The Cadaver Tomb of René of Chalon is a Gothic funerary monument in the church of Saint-Étienne at Bar-le-Duc in northeastern France. It consists of an altarpiece and a limestone statue of a putrefied and skinless corpse which stands upright; its left arm is raised as if gesturing towards heaven. Completed sometime between 1544 and 1557, the majority of its construction is attributed to the French sculptor Ligier Richier. Other elements, including the coat of arms and funeral drapery, were added later. The tomb dates from a period of societal anxiety over death, as plague, war and religious conflicts ravaged Europe. It was commissioned as the resting place of René of Chalon, Prince of Orange, brother-in-law of Duke Antoine of Lorraine. Unusually for contemporary objects of this type, the skeleton is standing, making it a "living corpse", an innovation that was to become highly influential. It was designated a Monument historique on June 18, 1898.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadaver_Tomb_of_Ren%C3%A9_of_Chalon
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1638:
A rebellion by Catholic Japanese peasants in Shimabara over increased taxes was put down by the Tokugawa shogunate, resulting in greater enforcement of the policy of national seclusion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimabara_Rebellion
1912:
The passenger liner RMS Titanic sank about two hours and forty minutes after colliding with an iceberg, killing more than 1,500 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_RMS_Titanic
1952:
The B-52 Stratofortress, a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered, strategic bomber operated by the United States Air Force for most of the aircraft's history, made its first flight. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-52_Stratofortress
1989:
A human crush during an FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, caused 96 deaths, making it the worst disaster in British sporting history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsborough_disaster
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
mummy brown: 1. A brown pigment originally prepared from the ground-up remains of Egyptian animal or human mummies mixed with bitumen, etc. 2. The colour of this pigment, a variable brown nearly intermediate between raw umber and burnt umber. mummy brown colour: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mummy_brown
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
If we pretend to respect the artist at all we must allow him his freedom of choice, in the face, in particular cases, of innumerable presumptions that the choice will not fructify. Art derives a considerable part of its beneficial exercise from flying in the face of presumptions, and some of the most interesting experiments of which it is capable are hidden in the bosom of common things. --Henry James https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_James