Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata is the subject of two unsigned
paintings, nearly identical except for their size, that were both
completed around 1430. Art historians usually attribute them to the
Flemish artist Jan van Eyck. The larger panel measures 29.3 cm
× 33.4 cm (11.5 in × 13.1 in) and is in the Sabauda Gallery in
Turin, Italy; the smaller panel is 12.7 cm × 14.6 cm (5.0 in
× 5.7 in) and is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The paintings
show Saint Francis of Assisi kneeling in front of detailed rock
formations as he receives the stigmata of the crucified Christ on the
palms of his hands and soles of his feet. A panoramic landscape seems to
relegate the figures in the foreground to secondary importance. The
Philadelphia wood panel comes from the same tree as that of two
paintings definitively attributed to van Eyck, and the Italian panel has
underdrawings of a quality that probably could only have come from him.
Today the consensus is that both were painted by the same hand.
Read more:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Francis_Receiving_the_Stigmata_%28van_Eyck%29>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1957:
The Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 1 (replica pictured), the first
artificial satellite to orbit the Earth, was launched by an R-7 rocket
from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1>
1958:
The current Constitution of France was signed into law,
establishing the French Fifth Republic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Fifth_Republic>
2003:
A suicide bomber killed 21 people and injured 51 others inside
the Maxim restaurant in Haifa, Israel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxim_restaurant_suicide_bombing>
2010:
The dam holding a waste reservoir in western Hungary collapsed,
freeing 1 million m3 (35 million cu ft) of red mud, which flooded
nearby communities and killed ten people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajka_alumina_plant_accident>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
orient:
1. (transitive) To build or place (something) so as to face eastward.
2. (transitive, by extension) To align or place (a person or object) so
that his, her, or its east side, north side, etc., is positioned toward
the corresponding points of the compass; (specifically, surveying) to
rotate (a map attached to a plane table) until the line of direction
between any two of its points is parallel to the corresponding direction
in nature.
3. (transitive) To direct towards or point at a particular direction.
4. (transitive, reflexive) To determine which direction one is facing.
5. (transitive, often reflexive, figuratively) To familiarize (oneself
or someone) with a circumstance or situation.
6. (transitive, figuratively) To set the focus of (something) so as to
appeal or relate to a certain group.
7. (intransitive) To change direction to face a certain way.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/orient>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The President of the United States of necessity owes his election
to office to the suffrage and zealous labors of a political party, the
members of which cherish with ardor and regard as of essential
importance the principles of their party organization; but he should
strive to be always mindful of the fact that he serves his party best
who serves the country best.
--Rutherford B. Hayes
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rutherford_B._Hayes>
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