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Sir Peter Paul Rubens (28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish Baroque painter. A proponent of an extravagant Baroque style that emphasized movement, colour, and sensuality, Rubens is well known for his Counter-Reformation altarpieces, portraits, landscapes, and history paintings of mythological and allegorical subjects.<br/><br/> In addition to running a large studio in Antwerp that produced paintings popular with nobility and art collectors throughout Europe, Rubens was a classically educated humanist scholar and diplomat who was knighted by both Philip IV of Spain and Charles I of England. Rubens was a prolific artist. The catalogue of his works by Michael Jaffe lists 1,403 pieces, excluding numerous copies made in his workshop.
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb (c. 1138 – March 4, 1193), better known in the Western world as Saladin, was a Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt and Syria. He led Islamic opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant.<br/><br/> At the height of his power, he ruled over Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Hejaz, and Yemen. He led the Muslims against the Crusaders and eventually recaptured Palestine from the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem after his victory in the Battle of Hattin.
'Nazi plunder' refers to art theft and other items stolen as a result of the organized looting of European countries during the time of the Third Reich by agents acting on behalf of the ruling Nazi Party of Germany. Plundering occurred from 1933 until the end of World War II, although most plunder was acquired during the war. In addition to gold, silver and currency, cultural items of great significance were stolen, including paintings, ceramics, books, and religious treasures.<br/><br/> Although most of these items were recovered by agents of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program (MFAA), affectionately referred to as the Monuments Men, on behalf of the Allies immediately following the war, many are still missing.
Hippocrates of Kos ( c. 460 – c. 370 BCE), was a Greek physician of the Age of Pericles (Classical Greece), and is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is referred to as the 'Father of Western Medicine' in recognition of his lasting contributions to the field as the founder of the Hippocratic School of Medicine.<br/><br/> This intellectual school revolutionized medicine in ancient Greece, establishing it as a discipline distinct from other fields with which it had traditionally been associated (theurgy and philosophy), thus establishing medicine as a profession.
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb (c. 1138 – March 4, 1193), better known in the Western world as Saladin, was a Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt and Syria. He led Islamic opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant.<br/><br/> At the height of his power, he ruled over Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Hejaz, and Yemen. He led the Muslims against the Crusaders and eventually recaptured Palestine from the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem after his victory in the Battle of Hattin.
In the classic tale from the Hebrew Bible, or Christian Old Testament, Samson is an Israelite of great physical strength. He confides in his lover, Delilah, that the secret of his strength is his long hair, which has never been cut since the day he was born. Delilah—perhaps one of history’s first ‘femmes fatales’—betrays Samson by informing his enemies.<br/><br/> In this famous scene, Samson is asleep in the lap of his mistress who urges two accomplices to cut Samson’s hair with the scissors she wields.<br/><br/> His hair cut and strength diminished, Samson is overpowered and arrested by the soldiers at the door. But when he is taken in chains to a temple feast, Samson pushes over two great pillars causing the entire temple to fall down, killing everyone inside, including himself.
The Roman mythographer Julius Pollux, writing in the 2nd century BCE, asserts (Onomasticon I, 45–49) that Purple Tyrian dye was first discovered by Heracles, or rather, by his dog, whose mouth was stained purple from chewing on snails along the coast of the Levant.<br/><br/> However, the recent archaeological discovery of substantial numbers of Murex shells on Crete suggests that the Minoans may have pioneered the extraction of Imperial purple centuries before the Tyrians. Dating from collocated pottery suggests the dye may have been produced during the Middle Minoan period in the 20th–18th century BCE. Accumulations of crushed murex shells from a hut at the site of Coppa Nevigata in southern Italy may indicate production of purple dye there from at least the 18th century BCE.