The Crucifixion and Last Judgement diptych consists of two small painted panels attributed to the Early Netherlandish artist Jan van Eyck, completed c. 1430–40. The left hand Crucifixion wing (part pictured) shows Christ's followers grieving in the foreground, soldiers and spectators in the mid-ground and a brutally physical portrayal of three crucified bodies in the upper-ground, all framed against an azure sky with a view of Jerusalem in the distance. The right hand Last Judgment wing contains imagery associated with the resurrection of the dead: a hellscape at its base, the lost awaiting judgement in the centre-ground, and a representation of Christ in Majesty flanked by a Great Deësis of saints, apostles, clergy, virgins and nobility in the upper section. The diptych is one of the early master-pieces of the Northern Renaissance, renowned for its unusually complex and detailed iconography. Portions of the work contain Greek, Latin and Hebrew inscriptions while the original gilt frames contain excerpts from biblical passages inscribed in Latin and drawn from the books of Isaiah, Deutoronomy and Revelation. The panels were acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1933 while attributed to Jan's brother Hubert.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion_and_Last_Judgement_diptych

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1638:

Swedish settlers founded New Sweden near Delaware Bay, the first Swedish colony in America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Sweden

1871:

The Royal Albert Hall in Albertopolis, London, was officially opened by Queen Victoria. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Albert_Hall

1945:

World War II: The German 4th Army was almost completely destroyed by the Soviet Red Army at the Heiligenbeil Pocket in East Prussia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heiligenbeil_Pocket

1973:

Vietnam War: The United States ended Operation Barrel Roll, a covert bombing campaign in Laos to help stem an increasing tide of People's Army of Vietnam and Pathet Lao offensives. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Barrel_Roll

2010:

Islamist Chechen separatists set off two bombs on the Moscow Metro, killing at least 40 and injuring over 100 others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Moscow_Metro_bombings

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

otorhinolaryngology: (medicine) The study of diseases of the ear, nose and throat. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/otorhinolaryngology

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The power of the imagination is a unifying power, hence the force of metaphor; and the poet is the supreme manipulator of metaphor... the world needs the unifying power of the imagination. The two things that give it best are poetry and religion.
   --R. S. Thomas https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/R._S._Thomas