Constantine’s death would drive a crack through the Roman Empire, splitting it into West and East. Over the next several hundred years, parts of it would even fall to foreign invaders. But a new capital would rise to take its place: Constantinople.
Category Archives: History
Architectural History: ‘A Jewish House In Damascus’
Bayt Farhi, a Sephardic palace in Ottoman Damascus, begun c. 1780 an ARCHES video
Speakers: Dr. Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis and Dr. Steven Zucker
Arts & Culture: ‘Paris Vs London – A Tale Of Two Capitals’ (Sotheby’s Video)
Pick your favourite between Paris and London as we pit Europe’s premier art capitals against each other in a tongue-in-cheek battle. Compare and contrast the allure of each location as we build-up to our marquee evening auctions on Modernités/Contemporary (21 October | Paris/London).
Discover some of defining moments of the 20th and 21st centuries by the greatest artists working in Europe and beyond. From the birth of the avant-garde and modernism, to seminal contemporary works, the artists represented all forged a distinct path.
Art History Video: ‘French Surrealist Painter Francis Picabia’ – “Minos” (1929)
Master Surrealist Francis Picabia created complex-dream like paintings for his series, “Transparencies”. In this episode of Anatomy of an Artwork, discover the hidden inspirations for his painting, Minos, and learn about the meaning behind each transparent layer.
Francis Picabia (1879 – 1953) was a French avant-garde painter, poet and typographist. After experimenting with Impressionism and Pointillism, Picabia became associated with Cubism. His highly abstract planar compositions were colourful and rich in contrasts.
Top French Estate Tours: ‘Rochefoucauld Castle’ In Charente River Valley
The castle, part of the Rochefoucauld family fiefdom for a thousand years is concealed from the visitor’s eye. Passed the automatic entrance gates, a long tree-lined bridle path with park and woods on one side and outbuildings on the other, turns towards the end to reveal the impressive façade. The estate stretches the length of the village or perhaps the reverse.
“He who lives without madness is not as wise as he thinks”, one of François-de-la-Rochefoucauld’s maxims.
Ground floor: The entrance archway with its mosaic floor tiles leads, on one side, to a small lounge that opens into a through dining room featuring a beautiful coffered ceiling and kitchen that was moved up to this floor in 19th century. Behind the dining room is one of the four staircases and a small bedroom and ensuite bathroom.
First floor: Two more intimate lounges are to be found on the ground floor for a cosier family atmosphere. Four bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms, two of which have their private toilet and a fifth one with a shower room. Two of the bedrooms are very formal, full of history and decorative features: they have seen visitors such as Charles Quint in 16th century and Queen Mum in 20th century.
The library: Originally, a renaissance gallery linked the castle to the library and chapel. The library had always been part of an ensemble. It is located in the centre, built on the site of a former watchtower and features a vaulted ceiling.
The main courtyard: An ornamental pond is fed by water from the river thanks to a clever system bringing water up to a tank on the library roof and from where it is then poured. Under part of the main courtyard, there are large vaults, built together in 15th century with the consent of King Charles VII, with an additional defensive wall, after helping the La Rochefoucauld to reconquer their castle.
European News Podcast: ‘Can Belgium Survive?’
After nearly 500 days of negotiations, Belgium finally has a national government. It consists of seven parties but excludes the two biggest – both Flemish nationalist parties. Is Belgium’s complex political system workable in the long term?
And can the country hold together? Andrew Mueller asks Régis Dandoy, Carl Devos and Barbara Moens.
Classics: The Golden Age Of 1950’s Italian Tiny Cars
You can’t measure style with a tape measure, and that applies to people and collector cars alike. A true automotive style icon will be celebrated at the next Aste Bolaffi auction on 16 October. Firstly, the catalogue contains numerous rare variations of small Italian cars.
There is a Fiat 600 Zagato Tipo L from 1956 finished in metallic red and cream two-tone paintwork, a contemporary luxury version of the otherwise modest city runabout. The Fiat Abarth 595 and the two Jolly versions of the Fiat 500 built by Carrozzeria Ghia are also desirable.
It wasn’t only Fiat producing extremely charming microcars in the post-War period, however. The 49 lots in the auction also include a Bianchina Trasformabile, a Heinkel cabin scooter, a Gogomobil, a Mivalino, an Amica tricycle and a Ferves 50 Ranger, which can be considered the ancestor to the Fiat Panda 4×4 we so adore. You can find our favourites from the sale listed below or, alternatively, browse the entire catalogue in the Classic Driver Market.
Cocktails With A Curator: Bronzino’s ‘Lodovico Capponi’ (Frick Video)
In this week’s episode of “Cocktails with a Curator,” Curator Aimee Ng explores the life of Lodovico Capponi, the subject of a 16th-century portrait at the Frick by Agnolo Bronzino. A page at the Medici court, Lodovico had the misfortune of falling in love with a Florentine noblewoman whom Duke Cosimo I intended to marry to one of his cousins. Join Aimee with an Aperol Spritz as she discusses one of her favorite works in the museum and examines what some of the details—from his black-and-white outfit to the partially obscured cameo in his right hand—may tell us about the young man and his life.
To view this painting in detail, please visit our website: https://www.frick.org/agnolobronzino
Art History Video: ‘Young Rembrandt’s Etchings’
Curator An Van Camp explains Rembrandt’s use of a printmaking technique known as etching, and what his early experiments tell us about the young artist’s working process.
The Young Rembrandt exhibition is open at the Ashmolean until 1 Nov 2020: https://www.ashmolean.org/youngrembrandt
Art Videos: American Painter Cy Twombly’s ‘Apollo 11’ Homage (1969)
In the summer of 1969, Cy Twombly made a series of paintings inspired by the Apollo 11 space mission.
Born in Lexington, Virginia, in 1928, Edwin Parker ‘Cy’ Twombly studied art in Boston and at the avant-garde Black Mountain College in North Carolina. After graduating, he served as a cryptologist in the US Military — an experience that left a distinctive mark on his artistic style.
Learn more: https://www.christies.com/features/Mo…
Boomers Daily 