Alfons Maria Mucha (24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator and graphic artist, living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, best known for his distinctly stylized and decorative theatrical posters, particularly those of Sarah Bernhardt. He produced illustrations, advertisements, decorative panels, and designs, which became among the best-known images of the period.

In the second part of his career, at the age of 43, he returned to his homeland of Bohemia-Moravia region in Austria and devoted himself to painting a series of twenty monumental canvases known as The Slav Epic, depicting the history of all the Slavic peoples of the world, which he painted between 1912 and 1926.

​In 1928, on the 10th anniversary of the independence of Czechoslovakia, he presented the series to the Czech nation. He considered it his most important work. It is now on display in Brno.

Alphonse Mucha was born on 24 July 1860 in the small town of Ivančice in southern Moravia, then a province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, (currently a region of the Czech Republic). His father was a court usher, and his mother was a miller's daughter.

Alphonse Mucha showed an early talent for drawing; a local merchant who was impressed by his work provided him free paper, a luxury at time.

In 1871, Mucha became a chorister at the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul, Brno, where he received his secondary school education. He became devoutly religious, and wrote later, "For me, the notions of painting, going to church, and music are so closely knit that often I cannot decide whether I like church for its music, or music for its place in the mystery which it accompanies."

Mucha grew up in an environment of intense Czech nationalism in all the arts, from music to literature and painting and designed flyers and posters for patriotic rallies.

His singing abilities allowed him to continue his musical education at the Gymnázium Brno in the Moravian capital of Brno, but his true ambition was to become an artist. He found some employment designing theatrical scenery and other decorations. In 1878 he applied without success to the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, but was rejected and advised "to find a different career".

In 1880, at the age of 19, he traveled to Vienna, the political and cultural capital of the Empire, and found employment as an apprentice scenery painter for a company which made sets for Vienna theaters. While in Vienna, he discovered the museums, churches, palaces and especially theaters, for which he received free tickets from his employer. He also discovered Hans Makart, a very prominent academic painter, who created murals for many of the palaces and government buildings in Vienna, and was a master of portraits and historical paintings in grand format. His style turned Mucha in that artistic direction and influenced his later work. He also began experimenting with photography, which became an important tool in his later work.

To his misfortune, a terrible fire in 1881 destroyed the Ringtheater, the major client of his firm. Later in 1881, almost without funds, he took a train as far north as his money would take him. He arrived in Mikulov in southern Moravia, and began making portraits, decorative art and lettering for tombstones. His work was appreciated, and he was commissioned by Count Eduard Khuen Belasi, a local landlord and nobleman, to paint a series of murals for his residence at Emmahof Castle, and then at his ancestral home in the Tyrol, Gandegg Caste. (The paintings at Emmahof were destroyed by fire in 1948, but his early versions in small format exist and are now on display at the museum in Brno.)

Mucha showed his skill at mythological themes, the female form, and lush vegetal decoration. Count Belasi, who was also an amateur painter, took Mucha on expeditions to see art in Venice, Florence and Milan, and introduced him to many artists, including the famous Bavarian romantic painter, Wilhelm Kray, who lived in Munich.

Count Belasi decided to bring Mucha to Munich for formal training, and paid his tuition and cost of living at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Mucha moved there in September, 1885.

It is not clear how Mucha actually studied at the Munich Academy, but he did become friends with a number of notable Slavic artists there, including the Czechs Karel Vítězslav Mašek, Ludek Marold and the Russian Leonid Pasternak, father of the famous novelist Boris Pasternak. He founded a Czech students' club, and contributed political illustrations to nationalist publications in Prague.

​In 1886 he received a notable commission for a painting of the Czech patron saints Cyril and Methodius, from a group of Czech emigrants, including some of his relatives, who had founded a Roman Catholic church in the town of Pisek, North Dakota. He was very happy with the artistic environment of Munich: he wrote to friends, "Here I am in my new element, painting. I cross all sorts of currents, but without effort, and even with joy. Here, for the first time, I can find the objectives to reach which used to seem inaccessible." However, he found he could not remain forever in Munich; the Bavarian authorities imposed increasing restrictions upon foreign students and residents. Count Belasi suggested that he travel either to Rome or Paris. With Belasi's financial support, he decided in 1887 to move to Paris.

Mucha moved to Paris in 1888 where he enrolled in the Académie Julian and the following year, 1889, Académie Colarossi. The two schools taught a wide variety of different styles. His first professors at the Academie Julien were Jules Lefebvre who specialized in female nudes and allegorical paintings, and Jean-Paul Laurens, whose specialties were historical and religious paintings in a realistic and dramatic style. At the end of 1889, as he approached the age of thirty, his patron, Count Belasi, decided that Mucha had received enough education and ended his subsidies.

When he arrived in Paris, Mucha found shelter with the help of the large Slavic community. He lived in a boarding house called the Crémerie at 13 rue de la Grand Chaumerie, whose owner, Charlotte Caron, was famous for sheltering struggling artists; when needed she accepted paintings or drawings in place of rent.

Mucha decided to follow the path of another Czech painter he knew from Munich, Ludek Marold, who had made a successful career as an illustrator for magazines. In 1890 and 1891, he began providing illustrations for the weekly magazine La Vie popular, which published novels in weekly segments. His illustration for a novel by Guy de Maupassant, called The Useless Beauty, was on the cover of the 22 May 1890 edition. He also made illustrations for Le Petit Français Illustré, which published stories for young people in both magazine and book form. For this magazine he provided dramatic scenes of battles and other historic events, including a cover illustration of a scene from the Franco-Prussian War which was on the 23 January 1892 edition.

His illustrations began to give him a regular income. He was able to buy a harmonium to continue his musical interests and his first camera, which used glass-plate negatives. He took pictures of himself and his friends, and also regularly used it to compose his drawings. He became friends with Paul Gauguin, and shared a studio with him for a time when Gauguin returned from Tahiti in the summer of 1893. In late autumn 1894 he also became friends with the playwright August Strindberg, with whom he had a common interest in philosophy and mysticism.

His magazine illustrations led to book illustration; he was commissioned to provide illustrations for Scenes and Episodes of German History by historian Charles Seignobos. Four of his illustrations, including one depicting the death of Frederic Barbarossa, were chosen for display at the 1894 Paris Salon of Artists. He received a medal of honor, his first official recognition.

Mucha added another important client in the early 1890s; the Central Library of Fine Arts, which specialized in the publication of books about art, architecture and the decorative arts. It later launched a new magazine in 1897 called Art et Decoration, which played an early and important role in publicizing the Art Nouveau style. He continued to publish illustrations for his other clients, including illustrating a children's book of poetry by Eugène Manuel, and illustrations for a magazine of the theater arts, called La Costume au théâtre.

The poster appeared on the streets of Paris on 1 January 1895 and caused an immediate sensation. Bernhardt was pleased by the reaction; she ordered four thousand copies of the poster in 1895 and 1896, and gave Mucha a six-year contract to produce more. With his posters all over the city, Mucha found himself quite suddenly famous.

Following Gismonda, Bernardt switched to a different printer, F. Champenois, who, like Mucha, was put under contract to work for Bernhardt for six years. Champenois had a large printing house on Boulevard Saint Michel which employed three hundred workers, with twenty steam presses. He gave Mucha a generous monthly salary in exchange for the rights to publish all his works. With his increased income, Mucha was able to move to a three-bedroom apartment with a large studio inside a large historic house at 6 rue du Val-de-Grâce originally built by François Mansart.

Mucha designed posters for each successive Bernhardt play, beginning with a reprise of one of her early great successes, La Dame aux Camelias (September 1896), followed by Lorenzaccio (1896); Medea (1898); La Tosca (1898) and Hamlet (1899). He sometimes worked from photographs of Bernhardt, as he did for La Tosca.

The success of the Bernhardt posters brought Mucha commissions for advertising posters. He designed posters for JOB cigarette papers, Ruinart Champagne, Lefèvre-Utile biscuits, Nestlé baby food, Idéal Chocolate, the Beers of the Meuse, Moët-Chandon champagne, Trappestine brandy, and Waverly and Perfect bicycles. With Champenois, he also created a new kind of product, a decorative panel, a poster without text, purely for decoration. They were published in large print runs for a modest price. The first series was The Seasons, published in 1896, depicting four different women in extremely decorative floral settings representing the seasons of the year. In 1897 he produced an individual decorative panel of a young woman in a floral setting, called Reverie, for Champenois. He also designed a calendar with a woman's head surrounded by the signs of the zodiac, The rights were resold to Léon Deschamps, the editor of the arts review La Plume, who brought it out with great success in 1897. The Seasons series was followed by The Flowers The Arts (1898), The Times of Day (1899), Precious Stones (1900), and The Moon and the Stars (1902).Between 1896 and 1904 Mucha created over one hundred poster designs for Champenois. These were sold in various formats, ranging from expensive versions printed on Japanese paper or vellum, to less expensive versions which combined multiple images, to calendars and postcards.

His posters focused almost entirely on beautiful women in lavish settings with their hair usually curling in arabesque forms and filling the frame. His poster for the railway line between Paris and Monaco-Monte-Carlo (1897) did not show a train or any identifiable scene of Monaco or Monte-Carlo; it showed a beautiful young woman in a kind of reverie, surrounded by swirling floral images, which suggested the turning wheels of a train.

The fame of his posters led to success in the art world; he was invited by Deschamps to show his work in the Salon des Cent exhibition in 1896, and then, in 1897, to have a major retrospective in the same gallery showing 448 works. The magazine La Plume made a special edition devoted to his work, and his exhibition traveled to Vienna, Prague, Munich, Brussels, London, and New York, giving him an international reputation

In 1899 Alphonse Mucha also collaborated with the jeweler Georges Fouquet to make a bracelet for Sarah Bernhardt in the form of a serpent, made of gold and enamel, similar to the costume jewelry Bernhardt wore in Medea. The Cascade pendant designed for Fouquet by Mucha (1900) is in the form of a waterfall. After the 1900 Exposition, Fouquet decided to open a new shop and asked Mucha to design the interior.

The centerpieces of the design were two peacocks, the traditional symbol of luxury, made of bronze and wood with colored glass decoration. To the side was a shell-shaped fountain, with three gargoyles spouting water into basins, surrounding the statue of a nude woman. The salon was further decorated with carved moldings and stained glass, thin columents with vegetal designs, and a ceiling with molded floral and vegetal elements. It marked a summit of Art Nouveau decoration. (The Salon opened in 1901, just as tastes were beginning to change, moving away from Art Nouveau to more naturalistic patterns. It was taken apart in 1923, and a replaced by a more traditional shop design. Fortunately most of the original decoration was preserved, and was donated in 1914 and 1949 to the Carnavalet Museum in Paris, where it can be seen today.)

The Paris Universal Exposition of 1900, famous as the first grand showcase of the Art Nouveau, gave Mucha an opportunity to move in an entirely different direction, toward the large-scale historical paintings which he had admired in Vienna. It also allowed him to express his Czech patriotism.

His work appeared in many forms at the Exposition. He designed the posters, menus, displays for the jeweler and perfume maker, with statuettes and panels of women depicting the scents of rose, orange blossom, violet and buttercup. His more serious art works, including his drawings for Le Pater, were shown in the Austrian Pavilion and in the Austrian section of the Grand Palais.

His work at the Exposition earned him the title of Knight of the Order of Franz Joseph I from the Austrian government, the Legion of Honor from the French Government. During the course of the Exposition, Mucha proposed another unusual project. The Government of France planned to take down the Eiffel Tower, built especially for the Exposition, as soon as the Exposition ended. Mucha proposed that, after the Exposition, the top of the tower should be replaced by a sculptural monument to humanity be constructed on the pedestal. The tower proved to be popular with both tourists and Parisians, and the Eiffel Tower remained after the Exhibit ended.

In March 1904 Mucha sailed for New York with letters of introduction from Baroness Salomon de Rothschild. He intended to find funding for his grand project, The Slav Epic, which he had conceived during the 1900 Exposition.

At one Pan-Slavic banquet in New York City, he met Charles Richard Crane, a wealthy businessman and philanthropist, who was a passionate Slavophile and became Mucha's most important patron. 

He made a few trips to USA between 1904 and 1910, usually staying for five to six months. In 1906, he returned to New York with his new wife, (Marie/Maria) Chytilová, and they remained in the U.S. until 1909 and their first child, Jaroslava, was born in New York in 1909.

His principal income in the United States came from teaching, and artistically, the trip was not a success;  His finest work in America is often considered to be his portrait of Josephine Crane Bradley, the daughter of his patron, in the character of Slavia, in Slavic costume and surrounded by symbols from Slavic folklore and art. 

During his long stay in Paris, Mucha had never given up his dream of being a history painter, and to illustrate accomplishments of the Slavic peoples of Europe. He made the decision to return to his old country, still then part of the Austrian Empire. 

His first project in 1910 was the decoration of the reception room of the mayor of Prague.  He designed and created a series of large-scale murals for the domed ceiling and walls with athletic figures in heroic poses, depicting the contributions of Slavs to European history over the centuries, and the theme of Slavic unity. These paintings on the ceiling and walls were in sharp contrast to his Parisian work, and were designed to send a patriotic message.

The Lord Mayor's Hall was finished in 1911, and Mucha was able to devote his attention to what he considered his most important work; The Slav Epic, a series of large painting illustrating the achievements of the Slavic peoples over history. The series had twenty paintings, half devoted to the history of the Czechs, and ten to other Slavic peoples. The canvases were enormous; the finished works measured six by eight meters.

In the political turmoil of the 1930s, Mucha's work received little attention in Czechoslovakia. However, in 1936 a major retrospective was held in Paris at the Jeu de Paume museum, with 139 works, including three canvases from the Slav Epic.

Hitler and Nazi Germany began to threaten Czechoslovakia in the 1930s. Mucha began work on a new series, a triptych depicting the Age of Reason, the Age of Wisdom and the Age of Love, which he worked on from 1936 to 1938, but never completed. 
​
On 15 March 1939, the German army paraded through Prague, and Hitler, at Prague castle, declared lands of the former Czechoslovakia to be part of the Greater German Reich as the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Mucha's role as a Slav nationalist and Freemason made him a prime target. He was arrested, interrogated for several days, and released. By then his health was broken. He contracted pneumonia and died on 14 July 1939, a few weeks before the outbreak of the Second World War. Though public gatherings were banned, a huge crowd attended his interment in the Slavín Monument of Vyšehrad cemetery, reserved for notable figures in Czech culture.

In 1894, Italian Writer Federico de Roberto (Napoli, 16 gennaio 1861 – Catania, 26 luglio 1927) wrote the novel I Vicerè.It was the story about Uzeda, a Sicilian princely family in 19th century Sicily faithful to the Bourbon kings, begins to lose its power, with the Unification of Italy in 1861 and the rise to power of Giuseppe Garibaldi and Vittorio Emanuele II, ).  In 2007 Italian director Roberto Faenza adapted it into a historical film with the same title, and Alessandro Preziosi played the principle character Consalvo.

Anouk Aimée ( born 27 April 1932) is a French film actress, who has appeared in 70 films since 1947, having begun her film career at age 14. In her early years she studied acting and dance besides her regular education. Although the majority of her films were French, she also made a number of films in Spain, Great Britain, Italy and Germany, along with some American productions.

Among her films are Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960), after which she was considered a "rising star who exploded" onto the film world. She subsequently acted in Fellini's 8½ (1963), Jacques Demy's Lola (1961), George Cukor's Justine (1969), Bernardo Bertolucci's Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man (1981) and Robert Altman's Prêt à Porter (1994). She won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her acting in Un homme et une femme (A Man and a Woman, 1966). The film brought her international fame.

She won the Award for Best Actress at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival. In 2002 she received an honorary César Award, France's national film award.

​Aimée was noted for her "striking features" and beauty, and considered "one of the hundred sexiest stars in film history," according to a 1995 poll conducted by Empire Magazine. She has often portrayed a femme fatale with a melancholy aura. In the 1960s, Life magazine wrote that "after each picture her enigmatic beauty lingered" in the memories of her audience, and called her "the Left Bank's most beautiful resident."

​Filmography of Anouk ​Aimée1946 : La Maison sous la mer de Henri Calef , Anouk
1947 : La Fleur de l'âge de Marcel Carné , Inachevé
1949 : Les Amants de Vérone de André Cayatte , Giorgia Maglia (Juliette)
1949 : La Salamandre d'or de The Golden Salamander , Ronald Neame
1951 : Conquête du froid de Jean Vidal , court métrage
1951 : Nuit d'orage Noche de tormenta de Jaime de Maroya Marcel Jauniaux , voix
1952 : La Bergère et le ramoneur de Paul Grimault , la bergère voix
1952 : Le Rideau cramoisi sketch du film Les Crimes de l'amour de Alexandre Astruc , Albertine
1952 : L'Homme qui regardait les trains The Man Who Watched the Trains Go By de Harold French , Jeanne
1954 : Forever my heart de Bernard Knowles , La femme légère épi. Happy Birthday
1955 : Les Mauvaises Rencontres, de Alexandre Astruc ,, Catherine
1955 : L'Amour ne meurt jamais Ich suche dich de O.W. Fischer , Françoise Maurer
1955 : Contraband Spain Contrabando de Lawrence Huntington Jaime Salvador , Elena Vargas
1956 : Nina de Rudolph Jugert , Nina Iwanowa
1956 : Strese-Mann de Alfred Braun , Annette Stein
1957 : Tous peuvent me tuer de Henri Decoin , Isabelle
1957 : Pot-Bouille de Julien Duvivier , Marie
1957 : Montparnasse 19 ou Les Amants de Montparnasse de Jacques Becker , Jeanne Hébuterne
1959 : Le Voyage The Journey de Anatole Litvak , Eva
1959 : La Tête contre les murs de Georges Franju , Stéphanie
1959 : Les Dragueurs de Jean-Pierre Mocky , Jeanne
1960 : Quai Notre-Dame de Jacques Berthier , l'Antiquaire
1960 : La Dolce Vita de Federico Fellini , Maddalena
1961 : Lola de Jacques Demy , Lola (Cécile)
1961 : Le Jugement dernier de Vittorio De Sica , Irène
1961 : L'Imprévu L'Imprevisto de Alberto Lattuada , Claire
1961 : Sodome et Gomorrhe ( Sodoma e Gomorra) de Robert Aldrich et Sergio Leone , la reine Bera
1961 : Le Farceur de Philippe de Broca , Hélène Laroche
1963 : Le Terroriste Il terrorista de Gianfranco De Bosio , Anna Braschi
1963 : Le Jour le plus court Il giorno più corto de Sergio Corbucci ,
1963 : Les Grands Chemins de Christian Marquand , Anna
1963 : Le Coq du village de Alessandro Blasetti ,
1963 : Le Succès Il successo de Dino Risi , Laura
1963 : Huit et demi (Otto e mezzo) de Federico Fellini , Luisa Anselmi
1964 : La Fugue (La fuga) de Paolo Spinola , Luisa
1964 : Le Sexe des anges (Le voci bianche) de Pasquale Festa Campanile Massimo Franciosa , Lorenza
1965 : Le Scandale (Lo scandalo) de Anna Gobbi ,
1965 : Les Saisons de notre amour Le stagioni de nostro amore de Florestano Vancini ,
1965 : Il morbidone de Massimo Franciosa , Valeria
1966 : Un homme et une femme de Claude Lelouch, Anne Gauthier
1967 : Vivre pour vivre de Claude Lelouch
1968 : Un soir, un train de André Delvaux , Anne
1968 : Model Shop de Jacques Demy , Lola
1968 : Le Rendez-vous The appointment de Sidney Lumet , Carla
1969 : Justine de George Cukor , Justine
1976 : Si c'était à refaire de Claude Lelouch , Sarah Gordon
1978 : Mon premier amour de Elie Chouraqui , Jane
1980 : Le Saut dans le vide (Salto nel vuoto), de Marco Bellocchio , Marta Ponticelli
1981 : La Tragédie d'un homme ridicule de Bernardo Bertolucci , Barbara Spaggiari
1982 : Qu'est-ce qui fait courir David ? de Élie Chouraqui , Hélène
1983 : Le Général de l'armée morte (Il Generale dell'armata morte), de Luciano Tovoli , la comtesse Betsy Di Brenni
1984 : Le Succès à tout prix Success is the best revenge de Jerzy Skolimowski , Monique
1984 : Viva la vie! de Claude Lelouch , Anouk
1986 : Un homme et une femme : vingt ans déjà de Claude Lelouch , Anne Gauthier
1987 : Papa et moi Arrivederci e grazie de Giorgio Capitani , Laura
1988 : La Table tournante de Paul Grimault Jacques Demy , la bergère Voix
1988 : Arriverderci e grazie de Giorgio Capitani ,
1990 : Béthune : the making of a hero ou Docteur Norman Béthune de Phillip Borsos , Marie-France Coudaire
1990 : Il y a des jours... et des lunes de Claude Lelouch , Son propre rôle
1991 : L'Amour maudit de Leisenbohg de Edouard Molinaro , Claire Hell Télévision
1993 : Rupture(s) de Christine Citti , Marthe
1993 : Les Marmottes de Elie Chouraqui , Françoise
1995 : Les Cent et Une Nuits de Simon Cinéma de Agnès Varda , L'actrice d'un jour
1995 : Prêt-à-porter Ready to wear de Robert Altman , Simone Lowenthal
1995 : Dis-moi oui de Alexandre Arcady , Claire Charvet
1995 : L'Univers de Jacques Demy de Agnès Varda , Son propre rôle
1996 : Hommes, femmes, mode d'emploi de Claude Lelouch , La veuve
1997 : Riches, belles, etc. de Bunny Schpoliansky , La fée
1997 : Salomon de Roger Young , Bethsabée
1999 : 1999 Madeleine de Laurent Bouhnik , Eve
1999 : I Love L. A. de Mika Kaurismäki , Son propre rôle
1999 : Une pour toutes de Claude Lelouch , La femme du musicien
2001 : Festival in Cannes de Henry Jaglom , Millie Marquand
2002 : Napoléon de Yves Simoneau ,
2003 : La Petite prairie aux bouleaux de Marceline Loridan-Ivens , Myriam
2004 : Ils se marièrent et eurent beaucoup d'enfants de Yvan Attal , La mère de Vincent
2006 : De particulier à particulier de Brice Cauvin , Nelly
​2009 : Celle que j'aime de Elie Chouraqui , Une consommatrice dans un café
2010 : Ces amours-là de Claude Lelouch , Mme Blum
2011 : Tous les soleils de Philippe Claudel , Agathe
2012 : Mince alors ! de Charlotte de Turckheim , Maman

Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel (December 8, 1815 – February 9, 1905) was a German Realist artist noted for drawings, etchings, and paintings. Along with Caspar David Friedrich, he is considered one of the two most prominent German painters of the 19th century,and was the most successful artist of his era in Germany. First known as Adolph Menzel, he was knighted in 1898 and changed his name to Adolph von Menzel.

Adolph Menzel was born to German parents in Breslau, Prussian Silesia (now Poland), on December 8, 1815. His father was a lithographer and intended to educate his son as a professor; however, he would not thwart his taste for art. After resigning his teaching post, Menzel senior set up a lithographic workshop in 1818.

In 1830 his family moved to Berlin, and in 1832 Adolph was forced to take over the lithographic business on the death of his father. In 1833, he studied briefly at the Berlin Academy of Art, where he drew from plaster casts and ancient sculptures; thereafter Menzel was self-taught. Louis Friedrich Sachse of Berlin published his first work in 1833, an album of pen-and-ink drawings reproduced on stone, to illustrate Goethe's little poem, Kunstlers Erdenwallen. He executed lithographs in the same manner to illustrate Denkwürdigkeiten aus der brandenburgisch-preussischen Geschichte; The Five Senses and The Prayer, as well as diplomas for various corporations and societies.

From 1839 to 1842, he produced 400 drawings, largely introducing to Germany the technique of wood engraving, to illustrate the Geschichte Friedrichs des Grossen (History of Frederick the Great) by Franz Kugler. He subsequently brought out Friedrichs der Grossen Armee in ihrer Uniformirung (The Uniforms of the Army under Frederick the Great), Soldaten Friedrichs der Grossen (The Soldiers of Frederick the Great); and finally, by order of King Frederick William IV, he illustrated the works of Frederick the Great, Illustrationen zu den Werken Friedrichs des Grossen (1843–1849). The artist had a deep sympathy for the Prussian king. In one of his letters to Johann Jakob Weber, he said that it was his intention to represent the monarch as a man who was both hated and admired—simply as he was, in other words, as a man of the people. Through these works, Menzel established his claim to be considered one of the first, if not actually the first, of the illustrators of his day in his own line.

The paintings which were available to the public garnered recognition not only within Germany, but from the French avant-garde as well: Edgar Degas admired and copied his work, calling him "the greatest living master", and Louis Edmond Duranty wrote of his art:

And the poet Jules Laforgue described him as "no taller than a cuirassier-guard's boot, bedecked with pendants and orders, not missing a single one of these parties, moving among all these personages like a gnome and like the greatest enfant terrible for the chronicler."

In Germany Menzel received many honors, and in 1898 he became the first painter to be admitted to the Order of the Black Eagle; by virtue of receiving the Order, Menzel was raised to the nobility, becoming "Adolph von Menzel". He was also made a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris and the Royal Academy in London.

Aldolph von Menzel died on 9 February 1905 in Berlin, his funeral arrangements were directed by the Kaiser, who walked behind his coffin.

Alexandre Cabanel, né le 28 septembre 1823 à Montpellier et mort le 23 janvier 1889 à Paris 8e1, est un artiste peintre français, considéré comme l'un des grands peintres académiques, du Second Empire, dont il est l'un des artistes les plus admirés.

Fils d'un modeste menuisier, Alexandre Cabanel commence son apprentissage à l’école des beaux-arts de Montpellier dans la classe de Charles Matet conservateur du musée Fabre. Doté d'une bourse, il s'installe à Paris en 1839.

Il entre en 1840 à l'École des beaux-arts de Paris où il est l'élève de François-Édouard Picot.

Après deux échecs, Cincinnatus recevant les ambassadeurs de Rome en 1843 et Le Christ au Jardin des Oliviers en 1844, il est lauréat d'un second prix de Rome en 1845 et pensionnaire de la villa Médicis jusqu'en 1850.

À Montpellier, il réalise les portraits d'un certain nombre de membres de familles fortunées comme la famille Marès. À la fois peintre d'histoire et peintre de genre, il évolue au fil des années vers des thèmes romantiques, telle Albaydé, en 1848, inspirée par Les Orientales de Victor Hugo publié en 1829.

Il reçoit les insignes de chevalier de la Légion d'honneur en 1855.

La célébrité lui vient avec la Naissance de Vénus exposée au Salon de 1863 qui est immédiatement achetée par Napoléon III pour sa collection personnelle et qui entre au musée du Luxembourg en 1881 (le tableau est conservé à Paris au musée d'Orsay). Il passe un contrat avec la maison Goupil pour la commercialisation de reproductions en gravure de la Naissance de Vénus.

En 1863, Cabanel est élu membre de l'Académie des beaux-arts au fauteuil X.

En janvier 1864, il est nommé professeur-chef d'atelier de peinture à l'École des beaux-arts de Paris et promu au rang d’officier de la Légion d'honneur.

Lors de l'Exposition universelle de 1867, il est décoré de la croix de chevalier de première classe de l'ordre du Mérite de Saint-Michel de Bavière à la suite de son Paradis perdu commandé pour le Maximilianeum de Munich par Louis II de Bavière.

Entre 1868 et 1888, il est dix-sept fois membre du jury du Salon, dont les années 1869, 1873, 1875, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1881.

Il reçoit la médaille d'honneur du Salon en 1865, pour le Portrait de l'Empereur, ainsi qu'en 1867 et en 1878.

Ses œuvres sont recherchées par les célébrités européennes et les collectionneurs américains qui lui commandent leurs portraits.

En tant que peintre officiel et membre du jury, où il fait preuve d'une farouche opposition à l'égard de toute tendance novatrice, Cabanel est régulièrement critiqué et mis en opposition avec les naturalistes et les impressionnistes, en particulier avec Édouard Manet dont Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe, alors intitulé Le Bain, puis La Partie carrée, avait été refusé au Salon de 1863, alors que Cabanel triomphait avec sa Naissance de Vénus. Il est régulièrement brocardé par Émile Zola ou Joris-Karl Huysmans.

Cependant, il intervient en 1881 lors de la présentation du portrait de Pertuiset, Le chasseur de lions d'Édouard Manet et défend celui-ci en s'écriant « Messieurs, il n’y en a pas un parmi nous qui soit fichu de faire une tête comme ça en plein air ! »

Il est promu au rang de commandeur de la Légion d'honneur en 1884 et est élu associé de l'Académie Royale de Belgique le 6 janvier 1887.

Ses obsèques ont lieu à Paris le 26 janvier 1889 puis son corps est transporté à Montpellier au cimetière Saint-Lazare où il est inhumé le 28 janvier 1889. Un monument est érigé en 1892 par l'architecte Jean Camille Formigé orné d'un buste en marbre de Paul Dubois et une sculpture, Regret, d'Antonin Mercié.

Une rue porte son nom à Paris, la rue Alexandre-Cabanel dans le 15e arrondissement, à Montpellier, à Béziers ainsi qu'à Toulon.

Alexandre Cabanel was a French painter. He painted historical, classical and religious subjects in the academic style. He was also well known as a portrait painter. According to Diccionario Enciclopedico Salvat, Cabanel is the best representative of the L'art pompier and Napoleon III's preferred painter.

Cabanel entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris at the age of seventeen, and studied with François-Édouard Picot. He exhibited at the Paris Salon for the first time in 1844, and won the Prix de Rome scholarship in 1845 at the age of 22. Cabanel was elected a member of the Institute in 1863. He was appointed professor at the École des Beaux-Arts in 1864 and taught there until his death.

He was closely connected to the Paris Salon: "He was elected regularly to the Salon jury and his pupils could be counted by the hundred at the Salons. Through them, Cabanel did more than any other artist of his generation to form the character of belle époque French painting". His refusal together with William-Adolphe Bouguereau to allow the impressionist painter Édouard Manet and many other painters to exhibit their work in the Salon of 1863 led to the establishment of the Salon des Refusés by the French government. Cabanel won the Grande Médaille d'Honneur at the Salons of 1865, 1867, and 1878.

A successful academic painter, his 1863 painting The Birth of Venus is one of the best known examples of 19th-century academic painting. The picture was bought by the emperor Napoleon III; there is also a smaller replica (painted in 1875 for a banker, John Wolf) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It was given to them by Wolf in 1893.

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian Baroque musical composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher, and priest. Born in Venice, the capital of the Venetian Republic, he is regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread across Europe. He composed many instrumental concertos, for the violin and a variety of other instruments, as well as sacred choral works and more than forty operas. His best-known work is a series of violin concertos known as the Four Seasons. Many of his compositions were written for the all-female music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for abandoned children. Vivaldi had worked there as a Catholic priest for 1 1/2 years and was employed there from 1703 to 1715 and from 1723 to 1740. Vivaldi also had some success with expensive stagings of his operas in Venice, Mantua and Vienna. Ten years after meeting the Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi moved to Vienna, hoping for royal support. However, the Emperor died soon after Vivaldi's arrival, and Vivaldi himself died, in poverty, less than a year later.

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was born on 4 March 1678 in Venice, then the capital of the Venetian Republic.

Vivaldi's parents were Giovanni Battista Vivaldi and Camilla Calicchio, as recorded in the register of San Giovanni in Bragora.

His father Giovanni Battista was a barber then became a professional violinist and was one of the founders of the Sovvegno dei musicisti di Santa Cecilia, an association of musicians. He Antonio to play the violin and then tour Venice playing the violin with him.

Vivaldi's health was problematic. One of his symptoms, strettezza di petto ("tightness of the chest"), has been interpreted as a form of asthma.This did not prevent him from learning to play the violin, composing, or taking part in musical activities, although it did stop him from playing wind instruments. In 1693, at the age of fifteen, he began studying to become a priest.He was ordained in 1703, aged 25, and was soon nicknamed il Prete Rosso, "The Red Priest". (Rosso is Italian for "red", and would have referred to the color of his hair, a family trait.)

Not long after his ordination, in 1704, he was given a dispensation from celebrating Mass because of his ill health. but he formally remained a member of the priesthood.

In September 1703, Vivaldi became maestro di violino (master of violin) at an orphanage called the Pio Ospedale della Pietà (Devout Hospital of Mercy) in Venice.

Vivaldi wrote concertos, cantatas and sacred vocal music while working in Ospedale della Pietà. These sacred works, which number over 60, are varied: they included solo motets and large-scale choral works for soloists, double chorus, and orchestra.

In 1704, in addition to maestro di violino, Vivaldi also became teacher of viola all'inglese and one time maestro di coro, composing an oratorio or concerto at every feast and teach the orphans both music theory and how to play certain instruments.

His work was not always recognized by the Ospedale, however, and he was forced to become freelance musician in 1709 because the board of directors fired him, but they had to ask him back after one year, and in 1716 Antonio Vivaldi was promoted to maestro de' concerti (music director) and became responsible for all of the musical activity of the institution.

As a composer Vivaldi's breakthrough came with his first collection of 12 concerti for one, two, and four violins with strings, L'estro armonico (Opus 3), which was published in Amsterdam in 1711 by Estienne Roger, dedicated to Grand Prince Ferdinand of Tuscany who sponsored many musicians including Alessandro Scarlatti and George Frideric Handel. L'estro armonico was a resounding success all over Europe.

Meanwhile Vivaldi started his career as an opera composer as a sideline, and his first opera, Ottone in villa (RV 729) was performed at the Garzerie Theater in Vicenza in 1713 instead of Venice where he worked. In 1737, in a letter written by Vivaldi to his patron Marchese Bentivoglio, Vivaldi made reference to his "94 operas". Only around 50 operas by Vivaldi have been discovered, and no other documentation of the remaining operas exists. Although Vivaldi may have been exaggerating, it is plausible that, in his dual role of composer and impresario, he may have either written or been responsible for the production of as many as 94 operas.

In 1717 or 1718, Vivaldi was offered a prestigious new position as Maestro di Cappella of the court of prince Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt, governor of Mantua, in the northwest of Italy.

It was during this period Vivaldi wrote the famous Le quattro stagioni (Four Seasons), four violin concertos that give musical expression to the seasons of the year. Though three of the concerti are wholly original, the first, "Spring", borrows motifs from a Sinfonia in the first act of Vivaldi's contemporaneous opera Il Giustino. The inspiration for the concertos was probably the countryside around Mantua. They were a revolution in musical conception: in them Vivaldi represented flowing creeks, singing birds (of different species, each specifically characterized), barking dogs, buzzing mosquitoes, crying shepherds, storms, drunken dancers, silent nights, hunting parties from both the hunters' and the prey's point of view, frozen landscapes, ice-skating children, and warming winter fires. Each concerto is associated with a sonnet, possibly by Vivaldi, describing the scenes depicted in the music. They were published as the first four concertos in a collection of twelve, Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, Opus 8, published in Amsterdam by Michel-Charles Le Cène in 1725. , governor of Mantua, in the northwest of Italy. He moved there for three years and produced several operas, among them Tito Manlio (RV 738).

It was during this period in Mantua that Vivaldi wrote the Four Seasons, four violin concertos that give musical expression to the seasons of the year. Though three of the concerti are wholly original, the first, "Spring", borrows motifs from a Sinfonia in the first act of Vivaldi's contemporaneous opera Il Giustino. The inspiration for the concertos was probably the countryside around Mantua. They were a revolution in musical conception: in them Vivaldi represented flowing creeks, singing birds (of different species, each specifically characterized), barking dogs, buzzing mosquitoes, crying shepherds, storms, drunken dancers, silent nights, hunting parties from both the hunters' and the prey's point of view, frozen landscapes, ice-skating children, and warming winter fires. Each concerto is associated with a sonnet, possibly by Vivaldi, describing the scenes depicted in the music. They were published as the first four concertos in a collection of twelve, Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione, Opus 8, published in Amsterdam by Michel-Charles Le Cène in 1725.

Apart from prince Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt Vivaldi also received commissions from other European nobility and royalty at the height of his career.

The serenata (cantata) Gloria e Imeneo (RV 687) was commissioned in 1725 by the French ambassador to Venice in celebration of the marriage of Louis XV. The following year, another serenata, La Sena festeggiante (RV 694), was written for and premiered at the French embassy as well, celebrating the birth of the French royal princesses, Henriette and Louise Élisabeth. Vivaldi's Opus 9, La cetra, was dedicated to Emperor Charles VI. In 1728, Vivaldi met the emperor while the emperor was visiting Trieste to oversee the construction of a new port. Charles admired the music of the Vivaldi the Red Priest so much that he gave Vivaldi the title of knight, a gold medal and an invitation to Vienna.

In 1930, Vivaldi traveled to Vienna and Prague ccompanied by his father, but it was almost 10 years later he decided to leave Venice for Vienna. By then his compositions were no longer held in such high esteem as they once had been in Venice as changing musical tastes quickly made them outmoded, and Vivaldi chose to sell off sizeable numbers of his manuscripts at paltry prices to finance his migration to Vienna.

Shortly after his arrival in Vienna, however, Charles VI died, which left the composer without any royal protection or a steady source of income. Less than a year later, Vivaldi died in July 1741, aged 63.

During his lifetime, Vivaldi was popular in many countries throughout Europe, including France, but after his death his popularity dwindled. After the end of the Baroque period, Vivaldi's published concerti became relatively unknown, and were largely ignored. Even his most famous work, The Four Seasons, was unknown in its original edition during the Classical and Romantic periods.

A composition by Vivaldi is identified by RV number, which refers to its place in the "Ryom-Verzeichnis" or "Répertoire des oeuvres d'Antonio Vivaldi", a catalog created in the 20th century by the musicologist Peter Ryom.

The violin concerto Four Seasons of 1723, part of Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione ("The Contest between Harmony and Invention"), is Antonio Vivaldi's most famous work, it depicts moods and scenes from each of the four seasons. This work has been described as an outstanding instance of pre-19th century program music.

Vivaldi wrote more than 500 other concertos. About 350 of these are for solo instrument and strings, of which 230 are for violin, the others being for bassoon, cello, oboe, flute, viola d'amore, recorder, lute, or mandolin. About forty concertos are for two instruments and strings, and about thirty are for three or more instruments and strings.

As well as about 46 operas, Vivaldi composed a large body of sacred choral music, such as Magnificat. Other works include sinfonias, about 90 sonatas and chamber music.

Vivaldi's music was innovative. He brightened the formal and rhythmic structure of the concerto, in which he looked for harmonic contrasts and innovative melodies and themes.

Johann Sebastian Bach was deeply influenced by Vivaldi's concertos and arias (recalled in his St John Passion, St Matthew Passion, and cantatas). Bach transcribed six of Vivaldi's concerti for solo keyboard: three for organ, and one for four harpsichords, strings, and basso continuo (BWV 1065) based upon the concerto for four violins, two violas, cello, and basso continuo (RV 580).

Princess Alexandra,The Honourable Lady Ogilvy (Alexandra Helen Elizabeth Olga Christabel ) is a member of the British royal family.

Alexandra was born to Prince George, Duke of Kent(brother of King George VI) and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark. She is a first cousin of the current British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, and since her mother Princess Marina was a first cousin of the queen's husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, she is also his first cousin once removed.

Alexandra is the widow of businessman Sir Angus Ogilvy, to whom she was married from 1963 until his death in 2004. 
Princess Alexandra was born on 25 December 1936 at 3 Belgrave Square, London. Her parents were Prince George, Duke of Kent, the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, a daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia. She was named after her paternal great-grandmother, Queen Alexandra; her grandmother, Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia; and both of her maternal aunts, Countess Elizabeth of Törring-Jettenbach and Princess Olga of Yugoslavia. 

As a male-line granddaughter of the British monarch, Princess Alexandra was styled as a British princess with the prefix Her Royal Highness. At the time of her birth, she was sixth in the line of succession to the British throne, behind her cousins Elizabeth and Margaret, her uncle the Duke of Gloucester, her father the Duke of Kent, and her elder brother Prince Edward. She was born two weeks after the abdication of her uncle King Edward VIII.

The Princess was baptised in the Private Chapel of Buckingham Palace, on 9 February 1937, and her godparents were King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (her paternal uncle and aunt); the Queen of Norway (her grand-aunt); Princess Nicholas of Greece and Denmark (her maternal grandmother); Princess Olga of Yugoslavia (her maternal aunt); the Princess Beatrice (her paternal great-grand-aunt); the Earl of Athlone (her paternal grand-uncle); and Count Karl Theodor of Toerring-Jettenbach (her maternal uncle by marriage). ​

On 24 April 1963, Princess Alexandra married the Hon. Angus James Bruce Ogilvy (1928–2004), the second son of the 12th Earl of Airlie and Lady Alexandra Coke, at Westminster Abbey. Ogilvy presented Alexandra with an engagement ring made of a cabochon sapphire set in gold and surrounded by diamonds on both sides.

The wedding ceremony was attended by the royal family and was broadcast worldwide on television, watched by an estimated 200 million people.

The bride wore a wedding gown of Valenciennes lace of intricate pattern of oak leaves and acorns from her late grandmother Princess Nicholas of Greece, with matching veil and train, designed by John Cavanagh (who has also created the wedding gown of Alexandra's sister-in-law, Katharine, the current Duchess and dressed her mother Princess Marina), anchored by City of London diamond fringe tiara worn by her mother on her own wedding. ​

​In 2000, Clooney graduated with a BA degree in Jurisprudence.

The following year, in 2001, she entered New York University School and received the Jack J. Katz Memorial Award for excellence in entertainment law.

After graduation, Amal worked at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York City for three years as part of the Criminal Defense and Investigations Group, where her clients included Enron and Arthur Andersen.
In 2010, she returned to Britain and became a barrister in London at Doughty Street Chambers. specialising in international law and human rights, and over the years, she has worked for some high profile clients such as Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, in his fight against extradition; the former prime minister of Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko; Egyptian-Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy; and Nobel Prize laureate Nadia Murad.

In 2013 Clooney was appointed to a number of United Nations commissions, including as adviser to Special Envoy Kofi Annan on Syria and as Counsel to the 2013 Drone Inquiry by UN human rights rapporteur Ben Emmerson QC into the use of drones in counter-terrorism operations.

On 25 February 2014, the UK Attorney General's Office appointed Clooney for the period 2014 to 2019 to the C Panel of the Public International Law Panel of Counsel.

​After her marriage, she is also engaged in philanthropy with her husband George Clooney. They co-founded the Clooney Foundation for Justice in late 2016 to advance justice in courtrooms, communities, and classrooms around the world. She also helped in various causes through sponsorship, scholarship and donation on her own or with her husband
​In June 2017, Amal Clooney gave birth to twins: daughter Ella and son Alexander.

​1939: military 

On 27 May (civil) and 28 May (religious) 1949, in Cannes, France, Aly Khan married American film star Rita Hayworth, who left her film career to marry him.

​While still married to Rita Hayworth, Khan began a relationship with American film and stage actress Gene Tierney. After about a year, Tierney separated from the Prince and moved back to the United States to tend to her mental health.

​Andrews was born in London, the son of Geraldine Agnes (née Cooper), a dancer, and Stanley Thomas Andrews, an arranger and conductor for the BBC. He grew up in North Finchley London. At the age of eight he took dancing lessons, making his stage debut as the White Rabbit in a stage adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.

After a series of jobs that included catering, farming and journalism, he secured a position at the Chichester Theatre where he worked as an assistant stage manager and later as a stand-in producer.

Andrews auditioned in 1968 for a production of Alan Bennett's new play, Forty Years On, which featured John Gielgud as the headmaster of a British public school during the First World War period. Andrews was cast as Skinner, one of twenty schoolboys.

In 1974 he played Lord Robert, Marquis of Stockbridge in the TV series Upstairs, Downstairs. In 1975 he had a leading role in the Spanish film Las adolescentes (The Adolescents), opposite Koo Stark.