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shielsmc.bsky.social
@shielsmc.bsky.social
460 followers 500 following 0 posts
Teacher. Global citizen. Bluestocking
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peterpaulrubens.bsky.social
Spectacularly beautiful Nativity by Federico Barocci. Saint Philip Neri was moved to spiritual ecstasy by Barocci's works, and we see why.
December 25, 2025 at 11:12 PM
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peterpaulrubens.bsky.social
Nativity, by Melchior Broederlam, 1390s. Patterns on fabrics are wonderful! Now Joseph is tearing up his stockings to make swaddling for Baby J. Good parenting!
December 25, 2025 at 10:26 PM
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chapps.bsky.social
What’s #Christmas without the stunning Wilton Diptych? A rare surviving set of tempera panel paintings, a portable set made for the private use of Richard II, King of England from 1377 to 1399. The brilliant blue garments of the angels are painted with ultramarine, made from lapis lazuli. 🎄 1/

📸 me
On the left panel (the two panels are hinged together, and there are paintings on the exterior panels as well), the young King, sumptuously dressed, kneels in a barren landscape. He is accompanied by three saints: John the Baptist, carrying the Lamb of God; Edward the Confessor, holding a ring; and Edmund with the arrow of his martyrdom in his hand. The saints present the King to the Virgin Mary and Christ Child, shown on the right-hand panel. They stand in a flowery meadow surrounded by angels, one of whom carries a white standard with a red cross. The richness of the tempera paintwork, the meticulously stamped gilding and the refinement of detail is extraordinary. The infant Christ is wrapped in cloth of gold, and stippled within his halo is a crown of thorns and three nails – symbols of the Passion.
December 25, 2025 at 5:35 PM
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racheldeering.bsky.social
Goodnight.
🖼️ Christmas Eve, J. Hoover & Son, 1878.
Print entitled Christmas Eve, published by J. Hoover & Son around 1878. It is a chromolithograph that of an American winter scene outside a church. The scene is a snowy night, with snow covering the ground and bare trees flanking the sides. A large church building with a steeple and a clock tower is in the centre. There is light emanating from the church's large, colorful stained-glass windows, people are gathering inside for a service, presumably Midnight Mass. Several people, dressed in late 19th-century attire, can be seen walking towards the church. In the foreground on the left, a horse-drawn sleigh is arriving.
December 24, 2025 at 11:57 PM
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racheldeering.bsky.social
A repost reminder:
It is traditional in Iceland to give the gift of a book to be opened on Christmas Eve. Books are unwrapped and then read together. It is called Jolabokaflod (Christmas book flood). 📖 🎄
🖼 Reading Girl, Gustav Adolph Hennig, 1828.
Painting of girl in orange dress with hands clasped around a book, she is looking down reading.
December 24, 2025 at 10:04 PM
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poorlycatdraw.bsky.social
a very meowy christmas for all who celebrate!
a catmas tree (a christmas tree made of little poorly drawn cats!)
December 24, 2025 at 4:08 PM
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peterpaulrubens.bsky.social
It's a busy day in Bethlehem and nobody really notices the couple who have come to be counted. As imagined by the great Pieter Bruegel.
December 24, 2025 at 4:19 PM
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enniusredloeb.bsky.social
Interesting expressions in this representation of the Nativity
#Nativity
MS Thott 143 2º; 'The Copenhagen Psalter'; Det Kongelige Bibliotek; 12th century, f.9v
December 24, 2025 at 4:25 PM
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peterpaulrubens.bsky.social
Elegant couple at goldsmith’s shop for a ring, in 1449. But what about those 2 men in the mirror? And what is luring us? Wonderful wares, wonderful painting, Petrus Christus. It’s his day today.
December 23, 2025 at 2:29 PM
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peterpaulrubens.bsky.social
Young lady with black velvet-covered waste-paper bin on head (srsly!) & bizarrely asymmetrical eyes. Painted by Petrus Christus, 1460s.
December 23, 2025 at 4:38 PM
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admirablewomen.bsky.social
Who was America's first self-made female millionaire?

Entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker, born #OTD in 1867. She built an empire with a line of beauty & hair care products for Black women. Known for her philanthropy & activism, she supported #civilrights causes & was a patron of the arts.
Absolutely stunning black-and-white photograph/portrait of Madam C. J. Walker by Addison N. Scurlock, 1914. She is seated, with her head turned slightly towards the viewer's lower right, and her gaze directed in the same direction. Her smooth, ear-length hair is parted in the middle and tucked under. She is wearing drop earrings and a necklace. She's wearing a light-colored blouse.
December 23, 2025 at 11:41 PM
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racheldeering.bsky.social
Goodnight.
Christmas Tree, Friedrich Kallmorgen, 1903.
A painting of a decorated Christmas tree seen through an open doorway. The tree is adorned with ornaments, ribbons, garlands, and light from the glow of real candles. A chandelier above and a rug and chair can also be seen from the perspective of the doorway.
December 23, 2025 at 10:43 PM
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drnwillburger.bsky.social
This small ribbed bowl is a fine example of early Imperial Roman glassmaking. It was produced in the 1st century AD and found in Trier. The vessel was formed from coloured glass with a striking marbled effect in dark and yellow tones.
Such vessels were prized tableware,...🧵1/2

📷 me

🏺 #archaeology
A small Roman glass bowl with a low straight rim and vertical ribbing on the outside. The glass has a marbled pattern of dark brown, yellow and reddish tones. It stands on a flat base and is displayed against a light background, with a larger, pale blue-green ribbed glass vessel softly blurred behind it.
December 23, 2025 at 9:58 AM
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alisonfisk.bsky.social
Bee-autifully crafted gold ornament in the form of a little bee 🐝 ❤️

Length 1.90 cm. From Minoan Crete, circa 1700-1600 BC.

📷 British Museum www.britishmuseum.org/collection/o...

#Archaeology
The British Museum image shows a Minoan gold ornament in the form of bee viewed from above against a black background. The bee is symmetrical in shape. It has a round head with two large circular eyes. The body is elongated tapering to a point. An almond-shaped wing extends diagonally downward on each side of the body. The body is decorated with rows of tiny raised granules (gold balls) and thin bands, creating a striped abdomen. The wings are outlined with granules and the inner wing is smooth. Length 1.9 centimetres. From Minoan Crete circa 1700-1600 BC.
December 23, 2025 at 10:25 AM
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pestilence4all.bsky.social
Hadrian’s Wall meets Montezuma’s Revenge.
Ancient Romans Guarding Hadrian’s Wall Were Riddled with Worms and Parasites
Romans living in ancient Britain were plagued by intestinal parasites, all of which are spread by fecal contamination
www.scientificamerican.com
December 23, 2025 at 9:35 PM
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admirablewomen.bsky.social
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘙𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘵 began in 1893 as an illustrated letter to cheer up a sick child. Once developed into the full story, it was rejected by multiple publishing houses. So, Potter self-published the first 250 copies in 1901. 🐰
admirablewomen.bsky.social Admirable Women @admirablewomen.bsky.social · 3d
Beatrix Potter--English writer, illustrator, natural scientist--died #OTD in 1943.

With >250 million copies sold, she is one of the best-selling authors of all time. Her most famous book, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘙𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘵, remains one of the best-selling books in history. #booksky #literature #litsky
Left: a black-and-white photograph of Beatrix Potter standing outdoors in a long Edwardian coat and high-necked blouse, holding a wide-brimmed hat and gazing calmly at the camera beside an ivy-covered cottage window. Right: the original dark-green cover of her privately printed first edition of The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1901), featuring Peter in his little blue jacket and the words “BY BEATRIX POTTER – F. WARNE & Cº”. Together they capture the quiet, determined woman who turned rejection by publishers into a self-published phenomenon that launched one of the best-selling children’s series of all time.
December 22, 2025 at 9:01 PM
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hoovybaby.bsky.social
December 22, 2025 at 12:21 AM
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irishlittimes.bsky.social
Maud Gonne (via @tomasjmurray.bsky.social)
tomasjmurray.bsky.social Tomás Murray @tomasjmurray.bsky.social · 4d
Maud Gonne, Revolutionary, Suffragette, Actress, Muse, #BornOnThisDay in 1866, in Tongham, England
Maud Gonne
December 21, 2025 at 9:19 PM
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sarahebond.bsky.social
The best place to find an ancient labyrinth? It’s India, not Crete. “A classical 15-circuit labyrinth — the largest such circular maze-like structure discovered in India… — has been found” dating to ca. the 1st century & revealing the many trade & cultural links w/ Ancient Rome #GlobalAntiquity
Rome to Solapur: India’s largest circular labyrinth discovered in Boramani grasslands | Kolhapur News - The Times of India
KOLHAPUR: A classical 15-circuit labyrinth — the largest such circular maze-like structure discovered in India to date — has been found in Boramani gr.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
December 21, 2025 at 1:24 PM
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mciurlionis.bsky.social
Kings (Fairy Tale Kings ) https://www.wikiart.org/en/mikalojus-ciurlionis/kings-fairy-tale-kings-1909
Kings (Fairy Tale Kings )
December 21, 2025 at 1:06 PM
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ricksteves.bsky.social
It’s the “season of love and giving”…but this year, doesn’t it seem more like a “season of fear and taking”? Like many of you, I’ve been saddened by the human impact of draconian government budget cuts and how angry many housed Americans are at unhoused Americans.

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December 21, 2025 at 2:51 AM
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ottomanhistory.bsky.social
📷 An Ottoman Girls' Teacher Training Boarding School in Çapa, Istanbul, c. 1910 #educationhistory
December 21, 2025 at 11:54 AM
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enniusredloeb.bsky.social
The illuminator Joseph Ibn Hayyim left his message for posterity with these curious letters:

'I, Joseph Ibn Hayyim, illuminated and completed this book.'

Bodleian Library MS Kennicott 1; 'The Kennicott Bible'; 1476 CE; La Coruña, Spain; f.447r @bodleian.ox.ac.uk
December 20, 2025 at 10:13 PM
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enniusredloeb.bsky.social
Ave Maria

BnF MS Latin 1173; Hours of Charles d'Angoulême; 15th century; f.52r @gallicabnf.bsky.social
December 20, 2025 at 10:15 PM
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robertscotthorton.bsky.social
December 20, 2025 at 9:46 PM