new testament
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.
Joachim Beuckelaer, a masterful Flemish painter born around 1533, was renowned for his intricate market and kitchen scenes, which were abundant with detailed depictions of food and household items. His unique approach combined everyday life with religious narratives, often situating biblical episodes within the backdrop of bustling market scenes or domestic settings. This innovative blend of the mundane with the spiritual set the stage for future developments in Dutch and Flemish painting.
Beuckelaer's influence extended beyond his immediate geographic locale, impacting artists across Europe, from Italy to Spain, heralding a new appreciation for kitchen and market scenes that would flourish in seventeenth-century painting. His works were not only appreciated for their aesthetic and technical mastery but also for their ability to capture the essence of sixteenth-century Antwerp life, from the vibrancy of its markets to the intimacy of its kitchens.
His oeuvre includes a variety of subjects, from purely religious works to those that focus solely on still-life elements without any human figures, indicating his versatility and innovation as an artist. Beuckelaer was known for employing techniques that allowed him to efficiently reuse compositions, showcasing his ability to adapt and repurpose his work to meet the demands of his patrons.
Notable works by Beuckelaer, such as the "Four Elements" series, now housed in the National Gallery, London, demonstrate his skill in merging complex allegories with detailed observations from nature and daily life. These paintings are celebrated for their depth of detail and the way they foreground the role of women in the culinary and market spheres.
For collectors and experts in art and antiques, Joachim Beuckelaer's paintings offer a fascinating glimpse into the cultural and social dynamics of the sixteenth century, as well as the evolution of still-life and genre painting in the early modern period. His ability to weave together the secular and sacred, the abundant and the everyday, marks him as a significant figure in the history of art.
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Zdzisław Beksiński was a Polish painter, photographer, and sculptor, specializing in the field of dystopian surrealism.
Beksiński made his paintings and drawings in what he called either a Baroque or a Gothic manner. His creations were made mainly in two periods. The first period of work is generally considered to contain expressionistic color, with a strong style of «utopian realism» and surreal architecture, like a doomsday scenario. The second period contained more abstract style, with the main features of formalism.
Charles Dickens, full name Charles John Huffam Dickens, is the most famous British writer of the Victorian era, a classic of world literature.
From childhood the future writer learned all the hardships of life in poverty: his father in prison for debts, hard work in a factory. Then service stenographer in court and reporter developed in him a strong attachment to journalism and contempt for both the law and parliament.
Dickens had many talents: in addition to literary work, he was an actor, published periodicals, arranged numerous literary readings, where he reveled in the admiration and love of the public. Fecund and versatile, Charles Dickens wrote many brilliant and often comic works. His novels cover a wide range of social, moral, emotional and other aspects. As a subtle psychologist, he is also very interested in the most ordinary people, but also the eccentric, the flawed, and even the insane.
Dickens was immensely popular around the world during his lifetime. His intellect, worldview, and deep reflections on society and its faults enriched his novels and made him one of the great figures of nineteenth-century literature, an influential spokesman for the conscience of his time.
Dickens' best-known and most popular novels are The Pickwick Club Posthumous Notes, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, David Copperfield, Cold House, A Tale of Two Cities, Our Mutual Friend, Great Expectations, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
