to get your
letter.
Shall be writing soon.
Best love to all,
Yours,
Will".
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st. Baron Tennyson FRS (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was a British poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign, and remains one of the most popular British poets.
In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge University for one of his first pieces, "Timbuktu". He published his first solo collection of poems, Poems Chiefly Lyrical in 1830.
"Claribel" and "Mariana", which remain two of Tennyson's most celebrated poems, were included in this volume. Although decried by some critics as overly sentimental, his verse soon proved popular and brought Tennyson to the attention of well-known writers of the day, including Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Tennyson's early poetry, with its medievalism and powerful visual imagery, was a major influence on the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
Tennyson also excelled at penning short lyrics, such as "Break, Break, Break", "The Charge of the Light Brigade", "Tears, Idle Tears", and "Crossing the Bar".
Much of his verse was based on classical mythological themes, such as "Ulysses", although "In Memoriam A.H.H." was written to commemorate his friend Arthur Hallam, a fellow poet and student at Trinity College, Cambridge, after he died of a stroke at the age of 22.
Tennyson also wrote some notable blank verse including Idylls of the King, "Ulysses", and "Tithonus". During his career, Tennyson attempted drama, but his plays enjoyed little success.
Two thoughts from Lord Tennyson:
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all'.
'Knowledge comes, but wisdom
lingers'.
Aldworth House
Aldworth House, in Tennyson's Lane, Haslemere was designed by Sir James Knowles for Lord Tennyson and built in 1869.
It was occupied by Tennyson until his death, chiefly in the summer months when he wished to escape from the Isle of Wight visitors whom he found had become trouble-
some.
Tennyson died in the house on the 6th. October 1892. It is in semi-Gothic style, with two storeys and an attic.
The house is Grade I listed because of its historical associations.
Billy De Wolfe
So what else happened on the day that Will posted the card?
Well, the 18th. February 1907 marked the birth In Quincy, Mass. of Billy De Wolfe.
Born William Andrew Jones, he became known as Billy De Wolfe. Billy was an American character actor who was active in films from the mid-1940's until his death in 1974.
Billy De Wolfe - The Early Years
Billy was the son of a Welsh bookbinder who encouraged him to become a Baptist minister. Instead, Billy developed an interest in the theatre, and found work as an usher before becoming a dancer with the Jimmy O'Connor Band.
It was at this point that he changed his last name to De Wolfe, which was the last name of the manager of the Massachusetts theatre where he worked.
Billy went on to tour Europe with a dance team, appearing in a London revue called "Revels in Rhythm". He served in the United States Navy during WWII until he was discharged for medical reasons in 1944.
De Wolfe signed with Paramount Pictures in 1943 and became a comedian. His pencil-moustached and often pompous character contrasted humorously with the films' romantic leads.
His best-known role of his Paramount tenure is probably the ham actor-turned-silent movie villain in the 1947 fictionalized Pearl White biography The Perils of Pauline.
De Wolfe became known for his portrayal of fussy, petty men ("Never touch!," he would say imperiously whenever someone accosted him physically). The New York Times review of his 1948 film Isn't It Romantic? strongly criticized the way the other actors' material limited their performances, contrasting their performances with his:
"But Mr. De Wolfe is nothing daunted.
He rips up the place with great delight.
The material is at his mercy. Likewise
the scenery. And he chews it to bits."
He was a good friend of Doris Day until his death, from the time of their meeting during the filming of Tea for Two (1950), also appearing with Day in Lullaby of Broadway the following year.
After his Paramount contract lapsed, De Wolfe returned to the stage. He appeared in the revue John Murray Anderson's Almanac in 1953 and 1954, and starred in the last edition of the Ziegfeld Follies in 1957.
Billy appeared regularly in guest roles on television, including the first two episodes of NBC's The Imogene Coca Show. He portrayed Mr. Jarvis on CBS's The Doris Day Show, and co-starred with Larry Storch in a short-lived TV sitcom, The Queen and I.
He often appeared on talk shows and in TV commercials, doing his "Mrs. Murgatroyd" drag routine. Wearing a hat and a shawl (but still sporting his moustache), De Wolfe (as old maid Phoebe Murgatroyd) would claim to be an expert on romance and answered questions from the lovelorn.
De Wolfe's closeted homosexuality has been discussed by John Gielgud, author David Kaufman, and The Advocate.
Generations of TV viewers know Billy De Wolfe only by his voice: his is the voice of the inept magician Professor Hinkle in the 1969 Christmas special Frosty the Snowman. De Wolfe gave the role his usual fussy diction:
"Mess-y, mess-y, mess-y!
Sill-y, sill-y, sill-y!
Bus-y, bus-y, bus-y!"
In 1967–68 (one season, 26 episodes), he co-starred with Joby Baker and Ronnie Schell in the TV sitcom Good Morning World as Roland Hutton, the fussy manager at a radio station.
In 1972, De Wolfe was scheduled to return to Broadway portraying Madame Lucy in the musical revival of Irene starring Debbie Reynolds. However, during the early stages of rehearsals, De Wolfe learned that he was ill with cancer, and was replaced by George S. Irving.
The Death of Billy De Wolfe
Later that year, he recorded a vocal track for the New York cast album of Free to Be... You and Me, starring Marlo Thomas, reprising the role in the animated ABC Television special filmed a year later. The TV show aired on March 11, 1974, six days after his death.
Billy died just after his 67th birthday, from lung cancer, on the 5th. March 1974, at UCLA Medical Center where he had been hospitalized since February 26.
He was laid to rest in Mount Wollaston Cemetery, Quincy.
Photograph published 2nd December 1918
During the Great War the Illustrated Chronicle published photographs of soldiers and sailors from Newcastle and the North East of England, which had been in the news. The photographs were sent in by relatives and give us a glimpse into the past.
The physical collection held by Newcastle Libraries comprises bound volumes of the newspaper from 1910 to 1925. We are keen to find out more about the people in the photographs. If you recognise anyone in the images and have any stories and information to add please comment below.
The Postcard
A postcard published by Coastal Cards Ltd. of Clacton-on-Sea. The artwork was by Trow.
The card was posted in Hastings, Sussex on Wednesday the 12th. July 1961 to:
Mr. Lacey,
51, Middle Park Avenue,
Eltham,
London S.E. 9.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Dear Mr. Lacey,
Having a grand time, and
the weather has been great
up until now.
The children love the sea,
and we don't see them when
the tide is out.
Hope you are keeping well -
John sends his regards.
Best wishes,
Mr. & Mrs. Heath".
Trow
"Trow" has been claimed as the pseudonym of Frank Eric Smith, who was born in Salisbury on the 2nd. March 1908, and who lived most of his life in Dorset and Wiltshire. He died on the 5th. October 1985.
According to Smith's family, he drew many seaside postcards in the late 40's and early 50's, and derived his pseudonym from 'Trowbridge', the county town of Wiltshire.
However, Smith claimed to have stopped drawing in 1952, whilst new cards signed "Trow" continued to appear in large numbers until the late 1960's.
It seems that the cards prosecuted by the DPP for indecency in the 1950's were in fact drawn by Thomas Trow (1909-1971) of Stoke on Trent, whose address appears on the reverse of surviving artwork, as the Greyfriars Art Studio.
The Crash of ČSA Flight 511
So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?
Well, on the 12th. July 1961, ČSA Flight 511 crashed near Casablanca-Anfa Airport in Morocco. The 8 crew and 64 passengers who were on the Ilyushin II-18 were all killed. The flight had originated in Zurich.
The accident investigation determined that the crash resulted from a controlled flight into terrain, but the reason why the aircraft did this was never determined.
106 days earlier, on the 28th. March 1961, another Ilyushin Il-18 operating on the same flight, ČSA OK-511, crashed near Nuremberg, Germany, killing all 52 passengers and crew on board.
'Temptation'
Also on that day, the Number One chart hit in the UK was 'Temptation' by the Everly Brothers.
Their version was a re-working of the old standard that was first published in 1933, with music written by Nacio Herb Brown and lyrics by Arthur Freed.
The song was introduced by Bing Crosby in the 1933 film Going Hollywood. Crosby recorded the song with Lennie Hayton's orchestra on the 22nd. October 1933, and it reached the No. 3 spot in the charts during a 12-week stay.
The song was used in the film Singin' in the Rain (1952) and later in the 1983 musical based on the film.
The song is also prominently featured in Valerio Zurlini's Violent Summer (1959).
An interpretation was featured in the first episode of The Muppet Show, with Miss Piggy, four chickens, four frogs, and two male pigs being led by Kermit the Frog in the Muppet Glee Club.
The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers were an American country rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing.
Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (born 1st. February 1937) and Phillip "Phil" Everly ( born 19th. January 1939), the duo combined elements of rock and roll with country and pop, becoming pioneers of country rock.
The duo was raised in a musical family, first appearing on radio singing along with their father Ike Everly and mother Margaret Everly as "The Everly Family" in the 1940's.
When the brothers were still in high school, they gained the attention of prominent Nashville musicians like Chet Atkins, who began to promote them for national attention.
They began writing and recording their own music in 1956, and their first hit song came in 1957, with "Bye Bye Love", written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant. The song hit No. 1 in the spring of 1957, and additional hits followed through 1958, many of them written by the Bryants, including "Wake Up Little Susie", "All I Have to Do Is Dream", and "Problems".
In 1960, they signed with the major label Warner Bros. Records and recorded "Cathy's Clown", written by the brothers themselves, which was their biggest-selling single.
The brothers enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve in 1961, and their output dropped off, though additional hit singles continued through 1962, with "That's Old Fashioned (That's the Way Love Should Be)" being their last top-10 hit.
Long-simmering disputes with Wesley Rose, the CEO of Acuff-Rose Music which managed the group, a growing drug usage in the 1960's, as well as changing tastes in popular music, led to the brothers' decline in popularity in its native U.S.
However Don and Phil continued to release hit singles in the U.K. and Canada, and had many highly successful tours throughout the 1960's.
In the early 1970's, the brothers began releasing solo recordings, and in 1973 they officially broke up. Starting in 1983, the brothers got back together, and continued to perform periodically until Phil's death in 2014.
The brothers were highly influential on the music of the generation that followed it. Many of the top acts of the 1960's were heavily influenced by the close-harmony singing and acoustic guitar playing of the Everly Brothers, including the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Bee Gees, and Simon & Garfunkel.
In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked the Everly Brothers No. 1 on its list of the 20 Greatest Duos of All Time.
They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class of 1986, and into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001.
Don was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2019, earning the organization's first Iconic Riff Award for his distinctive rhythm guitar intro to the brothers' massive 1957 hit "Wake Up Little Susie".
The Deaths of the Everly Brothers
Phil Everly died at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, on the 3rd. January 2014, 16 days before his 75th. birthday, of lung disease.
Phil's widow Patti blamed her husband's death on his smoking habit, which caused him to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and recounted Phil's spending his final years having to carry oxygen tanks with him wherever he went and taking 20 different types of medications per day.
Don Everly claimed in a 2014 interview with the Los Angeles Times that he had given up smoking in the late 1960's and that Phil had stopped too, but started again during their breakup and had continued until 2001.
Don said that weak lungs ran in the family, as their father, Ike, had died of black lung disease.
He admitted that he had lived "a very difficult life" with his brother, and that he and Phil had become estranged once again in later years, something that was mainly attributed to their vastly different views on politics and life.
Music was the one thing they shared closely, with Don saying:
"It's almost like we could read each
other's minds when we sang."
Don also stated that despite their differences, he had not gotten over Phil's death:
"I always thought about him every day,
even when we were not speaking to
each other. It still just shocks me that
he's gone."
Don added that he had always firmly believed he would die before his brother, because he was older. In a 2016 interview, Don said he was still coping with the loss of Phil, and that he had kept some of his brother's ashes in his home. He added that he would pick up the ashes every morning and say "Good Morning", while admitting that it was a peculiar ritual.
On August 21, 2021, Don Everly died at his home in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 84.
The Postcard
A postally unused carte postale published by R F and printed by Draeger.
The Gardens of Versailles
The Gardens of Versailles are situated to the west of the palace. They cover some 800 hectares (1,977 acres) of land, much of which is landscaped in the classic French formal garden style perfected here by André Le Nôtre.
Beyond the surrounding belt of woodland, the gardens are bordered by the urban areas of Versailles to the east and Le Chesnay to the north-east, by the National Arboretum de Chèvreloup to the north, the Versailles plain (a protected wildlife preserve) to the west, and by the Satory Forest to the south.
In 1979, the gardens along with the château were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List due to its cultural importance during the 17th. and 18th. centuries.
The gardens are now one of the most visited public sites in France, receiving more than six million visitors a year.
The gardens contain 200,000 trees, 210,000 flowers planted annually, and feature meticulously manicured lawns and parterres, as well as many sculptures.
50 fountains containing 620 water jets, fed by 35 km. of piping, are located throughout the gardens. Dating from the time of Louis XIV and still using much of the same network of hydraulics as was used during the Ancien Régime, the fountains contribute to making the gardens of Versailles unique.
On weekends from late spring to early autumn, there are the Grandes Eaux - spectacles during which all the fountains in the gardens are in full play. Designed by André Le Nôtre, the Grand Canal is the masterpiece of the Gardens of Versailles.
In the Gardens too, the Grand Trianon was built to provide the Sun King with the retreat that he wanted. The Petit Trianon is associated with Marie-Antoinette, who spent time there with her closest relatives and friends.
The Du Bus Plan for the Gardens of Versailles
With Louis XIII's purchase of lands from Jean-François de Gondi in 1632 and his assumption of the seigneurial role of Versailles in the 1630's, formal gardens were laid out west of the château.
Claude Mollet and Hilaire Masson designed the gardens, which remained relatively unchanged until the expansion ordered under Louis XIV in the 1660's. This early layout, which has survived in the so-called Du Bus plan of c.1662, shows an established topography along which lines of the gardens evolved. This is evidenced in the clear definition of the main east–west and north–south axis that anchors the gardens' layout.
Louis XIV
In 1661, after the disgrace of the finance minister Nicolas Fouquet, who was accused by rivals of embezzling crown funds in order to build his luxurious château at Vaux-le-Vicomte, Louis XIV turned his attention to Versailles.
With the aid of Fouquet's architect Louis Le Vau, painter Charles Le Brun, and landscape architect André Le Nôtre, Louis began an embellishment and expansion program at Versailles that would occupy his time and worries for the remainder of his reign.
From this point forward, the expansion of the gardens of Versailles followed the expansions of the château.
(a) The First Building Campaign
In 1662, minor modifications to the château were undertaken; however, greater attention was given to developing the gardens. Existing bosquets (clumps of trees) and parterres were expanded, and new ones created.
Most significant among the creations at this time were the Versailles Orangerie and the "Grotte de Thétys". The Orangery, which was designed by Louis Le Vau, was located south of the château, a situation that took advantage of the natural slope of the hill. It provided a protected area in which orange trees were kept during the winter months.
The "Grotte de Thétys", which was located to the north of the château, formed part of the iconography of the château and of the gardens that aligned Louis XIV with solar imagery. The grotto was completed during the second building campaign.
By 1664, the gardens had evolved to the point that Louis XIV inaugurated the gardens with the fête galante called Les Plaisirs de L'Île Enchantée. The event, was ostensibly to celebrate his mother, Anne d'Autriche, and his consort Marie-Thérèse but in reality celebrated Louise de La Vallière, Louis' mistress.
Guests were regaled with entertainments in the gardens over a period of one week. As a result of this fête - particularly the lack of housing for guests (most of them had to sleep in their carriages), Louis realised the shortcomings of Versailles, and began to expand the château and the gardens once again.
(b) The Second Building Campaign
Between 1664 and 1668, there was a flurry of activity in the gardens - especially with regard to fountains and new bosquets; it was during this time that the imagery of the gardens exploited Apollo and solar imagery as metaphors for Louis XIV.
Le Va's enveloppe of the Louis XIII's château provided a means by which, though the decoration of the garden façade, imagery in the decors of the grands appartements of the king and queen formed a symbiosis with the imagery of the gardens.
With this new phase of construction, the gardens assumed the design vocabulary that remained in force until the 18th. century. Solar and Apollonian themes predominated with projects constructed at this time.
Three additions formed the topological and symbolic nexus of the gardens during this phase of construction: the completion of the "Grotte de Thétys", the "Bassin de Latone", and the "Bassin d'Apollon".
The Grotte de Thétys
Started in 1664 and finished in 1670 with the installation of the statuary, the grotto formed an important symbolic and technical component to the gardens. Symbolically, the "Grotte de Thétys" related to the myth of Apollo - and by association to Louis XIV.
It represented the cave of the sea nymph Thetis, where Apollo rested after driving his chariot to light the sky. The grotto was a freestanding structure located just north of the château.
The interior, which was decorated with shell-work to represent a sea cave, contained the statue group by the Marsy brothers depicting the sun god attended by nereids.
Technically, the "'Grotte de Thétys" played a critical role in the hydraulic system that supplied water to the garden. The roof of the grotto supported a reservoir that stored water pumped from the Clagny pond and which fed the fountains lower in the garden via gravity.
The Bassin de Latone
Located on the east–west axis is the Bassin de Latone. Designed by André Le Nôtre, sculpted by Gaspard and Balthazar Marsy, and constructed between 1668 and 1670, the fountain depicts an episode from Ovid's Metamorphoses.
Altona and her children, Apollo and Diana, being tormented with mud slung by Lycian peasants, who refused to let her and her children drink from their pond, appealed to Jupiter who responded by turning the Lycians into frogs.
This episode from mythology has been seen as a reference to the revolts of the Fronde, which occurred during the minority of Louis XIV. The link between Ovid's story and this episode from French history is emphasised by the reference to "mud slinging" in a political context.
The revolts of the Fronde - the word fronde also means slingshot - have been regarded as the origin of the use of the term "mud slinging" in a political context.
The Bassin d'Apollon
Further along the east–west axis is the Bassin d'Apollon. The Apollo Fountain, which was constructed between 1668 and 1671, depicts the sun god driving his chariot to light the sky. The fountain forms a focal point in the garden, and serves as a transitional element between the gardens of the Petit Parc and the Grand Canal.
The Grand Canal
With a length of 1,500 metres and a width of 62 metres, the Grand Canal, which was built between 1668 and 1671, prolongs the east–west axis to the walls of the Grand Parc. During the Ancien Régime, the Grand Canal served as a venue for boating parties.
In 1674 the king ordered the construction of Petite Venise (Little Venice). Located at the junction of the Grand Canal and the northern transversal branch, Little Venice housed the caravels and yachts that were received from The Netherlands and the gondolas and gondoliers received as gifts from the Doge of Venice.
The Grand Canal also served a practical role. Situated at a low point in the gardens, it collected water that drained from the fountains in the garden above. Water from the Grand Canal was pumped back to the reservoir on the roof of the Grotte de Thétys via a network of windmill- and horse-powered pumps.
The Parterre d'Eau
Situated above the Latona Fountain is the terrace of the château, known as the Parterre d'Eau. Forming a transitional element from the château to the gardens below, the Parterre d'Eau provided a setting in which the symbolism of the grands appartements synthesized with the iconography of the gardens.
In 1664, Louis XIV commissioned a series of statues intended to decorate the water feature of the Parterre d'Eau. The Grande Command, as the commission is known, comprised twenty-four statues of the classic quaternities and four additional statues depicting abductions from the classic past.
Evolution of the Bosquets
One of the distinguishing features of the gardens during the second building campaign was the proliferation of bosquets. Expanding the layout established during the first building campaign, Le Nôtre added or expanded on no fewer that ten bosquets between 1670 and 1678:
-- The Bosquet du Marais
-- The Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau, Île du Roi
-- The Miroir d'Eau
-- The Salle des Festins (Salle du Conseil)
-- The Bosquet des Trois Fontaines
-- The Labyrinthe
-- The Bosquet de l'Arc de Triomphe
-- The Bosquet de la Renommée (Bosquet des Dômes)
-- The Bosquet de l'Encélade
-- The Bosquet des Sources
In addition to the expansion of existing bosquets and the construction of new ones, there were two additional projects that defined this era, the Bassin des Sapins and the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses.
-- The Bassin des Sapins
In 1676, the Bassin des Sapins, which was located north of the château below the Allée des Marmoset's was designed to form a topological pendant along the north–south axis with the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses located at the base of the Satory hill south of the château.
Later modifications in the gardens transformed this fountain into the Bassin de Neptune.
-- Pièce d'Eau des Suisses
Excavated in 1678, the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses - named after the Swiss Guards who constructed the lake - occupied an area of marshes and ponds, some of which had been used to supply water for the fountains in the garden.
This water feature, with a surface area of more than 15 hectares (37 acres), is the second largest - after the Grand Canal - at Versailles.
(c) The Third Building Campaign
Modifications to the gardens during the third building campaign were distinguished by a stylistic change from the natural aesthetic of André Le Nôtre to the architectonic style of Jules Hardouin Mansart.
The first major modification to the gardens during this phase occurred in 1680 when the Tapis Vert - the expanse of lawn that stretches between the Latona Fountain and the Apollo Fountain - achieved its final size and definition under the direction of André Le Nôtre.
Beginning in 1684, the Parterre d'Eau was remodelled under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart. Statues from the Grande Commande of 1674 were relocated to other parts of the garden; two twin octagonal basins were constructed and decorated with bronze statues representing the four main rivers of France.
In the same year, Le Vau's Orangerie, located to south of the Parterrre d'Eau was demolished to accommodate a larger structure designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart.
In addition to the Orangerie, the Escaliers des Cent Marches, which facilitated access to the gardens from the south, to the Pièce d'Eau des Suisses, and to the Parterre du Midi were constructed at this time, giving the gardens just south of the château their present configuration and decoration.
Additionally, to accommodate the anticipated construction of the Aile des Nobles - the north wing of the château - the Grotte de Thétys was demolished.
With the construction of the Aile des Nobles (1685–1686), the Parterre du Nord was remodelled to respond to the new architecture of this part of the château.
To compensate for the loss of the reservoir on top of the Grotte de Thétys and to meet the increased demand for water, Jules Hardouin-Mansart designed new and larger reservoirs situated north of the Aile des Nobles.
Construction of the ruinously expensive Canal de l'Eure was inaugurated in 1685; designed by Vauban it was intended to bring waters of the Eure over 80 kilometres, including aqueducts of heroic scale, but the works were abandoned in 1690.
Between 1686 and 1687, the Bassin de Latone, under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, was rebuilt. It is this final version of the fountain that one sees today at Versailles.
During this phase of construction, three of the garden's major bosquets were modified or created. Beginning with the Galerie des Antiques, this bosquet was constructed in 1680 on the site of the earlier and short-lived Galerie d'Eau. This bosquet was conceived as an open-air gallery in which antique statues and copies acquired by the Académie de France in Rome were displayed.
The following year, construction began on the Salle de Bal. Located in a secluded section of the garden west of the Orangerie, this bosquet was designed as an amphitheater that featured a cascade – the only one surviving in the gardens of Versailles. The Salle de Bal was inaugurated in 1685 with a ball hosted by the Grand Dauphin.
Between 1684 and 1685, Jules Hardouin-Mansart built the Colonnade. Located on the site of Le Nôtre's Bosquet des Sources, this bosquet featured a circular peristyle formed from thirty-two arches with twenty-eight fountains, and was Hardouin-Mansart's most architectural of the bosquets built in the gardens of Versailles.
(d) The Fourth Building Campaign
Due to financial constraints arising from the War of the League of Augsburg and the War of the Spanish Succession, no significant work on the gardens was undertaken until 1704.
Between 1704 and 1709, bosquets were modified, some quite radically, with new names suggesting the new austerity that characterised the latter years of Louis XIV's reign.
Louis XV
With the departure of the king and court from Versailles in 1715 following the death of Louis XIV, the palace and gardens entered an era of uncertainty.
In 1722, Louis XV and the court returned to Versailles. Seeming to heed his great-grandfather's admonition not to engage in costly building campaigns, Louis XV did not undertake the costly rebuilding that Louis XIV had.
During the reign of Louis XV, the only significant addition to the gardens was the completion of the Bassin de Neptune (1738–1741).
Rather than expend resources on modifying the gardens at Versailles, Louis XV - an avid botanist - directed his efforts at Trianon. In the area now occupied by the Hameau de la Reine, Louis XV constructed and maintained les Jardins Botaniques.
In 1761, Louis XV commissioned Ange-Jacques Gabriel to build the Petit Trianon as a residence that would allow him to spend more time near the Jardins Botaniques. It was at the Petit Trianon that Louis XV fell fatally ill with smallpox; he died at Versailles on the 10th. May 1774.
Louis XVI
Upon Louis XVI's ascension to the throne, the gardens of Versailles underwent a transformation that recalled the fourth building campaign of Louis XIV. Engendered by a change in outlook as advocated by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Philosophes, the winter of 1774–1775 witnessed a complete replanting of the gardens.
Trees and shrubbery dating from the reign of Louis XIV were felled or uprooted with the intent of transforming the French formal garden of Le Nôtre and Hardouin-Mansart into a version of an English landscape garden.
The attempt to convert Le Nôtre's masterpiece into an English-style garden failed to achieve its desired goal. Owing largely to the topology of the land, the English aesthetic was abandoned and the gardens replanted in the French style.
However, with an eye on economy, Louis XVI ordered the Palisades - the labour-intensive clipped hedging that formed walls in the bosquets - to be replaced with rows of lime trees or chestnut trees. Additionally, a number of the bosquets dating from the time of the Sun King were extensively modified or destroyed.
The most significant contribution to the gardens during the reign of Louis XVI was the Grotte des Bains d'Apollon. The rockwork grotto set in an English style bosquet was the masterpiece of Hubert Robert in which the statues from the Grotte de Thétys were placed.
Revolution
In 1792, under order from the National Convention, some of the trees in the gardens were felled, while parts of the Grand Parc were parcelled and dispersed.
Sensing the potential threat to Versailles, Louis Claude Marie Richard (1754–1821) – director of the Jardins Botaniques and grandson of Claude Richard – lobbied the government to save Versailles. He succeeded in preventing further dispersing of the Grand Parc, and threats to destroy the Petit Parc were abolished by suggesting that the parterres could be used to plant vegetable gardens, and that orchards could occupy the open areas of the garden.
These plans were never put into action; however, the gardens were opened to the public - it was not uncommon to see people washing their laundry in the fountains and spreading it on the shrubbery to dry.
Napoléon I
The Napoleonic era largely ignored Versailles. In the château, a suite of rooms was arranged for the use of the empress Marie-Louise, but the gardens were left unchanged, save for the disastrous felling of trees in the Bosquet de l'Arc de Triomphe and the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines. Massive soil erosion necessitated planting of new trees.
Restoration
With the restoration of the Bourbons in 1814, the gardens of Versailles witnessed the first modifications since the Revolution. In 1817, Louis XVIII ordered the conversion of the Île du Roi and the Miroir d'Eau into an English-style garden - the Jardin du Roi.
The July Monarchy; The Second Empire
While much of the château's interior was irreparably altered to accommodate the Museum of the History of France (inaugurated by Louis-Philippe on the 10th. June 1837), the gardens, by contrast, remained untouched.
With the exception of the state visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1855, at which time the gardens were a setting for a gala fête that recalled the fêtes of Louis XIV, Napoléon III ignored the château, preferring instead the château of Compiègne.
Pierre de Nolhac
With the arrival of Pierre de Nolhac as director of the museum in 1892, a new era of historical research began at Versailles. Nolhac, an ardent archivist and scholar, began to piece together the history of Versailles, and subsequently established the criteria for restoration of the château and preservation of the gardens, which are ongoing to this day.
Bosquets of the Gardens
Owing to the many modifications made to the gardens between the 17th. and the 19th. centuries, many of the bosquets have undergone multiple modifications, which were often accompanied by name changes.
Deux Bosquets - Bosquet de la Girondole - Bosquet du Dauphin - Quinconce du Nord - Quinconce du Midi
These two bosquets were first laid out in 1663. They were arranged as a series of paths around four salles de verdure and which converged on a central "room" that contained a fountain.
In 1682, the southern bosquet was remodeled as the Bosquet de la Girondole, thus named due to spoke-like arrangement of the central fountain. The northern bosquet was rebuilt in 1696 as the Bosquet du Dauphin with a fountain that featured a dolphin.
During the replantation of 1774–1775, both the bosquets were destroyed. The areas were replanted with lime trees and were rechristened the Quinconce du Nord and the Quinconce du Midi.
Labyrinthe - Bosquet de la Reine
In 1665, André Le Nôtre planned a hedge maze of unadorned paths in an area south of the Latona Fountain near the Orangerie. In 1669, Charles Perrault - author of the Mother Goose Tales - advised Louis XIV to remodel the Labyrinthe in such a way as to serve the Dauphin's education.
Between 1672 and 1677, Le Nôtre redesigned the Labyrinthe to feature thirty-nine fountains that depicted stories from Aesop's Fables. The sculptors Jean-Baptiste Tuby, Étienne Le Hongre, Pierre Le Gros, and the brothers Gaspard and Balthazard Marsy worked on these thirty-nine fountains, each of which was accompanied by a plaque on which the fable was printed, with verse written by Isaac de Benserade; from these plaques, Louis XIV's son learned to read.
Once completed in 1677, the Labyrinthe contained thirty-nine fountains with 333 painted metal animal sculptures. The water for the elaborate waterworks was conveyed from the Seine by the Machine de Marly.
The Labyrinthe contained fourteen water-wheels driving 253 pumps, some of which worked at a distance of three-quarters of a mile.
Citing repair and maintenance costs, Louis XVI ordered the Labyrinthe demolished in 1778. In its place, an arboretum of exotic trees was planted as an English-styled garden.
Rechristened Bosquet de la Reine, it would be in this part of the garden that an episode of the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, which compromised Marie-Antoinette, transpired in 1785.
Bosquet de la Montagne d'Eau - Bosquet de l'Étoile
Originally designed by André Le Nôtre in 1661 as a salle de verdure, this bosquet contained a path encircling a central pentagonal area. In 1671, the bosquet was enlarged with a more elaborate system of paths that served to enhance the new central water feature, a fountain that resembled a mountain, hence the bosquets new name: Bosquet de la Montagne d'Eau.
The bosquet was completely remodeled in 1704 at which time it was rechristened Bosquet de l'Étoile.
Bosquet du Marais - Bosquet du Chêne Vert - Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon - Grotte des Bains d'Apollon
Created in 1670, this bosquet originally contained a central rectangular pool surrounded by a turf border. Edging the pool were metal reeds that concealed numerous jets for water; a swan that had water jetting from its beak occupied each corner.
The centre of the pool featured an iron tree with painted tin leaves that sprouted water from its branches. Because of this tree, the bosquet was also known as the Bosquet du Chêne Vert.
In 1705, this bosquet was destroyed in order to allow for the creation of the Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon, which was created to house the statues had once stood in the Grotte de Thétys.
During the reign of Louis XVI, Hubert Robert remodeled the bosquet, creating a cave-like setting for the Marsy statues. The bosquet was renamed the Grotte des Bains d'Apollon.
Île du Roi - Miroir d'Eau - Jardin du Roi
Originally designed in 1671 as two separate water features, the larger - Île du Roi - contained an island that formed the focal point of a system of elaborate fountains.
The Île du Roi was separated from the Miroir d'Eau by a causeway that featured twenty-four water jets. In 1684, the island was removed and the total number of water jets in the bosquet was significantly reduced.
The year 1704 witnessed a major renovation of the bosquet, at which time the causeway was remodelled and most of the water jets were removed.
A century later, in 1817, Louis XVIII ordered the Île du Roi and the Miroir d'Eau to be completely remodeled as an English-style garden. At this time, the bosquet was rechristened Jardin du Roi.
Salle des Festins - Salle du Conseil - Bosquet de l'Obélisque
In 1671, André Le Nôtre conceived a bosquet - originally christened Salle des Festins and later called Salle du Conseil - that featured a quatrefoil island surrounded by a channel containing fifty water jets. Access to the island was obtained by two swing bridges.
Beyond the channel and placed at the cardinal points within the bosquet were four additional fountains. Under the direction of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, the bosquet was completely remodeled in 1706. The central island was replaced by a large basin raised on five steps, which was surrounded by a canal. The central fountain contained 230 jets that, when in play, formed an obelisk – hence the new name Bosquet de l'Obélisque.
Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau - Bosquet du Rond-Vert
The central feature of this bosquet, which was designed by Le Nôtre between 1671 and 1674, was an auditorium/theatre sided by three tiers of turf seating that faced a stage decorated with four fountains alternating with three radiating cascades.
Between 1680 and Louis XIV's death in 1715, there was near-constant rearranging of the statues that decorated the bosquet.
In 1709, the bosquet was rearranged with the addition of the Fontaine de l'Île aux Enfants. As part of the replantation of the gardens ordered by Louis XVI during the winter of 1774–1775, the Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau was destroyed and replaced with the unadorned Bosquet du Rond-Vert. The Bosquet du Théâtre d'Eau was recreated in 2014, with South Korean businessman and photographer Yoo Byung-eun being the sole patron, donating €1.4 million.
Bosquet des Trois Fontaines - Berceau d'Eau
Situated to the west of the Allée des Marmousets and replacing the short-lived Berceau d'Eau (a long and narrow bosquet created in 1671 that featured a water bower made by numerous jets of water), the enlarged bosquet was transformed by Le Nôtre in 1677 into a series of three linked rooms.
Each room contained a number of fountains that played with special effects. The fountains survived the modifications that Louis XIV ordered for other fountains in the gardens in the early 18th. century and were subsequently spared during the 1774–1775 replantation of the gardens.
In 1830, the bosquet was replanted, at which time the fountains were suppressed. Due to storm damage in the park in 1990 and then again in 1999, the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines was restored and re-inaugurated on the 12th. June 2004.
Bosquet de l'Arc de Triomphe
This bosquet was originally planned in 1672 as a simple pavillon d'eau - a round open expanse with a square fountain in the centre. In 1676, this bosquet was enlarged and redecorated along political lines that alluded to French military victories over Spain and Austria, at which time the triumphal arch was added - hence the name.
As with the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines, this bosquet survived the modifications of the 18th. century, but was replanted in 1830, at which time the fountains were removed.
Bosquet de la Renommée - Bosquet des Dômes
Built in 1675, the Bosquet de la Renommée featured a fountain statue of Fame. With the relocation of the statues from the Grotte de Thétys in 1684, the bosquet was remodelled to accommodate the statues, and the Fame fountain was removed.
At this time the bosquet was rechristened Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon. As part of the reorganisation of the garden that was ordered by Louis XIV in the early part of the 18th. century, the Apollo grouping was moved once again to the site of the Bosquet du Marais - located near the Latona Fountain - which was destroyed and was replaced by the new Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon.
The statues were installed on marble plinths from which water issued; and each statue grouping was protected by an intricately carved and gilded baldachin.
The old Bosquet des Bains d'Apollon was renamed Bosquet des Dômes due to two domed pavilions built in the bosquet.
Bosquet de l'Encélade
Created in 1675 at the same time as the Bosquet de la Renommée, the fountain of this bosquet depicts Enceladus, a fallen Giant who was condemned to live below Mount Etna, being consumed by volcanic lava.
From its conception, this fountain was conceived as an allegory of Louis XIV's victory over the Fronde. In 1678, an octagonal ring of turf and eight rocaille fountains surrounding the central fountain were added. These additions were removed in 1708.
When in play, this fountain has the tallest jet of all the fountains in the gardens of Versailles - 25 metres.
Bosquet des Sources - La Colonnade
Designed as a simple unadorned salle de verdure by Le Nôtre in 1678, the landscape architect enhanced and incorporated an existing stream to create a bosquet that featured rivulets that twisted among nine islets.
In 1684, Jules Hardouin-Mansart completely redesigned the bosquet by constructing a circular arched double peristyle. The Colonnade, as it was renamed, originally featured thirty-two arches and thirty-one fountains – a single jet of water splashed into a basin center under the arch.
In 1704, three additional entrances to the Colonnade were added, which reduced the number of fountains from thirty-one to twenty-eight. The statue that currently occupies the centre of the Colonnade - the Abduction of Persephone - (from the Grande Commande of 1664) was set in place in 1696.
Galerie d'Eau - Galerie des Antiques - Salle des Marronniers
Occupying the site of the Galerie d'Eau (1678), the Galerie des Antiques was designed in 1680 to house the collection of antique statues and copies of antique statues acquired by the Académie de France in Rome.
Surrounding a central area paved with colored stone, a channel was decorated with twenty statues on plinths, each separated by three jets of water.
The Galerie was completely remodeled in 1704 when the statues were transferred to Marly and the bosquet was replanted with horse chestnut trees - hence the current name Salle des Marronniers.
Salle de Bal
This bosquet, which was designed by Le Nôtre and built between 1681 and 1683, features a semi-circular cascade that forms the backdrop for a salle de verdure.
Interspersed with gilt lead torchères, which supported candelabra for illumination, the Salle de Bal was inaugurated in 1683 by Louis XIV's son, the Grand Dauphin, with a dance party.
The Salle de Bal was remodeled in 1707 when the central island was removed and an additional entrance was added.
Replantations of the Gardens
Common to any long-lived garden is replantation, and Versailles is no exception. In their history, the gardens of Versailles have undergone no less than five major replantations, which have been executed for practical and aesthetic reasons.
During the winter of 1774–1775, Louis XVI ordered the replanting of the gardens on the grounds that many of the trees were diseased or overgrown, and needed to be replaced.
Also, as the formality of the 17th.-century garden had fallen out of fashion, this replantation sought to establish a new informality in the gardens - that would also be less expensive to maintain.
This, however, was not achieved, as the topology of the gardens favored the Jardin à la Française over an English-style garden.
Then, in 1860, much of the old growth from Louis XVI's replanting was removed and replaced. In 1870, a violent storm struck the area, damaging and uprooting scores of trees, which necessitated a massive replantation program.
However, owing to the Franco-Prussian War, which toppled Napoléon III, and the Commune de Paris, replantation of the garden did not get underway until 1883.
The most recent replantations of the gardens were precipitated by two storms that battered Versailles in 1990 and then again in 1999. The storm damage at Versailles and Trianon amounted to the loss of thousands of trees - the worst such damage in the history of Versailles.
The replantations have allowed museum and governmental authorities to restore and rebuild some of the bosquets that were abandoned during the reign of Louis XVI, such as the Bosquet des Trois Fontaines, which was restored in 2004.
Catherine Pégard, the head of the public establishment which administers Versailles, has stated that the intention is to return the gardens to their appearance under Louis XIV, specifically as he described them in his 1704 description, Manière de Montrer les Jardins de Versailles.
This involves restoring some of the parterres like the Parterre du Midi to their original formal layout, as they appeared under Le Nôtre. This was achieved in the Parterre de Latone in 2013, when the 19th. century lawns and flower beds were torn up and replaced with boxwood-enclosed turf and gravel paths to create a formal arabesque design.
Pruning is also done to keep trees at between 17 and 23 metres (56 to 75 feet), so as not to spoil the carefully designed perspectives of the gardens.
Owing to the natural cycle of replantations that has occurred at Versailles, it is safe to state that no trees dating from the time of Louis XIV are to be found in the gardens.
Problems With Water
The marvel of the gardens of Versailles - then as now - is the fountains. Yet, the very element that animates the gardens, water, has proven to be the affliction of the gardens since the time of Louis XIV.
The gardens of Louis XIII required water, and local ponds provided an adequate supply. However, once Louis XIV began expanding the gardens with more and more fountains, supplying the gardens with water became a critical challenge.
To meet the needs of the early expansions of the gardens under Louis XIV, water was pumped to the gardens from ponds near the château, with the Clagny pond serving as the principal source.
Water from the pond was pumped to the reservoir on top of the Grotte de Thétys, which fed the fountains in the garden by means of gravitational hydraulics. Other sources included a series of reservoirs located on the Satory Plateau south of the château.
The Grand Canal
By 1664, increased demand for water necessitated additional sources. In that year, Louis Le Vau designed the Pompe, a water tower built north of the château. The Pompe drew water from the Clagny pond using a system of windmills and horsepower to a cistern housed in the Pompe's building. The capacity of the Pompe 600 cubic metres per day - alleviated some of the water shortages in the garden.
With the completion of the Grand Canal in 1671, which served as drainage for the fountains of the garden, water, via a system of windmills, was pumped back to the reservoir on top of the Grotte de Thétys.
While this system solved some of the water supply problems, there was never enough water to keep all of the fountains running in the garden in full-play all of the time.
While it was possible to keep the fountains in view from the château running, those concealed in the bosquets and in the farther reaches of the garden were run on an as-needed basis.
In 1672, Jean-Baptiste Colbert devised a system by which the fountaineers in the gardens would signal each other with whistles upon the approach of the king, indicating that their fountain needed to be turned on. Once the king had passed a fountain in play, it would be turned off and the fountaineer would signal that the next fountain could be turned on.
In 1674, the Pompe was enlarged, and subsequently referred to as the Grande Pompe. Pumping capacity was increased via increased power and the number of pistons used for lifting the water. These improvements increased the water capacity to nearly 3,000 cubic metres of water per day; however, the increased capacity of the Grande Pompe often left the Clagny pond dry.
The increasing demand for water and the stress placed on existing systems of water supply necessitated newer measures to increase the water supplied to Versailles. Between 1668 and 1674, a project was undertaken to divert the water of the Bièvre river to Versailles. By damming the river and with a pumping system of five windmills, water was brought to the reservoirs located on the Satory Plateau. This system brought an additional 72,000 cubic metres water to the gardens on a daily basis.
Despite the water from the Bièvre, the gardens needed still more water, which necessitated more projects. In 1681, one of the most ambitious water projects conceived during the reign of Louis XIV was undertaken.
Owing to the proximity of the Seine to Versailles, a project was proposed to raise the water from the river to be delivered to Versailles. Seizing upon the success of a system devised in 1680 that raised water from the Seine to the gardens of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, construction of the Machine de Marly began the following year.
The Machine de Marly was designed to lift water from the Seine in three stages to the Aqueduc de Louveciennes some 100 metres above the level of the river. A series of huge waterwheels was constructed in the river, which raised the water via a system of 64 pumps to a reservoir 48 metres above the river. From this first reservoir, water was raised an additional 56 metres to a second reservoir by a system of 79 pumps. Finally, 78 additional pumps raised the water to the aqueduct, which carried the water to Versailles and Marly.
In 1685, the Machine de Marly came into full operation. However, owing to leakage in the conduits and breakdowns of the mechanism, the machine was only able to deliver 3,200 cubic metres of water per day - approximately one-half the expected output. The machine was nevertheless a must-see for visitors. Despite the fact that the gardens consumed more water per day than the entire city of Paris, the Machine de Marly remained in operation until 1817.
During Louis XIV's reign, water supply systems represented one-third of the building costs of Versailles. Even with the additional output from the Machine de Marly, fountains in the garden could only be run à l'ordinaire - which is to say at half-pressure.
With this measure of economy, the fountains still consumed 12,800 cubic metres of water per day, far above the capacity of the existing supplies. In the case of the Grandes Eaux - when all the fountains played to their maximum - more than 10,000 cubic metres of water was needed for one afternoon's display.
Accordingly, the Grandes Eaux were reserved for special occasions such as the Siamese Embassy visit of 1685–1686.
The Canal de l'Eure
One final attempt to solve water shortage problems was undertaken in 1685. In this year it was proposed to divert the water of the Eure river, located 160 km. south of Versailles and at a level 26 m above the garden reservoirs.
The project called not only for digging a canal and for the construction of an aqueduct, it also necessitated the construction of shipping channels and locks to supply the workers on the main canal.
Between 9,000 to 10,000 troops were pressed into service in 1685; the next year, more than 20,000 soldiers were engaged in construction. Between 1686 and 1689, when the Nine Years' War began, one-tenth of France's military was at work on the Canal de l'Eure project.
However with the outbreak of the war, the project was abandoned, never to be completed. Had the aqueduct been completed, some 50,000 cubic metres of water would have been sent to Versailles - more than enough to solve the water problem of the gardens.
Today, the museum of Versailles is still faced with water problems. During the Grandes Eaux, water is circulated by means of modern pumps from the Grand Canal to the reservoirs. Replenishment of the water lost due to evaporation comes from rainwater, which is collected in cisterns that are located throughout the gardens and diverted to the reservoirs and the Grand Canal.
Assiduous husbanding of this resource by museum officials prevents the need to tap into the supply of potable water of the city of Versailles.
The Versailles Gardens In Popular Culture
The creation of the gardens of Versailles is the context for the film 'A Little Chaos', directed by Alan Rickman and released in 2015, in which Kate Winslet plays a fictional landscape gardener and Rickman plays King Louis XIV.
I've got a photo published in the Winter 2008 / 5th anniversary issue of FDQ!
(It's on page 82, if anyone who has the issue is interested. XD)
Thanks M! :)
OK, so only 'cos I entered a photo competition in Berkshire Life magazine. Winner of the National competition gets £5000.... Keep your fingers crossed for me.
Still - nice to see one's work (& ugly mug) in print.
Original in comments.....
This photograph was published in the Illustrated Chronicle on 03/04/1917.
During the Great War the Illustrated Chronicle published photographs of soldiers and sailors from Newcastle and the North East of England, which had been in the news. The photographs were sent in by relatives and give us a glimpse into the past.
The physical collection held by Newcastle Libraries comprises bound volumes of the newspaper from 1910 to 1925. We are keen to find out more about the people in the photographs. If you recognise anyone in the images and have any stories and information to add please comment below
The Postcard
A postally unused carte postale published by Lévy et Neurdein of 44, Rue Letellier, Paris.
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo refers to an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco.
Monte Carlo (literally "Mount Charles") is situated on a prominent escarpment at the base of the Maritime Alps. Near the quarter's western end is the world-famous Place du Casino, the gambling center which has made Monte Carlo an international byword for the extravagant display and reckless dispersal of wealth.
It is also the location of the Hôtel de Paris, the Café de Paris, and the Salle Garnier (the casino theatre which is the home of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo).
The quarter's eastern part includes the community of Larvotto with Monaco's only public beach, as well as its new convention center (the Grimaldi Forum), and the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort.
At the quarter's western border, one crosses into the French town of Beausoleil (sometimes referred to as Monte-Carlo-Supérieur), and just 8 kilometres (5 mi) to its east is the western border of Italy.
Monte Carlo is host to most of the Circuit de Monaco, on which the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix takes place.
The Opéra de Monte-Carlo or Salle Garnier was built to designs of the architect Charles Garnier, who also designed the Paris opera house.
Although much smaller, the Salle Garnier is very similar in style, with decorations in red and gold, and frescoes and sculptures all around the auditorium. It was inaugurated on 25 January 1879 with a performance by Sarah Bernhardt dressed as a nymph.
Monte Carlo has featured in numerous films and television series, most recently in the 2011 movie of the same name.
Monte Carlo was the setting for the 1922 Erich von Stroheim silent film Foolish Wives, although it was filmed in California.
The casino featured in the James Bond films Never Say Never Again (1983), and GoldenEye (1995).
The Car Crash
To Catch a Thief (1954) was an Alfred Hitchcock film with Monte Carlo and its famous casino as the setting. It featured Cary Grant and Grace Kelly, the future Princess Grace of Monaco, as the stars.
There is a scene in the movie where the-then Grace Kelly drives a car very quickly—and dangerously—along the steep winding roads of Monaco that surround the heights of Monte Carlo; a tragic precursor to her actual fate in 1982.
On the 13th. September 1982, Kelly was driving back to Monaco from her country home in Roc Agel. She lost control of her 1971 Rover P6 and drove off the steep, winding road down the 120 foot (37 m) mountainside.
Her daughter Stéphanie, who was in the passenger seat, tried but failed to regain control of the car. Kelly was taken to the Monaco Hospital (later named the Princess Grace Hospital Centre) with injuries to the brain and thorax and a fractured femur.
Doctors believed that she had suffered a minor stroke while driving. She died the following night aged 52 at 10:55 p.m. after Prince Rainier chose to take her off life support.
Stéphanie suffered light concussion and a hairline fracture of a cervical vertebra, and was unable to attend her mother's funeral.
Notable Residents of Monte Carlo
Notable residents of Monte Carlo include:
- Shirley Bassey (singer) United Kingdom
- Bono (singer with U2) Republic of Ireland
- Jenson Button (former Formula One driver) United Kingdom
- David Coulthard (former Formula One driver) United Kingdom
- Mohamed Al-Fayed (ex-Harrods owner) Egypt
- Matthew Goss (professional cyclist) Australia
- Philip Green (entrepreneur) United Kingdom
- Stelios Haji-Ioannou (owner of EasyJet) Cyprus Greece United Kingdom
- Lewis Hamilton (Formula One driver) United Kingdom
- Justin Hayward (singer with the Moody Blues) United Kingdom
- Gina Lollobrigida (actress) Italy
- Helmut Newton (photographer) Germany Australia
- Mike Oldfield (musician) United Kingdom
- Paula Radcliffe (marathon world record holder) United Kingdom
- David Shilling (milliner) United Kingdom
- Ringo Starr (drummer with the Beatles) United Kingdom.
I got some unexpected mail today. Several months ago, I received an email from one of the editors of Canadian Geographic. They were going through images from their photo club (where you submit images for their photo contests) looking for the best wildlife shots of the year. They asked me to submit a few hi-res shots.
I did and that was sort of the end of it as far as I can remember. Then I received this today! I was flabbergasted to find one of my images in the magazine among a collection of some truly stunning shots.
I'm incredibly honoured to have been chosen as one of the best amateurs of the year and to be included with so many talented photographers.
Published by the Oxford University Press in 1980 it is an interesting anthology, well worth having.
I bought this second-hand in 2014
Published by Ginn in 1954 with art by Ruth Wood, Elisabeth Booz, William Cummings and Constance Joan Naar.
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a photo of mine was published in TIME magazine today. not just any issue - the Person of the Year issue. and my photo was created in reference to said Person of the Year :o)
I also had a photo published in this month's NJ Audubon magazine. my friends Pete and Lisa, who got married last June, used a shot I took of them for an article that describes how they donated wedding favors to the nonprofit conservation group.
(semi-related side note: even though my flickr icon is a raven, and I'm a total nature nerd, I'm really not much of a birder. I just really like ravens)
that, and my hopping horse photo made the front page of Explore. my first time for that. thanks so much you guys - you're truly an awesome group of peeps. also, major props to the other flickrers who got chosen to be in the story. so cool!
headed to Maine for a few days. happy holidays, everyone!
The Postcard
A postally unused carte postale published by Lévy Fils et Cie of Paris.
The Notre-Dame Fire
On the 15th. April 2019, fire broke out in the attic beneath the cathedral's roof at 18:18. At 18:20 the fire alarm sounded and guards evacuated the cathedral. A guard was sent to investigate, but to the wrong location – the attic of the adjoining sacristy – where he found no fire. About fifteen minutes later the error was discovered, but by the time guards had climbed the three hundred steps to the cathedral attic the fire was well advanced.
The alarm system was not designed to automatically notify the fire brigade, which was summoned at 18:51 after the guards had returned. Firefighters arrived within ten minutes.
Fighting the Notre-Dame Fire
More than 400 firefighters were engaged. A hundred government employees along with police and municipal workers moved precious artefacts to safety via a human chain.
The fire was primarily fought from inside the structure, which was more dangerous for personnel, but reduced potential damage to the cathedral - applying water from outside risked deflecting flames and hot gases (at temperatures up to 800 °C) inwards. Deluge guns were used at lower-than-usual pressures to minimise damage to the cathedral and its contents. Water was supplied by pump-boat from the Seine.
Aerial firefighting was not used because water dropped from heights could have caused structural damage, and heated stone can crack if suddenly cooled. Helicopters were also not used because of dangerous updrafts, but drones were used for visual and thermal imaging, and robots for visual imaging and directing water streams. Molten lead falling from the roof posed a special hazard for firefighters.
By 18:52, smoke was visible from the outside; flames appeared within the next ten minutes. The spire of the cathedral collapsed at 19:50, creating a draft that slammed all the doors and sent a fireball through the attic. Firefighters then retreated from within the attic.
Shortly before the spire fell, the fire had spread to the wooden framework inside the north tower, which supported eight very large bells. Had the bells fallen, it was thought that the damage done as they fell could have collapsed the towers, and with them the entire cathedral.
At 20:30, firefighters abandoned attempts to extinguish the roof and concentrated on saving the towers, fighting from within and between the towers. By 21:45 the fire was under control.
Adjacent apartment buildings were evacuated due to concern about possible collapse, but on the 19th. April the fire brigade ruled out that risk. One firefighter and two police officers were injured.
Damage to Notre-Dame
Most of the wood/metal roof and the spire of the cathedral was destroyed, with about one third of the roof remaining. The remnants of the roof and spire fell atop the stone vault underneath, which forms the ceiling of the cathedral's interior. Some sections of this vaulting collapsed in turn, allowing debris from the burning roof to fall to the marble floor below, but most sections remained intact due to the use of rib vaulting, greatly reducing damage to the cathedral's interior and objects within.
The cathedral contained a large number of artworks, religious relics, and other irreplaceable treasures, including a crown of thorns said to be the one Jesus wore at his crucifixion. Other items were a purported piece of the cross on which Jesus was crucified, the Tunic of St. Louis, a pipe organ by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, and the 14th.-century Virgin of Paris statue.
Some artwork had been removed in preparation for the renovations, and most of the cathedral's sacred relics were held in the adjoining sacristy, which the fire did not reach; all the cathedral's relics survived. Many valuables that were not removed also survived.
Lead joints in some of the 19th.-century stained-glass windows melted, but the three major rose windows, dating back to the 13th. century, were undamaged. Several pews were destroyed, and the vaulted arches were blackened by smoke, though the cathedral's main cross and altar survived, along with the statues surrounding it.
Some paintings, apparently only smoke-damaged, are expected to be transported to the Louvre for restoration. The rooster-shaped reliquary atop the spire was found damaged but intact among the debris. The three pipe organs were not significantly damaged. The largest of the cathedral's bells, the bourdon, was also not damaged. The liturgical treasury of the cathedral and the "Grands Mays" paintings were moved to safety.
Environmental Damage
Airparif said that winds rapidly dispersed the smoke, carrying it away aloft along the Seine corridor. It did not find elevated levels of particulate air pollution at monitoring stations nearby. The Paris police stated that there was no danger from breathing the air around the fire.
The burned-down roof had been covered with over 400 metric tons of lead. Settling dust substantially raised surface lead levels in some places nearby, notably the cordoned-off area and places left open during the fire. Wet cleaning for surfaces and blood tests for children and pregnant women were recommended in the immediate area.
People working on the cathedral after the fire did not initially take the lead precautions required for their own protection; materials leaving the site were decontaminated, but some clothing was not, and some precautions were not correctly followed; as a result, the worksite failed some inspections and was temporarily shut down.
There was also more widespread contamination; testing, clean-up, and public health advisories were delayed for months, and the neighbourhood was not decontaminated for four months, prompting widespread criticism.
Reactions to the Notre-Dame Fire
President of France Emmanuel Macron, postponing a speech to address the Yellow Vests Movement planned for that evening, went to Notre-Dame and gave a brief address there. Numerous world religious and government leaders extended condolences.
Through the night of the fire and into the next day, people gathered along the Seine to hold vigils, sing and pray.
White tarpaulins over metal beams were quickly rigged to protect the interior from the elements. Nettings protect the de-stabilised exterior.
The following Sunday at Saint-Eustache Church, the Archbishop of Paris, Michel Aupetit, honoured the firefighters with the presentation of a book of scriptures saved from the fire.
Investigation Into The Notre-Dame Fire
On the 16th. April, the Paris prosecutor said that there was no evidence of a deliberate act.
The fire has been compared to the similar 1992 Windsor Castle fire and the Uppark fire, among others, and has raised old questions about the safety of similar structures and the techniques used to restore them. Renovation works increase the risk of fire, and a police source reported that they are looking into whether such work had caused this incident.
The renovations presented a fire risk from sparks, short-circuits, and heat from welding (roof repairs involved cutting, and welding lead sheets resting on timber). Normally, no electrical installations were allowed in the roof space due to the extreme fire risk.
The roof framing was of very dry timber, often powdery with age. After the fire, the architect responsible for fire safety at the cathedral acknowledged that the rate at which fire might spread had been underestimated, and experts said it was well known that a fire in the roof would be almost impossible to control.
Of the firms working on the restoration, a Europe Echafaudage team was the only one working there on the day of the fire; the company said no soldering or welding was underway before the fire. The scaffolding was receiving electrical supply for temporary elevators and lighting.
The roofers, Le Bras Frères, said it had followed procedure, and that none of its personnel were on site when the fire broke out. Time-lapse images taken by a camera installed by them showed smoke first rising from the base of the spire.
On the 25th. April, the structure was considered safe enough for investigators to enter. They unofficially stated that they were considering theories involving malfunction of electric bell-ringing apparatus, and cigarette ends discovered on the renovation scaffolding.
Le Bras Frères confirmed its workers had smoked cigarettes, contrary to regulations, but denied that a cigarette butt could have started the fire. The Paris prosecutor's office announced on the 26th. June that no evidence had been found to suggest a criminal motive.
The security employee monitoring the alarm system was new on the job, and was on a second eight-hour shift that day because his relief had not arrived. Additionally, the fire security system used confusing terminology in its referencing parts of the cathedral, which contributed to the initial confusion as to the location of the fire.
As of September, five months after the fire, investigators thought the cause of the fire was more likely an electrical fault than a cigarette. Determining the exact place in which the fire started was expected to take a great deal more time and work. By the 15th. April 2020, investigators stated:
"We believe the fire to have been
started by either a cigarette or a
short circuit in the electrical system".
Reconstruction of Notre-Dame Cathedral
On the night of the fire Macron said that the cathedral, which is owned by the state, would be rebuilt, and launched an international fundraising campaign. France's cathedrals have been owned by the state since 1905, and are not privately insured.
The heritage conservation organisation Fondation du Patrimoine estimated the damage in the hundreds of millions of euros, but losses from the fire are not expected to substantially impact the private insurance industry.
European art insurers stated that the cost would be similar to ongoing renovations at the Palace of Westminster in London, which currently is estimated to be around €7 billion.
This cost does not include damage to any of the artwork or artefacts within the cathedral. Any pieces on loan from other museums would have been insured, but the works owned by the cathedral would not have been insurable.
While Macron hoped the cathedral could be restored in time for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, architects expect the work could take from twenty to forty years, as any new structure would need to balance restoring the look of the original building, using wood and stone sourced from the same regions used in the original construction, with the structural reinforcement required for preventing a similar disaster in the future.
There is discussion of whether to reconstruct the cathedral in modified form. Rebuilding the roof with titanium sheets and steel trusses has been suggested; other options include rebuilding in the original lead and wood, or rebuilding with modern materials not visible from the outside (like the reinforced concrete trusses at Reims Cathedral).
Another option would be to use a combination of restored old elements and newly designed ones. Chartres Cathedral was rebuilt with wrought iron trusses and copper sheeting after an 1836 fire.
French prime minister Édouard Philippe announced an architectural design competition for a new spire that would be:
"Adapted to the techniques
and the challenges of our era."
The spire replacement project has gathered a variety of designs and some controversy, particularly its legal exemption from environmental and heritage rules. After the design competition was announced, the French senate amended the government's restoration bill to require the roof to be restored to how it was before the fire.
On the 16th. July, 95 days after the fire, the law that will govern the restoration of the cathedral was finally approved by the French parliament. It recognises its UNESCO World Heritage Site status and the need to respect existing international charters and practices, to:
"Preserve the historic, artistic and architectural
history of the monument, and to limit any
derogations to the existing heritage, planning,
environmental and construction codes to a
minimum".
On the 15th. April 2020, Germany offered to restore some of the large clerestory windows located far above eye level with three expert tradesmen who specialize in rebuilding cathedrals. Monika Grütters, Germany's Commissioner for Culture was quoted as saying that her country would shoulder the costs.
As of the 30th. November all of the tangled scaffolding was removed from the spire area, and was therefore no longer a threat to the building.
The world will now have to wait for Notre-Dame de Paris to be restored to its former magnificence.
Walking around during Vivid we came across this decorated pair.
They were stepping rythmically across the cobbled streeet, clicking their heels together on completing each step.
The result was remarkably like a clock ticking...