Refine your search

The results of your search are listed below alongside the search terms you entered on the previous page. You can refine your search by amending any of the parameters in the form and resubmitting it.

Select all Deselect all Add selection to lightbox
Large Small
Thumbnails per page
Carle or Charles-Andre van Loo (15 February 1705 – 15 July 1765) was a French subject painter, son of the painter Louis-Abraham van Loo, a younger brother of Jean-Baptiste van Loo and grandson of Jacob van Loo. He was the most famous member of a successful dynasty of painters of Dutch origin. His works includes every category: religion, history painting, mythology, portraiture, allegory, and genre scenes.
Catherine II of Russia (Russian: Yekaterina Alekseyevna, 2 May 1729 – 17 November 1796), was the most renowned and the longest-ruling female ruler of Russia, reigning from 1762 until her death in 1796 at the age of 67.<br/><br/> Born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg, she came to power following a coup d'état when her husband, Peter III, was assassinated. Russia was revitalised under her reign, growing larger and stronger than ever and becoming recognised as one of the great powers of Europe.
Catherine II of Russia (Russian: Yekaterina Alekseyevna, 2 May 1729 – 17 November 1796), was the most renowned and the longest-ruling female ruler of Russia, reigning from 1762 until her death in 1796 at the age of 67.<br/><br/> Born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg, she came to power following a coup d'état when her husband, Peter III, was assassinated. Russia was revitalised under her reign, growing larger and stronger than ever and becoming recognised as one of the great powers of Europe.
The Kalinkin Brewery was based in St Petersburg. It was the predecessor of Stepan Razin, now owned by Heineken.
Julius Martov or L. Martov, real name Yuli Osipovich Zederbaum (November 24, 1873 – April 4, 1923) was born in Istanbul in 1873.<br/><br/> The son of Jewish middle class parents, he became the leader of the Mensheviks in early twentieth century Russia.<br/><br/> This image, taken by Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya (1869-1939) at St Petersburg in 1897, shows (left to right) standing: A.L. Malchenko, P. K. Zaporozhets, A. A. Vaneyev; and seated: V. V. Starkov, G. M. Krzhizhanovsky, V. I. Ulyanov (Lenin) and Julius Martov.
Vladimir Vasilyevich Lebedev (14 May 1891, Saint Petersburg – 21 November 1967) was a Soviet painter and graphic artist. He became famous for his exceptional illustrations of the poems of the prominent poet and translator Samuil Marshak, such as Circus, Ice Cream, Tale About a Foolish Mouse, Moustached and Striped, Book of Many Colours, Twelve Months and Luggage.<br/><br/> As a young boy, Lebedev started to paint postcards that were sold in a shop in Saint Petersburg. At the age of nineteen, he held his first exhibit at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1913, he began work as a cartoonist for several satirical journals, including the famed 'Satirikon'). From 1920-1922, Lebedev worked for The Russian Telegraph Agency (ROSTA) and The Department of Agitation (Agitprop) designing propaganda posters.
François-Marie Arouet (21 November 1694 – 30 May 1778), known by his nom de plume Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher famous for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and separation of church and state.<br/><br/> Voltaire was a versatile writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays, and historical and scientific works. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and more than 2,000 books and pamphlets. He was an outspoken advocate, despite the risk this placed him in under the strict censorship laws of the time. As a satirical polemicist, he frequently made use of his works to criticize intolerance, religious dogma, and the French institutions of his day.
Cleopatra VII Philopator (69 – August 12, 30 BCE), known to history simply as Cleopatra, was the last active pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt, shortly survived as pharaoh by her son Caesarion. After her reign, Egypt became a province of the then-recently established Roman Empire.<br/><br/> Cleopatra was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Macedonian Greek origin that ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great's death during the Hellenistic period. The Ptolemies, throughout their dynasty, spoke Greek and refused to speak Egyptian, which is the reason that Greek as well as Egyptian languages were used on official court documents such as the Rosetta Stone. By contrast, Cleopatra did learn to speak Egyptian and represented herself as the reincarnation of an Egyptian goddess, Isis.<br/><br/> Cleopatra originally ruled jointly with her father, Ptolemy XII Auletes, and later with her brothers, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV, whom she married according to Egyptian custom, but eventually she became sole ruler. As pharaoh she consummated a liaison with Julius Caesar that solidified her grip on the throne. She later elevated her son with Caesar, Caesarion, to co-ruler in name.<br/><br/> After Caesar's assassination in 44 BCE, she aligned with Mark Antony in opposition to Caesar's legal heir, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (later known as Augustus). With Antony, she bore the twins Cleopatra Selene II and Alexander Helios, and another son, Ptolemy Philadelphus. After losing the Battle of Actium to Octavian's forces, Antony committed suicide. Cleopatra followed suit. According to tradition, she killed herself by means of an asp bite on August 12, 30 BCE. She was outlived by Caesarion, who was declared pharaoh by his supporters, but soon killed on Octavian's orders. Egypt then became the Roman province of Aegyptus.
Charles IX (27 June 1550 – 30 May 1574) was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1560 until his death. He ascended the throne of France upon the death of his brother Francis II.<br/><br/> After decades of tension, war broke out between Protestants and Catholics after the massacre of Vassy in 1562. In 1572, after several unsuccessful peace attempts, Charles ordered the marriage of his sister Margaret of Valois to Henry of Navarre, a major Protestant nobleman and the future King Henry IV of France, in a last desperate bid to reconcile his people.<br/><br/> Facing popular hostility against this policy of appeasement, Charles allowed the massacre of all Huguenot leaders who gathered in Paris for the royal wedding at the instigation of his mother Catherine de' Medici. This event, known as the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, crippled the Huguenot movement Charles sought to take advantage of the disarray of the Huguenots by ordering the Siege of La Rochelle, but was unable to take the Protestant stronghold.<br/><br/> He died without legitimate male issue in 1574 and was succeeded by his brother Henry III.
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (22 January 1898 – 11 February 1948) was a Soviet Russian film director and film theorist, a pioneer in the theory and practice of montage.<br/><br/> He is noted in particular for his silent films Strike (1925), Battleship Potemkin (1925) and October (1928), as well as the historical epics Alexander Nevsky (1938) and Ivan the Terrible (1944, 1958).
Osrushana, also known as Istarawshan, Sudujshana, Usrushana, or Ustrushana, was a former Iranian region in Transoxiana. Osrushana lay to the south of the great, southernmost bend of the Syr Darya and extended roughly from Samarkand to Khujand.<br/><br/> The capital city of Osrushana was Banjikat.
Julius Martov or L. Martov, real name Yuli Osipovich Zederbaum (November 24, 1873 – April 4, 1923) was born in Istanbul in 1873.<br/><br/> The son of Jewish middle class parents, he became the leader of the Mensheviks in early twentieth century Russia.
World War One was to have a devastating impact on Russia. When World War One started in August 1914, Russia responded by patriotically rallying around Nicholas II.<br/><br/> Military disasters at the Masurian Lakes and Tannenburg greatly weakened the Russian Army in the initial phases of the war. The growing influence of Gregory Rasputin over the Romanov’s did a great deal to damage the royal family and by the end of the spring of 1917, the Romanovs, who had ruled Russia for just over 300 years, were no longer in charge of a Russia that had been taken over by Kerensky and the Provisional Government.<br/><br/> By the end of 1917, the Bolsheviks led by Lenin had taken power in the major cities of Russia and introduced communist rule in those areas it controlled. The transition in Russia over the space of four years was remarkable – the fall of an autocracy and the establishment of the world’s first communist government.
Art Deco is an influential visual arts design style that first appeared in France after World War I and began flourishing internationally in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s before its popularity waned after World War II. It is an eclectic style that combines traditional craft motifs with Machine Age imagery and materials. The style is often characterized by rich colours, bold geometric shapes and lavish ornamentation.<br/><br/> Deco emerged from the interwar period when rapid industrialisation was transforming culture. One of its major attributes is an embrace of technology. This distinguishes Deco from the organic motifs favoured by its predecessor Art Nouveau.<br/><br/> During its heyday, Art Deco represented luxury, glamour, exuberance and faith in social and technological progress.