Dr Anna Clark
@drannaclark.bsky.social
Humanities, history of art, architecture & landscape; museums, libraries & collections
Ceci n’est pas une pipe: René Magritte, influential Belgian surrealist painter, born #OTD 1898; commemorated in Brussels by the comprehensive Magritte Museum, and a street “Ceci n’est pas une rue”.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art | Magritte Museum Brussels | Grant Snider cartoon
Los Angeles County Museum of Art | Magritte Museum Brussels | Grant Snider cartoon
November 21, 2025 at 6:05 AM
Ceci n’est pas une pipe: René Magritte, influential Belgian surrealist painter, born #OTD 1898; commemorated in Brussels by the comprehensive Magritte Museum, and a street “Ceci n’est pas une rue”.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art | Magritte Museum Brussels | Grant Snider cartoon
Los Angeles County Museum of Art | Magritte Museum Brussels | Grant Snider cartoon
“Cela est bien dit…mais il faut cultiver notre jardin.”
The smile of reason: Voltaire, influential French Enlightenment writer, philosopher, crusader for freedom, tolerance & truth; born #OTD 1694; author of Candide (1759).
Portrait by Nicolas de Largillière, c. 1718, Musée Carnavalet, Paris
The smile of reason: Voltaire, influential French Enlightenment writer, philosopher, crusader for freedom, tolerance & truth; born #OTD 1694; author of Candide (1759).
Portrait by Nicolas de Largillière, c. 1718, Musée Carnavalet, Paris
November 21, 2025 at 6:04 AM
“Cela est bien dit…mais il faut cultiver notre jardin.”
The smile of reason: Voltaire, influential French Enlightenment writer, philosopher, crusader for freedom, tolerance & truth; born #OTD 1694; author of Candide (1759).
Portrait by Nicolas de Largillière, c. 1718, Musée Carnavalet, Paris
The smile of reason: Voltaire, influential French Enlightenment writer, philosopher, crusader for freedom, tolerance & truth; born #OTD 1694; author of Candide (1759).
Portrait by Nicolas de Largillière, c. 1718, Musée Carnavalet, Paris
”Bad money drives out good.”
Sir Thomas Gresham, English merchant & financier, adviser to Tudor monarchs, founded London’s Royal Exchange in 1565; died #OTD 1571, left bequest to found Gresham College, London’s first higher education institution est.1597.
Portrait by Anthonis Mor c 1560 Rijksmuseum
Sir Thomas Gresham, English merchant & financier, adviser to Tudor monarchs, founded London’s Royal Exchange in 1565; died #OTD 1571, left bequest to found Gresham College, London’s first higher education institution est.1597.
Portrait by Anthonis Mor c 1560 Rijksmuseum
November 21, 2025 at 6:01 AM
”Bad money drives out good.”
Sir Thomas Gresham, English merchant & financier, adviser to Tudor monarchs, founded London’s Royal Exchange in 1565; died #OTD 1571, left bequest to found Gresham College, London’s first higher education institution est.1597.
Portrait by Anthonis Mor c 1560 Rijksmuseum
Sir Thomas Gresham, English merchant & financier, adviser to Tudor monarchs, founded London’s Royal Exchange in 1565; died #OTD 1571, left bequest to found Gresham College, London’s first higher education institution est.1597.
Portrait by Anthonis Mor c 1560 Rijksmuseum
Self-portrait of the artist in his room at the Villa Medici Rome 1817, by Léon Cogniet, French Romantic history painter, winner of Prix de Rome in 1817, friend of Géricault & Delacroix; appointed Professeur de Peinture à l’École des Beaux Arts from 1851; died #OTD 1880.
Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland Museum of Art
November 20, 2025 at 6:43 AM
Self-portrait of the artist in his room at the Villa Medici Rome 1817, by Léon Cogniet, French Romantic history painter, winner of Prix de Rome in 1817, friend of Géricault & Delacroix; appointed Professeur de Peinture à l’École des Beaux Arts from 1851; died #OTD 1880.
Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland Museum of Art
The young bull, 1647, monumental painting by Paulus Potter, Dutch Golden Age artist specialising in animals, born #OTD 1625; known for his detailed portrayals of sturdy cattle against low horizons.
Mauritshuis, Den Haag
Mauritshuis, Den Haag
November 20, 2025 at 6:15 AM
The young bull, 1647, monumental painting by Paulus Potter, Dutch Golden Age artist specialising in animals, born #OTD 1625; known for his detailed portrayals of sturdy cattle against low horizons.
Mauritshuis, Den Haag
Mauritshuis, Den Haag
Et in Arcadia Ego, 1637-8, by Nicolas Poussin, French Baroque artist, died #OTD 1665. Shepherds examine a Latin inscription on a tomb in Arcadia (inspired by Virgil’s Eclogues) which is ambiguous: ‘I too (death) am in Arcadia’ or ‘I too (occupant of this tomb) was once in Arcadia’.
Musée du Louvre
Musée du Louvre
November 19, 2025 at 6:08 AM
Et in Arcadia Ego, 1637-8, by Nicolas Poussin, French Baroque artist, died #OTD 1665. Shepherds examine a Latin inscription on a tomb in Arcadia (inspired by Virgil’s Eclogues) which is ambiguous: ‘I too (death) am in Arcadia’ or ‘I too (occupant of this tomb) was once in Arcadia’.
Musée du Louvre
Musée du Louvre
The first council of Queen Victoria 1838, by Sir David Wilkie, Scottish artist born #OTD 1785; known for Scottish genre scenes loved by Sir Walter Scott, he was Principal Painter in Ordinary to William IV & Queen Victoria, and first to sketch her likeness as reigning monarch.
Royal Collections Trust
Royal Collections Trust
November 18, 2025 at 5:59 AM
The first council of Queen Victoria 1838, by Sir David Wilkie, Scottish artist born #OTD 1785; known for Scottish genre scenes loved by Sir Walter Scott, he was Principal Painter in Ordinary to William IV & Queen Victoria, and first to sketch her likeness as reigning monarch.
Royal Collections Trust
Royal Collections Trust
Two views of Dresden from the right bank of the Elbe, above the Augustusbrücke & below, painted in 1747 & 1748 by Bernardo Bellotto, pupil and nephew of Canaletto, died #OTD 1780; used as important references in the reconstruction of Dresden after World War II bombing.
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister
November 17, 2025 at 6:05 AM
Two views of Dresden from the right bank of the Elbe, above the Augustusbrücke & below, painted in 1747 & 1748 by Bernardo Bellotto, pupil and nephew of Canaletto, died #OTD 1780; used as important references in the reconstruction of Dresden after World War II bombing.
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister
Sofonisba Anguissola, Italian Renaissance artist, admired by Vasari, appointed court painter to Philip II of Spain, painted in 1624 by the young Anthony van Dyck; died in Palermo #OTD 1625. #Quatercentenary
Self-portrait c 1556 Łańcut Castle, Poland | Elizabeth de Valois c 1565 Museo del Prado
Self-portrait c 1556 Łańcut Castle, Poland | Elizabeth de Valois c 1565 Museo del Prado
November 16, 2025 at 5:46 AM
Sofonisba Anguissola, Italian Renaissance artist, admired by Vasari, appointed court painter to Philip II of Spain, painted in 1624 by the young Anthony van Dyck; died in Palermo #OTD 1625. #Quatercentenary
Self-portrait c 1556 Łańcut Castle, Poland | Elizabeth de Valois c 1565 Museo del Prado
Self-portrait c 1556 Łańcut Castle, Poland | Elizabeth de Valois c 1565 Museo del Prado
William Herschel, German-born British astronomer, born #OTD 1738; discovered planet Uranus in 1781, pioneered use of astronomical spectrophotometry, discovered infrared radiation; Fellow Royal Society, first President Royal Astronomical Society.
Portrait by Abbott 1785, NPG London
Herschel Museum
Portrait by Abbott 1785, NPG London
Herschel Museum
November 15, 2025 at 6:02 AM
William Herschel, German-born British astronomer, born #OTD 1738; discovered planet Uranus in 1781, pioneered use of astronomical spectrophotometry, discovered infrared radiation; Fellow Royal Society, first President Royal Astronomical Society.
Portrait by Abbott 1785, NPG London
Herschel Museum
Portrait by Abbott 1785, NPG London
Herschel Museum
“Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it; and this I know, my Lords, that where laws end, there tyranny begins.”
The Great Commoner, William Pitt the Elder, born #OTD 1708.
Portrait by William Hoare c. 1754, National Portrait Gallery London
The Great Commoner, William Pitt the Elder, born #OTD 1708.
Portrait by William Hoare c. 1754, National Portrait Gallery London
November 15, 2025 at 6:01 AM
“Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it; and this I know, my Lords, that where laws end, there tyranny begins.”
The Great Commoner, William Pitt the Elder, born #OTD 1708.
Portrait by William Hoare c. 1754, National Portrait Gallery London
The Great Commoner, William Pitt the Elder, born #OTD 1708.
Portrait by William Hoare c. 1754, National Portrait Gallery London
‘France’s first bluestocking’, Madeleine de Scudéry, femme de lettres, born #OTD 1701; satirised by Molière in Les Précieuses Ridicules, Les Femmes Savantes; known for La Carte de Tendre published in her novel Clélie.
Portrait (Anon) c. 1650, Bibliothèque Municipale du Havre | La BnF
Portrait (Anon) c. 1650, Bibliothèque Municipale du Havre | La BnF
November 15, 2025 at 6:00 AM
‘France’s first bluestocking’, Madeleine de Scudéry, femme de lettres, born #OTD 1701; satirised by Molière in Les Précieuses Ridicules, Les Femmes Savantes; known for La Carte de Tendre published in her novel Clélie.
Portrait (Anon) c. 1650, Bibliothèque Municipale du Havre | La BnF
Portrait (Anon) c. 1650, Bibliothèque Municipale du Havre | La BnF
’The painter of happiness’, Claude Monet, French artist, born #OTD 1840; leader of Impressionism, master of fleeting changes of light; known for series of paintings of water lilies in his garden at Giverny.
Coquelicots 1873, Harmonie Verte, 1899, Musée d’Orsay
Nymphéas, 1914-26, Musée de l’Orangerie
Coquelicots 1873, Harmonie Verte, 1899, Musée d’Orsay
Nymphéas, 1914-26, Musée de l’Orangerie
November 14, 2025 at 5:54 AM
’The painter of happiness’, Claude Monet, French artist, born #OTD 1840; leader of Impressionism, master of fleeting changes of light; known for series of paintings of water lilies in his garden at Giverny.
Coquelicots 1873, Harmonie Verte, 1899, Musée d’Orsay
Nymphéas, 1914-26, Musée de l’Orangerie
Coquelicots 1873, Harmonie Verte, 1899, Musée d’Orsay
Nymphéas, 1914-26, Musée de l’Orangerie
Camille Pissarro, influential Danish-French artist, who inspired Cézanne; a pioneer of Impressionism in 1870’s, he embraced pointillism in 1880’s, working with Seurat & Signac. He died #OTD 1903.
Les Toits Rouges, Pontoise 1877, Musée d’Orsay
La récolte des Foins, Éragny 1887, Van Gogh Museum
Les Toits Rouges, Pontoise 1877, Musée d’Orsay
La récolte des Foins, Éragny 1887, Van Gogh Museum
November 13, 2025 at 6:02 AM
Camille Pissarro, influential Danish-French artist, who inspired Cézanne; a pioneer of Impressionism in 1870’s, he embraced pointillism in 1880’s, working with Seurat & Signac. He died #OTD 1903.
Les Toits Rouges, Pontoise 1877, Musée d’Orsay
La récolte des Foins, Éragny 1887, Van Gogh Museum
Les Toits Rouges, Pontoise 1877, Musée d’Orsay
La récolte des Foins, Éragny 1887, Van Gogh Museum
“Man is not truly one but truly two.”
Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish writer, born #OTD 1850, author of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde 1886. Dr Jekyll’s house probably based on dual-entrance London house of surgeon & anatomist Dr John Hunter: corpses delivered at back for dissection.
Sargent 1887 Taft Museum
Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish writer, born #OTD 1850, author of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde 1886. Dr Jekyll’s house probably based on dual-entrance London house of surgeon & anatomist Dr John Hunter: corpses delivered at back for dissection.
Sargent 1887 Taft Museum
November 13, 2025 at 5:59 AM
“Man is not truly one but truly two.”
Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish writer, born #OTD 1850, author of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde 1886. Dr Jekyll’s house probably based on dual-entrance London house of surgeon & anatomist Dr John Hunter: corpses delivered at back for dissection.
Sargent 1887 Taft Museum
Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish writer, born #OTD 1850, author of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde 1886. Dr Jekyll’s house probably based on dual-entrance London house of surgeon & anatomist Dr John Hunter: corpses delivered at back for dissection.
Sargent 1887 Taft Museum
Le Penseur, most famous work by Auguste Rodin, conceived as a central figure of his bronze chef d’oeuvre inspired by Dante’s Inferno: La Porte de l’Enfer. Born #OTD 1840, Rodin worked 37 years on the monumental Gates of Hell, unfinished at his death (1917).
Musée Rodin | Kunsthaus Zürich
Musée Rodin | Kunsthaus Zürich
November 12, 2025 at 6:03 AM
Le Penseur, most famous work by Auguste Rodin, conceived as a central figure of his bronze chef d’oeuvre inspired by Dante’s Inferno: La Porte de l’Enfer. Born #OTD 1840, Rodin worked 37 years on the monumental Gates of Hell, unfinished at his death (1917).
Musée Rodin | Kunsthaus Zürich
Musée Rodin | Kunsthaus Zürich
Deux Ouvrières dans l’Atelier de Couture: two seamstresses, 1891, by Édouard Vuillard, French Intimiste artist & printmaker, born #OTD 1868; member of avant-garde group Les Nabis, his densely patterned interior scenes were influenced by Japanese printmaking and textiles.
National Galleries Scotland
National Galleries Scotland
November 11, 2025 at 6:01 AM
Deux Ouvrières dans l’Atelier de Couture: two seamstresses, 1891, by Édouard Vuillard, French Intimiste artist & printmaker, born #OTD 1868; member of avant-garde group Les Nabis, his densely patterned interior scenes were influenced by Japanese printmaking and textiles.
National Galleries Scotland
National Galleries Scotland
Cassis, Cap Lombard, 1889, by Paul Signac, French neo-impressionist artist, known for luminous coastal views, born #OTD 1863; developed pointillism with Seurat & influenced Matisse.
Kunstmuseum Den Haag
Kunstmuseum Den Haag
November 11, 2025 at 5:58 AM
Cassis, Cap Lombard, 1889, by Paul Signac, French neo-impressionist artist, known for luminous coastal views, born #OTD 1863; developed pointillism with Seurat & influenced Matisse.
Kunstmuseum Den Haag
Kunstmuseum Den Haag
“Against stupidity the gods themselves struggle in vain.”
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens. (Die Jungfrau von Orleans)
Friedrich Schiller, German philosopher, playwright, co-founder with Goethe of Weimar Theatre; born #OTD 1759.
Portrait c 1810 by von Kügelgen Frankfurter Goethe-Haus
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens. (Die Jungfrau von Orleans)
Friedrich Schiller, German philosopher, playwright, co-founder with Goethe of Weimar Theatre; born #OTD 1759.
Portrait c 1810 by von Kügelgen Frankfurter Goethe-Haus
November 10, 2025 at 6:17 AM
“Against stupidity the gods themselves struggle in vain.”
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens. (Die Jungfrau von Orleans)
Friedrich Schiller, German philosopher, playwright, co-founder with Goethe of Weimar Theatre; born #OTD 1759.
Portrait c 1810 by von Kügelgen Frankfurter Goethe-Haus
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens. (Die Jungfrau von Orleans)
Friedrich Schiller, German philosopher, playwright, co-founder with Goethe of Weimar Theatre; born #OTD 1759.
Portrait c 1810 by von Kügelgen Frankfurter Goethe-Haus
“And still they gazed & still the wonder grew,
That one small head could carry all he knew.”
Oliver Goldsmith, versatile Irish writer, born #OTD 1728; known for novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), poem The Deserted Village (1770) and play She stoops to Conquer (1771).
Trinity College Dublin
That one small head could carry all he knew.”
Oliver Goldsmith, versatile Irish writer, born #OTD 1728; known for novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), poem The Deserted Village (1770) and play She stoops to Conquer (1771).
Trinity College Dublin
November 10, 2025 at 6:15 AM
“And still they gazed & still the wonder grew,
That one small head could carry all he knew.”
Oliver Goldsmith, versatile Irish writer, born #OTD 1728; known for novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), poem The Deserted Village (1770) and play She stoops to Conquer (1771).
Trinity College Dublin
That one small head could carry all he knew.”
Oliver Goldsmith, versatile Irish writer, born #OTD 1728; known for novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), poem The Deserted Village (1770) and play She stoops to Conquer (1771).
Trinity College Dublin
The Shrimp Girl, c. 1740, vivid portrayal of London street seller of shrimps & mussels, her basket on her head with pewter measure, by William Hogarth, innovative English painter, engraver, satirist, born #OTD 1697; the spontaneity & loose brushwork foreshadow Impressionism.
National Gallery London
National Gallery London
November 10, 2025 at 6:12 AM
The Shrimp Girl, c. 1740, vivid portrayal of London street seller of shrimps & mussels, her basket on her head with pewter measure, by William Hogarth, innovative English painter, engraver, satirist, born #OTD 1697; the spontaneity & loose brushwork foreshadow Impressionism.
National Gallery London
National Gallery London
Winter landscape with skaters, painted c. 1665 by Aert van der Neer, Dutch Golden Age artist who worked in and around Amsterdam, known for lively winter scenes on frozen rivers; died #OTD 1670.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
November 9, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Winter landscape with skaters, painted c. 1665 by Aert van der Neer, Dutch Golden Age artist who worked in and around Amsterdam, known for lively winter scenes on frozen rivers; died #OTD 1670.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Edmond Halley, English astronomer, mathematician, geophysicist, meteorologist, born #OTD 1656, sponsor of Newton’s Principia, computed orbit and periodicity of eponymous comet, mapped solar eclipse of 1715.
National Portrait Gallery | Royal Society
National Portrait Gallery | Royal Society
November 8, 2025 at 6:04 AM
Edmond Halley, English astronomer, mathematician, geophysicist, meteorologist, born #OTD 1656, sponsor of Newton’s Principia, computed orbit and periodicity of eponymous comet, mapped solar eclipse of 1715.
National Portrait Gallery | Royal Society
National Portrait Gallery | Royal Society
“See golden days, fruitful of golden deeds...”
John Milton, revered English poet, author of Paradise Lost, died #OTD 1674.
Christs College Cambridge
John Milton, revered English poet, author of Paradise Lost, died #OTD 1674.
Christs College Cambridge
November 8, 2025 at 6:02 AM
“See golden days, fruitful of golden deeds...”
John Milton, revered English poet, author of Paradise Lost, died #OTD 1674.
Christs College Cambridge
John Milton, revered English poet, author of Paradise Lost, died #OTD 1674.
Christs College Cambridge
The Bodleian Library opened to the public #OTD in 1602.
Duke Humfrey’s Library: oldest reading room in the Bodleian, named after Humphrey Lancaster, 1st Duke of Gloucester who bequeathed 281 books after his death in 1447.
@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Duke Humfrey’s Library: oldest reading room in the Bodleian, named after Humphrey Lancaster, 1st Duke of Gloucester who bequeathed 281 books after his death in 1447.
@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
November 8, 2025 at 6:00 AM
The Bodleian Library opened to the public #OTD in 1602.
Duke Humfrey’s Library: oldest reading room in the Bodleian, named after Humphrey Lancaster, 1st Duke of Gloucester who bequeathed 281 books after his death in 1447.
@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Duke Humfrey’s Library: oldest reading room in the Bodleian, named after Humphrey Lancaster, 1st Duke of Gloucester who bequeathed 281 books after his death in 1447.
@bodleian.ox.ac.uk