William probably wanted the painting for his newly

William probably wanted the painting for his newly built summer Lusthaus ("pleasure house") in the grounds of his palace in Munich, approximately 60 miles (97 km) south of Regensburg.^[43][44][45] There, it was to hang alongside seven other paintings with a similar format and subject matter, including Ludwig Refinger's The Matyrdom of Marcus Curtius, SONY VAIO PCG-7196M battery Melchior Feselen's The Siege of Alesia by Caesar, and the painting of Battle of Cannae by Hans Burgkmair (1473–1531).^[46][47] Another eight, each portraying a famous woman from history, were later added to the set, probably at the behest of the Duke's wife, Jacobaea of Baden.^[47] Altdorfer's Susanna and the Elders (1526) was among these. SONY VAIO PCG-7191V battery Earlier depictions of the Battle of Issus are few. Battle of Issus, a fresco by Philoxenus of Eretria, is probably the first such. It was painted sometime around 310 BC for Cassander (c. 350–297 BC), who was one of Alexander the Great's successors.^[49] Alexander and Darius – each within a lance's length of the other – are pictured among a wild fray of mounted and downed soldiers. SONY VAIO PCG-7192V battery While Alexander maintains an aura of unshaken confidence, fear is etched in Darius' face, and his charioteer has already turned to rein his horses and escape.^[49] Roman author and natural philosopher Pliny the Elder claimed that Philoxenus' portrayal of the battle was "inferior to none".^[49] SONY VAIO PCG-71111M battery Some modern critics posit that Battle of Issus might not have been the work of Philoxenus, but of Helena of Egypt. One of the few named women painters who might have worked in Ancient Greece,^[50][51] she was reputed to have produced a painting of the battle of Issus which hung in the Temple of Peaceduring the time of Vespasian.^[52] Sony VAIO VGN-FW31Z battery The Alexander Mosaic, a floor mosaic dating from c. 100 BC, is believed to be a "reasonably faithful" copy of Battle of Issus,^[49] though an alternative view holds it might instead be a copy of a work painted by Apelles of Kos,^[53] who produced several portraits of Alexander the Great.^[54] It measures 5.82 x 3.13 m (19 ft x 10 ft 3 in), and consists of approximately 1.5 million tesserae (coloured tiles), Sony VGN-NR11Z Battery each about 3 mm (0.12 in) square. The mosaicist is unknown. Since the mosaic was not rediscovered until 1831, during excavations of Pompeii's House of the Faun,^[55] Altdorfer could never have seen it. It was later moved to the Naples National Archaeological Museum in Naples, Italy, where it currently resides. SONY VAIO PCG-21211M battery The Battle of Alexander at Issus is painted on a limewood panel measuring 158.4 cm × 120.3 cm (62.4 in × 47.4 in),^[56] and portrays the moment of Alexander the Great's victory. The vertical format was dictated by the space available in the room for which the painting was commissioned – each in William's set of eight was made to be the same size. SONY VAIO PCG-21212M battery At an unknown date, the panel was cut down on all sides, particularly at the top, so the sky was originally larger and the moon further from the corner of the scene.^[57] The scene is approached from an impossible viewpoint – at first only feet from the fray, the perspective gradually ascends to encompass the seas and continents in the background and eventually the curvature of the Earth itself. SONY VAIO PCG-21212V battery Thousands of horse and foot soldiers immersed in a sea of spears and lances populate the foreground. The two armies are distinguished by their dress, anachronistic though it is: whereas Alexander's men clad themselves and their horses in full suits of heavy armour, many of Darius' wear turbans and ride naked mounts.^[60] The bodies of the many fallen soldiers lie underfoot. Sony VGN-NR11S Battery A front of Macedonian warriors in the centre pushes against the crumbling enemy force, who flee the battlefield on the far left. The Persian king joins his army on his chariot of three horses, and is narrowly pursued by Alexander and his uniformly attired Companion cavalry.^[47] The tract of soldiers continues down the gently sloped battlefield to the campsite and cityscape by the water, gravitating toward the mountainous rise at the scene's centre. SONY VAIO PCG-21213V battery Beyond is the Mediterranean Sea and the island of Cyprus.^[61] Here, a transition in hue is made, from the browns that prevail in the lower half of the painting to the aquas that saturate the upper half. The Nile River meanders in the far distance, emptying its seven arms into the Mediterranean at the Nile Delta.^[61] South of Cyprus is the Sinai Peninsula, which forms aland bridge between Africa and Southwest Asia. SONY VAIO PCG-21214V battery The Red Sea lies beyond,^[61] eventually merging – as the mountain ranges to its left and right do – with the curved horizon. A fierce sky caught in the dichotomy between the setting sun and the crescent moon dominates more than a third of the painting.^[57] Sony VAIO PCG-5N2M battery The rain-heavy clouds swirling ominously around each celestial entity are separated by a gulf of calmness, intensifying the contrast and infusing the heavens with an unearthly glow.^[62] Light from the sky spills onto the landscape: while the western continent and the Nile are bathed in the sun's light, the east and the Tower of Babel are cloaked in shadow. Sony VAIO PCG-5P1M battery The painting's subject is explained in the tablet suspended from the heavens. The wording, probably supplied by William's court historian Johannes Aventinus,^[63] was originally in German but was later replaced by a Latin inscription. It translates: Alexander the Great defeating the last Darius, after 100,000 infantry and more than 10,000 cavalrymen had been killed amongst the ranks of the Persians. SONY VAIO PCG-81212M battery Whilst King Darius was able to flee with no more than 1,000 horsemen, his mother, wife, and children were taken prisoner. No date is provided for the battle alongside these casualty figures. The lower left-hand corner features Altdorfer's monogram – an 'A' within an 'A' – and the lower edge of the tablet is inscribed with "ALBRECHT ALTORFER ZU REGENSPVRG FECIT" ("Albrecht Altdorfer from Regensburg made [this]"). Sony Vaio VGN-CR13/R Battery Tiny inscriptions on their chariot and harness identify Darius and Alexander, respectively.^[64] Each army bears a banner that reports both its total strength and its future casualties. Anachronism is a major component of The Battle of Alexander at Issus. By dressing Alexander's men in 16th-century steel armour and Darius' men in Turkish battle dress, Altdorfer draws deliberate parallels between the Macedonian campaign and the contemporary European–Ottoman conflict. SONY PCG-8113M battery In 1529 – the year of the painting's commissioning – the Ottoman forces under Suleiman the Magnificent laid siege to the Austrian city of Vienna.^[64] Although far inferior in number, the Austrian, German, Czech, and Spanish soldiers marshalled to defend Vienna were able to force the enemy into a retreat and stall the Ottoman advance on central Europe. SONY PCG-8112M battery It is probable the painting's underlying allegory was inspired by the siege of Vienna, given its similarities to Alexander's victory at Issus. Some critics go further, suggesting that the inclusion of anachronism may have been an element of Altdorfer's commission.^[47][59] In his Futures Past: On the Semantics of Historical Time, historian Reinhart Koselleck discusses Altdorfer's representation of time in a more philosophical light. SONY VAIO PCG-81111V battery After differentiating between the superficial anachronism found in the casualty figures on the army banners and the deeper anachronism ingrained in the painting's contemporary context, he posits that the latter type is less a superimposition of one historical event over another and more an acknowledgement of the recursive nature of history. SONY VAIO PCG-81211V battery With reference to Koselleck, Kathleen Davis argues: "... for [Altdorfer], 4th-century Persians look like 16th-century Turks not because he does not know the difference, but because the difference does not matter ... The Alexanderschlacht, in other words, exemplifies a premodern, untemporalized sense of time and a lack of historical consciousness ... SONY VAIO PCG-51111V battery Altdorfer's historical overlays evince an eschatological vision of history, evidence that the 16th century (and by degrees also the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries) remained locked in a static, constant temporality that proleptically saturates the future as always a repetition of the same ... In such a system there can be no event as such: SONY VAIO PCG-51111M battery anticipation and arrival are together sucked into the black hole of sacred history, which is not temporalized because its time is essentially undifferentiated ..." Featured alongside the anachronism in The Battle of Alexander at Issus is a genuine lack of historicity. Altdorfer demonstrates minimal hesitance in neglecting the painting's historical integrity for the sake of its heroic style, in spite of the pains he took to research the battle. SONY VAIO PCG-51112M battery That the Persian army was up to twice the size of the Macedonian army is not clear, and the relative positioning of the soldiers as reported by ancient sources has been disregarded. According to art critic Rose-Marie Hagen, "The artist was faithful to the historical truth only when it suited him, when historical facts were compatible with the demands of his composition."^[60] SONY VAIO PCG-51211M battery Hagen also notes the historically baseless inclusion of women on the battlefield, attributing it to Altdorfer's "passion for invention" and saying they "look like German courtly ladies, dressed for a hunting party" in their feathered toques.^[60] Altdorfer's primary point of reference in his research was probably Hartmann Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle (Schedelsche Weltchronik), SONY VAIO PCG-51212M battery an illustrated world history published in Nuremberg in 1493. Schedel was a physician, humanist, historian and cartographer, and his Chronicle was one of the first books produced on the printing press. With a heavy reliance on the Bible, it recounts the seven ages of human history,^[66] from Creation to the birth of Christ and ending with theApocalypse.^[67] SONY PCG-7134M battery Altdorfer's statistics for the battle of Issus mirror those of Schedel. Furthermore, the errors in Schedel's maps of the Mediterranean and Northern Africa are also present in The Battle of Alexander at Issus: the island of Cyprus is noticeably oversized, and both the mountain rise in the painting's centre and the range adjacent to the Nile do not exist.^[61] SONY PCG-7131M battery Since the Chronicle describes Alexander's victory over the Persians in terms of its proximity to Tarsus and omits mention of Issus, it is likely that the cityscape by the sea is intended to be the former city rather than the latter. Issus in the 16th century was minor and relatively unknown, whereas Tarsus was renowned for its having been a major centre of learning and philosophy in Roman times. Sony VAIO PCG-5N1M battery Tarsus was also said to be the birthplace of the Apostle Paul, which may explain the presence of the church towers in Altdorfer's portrayal.^[61] Another source may have been the writings of Quintus Curtius Rufus, a 1st-century Roman historian who presents inflated figures for the number of killed and taken prisoner and the sizes of the armies.^[60] Sony VAIO PCG-5S1M battery The sky bears overt metaphorical significance and is the centrepiece of the painting's symbolism. Alexander, identified by the Egyptians and others as a god of the sun, finds his victory in the sun's rays; and the Persians are routed into the darkness beneath the crescent moon, a symbol of the Near East.^[68] Sony Vaio VGN-CR13G/W Battery Considered in terms of the painting's contemporary context, the sun's triumph over the moon represents Christendom's victory over the Islamism of the Ottomans.^[35]Eschatological meaning, probably inspired by prophecies in the Book of Daniel, is imbued in the heavenly setting. In particular, Daniel 7 predicts the rise and fall of four kingdoms before the Second Coming; Sony Vaio VGN-CR13G/P Battery these were thought to be Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome at the time of the painting's creation. Altdorfer saw the Battle of Issus as a principal indicator of the transition of power from Persia to Greece, and thus as an event of cosmic significance.^[35][57] The battle also marked a progression toward the end of the world – an important theological concern in the 16th century, Sony Vaio VGN-CR13G/R Battery given that the last traces of Rome were diminishing with the papacy. As a member of the Regensburg council and a practising Catholic, Altdorfer frequently interacted with the Church and was surely aware of this trend of eschatological thought. Schedel, too, had calculated that the final age of the seven he identified was nigh.^[66Sony Vaio VGN-CR13T/L Battery ^] It may therefore be inferred that the sky's expression of the momentous event at Issus was intended to be of contemporary relevance as well. The Battle of Alexander at Issus remained part of the royal collection of the Dukes of Bavaria for centuries. By the late 18th century, it was regularly featured in public galleries at the Schleissheim Palace. Sony Vaio VGN-CR13T/P Battery The painting was one of 72 taken to Paris in 1800 by the invading armies of Napoleon I (1769–1821),^[69] who was a noted admirer of Alexander the Great.^[60][70]The Louvre held it until 1804, when Napoleon declared himself Emperor of France and took it for his own use. When thePrussians captured the Château de Saint-Cloud in 1814 as part of the War of the Sixth Coalition, they supposedly found the painting hanging in Napoleon's bathroom.^[71] Sony Vaio VGN-CR13T/R Battery The Battle of Alexander at Issus and 26 others taken in the 1800 invasion were subsequently restored to the King of Bavariain 1815.^[69] Five of the paintings in William IV's original set of eight – including The Battle of Alexander at Issus – later passed from the royal collection to the Alte Pinakothek art museum in Munich, Germany, where they remain; Sony VAIO PCG-9Z1M battery the other three are in the National Museum of Fine Arts in Stockholm, having been looted by the Swedish army in the Thirty Years War of 1618–1648.^[72] Susannah and the Elders is the only other work by Altdorfer in the Alte Pinakothek. Contextually, the painting forms part of the Northern Renaissance, a resurgence of classical humanism and culture in northern Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. Sony VAIO PCG-7171M battery The Renaissance induced a new kind of social individualism which Altdorfer expressed through the heroic emphasis on Alexander and Darius, and which is reflected in the specifics of the painting's commission and by the subjects of its companion pieces: "During the Renaissance people no longer saw themselves solely as members of a social group, Sony VAIO PCG-7186M battery as the citizens of a town, or as sinners before God in whose eyes all were equal. They had become aware of the unique qualities that distinguished one person from another. Unlike the Middle Ages, the Renaissance celebrated the individual. Altdorfer may have painted row after row of apparently identical warriors, but the spectators themselves would identify with Alexander and Darius, Sony VAIO PCG-81112M battery figures who had names, whose significance was indicated by the cord which hung down from the tablet above them."^[47]Altdorfer was not only a pioneer of landscape, but also a practitioner of early incarnations of the Romanticism and expressionism which impacted the arts so greatly in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Sony VAIO PCG-31111M battery Kenneth Clark writes of Altdorfer and contemporaries Grünewald and Bosch, "They are what we now call 'expressionist' artists, a term which is not as worthless as it sounds, because, in fact, the symbols of expressionism are remarkably consistent, and we find in the work of these early 16th-century landscape painters not only the same spirit but the same shapes and iconographical motives which recur in the work of such recent expressionists as van Gogh, Sony VAIO PCG-31311M battery Max Ernst, Graham Sutherland and Walt Disney."^[73] According to art critic Pia F. Cuneo, "Altdorfer's construction of landscape on a cosmic scale" in the Battle of Alexander at Issus, and his "spiritual and aesthetic affinities with Romanticism and Modern art (in particular,German Expressionism)", "have been especially singled out for praise".^[74] Sony VAIO PCG-8152M battery The Battle of Alexander at Issus is typically considered to be Altdorfer's masterpiece. Cuneo states that the painting is usually "considered in splendid isolation from its fifteen other companion pieces, based on the assumption that it either metonymically stands in for the entire cycle, or that its perceived aesthetic predominance merits exclusive focus."^[74] Sony VAIO PCG-8131M battery German writer Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel (1772–1829) was one of many who saw the painting in the Louvre and marvelled, calling it a "small painted Iliad".^[71] Reinhart Koselleck comments that Altdorfer's depiction of the thousands of soldiers was executed with "a mastery previously unknown",^[65] and Kathleen Davis describes the painting as "epochal in every sense".Sony VAIO VPCF117FJ battery The Battle of Issus occurred in southern Anatolia, in November 333 BC. The invading Macedonian troops, led byAlexander the Great, defeated an army led by Darius III of Achaemenid Persia in the second great battle of Alexander's conquest of Asia. After the Macedonians soundly defeated the Persian satraps of Asia Minor (led by the Greek mercenary, Sony VAIO VPCF118FJ battery Memnon of Rhodes) at the Battle of the Granicus, Darius took personal command of his army. He gathered reinforcements and led his men in a surprise march behind the Macedonian advance to cut their line of supply. This forced Alexander to countermarch, setting the stage for the battle near the mouth of the Pinarus River and the town of Issus. Sony VAIO VPCF11AFJ battery The battle took place south of the ancient town Issus, which is close to present-day Turkish town of Iskenderun(the Turkish equivalent of "Alexandria", founded by Alexander to commemorate his victory), on either side of a small river called Pinarus. At that location the distance from the gulf of Issus to the surrounding mountains is only 2.6 km (2 mi), Sony VAIO VPCF11AGJ battery a place where Darius could not take advantage of his superiority in numbers. Speculation on the location of the Pinarus has taken place for over 80 years. Older historians believed it to be the Deli Tchairiver, but historians N.G.L. Hammond and A.M. Devine have made convincing claims that the Pinarus is actually thePayas River, the latter using eye-witness examination of the river, Sony VAIO VPCF11AHJ battery which may not have drastically changed since antiquity. Their evidence is based on Callisthenes' accounts of the measurements of the battlefield and distances marched by both side's armies in the prelude to the battle and distance given by Diodorus after the battle. Alexander set out into Asia in 334 BC and defeated the local Persian satraps at the Battle of the Granicus. Sony VAIO VPCF11ZHJ battery He then proceeded to occupy all of Asia Minor, with the idea of capturing all coastal settlements so as to negate the power of the vastly superior Persian fleet. He captured several important settlements such as Miletus in 334 BC and Halicarnassus, a siege lasting four months, starting in late December the same year. While Alexander was in Tarsus he heard of Darius massing a great army in Babylon. Sony VAIO VPCF127FJ/W battery If Darius were to reach the Gulf of Issus he could use the support from the Persian fleet under Pharnabazus still operating in the Mediterranean Sea, thus easing his supply and possibly landing troops behind the enemy. Alexander kept his main army at Tarsus but sentParmenion ahead to occupy the coast around Issus. Sony VAIO VPCF128FJ/B battery In November, Alexander received reports that the great Persian army had advanced into Syria, to a town named Sochi. Alexander decided to mass his scattered army and advance south from Issus through the Pass of Jonah. Darius knew that Parmenion held the Pass of Jonah and thus chose a northern route of advance. Sony VAIO VPCF129FJ/BI battery The Persians captured Issus without opposition, and cut off the hands of all the sick and wounded that Alexander had left behind. Now Darius found out he had placed his army behind the Macedonians and had cut their supply lines. He then advanced to the south and got no further than the river Pinarus before his scouts spotted Alexander marching north. Sony VAIO VPCF12AFJ battery Darius had to set up camp on this narrow coastal plain.

The Battle of Alexander at Issus

http://www.all-keyboard.com/,http://www.keyboards-shop.com/,http://www.laptop-fan-shop.com/,http://www.laptopkeyboard-shop.com/ The Battle of Alexander at Issus (German: Alexanderschlacht) is a 1529 oil painting by the German artistAlbrecht Altdorfer (c. 1480–1538), a pioneer of landscape art and a founding member of the Danube school. It portrays the 333 BC Battle of Issus, in which Alexander the Great secured a decisive victory over Darius III of Persia and gained crucial leverage in his campaign against the Persian Empire. Sony PCG-61211M battery The painting is widely regarded as Altdorfer's masterpiece, and exemplifies his affinity for scenes of monumental grandeur. Duke William IV of Bavaria commissioned The Battle of Alexander at Issus in 1528 as part of a set of historical pieces that was to hang in his Munich residence. Sony PCG-71213M battery Modern commentators suggest that the painting, through its abundant use of anachronism, was intended to liken Alexander's heroic victory at Issus to the contemporary European conflict with the Ottoman Empire. In particular, the defeat of Suleiman the Magnificent at the Siege of Vienna may have been an inspiration for Altdorfer. Sony PCG-71311M battery A religious undercurrent is detectable, especially in the extraordinary sky; this was probably inspired by the prophecies of Daniel and contemporary concern within the Church about an impending apocalypse. The Battle of Alexander at Issus and four others that were part of William's initial set are in the Alte Pinakothek art museum in Munich. Sony PCG-71212M battery Alexander III of Macedon (356–323 BC), best known as Alexander the Great, was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who reigned from 336 BC until his death. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest military tacticians and strategists in history,^[1]and is presumed undefeated in battle.^[2][3] Sony PCG-71313M battery Renowned for his military leadership and charisma, he always led his armies personally and took to the front ranks of battle.^[4][5] By conquering the Persian Empire and unifying Greece, Egypt andBabylon, he forged the largest empire of the ancient world^[6] and effected the spread of Hellenism throughout Europe and Northern Africa.^[7] Sony VAIO PCG-31111M battery Alexander embarked on his expedition to conquer the Persian Empire in the spring of 334 BC,^[8] having pacified the warring Greek states and consolidated his military might.^[9] During the first months of the Macedonian passage into Persian Asia Minor, Darius III – king of Persia – largely ignored the presence of Alexander's 40,000 men. Sony VAIO PCG-31112M battery The Battle of the Granicus, fought in May,^[8] was Persia's first major effort to confront the invaders, but resulted in an easy victory for Alexander. Over the next year, Alexander took most of western and coastal Asia Minor by forcing the capitulation of the satrapies in his path.^[10] He continued inland, travelling northeast through Phyrgia before turning southeast toward Cilicia. Sony VAIO PCG-31113M battery After passing the Cilician Gates in October, Alexander was delayed by fever in Tarsus.^[11] Darius meanwhile mustered an army of up to 100,000 (some ancient sources posit exaggerated figures of over 600,000)^[12] and personally directed it over the eastern slopes of the Amanus Mountains. Sony VAIO PCG-31114M battery In early November, as Alexander proceeded about the Gulf of Issus from Mallus via Issus, the two armies inadvertently passed one another on opposite sides of the mountains.^[13] This was decidedly to Darius' advantage: now at the rear of Alexander, he was able to prevent retreat and block the supply lines Alexander had established at Issus.^[14] Sony VAIO PCG-31111V battery It was not until Alexander had encamped at Myriandrus, a seaport on the southeastern shores of the Gulf of İskenderun, that he learned of the Persian position. He immediately retraced his route to the Pinarus River, just south of Issus, to find Darius' force assembled along the northern bank.^[13] The Battle of Issus ensued. Sony VAIO PCG-31112V battery Darius' initial response was defensive: he immediately stockaded the river bank with stakes to impede the enemy's crossing. A core vanguard of traitorous Greek mercenaries and Persian royal guard was established; as was usual for Persian kings, Darius positioned himself in the centre of this vanguard, in order that he might effectively dispatch commands to any part of his large army.^[15] Sony VAIO PCG-31113V battery A group of Persian light infantry was soon sent to the foothills, as it was suspected that Alexander would make an approach from the right, away from the coast. A mass of cavalry commanded by Nabarsanes occupied the Persian right.^[16] Alexander made a cautious and slow advance, intending to base his strategy on the structure of the Persian force. Sony VAIO PCG-31114V battery He led a flank of his Companion cavalry on the right, while the Thessalian cavalry were dispatched to the left, as a counter to Nabarsanes' mounted unit.^[17] Aware of the importance of the foothills to his right, Alexander sent a band of light infantry, archers, and cavalry to displace the defence Darius had stationed there. Sony VAIO PCG-GRS100 battery The enterprise was successful – those Persians not killed were forced to seek refuge higher in the mountains.^[17][18] When within missile range of the enemy, Alexander gave the order to charge.^[17][19] He spearheaded the assault of his heavily armed Companion cavalry, who quickly made deep cuts into the Persian left flank. Sony VAIO PCG-41111M battery The Macedonian left wing, commanded by Parmenion,^[18] was meanwhile driven back by Nabarsanes' large cavalry. The Macedonians' centralphalanx crossed the river and clashed with the renegade Greek mercenaries who fronted Darius' vanguard. As the Companion cavalry pushed further into the Persian left, Sony VAIO PCG-41112M battery the danger arose that Darius would exploit the gap that had formed between Alexander and the rest of his army. When he was satisfied that the left wing was crippled and no longer a threat, Alexander remedied the situation by moving the Companions to assault the Persian centre in the flank. Unable to handle the added pressure, Sony VAIO PCG-41111V battery the Persian vanguard was forced to withdraw from the river bank, allowing the Macedonian phalanx to continue their advance and lifting the pressure on Parmenion's left wing.^[19] Upon realising that the onslaught of Alexander's Companion cavalry was unstoppable, Darius and his army fled. Sony VAIO PCG-NV100 battery Many were killed in the rush, trampled by those who fled with them or collapsed with their horses.^[20] Some escaped to regions as remote as Egypt, and others reunited with Darius in the north.^[21] The onset of darkness ended the chase after approximately 20 km (12 mi); Alexander then recalled his army and set about burying the dead. Sony VAIO PCG-V505 battery Darius' family were left behind in the Persian camp; it is reported that Alexander treated them well and reassured them of Darius' safety.^[21][22] Darius' royal chariot was found discarded in a ditch, as were his bow and shield.^[21] Ancient sources present disparate casualty figures for the Battle of Issus. Sony VAIO PCG-Z1A battery Plutarch and Diodorus Siculus approximate 100,000 Persian deaths, in contrast with the 450 Macedonian deaths reported by Quintus Curtius Rufus.^[23] In any case, it is probable that more Persians were killed as they fled than in battle;^[24]Ptolemy I, who served with Alexander during the battle, recounts how the Macedonians crossed a ravine on the bodies of their enemies during the pursuit. Sony VAIO PCG-3C1M battery The Macedonian conquest of Persia continued until 330 BC, when Darius was killed and Alexander took his title as king.^[26] Alexander died in 323 BC, having recently returned from campaigning in the Indian subcontinent. The cause of death remains a subject of debate. Albrecht Altdorfer is regarded as one of the founders of Western landscape art.^[29] Sony VAIO PCG-3F1M battery He was a painter, etcher, architect, andengraver, and the leader of the Danube school of German art. As evidenced by such paintings as Saint George and the Dragon(1510) and Allegory (1531), much of Altdorfer's work is characterised by an attachment to sprawling landscapes that dwarf the figures within them;^[30] Sony VAIO PCG-3H1M battery The Battle of Alexander at Issus epitomises this facet of his style. With reference to St George and the Dragon in particular, art historian Mark W. Roskill comments that "The accessory material of landscape [in Altdorfer's work] is played with and ornamentally elaborated so that it reverberates with the sense of a sequestered and inhospitable environment".^[31] Sony VAIO PCG-3J1M battery Inspired by his travels around the Austrian Alps and the Danube River,^[32] Altdorfer painted a number of landscapes that contain no figures at all, including Landscape with a Footbridge (c. 1516) and Danube Landscape near Regensburg (c. 1522–25). These were the first "pure" landscapes since antiquity.^[33] Sony VAIO PCG-8141M battery Most of Altdorfer's landscapes were made with a vertical format, in contrast with the modern conception of the genre. The horizontal landscape was an innovation of Altdorfer's Flemish contemporary Joachim Patinir and his followers. Altdorfer also produced a great deal of religious artwork, in reflection of his devout Catholicism. SONY PCG-7113M battery His most frequent subjects were the Virgin Mary and the life and crucifixion of Christ. As in The Battle of Alexander at Issus, these paintings often feature settings of great majesty and use the sky to convey symbolic meaning. This meaning is not uniform throughout Altdorfer's corpus – for example, the visage of the setting sun connotes loss and tragedy in Agony in the Garden, SONY PCG-7112M battery but serves as "the emblem of power and glory" in The Battle of Alexander at Issus.^[35] Larry Silver of The Art Bulletin explains that The Battle of Alexander at Issus is both similar to and in direct contrast with Altdorfer's previous work: "Instead of the peaceful landscape of retreat for Christian events or holy figures, SONY PCG-8Z3M battery this panel offers just the opposite: a battleground for one of ancient history's principal epoch-making encounters ... Yet despite its global or cosmic dimensions, the Battle of Issus still looks like Altdorfer's earlier, contemplative liminal landscapes of retreat, complete with craggy peaks, bodies of water, and distant castles."^[36] Sony VAIO PCG-8161M battery Although the Battle of Alexander is atypical of Altdorfer in its size and in that it depicts war, his Triumphal Procession – a 1512–16 illuminated manuscript commissioned by Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire – has been described as a conceptual antecedent.^[37] The Procession was produced in parallel with the Triumph of Maximilian, Sony VAIO PCG-3C2M battery a series of 137 woodcutscollaboratively executed by Altdorfer, Hans Springinklee, Albrecht Dürer, Leonhard Beck and Hans Schäufelein. Altdorfer's most significant contemporary influence was Matthias Grünewald (c. 1470–1528). Art historian Horst W. Jansonremarked that their paintings "show the same 'unruly' imagination".^[39] SONY PCG-7122M battery Elements of The Battle of Alexander at Issus – particularly the sky – have been compared to Grünewald's Heavenly Host above the Virgin and Child, which forms part of his masterpiece, the Isenheim Altarpiece. Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553), also associated with the Danube school, was another important influence for Altdorfer. SONY PCG-7121M battery According to Roskill, works by Cranach from about 1500 "give a prominent role to landscape settings, using them as mood-enhancing backgrounds for portraits, and for images of hermits and visionary saints", and seem to play a "preparatory role" for the onset of pure landscape.^[40] Altdorfer owed much of his style, particularly in his religious artwork, to Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528);^[41] SONY VAIO PCG-7192M battery Larry Silver writes that Altdorfer's "use of convincing German landscapes in combination with celestial phenomena for his religious narrative" is "firmly tied" to a tradition "modeled by Albrecht Dürer."^[42] William IV, Duke of Bavaria commissioned The Battle of Alexander at Issus in 1528.^[43] Altdorfer was approximately 50 at the time, and was living in the Free Imperial City of Regensburg.^[44] SONY VAIO PCG-7194M battery As a result of over a decade of involvement with the Regensburg city council, Altdorfer was offered the position of Burgomaster on 18 September 1528. He declined; the council annals reported his reasoning as such: "He much desires to execute a special work in Bavaria for my Serene Highness and gracious Lord, Duke [William]."^[44] SONY VAIO PCG-7195M battery

The Battle of Alexander at Issus

http://www.all-keyboard.com/,http://www.keyboards-shop.com/,http://www.laptop-fan-shop.com/,http://www.laptopkeyboard-shop.com/ The Battle of Alexander at Issus (German: Alexanderschlacht) is a 1529 oil painting by the German artistAlbrecht Altdorfer (c. 1480–1538), a pioneer of landscape art and a founding member of the Danube school. It portrays the 333 BC Battle of Issus, in which Alexander the Great secured a decisive victory over Darius III of Persia and gained crucial leverage in his campaign against the Persian Empire. Sony PCG-61211M battery The painting is widely regarded as Altdorfer's masterpiece, and exemplifies his affinity for scenes of monumental grandeur. Duke William IV of Bavaria commissioned The Battle of Alexander at Issus in 1528 as part of a set of historical pieces that was to hang in his Munich residence. Sony PCG-71213M battery Modern commentators suggest that the painting, through its abundant use of anachronism, was intended to liken Alexander's heroic victory at Issus to the contemporary European conflict with the Ottoman Empire. In particular, the defeat of Suleiman the Magnificent at the Siege of Vienna may have been an inspiration for Altdorfer. Sony PCG-71311M battery A religious undercurrent is detectable, especially in the extraordinary sky; this was probably inspired by the prophecies of Daniel and contemporary concern within the Church about an impending apocalypse. The Battle of Alexander at Issus and four others that were part of William's initial set are in the Alte Pinakothek art museum in Munich. Sony PCG-71212M battery Alexander III of Macedon (356–323 BC), best known as Alexander the Great, was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who reigned from 336 BC until his death. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest military tacticians and strategists in history,^[1]and is presumed undefeated in battle.^[2][3] Sony PCG-71313M battery Renowned for his military leadership and charisma, he always led his armies personally and took to the front ranks of battle.^[4][5] By conquering the Persian Empire and unifying Greece, Egypt andBabylon, he forged the largest empire of the ancient world^[6] and effected the spread of Hellenism throughout Europe and Northern Africa.^[7] Sony VAIO PCG-31111M battery Alexander embarked on his expedition to conquer the Persian Empire in the spring of 334 BC,^[8] having pacified the warring Greek states and consolidated his military might.^[9] During the first months of the Macedonian passage into Persian Asia Minor, Darius III – king of Persia – largely ignored the presence of Alexander's 40,000 men. Sony VAIO PCG-31112M battery The Battle of the Granicus, fought in May,^[8] was Persia's first major effort to confront the invaders, but resulted in an easy victory for Alexander. Over the next year, Alexander took most of western and coastal Asia Minor by forcing the capitulation of the satrapies in his path.^[10] He continued inland, travelling northeast through Phyrgia before turning southeast toward Cilicia. Sony VAIO PCG-31113M battery After passing the Cilician Gates in October, Alexander was delayed by fever in Tarsus.^[11] Darius meanwhile mustered an army of up to 100,000 (some ancient sources posit exaggerated figures of over 600,000)^[12] and personally directed it over the eastern slopes of the Amanus Mountains. Sony VAIO PCG-31114M battery In early November, as Alexander proceeded about the Gulf of Issus from Mallus via Issus, the two armies inadvertently passed one another on opposite sides of the mountains.^[13] This was decidedly to Darius' advantage: now at the rear of Alexander, he was able to prevent retreat and block the supply lines Alexander had established at Issus.^[14] Sony VAIO PCG-31111V battery It was not until Alexander had encamped at Myriandrus, a seaport on the southeastern shores of the Gulf of İskenderun, that he learned of the Persian position. He immediately retraced his route to the Pinarus River, just south of Issus, to find Darius' force assembled along the northern bank.^[13] The Battle of Issus ensued. Sony VAIO PCG-31112V battery Darius' initial response was defensive: he immediately stockaded the river bank with stakes to impede the enemy's crossing. A core vanguard of traitorous Greek mercenaries and Persian royal guard was established; as was usual for Persian kings, Darius positioned himself in the centre of this vanguard, in order that he might effectively dispatch commands to any part of his large army.^[15] Sony VAIO PCG-31113V battery A group of Persian light infantry was soon sent to the foothills, as it was suspected that Alexander would make an approach from the right, away from the coast. A mass of cavalry commanded by Nabarsanes occupied the Persian right.^[16] Alexander made a cautious and slow advance, intending to base his strategy on the structure of the Persian force. Sony VAIO PCG-31114V battery He led a flank of his Companion cavalry on the right, while the Thessalian cavalry were dispatched to the left, as a counter to Nabarsanes' mounted unit.^[17] Aware of the importance of the foothills to his right, Alexander sent a band of light infantry, archers, and cavalry to displace the defence Darius had stationed there. Sony VAIO PCG-GRS100 battery The enterprise was successful – those Persians not killed were forced to seek refuge higher in the mountains.^[17][18] When within missile range of the enemy, Alexander gave the order to charge.^[17][19] He spearheaded the assault of his heavily armed Companion cavalry, who quickly made deep cuts into the Persian left flank. Sony VAIO PCG-41111M battery The Macedonian left wing, commanded by Parmenion,^[18] was meanwhile driven back by Nabarsanes' large cavalry. The Macedonians' centralphalanx crossed the river and clashed with the renegade Greek mercenaries who fronted Darius' vanguard. As the Companion cavalry pushed further into the Persian left, Sony VAIO PCG-41112M battery the danger arose that Darius would exploit the gap that had formed between Alexander and the rest of his army. When he was satisfied that the left wing was crippled and no longer a threat, Alexander remedied the situation by moving the Companions to assault the Persian centre in the flank. Unable to handle the added pressure, Sony VAIO PCG-41111V battery the Persian vanguard was forced to withdraw from the river bank, allowing the Macedonian phalanx to continue their advance and lifting the pressure on Parmenion's left wing.^[19] Upon realising that the onslaught of Alexander's Companion cavalry was unstoppable, Darius and his army fled. Sony VAIO PCG-NV100 battery Many were killed in the rush, trampled by those who fled with them or collapsed with their horses.^[20] Some escaped to regions as remote as Egypt, and others reunited with Darius in the north.^[21] The onset of darkness ended the chase after approximately 20 km (12 mi); Alexander then recalled his army and set about burying the dead. Sony VAIO PCG-V505 battery Darius' family were left behind in the Persian camp; it is reported that Alexander treated them well and reassured them of Darius' safety.^[21][22] Darius' royal chariot was found discarded in a ditch, as were his bow and shield.^[21] Ancient sources present disparate casualty figures for the Battle of Issus. Sony VAIO PCG-Z1A battery Plutarch and Diodorus Siculus approximate 100,000 Persian deaths, in contrast with the 450 Macedonian deaths reported by Quintus Curtius Rufus.^[23] In any case, it is probable that more Persians were killed as they fled than in battle;^[24]Ptolemy I, who served with Alexander during the battle, recounts how the Macedonians crossed a ravine on the bodies of their enemies during the pursuit. Sony VAIO PCG-3C1M battery The Macedonian conquest of Persia continued until 330 BC, when Darius was killed and Alexander took his title as king.^[26] Alexander died in 323 BC, having recently returned from campaigning in the Indian subcontinent. The cause of death remains a subject of debate. Albrecht Altdorfer is regarded as one of the founders of Western landscape art.^[29] Sony VAIO PCG-3F1M battery He was a painter, etcher, architect, andengraver, and the leader of the Danube school of German art. As evidenced by such paintings as Saint George and the Dragon(1510) and Allegory (1531), much of Altdorfer's work is characterised by an attachment to sprawling landscapes that dwarf the figures within them;^[30] Sony VAIO PCG-3H1M battery The Battle of Alexander at Issus epitomises this facet of his style. With reference to St George and the Dragon in particular, art historian Mark W. Roskill comments that "The accessory material of landscape [in Altdorfer's work] is played with and ornamentally elaborated so that it reverberates with the sense of a sequestered and inhospitable environment".^[31] Sony VAIO PCG-3J1M battery Inspired by his travels around the Austrian Alps and the Danube River,^[32] Altdorfer painted a number of landscapes that contain no figures at all, including Landscape with a Footbridge (c. 1516) and Danube Landscape near Regensburg (c. 1522–25). These were the first "pure" landscapes since antiquity.^[33] Sony VAIO PCG-8141M battery Most of Altdorfer's landscapes were made with a vertical format, in contrast with the modern conception of the genre. The horizontal landscape was an innovation of Altdorfer's Flemish contemporary Joachim Patinir and his followers. Altdorfer also produced a great deal of religious artwork, in reflection of his devout Catholicism. SONY PCG-7113M battery His most frequent subjects were the Virgin Mary and the life and crucifixion of Christ. As in The Battle of Alexander at Issus, these paintings often feature settings of great majesty and use the sky to convey symbolic meaning. This meaning is not uniform throughout Altdorfer's corpus – for example, the visage of the setting sun connotes loss and tragedy in Agony in the Garden, SONY PCG-7112M battery but serves as "the emblem of power and glory" in The Battle of Alexander at Issus.^[35] Larry Silver of The Art Bulletin explains that The Battle of Alexander at Issus is both similar to and in direct contrast with Altdorfer's previous work: "Instead of the peaceful landscape of retreat for Christian events or holy figures, SONY PCG-8Z3M battery this panel offers just the opposite: a battleground for one of ancient history's principal epoch-making encounters ... Yet despite its global or cosmic dimensions, the Battle of Issus still looks like Altdorfer's earlier, contemplative liminal landscapes of retreat, complete with craggy peaks, bodies of water, and distant castles."^[36] Sony VAIO PCG-8161M battery Although the Battle of Alexander is atypical of Altdorfer in its size and in that it depicts war, his Triumphal Procession – a 1512–16 illuminated manuscript commissioned by Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire – has been described as a conceptual antecedent.^[37] The Procession was produced in parallel with the Triumph of Maximilian, Sony VAIO PCG-3C2M battery a series of 137 woodcutscollaboratively executed by Altdorfer, Hans Springinklee, Albrecht Dürer, Leonhard Beck and Hans Schäufelein. Altdorfer's most significant contemporary influence was Matthias Grünewald (c. 1470–1528). Art historian Horst W. Jansonremarked that their paintings "show the same 'unruly' imagination".^[39] SONY PCG-7122M battery Elements of The Battle of Alexander at Issus – particularly the sky – have been compared to Grünewald's Heavenly Host above the Virgin and Child, which forms part of his masterpiece, the Isenheim Altarpiece. Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553), also associated with the Danube school, was another important influence for Altdorfer. SONY PCG-7121M battery According to Roskill, works by Cranach from about 1500 "give a prominent role to landscape settings, using them as mood-enhancing backgrounds for portraits, and for images of hermits and visionary saints", and seem to play a "preparatory role" for the onset of pure landscape.^[40] Altdorfer owed much of his style, particularly in his religious artwork, to Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528);^[41] SONY VAIO PCG-7192M battery Larry Silver writes that Altdorfer's "use of convincing German landscapes in combination with celestial phenomena for his religious narrative" is "firmly tied" to a tradition "modeled by Albrecht Dürer."^[42] William IV, Duke of Bavaria commissioned The Battle of Alexander at Issus in 1528.^[43] Altdorfer was approximately 50 at the time, and was living in the Free Imperial City of Regensburg.^[44] SONY VAIO PCG-7194M battery As a result of over a decade of involvement with the Regensburg city council, Altdorfer was offered the position of Burgomaster on 18 September 1528. He declined; the council annals reported his reasoning as such: "He much desires to execute a special work in Bavaria for my Serene Highness and gracious Lord, Duke [William]."^[44] SONY VAIO PCG-7195M battery William probably wanted the painting for his newly built summer Lusthaus ("pleasure house") in the grounds of his palace in Munich, approximately 60 miles (97 km) south of Regensburg.^[43][44][45] There, it was to hang alongside seven other paintings with a similar format and subject matter, including Ludwig Refinger's The Matyrdom of Marcus Curtius, SONY VAIO PCG-7196M battery Melchior Feselen's The Siege of Alesia by Caesar, and the painting of Battle of Cannae by Hans Burgkmair (1473–1531).^[46][47] Another eight, each portraying a famous woman from history, were later added to the set, probably at the behest of the Duke's wife, Jacobaea of Baden.^[47] Altdorfer's Susanna and the Elders (1526) was among these. SONY VAIO PCG-7191V battery Earlier depictions of the Battle of Issus are few. Battle of Issus, a fresco by Philoxenus of Eretria, is probably the first such. It was painted sometime around 310 BC for Cassander (c. 350–297 BC), who was one of Alexander the Great's successors.^[49] Alexander and Darius – each within a lance's length of the other – are pictured among a wild fray of mounted and downed soldiers. SONY VAIO PCG-7192V battery While Alexander maintains an aura of unshaken confidence, fear is etched in Darius' face, and his charioteer has already turned to rein his horses and escape.^[49] Roman author and natural philosopher Pliny the Elder claimed that Philoxenus' portrayal of the battle was "inferior to none".^[49] SONY VAIO PCG-71111M battery Some modern critics posit that Battle of Issus might not have been the work of Philoxenus, but of Helena of Egypt. One of the few named women painters who might have worked in Ancient Greece,^[50][51] she was reputed to have produced a painting of the battle of Issus which hung in the Temple of Peaceduring the time of Vespasian.^[52] Sony VAIO VGN-FW31Z battery The Alexander Mosaic, a floor mosaic dating from c. 100 BC, is believed to be a "reasonably faithful" copy of Battle of Issus,^[49] though an alternative view holds it might instead be a copy of a work painted by Apelles of Kos,^[53] who produced several portraits of Alexander the Great.^[54] It measures 5.82 x 3.13 m (19 ft x 10 ft 3 in), and consists of approximately 1.5 million tesserae (coloured tiles), Sony VGN-NR11Z Battery each about 3 mm (0.12 in) square. The mosaicist is unknown. Since the mosaic was not rediscovered until 1831, during excavations of Pompeii's House of the Faun,^[55] Altdorfer could never have seen it. It was later moved to the Naples National Archaeological Museum in Naples, Italy, where it currently resides. SONY VAIO PCG-21211M battery The Battle of Alexander at Issus is painted on a limewood panel measuring 158.4 cm × 120.3 cm (62.4 in × 47.4 in),^[56] and portrays the moment of Alexander the Great's victory. The vertical format was dictated by the space available in the room for which the painting was commissioned – each in William's set of eight was made to be the same size. SONY VAIO PCG-21212M battery At an unknown date, the panel was cut down on all sides, particularly at the top, so the sky was originally larger and the moon further from the corner of the scene.^[57] The scene is approached from an impossible viewpoint – at first only feet from the fray, the perspective gradually ascends to encompass the seas and continents in the background and eventually the curvature of the Earth itself. SONY VAIO PCG-21212V battery Thousands of horse and foot soldiers immersed in a sea of spears and lances populate the foreground. The two armies are distinguished by their dress, anachronistic though it is: whereas Alexander's men clad themselves and their horses in full suits of heavy armour, many of Darius' wear turbans and ride naked mounts.^[60] The bodies of the many fallen soldiers lie underfoot. Sony VGN-NR11S Battery A front of Macedonian warriors in the centre pushes against the crumbling enemy force, who flee the battlefield on the far left. The Persian king joins his army on his chariot of three horses, and is narrowly pursued by Alexander and his uniformly attired Companion cavalry.^[47] The tract of soldiers continues down the gently sloped battlefield to the campsite and cityscape by the water, gravitating toward the mountainous rise at the scene's centre. SONY VAIO PCG-21213V battery Beyond is the Mediterranean Sea and the island of Cyprus.^[61] Here, a transition in hue is made, from the browns that prevail in the lower half of the painting to the aquas that saturate the upper half. The Nile River meanders in the far distance, emptying its seven arms into the Mediterranean at the Nile Delta.^[61] South of Cyprus is the Sinai Peninsula, which forms aland bridge between Africa and Southwest Asia. SONY VAIO PCG-21214V battery The Red Sea lies beyond,^[61] eventually merging – as the mountain ranges to its left and right do – with the curved horizon. A fierce sky caught in the dichotomy between the setting sun and the crescent moon dominates more than a third of the painting.^[57] Sony VAIO PCG-5N2M battery The rain-heavy clouds swirling ominously around each celestial entity are separated by a gulf of calmness, intensifying the contrast and infusing the heavens with an unearthly glow.^[62] Light from the sky spills onto the landscape: while the western continent and the Nile are bathed in the sun's light, the east and the Tower of Babel are cloaked in shadow. Sony VAIO PCG-5P1M battery The painting's subject is explained in the tablet suspended from the heavens. The wording, probably supplied by William's court historian Johannes Aventinus,^[63] was originally in German but was later replaced by a Latin inscription. It translates: Alexander the Great defeating the last Darius, after 100,000 infantry and more than 10,000 cavalrymen had been killed amongst the ranks of the Persians. SONY VAIO PCG-81212M battery Whilst King Darius was able to flee with no more than 1,000 horsemen, his mother, wife, and children were taken prisoner. No date is provided for the battle alongside these casualty figures. The lower left-hand corner features Altdorfer's monogram – an 'A' within an 'A' – and the lower edge of the tablet is inscribed with "ALBRECHT ALTORFER ZU REGENSPVRG FECIT" ("Albrecht Altdorfer from Regensburg made [this]"). Sony Vaio VGN-CR13/R Battery Tiny inscriptions on their chariot and harness identify Darius and Alexander, respectively.^[64] Each army bears a banner that reports both its total strength and its future casualties. Anachronism is a major component of The Battle of Alexander at Issus. By dressing Alexander's men in 16th-century steel armour and Darius' men in Turkish battle dress, Altdorfer draws deliberate parallels between the Macedonian campaign and the contemporary European–Ottoman conflict. SONY PCG-8113M battery In 1529 – the year of the painting's commissioning – the Ottoman forces under Suleiman the Magnificent laid siege to the Austrian city of Vienna.^[64] Although far inferior in number, the Austrian, German, Czech, and Spanish soldiers marshalled to defend Vienna were able to force the enemy into a retreat and stall the Ottoman advance on central Europe. SONY PCG-8112M battery It is probable the painting's underlying allegory was inspired by the siege of Vienna, given its similarities to Alexander's victory at Issus. Some critics go further, suggesting that the inclusion of anachronism may have been an element of Altdorfer's commission.^[47][59] In his Futures Past: On the Semantics of Historical Time, historian Reinhart Koselleck discusses Altdorfer's representation of time in a more philosophical light. SONY VAIO PCG-81111V battery After differentiating between the superficial anachronism found in the casualty figures on the army banners and the deeper anachronism ingrained in the painting's contemporary context, he posits that the latter type is less a superimposition of one historical event over another and more an acknowledgement of the recursive nature of history. SONY VAIO PCG-81211V battery With reference to Koselleck, Kathleen Davis argues: "... for [Altdorfer], 4th-century Persians look like 16th-century Turks not because he does not know the difference, but because the difference does not matter ... The Alexanderschlacht, in other words, exemplifies a premodern, untemporalized sense of time and a lack of historical consciousness ... SONY VAIO PCG-51111V battery Altdorfer's historical overlays evince an eschatological vision of history, evidence that the 16th century (and by degrees also the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries) remained locked in a static, constant temporality that proleptically saturates the future as always a repetition of the same ... In such a system there can be no event as such: SONY VAIO PCG-51111M battery anticipation and arrival are together sucked into the black hole of sacred history, which is not temporalized because its time is essentially undifferentiated ..." Featured alongside the anachronism in The Battle of Alexander at Issus is a genuine lack of historicity. Altdorfer demonstrates minimal hesitance in neglecting the painting's historical integrity for the sake of its heroic style, in spite of the pains he took to research the battle. SONY VAIO PCG-51112M battery

In the next scene on the cup

In the next scene on the cup, Agnes stands outside the sentry box-like brothel, looking down at the Prefect's son who has been strangled to death by the devil crouched over him; a banderole reads Quo modo cecidisti qui mane oriebaris ("How has thou fallen that risest in the morning", Isaiah 14:12), and the Prefect looks on sadly.^[73] SONY VGP-BPS9A/S battery In the following scene Agnes has been moved by the Prefect's grief, and prayed for the son to be restored to life, which an angel has done. The repentant Procopius kneels before her, while she leans down to tell him Vade amplius noli peccare ("Go forth and sin no more"; from John 8:11). However the result of the miracle was that (in William Caxton's translation) "SONY VGP-BPL9 battery the bishops of the idols made a great discord among the people, so that all they cried: Take away this sorceress and witch that turned men's minds and alieneth their wits". The Prefect is now sympathetic to Agnes but fears he will lose his position if he does nothing, so leaves the matter in the hands of another official; the two are seen talking together, SONY VGP-BPS10 battery with words from Luke 23:4 Nihil invenio cause in eam ("I find no cause against her") above. The last scene shows her martyrdom; she was sentenced to be burned but the flames part away from her so that finally the magistrate orders her killed by a spear.^[74]Her last words, from Luke 23:46, are In manus tuas domine commendo animam meam ("Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit").SONY VGP-BPL10 battery The scenes continue on the underside of the bowl, starting with Agnes' burial. A pall is being laid over her sarcophagus, whose red enamel has significant losses, which reveal clearly the engraved lines beneath. A tonsured priest with an aspergil for sprinkling holy water and an acolyte with a cross attend, with Emerentiana with halo to the left, and Agnes' mother to the right. SONY VGP-BPS11 battery The banderole above says Ecce quod concupivi iam teneo ("Behold what I have desired I now possess"). In the next scene pagans have arrived to disrupt the burial, and only Emerentiana has stayed, kneeling in prayer as she is pelted with rocks. The inscription reads Veni soror mea mecum in gloria ("Come with me my sister into glory"). SONY VGP-BPL11 battery She dies, and the following scene shows the two martyrs, accompanied by two other unnamed female martyrs (in the source "a great multitude of virgins clad in vestments of gold and silver"),^[75] as they appear in a vision to Agnes' friends eight days after her death, as they gather round her sarcophagus, into which Emerentiana's body has also been placed. SONY VGP-BPL12 battery The next scene shows the sarcophagus with Constantina, the daughter of the Emperor Constantine, asleep on top of it, wearing a crown.^[76] She has been afflicted with leprosy, and heard of the vision at Agnes' tomb, and come to pray there. The presence at left of a young man on crutches, not in the source, suggests that others are doing the same. SONY VGP-BPS12 battery The sleeping woman beside the tomb is either another such, or an attendant on the princess. As Constantina sleeps, Agnes, holding her lamb, appears to her, saying Si in xpm (Christum) credideris sanaberis ("If you believe in Christ you will be healed", an adaptation of the text in the source).^[77] In the final scene, the cured, and baptized, SONY VGP-BPS13 battery Constantina tells her crowned father the story, with the inscription Hec est virgo sapiens una de numero prudencium ("This is a wise virgin, one of the number of the prudent").^[73] The inside of the cover has a circular enamel medallion with worked gold borders, showing a half-length Christ making a blessing gesture and holding a chalicewith a host inside. SONY VGP-BPS13Q battery Around him is a sun-like aureole in red. Below the two added cylinders on the stem, the four traditional symbols of the Evangelists run round the sloping foot of the cup, in pairs facing each other, above a green ground area. Lightbown notes this as "another sign of care for naturalistic effect". Each of the cover, main body, and foot of the cup is made of an inner and outer plate, and the enamelled medallions inside the cover and bowl were made separately before attachment. SONY VGP-BPS13/Q battery The enamel areas may have been designed by the goldsmith, or an artist more used to painting on panels or in manuscripts may have produced drawings. A number of names of goldsmiths appear in records of the period, but in contrast to many contemporary manuscripts, the few surviving goldsmith's pieces are not signed or marked and cannot be matched to any names. SONY VGP-BPS13A/Q battery Not a single maker's name is recorded for the more than 3,000 items in precious metal in the inventory mentioned above of the possessions of Berry's brother Anjou.^[78] High quality courtly work like the cup is conventionally assigned to Paris in the absence of other stylistic evidence; this is where other documentary sources locate the main concentration of goldsmiths.^[79] SONY VGP-BPS13B/Q battery The process for creating the basse-taille enamel areas began by marking the outline of the design and the main internal outlines on the gold with a tool called a "tracer". Then the interior area was worked with chasing tools, hammering and punching rather than cutting, to form a shallow recess to hold the enamel. SONY VGP-BPS13/B battery The more important parts of the design were modelled by varying the depth of the surface to produce different intensities of colour when the translucent enamel was added; the gold under folds of drapery often rises near the surface to create a paler highlight. In many of the recessed areas decoration was added by either engraving or punching which would show through the translucent enamel, SONY VGP-BPS13A/B battery or to facet the background so the reflections change as the viewing angle changes slightly. In these last-mentioned areas cutting tools were used. Most of the background outside the enamelled areas was decorated in the same way. After the enamel was added and fired the surfaces were cleaned up, made good and polished, including removing by scraping any bumps showing through on the reverse of the metal.^[80] SONY VGP-BPS13B/B battery The enamel lies flush with the gold surfaces; it was a preparation of finely ground glass paste applied with great care to the prepared recessed areas, and then fired. Different colours of enamel meet each other with a neat boundary, which was achieved by firing one colour with a retaining border of gum tragacanth before adding the next. SONY VGP-BPS13A/S battery The difficulty was increased by the application of tints of a different colour to a base shade of enamel before firing, so that the added colour blends gradually into the background colour around the edges of the tinted area. This is especially used on "flux", or colourless enamel, as in the ground areas, rocks and trees. SONY VGP-BPS13/S battery Flux was also used for flesh areas as on a gold background it darkens slightly when fired to a suitable colour for skin. The rouge clair or "ruby glass" red, used so effectively here, was made by adding tiny particles of copper, silver and gold to the glass; here scientific tests have shown that copper was used. After firing the enamel was polished flush with the surrounding metal. SONY VGP-BPS21A/B battery The technique had been known to the Ancient Romans (see the Lycurgus Cup, also in the British Museum), but was lost at the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century. The added cylinders use opaque enamel,^[81] except for the red on the Tudor roses, which is translucent rouge clair, of a similar composition to the original reds.^[82] SONY VGP-BPS21B battery Translucent enamel is more fragile than opaque, and medieval survivals in good condition are very rare. Charles VI (3 December 1368 – 21 October 1422), called the Beloved (French: le Bien-Aimé) and the Mad (French: le Fol or le Fou), was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1380 to his death. SONY VGP-BPS21 battery Charles VI was only 11 when he inherited the throne in the midst of the Hundred Years' War. The government was entrusted to his four uncles: Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy; John, Duke of Berry; Louis I, Duke of Anjou; and Louis II, Duke of Bourbon. Although the royal age of majority was fixed at 14 (the "age of accountability" under Roman Catholic canon law), the dukes maintained their grip on Charles until he took power at the age of 21. SONY VGP-BPS21/S battery During the rule of his uncles, the financial resources of the kingdom, painstakingly built up by his father Charles V, were squandered for the personal profit of the dukes, whose interests were frequently divergent or even opposing. As royal funds drained, new taxes had to be raised, which caused several revolts. SONY VGP-BPS13AS battery In 1388 Charles VI dismissed his uncles and brought back to power his father's former advisers, who were known as theMarmousets. Political and economic conditions in the kingdom improved significantly as a result, and Charles earned the epithet "the Beloved". But in August 1392 en route to Brittany with his army in the forest of Le Mans, Charles suddenly went mad and slew four knights and almost killed his brother, Louis of Orléans.^[1] SONY VGP-BPS13S battery From then on, Charles' bouts of insanity became more frequent and of longer duration. During these attacks, he had delusions, believing he was made of glass or denying he had a wife and children.^[1] He could also attack servants or ran until exhaustion, wailing that he was threatened by his enemies. Between crises, there were intervals of months during which Charles was relatively sane.^[1] SONY VGP-BPS13B/S battery However, unable to concentrate or make decisions, political power was taken away from him by the princes of the blood, which would cause much chaos and conflict in France. A fierce struggle for power developed between Louis of Orléans, the king's brother, and John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, the son of Philip the Bold. SONY VGP-BPS13B/G battery When John instigated the murder of Louis in November 1407, the conflict degenerated into a civil war between the Armagnacs (supporters of the House of Valois) and the Burgundians. John offered large parts of France to king Henry V of England, who was still at war with the Valois monarchy, in exchange for his support. SONY VGP-BPS14 battery After the assassination of John the Fearless, his son Philip the Good led Charles the Mad to sign the infamous Treaty of Troyes(1420), which recognized Henry V as his legitimate successor on the throne of France and disinherited his own offspring. When Charles VI died, he was succeeded by his son Charles VII, who found the Valois cause in a desperate situation. SONY VGP-BPL14 battery He was born in Paris, the son of King Charles V and Joan of Bourbon. In 1380, at the age of eleven, he was crowned King of France at Reims Cathedral. He married Isabeau of Bavaria in 1385. Until he took complete charge as king in 1388, France was ruled primarily by his uncle, Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. SONY VGP-BPS14/B battery During that time, the power of the royal administration was strengthened and the authority to tax was re-established. The latter policy represented a reversal of the deathbed decision of the king's father Charles V to repeal taxes in response to a tax revolt known as theHarelle. Increased tax revenues were needed to support the self-serving policies of the king's uncles, whose interests were frequently in conflict with those of the crown and with each other. SONY VGP-BPS14/S battery The Battle of Roosebeke (1382), for example, brilliantly won by the royal troops, was prosecuted solely for the benefit of Philip of Burgundy. The treasury surplus carefully accumulated by Charles V was quickly squandered. The dismissal of the king's uncles from the royal administration in 1388 and the restoration to power of the highly-competent advisors of Charles V (known as the Marmousets) SONY VGP-BPS14B battery ushered in a new period of high esteem for the crown that resulted in Charles VI being widely referred to as Charles the Belovedby his subjects. The early successes of the sole rule of Charles VI quickly dissipated as a result of the bouts of psychosis he experienced beginning in his mid-twenties. OnceCharles the Beloved, he became known as Charles the Mad in his later reign. SONY VGP-BPS22 battery Charles's first known episode occurred in 1392 when his friend and advisor, Olivier de Clisson, was the victim of an attempted murder. Although Clisson survived, Charles was determined to punish the would-be assassin, Pierre de Craon, who had taken refuge in Brittany. Contemporaries said Charles appeared to be in a "fever" to begin the campaign and appeared disconnected in his speech. Charles set off with an army on 1 July 1392. SONY VGP-BPS22 battery The progress of the army was slow, which nearly drove Charles into a frenzy of impatience. As the king and his escort were travelling through a forest on a hot August morning, a barefoot leper dressed in rags rushed up to the King's horse and grabbed his bridle. "Ride no further, noble King!" he yelled. SONY VGP-BPS18 battery "Turn back! You are betrayed!" The king's escorts beat the man back, but did not arrest him, and he followed the procession for half an hour, repeating his cries. The company emerged from the forest at noon. A page who was drowsy from the sun dropped the king's lance, which clanged loudly against a steel helmet carried by another page. SONY VGP-BPS22/A battery Charles shuddered, drew his sword and yelled "Forward against the traitors! They wish to deliver me to the enemy!" The king spurred his horse and began swinging his sword at his companions, fighting until one of his chamberlains and a group of soldiers were able to grab him from his mount and lay him on the ground. He lay still and did not react, but fell into a coma. SONY VGP-BPS22A battery The king had killed a knight called "The Bastard of Polignac" and several other men, the number of which varies among contemporary chronicles. The king continued to suffer from periods of mental illness throughout his life. During one attack in 1393, Charles could not remember his name and did not know he was king. SONY Vaio VGC-LB15 battery When his wife came to visit, he asked his servants who she was and ordered them to take care of what she required so that she would leave him alone.^[2] During an episode in 1395–96 he claimed he was Saint Georgeand that his coat of arms was a lion with a sword thrust through it.^[3] At this time, he recognized all the officers of his household, but did not know his wife or children. SONY Vaio VGC-LJ50B/B battery Sometimes he ran wildly through the corridors of his Parisian residence, the Hôtel Saint-Pol, and to keep him inside, the entrances were walled up. In 1405, he refused to bathe or change his clothes for five months.^[4] His later psychotic episodes were not described in detail, perhaps because of the similarity of his behavior and delusions. SONY Vaio VGC-LJ50B/P battery Pope Pius II, who was born in the middle of the reign of Charles VI, wrote in his Commentaries that there were times when Charles thought that he was made of glass, and this caused him to protect himself in various ways so that he would not break.^[5] This condition has come to be known as glass delusion. SONY Vaio VGC-LJ50B/W battery On 29 January 1393, a party was held to celebrate the wedding of one of the queen's ladies-in-waiting at the Hôtel Saint-Pol known as the Bal des Ardents (the "Ball of the Burning Men"). At the suggestion of Huguet de Guisay, the king and four other lords^[6] dressed up as wild men and danced about. SONY Vaio VGC-LJ50DB/W battery They were dressed "in costumes of linen cloth sewn onto their bodies and soaked in resinous wax or pitch to hold a covering of frazzled hemp, so that they appeared shaggy & hairy from head to foot".^[7] At the suggestion of one Yvain de Foix, the king commanded that the torch-bearers were to stand at the side of the room. SONY Vaio VGC-LJ51B/P battery Nonetheless, the king's brother Louis of Valois, Duke of Orléans, who had arrived late, approached with a lighted torch in order to discover the identity of the masqueraders, and he set one of them on fire. There was panic as the fire spread. The Duchess of Berry threw the train of her gown over the king.^[8] Several knights who tried to put out the flames were severely burned. SONY Vaio VGC-LJ51B/R battery Four of the wild men perished: Charles de Poiters, son of the Count of Valentinois; Huguet de Guisay; Yvain de Foix; and the Count of Joigny. Another - Jean, son of the Lord of Nantouillet - saved himself by jumping into a dishwater tub.^[9] With the king mad, his uncles Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and John, Duke of Berry, took control of the royal government and dismissed the various advisers and officials Charles had appointed. SONY Vaio VGC-BJ51B/W battery Another contender for power was the king's brother Louis, Duke of Orléans. This was to be the start of a series of major feuds among the princes of royal blood that would cause chaos and conflict in France even beyond Charles' reign. The first major feud was between Philip the Bold and the Duke of Orléans, both of whom tried to fill the power vacuum left by the king's condition. SONY Vaio VGC-LJ51DB/B battery Philip's death in April 1404 did not bring an end to Louis' problems. John the Fearless, the new Duke of Burgundy took over the political aims of his father, and the feud escalated. In 1407, the Duke of Orléans was murdered in the streets of Paris. John did not deny responsibility, claiming that Louis was a tyrant who squandered money. SONY Vaio VGC-LJ52B/N battery Louis' son Charles, the new Duke of Orléans, turned to his father-in-law Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac, for support against John the Fearless. This resulted in the Armagnac-Burgundian Civil War. Charles VI's secretary Pierre Salmon spent much time in discussions with the king while he was suffering from his intermittent psychosis. SONY PCG-8Z2M battery In an effort to find a cure for the king's illness, stabilize the turbulent political situation, and secure his own future, Salmon supervised the production of two distinct versions of the beautifully illuminated guidebooks to good kingship known as Pierre Salmon's Dialogues. Charles VI's reign was marked by the continuing conflict with the English known as the Hundred Years' War. SONY PCG-8Z1M battery An early attempt at peace occurred in 1396 when Charles' daughter, the almost seven-year-old Isabella of Valois, married the 29-year-old Richard II of England. By 1415, however, the feud between the French royal family and the house of Burgundy led to chaos and anarchy throughout France thatHenry V of England was eager to take advantage of. SONY PCG-8Y3M battery Henry led an invasion that culminated in the defeat of the French army at theBattle of Agincourt in October. With the English taking over the country, John the Fearless sought to end the feud with the royal family by negotiating with Charles, the Dauphin of France, the king's heir. They met at the bridge at Montereau on 10 September 1419, but during the meeting, SONY Vaio VGC-LJ52B/P battery John was killed by Tanneguy du Châtel, a follower of the Dauphin. John's successor, Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, threw in his lot with the English. In 1420, King Charles signed the Treaty of Troyes, which recognized Henry of England as his successor, disinherited his son, theDauphin Charles, claiming he was illegitimate, and betrothed his daughter Catherine of Valois to Henry (see English Kings of France). SONY Vaio VGC-LJ52B/W battery Many historians have misinterpreted this treaty and the disinheriting of the Dauphin Charles. The Dauphin sealed his fate, in the eyes of the king, by committing treason: he declared himself regent, usurped royal authority, and refused to obey the king's order to return to Paris.^[10] SONY Vaio VGC-LJ52DB/B battery It is important to remember that when the Treaty of Troyes was finalized in May 1420, the Dauphin Charles was only 17 years' old. He was then a weak figure who was easily manipulated by his advisors. Charles VI died in 1422 in Paris and is interred with his wife Isabeau of Bavaria in Saint Denis Basilica. Both their grandson, the one-year-old Henry VI of England, and their son, SONY Vaio VGC-LJ53B/W battery Charles VII, were proclaimed King of France, but it was the latter who became the actual ruler with the support of Joan of Arc. Charles VI appears to have passed on his mental illness to his grandson Henry VI of England, whose inability to govern led England to a civil strife of its own known as the Wars of the Roses. SONY Vaio VGC-LJ54B/W battery John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, KG (20 June 1389 – 14 September 1435) was the third surviving son of King Henry IV of England by Mary de Bohun, and acted as regent of France for his nephew, King Henry VI. After his father's accession to the throne of England as Henry IV, John of Lancaster began to accumulate lands and lucrative offices. SONY Vaio VGC-LJ90HS battery He was knighted on 12 October 1399 at his father's coronation and made a Knight of the Garter by 1402. Between 1403 and 1405 grants of the forfeited lands from the House of Percy and of the alien priory of Ogbourne,Wiltshire, considerably increased his income. He was appointed master of the mews and falcons in 1402, SONY Vaio VGC-LJ90S battery Constable of England in 1403 and Warden of the East March from 1403 to 1414. He was created Earl of Kendal, Earl of Richmond and Duke of Bedford in 1414 by his brother, King Henry V. When Henry V died in 1422, Bedford vied with his younger brother, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, for control of the Kingdom. SONY Vaio VGC-LJ91HS battery Bedford was declared Regent but focused on the ongoing war in France, while during his absence, Gloucester acted as Lord Protector of England. Bedford defeated the French several times, most notably at the Battle of Verneuil, until the arrival of Joan of Arc rallied the opposition. In 1431, Bedford had Joan tried and executed at Rouen, then arranged a coronation for the young Henry VI at Paris. SONY Vaio VGC-LJ91S battery Bedford had been Governor in Normandy between 1422–1432^[1][2] where the University of Caen was founded under his auspices. He was an extremely important commissioner of illuminated manuscripts, both from Paris (from the Bedford Masterand his workshop) and England. The three most important surviving manuscripts of his are the Bedford Hours (British Library Ms Add 18850) SONY Vaio VGC-LJ92HS battery and the Salisbury Breviary (Paris BnF Ms Lat. 17294), which were both made in Paris, and theBedford Psalter and Hours of about 1420-23, which is English (BL Ms Add 42131). This last is signed in two places byHerman Scheere. All are lavishly decorated and famous examples of the style of the period. SONY Vaio VGC-LJ92S battery John's first marriage was to Anne, daughter of John the Fearless on 14 June 1423, at Troyes. The couple were happily married, despite being childless. Anne died of the plague in Paris in 1432.^[3] John's second marriage was to Jacquetta of Luxembourg.^[4] In addition, out of wedlock he had a daughter named Mary Plantagenet, SONY Vaio VGC-LJ94HS battery who married Pierre de Montferrand (d. 1454), son of the lord of Langoiran, Soudan de la Trau, and had issue; and a son, Richard. SONY Vaio VGC-LJ94S battery As a son of the sovereign, John bore the arms of the kingdom, differenced by a label of five points per pale ermine and France.^[6] In the Bedford Book of Hours ^[7] these arms are shown supported by an eagle collared with a crown and a sable yale all on a gold field sewn with gold uprooted tree-stumps. SONY Vaio VGN-CR120E/W battery It is possible that the yale was painted in silver which has tarnished black. The shield is surrounded with a pair of banners gules which reverse in argent with the motto repeated four times: A vous entier (To you / yours entire[ly]). This may be a pun on the German Tier, i.e., beast, or on (English) tears —or 'tiers' of meaning, including tierce, SONY Vaio VGN-CR120E/R battery referring to himself as third in line to his father's throne and by now rightful king but for the baby Henry VI. The Hours were supposedly produced as a courtship present from John to his wife, Anne, daughter of John the Fearless of Burgundy. There is a Queen's Arms public house sign from Birmingham ^[8] which uses these supporters reversed SONY Vaio VGN-CR120E/P battery and with an argent yale uncollared on a shield showing the English royal arms at left and to the right six divisions representing Lorraine. John's second wife, Jacquetta of Luxembourg, cousin to the Emperor (the King of Hungary), was mother to Elizabeth Woodville who may be this queen. Elizabeth Woodville's right to inherit these armorial supporters would seem dubious if they belong to her mother's first husband or to his first wife. SONY Vaio VGN-CR120E/L battery Alternatively, though equally incorrect, the arms may be her mother's used in a flattering conceit. The Treaty of London, signed on 18 August O.S. (28 August N.S.) 1604,^[1][2][3] concluded the nineteen-year Anglo-Spanish War. The negotiations took place at Somerset House in London and are sometimes known as the Somerset House Conference. SONY Vaio VGN-CR120E battery After the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, her successor James I, quickly sought to end the long and draining conflict. James was an idealistic practitioner of Christian peace and unity, and also the son and successor to Mary, Queen of Scots, whose execution had been a proximate cause of the conflict. SONY Vaio VGN-CR120 battery Philip III of Spain, who also had inherited the war from his predecessor, Philip II, and whose treasuries had also been drained, warmly welcomed the offer and ordered the commencement of the difficult negotiations that followed. The Anglo-Spanish War had been a complex and fluctuating conflict which also had connections with the Dutch Revolt, SONY Vaio VGN-CR11H/B battery the French Wars of Religion, and the Nine Years' War in Ireland. The treaty restored the status quo ante bellum.^[4][5] This amounted to an acknowledgement by Spain that its hopes of restoring Roman Catholicism in England were at an end. Spain was compelled to recognise the Protestant monarchy in England. SONY Vaio VGN-CR116E battery In return, England ended its financial and military support for the Dutch rebellion, ongoing since the Treaty of Nonsuch (1585).^[6] According to historian Kenneth R. Andrews, while the treaty secured the maritime lanes for the Spanish treasure fleet, English privateering had already devastated the Spanish private merchant marine.^[4] SONY Vaio VGN-CR116 battery Following the signing of the treaty, England and Spain remained at peace until 1625. The Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, or Très Riches Heures, is possibly the best example of French Gothic manuscript illumination surviving to the present day. The Très Riches Heures is a book of prayers to be said atcanonical hours created for John, Duke of Berry, by the Limbourg brothers between 1412 and 1416. SONY Vaio VGN-CR115E battery Unfinished at the death of the three painters and their sponsor in 1416, the manuscript was further embellished by an anonymous painter in the 1440s, who many art historians believe to be Barthélemy d'Eyck. In 1485-1486, it was completed to its present state by the painter Jean Colombe between 1485 and 1489 on behalf of the Duke of Savoy. SONY Vaio VGN-CR115 battery Acquired by the Duc d'Aumale in 1856, it currently resides in the Musée Condé, Chantilly, France. A total of 206 vellum leaves 30 cm in height by 21.5 cm in width, the manuscript contains 66 large miniatures and 65 small. The design of the book, long and complex has undergone many changes and reversals. SONY Vaio VGN-CR110EW battery For its sets, miniatures, but also calligraphy, initials and decorations margins, it has been the work of many artists, but determining their precise number and identity remains a hypothesis. Performed largely by artists from the Netherlands, using pigments, these rarest paintings are strongly influenced by Italian art and antiquities. SONY Vaio VGN-CR110 battery After three centuries in obscurity, the Très Riches Heures quickly gained a great reputation in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, despite having only rare public exposure. These miniatures helped to shape an ideal image of the Middle Ages in the collective imagination. Sony PCG-71213M battery This is particularly the case of images of the calendar, the most common, representing both rural scenes and aristocratic elements of remarkable medieval architecture. Sony PCG-61211M battery The inventory drawn up after Berry’s death indicated that “Pol” and his brothers had created the Très Riches Heures; many historians agree this must refer toPaul de Limbourg and his two brothers, Jean and Herman. The three artists had originally worked under the supervision of Berry’s brother, Philippe de Hardi, on the Bible Moralisée and had came to Berry after Hardi’s death. Sony PCG-71311M battery As of 1411, the Limbourgs were permanent members of Berry’s household (Cazelles and Rathofer 1988). It is also suspected that another book of hours, the Belle Heures, completed between 1408 and 1409, can also be attributed to the brothers. It is suggested that the Limbourg contribution to the Très Riches Heures was completed between 1412 and 1416. Sony PCG-71212M battery Documentation from 1416 was found indicating that Jean, followed by Paul and Herman, had died. Jean de Berry died later that year (Cazelles and Rathofer 1988). Folio 75 of the Très Riches Heures includes Duke Charles I of Savoy and his wife. The two were married in 1485 and the Duke died in 1489, implying that it was not one of the original folios. Sony PCG-71313M battery The second painter is Jean Colombe, who was paid 25 gold pieces by the Duke to complete certain canonical hours. There are other settle differences between the miniatures created by the Limbourgs and Colombe. Colombe chose to set large miniatures in frames of marble and gold columns. Sony VAIO PCG-31111M battery His faces are less delicate, with more pronounced features. He also used a very intense blue paint that is seen in the landscape of some miniatures. Colombe is noted as working in his own unique style without imitating that of the Limbourgs (Cazelles and Rathofer 1988). The intermediate painter is assumed to have worked on the manuscript sometime between 1416 and 1485. Sony VAIO PCG-31112M battery Evidence in the dress and details of costume suggests that the Limbourgs did not paint some calendar miniatures. Figures in the miniatures for January, April, May, and August are dressed in styles from 1420. The figures strolling in October are dressed in a sober fashion indicative of mid-fifteenth century. Sony VAIO PCG-31113M battery It is known that the gatherings fell into hands of King Charles VII after Limbourg’s death, and it is assumed that the intermediate painter is associated with his court (Cazelles and Rathofer 1988). A Breviary consists of a number of prayers and readings in a short form. The book of hours is a form of breviary where the prayers are intended for recital at the canonical hours of the liturgical day. Sony VAIO PCG-31114M battery Canonical hours refer to the division of day and night for the purpose of prayers. The regular rhythm of reading led to the term “book of hours” (Cazelles and Rathofer 1988). The book of hours consists of prayers and devotional exercises, freely arranged into primary, secondary and supplementary texts. Other than the calendar at the beginning, the order is random and can be customized for the recipient or region. Sony VAIO PCG-31111V battery The hours of the virgin are the most important, and therefore subject to the most lavish illustration. The Très Riches Heures is rare in that it includes several miracles performed before the commencement of the passion (Cazelles and Rathofer 1988). The Très Riches Heures is possibly the best example of French Gothic illumination surviving in present day. Sony VAIO PCG-31112V battery The original folios were created during the “Golden Age” of the book of hours in Europe, which took place from 1350–1480. The Limbourg brothers had artistic freedom but worked within a framework of the religious didactic manuscript. Several artistic innovations by the Limbourg brothers can be noticed in the Très Riches Heures. Sony VAIO PCG-31113V battery In the October miniature, the study of light was momentous for Western painting (Cazelles and Rathofer 1988). People were shown reflected in the water, the earliest representation of this type of reflection known thus far. Miniature scenes had new informality, with no strong framing forms at the edges. This allowed for continuity beyond the frame of view to be vividly defined. Sony VAIO PCG-31114V battery The Limbourgs developed a more naturalistic mode of representation and developed portraiture of people and surroundings. It is interesting to note that religious figures do not inhabit free open space and courtiers are framed by vegetation. This is reminiscent of a more classical representation (Longnon, Cazelles and Meiss 1969). Sony VAIO PCG-GRS100 battery Scholarly text exists by Manion that offers a stylistic analysis of the psalters specifically. The psalters offer a systematic program of illuminations corresponding to the individual psalms. These images are linked together, but are not in the numerical order of the psalter. This emphasizes the idea of the abbreviated psalter, where each psalm is illustrated once (Manion 1995). Sony VAIO PCG-41111M battery The miniatures are not modeled on any specific visual or literary precedence when compared with other fourteenth century psalters. The manuscript offers a literal interpretation of the words and lacks a selection of more personal prayers. This emphasizes the didactic use of the book of hours (Manion 1995). Sony VAIO PCG-41112M battery Silver-gilt or gilded/gilt silver, sometimes known in American English by the French term vermeil, is silver gilded withgold. Most large objects made in goldsmithing that appear to be gold are actually silver-gilt; for example most sporting trophies, medals (such as "gold medals" in all Olympic Games after 1912^[1]), and many crown jewels. Sony VAIO PCG-41111V battery Apart from being much cheaper than gold, large silver-gilt objects are also much lighter if required to be lifted, and stronger. Compared to plain silver, for delicate objects like the Nef (illustrated), or those with much intricate detail like monstrances, gilding greatly reduced the need for cleaning and polishing, and so reduced the risk of damage to them. Sony VAIO PCG-NV100 battery The "gold" threads used inembroidered goldwork are normally also silver-gilt. Silver-gilt objects have been made since ancient times across Eurasia, using a variety of gilding techniques, and a distinctive depletion gilding technique was developed by theIncas in Pre-Columbian South America. Sony VAIO PCG-V505 battery "Overlaying" or folding or hammering on gold foil or gold leaf is mentioned in Homer's Odyssey (Bk vi, 232),^[2] and fire-gilding withmercury dates to at least the 4th century BC, and was the most common method until theEarly Modern period at least, though dangerous for the workers,^[3] as has been known for centuries: Sony VAIO PCG-Z1A battery Hang him; a gilder that hath his brains perished with quicksilver is not more cold in the liver —The White Devil, John Webster, 1612 Today electroplating is the most commonly used method. Keum-boo is a special Korean technique of silver-gilding, using depletion gilding. In China gilt-bronze, also known as ormolu, was more common. Sony VAIO PCG-3C1M battery In America the French term vermeil was sometimes used from the mid-19th century, but "silver-gilt" remains the usual term in English and is preferred in academic usage, except for describing American modern jewellery ("vermeil" has a legal definition in the USA). Silver objects could be gilded at any point, not just when first made, and items regularly handled, such as sets fordressing-tables or tableware, Sony VAIO PCG-3F1M battery often needed regilding after a few years, as the gold began to wear off. In 18th century London two different silversmiths charged 3 shillings per ounce of silver for an initial gilding, and 1 shilling and 9 pence per ounce for regilding.^[6] Often only the interior of cups was gilded, perhaps from concern at the chemical compounds used to clean tarnish from silver. Sony VAIO PCG-3H1M battery Fully silver-gilt items are visually indistinguishable from gold, and were no doubt often thought to be solid gold. When theEnglish Commonwealth sold the Crown Jewels of England after the execution of Charles I they were disappointed in the medieval "Queen Edith's Crowne, formerly thought to be of massy gold, Sony VAIO PCG-3J1M battery but upon trial found to be of silver gilt", which was valued at only £16, compared to £1,110 for the "imperial crowne".^[7] The English Gothic Revival architect, Sir George Gilbert Scott was concerned by the morality of this. Gilding of the interior only he accepted, but with all-over gilding "we ... reach the actual boundary of truth and falsehood; Sony VAIO PCG-8141M battery and I am convinced that if we adopt this custom we overstep it.... why make our gift look more costly than it is? We increase its beauty, but it is at the sacrifice of truth."^[8] Indeed, some Early Medieval silver-gilt Celtic brooches had compartments, apparently for small lead weights to aid such deception. SONY PCG-7113M battery The Mérode Cup is a medieval silver-gilt cup decorated with finely engraved birds, fruit and vine leaves made in France inBurgundy in about 1400 and named for the ancient Belgian family of Mérode, to whom it once belonged. The cup is made of silver-gilt and is decorated with finely engraved birds, fruit and vine leaves. SONY PCG-7112M battery In the sides, cover and base are panels of the fragile and exquisite translucent enamel known as plique-à-jour, a difficult enamelling technique which involves firing the glass into cells and removing the backing to create an effect like stained glass. When the cup is placed on a shaft of light it appears to be set with miniature stained glass windows. SONY PCG-8Z3M battery Pieces decorated with this sort of enamel are known from inventories of people such as the great fourteenth century patron John, Duke of Berry, brother of kingCharles V of France. This cup, however, is the only one to survive from this period. 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