Month: August 2022

Venice

The Italian city of Venice spans more than 100 small islands in the Venetian Lagoon of the Adriatic Sea. Separating the islands are about 150 narrow canals crossed by some 400 bridges. The curving Grand Canal is the city’s main traffic artery. Now a tourist, commercial, and industrial center, Venice was at its artistic peak during the Renaissance, and it owes its origin to refugees who came to the islands while fleeing Lombard invaders in the 6th century. What are traghetti? Discuss

William Wallace Is Executed (1305)

Wallace was a Scottish knight who, during the Wars of Scottish Independence, led a resistance movement against the English occupation. He gained control of Scotland briefly, but a Scottish knight betrayed him to the English in 1305. Found guilty of treason, he was hanged, drawn, and quartered. Much of what is known about his life is based on legend and the patriotic epic, The Wallace, written by 15th-century minstrel Blind Harry. What was done with Wallace’s remains after his execution? Discuss

Georges Cuvier (1769)

Cuvier was a renowned French naturalist and zoologist considered the founder of comparative anatomy. He rejected the theory of evolution and instead embraced catastrophism, which proposes that geological changes on Earth have been caused by sudden upheaval rather than by gradual and continuing processes. He also greatly advanced the science of paleontology by reconstructing the soft parts of fossils deduced from their skeletal remains. What extinct flying reptile did Cuvier identify and name? Discuss

Pointe Shoes

Women began to dance in ballets in 1681, but dancing en pointe—on the tips of the toes—was a 19th-century development that necessitated a new type of shoe. Pointe shoes have two special features that enable this sort of dancing: the box and shank. The box, made of layers of paper or fabric, encases and supports the dancer’s toes and forms a platform upon which she may balance. The shank, meanwhile, provides arch support. How long does a pair of pointe shoes typically last? Discuss

Edvard Munch's The Scream is Stolen at Gunpoint (2004)

Edvard Munch completed four versions of his most famous work, The Scream, an expressionist depiction of modern humanity’s spiritual anguish. In 1994, the version belonging to Norway’s National Gallery was stolen, but it was soon recovered in a sting operation. A decade later, thieves stole the version belonging to the Munch Museum. Despite rumors that the painting had been burned, the Oslo government offered a hefty reward for information leading to its recovery. What was its fate? Discuss

Leni Riefenstahl (1902)

Riefenstahl was a German filmmaker whose most famous works are documentary propaganda films for the German Nazi Party. Her Triumph of the Will, a documentary of a huge Nazi rally glorifying Hitler, is widely regarded as one of the most effective pieces of propaganda ever produced. After the war, Riefenstahl was classified as a Nazi sympathizer and blacklisted. Later, she became interested in underwater photography and the Nuba tribe in the Sudan. What did she do on her 100th birthday? Discuss