Madonna in the Church is a small oil panel painting by the Early
Netherlandish artist Jan van Eyck. Probably created c. 1438–40, it
shows the Virgin Mary in a Gothic cathedral holding the Child Jesus. She
is presented as Queen of Heaven, wearing a jewel-studded crown and
cradling a playful child who grips the hem of her dress. Light pours
through the windows, illuminating the interior and culminating in two
pools near her feet. Tracery at the rear of the church nave contains
wooden carvings depicting episodes from her life. The work evidences the
new approach and techniques applied to 15th-century oil painting but is
still influenced by medieval, monumental Byzantine depictions of the
Madonna; she is unrealistically large compared to her surroundings. Most
art historians believe the panel began as the left wing of a since-
dismantled diptych; its opposite wing was most likely a votive portrait.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_in_the_Church>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1796:
French Revolutionary Wars: The French defeated Austrian forces
in Bassano, Venetia, present-day Italy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bassano>
1831:
The Russian Empire brought the Polish November Uprising to an
end when its troops captured Warsaw after a two-day assault.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Warsaw_(1831)>
1935:
US Senator Huey Long was fatally shot in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huey_Long>
1941:
World War II: German forces severed the last land connection to
Leningrad, beginning a 28-month siege that would result in the deaths of
over 1 million of the city's civilians from starvation, making it one of
the most lethal battles in world history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Leningrad>
1966:
Queen Elizabeth II opened the Severn Bridge, hailing it as the
dawn of a new economic era for South Wales.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severn_Bridge>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
freakish:
1. Resembling a freak.
2. Strange, unusual, abnormal or bizarre.
3. Capricious, unpredictable.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/freakish>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
You're sure There's a cure. And you have finally found it. You
think One drink Will shrink you 'til you're underground And living down.
But it's not going to stop. It's not going to stop. It's not going to
stop 'Til you wise up.
--Magnolia
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Magnolia_(film)>