graphic
Michael Wening was a Bavarian artist, engraver and publisher of the Baroque period.
Wening was court engraver to Elector Ferdinand Maria of Bavaria and his successor Elector Max Emanuel. By the end of the 1670s, he opened his own publishing house, where he successfully published illustrated calendars and then topographical and historical materials for more than a decade.
Wening's main work - "Historico-Topographical Description" with 846 views - is considered the most complete description of Europe in the early modern period. To create it, the master himself traveled to many cities and made very accurate illustrations. The topographical work includes views and descriptions of towns, markets, monasteries, palaces, castles, court marks, and estates in Bavaria. The accompanying texts, which are a valuable addition to the engravings, were written by the Jesuit Ferdinand Schönwetter.
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.
