The Hallaton Helmet faces its own modern replica. (Photo: Leicestershire County Council Museums)

Before the Romans arrived on what is now English soil in 43 CE, the United Kingdom was filled with local tribal kingdoms. The powerful empire successfully conquered the island despite resistance, bringing the new province of Britannia into the imperial fold. About 40,000 soldiers facilitated this conquest—a mix of foot soldiers and cavalry, high command, and lowly troops. This invasion changed the course of British history demographically, politically, and economically. It also left behind relics of a changing world. Among these is the Hallaton Treasure, discovered in Leicestershire, England. Most prominent in this Iron Age trove is a helmet and seven cheekpieces of iron and silver, ornately designed with Roman-style figures. Finally restored and painstakingly replicted, the helmet is now on display at the Harborough Museum.

The helmet was discovered buried in 2001 and initial identification of the metallic, rusted mass was slow. The painstaking ultra-delicate restoration was conducted at the British Museum to bring the helmet to its present state of about 80 percent restoration. The helmet is crafted from iron and dates to the first century CE. It is shaped with reliefs of laurels and lions, as well as a goddess on the forehead. On one of the cheekpieces discovered with the main helmet, a Roman emperor and a winged Victory glide victorious over the conquered.

“It is one of a handful of silver-plated helmets ever found in Europe,” Helen Sharp of the Leicestershire County Council museums tells the BBC. “It is extremely high-status; it would have been worn by an extremely high-status officer, and it just shows how well connected the Leicester area was at the time.”

The magnificent piece was not lost but likely buried purposefully in a ritual. The Hallaton Fieldwork group of volunteers and the University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) discovered over 5,000 coins nearby, buried in troves that seem to be offerings at a sacred site. The helmet was found with coins and pig remains. Iron Age Britons often used pork for special feasts.

While the helmet's reason for burial is unknown, its presence within an area that functioned as a shrine even prior to the turbulent time of Roman conquest is significant. “Archaeologists believe that the site is a type of open-air shrine that is the first of its kind to have been discovered in the UK. It was located on a hilltop and was probably enclosed by a ditch with a palisade to one side,” the Harborough Museum writes.

Visitors are now able to view the restored helmet at the museum, on display with cheekpieces and other aspects of the treasure. Two craftsmen have also replicated the helmet. Rajesh Gogna of De Montfort University used CAD 3D-design technology to create a resin model, which he then covered in silver. One copy is on display with the original at Harborough Museum, while another was given to Hallaton Museum. Archeologist Francesco Galluccio also made a replica with traditional metalworking techniques. Both replicas allow viewers a glimpse at the original glory of the helmet, in order to understand how remarkable find it is.

This ancient Romain helmet discovered in the United Kingdom is rich in detail and magnificent in craftsmanship.

The helmet was found with a series of contemporaneous cheekpieces. (Photo: Leicestershire County Council Museums)

Part of the remarkable Hallaton Treasure, the helmet has recently been restored, and replicas have been produced, bringing its true beauty to light.

3D technology helped create the replica resin helmet produced by Rajesh Gogna. (Photo: Leicestershire County Council Museums)

h/t: [Smithsonian Magazine]

Related Articles:

7,000-Year-Old Canoes Discovered Near Rome Are Oldest Ever Found in Mediterranean

New Well-Preserved Paintings Discovered at Pompeii Amid Ongoing Excavations

Water Worker Accidentally Discovers 2,500-Year-Old Gold Torc Necklaces in Spain

Incredibly Rare Ceramic Head Helps Uncover Previously Unknown Roman Settlement in Britain/a>

READ: Discover the Hallaton Helmet, a Newly Restored Piece of Ancient Roman Armor

“Macbeth and the Witches,” Macbeth, 1880. (Photo: Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive by Michael John Goodman)

It is commonly said that William Shakespeare‘s works cannot be fully appreciated until they are performed on stage, as the thirty-eight plays by “The Bard” were meant to be seen. Actors trained to convey the pain of Romeo upon finding Juliet in the tomb, the strange humor of the woodland characters who frolic on a Midsummer Night, and the cold cunning of Lady Macbeth. Dramatic monologues, such as Hamlet to the skull must be said in proper cadence.

While reading Shakespeare's works is still a thrilling experience for literary fiends, illustrations can help bring a little of the stage's magic to the page. Michael John Goodman—who describes himself as an “independent researcher, writer, educator, curator and image-maker”—has made this magic easy no matter what edition you have. His Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive collects over 3,000 illustrations from 19th-century British editions of Shakespeare’s Complete Works.

Peruse the website however you wish, whether by play or by historic edition. The latter include those edited by Charles Knight, Kenny Meadows, John Tallis, and others. Many illustrators and engravers are also represented. The works span the Victorian period, a segment of British history that roughly tracks the lifespan of one of Britain's longest-living monarchs.

Goodman has developed an innovative way to search the archive. He has created word clouds describing the subjects of the illustrations. Find “animals,” “crowns,” “death,” and your favorite characters. This immersive experience can show you how the Victorians imagine life in Elizabethan London or ancient Egypt, with varying accuracy and cultural awareness.

The artists responsible for these historic sketches conveyed emotion in each face using different artistic styles, some more Romantic, others like a children's book to modern eyes. Check out a collection of wood engravings, or browse, and you will notice that famous actors of the day were shown in their roles. They are depicted through a process known as photogravure plates. In this process, a negative is essentially transferred to a copper plate through a delicate operation that then allows for mass printing. The Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive is not just a window into Shakespeare but also a glimpse into how people have read, admired, and interpreted his work over the centuries.

Aggregated by Michael John Goodman, the Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive is an enchanting collection of illustrations from prominent British Victorian editions of Shakespeare’s Complete Works.

“Cleopatra, Charmian and the Death of Iras,” Antony and Cleopatra, Illustrated by H. C. Selous and engraved by Frederick Wentworth, 1860s. (Photo: Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive
by Michael John Goodman)

Check out Hamlet, Macbeth, Henry VIII, and more notable characters from The Bard's works.

“Mr. George Bennett as King Henry the Eighth,” from Henry VIII, From a Daguerreotype by Paine of Islington, 1850. (Photo: Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive
by Michael John Goodman)

“Titania and Bottom,” A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1880. (Photo: Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive
by Michael John Goodman)

“Garrick as Richard 3rd,” Richard III, illustrated by Hogarth and engraved by Porthbury, 1850. (Photo: Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive by Michael John Goodman)

“Hamlet Full Page Introductory Illustration,” Hamlet, Illustrated by H. C. Selous and engraved by Frederick Wentworth, 1860s. (Photo: Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive by Michael John Goodman)

“You Spotted Snakes (II),” A Midsummer Night's Dream, illustrated by John Gilbert, 1862. (Photo: Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive by Michael John Goodman)

“Falstaff choosing his Recruits,” Henry IV, illustrated by R. W. Buss, circa 1839. (Photo: Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive by Michael John Goodman)

Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive: Website
h/t: [Open Culture]

Related Articles:

Digital Atlas of Over 380,000 Galaxies Is Made Available Online

Nearly 88,000 Art Images From The Getty Are Now Free To Download and Use How You Like

Vast Archive of Rare Japanese Textbooks Now Online To Explore for Free

UK’s Most Significant Street Art Will Be Digitized Over the Next Three Years

READ: Explore Over 3,000 Victorian Illustrations of Shakespeare’s Works

The silver denarius discovered in Bremen, Germany. (Photo: Kulturresort/Bremen Culture Department)

Roman coins are usually found by archeologists throughout Europe; however, they are more rare in some locations. For example, in the city of Bremen, Germany, Roman coins are exceedingly rare. That is because the ancient empire, while massive, only reached into lower Germany rather than as far northwest as Bremen. As a result, until a recent discovery, only two remarkable Roman coins had been uncovered in the city. But the play and curiosity of an 8-year-old boy named Bjarne added one more exceptional find to this short list. While playing in a sandbox at his school, Bjarne discovered a second-century CE silver denarius dating to the reign of Marcus Aurelius.

Bjarne, who is now 9, found a silvery object in the sand and took it home. His parents sent an image of the find to archeologists, who upon closer physical inspection of the object determined it was a Roman coin dating back  more than 1,800 years. “We are glad that Bjarne was so careful,” declared archeologist Uta Halle in a statement from the government in Bremen. “[This is] very special, because there have only been two comparable coin finds from the Roman Empire in the city of Bremen.” The two other finds occurred in the 20th century. This particular coin dates to the second-century reign of Marcus Aurelius. As with other coins of this specific time period, the coin is quite light in silver due to “coin deterioration” as inflation soared. It likely ended up in Bremen, outside the empire, either by human trade or natural movement of rivers.

The coin, as an important historic find, belongs to the government. It may in future go on display at the Focke Museum. The local government in a statement applauded Bjarne for his “alertness and curiosity.” He was given archeology books to nurture a passion for future discovery. The young amateur archeologist generously wants to share his find with the world. He told Newsweek, “The coin goes to the Focke Museum. It can stay there—and I can look at it at any time. And others can too.”

A 8-year-old boy in Bremen, Germany, was playing in a sandbox when he discovered a Roman coin from over 1,800 years ago.

Related Articles:

Incredibly Rare Ceramic Head Helps Uncover Previously Unknown Roman Settlement in Britain

17th-Century Silver Thimble With Romantic Inscription Is Discovered in Wales

New Well-Preserved Paintings Discovered at Pompeii Amid Ongoing Excavations

Water Worker Accidentally Discovers 2,500-Year-Old Gold Torc Necklaces in Spain

READ: Child Playing in a Sandbox Discovers Ancient Roman Coin Buried Within

The Sapphire Tower plant blooms at the San Diego Botanic Garden in 2019. (Photo: Zareksiegel via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED)

Many beautiful things prove exceptionally worth waiting for. Among these, and particularly among the slow-moving wonders of nature, is the Sapphire Tower plant. This large plant is native to the footlands of Chilean mountain regions, growing in elevations of up to 2,200 meters (about 7,218 feet). It can also be found in greenhouses and botanical gardens around the world—including one specimen at The Birmingham Botanical Gardens in the UK. The Gardens, which have housed their Sapphire Tower plant for 20 years, recently announced an exciting and rare occasion: the blooming of the turquoise flowers.

The Sapphire Tower plant is scientifically known as Puya alpestris, a species among the bromeliad family of plant. It generally takes up to a decade for these plants to flower in nature. “It is very slow-growing, so to witness its spectacular blooms is both exciting and rare,” the Gardens’ senior glasshouse horticulturist Alberto Trinco explains in a statement. The flowers typically attract hummingbirds in the wild who serve as pollinators for the plant. However, the specimen in the Arid Glasshouse of the Gardens required an alternate solution for pollination. The Gardens set about pollinating the flowers by human hand using a small paintbrush.

This uniquely man-enabled process is in effect because the plant will soon die after its flowering period is complete. “Each flower only lasts a few days, giving us a limited window of time to give nature a helping hand,” Trinco explains. “In the absence of its natural pollinators, we will attempt some hand pollination instead.”

The gardening expert adds, “Hopefully, pollinating the flowers with the brush to obtain seeds will allow us to secure the presence of this amazing species in our collection for future generations to come and admire.”

For a very limited time, visitors will be able to catch a glimpse of the blooms at the Gardens, and it is advisable to check and see if blooms are still open before visiting. The next blossoming likely won’t occur until 2034. Like a solar eclipse, it’s a special and elusive sight to behold. If you get a chance to visit the Gardens, you can also check out their other magnificent plants and stop for tea at the tearoom to celebrate the Sapphire Tower plant.

The Sapphire Tower plant takes 10 years to flower, and this rare event is in progress at The Birmingham Botanical Gardens in the UK.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Birmingham Botanical Gardens UK (@bhambotanicalgardens)

h/t: [IFL Science]

Related Articles:

New Research Shows Artificially Restored Coral Reefs Can Grow as Fast as Healthy Reefs

Mount Etna Blows Mesmerizing Volcanic Smoke Rings Into the Sky

Inspiring Free Solo Climber’s Charity Provides Solar Power to Communities in Need

Abandoned Golf Courses Are Being Reclaimed by Nature Thanks to Conservation Groups

READ: Rare Sapphire Tower Plant Blooms for First and Last Time After 20 Years

Photo: A. Rozwadowski; drawing: Polish-Peruvian research team (CC BY 4.0 DEED)

Rock art always presents fascinating—sometimes mysterious—insight into the lives of ancient humans. What did they value enough to carve into stone? What do the patterns and designs mean? Some things, such as paintings or etchings of game and hunters, tell a clearer story. Others may raise questions with more ephemeral implications. Feelings, magic, and music might all lurk behind the engravings of prehistoric hands. In the Peruvian desert, a large collection of pre-Columbian rock art engravings at Toro Muerto depicts repetitive, dancing human figures. Surrounding them are countless zig-zags and squiggles. A new paper suggests these are petroglyphic representations of music played at psychedelic religious ceremonies.

The desert region of Toro Muerto contains thousands of petroglyphs carved into the rock by ancient artists. Dancers, danzantes, appear often. Surrounding them are lightning-like lines as well as dots and hash marks. Researchers have long wondered what these might be: lightning, water, or something else. The new paper suggests that the lines might, in fact, represent music and sound pulsing through the air. The researchers compared this to the art of the Tukano culture in the Colombian rainforest. In that culture's artwork, geometric designs are thought to represent the psychedelic state felt during the sacred use of ayahuasca.

Songs in this culture were a way to transport oneself to the beginning of time. Geometric patterns were a way of visually conveying spiritual energy. “Bearing in mind the universality of this motif in the iconography of pre-Columbian America,” the authors write, “we cannot exclude the fact that in this case, too, the construction of this motif may have been a matter of convention, and the representation of an idea known more broadly and earlier.”

In short, the zig-zags of the Peruvian rocks may be music used in religious psychedelic ceremonies. While there is no way to know for sure, this postulation offers an intriguing window into the religious and artistic culture of ancient South America.

The desert region of Toro Muerto in Peru contains thousands of petroglyphs carved into the rock by ancient artists.

Photo: A. Rozwadowski (CC BY 4.0 DEED)

Photo: J.Z. Wołoszyn (CC BY 4.0 DEED)

Photo: Polish-Peruvian research team, compiled by J.Z. Wołoszyn (CC BY 4.0 DEED)

These pre-Columbian rock art drawings depict what is thought to be music and dancing at psychedelic religious ceremonies.

Photo: A. Rozwadowski; tracing: Polish–Peruvian research team, CC BY 4.0 DEED

Photo: Desana artist Luiz Lana. Redrawn by A. Rozwadowski after Umusĩ Pãrõkumu & Tõrãmũ Kẽhíri 1995, fig. 33 / A, Rozwadowski et al., CC BY 4.0 DEED

h/t: [IFL Science]

Related Articles:

2,700-Year-Old Petroglyphs Are Discovered Under Moss in Sweden

3D Technology Reveals North America’s Largest Repository of Ancient Cave Art

Ancestral Pueblo Carvings Discovered in the Southwest May Have Been a Calendar

Ancient Life-Size Carvings of Wild Camels Are Discovered in the Deserts of Saudi Arabia

READ: Ancient Rock Art Depicts Psychedelic Music and Dance in Peru

The march of world history, “Adams' Synchronological Chart of Universal History” by Sebastian C. Adams and published by Colby & Co. Publishers, NY, 1881. (Photo: David Rumsey Map Collection)

World history is ultimately one long story, a timeline of events rising and swelling, marching along in each country and community around the globe. But exactly how this story is told can vary based on one's contemporary perspective. For Sebastian C. Adams, this perspective was that of a white, 19th-century Christian man who wore many hats over his lifetime. A minister, writer, schoolteacher, clerk, and politician over the years, he created a 22-foot-long timeline full of the twisted, colorful histories that the author viewed as part of his Chronological Chart of Ancient, Modern and Biblical History.

These histories, illustrated by John Alsop Paine, start at the Biblical beginning with Adam and Eve. Their descendants spin out in spindly strands from their parents, traveling down the timeline with their remarkable ages noted. Stone age tools appear, as do the busts of ancient philosophers. The Stone Age becomes the Iron Age, and Assyrian lamassu rise from the sands.

The full 22-foot timeline. (Photo: David Rumsey Map Collection)

The ancient world evolves and develops into civilization before our very eyes, as we then follow the trajectories of Greece, Egypt, and Babylon. The Roman Empire is enshrined in purple, before the rainbow hues of many European countries form stringy veins stretching many more feet into modernity. Terminating in 1883, the timeline finishes with portraits of the American presidents and European sovereigns, as well as a list of “eminent men not elsewhere mentioned on the chart.”

The scroll, being designed by an educator and minister, is both an innovative teaching tool and a reflection of its time. It is heavily Eurocentric, with these countries taking up a majority of the map and a Christian cosmology defining its beginning. The lands of the Near East feature heavily in this Biblical beginning, and they are capably illustrated by Paine, who taught in Istanbul and pursued archeological digs in the region.

The map was printed several times, and various copies are extant, including a copy at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. That copy is presented on a scroll so that the unwieldy timeline can be easily perused. Other booklet formats were also used, and the timeline was popular in schools. While not used today, it is a fascinating insight into one historical perspective on the eras that came before.

Luckily, Adams' timeline can still be examined closely thanks to a zoomable version available online at the David Rumsey Map Collection.

This 22-foot scroll visually depicts world history as described by educator and minister Sebastian C. Adams in 1881.

Further moments of note. (Photo: David Rumsey Map Collection)

It moves from the Biblical creation story…

Adam and Eve at the beginning. (Photo: David Rumsey Map Collection)

…through the development of ancient civilizations.

Assyrian lamassu. (Photo: David Rumsey Map Collection)

And it even shows technological developments.

Ancient implements. (Photo: David Rumsey Map Collection)

World inventions and events. (Photo: David Rumsey Map Collection)

The visual timeline, which is largely Eurocentric, traces the individual development of countries up through the 19th century.

Countries depicted separately. (Photo: David Rumsey Map Collection)

h/t: [Open Culture, National Museum of American History]

Related Articles:

This 19th-Century Atlas Has Raised Maps for Blind Readers

Explore Five Volumes of the History of Cartography for Free Online

19th-Century ‘Ribbon Maps’ Let You Put the Entire Mississippi River in Your Pocket

Explore the World Through Medieval Eyes on a Map Called the ‘Hereford Mappa Mundi’

READ: 22-Foot-Long Scroll From 19th Century Features Timeline of Perceived World History Up to That Point

Volcanos are fascinating geological structures. They essentially serve as vents, allowing the warmer inner materials of the Earth to emerge in flowing lava. Mount Etna, located in Sicily, is even more interesting than your average volcano though. Known as a stratovolcano for its steep cone-shape, Mount Etna's eruptions have been watched and recorded by humans since 1500 BCE. The mountain is particularly known for producing smokey vortex rings, which look almost mythical—and the mountain has been belching these at a swift rate recently.

Mount Etna is generally extremely active. The name Etna actually may originate in the Latin and Greek words meaning “to burn,” or potentially Phoenician for “furnace.” Vortex rings are Mount Etna's specialty. They are created when vents open up, allowing hot gasses, vapors, and smoke to emerge from the hotter volcanic material below. Differences in speed as the gaseous material is ejected creates a vortex, a high speed swirl. The gaseous ring then floats off, eventually fading.

In April 2024, Mount Etna has produced more rings than any volcano on record, according to The New York Times. Despite this unprecedented pace, it doesn’t necessarily mean that a big explosion is on the way. For now, the hyperactivity is a mesmerizing piece of nature. Even if you’re not in Sicily right now, you can watch the video above. The Straits Times has captured footage of the hypnotizing smoke rings floating through the sky.

The active volcano is currently a protected park. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site that has a unique ecosystem on its slopes, where plants and animals live. One can explore Mount Etna via hiking trails and scenic viewpoints, and perhaps will even catch sight of a vortex ring. You can also follow the explosions and flows through a webpage maintained by The Smithsonian.

Mount Etna, a volcano in Sicily, has been blowing out smoke rings at an unprecedented rate this month.

A Mount Etna smoke ring in August 2023. (Photo: PSomol via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED)

h/t: [Colossal]

Related Articles:

Cloud Rings Around a Volcano Takes Top Prize in ‘Weather Photographer of the Year’ Contest

Videographer Shares Nerve-Wracking Footage of His Drone Crashing Into an Icelandic Volcano

Surreal Photos Reveal the Destructive Aftermath of the Cumbre Vieja Volcano Eruption

Giant Volcano the Size of Mount Everest Is Discovered on Mars

READ: Mount Etna Blows Mesmerizing Volcanic Smoke Rings Into the Sky

Map by Johannes Vingboons, circa 1650. (Photo: Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)

California is known for many things. San Francisco cablecars, Hollywood celebrities, and the rolling vineyards of Napa Valley are among its iconic symbols. The state figures large in American culture at home and abroad, but it was once somewhat of a mystery to European explorers. In fact, throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, a strange piece of misinformation appeared on maps throughout Europe. Cartographers showed California as an island.

This misconception came about in the earliest days of European exploration along the west coast of the continent. Much about the coastline was unknown to these newcomers; however, the idea of California as an island is typically attributed to Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo, a novelist who wrote Las Sergas de Esplandián or The Adventures of Esplandián. The book, published in 1510, featured an island named “California” inhabited by Black women and ruled by a queen. While a work of fiction, many believe it inspired the Spanish explorers in the region to name the “island” they discovered, which is now the Baja California Peninsula.

On early 16th-century maps, California was, therefore, drawn as an island. Depicted with colorful designs, the Gulf of California became a channel. Rather than terminating shortly beneath the modern border of what is now the United States and Mexico, it entirely cleaved off the “island” of California.

While some cartographers did get it right geographically, this was not the norm. Many European cartographers produced their maps by copying others, so California frequently appeared as an island throughout the following two centuries. Eventually, 18th-century explorers and cartographers finally corrected this European misinterpretation on a wider scale.

Father Eusebio Kino voyaged in California between 1698 and 1701 before drawing his own map, A Passage by Land to California. In it, he illustrated the peninsula separated from the mainland by what he called “the sea of California,” which terminated in the Colorado River.

While California's time as an island existed only in the minds of Europeans, rather like a cartographic rumor, it makes for some fascinating moments in map history.

Europeans who came to the Americas and mapped it in the 16th and 17th centuries depicted California as an island on their maps.

“Amerique Septentrionale,” map by Nicolas Sanson, 1650. (Photo: UTA Libraries Cartographic Connections via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)

The misconception seems to date back to a 16th-century novel by Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo, which described what is now the state as an island.

Detail of a 17th-century world map by Pieter van der Aa. (Photo: Stanford Libraries, PDM 1.0 DEED)

Detail of a 17th-century map by Pierre Duval (Photo: Stanford Libraries, PDM 1.0 DEED)

h/t: [Moss and Fog, Stanford Libraries]

Related Articles:

Explore Five Volumes of the History of Cartography for Free Online

Download Over 91,000 Maps from the World’s Largest Private Collection

Fascinating Map From 1942 Features Oceans as the Main Focus of the World

Who Is Abraham Ortelius? Learn More About the Inventor of the World’s First Atlas

READ: Old Maps Used to Show California as an Island Separate From the Rest of the U.S.

Notre Dame burns in 2019. (Photo: Wandrille de Préville via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED)

When Notre-Dame caught fire in 2019, millions of eyes watched, riveted in France and around the world. The devastating fire destroyed much of the roof and spires, and also severely damaging the priceless works of art within the church. The time since has revealed how medieval and modern can work together to rebuild. Building on traditional techniques used to create the cathedral, modern architects and conservators have fought to recreate and preserve. Thankfully, many of Notre-Dame's treasures were eventually saved from the building, either during the fire or afterwards. Among these were famous paintings belonging to what is known as the Mays, a series if religious paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries. These 13 works have now been conserved and will be displayed at the Mobilier National through July 2024.

These paintings are 13 held in Notre-Dame collections, but they are part of a larger series created between 1630 and 1707 and now held in multiple collections. They feature Christian scenes. The term “Mays” comes from the May deadline of the yearly contest hosted by the Confrérie des Orfèvres to honor the Virgin Mary. The politico-religious background is more complex. The paintings highlighted the Catholic victory in France's prior religious wars. While once all belonging to Notre-Dame, many paintings moved elsewhere during the French Revolution. Those remaining were removed in the 19th century during redecoration, and replaced in the cathedral in the early 20th century.

Emmanuel Pénicaut, director of Mobilier National who restored the paintings, told The Guardian, “We were lucky to get them out quite quickly with just a little water damage and dust. It was rather miraculous. We began removing them the day after the fire and decided they would all be restored. The exhibition is a chance to see them all in one place, in the order they were painted, which is how they would have been originally displayed. What you see now is how they would have looked the day they were completed.”

The works will be displayed in an exhibit entitled Notre-Dame's Restored Masterpieces, a unique opportunity to see them restored and exhibited outside the cathedral. They will return to their true home in advance of the planned December grand reopening of Notre-Dame to the public.

The Notre-Dame fire in 2019 ravaged the cathedral, destroying parts of its architecture and the art it housed.

Inside the magnificent cathedral before the fire. (Photo: Peter K Burian via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED)

Luckily, some paintings were saved and restored, and now they are back on display in an exhibit titled Notre-Dame's Restored Masterpieces.

Jacques Blanchard, “The Descent of the Holy Spirit,” 1634. Currently in the collection of Notre-Dame. This image prior to restoration. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

Charles Poerson, “The Preaching of St. Peter in Jerusalem,” 1642. Currently in the Notre-Dame collections. This image prior to restoration. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

h/t: [The Guardian]

Related Articles:

Conservator Restores 16th-Century Portrait of Isabella de’ Medici, the “Paris Hilton” of the Italian Renaissance

X-Ray Scans Reveal Hidden Portrait of the Young Charles II Behind the Older King

Lost Tudor Wall Paintings Found in Cambridge University Building

Painting Valued at $15K Turns Out to Be a Rembrandt, Sells for $13.8M at Auction

READ: Historic Paintings Miraculously Saved From Notre-Dame Fire Are Now Back on Display

Photo: OLEGTROINO/Depositphotos

Life expectancy has increased over time, due in large part to modern medicine and access to healthcare. People in the developed world have a much better chance of making it to their elderly years compared to our ancestors 100 years ago or more. A new study, by researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) and published in The Lancet, has announced an increase of global life expectancy by 6.2 years since 1990, despite the massive loss of life during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Life expectancy is still skewed by race and class. It also varies heavily by area of the world. Some regions are under resourced and may be more prone to certain diseases based on climate. That being said, there's an overall positive result reported by the study. Sub-saharan African life expectancy jumped 10.7 years. There was an 8.3 year increase in Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania. South Asia saw 7.8 years added, largely due to reduced mortality from diarrheal diseases. Of course, no assessment of mortality is complete without detailed consideration of the massive loss of life cause by the COVID-19 pandemic. The study authors found the pandemic most negatively affected Latin America, the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa in terms of life expectancy.

According to a statement from the IHME, “[t]he leading causes of age-standardized deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardized cause of death.” Some diseases like diarrhea and malaria are very geographically concentrated. This knowledge of global life expectancies can inform policy. The researchers suggest, “Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies.”

Global life expectancy is up by 6.2 years since 1990, even in the face of the massive loss of ilife caused by COVID-19.

Photo: WLAD_MUS/Depositphotos

h/t: [Good News Network]

Related Articles:

108-Year-Old Woman Credits Having “Dogs, Not Kids” as Her Secret to a Long Life

Here’s Why Medieval Medicine Was Not as Bad as We Think

Study Finds That Dementia Rates Are Declining

Study Finds That Dancing Helps With Weight Loss and Also Improves Physical and Mental Health

READ: Global Life Expectancy Is 6.2 Years Longer Than Before