artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Executed in distemper on linen canvas,
it measures 86 cm × 154 cm (34 in × 61 in). It depicts the
Biblical parable of the blind leading the blind from Matthew 15:14.
Considered a masterwork for its composition and accurate detail, the
painting (detail pictured) reflects Bruegel's mastery of observation:
each figure has a different recognizable eye affliction, including
corneal leukoma, atrophy of globe and removed eyes. The diagonal
composition reinforces the off-kilter motion of the six figures falling
in progression. It was painted the year before Bruegel's death, and has
a bitter, sorrowful tone. This may be related to the establishment of
the Council of Troubles in 1567 by the government of the Spanish
Netherlands, which ordered mass arrests and executions to enforce
Spanish rule and suppress Protestantism, but it is not clear if the
painting was meant as a political statement. The work has inspired
poetry by Charles Baudelaire and William Carlos Williams, and a novel by
Gert Hofmann. It is part of the collection of the Museo di Capodimonte
in Naples, Italy.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blind_Leading_the_Blind>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1265:
Second Barons' War: Royal forces under Prince Edward defeated
Baronial forces under Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester at the
Battle of Evesham near Evesham, Worcestershire.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Evesham>
1796:
French Revolutionary Wars: The French Army of Italy under
Napoleon crushed an Austrian brigade in the Battle of Lonato.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lonato>
1964:
A second U.S. Navy destroyer (USS Maddox pictured) was
reportedly attacked by North Vietnamese forces in the Gulf of Tonkin,
leading Congress to authorize the use of military force in Southeast
Asia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Tonkin_incident>
1974:
A bomb placed by a neo-fascist group exploded on a train of the
Ferrovie dello Stato while on the Bologna–Florence railway.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italicus_Express_bombing_1974>
1992:
Yōhei Kōno, Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, issued a formal
apology for forcing women into sexual slavery during World War II.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_women>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
yarl:
A deep, guttural vocal style with affected pronunciation, characteristic
of male grunge and postgrunge singers of the 1990s and early 2000s.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/yarl>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
 We do not have to think that human nature is perfect for us
to still believe that the human condition can be perfected. We do not
have to live in an idealized world to still reach for those ideals that
will make it a better place. The non-violence practiced by men like
Gandhi and King may not have been practical or possible in every
circumstance, but the love that they preached — their fundamental
faith in human progress — that must always be the North Star that
guides us on our journey. For if we lose that faith — if we dismiss it
as silly or naïve; if we divorce it from the decisions that we make on
issues of war and peace — then we lose what's best about humanity. We
lose our sense of possibility. We lose our moral compass.
--Barack Obama
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barack_Obama>
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