6 Captains

Crimean War: Captains Ralph Budd, John Dwyer, William Cosmo, Trevor Frederick Hammersley, John Barlow and Angus Hall of the 14th Regiment of Foot (Buckinghamshire) next to a caisson. Photo by Roger Fenton, Crimea, 1855. Note that in making the photographs an exposure time of 10 to 20 seconds was required. I wonder what the man with the white hat is doing.

Königsberg => Kaliningrad

The photo at the top shows the pre-war situation (doubleclick for enlargement). The photo below shows the post-war situation. Only the church remained. NB this church has been restored nowadays.

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Alphonse Mucha - Zodiac

‘Zodiac’ by Alfons Mucha (1896). It is one of his most successful paintings. It was originally produced as a calendar for Champenois and later selected by the editor of La Plume as the design for his magazine. The signs of the Zodiac fill the circular background and encircle the central figure.

Winter in Amersfoort - part III

Near the City Walls.

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Winter in Amersfoort - part II

Winter in Amersfoort: 'De Kortegracht' (The 'Short Canal').

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Winter in Amersfoort

Huize Tinnenburg (mid 15th century)

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Sandro Botticelli: Simonetta Vespucci

Simonetta Vespucci (Städel Museum, Frankfurt) 

'Idealized Portrait of a Lady' or 'Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci as Nymph' by Sandro Botticelli (ca. 1445-1510). Circa 1480,  82 x 54 cm. It's one of the largest 15th century female portraits. She is wearing a hairstyle that can typically be seen on nymphs. The pearls in her hair and braids can also be linked to the nymphs.

Simonetta was born Simonetta Cattaneo in 1453 or 1454. At age fifteen or sixteen she married Marco Vespucci, a distant relative of the famous explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci. She became a prominent member of the Medici circle. She was considered to be the greatest beauty in Florence. At a jousting tournament in 1475 she was nominated 'regina della bellezza', queen of the beauty, by Giuliano de Medici. She died in 1476, probably from TB. She was buried in the parish church of the Vespuccio; the Church of Ognissanti in Florence. When Botticelli died in 1510 he was buried near her in the same church.

A beautiful and sympathetic heroine

From the review of ‘Hearts Courageous’, a dramatization of Hallie Rives novel produced at the Broadway Theatre, New York, October 1903, with Miss Maude Fealy as Anner Tillotson:

Miss Maude Fealy made a beautiful and sympathetic heroine, and in the staircase scene did some very pretty comedy

- The Theatre Magazine (US), October, 1903 -

Piet Mondriaan

An example of Piet Mondrians famous style of painting. He was born in Amersfoort in 1872.