Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele is a large oil-on-oak panel painting completed around 1434–1436 by the Early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck. It shows the painting's donor, Joris van der Paele, within an apparition of saints. Van der Paele was then elderly and gravely ill, and intended the work as his memorial. The Virgin Mary is enthroned at the centre of the semicircular space, which likely represents a church interior, with the Christ Child on her lap. Saint Donatian stands to her right, Saint George to her left. The saints are identifiable from Latin inscriptions lining the borders of the imitation bronze frame. The Virgin's throne is decorated with carved representations of Adam and Eve, prefigurations of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus, and scenes from the Old Testament. The panel is considered one of van Eyck's most fully realised and ambitious works, and has been described as a "masterpiece of masterpieces".

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1643:

First English Civil War: The First Battle of Newbury was fought in Berkshire; Parliamentarian forces were allowed to pass Royalist troops to retreat the next morning. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Newbury

1920:

Irish War of Independence: British police officers known as Black and Tans went on a rampage in Balbriggan as revenge for the shooting of two officers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack_of_Balbriggan

1977:

A series of celestial phenomena of disputed nature was observed in the western Soviet Union, Finland and Denmark. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrozavodsk_phenomenon

2000:

The Real Irish Republican Army carried out a rocket-launcher attack on the MI6 headquarters in London, with no casualties and minimal damage recorded. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_MI6_attack

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

missing in action: 1. (chiefly military) The designation for a member of an organization (usually military) with whom contact is lost and whose whereabouts are not known, but whose death is not confirmed. 2. (by extension) Not present when one is expected to be. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/missing_in_action

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.   --Ruth Bader Ginsburg https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ruth_Bader_Ginsburg