Joan of Arc, or Jeanne d'Arc in French ,(c.
1412 – May 30, 1431) was a
15th century national
heroine of
France. She was tried and executed for heresy when she was only 19 years old. The judgment was broken by the Pope and she was declared innocent and a
martyr 24 years later. She was
beatified in 1909 and
canonized as a
saint in 1920.
The
chapel of the Palace of Versailles, one of the palace's grandest interiors. Located in
Versailles,
France, Versailles is famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of
absolute monarchy which
Louis XIV espoused. Originally the royal hunting lodge when he decided to move there in 1660, the building was expanded over the next few decades to become the largest palace in Europe. Louis XIV officially moved in 1682 and the Court of Versailles was the centre of power in
Ancien Régime France until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in 1789.
The Trevi Fountain is the largest — standing 25.9 meters (85 feet) high and 19.8 meters (65 feet) wide — and most ambitious of the
Baroquefountains of
Rome. Competitions had become the rage during the
Baroque era to design buildings, fountains, and even the
Spanish Steps. In 1730
Pope Clement XII organized a contest in which
Nicola Salvi initially lost to
Alessandro Galilei — but due to the outcry in Rome over the fact that a Florentine won, Salvi was awarded the commission anyway. Work began in 1732, and the fountain was completed in 1762, long after Clement's death, when
Pietro Bracci's '
Neptune' was set in the central niche.
The Tomb of
Brother André. When Brother André died, a million people filed before his coffin. His heart is preserved in a
monstrance in the oratory. It was stolen in March 1973, but recovered in December 1974. He was
beatified by
Pope John Paul II on May 23, 1982. The miracle cited in the beatification was the healing in
1958 of Giuseppe Carlo Audino, who suffered from cancer.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598 – 1680) was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his age and a prominent figure in the emergence of Roman
Baroque architecture. He was a successor to
Michelangelo as the architect of
Saint Peter's Basilica; his design of the
Piazza San Pietro in front of the Basilica is one of his most innovative and successful architectural designs.
Joan of Arc, or Jeanne d'Arc in French ,(c.
1412 – May 30, 1431) was a
15th century national
heroine of
France. She was tried and executed for heresy when she was only 19 years old. The judgment was broken by the Pope and she was declared innocent and a
martyr 24 years later. She was
beatified in 1909 and
canonized as a
saint in 1920.
The
chapel of the Palace of Versailles, one of the palace's grandest interiors. Located in
Versailles,
France, Versailles is famous not only as a building, but as a symbol of the system of
absolute monarchy which
Louis XIV espoused. Originally the royal hunting lodge when he decided to move there in 1660, the building was expanded over the next few decades to become the largest palace in Europe. Louis XIV officially moved in 1682 and the Court of Versailles was the centre of power in
Ancien Régime France until the royal family was forced to return to the capital in 1789.
The Trevi Fountain is the largest — standing 25.9 meters (85 feet) high and 19.8 meters (65 feet) wide — and most ambitious of the
Baroquefountains of
Rome. Competitions had become the rage during the
Baroque era to design buildings, fountains, and even the
Spanish Steps. In 1730
Pope Clement XII organized a contest in which
Nicola Salvi initially lost to
Alessandro Galilei — but due to the outcry in Rome over the fact that a Florentine won, Salvi was awarded the commission anyway. Work began in 1732, and the fountain was completed in 1762, long after Clement's death, when
Pietro Bracci's '
Neptune' was set in the central niche.
The Tomb of
Brother André. When Brother André died, a million people filed before his coffin. His heart is preserved in a
monstrance in the oratory. It was stolen in March 1973, but recovered in December 1974. He was
beatified by
Pope John Paul II on May 23, 1982. The miracle cited in the beatification was the healing in
1958 of Giuseppe Carlo Audino, who suffered from cancer.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598 – 1680) was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his age and a prominent figure in the emergence of Roman
Baroque architecture. He was a successor to
Michelangelo as the architect of
Saint Peter's Basilica; his design of the
Piazza San Pietro in front of the Basilica is one of his most innovative and successful architectural designs.