Tag Archives: 18th Century

1784: Aranjuez

Posted on October 21, 2017 by corvusfugit

Antonio Carnicero: Ascent of a Montgolfier Balloon in Aranjuez (1784)

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 18th Century, Antonio Carnicero, Art, Aviation, Balloons, Montgolfier Brothers, Painting, Spain | Leave a comment

1785: Museum

Posted on October 14, 2017 by corvusfugit

Sarah Stone: Perspective interior view of Sir Ashton Lever’s Museum in Leicester Square, London March 30 1785

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 18th Century, Animals, Art, Great Britain, Museums, Painting, Sarah Stone, Women | Leave a comment

1649: Descartes’s Wooden Daughter

Posted on October 11, 2017 by corvusfugit

When Descartes resided in Holland, with great labour and industry he made a female Automaton—which occasioned some wicked wits to publish that he had an illegitimate daughter, named Franchine—to prove demonstratively that beasts have no souls, and that they are … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 17th Century, 18th Century, Automata, Children, Fathers, France, Julien La Mettrie, Miniatures, Netherlands, Philosophy, René Descartes | Leave a comment

1321: Kleptomania

Posted on October 8, 2017 by corvusfugit

In Some Observations Made in Travelling Through France, Italy, &c. in the Years 1720, 1721 and 1722, Edward Wright relates being told in Florence about one of Dante’s bad habits: This great man, we are told, had a most unhappy … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 14th Century, 15th Century, 18th Century, Andrea del Castagno, Art, Books, Dante, Edward Wright, Italy, Mental Health, Painting, Poetry, Portraits | Leave a comment

1715: Plum Blossoms

Posted on October 5, 2017 by corvusfugit

Ogata Kōrin: 紙本金地著色紅白梅図 – Red and White Plum Blossoms (c. 1715)

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 18th Century, Art, Japan, Ogata Kōrin, Painting, Trees | Leave a comment

1753: The Wolf Peach

Posted on October 4, 2017 by corvusfugit

In 1753, Linnaeus gave the tomato its Latin species name lycopersicum, which means “wolf peach.” Image: Luis Meléndez: Still Life with Tomatoes, a Bowl of Aubergines and Onions (c. 1771-1774)

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 18th Century, Animals, Art, Food and Drink, Linnaeus, Luis Meléndez, Painting, Science, Spain, Sweden, Wolves | Leave a comment

1770: Trifacial Trinity

Posted on September 30, 2017 by corvusfugit

Painted by an anonymous artist of Peru’s Cusco School in the mid-eighteenth century (c. 1750 – 1770), this work sought to represent the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Holy Trinity. The typology—known as a Trifacial Trinity—had been banned by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 18th Century, Art, Christianity, Painting, Peru, Religion | Leave a comment

1783: Stones and Broccoli

Posted on September 28, 2017 by corvusfugit

Thomas Gainsborough: Pastoral Landscape (c. 1783) Gainsborough made his living painting commissioned portraits, and thus could not indulge his passion for landscapes during the day in the open air; instead, he painted them at night by candlelight, arranging stones, broccoli, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 18th Century, Art, Food and Drink, Great Britain, Landscapes, Miniatures, Painting, Thomas Gainsborough | Leave a comment

1799: Girl with Portfolio

Posted on September 28, 2017 by corvusfugit

Guillaume Guillon-Lethiere: Girl with Portfolio (1799)

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 18th Century, Art, Children, France, Guillaume Guillon-Lethiere, Painting, Portraits | Leave a comment

1706: The Pretty Dragoon

Posted on September 23, 2017 by corvusfugit

The Story of Christiana Davis, “The British Amazon” In 1739 Christiana Davis, an outpensioner of Chelsea College, died, and was interred with military honours in the pensioners’ burying-ground. She was the daughter of a soldier in the Inniskilling Regiment, now … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 17th Century, 18th Century, Christiana Davis, Great Britain, Ireland, LGBTQ, Military, Women | Leave a comment