The World's fair, Paris 1900

(Image source here)

Already to begin with, the poster art is incredible

And this was the entryway (source here )

Above is rare footage, courtesy of YouTube, MetalDrake channel

and below is the WONDERFUL documentary series People's Century, (uploaded by Jack black, no copyright infringement intended)

In the first half of the documentary, there is wonderful footage from the world's fair and people who remembered it talk about it (and its magical moving footpaths) the footage is enchanting! the whole of  People's century is brilliant.

(Image source here )

 the Eiffel tower and its lights display (image source here)

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Witch trials

Witch trials are a particularly fascinating historical topic. We can look back now and think how un-scientific and ridiculous this must have been, this is the great thing about history, undoubtedly there will be things in our time that we find completely normal that future generations will look back on in wonder, asking why we bothered.

Below is a scene depicted in a pamphlet from the witch trials of Trier in Germany. They ran from 1581- 1593, and were one of the biggest witch trials in all of Europe.

Over 300 people died, but many guess that as many as 1000 people perished in these paranoid trials.

(Image source here)

And below is a monument in Vardo, Norway. in 1621, 91 people were killed. This memorial was opened in 2011. 

(Image source here)

What monuments to the pass shall our descendants erect for their ancestors I wonder

I freaking love history

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EDIT: LAPHAM'S QUARTERLY (a wonderful treasure trove!) had this graphic, a brilliant way to make history fun and relevant: So you've been accused of witchcraft?! (click to enlarge)

Outings project

Here is a link to the official page of the Outings project, started by artist Julie de Casabianca, in a bid to move 'highbrow' art out of museums and onto the streets where it can be seen and enjoyed by all, a really wonderful project with a compelling idea behind it!

All pics from the site page

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10 for today: art

Takashi Murakami is a brilliant artist

Ralph Steadman illustrations for Fahrenheit 451

Anna Higgie above and below link to her site here everything on it is KICKASS!

Sascha Schneider A feeling of dependence below

Sergius Hruby

Egon Schiele

Isaac Cordal link to his site here far out I really love the narrative of these pieces, just brilliant

Hari and Deepti paper cut outs, more here

Jen Collins more here

Abigail Gray Swartz here is the link to this immensely brilliant artist!

Enjoy, all other pics sourced from Pinterest unless otherwise indicated

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Napoleon crossing the Alps

The Jacques-Louis David shows a strongly idealized view of the real crossing that Napoleon and his army made across the Alps through the Great St. Bernard Pass in May 1800. 

Napoleon was known to have crossed the Alps on the back of a 'sure-footed mule'.

Pic courtesy of wiki commons

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Van Gogh sketchbooks

Pages from Van Gogh's sketchbooks taken from Pinterest

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Classical art

I wish I'd saved who painted the above! Hopefully a nice net surfer can chuck us a comment if they know?! Much appreciated! ^_^

Fuseli- The Nightmare

Pics from Pinterest

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The Death of Socrates

Here is the most famous depiction in art of the death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David

Close up of his friends by his side trying to convince him to not drink the hemlock, to admit he was wrong, but Socrates died for his beliefs rather than their renuncification, and this is why we remember him.

I even think about the word 're-member' we reflect on them hundreds of years later, I wonder how many people who did what they were told were remembered.

Above by Jean-Francois-Pierre-Peyron

Above by Jacques-Philip-Joseph de Saint-Quention

(a lot of men named Jacques were painters apparently!)

All pics from the wiki commons

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Phases of the moon chart

from the Codex Palatinus 833 Germanicus

Pic from Tumblr

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Wheel of Fortuna

Studying a lot of Machiavelli in class (and how oft the term is misused/ misunderstood)

One thing that struck me is the idea of fortune (Fortuna) and luck

It ties in with many disciplines and a very ingrained modern day thinking that "you make your own luck". But I feel that is fundamentally at odds with the reality of what a 'bad stroke' of luck can deal us.

In our world if something 'fails' we are perceived as 'losers' (I strongly recommend the Alain de Botton documentary: Status Anxiety, it helped quell a few of my thoughts and fears) but we rarely see the system itself as the problem and blame things on providence. When things go well we see that as the system working, our hard work rewarded, but when things that we cannot possibly have anticipated eg: the death of a loved one, the effects of war on a populace, even something as everyday as bad weather and the effects it has on farmers, we perceive ourselves as losers, not having tried hard enough.

Enough of my ramblings, I really enjoyed the search and uncovering of many medieval illustrations of "the wheel of fortune". Considering the role of religion at the time, good faith was just expected. Then someone like Machiavelli comes along and espouses somewhat unpopular views.

Anyhoo, I was pondering the nature of luck and fortune, and wondering what it can really mean, particularly for world events.

We even have game shows with the same title which are a long departure from the ideas vested in the wheel of fortune, and the religiosity that comes along with it too. The idea of the wheel of fortune is strongly rooted in astrology and tarot. I just love history!

All the pictures are from Wikipedia and Pinterest.

Some are from the Codex Buranus, a great medieval manuscript.

The Hortus Deliciarum was another trove.

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