Eclipse of the Crescent Moon

Eclipse of the Crescent Moon ( lit. "Stars of Eger") is a historical novel by the Hungarian writer Géza Gárdonyi. It was first published in 1899 and is one of the most popular and widely recognized novels in Hungary.
Background.
The story is set in the first half of the 16th century and covers a period of roughly 25 years. The main historical events that are addressed are the bloodless occupation of Buda, the seat of the Hungarian kings, in 1541, and the 1552 Siege of Eger (now in Northern Hungary) by the Turks that forms the major topic of the novel. The story also addresses some other historical topics like the impact of the Reformation, the discord between Hungarians and the Holy Roman Emperor, as well as many themes of general import like mercy, filial and marital love, friendship, trust and truthfulness.
Most characters of the book are historical figures, notably the hero Gergely Bornemissza himself, though most of them have been strongly romanticized according to the author's intentions. Gergely's life story in the novel is almost fully invented, except for his role as an officer during the siege of Eger. Éva Cecey, Gergely's love and later wife, is fictional; her portrayal in the novel is based on Gárdonyi's "ideal woman".
Plot summary.
The novel consists of five parts that tell the life of Gergely Bornemissza from the age of eight until the year 1552, when he is in his early thirties.
I. Gergely is a half-orphan and son of a poor woman, while Éva Cecey is the daughter of a landowner. They are nevertheless playmates. While playing in the woods, the two children are captured by a Turk named Jumurdzsák and have to join a trek of prisoners. Due to the cunning of little Gergely, the two children are able to escape and later also to free the other prisoners. Gergely's mother dies in a raid by the Turks, but the little boy is adopted as a foster son by the rich aristocrat Bálint Török, where he gets a good education.
II. Several years later, Gergely has to experience that Buda is captured by the Turks through deceit and his foster father Bálint Török is led away prisoner. Gergely meets Éva again, who has become a pretty young girl.
III. Gergely learns that Éva who is an excellent rider and fighter is to be married to the cowardly Adam Fürjes at the request of the queen. They flee together and get married. Together with some friends they plan to free Bálint Török from his prison in Istanbul. They go to the Ottoman city, but despite many adventures, they finally fail in freeing the Hungarian aristocrat.
IV. It is 1552, a force about 200,000 Turks is approaching the little town of Eger, the citadel of which is only defended by 2000 soldiers. István Dobó, captain of the citadel, calls on the troops of the emperor for aid, but no-one arrives. Gergely joins the forces who are preparing to fight in Eger, while leaving Éva home with their little son. Shortly after he has left, a stranger arrives and kidnaps the little boy. Éva realizes that the stranger must have been the Turk Jumurdzsák. She understands that there must be a connection with the siege of Eger, so she masquerades as a man and tries to enter the besieged castle.
V. Even though the forces of the Turks are overwhelming, the Hungarians in Eger are able to defend themselves. Eger's strong walls and the high morale of its defenders allows the fortress to withstand five major assaults and continuous cannon fire - almost 12,000 cannonballs land inside the fortress before the siege ended. In a stroke of unparalleled ingenuity, Bornemissza devises primitive but lethal grenades and powder keg sized bombs to use against the attackers, as well as a water-mill wheel packed with gunpowder which he rolls into the Ottoman ranks. Éva finally arrives at Eger. Though the Ottomans attack again and again, the citadel stands firm, with also the women of Eger joining the battle. Finally, the Ottoman forces withdraw. Gergely's and Éva's little son is exchanged for a Turkish boy who has been captured, and the family is finally reunited.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations.
The novel was adapted for film twice:


Heinrich Rauchinger

Heinrich Rauchinger (1858–1942) was a Kraków-born history painter and portrait painter.
Life.
Rauchinger was born .
During the years 1878-1879 he studied at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków under Jan Matejko and afterwards at Academy of Fine Arts Vienna under August Eisenmenger and Christian Griepenkerl.
In 1886, after graduating, a scholarship enabled him to spend two years in Italy, especially in Rome, where he completed his training and did numerous landscape studies.
From 1888 he lived as a freelance artist in Vienna, where he presented his works at many painting exhibitions. In the years 1883–1899 he also exhibited at the Kraków Society of Friends of Fine Arts. In 1894 he participated in an exhibition of Polish art in Lviv.
He mainly dealt with portrait painting, creating portraits of Walter Breisky, Bertha von Suttner, and Stefan Zweig. He also designed book covers for "Dzieje Polski" (History of Poland) by .
In 1895 Rauchinger converted from Judaism to Catholicism. After the joining of Austria with the Third Reich, he became a victim of Nazi terror. On July 10, 1942, at the age of 84, he was arrested and deported. He died on in Theresienstadt. His last place of residence before deportation was in Leopoldstadt.


What the Tudors Did for Us

What the Tudors Did for Us is a 2002 BBC documentary series that examines the impact of the Tudor period on modern society.
Episodes.
Episode one: "Seeing the World".
Hart-Davis travels around Britain to introduce the idea and inventions of the Tudor Age in art, optics and exploration.
Episode two: "The Thinkynge Revolution".
Hart-Davis travels around Britain to introduce the idea and inventions of the Tudor Age in science, literature and education.
Episode three: "The Goode Lyfe".
Hart-Davis travels around Britain showing how domestic life developed during Tudor times.


Henry VIII and His Six Wives (TV series)

Henry VIII and His Six Wives is a four-part British documentary first broadcast in 2016 about Henry VIII and his wives, chronicling his turbulent private life and how it shaped Britain.
In April 2016, Leeds historian Dan Jones co-wrote and co-presented, with Dr. Suzannah Lipscomb, "Henry VIII and His Six Wives" which was shown on Channel 5.


Charles Benazech

Charles Benazech (1767/68 – 1794) was an English portrait and historical painter, and aquatint engraver. Prints of his painting of Louis XVI and family, just before the monarch's execution during the French revolution, achieved a wide circulation.
Life and work.
Benazach was born in London around 1767, the son of Peter Paul Benazech. In 1782, at the age of fifteen, he went to Rome, and on his return stayed for a time in Paris, where he studied under Greuze, and witnessed the outbreak of the French Revolution. This
eventful period furnished him with the subjects of four pictures by which he became known: "The Address of Louis XVI at the Bar of the National Convention", "The Separation of Louis XVI from his Family", "The last Interview between Louis XVI and his Family" and "Louis XVI ascending the Scaffold". These were engraved by
Luigi Schiavonetti.
He also painted also "The last Interview between Charles I and his Children" engraved by Thomas Gaugain, as well as some subjects from the poets and several good portraits. He was a member of the
Florentine Academy, and exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in the years 1790 and 1791. He likewise engraved a few plates in aquatint, including the "Couronnement de la Rosiere", in which he attempted to imitate the style of Philibert-Louis Debucourt, and also some portraits after himself, as well as two of Henry IV, king of France, and Sully, after Pourbus, which are signed with the fictitious name of Frieselheim.
Benezach died in London in the summer of 1794, aged just 27 years.
References.
Attribution:


The False Dimitri (film)

The False Dimitri () is a 1922 German silent historical film directed by Hans Steinhoff and starring Alfred Abel, Agnes Straub and Eugen Klöpfer. Set in early seventeenth century Russia it portrays the rise of False Dmitriy I during the Time of Troubles.
It was made by the German major studio UFA. The film's sets were designed by the art director Walter Reimann.


The Hidden People


Pieter van Lint

Pieter van Lint or Peter van Lint (1609–1690) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and designer of tapestries. He excelled in history paintings, genre scenes and portraits in the Flemish Baroque style with some Classisizing influence. He worked in Antwerp and Italy.
Life.
He was born in Antwerp where he trained under Artus Wolffort. During his training he frequently visited Antwerp's churches to copy the paintings of his contemporaries such as Peter Paul Rubens as well as those of earlier generations such as Marten de Vos and the Francken brothers.
Van Lint become a master in the Guild of Saint Luke in 1633. In that same year he traveled to Rome where he remained until 1640. In Rome he worked for Cardinal Domenico Ginnasi, Bishop of Ostia, who employed him to decorate the local cathedral. Van Lint also frescoed the Cybo family chapel in the Santa Maria del Popolo with the Legend of the True Cross in 1636–40. In addition to religious commissions, the artist painted numerous small genre scenes in the style of the Bamboccianti. He spent time in Paris from 1640 to 1641 where he possibly was in contact with Poussin.
The year after his return to Antwerp in 1642 he married Elisabeth Willemyns. The couple had seven children. When he became widowed in 1679, the artist remarried the following year to Anna Moeren (Moren or Morren).
His pupils included Caerel de las Cuevas, Jan-Baptista Ferrari and Godfried Maes. His son Hendrik Frans van Lint from his second marriage was a celebrated landscape painter in Rome.
He died in Antwerp.
Work.
His earliest works follow his master Wolffort's style, which was itself indebted to the academic manner of Otto van Veen. During his stay in Rome he made many studies after the antique and developed an interest in classicism, which remained a constant characteristic of his style. At the same time, he tried his hand at the Bamboccianti genre style of painting.
Many of his later works were religious paintings, such as the "Marriage of the Virgin" (1640) in Antwerp Cathedral, which were in the classicizing style of Wollfort and his Roman examples. Besides larger paintings, he made small-scale devotional paintings, which found a large market in Spain and the Spanish colonies in America. He often completed assignments for leading Antwerp art dealers such as Matthijs Musson and Guillam Forchondt.
In response to the contemporary demand for copies of Rubens' oil sketches, van Lint produced a large number of copies of Rubens' work. Pieter van Lint was together with Abraham Willemsens and Willem van Herp one of the principal producers of such copies for the Antwerp art dealers. Many of these were executed on copper, a material for painting that was highly prized both for durability and its glossy finish in Spain. Four oils on copper works by van Lint are in the collection of the Prado Museum in Madrid, including a copy after Rubens.
An album with travel sketches, including two sketches which are signed 'P.V.L.' in the collection of the Martin von Wagner Museum in Würzburg, which were formerly attributed to Pieter van Laer (the central figure of the Bamboccianti) has now been re-attributed to Pieter van Lint. The album contains sketches, which the artist made of scenes, including of his fellow travelers, during his travels in Italy around 1636. The drawings give a lively idea of the conditions and the manner in which travelers undertook their travels at the time.
Pieter van Lint was also active as a designer of tapestries. Correspondence between the Antwerp trader Hendrik Lenaerts and the Brussels weavers Jan van Leefdael and Gerard van der Strecken dated 1660 shows that van Lint had designed 8 cartoons for a "Story of Domitian". A tapestry series dated 1639 on the "Story of the Virgin Mary" still preserved in the Pottery convent in Bruges is believed to have been made after models by Pieter van Lint.


Le Havre (board game)

Le Havre is a board game about the development of the town of Le Havre. It was inspired by the games "Caylus" and "Agricola" and was developed in December 2007.
The game was edited by Uwe Rosenberg and Hanno Girke and the former gets the main cover credit. The illustrator was Klemens Franz while the English translator was Melissa Rogerson. Numerous credits are given to others who assisted with playtesting and other tasks. The game was published by Lookout Games and distributed by Heidelberger Spieleverlag.
The game was released at Spiel 2008 in both German and Australian English, with both editions published by Lookout Games. It did not do as well as its predecessor "Agricola" in the Fairplay polls, with a rating of 2.51 (1 is best), but has a high rating of 8.1 at BoardGameGeek (a different rating system), and is generally considered to be highly regarded by critics.
The game was adapted into an iOS app by Codito Development Inc. and released on Jun 21, 2012. The game has a Metacritic rating of 82% based on 6 critic reviews.
A two player version called Le Havre: The Inland Port was released in 2012. There is also a corresponding iOS app
Gameplay.
The gameplay takes place in the harbour of Le Havre, where players take goods such as fish and wood from the wharves. These goods are used either to feed the players' community, to construct buildings and ships, or are processed into finished goods. For example, a smokehouse building may be constructed in which players may process fish into smoked fish, which is more valuable.
The game is played for a set number of rounds. The winner is the player with the greatest net wealth at the end.
Points are earned by making money, building buildings and ships (which each have their own values), and selling goods. At the end of each round, players must be able to give food to their workers. The amount of food depends on the number of players; it starts out low and steadily increases to high values towards the end of the game. Players not planning ahead will soon find themselves with a shortage of food which will require taking loans from the Bank. Building ships can help with this food problem, as each ship will give the player a discount on their food each round (they count as trade routes which give the player more sources of food).


MysteryQuest

MysteryQuest is an American Paranormal television series that premiered on September 16, 2009 on History. Produced by KPI Productions, the program is a spin-off of "MonsterQuest". The series tag line is "What if everything you believe is wrong?"
Overview.
The purpose of the show is best described by the narrator in the introduction:
The series examines various persistent mysteries (dubbed "case files") around the world, following teams of investigators who travel abroad to collect and examine evidence and study both popularly accepted explanations and alternate viewpoints regarding a particular case file.
Reviews.
""MysteryQuest" delivers on its promise to attempt to unlock new answers to unsolved mysteries." ~ Season one DVD review, Zach Freeman, TV Rage
"...it sometimes seems like the writers go into a particular mystery with a preconceived idea of what happened and only look at evidence that supports that idea." ~ "Common Sense Media"
Notable case findings.
The episode titled "Hitler's Escape" made news after the forensic exam performed by Nick Bellantoni and DNA testing by Linda Strausbaugh, Craig O'Connor, and Heather Nelson concluded that the skull that the Russian government possesses and purports to be Adolf Hitler's is actually from a woman between 20 and 40 years of age.
In "Rise of the Fourth Reich", investigators uncovered documentary evidence that the organization called ODESSA was known to authorities well before being "exposed" by Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal.
In "Jack the Ripper", forensic handwriting analysis expert Michelle Dresbold and psychological profiling expert Brent Turvey identified "quack" medicine purveyor Francis Tumblety as the most likely identity of the infamous serial killer.
Broadcast airings.
Repeats of the series have aired on the digital broadcast network Quest.


About Time (board game)

About Time is a general knowledge historical board game first seen on Series 5 of the BBC new-business reality show "Dragon's Den" on December 17, 2007.
The game was invented by Joe Gill, Iain McGill, Matt Gould and Michele Rosaus, who together formed a company, Circa Circa Ltd, to launch the game in the UK. The game’s distinctive artwork is by Michele Rosaus.
The game is part of a growing subgenre of trivia games in which players compete by giving numerical answers, in this case years, to questions rather than factual answers.
Gameplay.
Players progress by giving answers that are closest to the correct year on the question cards. The question cards all feature six events and a year in which the events took place. Chips are used as rewards and can be won or lost during high-stakes board play.
Each card contains questions in six subject categories including arts, politics, everyday life and innovation. Player pieces are iconic historical figures including Napoleon, Queen Elizabeth I, Genghis Khan and William Shakespeare.
Editions.
In 2008, in a promotional tie-in with "The Guardian" newspaper, About Time used the newspaper’s archive to add content to the game.
In Germany, a German language edition of the game, "About Time Das Zeit Spiel", was launched in 2009 in association with "Die Zeit", the Hamburg-based weekly newspaper. The game contains content from the newspaper.
"About Time", USA Edition, was launched in 2009.


Gunman Clive

Gunman Clive is a platform game developed and published by Swedish indie video game development studio Hörberg Productions. It was first released for Android on 2 April 2012. The game follows a lone gunslinger in a futuristic Wild West as he tries to save the mayor's daughter from a group of technologically well-armed bandits.
In 2015, a sequel, "Gunman Clive 2", was released.
Gameplay and plot.
"Gunman Clive" is a side-scrolling platform game. The game is set in the year 18XX, where the player controls the titular character Gunman Clive as he fights different sets of enemies across 16 levels to rescue the mayor's daughter. The player has to traverse along a 2D platformer filled with moving platforms, traps and enemies. Shooting is a huge emphasis in the game, and the player can pick up specialized weapon such as a spread shot, explosive bullets, and a laser gun. Enemies vary in each level, from bandits who carry rifles and dynamites to animals such as pelicans and wolves. Aside from the occasional grunts, bosses can also be found in the game. A life meter runs out every time the player takes damage.
The 2D graphics has the animation style similar of a sketch, while the backgrounds are of the same color of brown typical of the Wild West. "Gunman Clive"s soundtrack is described as "old west authenticity", paying tribute to the Western genre. The game offers two playable characters; Gunman Clive and Ms. Johnson. The only difference between the two is that the latter is slower, freezes in place while shooting, and has a skirt that can slow down descent. A third playable character, a duck, is unlocked after completion of the game. While Gunman Clive has three difficulty settings, the difference between each is how much damage you take and where you respawn after every death.
Development.
The game was approved through Steam Greenlight in November 2013. In October 2015, Bertil Hörberg released a one level ROM of "Gunman Clive" for the Game Boy line. and on May 30, 2016, release on SNES.
Reception.
"Gunman Clive" received generally positive reviews after its release from both mainstream and video game journalists. The gameplay, art and style has been critically praised, although Destructoid noted that its major flaw is its short length. Destructoid also noted that the game pays homage to classic platformers such as "Mega Man", "Super Meat Boy" and "Super Mario". "Destructoid" described it as "a steal at $2" and that "fans of 2D action platformers need to check it out. If Hörberg Productions is ever graced with the opportunity to develop a mainline Mega Man game, I'm confident that fans of the series would be happy with the results." IGN described it as "a brief experience, but still one well worth experiencing if you’re looking for a fine $2 platformer on your 3DS. The stellar game design is emboldened by the three different characters you can play as. From start to finish, "Gunman Clive" is a fantastic platformer, good enough that it is worth playing multiple times to play as every character."
Sales.
By January 2015, more than 400,000 copies of the game had been sold, with over eighty percent of sales on the 3DS. The Gunman Clive HD Collection was sold 9,000 times until January 2016.
Legacy.
A sequel, "Gunman Clive 2", was released for the Nintendo 3DS on 29 January 2015. The story now takes Clive around the world to chase after the leader of the bandits from the first game. In June 2015, Bertil Hörberg announced the two games would be released on the Wii U as "Gunman Clive HD Collection". The collection was also released on the Nintendo Switch on January 17, 2019, and PlayStation 4 on May 22, 2020.
Clive, Ms. Johnson and the duck enemy appeared as three of the playable guest characters in the 2D action RPG game "Drancia Saga" for the Nintendo 3DS.


History Today

History Today is an illustrated history magazine. Published monthly in London since January 1951, it presents serious and authoritative history to as wide a public as possible. The magazine covers all periods and geographical regions and publishes articles of traditional narrative history alongside new research and historiography. A sister publication History Review, produced tri-annually until April 2012, provided information for sixth form history students.
History.
Founded by Brendan Bracken, Minister of Information after the Second World War, chairman of the "Financial Times" and lieutenant to Sir Winston Churchill, the magazine has been independently owned since 1981. The founding co-editors were Peter Quennell (1951–79) and Alan Hodge (1951–79); subsequent editors were Michael Crowder (1979–81); Michael Trend (1981–82); Juliet Gardiner (1981–85); Gordon Marsden (1985–97) and Peter Furtado (1997–2008). The current editor is Paul Lay.
The website contains all the magazine's published content since 1951. A digital edition was launched in 2012.
"History Review" was a tri-annual sister publication of "History Today" magazine publishing material for sixth form level history students. The final issue of "History Review" was published in April 2012 but the archive of published material is available for research in the "History Today" archive.
In 1995 it compiled "The History Today Companion to British history" (London: Collins & Brown, 1995), with 4500 entries covering the entire field in 840 pages edited by Neil Wenborn.
The history departments of the Ohio State University and Miami University recognized the magazine as a "Best in History Online pick" as "a history magazine who aims to bring serious history to a wide audience."
Contributors.
"History Today" generally commissions its articles directly from academic authors and historians, though it does accept unsolicited essays from freelance historians and others if the article is deemed to be serious history, of wide interest or of academic worth.
Awards.
Since 1997, The Longman History Today Charitable Trust, has held an annual awards ceremony at which presentations are made to those that have fostered a wider understanding of, and enthusiasm for, history. The awards are for Book of the Year, awarded for a first or second book, Historical Picture Researcher of the Year, an undergraduate dissertation prize (since 2003) and the Trustees' Award, for a person or organisation that has made a major contribution to history.


Bill Brand (TV series)

Bill Brand is a British television drama series produced by Thames Television for the ITV network which was shown in the summer of 1976.
Written by Trevor Griffiths, the series charts the political progress of the eponymous Brand, who becomes a Labour Party Member of Parliament for a Lancashire constituency after retaining the seat at a by-election with a small majority. A former Liberal Studies lecturer at a local Technical college, Brand finds the demands of his career at odds with his left-wing convictions.
Produced as one series of eleven episodes, "Bill Brand" stars Jack Shepherd in the title role. Arthur Lowe appeared as the Prime Minister, Arthur Watson (a character loosely based on Harold Wilson). Alan Badel played a left-wing Cabinet minister, David Last (a character based on Michael Foot), connected with "The Journal", a thinly disguised "Tribune" newspaper. The decline of the textile industry, a major employer in Brand's constituency, is a secondary theme of the series. Geoffrey Palmer and Nigel Hawthorne were cast as moderate Trade ministers; the latter meets a delegation including Brand because his superior is engaged at a "City junket". Cherie Lunghi played Alex, a young woman with whom Brand has been having an extra-marital affair. The main cast also included Lynn Farleigh, as Brand's estranged wife, Rosemary Martin, as an MP who shares the same London house with Brand and other Labour MPs, and Colin Jeavons as a local constituency activist.
DVD Release.
The series was released on DVD in the UK in 2011.


Petticoat Government

Petticoat Government was written by Baroness Orczy, author of "The Scarlet Pimpernel", in 1910. It was released under the title "Petticoat Rule" in the U.S. in the same year. The book was released with a third title: "A Ruler of Princes," for a limited printing in 1909.
A story of the French aristocracy, the book concerns Madame de Pompadour's influence over the King and France. The story focuses on young heroine Lydie D'Aumont, who is caught between two suitors: hot-headed childhood friend Gaston de Stainville, and a more reserved English lord, Henry Dewhyrst, Marquis of Eglinton. The novel bears some similarities with its predecessor, "The Scarlet Pimpernel," and it is possible that the hero shares some relation with a character from that novel, Lord Antony Dewhurst.


Real Deal (American TV series)

Real Deal is an American television series aired on the History channel which premiered in December 2011. The show brings together sellers of antiques, collectables and historical artifacts with professional buyers. The show is based on the UK TV show "Dickinson's Real Deal", except the US show lacks the independent sellers and an on-screen host.
Format.
It follows the "sellers" who try to pitch their items to the "dealers". The dealers will offer an amount after a brief evaluation of the item, based on their professional evaluation and years of experience. After debating on the price, the seller can accept the cash offer, or choose to go to auction and potentially lose money or exceed the dealer's offer. The auction is hosted at Don Presley's auction house in Anaheim, CA.
Season 1 (2011).
The first season had a wide variety of items presented to the dealers, including a restored gas pump, Native American artifacts, a collection of autographed footballs, an electroshock therapy unit, antique bicycles, a woolly mammoth tooth, comic books, a 1960s MK II Lincoln and a brass spitoon from a Nevada mine and brothel. Some sellers took the cash offers, others opted to roll the dice and go to auction. Many of the sellers ended up with a much smaller auction price, while others sold their items for a little to a lot more than the dealers' offer.
The Real Deal dealers bring a wide range of specialties to the show with them, and have decades of combined experience. All enjoy their fields and have a loyal customer base.
Future.
As of February 2012, the full episodes have been removed from History's website and no further episodes are planned to be aired. The show may have been canceled.


The Borderers

The Borderers is a British television series produced by the BBC between 1968 and 1970.
Setting.
A historical drama series, "The Borderers" was set during the 16th century and chronicled the lives of the Ker family, who lived in the Scottish Middle March on the frontier between England and Scotland. You also see the wider politics, mostly as it affects their relative Sir Walter Ker, warden of the Middle March
The series was described by "The Guardian" in 2007 as "brave and original...a kind of north-eastern western". It shows an ordinary family trying to live as part of a society of Border Reivers, a world where raid and feud were unavoidable parts of daily life. The wars between England and Scotland had destroyed the normal processes of law enforcement. The setting is a particularly tense time, with Elizabeth of England and Mary, Queen of Scots, in competition. Also the struggle between Protestants and Catholics in both kingdoms. Amidst all this, the Kers of Slitrig are trying to live an ordinary life.
The leading cast members were Iain Cuthbertson, Edith MacArthur and Michael Gambon.
Season One was produced by Peter Graham Scott, who had worked on "The Avengers", "Mogul", "The Troubleshooters" and would later go on to make "The Onedin Line".
Season Two was produced by Anthony Coburn who had previously worked on 'Doctor Who'.
In 2007, two episodes of "The Borderers" were part of the "BBC Archive Trial".
Cast.
The regular cast were Michael Gambon as Gavin Ker (male head of the family), Edith McArthur as Margaret Ker and Iain Cuthbertson as Sir Walter Ker of Cessford. Nell Brennan as Agnes Ker (Series 1) and Eileen Nicholas as Agnes Ker (Series 2). Margaret Greig as Grizel Ker, Joseph Brady as Rab (Series 1) and James Garbutt as Rab (Series 2). Ross Campbell as Jamie Ker and Russell Waters as Pringle (Cessford's clerk). Sir Walter Ker is a real historical figure, though little is known of him and most of what is shown in the series is invented.


Joseph Blanc

Paul-Joseph Blanc (25 January 1846, Paris - 5 July 1904, Paris) was a French painter who specialized in scenes from ancient history and mythology.
Biography.
He studied at the École des Beaux Arts with Émile Bin and Alexandre Cabanel. In 1867, he was awarded the Prix de Rome for painting for his work "The Murder of Laius by Œdipus" and was named a Professor at the École in 1889. His studio in Montmartre also served as an art school.
In addition to his favorite subjects, he produced many portraits of politicians, including Georges Clemenceau, Léon Gambetta and Paul Bert.
He participated in the decoration of several buildings; among them the Panthéon, where he painted "The Vow of Clovis at the Battle of Tolbiac", "The Baptism of Clovis" and "The Triumph of Clovis". His decorative paintings may also be seen at the Opéra-Comique and the Hôtel de Ville
He created a design for postage stamps as well. They featured the figure of Marianne and came in denominations from one through five, seven and a half, and ten centimes. They were also overprinted for use in the French colonies and were commonly referred to as "Blancs". The original engraved wooden block used to create the stamps is at the Musée de La Poste in Paris.


Hai Tanahku Papua

Hai Tanahku Papua ("Oh My Land Papua") was an anthem of Netherlands New Guinea and of the unilaterally declared Republic of West Papua.
History.
The anthem was composed by the Dutch missionary Rev. Izaak Samuel Kijne during the 1930s.
After the Dutch-supervised election of a regional parliament, the New Guinea Council (), a group was formed on 19 October 1961 to elect a national committee. The committee drafted a manifesto for independence and self-government, a national flag (the Morning Star Flag), state seal, selected "Hai Tanahku Papua" as a national anthem, and called for the people to be known as Papuans. The New Guinea Council voted unanimously in favour of these proposals on 30 October 1961, and on 31 October 1961 presented the Morning Star flag and manifesto to Governor-General Pieter Johannes Platteel. The Dutch recognized the flag and anthem on 18 November 1961 (Government Gazettes of Dutch New Guinea No. 68 & 69), and these ordinances came into effect on 1 December 1961. The anthem went out of public use after Operation Trikora and handover of West Papua to Indonesia in 1963.
Current status.
The anthem is currently a prominent symbol of independence activists, including Organisasi Papua Merdeka (Free Papua Movement), and use of the anthem within the province is prohibited. The song has also been proposed as a symbol of the province of Papua.


Salvador Viniegra

Salvador Viniegra y Lasso de la Vega (November 23, 1862 – April 29, 1915) was a Spanish historical painter and patron of the arts.
Biography.
Born in Cádiz, Viniegra began studying law but soon decided to be a painter and entered the Escuela de Bellas Artes de Cádiz, where he was taught by Rámon Rodríguez Barcaza and José Pérez Jiménez. He concentrated initially on painting watercolors, and a series of works in that genre, which grew eventually into an album, earned him his first taste of public success, in 1877. In the following years, he won various painting prizes at regional exhibitions and traveled to Rome, where he devoted himself to the study of life drawing.
Returning to Spain in 1882, he competed that same year in the Exposición de Hernandéz, submitting the painting "Un patio de Sevilla" as his entry. Later, another work of large proportions, "La bendición de los campos en 1800", was exhibited at the Exposición Nacional de Madrid in 1887 and received the first prize in its category.
In 1890, he won a merit scholarship to study at the Academia Española de Bellas Artes in Rome where he resided until November 1896, and this Italian period marked the richest in his vast oeuvre. Displayed in Munich, Rome, and Budapest, his works were reproduced ceaselessly, making him one of the most popular painters in Europe. In 1897, "La romería del Rocío" was exhibited at the Sala Dante de Roma and at the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes de Madrid. It also appeared at the World's Fairs in 1898 in Munich and Vienna, where it won several gold medals. The painting continued its international tour when a Polish dealer agreed to exhibit it in various cities in Eastern Europe. Viniegra finally donated it to the Museo de Arte Moderno in Madrid in 1905.
Settling in Madrid, Viniegra was named the deputy director and conservator of the city's Prado museum in 1898. During this time, he became an important patron of the arts. Being a notable cellist himself, he gave particular support to musicians, among his beneficiaries being the composer Manuel de Falla and the cellist and conductor Juan Ruiz Casaux. He died in Madrid.


Family Limitation (Boardwalk Empire)

"Family Limitation" is the sixth episode of the first season of the HBO television series "Boardwalk Empire", which premiered October 24, 2010. It was written by supervising producer Howard Korder and directed by executive producer Tim Van Patten.
Plot.
Two of the D'Alessio brothers rob one of Nucky's bagmen on the Boardwalk in broad daylight. Because the thieves are perceived to be Italian, Nucky suspects Luciano is behind it. Margaret asks Mrs. McGarry, one of her fellow activists from the Temperance League, for advice on a "financial, domestic, sexual" offer she’s received from a man, meaning Nucky. Mrs. McGarry advises her to do as she sees fit and gives her a copy of Margaret Sanger's pamphlet "Family Limitation". Luciano, who is sleeping with Gillian, confides in her his problem with impotence. He is informed by Rothstein that Gillian is not Jimmy's wife, but rather his mother.
In Chicago, Jimmy advises Torrio against making a contemplated truce with Sheridan, telling that they will look weak. While meeting with Sheridan and his men, Jimmy and Capone ambush and kill them all with guns that are hidden with their coats. Back at Torrio's hotel, Jimmy is effused with praise from Torrio, which angers Capone and leads him and Jimmy to trade recriminations. Capone later visits Jimmy in his room and tells him his son is deaf, politely explaining that he didn't appreciate Jimmy making fun of him.
Margaret accepts Nucky's offer of a new house and quits her job after an argument with Lucy. However, she later realizes that the offer isn't at all what she expected after Nucky stands her up. Eli brings in Luciano, who tells Nucky he doesn't know about the theft. Nucky doesn't believe him and sends him away. Meanwhile, Van Alden discovers a picture of a 16-year-old Margaret in her immigration records. He then performs self-mortification with his belt.
Reception.
Critical reception.
"IGN" gave the episode a score of 8.5 enjoying the relationship between Al and Jimmy: "Another highlight is the relationship between Al and Jimmy, as they rise up the ranks of the Torrio crime family. The two debate the difference between 'buddy' and 'accomplice' as Jimmy plans how to take out Sheridan. During this time, Jimmy, a war veteran, calls out Al on his bullshit war record, which in turn makes Al look like he is overcompensating for being nothing more than a thug in a nice suit. These exchanges prove that Al and Jimmy may have been friends once, but are on a path to being something much worse as their underworld careers advance."
"The A.V. Club" gave it a B+ rating.
Ratings.
"Family Limitation" slipped back to a 1.2 adults 18–49 rating after last week's 1.3 rating. The episode had a total of 2.812 million viewers.


Hadrian (TV programme)

Hadrian is a Bafta Cymru-winning 2008 BBC Television documentary film in which Dan Snow follows the travels of the Roman Emperor Hadrian.
Production.
The film was produced by BBC Wales to tie in with the exhibition "Hadrian: Empire and Conflict" at the British Museum.
Reception.
Reviews.
Sam Wollaston writing in "The Guardian" describes the film as, "a breathless, whistle-stop tour of the Roman Empire," and complimented Snow for having, "contagious bounding enthusiasm, a real passion for his subject, as well as the authority and gravitas to make you sit up and listen," but he is however critical of the cameraman’s dizzying, "habit of circling presenters," and the presenter’s, "prancing around in the desert", wearing a silk-scarf in the style of, "The English Patient" or "Indiana Jones".
Andrew Billen writing in "The Times" described the film as a, "really rather good account," but described Snow as, "a bit too public school for my liking," "a bit keen on showing us his biceps," and, "a bit too Bear Grylls with his flowing desert scarf," concluding that he was unsure, "whether to be pleased or sad that Hadrian died a long and lonely death."
Ratings.
Broadcast 2008-07-19: 2.2 million viewers (11% audience share).
Synopsis.
Snow begins his journey at Monte Testaccio a vivid indication of the importance of Hadrian’s family olive oil business in Baetica. The Emperor Trajan was appointed guardian to the orphaned Hadrian who achieved his reputation leading the Emperor’s wars of Imperial expansion. Snow visits Trajan's Markets where Hadrian asserted his authority to rule following the death of his guardian. Reversing the expansionist policies of his predecessor Hadrian defined the Empire’s northern borders with a wall along the Danube-Rhine frontier and Hadrian's Wall, visited by Snow, in Northern England. Snow also visits the wall that defined the southern borders and the nearby city of Sbeitla in Tunisia which shows the prosperity this brought to the region.
Snow sees Hadrian’s commitments to the cities of the Empire in the monumental constructions of Cyrene in Libya and Sagalassos in Greece built to enforce Roman cultural domination. Hadrian found solace is his close companionship with Antinous and his spiritual heartland of Athens, where he was initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries and built the Temple of Olympian Zeus visited by Snow, in Greece. Snow visits the remote Mons Claudianus in Egypt where Hadrian quarried the great granite columns for his most impressive monument the Pantheon. Hadrian decrees the construction of Aelia Capitolina on the ruins of Jerusalem exiling the resident Jews.
Snow follows Hadrian’s tour of Egypt to the Great Pyramid at Giza and the Valley of the Kings where following the drowning of his beloved Antinous in the Nile the Emperor founded the city of Antinoöpolis and deified the young boy. Hadrian’s repressive policies in Judea resulted in the Bar Kokhba revolt which the Emperor had Julius Severus quash by besieging the guerrillas’ mountain base, visited by Snow, in Israel. Snow visits the massive Villa Adriana at Tivoli where the isolated and paranoid Hadrian spent his final years on personal building projects. Hadrian constructed his own monumental mausoleum Castel Sant' Angelo, visited by Snow, where he was finally interred after rebuilding the Empire and ensuring its stability.


Pavel Chistyakov

Pavel Petrovich Chistyakov (; 5 July 1832, Prudy, Vesyegonsky Uyezd, Tver Governorate — 11 November 1919, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian Imperial painter and art teacher; known for historical and genre scenes as well as portraits.
Biography.
His father was a freed serf who had worked as an estate manager. Despite the financial burdens, he saw to it that his son had a proper education; first at a parish school in Krasny Kholm, then the secondary school in Bezhetsk.
In 1849, he entered the Imperial Academy of Arts, where he studied with Pyotr Basin and Maxim Vorobiev. From 1854 to 1858, he received two silver medals and one gold, for his depiction of Hermogenes in prison. In 1861, he graduated with the title of "Artist", another gold medal (for his painting of Sophia of Lithuania at the wedding of her son, Vasily II) and the right to a stipend for study abroad. Before leaving, he taught for a short time at a preparatory school in Saint Petersburg.
In 1862, he headed for Germany, followed by lengthy visits to Paris and Rome. Upon returning in 1870, he was awarded the title of "Academician" for several works he had sent home.
After this time, he devoted himself primarily to teaching, first at the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, then the academy, where he developed his own teaching methods which merged direct observation with scientific study. He rarely exhibited. His few works were mostly of an historical nature, which he attempted to infuse with a psychological depth, rather than merely representing the events.
He became an associate professor at the academy in 1872 and, following the reorganization of 1892, became a member of the academic council. From 1890 to 1912, he served as head of the Department of Mosaics and oversaw several mosaic projects; notably at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and Saint Isaac's Cathedral.
His wife Vera, daughter of the painter Yegor Meyer, was also an artist of some note. The street where he lived was named in his honor and, in 1987, his home in Pushkin (a suburb of Saint Petersburg) became a museum.


Unauthorized biography

An unauthorized biography is a biography written without the subject's permission or input. The term is usually restricted to biographies written within the subject's lifetime or shortly after their death; as such, it is not applied to biographies of historical figures written long after their deaths.
Other names.
Unauthorized biographies marked for revealing scandalous or embarrassing content are often called tell-alls, especially if they take the form of memoirs; tell-all biographies written by friends or family members of the subject are sometimes called kiss-and-tells. Due to the potential stigma associated with the phrase "unauthorized biography", unauthorized biographies written by journalists and intended to present a fairer portrait of the subject are sometimes called investigative biographies.
Objectivity.
Unauthorized biographies may be considered more objective but less reliable than other biographies, because they are not subject to the subject's (subjective) approval (and therefore may contain accurate information that the subject would not have authorized), but are also not privy to information or corrections known only to the subject or the subject's close friends and family.
Legality.
The subjects of unauthorized biographies are almost always public figures. Rarely do public figures succeed in preventing the release of unauthorized biographies. Unauthorized biographies of people who are not deemed public figures may be considered violations of the right to privacy and subject to legal action. As Ted Schwarz (1992) writes:
Speaking of U.S. courts, Lloyd Rich (2002) writes:
The legality of unauthorized biographies varies by country. Brazil enacted a short-lived law in 2014 requiring permission from biographies' subjects before publication.
Reception.
Unauthorized biographies are not necessarily unwelcomed by their subjects, and in fact some unauthorized biographies have been criticized for displaying overeager admiration for them; however, unauthorized biographies have a wider reputation for fueling controversy and painting unflattering portraits of their subjects.
While unauthorized biographies often receive significant news coverage, their writers tend to face "media disdain" due to the perception that their work is gossipy, voyeuristic, and busybodyish.


Aleksander Kokular

Aleksander Kokular (9 August 1793, Warsaw – 6 April 1846, Warsaw) was a Polish painter, art collector and teacher. He was one of the co-founders of the School of Fine Arts in Warsaw and a prominent Freemason. Portraits (contemporary and historical) and mythological scenes were his specialties.
Biography.
He was born to a merchant family and first studied painting at the Warsaw Lyceum under the supervision of Zygmunt Vogel. In 1814, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, where he studied with Johann Baptist von Lampi the Elder, then spent a year at the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. He returned to Warsaw in 1818 and became a teacher.
For a year, he taught calligraphy at a piarist boarding school, then became a teacher at the Warsaw Lyceum in 1821. He went back to Rome on a government scholarship from 1824 to 1826, where he came under the influence of Vincenzo Camuccini. After his return, he remained at the Lyceum until it was closed by the Russian government in 1831.
From 1835 to 1841, he operated a private art school from his home and, from 1838 to 1840, was a lecturer at the "Alexandria Institute for Young Ladies". Then, from 1841 to 1844, he was a teacher at the newly-established Royal Gymnasium.
In 1844, he joined with Jan Feliks Piwarski to establish the "School of Fine Arts" and taught there until his death, two years later. Cyprian Kamil Norwid was his best-known pupil. The school was closed in 1864, because its students had participated in the January Uprising. It was reopened in 1904 and, since 1932, has been known as the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw.
Among his most familiar contemporary portraits are those of Tsar Nicholas I, Count Ivan Paskevich, Count Aleksander Stanisław Potocki and the composer, Maria Szymanowska. Among his historical portraits, one depicting the marriage of Jadwiga and Władysław II Jagiełło is notable. He also did church paintings in Siedlce, Suwałki, Puławy and Brześć. His collection consisted mostly of contemporary works, although he restored and sold antique paintings from the collection of Count Potocki.


Vuelve el ojo de vidrio

Vuelve el ojo de vidrio ("The Glass Eye Returns") is a 1970 Mexican revolution-epic film directed by René Cardona Jr., starring Antonio Aguilar, Flor Silvestre, Manuel Capetillo, Eleazar García, Alejandro Reyna, and Guillermo Rivas. It is the sequel to the film "El ojo de vidrio".


Union of Lublin (painting)

Union of Lublin () is an oil painting by the Polish artist Jan Matejko, finished in 1869, depicting the Union of Lublin. It is owned by the National Museum, Warsaw. and displayed at National Museum of Lublin.


When Havoc Struck

When Havoc Struck is an American documentary television series that is distributed by ITC Entertainment and ran in first-run syndication via the attempted fourth television network Mobil Showcase Network from January 11 until March 15, 1978.
Hosted by Glenn Ford, the program features stories of disasters.


A Rough History of Disbelief

A Rough History of Disbelief, known in the United States as Atheism: A Brief History of Disbelief, is a 2004 television documentary series written and presented by Jonathan Miller for the BBC and tracing the history of atheism. It was first shown on BBC Four and was repeated on BBC Two. It was first shown in the U.S. on PBS in 2007.
The series includes extracts from interviews with Arthur Miller, Richard Dawkins, Steven Weinberg, Colin McGinn, Denys Turner, Pascal Boyer and Daniel Dennett. The series also includes many quotations from the works of atheists, agnostics and deists, all read by Bernard Hill.
The series consists of three 60-minute episodes:
A series of six supplementary programmes was made from material that did not fit into the program; this was dubbed "The Atheism Tapes".
Content.
The bulk of the presentation is a historical review of atheism in the West with asides to the author's personal experience. Miller notes, as is implicit in the title, how only recently atheism was publicly acknowledged in the modern West, with none willing to state flat rejection of religious beliefs until Baron d'Holbach (1723–1789). He examines why d'Holbach is not better known or celebrated.
The first episode, "Shadows of Doubt", starts with Miller in the Reading Room at the British Museum describing the purpose of the series, and gives a brief montage of the interviewees. Miller starts his journey in New York City and states that the attacks of 11 September 2001 were "inconceivable without religion". Miller goes on to describe how he is conducting the series to explore the history of atheism, but he says he is rather "reluctant" to call himself an atheist because "it hardly seems worthwhile having a name for something which scarcely enters my thoughts at all". There follows a brief montage of people explaining their atheism: Sir Geoffrey Lloyd, Polly Toynbee, Gore Vidal, Steven Weinberg and Colin McGinn. Miller then describes his Jewish upbringing sitting in the pews of the New London Synagogue in St John's Wood.
In order to explore the philosophy of what it is people are talking about when they discuss beliefs, Miller talks to Colin McGinn, who notes that the word belief covers things as diverse as "I believe there is a table in front of me" to "I believe in democracy,” and also argues that beliefs are dispositional or implicit rather than occurrent. McGinn goes on to explain that the question of beliefs only comes up when one is faced with a question which is debatable, and gives religion and politics as examples. Miller then states that politics differs from religion in being about what "ought" to be, while religion primarily deals with what "is" the case.
Miller then asks whether it is possible to bring about belief voluntarily (an issue philosophers refer to as doxastic voluntarism).
American broadcast.
Broadcast of the series in the United States was delayed until 2007. PBS's usual corporate sponsors were not enthusiastic about the series. After a title change (including removal of the word "atheism"), the series was finally underwritten by the Center for Inquiry, the American Ethical Union, the American Humanist Association, the Institute for Humanist Studies, and the Harold K. Hochschild Foundation.
Soundtrack.
The program features a percussion score by Evelyn Glennie, wherein the main themes are Paul Smadbeck's "Rhythm Song" and Keiko Abe's "Mi-Chi" (from "Rhythm Song", 1990). Other tracks are "Shadow Behind the Iron Sun", "The Council", "First Contact", "Warrior's Chant" and "Wind Horse" (from "Shadow Behind the Iron Sun", 1999).


Kurt and Sid

Kurt and Sid is a play by Roy Smiles which had its world premiere at the Trafalgar Studios in London's West End. The play opened on 9 September 2009 and starred Danny Dyer (as Sid Vicious) and Shaun Evans (as Kurt Cobain). Kurt and Sid was directed by Tim Stark, developed by B29 Productions and produced by Thomas Hopkins and Andrew Jenkins. The play ran until 3 October 2009.
Development.
Sid Vicious was only portrayed in the 1986 film "Sid and Nancy" previously. Although Kurt Cobain had never previously been portrayed in film or stage, a character based on Cobain, named Blake, appeared in the 2005 film "Last Days". Danny Dyer first became interested in having a role when Tim Stark the director told him about it 6 years before the play opened. Shaun Evans grew out his hair for the role of Kurt Cobain and dyed his hair blond. Dyer thought that it would be interesting to see how the audience reacts because of the play being both dark and light.
Plot.
Kurt decides to commit suicide, but Sid stops him. Sid may have come back from the dead to save someone after killing Nancy Spungen. Sid and Kurt discuss what it is like to be famous and their problems. Sid tries to convince Kurt that he should not take his life. The play takes place in Kurt's greenhouse.
Reception.
Charles Spencer in "The Daily Telegraph" gave the play four stars: "Roy Smiles has created a cracking play about Kurt Cobain and Sid Vicious in "Kurt and Sid"". He added, "There are two startling achievements in "Kurt & Sid". Smiles turns the sad and wasteful story of Cobain, a heroin addict who blew his brains out with a shotgun in 1994, into a work that is at once laugh-out-loud funny, touching and thought-provoking. Perhaps even more remarkably, he turns Sid Vicious, late of the Sex Pistols and perhaps the most worthless individual ever to emerge even from the murky world of rock music, into a highly engaging hero." The Guardian were more critical, with Lyn Gardner awarding it just 2 stars.


Walls of Rome (video game)

Walls of Rome is a computer game developed by Mindcraft in 1993 for IBM and compatibles.
Design.
"Walls of Rome" uses an improved version of "Siege"s game engine. The game was designed by Ali Atabek, Scott Baker, Paul Kellner, and James Thomas, with Kellner also serving as the project coordinator, and Thomas as the lead programmer. The game featured art by Scott Baker, Steve Beam, Steve Burke, and Juan L. Galceran.
Plot.
"Walls of Rome" is a tactical war game about sieges in the time of the Roman Empire. In this game, the player takes the role of either attacker or defender in a siege assault on a fortification. Each side has an assortment of weapons, troops, and techniques, ranging from Phoenicians to Roman auxiliaries, to cavalry, and from siege towers to Greek fire. The player can also build scenarios and play them or trade them with a friend who also owns the game.
Reception.
"Computer Gaming World" in 1994 stated that "Walls of Rome" "vastly improved" on "Siege"s game engine and AI. The magazine concluded that it "is not only a solid extension of the original "Siege" engine, it offers loads of replay value as well". The game was reviewed in 1994 in "Dragon" #207 by Sandy Petersen in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Petersen gave the game 3 out of 5 stars.
"Walls of Rome" was a runner-up for "Computer Gaming World"s Wargame of the Year award in June 1994, losing to "Clash of Steel". The editors wrote of the game, "In this sequel to "Siege", the AI is less predictable than in the previous releases, the historical research is extremely solid (including many obscure battles that you can't find anywhere else and historical uniforms/banners which are something of a miniaturist's dream), and a multi-player modem capacity that takes the game up another notch in our opinion".


Hendrick van Balen the Elder

Hendrick van Balen or Hendrick van Balen I (c. 1573–1575 in Antwerp – 17 July 1632 in Antwerp) was a Flemish Baroque painter and stained glass designer. Hendrick van Balen specialised in small cabinet pictures often painted on a copper support. His favourite themes were mythological and allegorical scenes and, to a lesser extent, religious subjects. The artist played an important role in the renewal of Flemish painting in the early 17th century and was one of the teachers of Anthony van Dyck.
Life.
Hendrick van Balen was born in Antwerp. The date of his birth is not known but was likely 1573 as the birth records of the St George Church of Antwerp for that year are missing. His parents were the merchant Willem van Balen and Machteld van Alten. His family was well-off and thus able to let Hendrick have a good training which included the study of a number of languages.
Van Balen was a pupil of Adam van Noort and possibly also of Maerten de Vos. He became a member of the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1592–1593 at the age of 17. In 1608–1609 he was the second dean of the Guild and in 1609–1610 he was the first dean.
From about 1595 to 1602 he studied art while traveling in Italy. Although there is no record of his Italian journey, on his return to Antwerp, he became a member of the "Guild of Romanists". It was a condition of membership that the member had visited Rome. In the year 1613 the Guild chose him as its dean.
In 1605 Hendrick van Balen married Margriet Briers (or 'de Brier') in Antwerp. The couple had 11 children and three of their sons became painters: Jan van Balen, Gaspard van Balen and Hendrick van Balen the Younger. His daughter Maria married the painter Theodoor van Thulden. In 1613 he accompanied Rubens and Jan on a diplomatic mission to the Dutch Republic. Here they met Hendrick Goltzius and other Haarlem artists.
Van Balen led for over 30 years a successful workshop and had many pupils. He was the teacher of his son Jan van Balen as well as of leading Flemish painters Anthony van Dyck and Frans Snyders. He was a contemporary of some of the best-known Flemish artists, such as Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder.
Work.
General.
Hendrick van Balen specialised in small cabinet pictures often painted on a copper support. His favourite themes were mythological and allegorical scenes and, to a lesser extent, religious subjects. He also created a number of stained glass designs.
While he had a clear preference for the smaller scale in his later career, van Balen's early works consisted of a number of large altarpieces. These show the influence of his teacher Adam van Noort. His later altarpieces, with their rich and subtle palette, appear to have been painted after van Dyck's arrival in his studio. Hendrick van Balen's mythological and biblical scenes were usually painted on small plates or copper plates. His works often included nude figures in a mythological or religious scene, set in an idyllic setting. Van Balen further also painted landscapes.
Van Balen often collaborated with other artists such as Joos de Momper, Abraham Govaerts, Jan Tilens, Gaspar de Witte, Jan Brueghel the Elder and the Younger, and Rubens.
Anthony van Dyck made a few portraits of his master: a (1627 – 1632, J. Paul Getty Museum), which is a study for van Dyck's "The Iconography", a series of prints of famous people, and two grisaille oil sketches (c. 1630, Boughton House, Northamptonshire, UK; and 1634–1635, private collection).
Garland paintings.
Hendrick van Balen played a role in the development of the genre of garland paintings, which typically show a flower garland around a devotional image or portrait. Together with Jan Brueghel the Elder, he painted the first known garland painting around 1607–1608 for Italian cardinal Federico Borromeo, a passionate art collector and Catholic reformer. Borromeo requested the painting to respond to the destruction of images of the Virgin in the preceding century and it thus combined both his interests in Catholic reform and the arts. Brueghel, the still life specialist, painted the flower garland, while van Balen painted the image of the Virgin.
The genre of garland paintings was inspired by the cult of veneration and devotion to Mary prevalent at the Habsburg court (then the rulers over the Southern Netherlands) and in Antwerp generally. Garland paintings were usually collaborations between a still life and a figure painter. The genre was initially connected to the visual imagery of the Counter-Reformation movement.
An example of a collaborative garland painting he made with Jan Brueghel the Elder is the "Garland of Fruit surrounding Cybele Receiving Gifts from Personifications of the Four Seasons" of which there are two versions, one in the Belfius collection and in the Mauritshuis in The Hague. Both versions are considered to be autograph paintings, but small differences between the two suggest that the panel in the Belfius collection is the original version. The medallion in the centre is traditionally believed to depict Cybele, the ancient Phrygian goddess of the earth and nature as it was described as such in 1774 when it was catalogued in the collection of William V, Prince of Orange in The Hague. More recently an identification of the goddess with Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, grain crops, fertility and motherly relationships, has been proposed. The reason is that the goddess in the medallion has none of the attributes traditionally connected with Cybele. Around the medallion is suspended a garland of flowers, vegetables and fruit – a tribute to the goddess and an ode to plenty and fertility. Van Balen painted the medallion while Brueghel painted the abundant garland, the surrounding figures and the numerous animals.
Another collaborative effort on a garland painting, this time with still life painter Jacob Foppens van Es, is (Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Orléans) (c. 1620–1630). Hendrick van Balen is believed to have painted the cartouche while Foppens van Es painted the garland of fruit and flowers.


Georges Moreau de Tours

Georges Moreau de Tours (4 April 1848, Ivry-sur-Seine - 12 January 1901, Bois-le-Roi) was a French history painter and illustrator.
Biography.
His father was the psychiatrist Jacques-Joseph Moreau, who first suggested hemp as a treatment of mental illness. His brother, , also became a psychiatrist and criminologist.
In 1865 he entered the École des Beaux-Arts, where he studied with Alexandre Cabanel. He was a regular exhibitor at the Salon from that time until 1896. In addition to his canvas paintings, he produced three scenes for the wedding chamber at the Town Hall in the Second Arrondissement.
The works he illustrated include "Amy Robsart" and "Marie Tudor"; dramas by Victor Hugo.
He was awarded the Légion d'honneur in 1892. A street in Bois-le-Roi is named after him. His wife Thérèse (a former student of his) was also a painter of some note.


Reichsmusiktage

The Reichsmusiktage (Reich music days) took place from 22 to 29 May 1938 in Düsseldorf. They were an event of the propaganda in Nazi Germany and were under the patronage of Joseph Goebbels. Goebbels had originally planned an annual return of the Reichsmusiktage. These were held again in May 1939, but ceased to exist after the beginning of the Second World War.
Context.
In the Ideology of the Nazis a distinction was made between German and national art on the one hand and "cultural Bolshevism" and "degenerate art" on the other. Content-related and stylistic arguments were increasingly replaced by racist statements. The Nazis tried to promote the Gleichschaltung of art through special events and festivals and to make it accessible to the population as "German". These included the Reich Music Days, which were opened in Düsseldorf on 22 May 1938, the 125th birthday of Richard Wagner. They were under the patronage of Joseph Goebbels, who described them as an event for "declarations of musical policy principles and setting the course". The event lasted from 22–29 May and was organized by Heinz Drewes, the head of the music department in the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda.
"Degenerate music" exhibitions.
As part of the Reich Music Days, an exhibition was opened on May 24, 1938, in the Kunstpalast at Ehrenhof in Düsseldorf, under the name "Degenerate music", which followed on from the "Degenerate Art Exhibition" that had previously taken place in Munich in 1937. The main person responsible for the exhibition "Degenerate Music" was Hans Severus Ziegler, one of the earliest followers of Adolf Hitler and since 1935 general director of the Deutsches Nationaltheater and Staatskapelle Weimar.
This exhibition publicly denounced music that did not fit into the Nazis' worldview, especially the works of Jewish artists. As in Munich before, deterrent examples of "degenerate music" were presented at this exhibition in Düsseldorf. In more than 50 display cases, one could see not only books, scores and stage sets, but also photographs and disparaging caricatures. In addition, at the push of a button it was possible to listen to excerpts from recordings of the denounced works.
In addition to musicians, the exhibition also denounced musicologists, music directors, music critics, music teachers and conductors, and described their works and writings as "degenerate". Both "non-Aryan" personalities such as Alban Berg, Arnold Schönberg or Kurt Weill as well as "Aryan" musicians such as Paul Hindemith, who was married to a Jewess, and Igor Stravinsky from Russia were ostracized.
The exhibition was on show in Düsseldorf until 14 June 1938 and was then shown in Weimar, Munich and Vienna. There was no accompanying catalogue, only the opening speech by Hans Severus Ziegler in the Düsseldorf Kunstpalast, which was printed as a brochure. On the front page of this brochure a black jazz saxophonist was shown as a caricature. What was provocative about it was, on the one hand, the deliberately overdrawn face, in contrast to the musician's clothing, tailcoat and top hat, and, on the other hand, the red Star of David, which was emblazoned in the buttonhole instead of a carnation. The Nazis chose this fictitious figure as the symbol of the exhibition and also of the entire Reich Music Days 1938 as the epitome of degeneracy. The caricature is reminiscent of the black musician Jonny, the title figure from Ernst Krenek's opera "Jonny spielt auf", against which NSDAP members had already protested before 1933.
Side events.
In addition to this exhibition, the highlight of the Reich Music Days was a "cultural-political rally". Besides a speech by Reich Minister of Propaganda Goebbels and a speech by Gauleiter Friedrich Karl Florian, Richard Strauss himself conducted his "Festliches Präludium Op. 61", a work for orchestra and organ from 1913, which he arranged especially for this occasion. In addition, so-called "Platzkonzerte" were given in various squares throughout Düsseldorf, musikwissenschaftliche Symposien as well as symposia of composers and music educators were held, where the embodiment and representation of the "German" in musical culture was discussed. A total of three operas were also premiered.
Actually Goebbels had planned the Reichsmusiktage as a fixed annual event, but after a repeat in May 1939 it was not performed any more due to the Second World War.
Reactions at home and abroad.
Neither in Germany nor in the foreign press were the Reichsmusiktage 1938 perceived as a significant event. In contrast to the preceding art exhibition in Munich in 1937, both the "Degenerate Music" exhibition and the Reichsmusiktage as a whole were a failure for many followers of the Nazi cultural industry. Since mostly artists who had already emigrated abroad were sentenced, the entire event could not directly lead to confiscations or prohibitions. Likewise, the propagandistic evaluation of the exhibition was limited at the time, and the reactions from Germany and abroad were rather modest and reserved. While some newspapers at least expressed their amazement at why such famous composers as Hindemith and Stravinsky were classified as "degenerate", reactions from abroad remained strangely reserved. The magazine "Musical America", which appears in the US, limited itself to listing only the works and composers classified as "degenerate". The London "Times" even seemed to show some understanding for this action, in keeping with the Appeasement of the time. The regime-loyal conductor Peter Raabe, then president of the Reichsmusikkammer, demonstratively stayed away from the opening ceremonies of the 1938 Reich Music Days. However, the Nazi censorship of the press and radio kept such negative reactions from the public.


Hugo Vogel

Hugo Vogel (15 February 1855, Magdeburg - 26 September 1934, Berlin) was a German painter, known primarily for historical scenes and portraits.
Life.
His father was a merchant. After graduating from the Realschule in Magdeburg in 1874, he entered the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he studied with Wilhelm Sohn and Eduard von Gebhardt among others. He completed his courses there in 1880 and, three years later, exhibited several historical paintings at the Prussian Academy of Arts.
In 1886, following an extended visit to Italy, he settled in Berlin. The following year, he was given a professorship at the Academy, a position he held until 1892, when he lost it as a result of the "Munch Affair". This involved an exhibit by the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch that was closed by the Academy's conservative Director, Anton von Werner. In protest, Vogel and several other painters joined together to create the ", a precursor to the Berlin Secession. Among his notable students during his tenure were August von Brandis and Clara Siewert.
In 1893, he went to Paris to study with Jules Lefebvre. After that, he travelled throughout Spain, North Africa, Italy and the Low Countries. In 1900, he was awarded a gold medal at the ", a prestigious art exhibition held from 1893 to 1969.
In addition to his canvases, he created frescoes with historical themes in several town halls; notably in Berlin, Hamburg and Merseburg. In 1902, the fresco in Merseburg, "Der deutsche Michael", became the subject of plagiarism accusations when the magazine, "", pointed out its resemblance to an equestrian statue by Paul Dubois, depicting Joan of Arc.
From 1915 to 1917, during World War I, he accompanied Paul von Hindenburg to the Eastern Front as his official portrait painter.
He is buried at Wannsee Cemetery. Streets in Magdeburg and Berlin have been named in his honor.


4.50 from Paddington (video game)


Growl (video game)

Growl, known in Japan as , is a belt-scrolling beat-'em-up originally released for the arcades by Taito in 1990. Set in the early 20th century, the player controls a forest ranger who must protect the local wildlife from a group of evil poachers who are driving the animals to extinction. A home version was released for the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) on November 1991. It was also included in the arcade game compilation "Taito Legends 2" for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows.
Gameplay.
The player begins the game by choosing from one of four different forest rangers, each with a different amount of health, attack strength, and jumping height. There are four variations of the game (which can be determined by dipswitch settings):
The two-player variant allows the player to choose which character they would like to play as while the four-player versions assign each character to a player slot like other beat 'em ups.
The game's is controlled with an eight-way joystick for moving the character and two action buttons (attack and jump). The player can perform a variety of different attacks (punches, kicks, and finishing blows) depending on the position of an enemy. By pressing both buttons while surrounded by enemies, the player can perform a special attack that strikes every nearby enemy. By pressing both buttons while holding the joystick upwards, the player will perform a longer jump.
The player can procure weapons by destroying barrels and wooden crates or disarming certain enemies. There are a total of eight weapons which can be obtained: three melee weapons (a pipe, a sword and a whip), two throwing weapons (knives and hand grenades), and three firearms (a revolver, an M-16 assault rifle, and a four-barreled FLASH-style rocket launcher). The barrels and crates can be picked up and thrown at enemies as well. When the assault rifle or rocket launcher runs out of ammunition, they are still wielded by the player as melee weapons. The revolver, on the other hand, is thrown by the player after all of its bullets are used. The player can drop their current weapon by pressing down and attack while wielding it. If a weapon lies on the ground after a certain period, it will vanish completely.
There are seven regular stages (called rounds) and a bonus game, for a total of eight stages. The locations include a city, a moving train, a boat, a jungle, a cavern, and the hideout of the poachers. There are six types of enemy characters throughout the game, excluding the final boss (who has two forms). There are also animal helpers that will help out the player after they are rescued from a poacher, such as an eagle, a herd of deer, and an elephant.
Home versions.
Sega Genesis.
The Sega Genesis port of "Growl" can only be played by a single player, although all four characters are present and are given individual names (Gen, Burn, Khan, and Jack). The controls are identical to the arcade version. The player's special attacks can now be performed at any time, but now they drain a bit of the player's health. Instead of recovering health between stages, the player recovers his health by picking up apples hidden inside certain crates. The cavern stage was also redesigned completely. Finally the M-16 assault rifle has been replaced with an AK-47.
"Taito Legends 2".
Although the version in "Taito Legends 2" is an emulation of the arcade game, the game was altered to remove the body parts that fly into the air whenever an enemy is killed during an explosion caused by exploding barrels, hand grenades, or rocket launcher blasts.
Reception.
In Japan, "Game Machine" listed "Growl" on their March 15, 1991 issue as being the second most-successful table arcade unit of the year.


Mysteries of Lisbon

Mysteries of Lisbon () is a 2010 Portuguese period drama film directed by Chilean filmmaker Raúl Ruiz based on an 1854 novel of the same name by Camilo Castelo Branco. The movie's running time is 272 minutes. It played as a miniseries in 60-minute installments in some countries. The film has won nine awards and been nominated for eight more.
The plot of "Mysteries of Lisbon" is rich with coincidences, plot twists, multiple narrators, disguises, and flashbacks-within-flashbacks. Every major character possesses at least two identities, and the story—which hopscotches around Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries—is set against the Napoleonic Wars and includes pirates, a woman hellbent on avenging the death of her twin brother, and at least four different love triangles. Above all, "Mysteries of Lisbon" is about the mechanics of storytelling and imagination.
Plot.
The film initially focuses on João (João Arrais), an orphan boy at a school run by the priest Father Dinis (Adriano Luz) during Portugal's Revolução Liberal. João becomes ill after being bullied by another boy who tells him he is a criminal's child. He awakens in a delirium to find a lovely woman watching over his bed. After João recovers, Dinis takes him to see the woman who is indeed his mother, Countess Ângela de Lima (Maria João Bastos). For João's entire life, she has been imprisoned in her own home by her husband, the Count of Santa Bárbara (Albano Jerónimo). Dinis helps Ângela flee from her husband's house when he's away fighting the revolutionaries.
We finally learn João is the love child of Ângela and Pedro da Silva (João Baptista), a young nobleman without a fortune. Ângela's own father, the Marquis of Montezelos (Rui Morrison), rejects da Silva's offer of marriage, and even hires the assassin "Knife Eater" (Ricardo Pereira) to kill the impoverished young nobleman. Before dying, da Silva manages to find refuge with Dinis, and tells him his story. Dinis dons the guise of a gypsy and follows Ângela into the country where she gives birth to João. Dinis also intercepts and buys off Knife Eater, who has orders from Ângela's father to abduct and kill the baby. Dinis sees to the baby João's upbringing, and Ângela is summarily married off to the Count of Santa Bárbara by her father.
In the present, the Count of Santa Bárbara spreads rumors that Ângela is Dinis's lover. When Dinis tracks him down to make him recant, he finds the Count on his deathbed, tended by his maid and lover Eugénia (Joana de Verona). Dinis also encounters Knife Eater again, who has returned from Brazil after using Dinis's money to seek an ill-gotten fortune there. Knife Eater now goes by the name Alberto de Magalhães, and mocks the Count's slander. When the Count finally dies, Ângela, who never believed she was the Count's proper wife, refuses the inheritance. She leaves João with Dinis, and goes to live in a convent.
Dinis is himself the son of an illicit aristocratic affair. He finds this out when Friar Baltasar da Encarnação (José Manuel Mendes), the priest who gave the Count his last rites, recounts his own story. In his past, Friar Baltasar was Álvaro de Albuquerque (Carloto Cotta), who seduced and fell for the Countess de Vizo (Maria João Pinho), the wife of an acquaintance. They ran off together to Italy where she died while giving birth to Dinis. Álvaro then gave young Dinis to a friend to raise, who then gave Dinis to someone else, and so on, until finally Dinis is being raised by a French nobleman. The young Dinis fights for Napoleon's army in Spain under the name of Sebastião de Melo.
De Magalhães (the former Knife Eater) is now happily married to Eugénia, the former mistress of the Count of Santa Bárbara. However, in the past, he once paid a widowed French duchess, Elisa de Montfort (Clotilde Hesme) for sex, and Elisa tries to disrupt his marriage by returning his money. When Dinis tells Elisa the story of her mother's death, de Magalhães bursts in. He nearly strangles Elisa to death after she threatens to shoot him, but Dinis talks him out of the murder. Elisa is the daughter of Dinis's own tragic love, Blanche de Montfort (Léa Seydoux), who married Dinis's comrade-in-arms Benoît (Julien Alluguette), but took a lover, Lacroze (Melvil Poupaud). Lacroze was a man who was saved by Benoît and Dinis from a roadside firing squad during the war. Overcome with jealousy, Benoît sabotages Blanche's relationship with Lacroze, causing him to commit suicide, and ultimately kills Blanche in a fire.
João grows into a young poet (José Afonso Pimentel) and encounters Elisa, who vaguely resembles his mother. When he falls for her, Elisa enlists his aid to avenge her honor by challenging de Magalhães to a duel. De Magalhães complies but gets João to call it off by revealing the role he played in his past, including the accidental death of Elisa's twin brother, Arthur, after being sent by Elisa to kill de Magalhães. João leaves Portugal for a far-off colony, falls ill, and dictates his memoirs from his own supposed deathbed. His final vision is his memory of his mother looking over him when he lay sick as a child.
Episode guide.
"Mysteries of Lisbon" was a series of six episodes that aired on television in several countries before being compiled into a feature film in 2010.
Episode 1: At a boys' college run by Father Dinis, young orphan Joao obsesses about his parentage. When he suddenly falls ill, his mother visits him by his bedside and gives him a miniature theatre diorama as a gift. It soon becomes clear that she is a noblewoman, who has managed to sneak out of the house where she is kept locked up by her tempestuous husband the Count of Santa Barbara.
Episode 2: The strange former life of Father Dinis is revealed, as well as how he saved Joao from death at the hands of the same man who shot his father. Meanwhile, as the Count of Santa Barbara spreads the lie that Angela left him heartbroken for another man, a mysterious merchant steps forward to defend her honour and halt the gossip spreading through the salons of Lisbon's high society.
Episode 3: A monk sheds light on the mysterious past of Father Dinis, who is shocked by the true identity of merchant Alberto de Magalhaes.
Episode 4: Having discovered that Antonia is not the real sister of Father Dinis, Angela searches for the truth behind her relationship with the priest. As the past unravels, the dark history of her mother comes to light, and the string of misfortunes that plagued her for the rest of her life.
Episode 5: Father Dinis's complicated history is further unravelled as Elisa de Montfort, a woman with an unknown connection to Magalhaes, arrives at the merchant's home to repay a mystery debt. Recognising her as she waits to speak to Alberto's new wife, the priest beckons of her to talk. Flashbacks reveals his extraordinary link to the young visitor, his own story of jealousy and lost love, and the fate that befell Elisa's mother at the hands of one of his closest friends.
Episode 6: Now a student and known as Pedro da Silva, Joao falls into the destructive path of Elisa de Montfort, the daughter of Father Dinis's former lover. She convinces him that the only obstacle to their future together is Alberto de Magalhaes, so he challenges the merchant to a duel.
Reception.
Rottentomatoes.com reports 86% approval among 57 film critics of "Mysteries of Lisbon". The film holds an 82/100 on Metacritic.