|
|
Post by Woland on Jul 12, 2020 7:11:36 GMT -5
Boris Pasternak (1890-1960) was a Russian poet, novelist and translator born into a wealthy Jewish family in Moscow. His father was the painter Leonid Pasternak, his mother was a concert pianist and daughter of a wealthy industrialist. The Pasternaks were on friendly terms with several intellectuals including Sergei Rachmaninov, Alexander Scriabin, Rainer Maria Rilke and Lev Tolstoy. Boris initially studied music at the Moscow Conservatory before switching to philosophy in Germany. Boris decided against pursuing a doctorate and returned to Russia on the eve of the First World War. Boris had fallen in love with the daughter of a family of tea merchants, his marriage proposal was rebuffed after her parents (owners of the largest tea company in the world) considered him to be of "poor prospects". Like all introverted romantics, Boris painted his torment in poetry:
Back in Russia Pasternak joined a Russian Futurist group as a pianist initially, his poetry hobby eventually grew as he began publishing his first few poetry books, during the War he worked at a chemical factory in Perm near the Ural Mountains, he stayed in Russia while several others fled the Revolution and subsequent Civil War. Reduced to self-publishing during the civil war, his groundbreaking poetry book "My sister, life" came out in 1922, it changed Russian poetry for his contemporaries and the next generation of Russian poets. Still, he felt he needed to simplify his poetry for the masses, to the chagrin of his core base of anti-communist emigrés now living overseas. Boris was no fan of the Communist party, when his good friend Mandelstam was arrested in 1934 over his satirical poem Boris pleaded for clemency, secretly fearing he would be next. Sure enough Pasternak received a phonecall late at night from Stalin, the completely unprepared Boris spoke in his fumbling manner to evade getting purged. Three years later Pasternak would run into more problems when he refused to sign a statement supporting the death penalty for Red Army commanders in the notorious Show Trials. Pasternak was threatened by the writer's union, he appealed directly to Stalin himself declaring that he could not stand as self-appointed judge of life and death. Pasternak feared arrest; in fact Stalin crossed Boris' name off an execution list, writing "do not touch this cloud dweller" against his name.
During the second World War Boris served as a fire warden in Moscow, disposing of German bombs falling on the writer's building, he also visited soldiers at the front, reading his poetry and talking to the troops. Once the Red Army had triumphed Pasternak became disillusioned by Stalin's reprisals after the war.
In 1946 Boris would meet the inspiration of Lara in his famous novel, Olga Ivinskaya who bore a resemblance to the Jewish woman who turned him down before the first world war. Boris would never divorce his 2nd wife Zinaida but his affair with Olga would last until the rest of his life. When Boris' son fell seriously ill his wife Zinaida made him swear to end the affair, Zinaida would confront Olga about the affair but Boris couldn't give her up. In 1949 Olga was arrested by the KGB, she was interrogated by the secret police demanding she incriminate Boris; pregnant with his child she refused to denounce him. She miscarriaged early in her 10 year sentence in a gulag. At the time of her arrest Boris considered the possibility of never seeing her again a fate worse than death, later he remarked he owed his life to her endurance and heroism in not denouncing him. After Stalin's death Olga was released and Boris restarted their affair. Boris would also continue work on his most famous novel.
In 1956 "Doctor Zhivago" was refused publication by the Soviet censors, luckily (or unluckily) an Italian Communist party journalist backed by the wealthy publisher Giangiacomo Feltrinelli became interested in publishing Pasternak's novel. Boris knew he was taking an enormous risk in dealing with Western publishers; Evgeny Zamyatin was forced into exile for doing the same thing. Despite pressure from Soviet authorities the novel was published in 1957 with a little help from the CIA secretly buying hundreds of copies. In the Non-Communist world the book was a sensation; it spent 6 months top of the NY Times best seller list. A hastily-written English translation appeared a year later; it would be the sole translation for the next 50 years. Pasternak would receive hatemail from Communists domestic and overseas over the novel.
In 1958 it was announced Boris Pasternak would receive the Nobel Prize in literature for his career. Since the end of WW2 he was discussed as a potential recipient, Pasternak marked it down to his criticism of the Soviet Union, while declassified CIA documents reveals the intelligence agency played a small role in the decision; they couldn't pass up a chance to damage the USSR's international reputation. Boris desperately didn't want to receive the prize, he hoped Italian writer Alberto Moravia would win instead, he didn't want to put his loved ones in danger again. A smear campaign followed against Pasternak: his novel and his name were denounced by the Literary Institute, demonstrations took place demanding Pasternak be sent into exile, the Soviet Authorities informed him if he travelled to Sweden he would be refused re-entry into the Soviet Union. Under intense pressure Boris Pasternak declined the award, Boris' son Yevgeny would say afterwards it seriously damaged his father's health from the blow, making him borderline suicidal.
Despite the decline Pasternak's name was smeared in the press, Krushchev threatened him with formal exile to the West. Alexander Solzhenitsyn criticised Pasternak for declining the award and writing to Krushchev imploring the Soviet Premier not to exile him. The Union of Writers also denounced Pasternak as an internal White emigré and a Fascist fifth-columnist, he was expelled from the Union which wrote a letter to the Politburo demanding Pasternak be stripped of his Soviet Citizenship. Boris wasn't exiled or imprisoned, whether due to international pressure or the Soviet's fear of making him a pariah is unclear. In 1959 Boris was working on more translations, plays and poems until he contracted terminal lung cancer. In 1960 he passed away in his dacha.
After his death Olga was arrested once again, serving 4 more years in prison until she was released, her memoirs would be smuggled into Paris and published in the 70s. Under Gorbachev "Doctor Zhivago" was finally published in 1988, his son Yevgeny travelled to Sweden to collect his father's Nobel Prize.
|
|
|
|
Post by Woland on Jul 25, 2020 20:07:47 GMT -5
Vladimir Monomakh (1053-1125) ruled as Grand Prince of Kiev from 1113 until his death. He was the son of Vsevolod I (5th son of Yaroslav the Wise), his mother was related to the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX Monomachus. During his lifetime Vladimir would hold power in the smaller principalities of Chernigov, Pereyaslav, Rostov and Suzdal; he would also found the future capital of Kievan Rus "Vladimir".
Despite the wishes of his grandfather the lands of Kievan Rus would become embroiled in family infighting between brothers, uncles and nephews, Vladimir himself feuded with his cousin Oleg that would be passed down to their sons; after Vladimir defeated his cousin in battle he offered generous terms to his foe, a part of his strong belief in forgiveness and desire to keep the Rus lands united. In 1097 he initiated the Congress of Liubech, altering the system of inheritance to lessen confusion and bloodshed (despite the law being personally detrimental to himself). Even with his forgiving nature he was no shrinking violet when the time came for war: in his own "Testament" he claims to have conducted 83 military campaigns and made peace with the Polovtsi tribe 19 times.
Vladimir was fluent in Greek and wrote his own testament to pass onto his children. He was a deeply religious man who donated heavily to Churches and showed generosity to the poor; once he claimed the Kiev throne he instituted several notable reforms. He died just short of his 72nd birthday; later generations would consider his rule the golden age of Kiev, a wise and sometimes selfless ruler who instigated peace and unity in lands riven with conflict and internal strife. He was married to Gytha of Wessex (Harold Godwinson's daughter), his daughters would marry into the Royal families of Hungary and the Byzantine Empire. Venerated by the Orthodox Church, when Ivan the Terrible crowned himself Tsar of all the Rus wanting to draw a link between Moscow and Constantinople, he wore a crown known as "Monomakh's Cap". The following quotes from the man himself perfectly illustrates his reign and personality.
|
|
|
|
Post by Woland on Aug 3, 2020 8:14:16 GMT -5
Fyodor Shalyapin (1873-1938) was a Russian opera singer with a booming bass, a contemporary of legendary tenor Enrico Caruso. Fyodor was born into a peasant family in Kazan, he began his singing career in Tblisi and St. Petersburg, at the Private Opera House in Moscow he met future composer and pianist Sergei Rachmaninov, they would become friends for life. Shalyapin had already received praise for his performances as Mephistopheles in "Faust", early in his career he performed what would be considered his signature character: Boris Godunov, later performing at the Bolshoi Theatre regularly up until the outbreak of World War 1. In Western Europe his debut in Milan was a great success; the conductor Arturo Toscanini would later call Shalyapin the greatest operatic talent he ever worked with. In New York his 1907 debut was a disappointment, his return in 1921 was far better received, in London and Paris he worked with Sergei Diaghilev. The aftermath of the Russian Revolution forced him to Helsinki then Paris where he remained for the rest of his life alongside fellow Russian émigres. He would play Ivan the Terrible, Don Quixote, Salieri, King Philip and Mephistopheles alongside his signature role as Boris Godunov in Paris and London until his death from Lukaemia aged 65. He would also play Don Quixote in the 1933 movie by George W. Pabst. He had 6 children with his first wife and 3 children with his second wife.
 |
|
|
|
Post by Woland on Aug 22, 2020 14:09:59 GMT -5
Yasujiro Ozu (1903-1963) was a Japanese film director, known for his minimalist family dramas during the post-war economic boom. His individual style involved little camera movement, "pillow shots" to transition between scenes along with filming conversations face-to-face as opposed to over-the-shoulder.
Born in Fukugawa District, Tokyo to a fertiliser salesman, he would skip school lessons to watch movies at the local cinema; the 1916 silent movie Civilisation convinced him to become a film director. Four years later he was kicked out of his dormitory accused of writing a love letter to a boy, the fact he never married added to rumours of his homosexuality. Upon graduation from high school he failed entrance exams for economics at Kobe University and teacher training college. He worked as a substitute teacher for a year before bagging a job with Shochiku Film Company as an assistant in the cinematography department in 1923, one month later his family home was destroyed in the 1923 Earthquake, none of his family members were hurt.
After one year military service he resumed working for Shochiku, becoming third assistant director in 1926, one colleague punch-up later earned him a shot at directing a movie based on his own screenplay: Sword of Penitence (now lost), co-written by his future writing partner-in-crime Kogo Noda. He would continue directing short comedy films without big stars, achieving his first critical success with "I was born, but..." a silent comedy from 1932, "Kinema Junpo" magazine voted it film of the year, the first of 6 wins for Ozu.
Despite critical success Ozu wasn't earning enough at the box office, in 1937 Ozu was conscripted into the Japanese Army for 2 years. He spent 9 months in Nanjing (post-massacre) where he met fellow director Sadao Yamanaka (he died of illness during Ozu's time), Yasujiro also fought in two battles near Hankou (modern-day Wuhan). Upon his return to Japan he directed two more films, another film "Flavour of Green Tea over Rice" was shelved due to excessive censorship from the military. In 1943 he was sent to Singapore to make a propaganda film with Indian nationalist Chandra Bose. He mostly spent his time playing tennis and watching American movies (he was impressed by Citizen Kane), upon the end of the war Ozu destroyed all footage of the film. He was detained as a civilian and made to work on a rubber plantation.
In February 1946 he returned to Japan and lived with his mother. Starting from 1947 with "Record of a Tenement Gentleman", Yasujiro Ozu began honing his unique directorial style focusing on family relationships in a modernising Japan. His screenwriting sessions with Kogo Noda became legendary: the number of empty sake bottles indicated how much script they'd written, all his post-war films featured legendary Japanese actor Chishu Ryu (his acting career ran from the late 20s until the early 90s). In 1949 he directed the first of the "Noriko" trilogy with actress Setsuko Hara, "Late Spring" details a 27 year old woman wanting to care for her widowed father, the rest of her family insists she get married. The next part "Early Summer" sees an independent woman at odds with her traditional family, the final part of the trilogy "Tokyo Story" is his greatest film and often ranked among the top 10 films ever made. The simple story of an elderly couple visiting their adult children in Tokyo showcases the generational divide in a quietly devastating manner.
Afterwards Ozu would refine and rework the same themes in his films; family ties, the work-life balance, the traditional fighting against the modern, marriage and the parent-child relationship. His first colour film "Equinox Flower" came out in 1958, the following year would see "Floating Weeds" and "Good Morning", colour remakes of his 30s silent films. His final film "An Autumn Afternoon" came out in 1962, one year after his mother's death. In 1963 on his 60th birthday Yasujiro Ozu died from throat cancer, his grave bears the character "mu" (nothingness).
Despite great critical success in his native Japan his movies were rarely shown overseas during his lifetime; Japanese producers felt his films were "too Japanese" and wouldn't translate to foreign audiences.After his death his films were shown in International Film Festivals where his idiosyncratic directing style devoid of melodrama impressed a whole new generation of film viewers. Today he is considered one of the 3 greatest directors in Japan's "Golden Age of Cinema" in the 1950s, alongside Akira Kurosawa and Kenji Mizoguchi.
|
|
|
|
Post by Woland on Sept 2, 2020 10:15:21 GMT -5
Franco Corelli (1921-2003) was one of the most charismatic opera stars of the 20th century, dubbed "The Prince of Tenors" thanks to his performances at the Metropolitan Opera in New York during the 60s and 70s. While critics were divided over his singing style, audiences adored him, seeing him as a throwback to previous opera greats and an old-school tenor just before the decline of Opera in the 1970s. Born in Ancona, Italy on the Adriatic coast, he wanted to follow his father's footsteps as a shipbuilder for the Italian Navy, studying naval engineering at Bologna; instead he wound up emulating his paternal grandfather who became an operatic tenor. During his time in Bologna he entered a singing competition on a dare, even though he didn't win the judges convinced him to pursue a singing career, Franco subsequently enrolled at the Pesaro Conservatory of Music. His time in Pesaro was unhappy, he claimed his teachers damaged his upper register and vowed to teach himself; he studied other operatic greats like Mario Del Monaco and Enrico Caruso, imitating and adopting their styles to create his own powerful, dramatic voice.
In 1951 he won an Opera competition in Florence and made his opera debut the same year. During the early and mid 50s he built his reputation performing around his native Italy, in 1953 he performed for the first time alongside a certain Maria Callas who arranged for his debut at La Scala in Milan a year later, a sign of the demanding diva's respect for his talent. They would perform together several more times during their careers. In the late 50s he performed in major opera houses in Lisbon, Vienna and London; his 1957 performance in "Tosca" saw him hold a high note for 12 whole seconds, sending the audience into raptures and critics into despair for "showing off". That same year he met soprano singer Loretta di Lelio backstage in Rome, they later married and she gave up her singing career to become his full-time business manager, their marriage endured until his death.
Corelli performing "Nessun Dorma" for Italian TV, 1958
In the late 50s his performances in Chicago and San Francisco earned him a debut at New York's Metropolitan in 1961, a stage he lit up for the next 14 years. During this time he performed in Callas' comeback performance of "Tosca", he performed in Paris opposite Callas and Berlin, made several performances in Philadelphia and returned to his native Italy to perform. In the 1970s after several years of demanding roles Franco felt his voice became worn down, subsequently he suffered from stage fright which made it more difficult for him to perform. In 1975 he toured the USA and Japan with the New York Met and made his final Opera performance in Lucca, Italy in 1976 before he retired at 55 years old.
Corelli performing "Che gelida manina" at the Met, 1966
An imposing figure on stage at 6'1" and 200lbs, he had a couple temperamental outbursts: he once dashed off stage in the middle of a performance to confront a heckler (still in uniform and sword), luckily two ushers restrained him. His Swedish co-star Birgit Nilsson claimed he bit her neck during a performance because she held a 'C' note longer than he did (Corelli denied biting her). Before every performance he had steak tartare with lemon juice and raw garlic, he neither drank nor smoked to protect his voice. After retiring ironically he became a voice teacher in New York city, he performed a couple concerts in 1980 and 1981. He died in Milan from a stroke, aged 82.
|
|
|
|
Post by Woland on Sept 11, 2020 18:58:38 GMT -5
Erich von Stroheim (1885-1957) was born Erich Oswald Stroheim in Vienna to a middle-class Jewish family. His passion for grandiose lies was on display when he emigrated to the US in 1909, he claimed to be an aristocratic Count of Austrian nobility, his earliest job in San Francisco was a lowly travelling salesman. In 1914 he got his foot in the Hollywood door as stuntman and extra, his obsessive attention to detail earned him more responsibilities on-set, he worked under legendary director D.W Griffith on the 1916 epic "Intolerance", he was an uncredited extra and one of many assistant directors including future directors Victor Fleming and Tod Browning. The start of the war saw von Stroheim use his Austrian ancestry to play German villains onscreen; in "The Heart of Humanity" (1918) he attacks a nurse and throws a baby out the window.
After the war he embarked upon the most infamous directing career in silent cinema, earning his self-styled nickname "the man you loved to hate". He first adapted his own story "Pinnacle" into the love-triangle "Blind Husbands" set in a small Alpine village, von Stroheim cast himself as the Austrian Lieutenant who seduces the wife of an American doctor, quite racy for the period. Initially given a budget of $25,000, von Stroheim insisted on extremely detailed sets, actors repeating over a dozen takes and no expenses spared, predictably the movie went so overbudget ($250,000) the studio had to invest heavily in promoting the film to recoup the losses, the gamble saw "Blind Husbands" gross $325,000 in its first year (almost 6x the average feature film). Von Stroheim was hailed a unique directorial talent with a bright future in showbusiness. His next film "Devil's Passkey" was also a success, sadly the negative is lost forever and no copies exist. Buoyed by his successes Von Stroheim signed a new contract with Universal, his next film "Foolish Wives" would see Stroheim's ambitious plans grow until the studio had to intervene. Set in Monte Carlo, von Stroheim insisted on reconstructing a casino from scratch on the Universal backlot.
 Monte Carlo set for "Foolish Wives"
The fictional tale of a Russian count seducing and fleecing rich ladies out of their fortunes was nothing compared to the true battles behind the scenes. Not only did von Stroheim insist on a reconstruction of Monte Carlo with artificial lake, the actors wore Parisian evening gowns, silk stockings and underwear, the interiors featured real porcelain and crystal chandeliers, even a 2 second close-up required real caviar instead of blackberry jam. Shooting took over 11 months, it was the most expensive movie ever made when it came out in 1922 running over $1,000,000 in costs. Filming became so protracted and time-consuming that studio head Carl Laemmle sent 20-year old producer Irving Thalberg to rein Von Stroheim in. After 6 months von Stroheim was briefly fired for taking too long but was rehired to finish the film by Thalberg, who made sure Stroheim didn't go for too many extra takes, Foolish Wives was originally meant to be 6 hours long, cut down to just over 2 hours to more critical acclaim. Thalberg would become new Head of Production at Universal for handling the famous director whose penchant for obsessive realism and 100% autonomy regardless of budget and time would come back to haunt him. In "Merry-Go-Round" Thalberg implemented a clause barring Stroheim from starring in his movie, that he'd have to keep it under budget and on time. Von Stroheim managed to bring recently deceased Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph's carriage to Hollywood for filming. After 6 weeks Thalberg had seen enough and fired Von Stroheim, Rupert Julian was hired to reshoot almost the entire film, only a handful of scenes with the Stroheim touch were left in the final cut.
In 1924 Erich von Stroheim joined Goldwyn Pictures to adapt the Frank Norris novel "McTeague" the epic tragedy of a San Francisco dentist who marries his best friend's cousin. "Greed" would prove to be von Stroheim's defining movie for all the right and wrong reasons, von Stroheim's obsession with the novel ensured he filmed every word and punctuation mark, no matter the cost. It was one of, if not the first film shot entirely on location, von Stroheim used real locations inspired by and featured in the novel, even leasing and reopening an old mining facility and shooting the film's epic climax in Death Valley in late summer. Von Stroheim's highly detailed script ran 300 pages with details on composition, film tinting and camera movements, in his own words he wanted to make a realistic film about despair, eschewing the Hollywood stereotypes of glamour and happy endings. The making of "Greed" became legendary: von Stroheim worked 20-hour days for 2 months during pre-production, Cesare Gravina (Zerkow) got double pneumonia, the shoot in Death Valley saw temperatures hit 51°C, von Stroheim wanted a real knife thrown at McTeague in a barfight scene (overruled by the producer), one third of the Death Valley cast and crew members fell ill (one died) and were sent back to L.A, von Stroheim hired a harmonium player and violinist to create mood for actors during shooting, the mine scene was shot 900m underground for realism even though it would've looked the same 30m underground. After a punishing schedule von Stroheim had 86 hours of footage to sift through and create a masterpiece.
It took over a year of editing until the initial 10 hour cut of "Greed" was screened a handful of times to critics who called it the greatest film they'd ever seen. No cinema audience would've been able to sit through such an ordeal so von Stroheim had the laborious task of editing down his magnum opus. At first he wanted it cut down to 6 hours to be shown over 2 nights; in the meantime Goldwyn Pictures was merged into MGM Studios, von Stroheim's old nemesis Irving Thalberg became studio head and the two clashed once more over the final length of the film. The movie was cut down several more times until it was finally released at just over 2 hours in length, the 8 hours of cut footage was destroyed by a janitor, von Stroheim completely disowned the 2 hour version lamenting the destruction of his masterpiece. It wasn't until 1999 that a 4 hour "reconstructed" version of "Greed" utilising still photos guided by von Stroheim's original script was released, finally giving audiences a better idea of the lost masterpiece.
After the crushing disappointment of "Greed" he made the crowd-pleasing "Merry Widow", despite several onscreen clashes with the film's star Mae Murray and running into censorship issues over sexually-explicit scenes. For "The Wedding March" Stroheim left MGM for an independent producer, the film ran overbudget and overtime, being forced to stop shooting after 6 months and going almost $1,000,000 overbudget. Once again after cutting his film down to 4 hours the studio wanted further cuts and to release it as two separate films, the last known copy of the 2nd film was destroyed in a fire, the current version of "The Wedding March" ran only 2 hours. In 1932 Erich von Stroheim would direct "Queen Kelly" with famed silent movie star Gloria Swanson, von Stroheim's penchant for going overbudget and erotic overtones saw him fired from the movie at Gloria Swanson's request; a final attempt at directing in 1933 with "Hello! Sister" saw him fired again, his directing career ruined forever with the advent of sound films. Von Stroheim returned to acting in France earning a role in Jean Renoir's legendary anti-war film "La Grande Illusion" as the aristocratic officer Von Rauffenstein; ironically von Stroheim had spent so much time in America he could barely speak anymore German. His career acting career was revived to the point he was ready to begin directing again until WW2 broke out.
Perhaps his most iconic film role was as Max von Mayerling in Billy Wilder's acerbic satire "Sunset Boulevard", playing Gloria Swanson's butler and ex-husband, a former film director ruined by Hollywood. In one of the more ironic moments in the film Norma Desmond watches an old silent film of herself with Max as projectionist: "Queen Kelly". He earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination from the Oscars. Afterwards he returned to France working on a couple novels and screenplays that would never be filmed. He bemoaned his treatment by Hollywood, dying from prostate cancer in his chateau at 71 years of age.
|
|
|
|
Post by The Duchess on Dec 21, 2020 10:39:36 GMT -5
"An' ye had been whaur I hae been, ye wadna been sae cantie-o, an' ye had seen what I hae seen, on the braes o' Killiecrankie-o..."
John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee (1648-1689)
Known to history as both Bonnie Dundee and Bluidy Clavers, John Graham was a Scottish Anglican, staunch Tory, and one of the first Jacobites. During the exile of James, Duke of York, in the late 1670s and early 1680s, Graham was charged with keeping the peace in the West Marches. One perpetual thorn in the side of the Restoration government was the Scottish Presbyterians, known as the Covenanters. During the Civil War, they were instrumental in turning the tide against Charles I. Their feverish anti-monarchical sentiment lasted long past the regicide, and they often erupted in revolt against the perceived Catholicizing influence of the Anglican Church. While Graham earned his sobriquet "Bluidy Clavers" from a Whiggish tradition -- the very same tradition that painted James II as a monstrous bigot -- primary evidence shows that Graham advocated for treating the Covenanters fairly and without undue violence. His wife was even the daughter of a prominent Covenanter. This said, it should be remembered that, even though we may be blinded by the mythology of the so-called "Killing Times", both Charles II and James VII/II were vociferous advocates for religious liberty. Almost all of Graham's adult life was spent in the Scottish military.
In 1686, the second year of James VII/II's ill-fated reign, Graham was promoted to Viscount. One of his first acts of Viscount was to abolish the death penalty for petty theft, something a bloody-minded petty tyrant would not do; again, this is evidence that history truly is written by the victors! By 1688, James' grasp on power was quickly falling apart, and so Graham was promoted to second-in-command in the Scottish army. Unfortunately, the Stuart regime crumbled once more on 23 December 1688 with the nighttime flight of James II, yet Graham did not follow the fallen king into pitiful exile in France. He remained in Scotland, as there were hopes -- and fears -- of yet another Stuart Restoration. There would not be another Restoration. James would not ride through the streets of London, greeted by tens of thousands of his subjects crammed shoulder to shoulder, to shouts of "God save the King!" as his brother did back in 1660. Nevertheless, this was the hope among Jacobites. On 13 April 1689, Graham became public with his Jacobite sympathies, much to the chagrin of the Convention. On 27 July 1689, the meagre Jacobite army, headed by Graham, met the government's troops at Killiecrankie. Though the "rebels" dealt a crushing defeat to the government's army despite their massive size and skill discrepancy, it was a pyrrhic victory. Graham was killed in action, and with him, the hopes for James' return. However, Graham's comportment at Killiecrankie inspired a slew of romanticized folk songs, such as "Bonnie Dundee" and "The Braes o' Killicrankie." These songs were more a product of Scottish nationalism in the later 18th and early 19th century, but are still an enlightening show of Bonnie Dundee's reception history.
The armour that Graham wore at Killiecrankie survives to this day. While the breastplate is certainly worse for wear in general, the killing blow is reflected by the massive gouge out of the left shoulder. I'm not quite sure what the hole in the stomach is from, but from what I recall reading, that was not the wound that fell him.
ETA: Unfortunately it's rather low quality, but I couldn't resist sharing this mezzotint on account of Bonnie Dundee's glorious hairstyle... It doesn't look like it's a wig, judging by how naturally it sits and how you can clearly see his part, but I could be wrong.
|
|
|
|
Post by Octavio on Dec 25, 2020 12:46:57 GMT -5
Gregório de Matos Guerra (1636-1696) Born in Salvador, Bahia, in Colonial Brazil, Gregório is the one of the most well-known poets from the Barroque style in both Brazil and Portugal, and one of the most important satyrical poets in all the Colonial Brazil ages. Gregorio studied in a Jesuit college in his early days, and, as most of the rich people from the Colony, studied Law in Coimbra (Portugal), eventually becoming a judge. While still in Portugal he started his satyrical poems, but it was back on Brazil that he did most of his work. His satyrical poetry usually mocked the culture and customs of the colonial times, and was mostly erotic, and sometimes even pornographic. On the other hand, he also made many religious and lyrical poems. In his satyrical poems, that where extremely excandalous for the age, he mocked even the Catholic Church, priests and nuns. One of his most famous satyrical poems is almost a sexual innuendo to a nun. That made him be nicknamed "Boca do Inferno", "Hell's Mouth" in English. He was taken to the Inquisition, but his case was closed since he never saind anything exactly heretical or blasphemous, focusing more on the people inside the Church than the dogmas. He was threatened to be murdered and expelled to Africa, but after helping the Portuguese crown against a rebellion, he was pardoned and allowed to return to Brazil, but never to set foot in the Bahia province again. He died in Recife due to a fever he got while in Africa. Gregório was the first Brazilian-born poet, and really scandalous for his time. His life was as contradictory as his poems: He believed himself as a sinner, and deserver of Hell, and that's shown in his religious poems, always trying to be a better Christian, but being, at the same time, hedonistic, and vulgar. In one of his poems he even writes that "he is lucky to be a sinner, so he might ask for God's Pardon". |
|
|
|
Post by andrew on Jan 23, 2021 15:01:12 GMT -5
 Just an image test really.... (Click for full size) |
|
|
|
Post by The Duchess on Jan 23, 2021 16:22:09 GMT -5
Squinting at this... the hawkish nose makes me think it's he-who-shall-not-be-named, or William of Orange. But the clothing is too festive... Huh. |
|
.jpg)
