samuel taylor
John Frederick Herring the Elder was a British painter of Victorian England.
John had a passion for horses and painting from a young age. In his spare time from his day job as a sign painter and coachman, Herring painted horses for innkeepers and customers. Developing his talent, John specialized in drawing animals and loved to depict sporting events with horses. His impressive and vivid depictions of racehorses, cows and ducks as well as picturesque hunting scenes caught the eye of Queen Victoria. In 1845 Herring was appointed animal painter to Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, followed by a commission from the reigning Queen Victoria, who remained a patron for the rest of his life.
A highly successful and prolific artist, Herring is considered one of the most important animal painters of mid-19th century Europe. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, the British Institution, and the Society of British Artists, where Herring became vice-president in 1842. Three of his sons also became artists.
William Shakespeare was a British poet and playwright and writer.
William's father, John Shakespeare, was a merchant and official in Stratford. There are reports that he was a sailor for a time before joining a theater company in London. Beginning in the 1590s, Shakespeare began writing plays, and in 1593 he published a poem, Venus and Adonis, which became popular. He dedicated it to the Duke of Southampton, who was a philanthropist and patron of talent, and soon his business was booming.
From 1592 to 1600 Shakespeare wrote his dramas and romantic comedies "Richard III", "The Taming of the Shrew", "Romeo and Juliet", "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "The Merchant of Venice", as well as the comedies "Much Ado About Nothing", "Twelfth Night" and the tragedy "Julius Caesar". The playwright's business was so successful that he even bought a large house in Stratford. In 1599, Shakespeare became one of the owners, playwright and actor of the new theater "Globe". In 1603 King James took Shakespeare's troupe under his direct patronage. In the mature period, the great playwright turned to tragedies, there were "Hamlet", "Othello", "King Lear", "Macbeth" and others.
Although in the 19th century researchers had some doubts about the authorship of many of these works, William Shakespeare is considered the greatest English playwright, one of the best playwrights in the world. His plays have been translated into all major languages and to this day form the basis of the world theatrical repertoire, most of them have been screened many times. According to the Guinness Book of Records, Shakespeare remains the world's best-selling playwright, and his plays and poems have sold more than 4 billion copies in the nearly 400 years since his death.
