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Photographing the Dark: Nadar’s Descent into the Paris Catacombs

- October 24, 2019 in catacombs, death, nadar, ossuary, paris catacombs, Photography, subterranean, underground

Today the Paris Catacombs are illuminated by electric lights and friendly guides. But when Félix Nadar descended into this “empire of death” in the 1860s artificial lighting was still in its infancy: the pioneering photographer had to face the quandary of how to take photographs in the subterranean dark. Allison C. Meier explores Nadar’s determined efforts (which involved Bunsen batteries, mannequins, and a good deal of patience) to document the beauty and terror of this realm of the dead.

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Abide With Me (1914)

- April 30, 2019 in abide with me, brixham, death, English riviera, hymn, napoleon, Reverend Henry Francis Lyte, titanic, tuberculosis

Version from Olive Kline and Elsie Baker of one of the most popular hymn's of all time.

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Hans Holbein’s Dance of Death (1523–5)

- April 17, 2018 in dance of death, death, hans holbein, Memento mori, woodcuts

Holbein's series of action-packed scenes in which Death intrudes on the everyday lives from various levels of society — from pope to physician to ploughman.

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Hans Holbein’s Dance of Death (1523–5)

- April 17, 2018 in dance of death, death, hans holbein, Memento mori, woodcuts

Holbein's series of action-packed scenes in which Death intrudes on the everyday lives of people from various levels of society — from pope to physician to ploughman.

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“Alas, Poor YORICK!”: The Death and Life of Laurence Sterne

- March 7, 2018 in consumption, death, Featured Articles, Laurence Sterne, Literature, mortality, sentimental journey, tristram shandy

On the 250th anniversary of Laurence Sterne's death, Ian Campbell Ross looks at the engagement with mortality so important to the novelist's groundbreaking work.

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“Alas, Poor YORICK!”: The Death and Life of Laurence Sterne

- March 7, 2018 in consumption, death, Featured Articles, Laurence Sterne, Literature, mortality, sentimental journey, tristram shandy

On the 250th anniversary of Laurence Sterne's death, Ian Campbell Ross looks at the engagement with mortality so important to the novelist's groundbreaking work.

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The Civil War Sketches of Adolph Metzner (1861–64)

- October 24, 2017 in 1st German, 32nd Regiment Indiana Infantry, Adolph Metzner, art, battle, camp life, civil war, death, war

Remarkable collection of sketches, drawings and watercolours left to us by Adolph Metzner, during his three years of service with the 1st German, 32nd Regiment Indiana Infantry.

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The Civil War Sketches of Adolph Metzner (1861–64)

- October 3, 2017 in 1st German, 32nd Regiment Indiana Infantry, Adolph Metzner, art, battle, camp life, civil war, death, war

Remarkable collection of sketches, drawings and watercolours left to us by Adolph Metzner, during his three years of service with the 1st German, 32nd Regiment Indiana Infantry.

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The Civil War Sketches of Adolph Metzner (1861–64)

- October 3, 2017 in 1st German, 32nd Regiment Indiana Infantry, Adolph Metzner, art, battle, camp life, civil war, death, war

Remarkable collection of sketches, drawings and watercolours left to us by Adolph Metzner, during his three years of service with the 1st German, 32nd Regiment Indiana Infantry.

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“Dialogue between Frederick Ruysch and His Mummies” by Giacomo Leopardi (1827)

- August 1, 2017 in dead, death, frederik ruysch, Giacomo Leopardi, mummies, skeletons

The great Italian writer uses the macabre creations of the seventeenth-century Dutch anatomist Frederik Ruysch to reflect upon the mysteries of death.

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