Decoding Symbols in Renaissance Art. By Ruchi Bhalla Renaissance art is rich not only in terms of beauty, aesthetics and technique but also in terms of the colours and symbols that it carries, portraying an insightful visual language.
Why is Vermeer's "Girl with the Pearl Earring" considered a masterpiece? - James Earle. Special thanks to Sarah Rosenthal for lending her expertise to this script.
You can see Sarah's TED-Ed lesson on abstract expressionism here. Though Vermeer has become a popular painter today, he was relatively unknown in his lifetime. Dissecting Botticelli’s Adoration of the Magi - James Earle. Hungary's Referendum On Refugee Resettlement Is Overwhelming — But Invalid. Hungarian women wearing traditional costume cast their ballot at a polling station in Budapest, Hungary, during a referendum on Oct. 2 on refugee resettlement.
Arpad Kurucz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Arpad Kurucz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Hungarian women wearing traditional costume cast their ballot at a polling station in Budapest, Hungary, during a referendum on Oct. 2 on refugee resettlement. Hammond to put house-building before deficit reduction. Chancellor Philip Hammond has said he will prioritise spending on new homes and transport rather than following his predecessor George Osborne's aim to balance the books by 2020.
He told the Conservative conference the deficit was still too large and would need to be tackled "in due course". But he said the Brexit vote may cause "turbulence" and business confidence would be on a "bit of a rollercoaster". He said that it was "common sense" to invest to support growth and jobs. Hungary's Referendum On Refugee Resettlement Is Overwhelming — But Invalid. Brief History of the Royal Family. Brexit, Briefly. The European Union Explained. Episode 27: History of the Ottoman Empire, Part 2.
Host: Christopher Rose, Outreach Director, Center for Middle Eastern StudiesGuest: Barbara Petzen, Director, Middle East Connections.
10 Things You May Not Know About William the Conqueror - History Lists. Though he spoke a dialect of French and grew up in Normandy, a fiefdom loyal to the French kingdom, William and other Normans descended from Scandinavian invaders.
William’s great-great-great-grandfather, Rollo, pillaged northern France with fellow Viking raiders in the late ninth and early 10th centuries, eventually accepting his own territory (Normandy, named for the Norsemen who controlled it) in exchange for peace. Saudi Aramco World : A Virtual Walking Tour: The Alhambra. Photographed by Barry Gross and Michael Gross Audio guide at www.saudiaramcoworld.comcourtesy of Antenna Audio “Indeed, when the spectator has attentively examined my beauty, he will find reality to exceed the most extravagant conceptionof his fancy.”
—Abu Abd Allah ibn Zamrak,from an inscription in the Hall of the Two Sisters (shown here) Understanding Islam - The Basics. Budapest Foodies Hope Cuisine Can Help Heal Anti-Migrant Prejudice. Luwam Melake (left), a recently arrived Eritrean refugee, and Saba Tesfay, who is half-Hungarian and half-Eritrean, wash, roast and grind coffee beans during a traditional Eritrean coffee ceremony.
They performed the ceremony at the Kisuzem restaurant as part of a Budapest food festival celebrating the cuisine from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Somalia. Lauren Frayer for NPR hide caption itoggle caption Lauren Frayer for NPR Luwam Melake (left), a recently arrived Eritrean refugee, and Saba Tesfay, who is half-Hungarian and half-Eritrean, wash, roast and grind coffee beans during a traditional Eritrean coffee ceremony. Wild mammals 'have returned' to Chernobyl. Image copyright V Yurko Removing humans from what is now the exclusion zone around the damaged Chernobyl nuclear reactor has allowed wildlife to return, researchers say.
They say a long-term census of mammals in the area has shown that wildlife numbers are likely to be "much higher than they were before the accident". Professor Jim Smith of the University of Portsmouth led the study, published in the journal Current Biology. The Fashion Police in 16th-century Italy... - European History. Young Katherine of Aragon Infanta... - European History. European history (@europeanhistory) The Jews in Islamic Spain: Al Andalus. By S.
Alfassa Marks One of the characteristic features of the early history of Spain is the successive waves of different people who spread across the Iberian Peninsula. Which countries work the shortest hours – yet still prosper? Ever dreamed of working fewer hours and still earning the same? In Sweden, it’s no idle fantasy: from state hospitals to private enterprises, office hours are being cut short in an experimental bid to boost productivity and make staff happier. A relaxed approach to doing business hasn’t interfered with Sweden’s rise to prosperity. The nation ranks ninth in an index of the most competitive nations in the world, according to a new report by the World Economic Forum, which gave Sweden a high score for employer-worker relations and efficient use of its talent pool.
World’s 10 most competitive countries in 2015 Source: World Economic Forum. Pope Francis Open to Studying Ordination of Women as Deacons. Last Thursday, Pope Francis agreed to set up a commission to study the history and potentiality of women serving as deacons in the Roman Catholic Church. The pontiff’s proposal was an off-the-cuff response to a litany of questions about women in Church leadership during Thursday’s meeting with the International Union of Superiors General, an international group of hundreds of thousands of nuns. When one member asked, “What impedes the church from including women among permanent deacons, just as it happened in the early church?”
The pope responded, “Why not construct an official commission that might study the question? …It would do good for the church to clarify this point. The role of the deacon dates back to the early Christian church, when the title was given to men and women alike—notably, to figures such as Phoebe, who is explicitly referred to as a deacon in Paul’s letter to the Romans.