André Rieu | Strauss party

André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu (1 October, 1949) is a Dutch violinist and conductor best known as the founder of the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra.

André Rieu has legions of fans worldwide and his performances have become major events in the calendar that are always guaranteed to sell out.

André Rieu tours Europe and the USA constantly and has also toured Australia and the Far East regularly.

Eugene de Blaas | Academic /Genre painter

Eugene de Blaas also known as Eugenio De Blaas or Eugen von Blaas, was born on July 24th in the Italian village of Albano, near Rome in 1843, to Austrian parents.

His career was enriched by a talented and artistic family.

His father, Carl von Blaas (1815-1894), was one of the most notable portrait painters of Roman society, a successful history portrait and fresco painter of the late Biedermeier period.

Queen Nefertiti's Long Lost Tomb

QV66 is the tomb of Nefertari, the Great Wife of Pharaoh Ramesses II, in Egypt's Valley of the Queens.

It was discovered by Ernesto Schiaparelli (the director of the Egyptian Museum in Turin) in 1904.

Nefertari, which means "beautiful companion", was Ramesses II's favorite wife; he went out of his way to make this obvious, referring to her as "the one for whom the sun shines" in his writings, built the Temple of Hathor at Abu Simbel to idolize her as a deity, and commissioned portraiture wall paintings.

Modigliani, the Secret of empty eyes in his portraits

"When I know your soul, I will paint your eyes" - Amedeo Modigliani (Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris, 1884-1920) once said.

Of all the striking characteristics seen in Modigliani’s portraits, be they the elongated visages or the disfigured features, the mysterious, hazy eyes of the sitters capture the true essence of the painter’s style.

In fact, while he would outline the eyes, he'd rarely paint the pupils, except when he had a close, nurturing relationship with them - enabling a basis for emotional intelligence.

Johann Strauss | Morning Papers, Op 279 | Viennese waltz

Morgenblätter (Morning Papers), Op. 279, is a Viennese waltz composed by Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) in 1863 and first performed on 12 January 1864 at the Sofiensaal in Vienna.

The work's genesis was attributed to the composition of a waltz by Jacques Offenbach later titled "Abendblätter" when Offenbach dedicated his work to the influential Vienna Authors' and Journalists' Association (Presseclub Concordia).

Camille Claudel | La valse, 1889-1905

Torna a Surriento!

"Torna a Surriento" is a Neapolitan song composed in 1894 by Italian musician Ernesto De Curtis to words by his brother, the poet and painter Giambattista De Curtis.

The song was copyrighted officially in 1905, and has become one of the most popular of this traditional genre.

Others include:

╰┈➤ "O sole mio",

╰┈➤ "Funiculì funiculà",

╰┈➤ "Santa Lucia".

La Bocca della Verità / The Mouth of Truth, Roma 1485

The Mouth of Truth / Bocca della Verità is an ancient Roman marble disc with a relief carving of a man's face.

According to legend the face's mouth closes if a liar sticks his hand in it.

The massive marble mask weighs about 1300 kg and probably depicts the face of the sea god Oceanus. The eyes, nostrils and mouth are open.

Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in Vacanze Romane, 1953

Giotto | The allegories of Vices, 1303-1305

In the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, between 1303-1305, Italian painter and architect from Florence Giotto di Bondone (1266/7-1337), painted 14 allegories, in monochrome - seven allegorical representations of virtues and seven allegorical representations of vices.