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From today's featured article

Madonna in the Church (or The Virgin in the Church) is a small oil panel by the early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck. Probably executed between c. 1438–40, it depicts the Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus in a Gothic cathedral. Mary is presented as Queen of Heaven wearing a jewel-studded crown, cradling a playful child Christ who gazes at her and grips the hem of her red dress in a manner that recalls the 13th-century Byzantine tradition of the Eleusa icon (Virgin of Tenderness). Tracery in the arch at the rear of the nave contains wooden carvings depicting episodes from Mary's life, while a faux bois sculpture in a niche shows her holding the child in a similar pose. Erwin Panofsky sees the painting composed as if the main figures in the panel are intended to be the sculptures come to life. (Full article...)

Did you know...

• ... that there were 31 ancient Egyptian dynasties?
• ... that Istanbul was formerly known as Constantinople and before 324AD was known as Byzantium?
• ... that Arii Matamoe (pictured), an 1892 painting of a Pacific Islander's severed head, may have been inspired by the death of Pōmare V shortly after Paul Gauguin's arrival in Tahiti?
• ... that 72 Terrorists came from countries that President Trump recently banned in Executive Order 13769?
• ... that some people believe that the moon landings were fake?
• ... that Emma Dench, a British classicist and the McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History at Harvard University, appeared in a film alongside her aunt Judi Dench in 1968?
• ... that Ian McDonald's 2015 science fiction novel Luna: New Moon has been called "Game of Thrones in space"?

In the news (from Infogalactic News)

• Lindsey Graham Finds Himself At Kav Hearing
  Kav, Graham Go On Rampage Against Circus
• Beijing Demands Trump "Stop Unceasing Criticism And Slander Of China"
  Trump Claims China Interfering In November Elections
• EU Accepts No-Deal Brexit A Possibility
  Deal Possible Until November
  

• EU Lawmakers Push For Data Audit, Cybersecurity From Facebook
  In Wake Of Cambridge Analytica Scandal
• Man Arrested For Chasing After Plane At Dublin Airport
  Later Verbally Abused Journalists And Mooned Bystanders
• Two Arrested In Denmark
  Trying To Supply Islamic State With Drones
  Cosby In Cuffs
  TV Star Gets 3 To 10 Years For Sex Assault
  

On this day...

September 27

• 1875 – The merchant sailing ship Ellen Southard is wrecked in a storm at Liverpool; the United States Congress subsequently awards 27 gold Lifesaving Medals to the lifeboat men who went to rescue her crew.
• 1922 – King Constantine I of Greece abdicates his throne in favor of his eldest son, George II.
• 1940 – World War II: The Tripartite Pact is signed in Berlin by Germany, Japan and Italy.
• 2002 – Timor-Leste joins the United Nations.
• 2007 – NASA launches the Dawn probe.
• 2008 – CNSA astronaut Zhai Zhigang becomes the first Chinese person to perform a spacewalk while flying on Shenzhou 7.
• 2012 – A mass shooting takes place at Accent Signage Systems, in Minneapolis, killing 6 people, including the gunman who committed suicide, and wounding 2 others.

• More anniversaries:
  • September 26
  • September 27
  • September 28

September 28

• 995 – Members of the Slavník dynasty: Spytimír, Pobraslav, Pořej and Čáslav are murdered by Boleslaus's son, Boleslaus II the Pious.
• 1939 – Warsaw surrenders to Nazi Germany during World War II.
• 1944 – Soviet Army troops liberate Klooga concentration camp in Klooga, Estonia.
• 1950 – Indonesia joins the United Nations.
• 1960 – Mali and Senegal join the United Nations.
• 2008 – SpaceX launches the first private spacecraft, the Falcon 1 into orbit.
• 2014 – Hong Kong protests: Benny Tai announces that Occupy Central is launched as Hong Kong's government headquarters is being occupied by thousands of protesters. Hong Kong police resort to tear gas to disperse protesters but thousands remain.

• More anniversaries:
  • September 27
  • September 28
  • September 29

• 1923 – The British Mandate for Palestine takes effect, creating Mandatory Palestine.
• 1962 – Alouette 1, the first Canadian satellite, is launched.
• 1964 – The Argentine comic strip Mafalda is published for the first time.
• 1979 – Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to visit Ireland.
• 1982 – The Chicago Tylenol murders begin when the first of seven individuals dies in metropolitan Chicago.
• 2004 – The Burt Rutan Ansari X Prize entry SpaceShipOne performs a successful spaceflight, the first of two required to win the prize.
• 2007 – Calder Hall, the world's first commercial nuclear power station, is demolished in a controlled explosion.

• More anniversaries:
  • September 28
  • September 29
  • September 30

Today's featured picture

Donatello was the son of Niccolò di Betto Bardi, who was a member of the Florentine Wool Combers Guild, and was born in Florence, most likely in the year 1386. Donatello was educated in the house of the Martelli family. He apparently received his early artistic training in a goldsmith's workshop, and then worked briefly in the studio of Lorenzo Ghiberti.

In 1409–1411 Donatello executed the colossal seated figure of Saint John the Evangelist, which until 1588 occupied a niche of the old cathedral façade, and is now placed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. This work marks a decisive step forward from late Gothic Mannerism in the search for naturalism and the rendering of human feelings. The face, the shoulders and the bust are still idealized, while the hands and the fold of cloth over the legs are more realistic. (Full article...)

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