The Waddesdon Bequest is a collection, left to the British Museum in Baron Ferdinand Rothschild's will in 1898, taken from his New Smoking Room at Waddesdon Manor. It includes almost 300 pieces of jewellery, plate, enamel, carvings, glass and maiolica. Earlier than most objects is the Holy Thorn Reliquary, probably created in the 1390s in Paris for John, Duke of Berry. The wide-ranging collection is in the tradition of a treasure house, such as those owned by the Renaissance princes of Europe. Most of the objects are from late Renaissance Europe; there are several important medieval pieces, and outliers from classical antiquity and medieval Syria. Rothschild selected intricate, superbly executed, highly decorated and rather ostentatious works of the Late Gothic, Renaissance and Mannerist periods for this collection. Few of the objects relied on the Baroque sculptural movement for their effect, though several come from periods and places where many Baroque pieces were being made. A new display for the collection, which under the terms of the bequest must be kept and displayed together, opened in 2015.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waddesdon_Bequest
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1506:
Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania achieved one of the greatest Lithuanian victories against the Tatars in the Battle of Kletsk. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kletsk
1777:
American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Oriskany, one of the bloodiest battles in the North American theater of the war, was fought about six miles (10 km) east of Fort Stanwix, New York. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Oriskany
1806:
The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved by its last emperor, Francis II, during the aftermath of the War of the Third Coalition. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor
1956:
DuMont, one of the world's first television networks, aired its last program. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuMont_Television_Network
1996:
NASA announced that the meteorite known as ALH 84001, discovered in the Allan Hills of Antarctica, may contain evidence of life on Mars, but further tests were inconclusive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Hills_84001
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
nudiustertian: (rare, obsolete, modern uses probably humorous) Of or relating to the day before yesterday; very recent. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nudiustertian
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Rain, rain, and sun! a rainbow in the sky! A young man will be wiser by and by; An old man's wit may wander ere he die. Rain, rain, and sun! a rainbow on the lea! And truth is this to me, and that to thee; And truth or clothed or naked let it be. Rain, sun, and rain! and the free blossom blows: Sun, rain, and sun! and where is he who knows? From the great deep to the great deep he goes. Â --Idylls of the King https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Idylls_of_the_King
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