Portraits of Joséphine and Napoleon Bonaparte / Wikimedia Commons By Catherine Delors Every marriage is complex, this one more than most. At first glance, the 26 year old General, with his angular face and brusque manners, and the graceful queen of the brilliant but corrupt demi-monde of the late Revolution seem to form an odd[…]
Baptism of Clovis, by Master of Saint Giles, c.1500, oil on panel / Samuel H. Kress Collection, National Gallery of Art, London By Dr. Paul H. Freedman / 10.03.2011 Chester D. Tripp Professor of History Chair, History of Science and Medicine Program Yale University Gregory of Tours and Procopius as historians Left: Procopius on[…]
Cult copper statue of a crocodile. From Faiyum, modern-day Egypt. Middle Kingdom, 12th Dynasty, circa 1800 BCE. (State Museum of Egyptian Art, Munich, Germany). By Dr. Joshua J. Mark / 03.18.2016 Professor of Philosophy Marist College The ancient Egyptians kept animals as pets ranging from domesticated dogs and cats to baboons, monkeys, fish, gazelles, birds[…]
Nero’s Domus Aureau, Rome, 64-68 CE / Wikimedia Commons Lecture by Dr. Diana E.E. Kleiner / 02.17.2009 Dunham Professor, History of Art and Classics Yale University Tiberius and the Villa Jovis on Capri Augustus founded the Julio-Claudian dynasty. The name says it all: Julio-Claudian, Julio for the Julian side of the family, Julius Caesar and[…]
By Mike Lofgren / 01.14.2017 The election of Donald Trump has triggered as much wonderment abroad as it has in the United States. David Runciman, a professor of politics at the University of Cambridge, has written in the London Review of Books a provocative reflection on the nature of democracy in the age of Trump:[…]
The Old Centaur, Hadrianic grey-black marble sculpture of a centaur based on Hellenistic models. By Carole Raddato / 01.12.2017 Historian From Hadrian’s Villa are a pair of dark-grey marble statues of centaurs. The sculptures became very famous due to their sculptors’ outstanding workmanship and the rarity and high quality of their materials. The group was[…]
Portrait of Marie Antoinette / Public Domain By Catherine Delors Historical Novelist The Queen liked to be surrounded by pyramids of gorgeous pastries and followed a strict macaroon-and-champagne diet. Or did she? Well, according to contemporary accounts, not at all. The etiquette required the King and Queen to take some of their meals in public,[…]