A carnival of animals, a river of dung, a wasteland of uncles, and some people with attitude : Four featured articles, three featured lists, and twenty-two featured pictures were promoted this week.
This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted from 8 March through 14 March. Text may be adapted from the respective articles and lists; see their page histories for attribution. (You know this disclaimer.)
Great Stink(
nominated by
SchroCat) The "Great Stink" was the name given to the smell of the
River Thames in the hot summer of 1858. Raw sewage from London had been dumped in the river since the time of
Brutus of Troy. Normally, the flow of the river and the tides would move everything
eastwards, but dry weather caused a decrease in the river's flow, and the river banks soon developed a crust up to six feet thick. The stench from decaying faeces became so strong that the
Houses of Parliament covered their windows with curtains soaked in lime chloride, but even this failed to mask the pong. Civil engineer
Joseph Bazalgette proposed shifting the muck eastwards by propelling it along a series of sewers using pumping stations. His proposal was accepted, and Bazalgette oversaw the construction of 1,100 miles (1,800 km) of street sewers and 82 miles (132 km) of main sewers. Completed in 1875, the system dumped untreated sewage into the Thames just south of
Dagenham. In 1878 the SS Princess Alice sank at this point one hour after the release of 75 million imperial gallons (340,000 m3) of raw sewage; over 650 people drowned.
Uncle David(
nominated by
Midnightblueowl)Uncle David is a 2010 film, set in the
Isle of Sheppey. It is a love story set in a
caravan park and on a
shingle beach, and was filmed in muted colors using two
Sony HVR-Z1 camcorders. Costumes were purchased from an
Oxfamcharity shop, and the
extras were the inhabitants of Sheppey, described by one of the film's producers, Gary Reich, as "a truly Godforsaken wasteland". "[During] the shoot none of the locals expressed any interest in the crew's activities." Critics offered mixed reviews of the film.
List of tied Twenty20 Internationals(
nominated by
Harrias)Twenty20 cricket is a shortened form of the game, in which each side is restricted to a maximum of twenty "
overs", each consisting of the delivery of six balls by one side's bowler to the other side's batspeople. The game usually lasts for three hours, with either a win, a draw, or a "no result". If both teams score the same number of runs, a draw is declared; as the match is usually part of a tournament, the winner is then decided by a "bowl-out" or, since December 2008, a
super over.
Stephan's Quintet(created by NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team,
nominated by
The Herald and
Crisco 1492) This is Stephan's Quintet, a group of five galaxies, although the one upper left (NGC 7320 – that's its catalog number) is much closer to us than the other four. It's a
dwarf galaxy. To its right is NGC 7319, a barred spiral, with little blue dots visible at the top; these, and the red dots below, are clusters of thousands of stars. In the middle, two galaxies, NGC 7318A and NGC 7318B, have distorted shapes because they are interacting with each other.
Mr and Mrs Andrews(created by
Thomas Gainsborough,
nominated by
Crisco 1492)Mr and Mrs Andrews is a double portrait by the English artist
Thomas Gainsborough, painted when he was 21. The painting was first put on public exhibition in 1927, more than 170 years after its creation, and has become one of his best-known works. The Andrewses were members of the landed gentry of
Essex, with an estate of 3,000 acres (1,200 ha), part of which forms the landscape half of this painting. Robert Andrews was a keen farmer, interested in modern agricultural techniques, such as
Jethro Tull's
seed drill, responsible for the neat rows of wheat featured (get it?) in the painting.
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham(created by
Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt,
nominated by
Hafspajen)George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, seen here at the age of 33 in 1625 painted by the
Dutch Golden Age artist
Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt, was the favourite courtier (and some reckoned lover) of
King James I of England and Ireland. His widowed mother trained him for the life of a courtier; he was noticed by James during a hunt at
Apethorpe. Others, who noticed the noticing, raised money to purchase Villiers a new wardrobe (not the kind from
IKEA) and employment as James's
cupbearer. These "others" were opponents of James's previous favourite,
Robert Carr. Villiers rose to be the highest-ranking non-Royal, and an incompetent and corrupt statesman. He was stabbed in a pub by a slighted army officer, leaped up with an exclamation of "Villain!", began to give chase, and dropped dead.
Christ in the Desert(created by
Ivan Kramskoy,
nominated by
Hafspajen)Ivan Kramskoi was a Russian artist of the 19th century. Influenced by revolutionary and democratic ideals, he rebelled against
academic art, and his paintings show an "expressive simplicity of composition and clarity of depiction [so as to] emphasize profound psychological elements of character". These traits are evident in his Christ in the Desert, depicting Christ as struggling with the "forces of spirit and flesh".
Battle of Vercellae(created by
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo,
nominated by
Crisco 1492) This is a big painting of a
big battle, in which the Romans (almost) wiped out the
Cimbri, who were attempting to invade Italy. A few of the Cimbri were left, and some
Cimbric-speaking inhabitants of northeastern Italy have been supposed to be their descendants. The painting by
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo is a confused melee of men and horses; the Cimbri are being pressed in, stabbed, and crushed by the Roman
legionaries. In the centre, a Roman has just withdrawn his
spatha from the chest of a Cimbri warrior dressed in yellow. It looks like the latter has acquired some Roman equipment, including helmet and sword, maybe pillage from the
Battle of Arausio. Tiepolo's swords don't appear to be historically accurate, but then neither does
Plutarch's account of the battle.
Christ Crowned with Thorns(created by
Hieronymus Bosch,
nominated by
SchroCat)Hieronymus Bosch was an imaginative fellow for sure, and here he demonstrates the breadth of his imagination with this image of Christ being crowned by a man with a crossbow bolt in his hat. It's the sort of bolt used to cut rigging on a ship. Then there's the chappy wearing a malevolent grin, a spiked dog collar, a spray of oak leaves, and half a black sheep; good old
Catweazle with a staff; and some nondescript man with
rhinophyma who is attempting to wrench the seamless robe off of Jesus.
Anatomical diagram of a nautilus(created and
nominated by
KDS4444) The
nautilus is a
living fossil, a scavenger and opportunistic predator, and hasn't evolved much during the last 500 million years. It has about 90 tentacles with a powerful grip, and its mouth has a
parrot-like beak, which the nautilus uses to rip shellfish from rocks. It is resistant to pressure, and can live down to a depth of 700 metres (2,300 ft); the nautilus implodes at a depth of 800 metres (2,600 ft), so if you're pursued by one, go deeper.
The Sandow Trocadero Vaudevilles(created by Strobridge Lithograph Co., Cincinnati & New York, restored and
nominated by
Adam Cuerden)Eugene Sandow is known as the "father of modern bodybuilding". Born in
Prussia, he entered a
strongman competition in Britain in 1889. Sandow was so successful that for the next four years, he toured the country giving exhibitions of "posing and incredible feats of strength". In 1894, he went to the
States to appear at
Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.'s father's nightclub, the Trocadero – Junior hired him because his dad's club was in financial trouble. Sandow was a big draw, primarily for pumping and flexing his muscles rather than for his feats of strength. Sandow had studied ancient sculpture, and he modeled his body shape on the Greek ideal: he would pose as a statue, with an artfully placed figleaf.
Guillaume Budé(created by
Jean Clouet,
nominated by
Crisco 1492) Idle and dissipated until the age of 24, Frenchman
Guillaume Budé was then seized with a sudden desire to study, and thereafter made rapid progress in
Latin and
Greek. His most highly regarded book is on ancient coins and measures. In 1533, Budé persuaded
Francis I of France to ignore the
College of Sorbonne's advice to ban printing. The Sorbonne had been responsible for the introduction of printing to France in 1470, but in the intervening years, they'd lost the monopoly on publishing.
Portrait of Rosa Bonheur(created by
Anna Klumpke,
nominated by
Adam Cuerden)Rosa Bonheur was "the most famous female painter of the nineteenth century." The oldest child in a family of artists, she established by her talent the brand name Bonheur in the world of animal portraits.
A Man with a Quilted Sleeve(created by
Titian,
nominated by
SchroCat) This portrait by the celebrated Venetian artist
Titian may be the same painting raved about by Giorgio Vasari (him again!), who identifies the sitter as a member of the
Barbarigo family. Instead of a portrait of a man sitting still, Titian's subject appears to be in motion, caught in the act of turning towards the viewer, with the sleeve poking out towards the viewer as if it's escaping the canvas. The looking over the shoulder pose inspired
countless imitations over the centuries, including a
1640 self portrait by
Rembrandt.
Mail Coaches on the Road: the Louth-London Royal Mail Progressing at Speed(created by Charles Cooper Henderson,
nominated by
Hafspajen) This painting depicts one of the mail coaches that ran between
Louth and London, part of a network of coach routes for delivering the mail before the development of the railways.
Charles Cooper Henderson was a noted painter of coaching scenes – a very similar painting of the same coach belonged to American pianist
Van Cliburn – it came onto the market in March 2014 after his death and fetched only $2,750. That's because, like buses, three coaches came along at the same time.
A carnival of animals, a river of dung, a wasteland of uncles, and some people with attitude : Four featured articles, three featured lists, and twenty-two featured pictures were promoted this week.
This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted from 8 March through 14 March. Text may be adapted from the respective articles and lists; see their page histories for attribution. (You know this disclaimer.)
Great Stink(
nominated by
SchroCat) The "Great Stink" was the name given to the smell of the
River Thames in the hot summer of 1858. Raw sewage from London had been dumped in the river since the time of
Brutus of Troy. Normally, the flow of the river and the tides would move everything
eastwards, but dry weather caused a decrease in the river's flow, and the river banks soon developed a crust up to six feet thick. The stench from decaying faeces became so strong that the
Houses of Parliament covered their windows with curtains soaked in lime chloride, but even this failed to mask the pong. Civil engineer
Joseph Bazalgette proposed shifting the muck eastwards by propelling it along a series of sewers using pumping stations. His proposal was accepted, and Bazalgette oversaw the construction of 1,100 miles (1,800 km) of street sewers and 82 miles (132 km) of main sewers. Completed in 1875, the system dumped untreated sewage into the Thames just south of
Dagenham. In 1878 the SS Princess Alice sank at this point one hour after the release of 75 million imperial gallons (340,000 m3) of raw sewage; over 650 people drowned.
Uncle David(
nominated by
Midnightblueowl)Uncle David is a 2010 film, set in the
Isle of Sheppey. It is a love story set in a
caravan park and on a
shingle beach, and was filmed in muted colors using two
Sony HVR-Z1 camcorders. Costumes were purchased from an
Oxfamcharity shop, and the
extras were the inhabitants of Sheppey, described by one of the film's producers, Gary Reich, as "a truly Godforsaken wasteland". "[During] the shoot none of the locals expressed any interest in the crew's activities." Critics offered mixed reviews of the film.
List of tied Twenty20 Internationals(
nominated by
Harrias)Twenty20 cricket is a shortened form of the game, in which each side is restricted to a maximum of twenty "
overs", each consisting of the delivery of six balls by one side's bowler to the other side's batspeople. The game usually lasts for three hours, with either a win, a draw, or a "no result". If both teams score the same number of runs, a draw is declared; as the match is usually part of a tournament, the winner is then decided by a "bowl-out" or, since December 2008, a
super over.
Stephan's Quintet(created by NASA, ESA, and the Hubble SM4 ERO Team,
nominated by
The Herald and
Crisco 1492) This is Stephan's Quintet, a group of five galaxies, although the one upper left (NGC 7320 – that's its catalog number) is much closer to us than the other four. It's a
dwarf galaxy. To its right is NGC 7319, a barred spiral, with little blue dots visible at the top; these, and the red dots below, are clusters of thousands of stars. In the middle, two galaxies, NGC 7318A and NGC 7318B, have distorted shapes because they are interacting with each other.
Mr and Mrs Andrews(created by
Thomas Gainsborough,
nominated by
Crisco 1492)Mr and Mrs Andrews is a double portrait by the English artist
Thomas Gainsborough, painted when he was 21. The painting was first put on public exhibition in 1927, more than 170 years after its creation, and has become one of his best-known works. The Andrewses were members of the landed gentry of
Essex, with an estate of 3,000 acres (1,200 ha), part of which forms the landscape half of this painting. Robert Andrews was a keen farmer, interested in modern agricultural techniques, such as
Jethro Tull's
seed drill, responsible for the neat rows of wheat featured (get it?) in the painting.
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham(created by
Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt,
nominated by
Hafspajen)George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, seen here at the age of 33 in 1625 painted by the
Dutch Golden Age artist
Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt, was the favourite courtier (and some reckoned lover) of
King James I of England and Ireland. His widowed mother trained him for the life of a courtier; he was noticed by James during a hunt at
Apethorpe. Others, who noticed the noticing, raised money to purchase Villiers a new wardrobe (not the kind from
IKEA) and employment as James's
cupbearer. These "others" were opponents of James's previous favourite,
Robert Carr. Villiers rose to be the highest-ranking non-Royal, and an incompetent and corrupt statesman. He was stabbed in a pub by a slighted army officer, leaped up with an exclamation of "Villain!", began to give chase, and dropped dead.
Christ in the Desert(created by
Ivan Kramskoy,
nominated by
Hafspajen)Ivan Kramskoi was a Russian artist of the 19th century. Influenced by revolutionary and democratic ideals, he rebelled against
academic art, and his paintings show an "expressive simplicity of composition and clarity of depiction [so as to] emphasize profound psychological elements of character". These traits are evident in his Christ in the Desert, depicting Christ as struggling with the "forces of spirit and flesh".
Battle of Vercellae(created by
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo,
nominated by
Crisco 1492) This is a big painting of a
big battle, in which the Romans (almost) wiped out the
Cimbri, who were attempting to invade Italy. A few of the Cimbri were left, and some
Cimbric-speaking inhabitants of northeastern Italy have been supposed to be their descendants. The painting by
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo is a confused melee of men and horses; the Cimbri are being pressed in, stabbed, and crushed by the Roman
legionaries. In the centre, a Roman has just withdrawn his
spatha from the chest of a Cimbri warrior dressed in yellow. It looks like the latter has acquired some Roman equipment, including helmet and sword, maybe pillage from the
Battle of Arausio. Tiepolo's swords don't appear to be historically accurate, but then neither does
Plutarch's account of the battle.
Christ Crowned with Thorns(created by
Hieronymus Bosch,
nominated by
SchroCat)Hieronymus Bosch was an imaginative fellow for sure, and here he demonstrates the breadth of his imagination with this image of Christ being crowned by a man with a crossbow bolt in his hat. It's the sort of bolt used to cut rigging on a ship. Then there's the chappy wearing a malevolent grin, a spiked dog collar, a spray of oak leaves, and half a black sheep; good old
Catweazle with a staff; and some nondescript man with
rhinophyma who is attempting to wrench the seamless robe off of Jesus.
Anatomical diagram of a nautilus(created and
nominated by
KDS4444) The
nautilus is a
living fossil, a scavenger and opportunistic predator, and hasn't evolved much during the last 500 million years. It has about 90 tentacles with a powerful grip, and its mouth has a
parrot-like beak, which the nautilus uses to rip shellfish from rocks. It is resistant to pressure, and can live down to a depth of 700 metres (2,300 ft); the nautilus implodes at a depth of 800 metres (2,600 ft), so if you're pursued by one, go deeper.
The Sandow Trocadero Vaudevilles(created by Strobridge Lithograph Co., Cincinnati & New York, restored and
nominated by
Adam Cuerden)Eugene Sandow is known as the "father of modern bodybuilding". Born in
Prussia, he entered a
strongman competition in Britain in 1889. Sandow was so successful that for the next four years, he toured the country giving exhibitions of "posing and incredible feats of strength". In 1894, he went to the
States to appear at
Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.'s father's nightclub, the Trocadero – Junior hired him because his dad's club was in financial trouble. Sandow was a big draw, primarily for pumping and flexing his muscles rather than for his feats of strength. Sandow had studied ancient sculpture, and he modeled his body shape on the Greek ideal: he would pose as a statue, with an artfully placed figleaf.
Guillaume Budé(created by
Jean Clouet,
nominated by
Crisco 1492) Idle and dissipated until the age of 24, Frenchman
Guillaume Budé was then seized with a sudden desire to study, and thereafter made rapid progress in
Latin and
Greek. His most highly regarded book is on ancient coins and measures. In 1533, Budé persuaded
Francis I of France to ignore the
College of Sorbonne's advice to ban printing. The Sorbonne had been responsible for the introduction of printing to France in 1470, but in the intervening years, they'd lost the monopoly on publishing.
Portrait of Rosa Bonheur(created by
Anna Klumpke,
nominated by
Adam Cuerden)Rosa Bonheur was "the most famous female painter of the nineteenth century." The oldest child in a family of artists, she established by her talent the brand name Bonheur in the world of animal portraits.
A Man with a Quilted Sleeve(created by
Titian,
nominated by
SchroCat) This portrait by the celebrated Venetian artist
Titian may be the same painting raved about by Giorgio Vasari (him again!), who identifies the sitter as a member of the
Barbarigo family. Instead of a portrait of a man sitting still, Titian's subject appears to be in motion, caught in the act of turning towards the viewer, with the sleeve poking out towards the viewer as if it's escaping the canvas. The looking over the shoulder pose inspired
countless imitations over the centuries, including a
1640 self portrait by
Rembrandt.
Mail Coaches on the Road: the Louth-London Royal Mail Progressing at Speed(created by Charles Cooper Henderson,
nominated by
Hafspajen) This painting depicts one of the mail coaches that ran between
Louth and London, part of a network of coach routes for delivering the mail before the development of the railways.
Charles Cooper Henderson was a noted painter of coaching scenes – a very similar painting of the same coach belonged to American pianist
Van Cliburn – it came onto the market in March 2014 after his death and fetched only $2,750. That's because, like buses, three coaches came along at the same time.
Discuss this story
Comment
Just great work. Love the occasional humorous moment on top of a very well-written and arranged page. Tony (talk) 12:42, 26 March 2015 (UTC) reply