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Tazza (cup)
A tazza (, ; ) is a wide but shallow saucer-like dish either mounted on a stem and foot or on a foot alone. The word has been generally adopted by archaeologists and connoisseurs for this type of vessel, used either for drinking, serving small items of food, or just for display. Tazze are most commonly made in metal, glass, or ceramics, but may be made of other materials. The Farnese Tazza is a 2nd-century BC cameo cup of Hellenistic Egypt in four-layered sardonyx agate. It is in the Naples National Archaeological Museum (Inv. MANN 27611), and is wide. The shape and the name are sometimes adopted for reference to very large sculptured objects, especially ones used for fountains. The colossal tazza in the Linda Hall Library, Kansas City, Missouri, is one of the largest pieces of malachite in North America. It was presented by Czar Nicholas II to August Heckscher in 1910 and given to the Linda Hall Library in 1972 by Mrs. Helen Spencer. It is the focal point at the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, archaeological site, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities. It is usually considered an independent academic discipline, but may also be classified as part of anthropology (in North America – the four-field approach), history or geography. The discipline involves Survey (archaeology), surveying, Archaeological excavation, excavation, and eventually Post excavation, analysis of data collected, to learn more about the past. In broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-disciplinary research. Archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Connoisseur
A connoisseur (French language, French Reforms of French orthography, traditional, pre-1835, spelling of , from Middle-French , then meaning 'to be acquainted with' or 'to know somebody/something') is a person who has a great deal of knowledge about the fine arts; who is a keen appreciator of cuisines, fine wines, and other gourmet products; or who is an expert judge in matters of Taste (aesthetics), taste. In many areas, the term now has an air of pretension, and may be used in a partly Irony, ironic sense. In the art trade, however, expert connoisseurship remains a crucial skill for the identification and attribution to individual artists of works by the Style (visual arts), style and technique, where documentary evidence of provenance is lacking. The situation in the wine trade is similar, for example in assessing the potential for ageing in a young wine through wine tasting. Connoisseurship in art "The ability to tell almost instinctively who painted a picture is defined&n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Farnese Cup
The Farnese Cup or Tazza Farnese is a 2nd-century BC cameo hardstone carving bowl or cup made in Hellenistic Egypt of four-layered sardonyx agate. It is at the Naples National Archaeological Museum.Inv. MANN 27611. It is about wide and similar in form to a Greek phiale or Roman patera, with no foot. It features relief carvings on both its exterior and interior surfaces. There is no surviving evidence regarding when and why the piece was made, though there is consensus among scholars that it was created in Alexandria, due to the blending of Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Greek or Roman iconography found in its relief carvings. This provides a range of time wherein it may have been created, spanning from approximately 300 BC to 20 BC. The underside has a large Gorgon's head occupying most of the area, probably intended to ward off evil. The upper side has a scene with several figures that has long puzzled scholars. It seems clearly an allegory containing several divine figures an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cameo (carving)
Cameo () is a method of carving an object such as an engraved gem, item of jewellery or vessel. It nearly always features a raised (positive) relief image; contrast with intaglio, which has a negative image. Originally, and still in discussing historical work, cameo only referred to works where the relief image was of a contrasting colour to the background; this was achieved by carefully carving a piece of material with a flat plane where two contrasting colours met, removing all the first colour except for the image to leave a contrasting background. A variation of a carved cameo is a cameo incrustation (or sulphide). An artist, usually an engraver, carves a small portrait, then makes a cast from the carving, from which a ceramic type cameo is produced. This is then encased in a glass object, often a paperweight. These are very difficult to make but were popular from the late 18th century through the end of the 19th century. Originating in Bohemia, the finest examples were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hellenistic Egypt
The Ptolemaic Kingdom (; , ) or Ptolemaic Empire was an ancient Greek polity based in Ancient Egypt, Egypt during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 305 BC by the Ancient Macedonians, Macedonian Greek general Ptolemy I Soter, a Diadochi, companion of Alexander the Great, and ruled by the Ptolemaic dynasty until the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC. Reigning for nearly three centuries, the Ptolemies were the longest and final Dynasties of ancient Egypt, dynasty of ancient Egypt, heralding a distinct era of Hellenistic religion, religious and cultural syncretism between Greek and Egyptian culture. Alexander the Great conquered Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt, Persian-controlled Egypt in 332 BC during Wars of Alexander the Great, his campaigns against the Achaemenid Empire. Death of Alexander the Great, Alexander's death in 323 BC was followed by the Empire of Alexander the Great, rapid unraveling of the Macedonian Empire amid competing claims by the ''diadochi'', his closest fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sardonyx
Onyx is a typically black-and-white banded variety of agate, a silicate mineral. The bands can also be monochromatic with alternating light and dark bands. ''Sardonyx'' is a variety with red to brown bands alternated with black or white bands. The name "onyx" is also frequently used for level-banded (parallel-banded) agates, but in proper usage it refers to color pattern not band structure. Onyx, as a descriptive term, has also been incorrectly applied to parallel-banded varieties of alabaster, marble, calcite, obsidian, and opal, and misleadingly to materials with contorted banding, such as "cave onyx" and "Mexican onyx". Etymology ''Onyx'' comes through Latin (of the same spelling), from the Ancient Greek (), meaning or . Onyx with pink and white bands can sometimes resemble a fingernail. The English word "nail" is cognate with the Greek word. Varieties Onyx is formed of chalcedony bands in alternating colors. It is cryptocrystalline, consisting of fine intergrowths of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agate
Agate ( ) is a banded variety of chalcedony. Agate stones are characterized by alternating bands of different colored chalcedony and sometimes include macroscopic quartz. They are common in nature and can be found globally in a large number of different varieties. There are some varieties of chalcedony without bands that are commonly called agate ( moss agate, fire agate, etc.); however, these are more properly classified solely as varieties of chalcedony. Agates are primarily formed as nodules within volcanic rock, but they can also form in veins or in sedimentary rock. Agate has been popular as a gemstone in jewelry for thousands of years, and today it is also popular as a collector's stone. Some duller agates sold commercially are artificially dyed to enhance their color. Etymology Agate was given its name by Theophrastus, a Greek philosopher and naturalist. He discovered the stone c. 350 BCE along the shoreline of the River Achates (), now the Dirillo River, on the Italian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naples National Archaeological Museum
The National Archaeological Museum of Naples (, ) is an important Italian archaeological museum. Its collection includes works from Greek, Roman and Renaissance times, and especially Roman artifacts from the nearby Pompeii, Stabiae and Herculaneum sites. From 1816 to 1861, it was known as the Royal Bourbon Museum (). Building The building was built as a cavalry barracks in 1585. From 1616 to 1777, it was the seat of the University of Naples. During the 19th century, after it became a museum, it suffered many changes to the main structure. Collections The museum hosts extensive collections of Greek and Roman antiquities. Their core is from the Farnese Collection, which includes a collection of engraved gems (including the Farnese Cup, a Ptolemaic bowl made of sardonyx agate and the most famous piece in the "Treasure of the Magnificent", and is founded upon gems collected by Cosimo de' Medici and Lorenzo il Magnifico in the 15th century) and the Farnese Marbles. Amo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linda Hall Library
The Linda Hall Library is a privately endowed American library of science, engineering and technology located in Kansas City, Missouri, on the grounds of a urban arboretum. It claims to be the "largest independently funded public library of science, engineering and technology in North America" and "among the largest science libraries in the world." Description Established in 1946 through the philanthropy of Linda and Herbert F. Hall of the Hall-Bartlett Grain Co., the library is open to the public, and invites individual researchers, academic institutions, and companies from Kansas City and around the world to use the library's research-level collection. Its mission is to act as "guardian of the collective intellectual heritage with regard to the science, technology, and engineering disciplines." The library's William N. Deramus III Cosmology Theater, temporarily closed since 2020, shows images of the cosmos from the Hubble Space Telescope and NASA science missions. These imag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Platte County, Missouri, Platte counties, with a small portion lying within Cass County, Missouri, Cass County. It is the central city of the Kansas City metropolitan area, which straddles the Missouri–Kansas state line and has a population of 2,392,035. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090, making it the sixth-most populous city in the Midwestern United States, Midwest and List of United States cities by population, 38th-most populous city in the United States. Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a port on the Missouri River at its confluence with the Kansas River from the west. On June 1, 1850, the town of Kansas was incorporated; shortly after came the establishment of the Kansas Terr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malachite
Malachite () is a copper Carbonate mineral, carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the chemical formula, formula Basic copper carbonate, Cu2CO3(OH)2. This opaque, green-banded mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmite, stalagmitic masses, in fractures and deep, underground spaces, where the water table and hydrothermal fluids provide the means for chemical precipitation. Individual crystals are rare, but occur as slender to Acicular (crystal habit), acicular prisms. Pseudomorphs after more tabular or blocky azurite crystals also occur. Etymology and history The stone's name derives (via , , and Middle English ''melochites'') from Greek language, Greek Μολοχίτης λίθος ''molochites lithos'', "mallow-green stone", from μολόχη ''molochē'', variant of μαλάχη ''malāchē'', "mallow". The mineral was given this name due to its resemblance to the leaves of the Malva, mallow plant. Copper (Cu2+) g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
