Dream Land

Karel Svolinský illustartion for 1941 book "The Adventures of the Squirrel Zrzečka" (Dobrodružství veverky Zrzečky).

Wedding Dress

c. 1924

unknown maker

'Sacrifice of Isaac' by Anton Pavlovich Losenko (detail, 1765)

The Garden of Opportunity

Artist: Evelyn De Morgan (English, 1855-1919)

Date: 1892

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: De Morgan Foundation, London, United Kingdom

Description

Ph. Eduardo Soteras

Ph. Bete Giyorgis

Ph. Sean Gallup

The small town of Lalibela in Ethiopia is home to one of the most extraordinary sacred sites in the world. Its eleven churches were carved directly out of solid volcanic rock. This dusty, rural town only gained access to electricity relatively recently, and it still has no paved roads. Originally called Roha, the town was later named after King Lalibela of the Zagwe dynasty, who ruled the Ethiopian Empire from 1181 to 1221. During his reign, this remarkable complex of eleven churches was created. What you see in these photographs is not a group of buildings made from stone blocks. Each church was carved from a single mass of rock, with no joints, bricks, or mortar. The builders first cut a deep trench around the future church, separating it from the surrounding bedrock. They then worked from the top down, carving the exterior before gradually hollowing out the interior. Once the doors and windows had been opened, workers entered the rock itself and carved out rooms, columns, passages, and sanctuaries from within. That is why these churches are described as monolithic: each one was shaped from a single piece of stone rather than assembled from separate materials.

This method required extraordinary technical knowledge, precision, patience and skill. Even more remarkable was the vision and courage behind the idea itself. The overall concept, the architectural design, and the artistic details and ornamentation are achievements in their own right.

As archaeologists have described it:

1897 Two-piece dress (robe à transformation) (France)

satin, velvet embroidered with pearls and sequins, inlays and lace applications, silk canvas, lace ruffle, surah, taffeta lining

Egyptian claw anklet of Sithathoryunet (daughter of a pharaoh (probably Senusret II))

Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, ca. 1887 - 1813 BCE

HELLENISTIC GOLD AND LAPIS NECKLACE WITH AGATE CENTRE STONE

EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN, 1ST MILLENNIUM B.C.