"All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered."
Sisygambis was the daughter of king Artaxerxes II Mnemon and, following an ancient Achaemenid tradition, she was made to wed her own brother Arsames. Her first-born, Darius, became king of Persia in 336 b.C., following an obscure plot in which the court eunuch and chiliarch had...
Luca Ferrari, also known as Luca da Reggio (Reggio Emilia, February 17, 1605 – Padova, February 8, 1654), was an Italian baroque painter, pupil of Alessandro Tiarini and Guido Reni. He worked on mythological subjects and on the decoration of religious buildings, primarily in the area...
Mariamne the Hasmonean Mariamne l'Hasmonéenne Mariamne I was a Hasmonean Princess, known for her extraordinary beauty just like her brother, Aristobulus III of Judea. She was the second wife of Herod the Great, a marriage arranged by her mother Alexandra in 41 b.C. They were married in Samaria...
Francesco Furini (born around 1600, died on August 19th, 1646) was a painter active in Florence during the Baroque period. He was brother to Alessandra, another renowned painter, and Angelica, a singer in the court of Cosimo II de' Medici. With his sensual, dark style, he...
Artemisia II of Caria Ἀρτεμισία Artemisia was a commander and naval strategist, sister and wife of Mausolus, ruler of Caria in the Achaemenid Empire. She ruled Caria for two years after his death, succeeding him as satrap, before some of the coastal cities and islands in the Achaemenid...
One of the most important French writers of the XVII Century was Madeleine de Scudéry, often simply known as Mademoiselle de Scudéry. She was a learned and accomplished woman, born on November, 15th 1607 at Le Havre, Normandy, from the Captain of the port. Both he...
“Here! You may nurse it a bit, if you like!” the Duchess said to Alice, flinging the baby at her as she spoke. “I must go and get ready to play croquet with the Queen,” and she hurried out of the room. The cook threw...
Well, I haven't done an Alice in Wonderland piece in a while and I'm sorry about that. As odd as it might sound, I've actually been on vacation and I cut on the non-work-related articles for a while. Now I'm back and I'd like to...
This is a thing I didn't know I needed. Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, narrated by Tilda Swinton (2013, 60 min.) Narrated by Tilda Swinton, this film was made in conjunction with the exhibition Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1909–1929: When Art Danced with Music. The impresario...
Last week we left with Alice all grown up inside the Rabbit's house and now we're in for one of the most iconic scenes in the book, when Alice breaks one of the windows with her hand and reaches down into the Rabbit's garden in...
