Wikipedia Treasures

Federico Fellini, the greatest filmmaker of all, presents Marcello Mastroianni, the greatest actor of all, with the Golden Lion Honorary Award at the 47th Venice International Film Festival. Gorup de Besanez, Venice, Italy, 1990.

Umm Kulthum among some of the most prominent names in Egyptian classical music (from left: Riad Al Sunbati, Mohamed El Qasabgi, Farid al-Atrash, Zakariya Ahmad), Al-Qahirah (Cairo) (?), Egypt, late 1940′s (?).

Genius Czech composer Leoš Janáček and his wife  Zdenka (born Schulzová), around the time of their marriage.  Hipsters way, way before it became mainstream. Brno, Margraviate of Moravia, Cisleithania, Austro-Hungarian Empire, 1881.

Adam & Eve ashamed after being tricked by the serpent. Mozarabic illumination in the so called Escorial Beatus, a commentary on the Apocalypse by Beatus of Liébana. Kingdom of Asturias, circa 950-955. Currently part of the collection of the Real Biblioteca del Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain.

Engraving with a portrait in ‘mezzatinta’ of genius composer Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (c. 1620-23 – 1680), violinist and ‘Kappellmeister’ of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and melomaniac. Germanisches Nationalmuseum’s collection, Nuremberg, Germany. Unknown author, Vienna (?), 1670-80.

The Minerva Bowl, a truly amazing piece of craftsmanship belonging to the so called Hildesheim Treasure, composed of dozens of silver objects probably from a Roman noble’s table service. The high relief represents the goddess Minerva in spectacular detail and all her symbolic attributes, including her battle gear, cane, and an owl ("noctva”) standing at her right. Nowadays at the Altes Museum, Berlin, Germany. Northwestern Provinces (?) of the Roman Empire, 1st century AD.

Relief showing Helios, sun god in the Greco-Roman mythology. Fragment from the temple of Athena in Ilion (Troy). It was found by famed archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann in 1872. Currently at the Pergamon-Museum’s collection, Berlin, Germany. Marble, 85,8 x 86,3 cm. Hellenistic Greece, 1st quarter of the 3rd century BC - 390 BC.

Johann Heinrich Sander (1810–1865), The Great Tower of Neuwerk at storm surge. Steel engraving, Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, German Confederation, circa 1840.

Hans Holbein the Younger, The Humiliation of Emperor Valerian by the Persian King Shapur I of Persia. Basel, Swiss Confederation, circa 1521.

Harris & Ewing, Inc., Portrait of genius writer, journalist and thinker Walter Lippmann (1889–1974), aged about 31. Washington, D.C., United States of America, c. 1920. Library of Congress.

The magnificent entrance of Lomas Rishi, one of the Barabar man-made caves commissioned by Ashoka the Great. This exquisite carved work is the first known Maurya relief and an example of Ajivika sacred architecture. Maurya Empire, 3rd century BCE.

Aníbal Augusto Milhais (aka “Soldado Milhões” / “Solder Millions”) in a group photo of his regiment in the fields of Flanders. Milhais was the only soldier to receive the Order of the Tower and of the Sword, of Valour, Loyalty and Merit, the highest national honor of Portugal, created in 1459. On April 9, 1918, during a battle known in Portugal as The Battle of La Lys (the first day of Ludendorff's Lys Offensive, aka Operation Georgette), he single-handedly fought — with only his Lewis machine-gun to trust — two entire German regiments, while Portuguese and British troops retreated. When he ran out of ammunition, he stayed for three days behind enemy lines and was able to save the life of a Scottish major, carrying him on his back to friendly territory. A few months later, once again armed only with his Lewis gun, he held another German assault, allowing a Belgium unit to flee to safety. For his courage and valour, he was awarded the above mentioned Portuguese order and also the French Légion d'Honneur right on the battlefield, in the presence of more than 15.000 Allied soldiers. Flanders, Belgium, 1918.

Gasshukoku suishi teitoku kōjōgaki (”Oral statement by the American Navy admiral”). This woodcut on hōsho paper shows three men, possibly Commander Anan; Mathew C. Perry, and Captain Henry Adams, who “opened” Japan to the West. Empire of Japan, circa 1850-1900.

Hagåtña, capital city of Guam, as seen from Fort Santa Agueda. Abasaa, Guam, 2010.

VIENNA AVSTRIÆ, a view from the north of Vienna (Wien), Austria’s capital city. Vienna, Holy Roman Empire, 1640. Unmodified copy of the original, printed in 1609.

William of Tyre discovers the first symptoms of leprosy in the future Baldwin IV, King of Jerusalem. Miniature from a French translation of William of Tyre’s Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum, Kingdom of France, c. 1250.

Poster advertising the 1888-89 Winter season timetables for the Orient Express, Jules Chéret, Paris, France, 1888.