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Girl With A Pearl Earring
''Girl with a Pearl Earring'' () is an oil painting by Dutch Golden Age painter Johannes Vermeer, dated 1665. Going by various names over the centuries, it became known by its present title towards the end of the 20th century because of the earring worn by the girl portrayed there. The work has been in the collection of the Mauritshuis in The Hague since 1902 and has been the subject of various literary and cinematic treatments. Description The painting is a tronie, the Dutch 17th-century description of a "head" that was not meant to be a portrait. It depicts a European girl wearing "exotic dress", an "oriental turban", and what appears to be a very large pearl as an earring. The subject of the painting is unknown, with it being possible either that she was a real model, or that Vermeer created a more generalised and mysterious woman, perhaps representing a Sibyl or biblical figure. There has been speculation that she is the artist's eldest daughter, Maria, though this has be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johannes Vermeer
Johannes Vermeer ( , ; see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. He is considered one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age. During his lifetime, he was a moderately successful provincial genre painter, recognized in Delft and The Hague. He produced relatively few paintings, primarily earning his living as an art dealer. He was not wealthy; at his death, his wife was left in debt. Vermeer worked slowly and with great care, and frequently used very expensive pigments. He is particularly renowned for making masterful use of light in his work. "Almost all his paintings", Hans Koningsberger wrote, "are apparently set in two smallish rooms in his house in Delft; they show the same furniture and decorations in various arrangements and they often portray the same people, mostly women." The modest celebrity he enjoyed during his life gave way to obscurity ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Scientist
''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organisation publishes a monthly Dutch-language edition. First published on 22 November 1956, ''New Scientist'' has been available in online form since 1996. Sold in retail outlets (paper edition) and on subscription (paper and/or online), the magazine covers news, features, reviews and commentary on science, technology and their implications. ''New Scientist'' also publishes speculative articles, ranging from the technical to the philosophical. ''New Scientist'' was acquired by Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) in March 2021. History Ownership The magazine was founded in 1956 by Tom Margerison, Max Raison and Nicholas Harrison as ''The New Scientist'', with Issue 1 on 22 November 1956, priced at one shilling (). An article in the magazi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bone Char
Bone char () is a porous, black, granular material produced by charring animal bones. Its composition varies depending on how it is made; however, it consists mainly of tricalcium phosphate (or hydroxyapatite) 57–80%, calcium carbonate 6–10% and carbon 7–10%. It is primarily used for filtration and decolorisation. Production Bone char is primarily made from cattle and pig bones; however, to prevent the spread of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, the skull and spine are no longer used. The bones are heated in a sealed vessel at up to ; the oxygen concentration must be kept low while doing this, as it affects the quality of the product, particularly its adsorption capacity. Most of the organic material in the bones is driven off by heat, and was historically collected as Dippel's oil; that which is not driven off remains as activated carbon in the final product. Heating bones in an oxygen-rich atmosphere gives bone ash, which is chemically quite different. Used bone char can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ochre
Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced by this pigment, especially a light brownish-yellow. A variant of ochre containing a large amount of hematite, or dehydrated iron oxide, has a reddish tint known as red ochre (or, in some dialects, ruddle). The word ochre also describes clays coloured with iron oxide derived during the extraction of tin and copper. Earth pigments Ochre is a family of earth pigments, which includes yellow ochre, red ochre, purple ochre, sienna, and umber. The major ingredient of all the ochres is iron(III) oxide-hydroxide, known as limonite, which gives them a yellow colour. A range of other minerals may also be included in the mixture:Krivovichev V. G. Mineralogical glossary. Scientific editor :uk:Булах Андрій Глібович, A. G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lead White
Lead white is a thick, opaque, and heavy white pigment composed primarily of basic lead carbonate, , with a crystalline molecular structure. It was the most widely produced and used white pigment in different parts of the world from antiquity until the nineteenth century, when it was displaced by zinc white and later by titanium white. Lead white has maintained relatively consistent production methods across times and regions, yet it has a wide range of applications in different contexts, such as home decoration, art production, and cosmetics. Given its affordability and distinctive visual qualities, lead white was particularly favored and generously used by artists in their paintings. However, most art supply companies now explicitly advise against the use of lead white because of the risk that it poses of lead poisoning. Even after this drawback was known, it continued to be used in paintings and cosmetics. Production methods As one of the oldest synthetically produced pigmen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk is common throughout Western Europe, where deposits underlie parts of France, and steep cliffs are often seen where they meet the sea in places such as the Dover cliffs on the Kent coast of the English Channel. Chalk is mined for use in industry, such as for quicklime, bricks and builder's putty, and in agriculture, for raising pH in soils with high acidity. It is also used for " blackboard chalk" for writing and drawing on various types of surfaces, although these can also be manufactured from other carbonate-based minerals, or gypsum. Description Chalk is a fine-textured, earthy type of limestone distinguished by its light colour, softness, and high porosity. It is composed mostly of tiny fragments of the calcite shells or sk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ground (art)
In visual arts, the ground (sometimes called a primer) is a prepared surface that covers the support of the picture (e.g., a canvas or a panel) and underlies the actual painting (the colors are overlaid onto the ground). Occasionally the term is also used in a broad sense to designate any surface used for painting, for example, paper for watercolor or plaster for fresco. The main purposes of the ground are to block chemical interactions between the paint and the support and to provide desired texture for painting or drawing. The ground is also used to highlight the colors, and its color and tone affect the appearance of paint levels above, therefore the painters might have individual preferences for the color of the ground: 19th century artists, especially the impressionists, preferred the white ground (first used by J. M. W. Turner), while Rembrandt preferred brownish tones and Poussin the red ones. The oil painting becomes more transparent with age, so to avoid a gradual b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AMOLF
AMOLF is a research institute and part of the institutes organization of the Dutch Research Council (NWO). AMOLF carries out fundamental research on the physics and design principles of natural and man-made complex matter. AMOLF uses these insights to create novel functional materials and find new solutions to societal challenges in renewable energy, green ICT and healthcare. AMOLF is located at the Amsterdam Science Park. AMOLF used to be part of the Dutch Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM). On 31 December 2016 FOM integrated in NWO. History The institute was established in 1949 by the government as the FOM Laboratory for Mass Spectrography. In 1960, it was renamed to Laboratory for Mass Separation, and in 1966 it was reorganized into a research institute and renamed FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics (AMOLF). The original research goal was to demonstrate the separation of uranium isotopes by electromagnetic separation methods, a topic of great st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bequest
A devise is the act of giving real property by will, traditionally referring to real property. A bequest is the act of giving property by will, usually referring to personal property. Today, the two words are often used interchangeably due to their combination in many wills as ''devise and bequeath'', a legal doublet. The phrase ''give, devise, and bequeath'', a legal triplet, has been used for centuries, including the will of William Shakespeare. The word ''bequeath'' is a verb form for the act of making a ''bequest''. Etymology Bequest comes from Old English , "to declare or express in words"—cf. "quoth". Interpretations Part of the process of probate involves interpreting the instructions in a will. Some wordings that define the scope of a bequest have specific interpretations. "All the estate I own" would involve all of the decedent's possessions at the moment of death. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Purchasing Power
Purchasing power refers to the amount of products and services available for purchase with a certain currency unit. For example, if you took one unit of cash to a store in the 1950s, you could buy more products than you could now, showing that the currency had more purchasing power back then. If one's income remains constant but prices rise, their purchasing power decreases. Inflation does not always result in decreased purchasing power, especially if income exceeds price levels. A larger real income means more purchasing power, as it corresponds to the income itself. Traditionally, the purchasing power of money depended heavily upon the local value of gold and silver, but was also made subject to the availability and demand of certain goods on the market. Most modern fiat currencies, like US dollars, are traded against each other and commodity money in the secondary market for the purpose of international Balance transfer, transfer of payment for goods and services. Scottish ec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buyer's Premium
In auctions, the buyer's premium is a charge in addition to the hammer price (i.e. the winning bid announced) of an auction item, or lot. The winning bidder is required to pay both the hammer price and the percentage of that price called for by the buyer's premium. It is charged by the auctioneer in addition to the commission which has always been charged by auction houses to sellers. All of the buyer's premium is retained by the auction house and is not shared with the item's seller. Major auction houses have levied the buyer's premium for several decades, particularly in fine art auctions, with percentages in the region of 10–30%. In real estate auctions in many European countries, the buyer's premium, if charged at all, is much less (2–2.5%). More recently in the UK, however, repossessed properties have been offered without fee to the seller, but with a buyer's premium of 10%. The buyer's premium has been characterized by auction houses as a necessary contribution to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dutch Guilder
The guilder (, ) or florin was the currency of the Netherlands from 1434 until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro. The Dutch name was a Middle Dutch adjective meaning 'golden', and reflects the fact that, when first introduced in 1434, its value was about equal to (i.e., it was on par with) the Italian gold florin. The Dutch guilder was a reserve currency in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. Between 1999 and 2002, the guilder was officially a "national subunit" of the euro. However, physical payments could only be made in guilders, as no euro coins or banknotes were available. The exact exchange rate, still relevant for old contracts and for exchange of the old currency for euros at the central bank, is exactly 2.20371 Dutch guilders for 1 euro. Inverted, this gives approximately 0.453780 euros for 1 guilder. Derived from the Dutch guilder are the Netherlands Antillean guilder (still in use in Curaçao and Sint Maarten) and the Surinamese guilder (replaced in 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
