Ploughing fields and trading horses with Rosa Bonheur

Two featured articles were promoted this week.

• Keen Johnson (nominated by Acdixon) Part of the nominator's long series of articles on Kentucky governors, Johnson edited several newspapers before running for lieutenant governor in the 1930s. In 1939, the governor resigned so that Johnson would appoint him to a Senate seat; Johnson won the subsequent election and governed Kentucky during the opening years of the Second World War. His later political career included a short stint as the first Undersecretary of Labor and an unsuccessful run for the US Senate in 1960. He died ten years later.
• Horace Greeley (nominated by Wehwalt) One of Wikipedia's vital articles, Greeley was the editor of the New York Tribune, which under his leadership became the highest circulating newspaper in the United States. In the decade before the American Civil War, the Tribune became a major force in politics and had a non-trivial role in helping Abraham Lincoln get elected. Greeley himself helped found the Republican Party and eventually ran for president in 1872, where he lost badly to former army general Ulysses S. Grant. Greeley died three weeks later, at which time Harper's Weekly wrote "Since the assassination of Mr. Lincoln, the death of no American has been so sincerely deplored as that of Horace Greeley; and its tragical circumstances have given a peculiarly affectionate pathos to all that has been said of him."

Four featured lists were promoted this week.

• World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology (nominated by PresN) The World Fantasy Awards are one of the most prestigious awards in speculative fiction and the most prestigious devoted strictly to fantasy. The winners are presented with a bust of H.P. Lovecraft, a subject of controversy recently since Lovecraft was notoriously racist and the last four Best Novel winners have been a Nigerian-American, an Israeli, an American-born Muslim convert, and a Somali-American. This particular category has avoided controversy and been pretty much what you'd expect: a mix of best of the year compilations and original theme anthologies. Living legend Ellen Datlow has racked up the most wins, eight out of thirty nominations, which is no surprise since she's a prolific anthologist and widely admired in the speculative fiction world. The most recent winners were two other legends in the field, Gardner Dozois and George R. R. Martin, for the original anthology Dangerous Women. This 2013 release was eagerly anticipated since it featured an original novella by Martin, "The Princess and the Queen", set in his A Song of Ice and Fire universe. And, yes, we mean Game of Thrones, if you've only seen the television version.
• Abhishek Bachchan filmography (nominated by Jim Carter) Abhishek Bachchan is an Indian actor and producer. Making his acting debut in 2000 in the film Refugee Bachahn has gone on to widespread success after playing "a no-nonsense Mumbai police officer in the blockbuster action thriller Dhoom" in 2004.
• Kajol filmography (nominated by FrankBoy) Kajol, an Indian actress, has since 1992 appeared in more than 36 films. She is tied for the most ever wins of the Filmfare Award for Best Actress, for her films Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001), Fanaa (2006), and My Name Is Khan (2010).
• 77th Academy Awards (nominated by Birdienest81) The Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator won the most awards – five out of its eleven nominations – including Best Supporting Actress to Cate Blanchett for her portrayal of Katharine Hepburn, the first time an Oscar was given for a portrayal of a previous Oscar winner. But director Martin Scorsese was snubbed again and would not receive his due until two years later, for 2006's The Departed. Despite The Aviator's numerical superiority, though, this was really the year of Million Dollar Baby, a boxing film which swept the major categories: Best Picture, Best Director (Clint Eastwood), Best Actress (Hilary Swank), and Best Supporting Actor (Morgan Freeman). Jamie Foxx won Best Actor for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the film Ray.

• 
  Pope Julius II - I never had any pearl earrings, depressing.
  Maybe Dior has some that would suit my dress?
• 
  Thomas Gainsborough : - I need not any pearls,
  I got talent
• 
  Portrait of a Young Woman
  (also with pearl earrings)
  by Vermeer

Thirty-eight featured pictures were promoted this week.

• The Virgin and Child with St. Anne (created by Leonardo da Vinci, nominated by Crisco 1492) The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne is an oil painting by Leonardo da Vinci, a triangular composition showing St Anne, her daughter the Virgin Mary, and the infant Jesus. This theme had long preoccupied Leonardo. The Christ child is depicted stretching his arms out towards the sacrificial lamb that symbolizes the coming Passion, while the Virgin tries to restrain him. The painting was commissioned as the high altarpiece for the Church of Santissima Annunziata in Florence. Unfortunately, the painting was rather controversially restored in 2011, leading to two directors at the Louvre resigning.
• Castle by the River (created by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, nominated by Hafspajen) A very moody, charming image, painted by Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781–1841). The painting is full of lovely details – the target, the deer... Bit of a walk to get up to the castle, but I bet it'd be worth it. Schinkel was a German architect, city planner, and painter, known for his prolific production of buildings in a neo-classicist style. He was also known for his paintings, in Romantic style. The Napoleonic wars interfered with his work as architect, so he took up landscape painting while he was not able to work in his occupation, displaying a talent for the romantic delineation of natural scenery.
• Sanctuary of St Cyprian's Church, Nave of St Cyprian's Church, Ceiling of St Cyprian's Church, Rood screen of St Cyprian's Church (created and nominated by David Iliff.) There is no such church, all is faked. More seriously... St Cyprian's, Clarence Gate, near Regent's Park, Marylebone, London, was founded in 1866 by Father Charles Gutch, who wanted to run a church in the manner he saw fit. Its opening was the source of various very silly controversies to do with Father Gutch's "churchmanship", somewhat badly told in the article, and better told at the church website used as the article's main source. The church's article could certainly use some love by a copyeditor.
• First Cabinet of Barack Obama (created by Chuck Kennedy and nominated by The Herald) This photo depicts the First Cabinet of Barack Obama. Back row: Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Lisa P. Jackson, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke (no longer in office), Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter R. Orszag (no longer in office), Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers Christina Romer (no longer in office), and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Second row: Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel (no longer in office), Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk, United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations Susan Rice, and Secretary of Veteran Affairs Eric Shinseki. Third row, sitting: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (no longer in office), Secretary of Treasury Timothy F. Geithner, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (no longer in office), and Attorney General of the United States Eric Holder.
• The Horse Fair (created by Rosa Bonheur and nominated by Crisco 1492) The Horse Fair is an oil on canvas painting by Rosa Bonheur, begun in 1852. Rosa Bonheur was a French animalière (animal painter), realist artist, and sculptor. The Horse Fair was first exhibited in 1853 at the Paris Salon and was then reworked until completed in 1855. Well, at least as complete as an artist will ever consider their work, anyway. It has been in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York since 1887, when it was donated by Cornelius Vanderbilt II.
• Vaxholm Castle (created by Arild Vågen, nominated by Adam Cuerden) This photo is an aerial shot of Vaxholm Fortress, a historic fortification on a small island in the Stockholm archipelago near Stockholm. It was originally constructed by the Swedish king Gustav Vasa in 1544 to defend Stockholm against shipborne attacks coming from the east. Today it houses the Swedish National Museum of Coastal Defence. The fortress was strategically situated on the main sea route to Stockholm to defend the city from naval attacks, and was attacked by the Danes in 1612 and the Russian navy in 1719. Since the mid 19th century, the fort became so rusty, unfashionable and outdated, that it was said the great Prussian Field Marshal Von Moltke was only ever seen to laugh twice, once when they told him his mother-in-law was dead and again when he saw Vaxholm Fort... He was a jolly fellow.
• House of the Blackheads (created and nominated by Diliff) House of the Blackheads is a building situated in the old town of Riga, Latvia. The building was originally erected in the 1300s for the Brotherhood of Blackheads, an oddly named guild for unmarried German merchants in Riga. The exact origin of the term 'blackhead' is unknown, though it is unlikely to be a reference to skin blemishes.
• Hospital at Scutari (created by William Simpson, restored and nominated by Adam Cuerden). The print "One of the wards in the hospital at Scutari" shows the Selimiye Barracks during the Crimean War, at which time they had been converted into a hospital. Florence Nightingale and thirty-eight volunteer nurses arrived there to find overworked staff delivering poor care to wounded soldiers; Nightingale's reformation of the hospital was a pivotal event in her creation of the modern field of nursing.
• In a Pine Wood (created by Christen Dalsgaard, nominated by CorrineSD) In a Pine Wood is a study of a young woman sitting in a chair reading a book in her hand, an attentive look on her face. The painting is painted by the Danish artist Christen Dalsgaard (1824–1907), and the image is an example of a style of Scandinavian painting whose themes focused on scenes close to home, in contrast to previous styles. The painting depicts a very typical Danish home interior from the time period. One of the pieces of furniture depicted has the number 1828 painted on it, suggesting that our author stopped writing the sentence at this point... The original title in Danish is: En læsende pige fra Salling, which translates as "a girl from Salling, reading", or, more literally, "a reading girl from Salling".
• Wikipedia blackout (created by Wikipedia, nominated by TomStar81) A copy of the blackout screen of the English-language Wikipedia page on 18 January 2012, illustrating its worldwide blackout in opposition to U.S. legislation such as SOPA and PIPA. (See Signpost coverage of the blackout.)
• The Umbrellas (created by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, nominated by Crisco 1492) The Umbrellas is a painting, completed by Pierre-Auguste Renoir between 1881 and 1886, which depicts a busy Parisian street in the rain, blue umbrellas dominating the upper part of the painting, and girls and women the rest. The charming young milliner's assistant is modeled by Suzanne Valadon, Renoir's lover and frequent model. Suzanne Valadon was also a painter herself, who became the first woman painter admitted to the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in 1894. She was also the mother of painter Maurice Utrillo.
• Lady Standing at a Virginal (created by Johannes Vermeer, nominated by SchroCat) Lady Standing at a Virginal is a painting created by the Dutch Golden Age artist Johannes Vermeer around 1670–1672. It depicts a Dutch house interior with an elegantly dressed woman in yellow and blue playing a richly decorated virginal, a type of early keyboard instrument similar to a harpsichord. Her home has a tiled floor, paintings on the wall, and some of the locally manufactured Delftware blue and white tiles of a type that appear in other Vermeer works. One painting depicted on the wall is a landscape and the other shows Cupid holding a card; neither have been definitely identified, but the second was probably painted by Caesar van Everdingen. Vermeer painted many women with virginals. There was an attempt to bring this concept to Scotland, and a large number of virginals were acquired, arriving in Inverness in the north of Scotland. Four and twenty virginals came down from Inverness, but when they came back, there were four and twenty less. Quite a disaster.
• Marriage à-la-mode: 1. The Marriage Settlement; Marriage à-la-mode: 2. The Tête à Tête; Marriage à-la-mode: 3. The Inspection ; Marriage à-la-mode: 4. The Toilette ; Marriage à-la-mode: 5. The Bagnio ; Marriage à-la-mode: 6. The Lady's Death (created by William Hogarth, nominated by SchroCat) Marriage à-la-mode is a series of pictures painted by William Hogarth between 1743 and 1745. It depicts, in a series of six scenes, a tragedy caused by the disastrous results of an ill-considered marriage for money in the upper class 18th-century society in England. Hogarth liked to satirize subjects like arranged marriages, quackery, foppery, poor parenting, and bad taste. In this case, it is an arranged marriage that was wrong from the beginning. The series starts with the early signs of a marriage that has already begun to break down, continuing to the young husband treating his syphilis he conrtacted in adultery, while the lawyer Silvertongue has an affair with his wife to the bitter end of this marriage, ending with both dead, leaving a child orphaned and suffering from syphilis inherited from his parents. Cheery!
• Ring-billed gull (created by Chris Woodrich , nominated by Crisco 1492) A portrait of a ring-billed gull, a species of sea gull found in much of North America. The eyes are yellow with red rims, and the short beak has a black ring around it.
• Toledo, Spain (created by Chensiyuan, nominated by National Names 2000) Toledo is the capital city of the Province of Toledo, 70 km south of Madrid, Spain. Toledo is known as the "Imperial City" for historically having been the court of Charles I, and as the "City of the Three Cultures", because of the peaceful historical co-existence of Christians, Muslims and Jews, and remaining full of the cultural and monumental heritage of all three cultures. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986. Toledo has a history of production of bladed weapons; if you go there, swords and daggers are the souvenirs you should buy, providing you can get them back through customs. If possible, go on Easter as that is declared as a National Tourist Interest, and it is cerebrated with various processions, and religious and cultural events... Quite a spectacle.
• Crab on its Back (created by Vincent van Gogh and nominated by Crisco 1492) Crab on its Back is an 1888 oil painting by Vincent van Gogh. It is a still life of a crab lying on its back with a green background. The painting is in the permanent collection of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. This is not what you think of when you hear "van Gogh", and yet here it is. Honestly, it's a very original idea for a still life, even if it may have been derived from a Hokusai print...
• Equestrian Portrait of Charles I (created by Anthony van Dyck, nominated by SchroCat) This portrait of King Charles I of England is one of the masterpieces of Anthony van Dyck. Van Dyck, a Flemish Baroque painter with a name that causes many snickers among undergraduates, was a great success on the continent before becoming Principal Painter in Ordinary in the court of King Charles. His many portraits of Charles, his family, and his court, became the dominant influence on English portrait-painting for the next 150 years. This particular painting echoes works by Titian and Albrecht Dürer and can be found in the National Gallery in London.
• Portrait of a Young Woman (created by Johannes Vermeer, nominated by Crisco 1492) Portrait of a Young Woman is a painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Johannes Vermeer. Because of the similar size and theme, it is often considered to be related to the artist's better-known Girl with a Pearl Earring. Both paintings depict young women who wear pearl earrings, have scarves draped over their head and shoulders, and are in front of a plain black background. In addition, it is likely that the creation of both works involved the use of a camera obscura. The lack of idealised beauty has led to a general belief that this work depicts a real person and was painted on commission.
• Italian Landscape with Umbrella Pines (created by Hendrik Voogd, nominated by Alborzagros) Hendrik Voogd (1768–1839) was a Dutch painter and printmaker, active in Italy. As he was inspired by the French painter Claude Lorrain, he was known as 'Dutch Claude'. He was famous for his historical landscapes, and painted mostly motifs taken directly from nature, such as trees and rocks. This painting depicts the golden light in the late afternoon at the Villa Borghese in Rome, with high umbrella pines that stand out sharply against the magnificent sunset in the garden. An artist is leaning against a fallen tree while disturbed in his peace by some admirer. Long shadows can be spotted on the green grass.
• Folio from a Quran (unknown creator; nominated by Alborzagros) This is a folio from an early Quran, the Islamic holy book, written in Kufic script from the Abbasid period. It originates from the Near East or North Africa in 8th–9th century and shows the Al-Fath Sura (Surah 48: 27–28). Kufic is the oldest calligraphic form of the various Arabic scripts and consists of a modified form of the old Nabataean script.
• John Philip Sousa (created by Elmer Chickering, restored and nominated by Adam Cuerden) John Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known primarily for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King", or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J. Alford also being known by the former nickname. He became the leader of the U.S. Marine Band in 1880 and remained as its conductor until 1892. Upon leaving the Marines, he organized The Sousa Band, which toured from 1892 to 1931, performing at 15,623 concerts in America and around the world.
• Tomb of Bibi Jawindi (created by Shah zaman baloch, nominated by Adam Cuerden) Considered one of the most ornate monuments in the area, the Tomb of Bibi Jawindi is one of the five monuments in Uch Sharif, Punjab, Pakistan that are on the tentative list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The site is located in the south-west corner of Uch, a historical city founded by Alexander the Great. Half the monument was lost in floods in 1817, and the tomb is still slowly crumbling, in need of a conservation project. Bibi Jawindi was the great-granddaughter of Jahaniyan Jahangasht, a saint in Sufism, a branch of Islam.
• Ploughing in the Nivernais (created by Rosa Bonheur, nominated by Xanthomelanoussprog) Ploughing in the Nivernais is a painting by Rosa Bonheur that was first exhibited at the Salon of 1848, and is now in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. The painting depicts a team of oxen ploughing a fields with untold sorrow – while attended by peasants set against a vast pastoral landscape. Why are they sad? Well ... too much hard work, or maybe because they are oxen and not bulls anymore...
• Emmanuel College (created by David Iliff, nominated by Armbrust ) Emmanuel College is one of the colleges of the University of Cambridge, founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, and built on the site of a Dominican Friary. It was intended to be a training college for Protestant preachers. The chapel of the friary was converted to be the college's dining hall, and there is a large fish pond in the grounds, also part of the legacy of the friary. The pond is home to a colony of ducks. The college originally took only male students, first admitting female students in 1979. Emmanuel is one of the wealthier colleges at Cambridge, for which they give thanks with a recitation of the Oratio Post Cibum after every dinner:

Confiteantur tibi, Domine, omnia opera tua,
:et sancti tui benedicant te.
:Agimus tibi gratias, omnipotens Deus,
:pro universis beneficiis tuis,
:qui vivis et regnas Deus per omnia saecula saeculorum.

• Lindau Lighthouse (created Taxiarchos228 and nominated by Crisco 1492) The Lindau Lighthouse was built from 1853 to 1856 and has a clock in its façade. This lighthouse is the southernmost lighthouse in Germany, located in Lindau on Lake Constance. Nowadays the light is lit on demand by ships using radio signals. It is open to visitors and it is a popular subject for photographs, though most probably aren't as good as this one.
• SpaceShipOne takeoff (nominated and created by D. Ramey Logan) SpaceShipOne flight 17P was a spaceflight in the Tier One program that took place on October 4, 2004. The White Knight, a carrier aircraft, took SpaceShipOne to the launch altitude, in excess of 43,500 feet (13.3 km). SpaceShipOne separated from White Knight at 07:49 and promptly ignited its rocket. The rocket motor was capable of burning for approximately 87 s. The burn-out altitude was in excess of 200,000 feet (61 km). After burn-out, the craft continued to coast upwards. The wing was feathered into high-drag configuration during the coasting phase. The spacecraft coasted to apogee at an altitude of 367,442 feet. The SpaceShipOne pilot was Brian Binnie, while White Knight was piloted by Mike Melvill. It was the second competitive flight in the Ansari X Prize competition to demonstrate a non-governmental reusable manned spacecraft, and is hence also referred to as the X2 flight. To win the X Prize, a spacecraft needed to make two successful competitive flights within a fortnight. SpaceShipOne made a successful competitive flight on September 29, 2004, and so needed to make a second by October 13, 2004 in order to win. It was a successful flight, winning the X Prize. After the launch of the first flight, Mike Melvill approached our own WPPilot and gave him a handful of M&M's he had just taken into space, who promptly ate them and continued shooting photos :) & Still feeling a little spaced out to this day.
• Thomas Gainsborough (created by Thomas Gainsborough, nominated by Sagaciousphil) A self-portrait of Thomas Gainsborough (1727–1788), a famous English portrait and landscape painter. He lived in Bath and London, where the fashionable society patronised him. He painted the portraits of the king and queen, but the king chose Gainsborough's rival Joshua Reynolds for the position of royal painter. However, in 1769, he became a founding member of the Royal Academy of Arts. Gainsborough is credited, together with Richard Wilson, as the founder of the 18th century British landscape school. Gainsborough had a charming and original style, he painted quickly with vibrant brushstrokes, and caught his subjects on canvas depicting not only their outside but capturing the inside as well (That's how you say "his pictures give some idea of people's personality in their expressions and body language" in the language of art criticism). William Jackson, in his contemporary essays, said of him, "to his intimate friends he was sincere and honest and that his heart was always alive to every feeling of honour and generosity". His portrait and landscapes reflect the strong romantic component in Gainsborough's artistic temperament.
• Portrait of Pope Julius II (created by Raphael, nominated by SchroCat) An oil painting from 1511, Portrait of Pope Julius II shows the Pope lost in thought. Raphael, through this much-copied portrait of Pope Julius II, set a standard for the painting of future popes. This papal portrait was hung at the pillars of the church of Santa Maria del Popolo on feast and high holy days. Giorgio Vasari, writing long after Julius' death, said that "it was so lifelike and true it frightened everyone who saw it, as if it were the living man himself". Several versions of the painting exist; one has a hanging in the background with a blue and gold textile, either woven silk or embroidery, with gold emblems in tear shaped light blue compartments against a dark blue background. The pope wears here a red velvet high-necked cape covering the neck and shoulders, trimmed with white fur, together with a fashionable red velvet men's cap. Below he wears a white, light, wide and loose silk robe with an especially flattering high waistline, Empire silhouette, with tight sleeves completely covering the wrists, falling loosely below, flowing in graceful folds down, with no buttons or tapes in the front. On his fingers he wears several golden rings with brilliant gemstones. However ... no pearls.
• William Faulkner (created by Carl Van Vechten, restored and nominated by Adam Cuerden) Carl Van Vechten was a novelist, essayist, and photographer. White and well to do, he was a friend and patron of many of the leading writers and artists of the Harlem Renaissance, such as Langston Hughes. He also took up photography, creating striking portraits of many of the leading artistic figures of the day: writers, actors, dancers, and painters. Many of those photos now accompany Wikipedia articles because the Library of Congress has placed them all online and free of copyright restriction. Here is a 1954 photograph of some obscure regional novelist and failed screenwriter named William Faulkner. Hailing from Oxford, Mississippi, he chronicled the lives of people of the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi in introspective and experimental novels, capturing spoken vernacular and internal monologues in works like The Sound and the Fury (1929), As I Lay Dying (1930), Light in August (1932), and Absalom, Absalom! (1936) that are now staples of literature curriculums. Faulkner received the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature, which catapulted him to worldwide fame, something he was decidedly not happy about. He didn't even tell his own daughter, who learned of it from her high school principal.
• Flowers in a Terracotta Vase (created by Albertus Jonas Brandt and Eelke Jelles Eelkema, nominated by CorinneSD ) – Flowers in a Terracotta Vase, is a still life painting by a couple of Dutch painters, featuring a great variety of enchanting spring flowers, lilacs, morning glory, peonies, poppies, and honeysuckle among others. The painting was started by Albertus Jonas Brandt and finished by Eelke Jelles Eelkema. The painting is owned by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

• 
  Italian Landscape with Umbrella Pines - Hendrik Voogd
• 
  Flowers in a Terracotta Vase - Albertus Jonas Brandt and Eelke Jelles Eelkema
• 
  Castle by the River - Karl Friedrich Schinkel