Georges Merle

Notre Dame au crépuscule, c.1930

“Death of Ellenai”(1892) by Pruszkowski Witold (Polish;1846–1896); National Museum in Wrocław

An operation takes place in the Boston City Hospital operating theater during the 1890s. Surgery as performance was common in the 19th century, and may surgeons of the time made their surgeries as compelling as possible for their audiences, complete with narration. This type of atmosphere became less popular after World War I, as more effective anesthetic (taking away the spectacle of a patient in pain) and slower, more meticulous surgery (pushing the limits of spectators’ attention spans) became prevalent – along with the knowledge that all of these spectators and their germs might infect the patient.

Statue of the princess-priestess Takushit Copper alloy hollow cast Late Period, end of 25th Dynasty, ca. 670 BC The long, diaphanous robe, which is decorated all over with incised patterns that were filled with precious metal wires (technique of damasking), accentuates the beautifully shaped, sensuous body.

The Treasury at Petra (x)

http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/32222

Study of a Woman’s Head, c. 1490, by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

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Léon François Comerre (French, 1850-1916)

Druzy Chrysocolla, Yavapai County, Arizona.  

page 258 of “Complete self-instructing library of practical photography” (1909)

Paris at Night, 1909, Boris Kustodiev

Erté (Romain de Tirtoff)

Rosetta Stone: granodiorite slab inscribed with decree of pharaoh Ptolemy V Epiphanes (204-181 BC) in three languages, Hieroglyphic, Demotic, and Greek script. Discovered near Rosetta in 1799, became key to deciphering Egyptian inscriptions. Now in the British Museum.