Jack London, Klondike and Burning Daylight
One day in December Daylight filled a pan from bed rock on his own claim and carried it into his cabin. Here a fire burned and enabled him to keep water unfrozen in a canvas tank. He squatted over the tank and began to wash…
Ainos, today called Enez and located on the border of the Aegean Sea in the European part of Turkey, didn’t have any important resources. As far as we know, there also didn’t exist any remarkable industry. Ainos reached incredible wealth during the 5th century B.C. despite these facts.
One has to pay high prices indeed for the so-called spintriae – brothel tokens as one is secretly whispered to. There are experts who know exactly what the function of these objects was…
The date was February 7th, 1496. Columbus hadn’t returned from his second journey yet, in the realm of the Holy Roman Empire everyone was upset about general taxation which had been decided at the diet at Worms one year ago, and the Syphilis which had been introduced from America spread all over Europe. Much happened those days indeed; and in a secluded chamber in the Innsbruck Residence a lonely man laid dying.
Everybody likes a good laugh, especially at the weaknesses of others. Perhaps this is the reason why we all enjoy caricatures so much: because they make us laugh before we are taken aback and begin to reflect on them.
The Aareal Bank obviously agreed with this view since the management had decided 20 years ago to assemble a collection of caricatures focusing on the very intriguing relationship of people with money. For this purpose, roughly 300 original works by Sempé, Hogarth, Daumier, Hurzlmeier, Haitzinger and a great many others were brought together. Now the Wilhelm-Busch-Museum houses that material: the Aaereal Bank entrusted its collection to the “Deutsches Museum für Karikatur und kritische Graphik“ as permanent loan. A first exhibition was presented as early as 2009 – let us hope that many more will follow.
This beautiful early stater of Corinth bears Pegasus on its obverse. The winged horse was the symbol of Corinth and each citizen of this important seaport felt the whole city and himself connected with this winged horse. Why did he do so and how did this connection come into being?
Most of us react uncomprehendingly while reading the Greek myths. We can’t imagine that once rational human beings were able to believe in gods who behaved like characters invented for a soap opera on TV. Legends tell us about adultery, violation, theft, intrigue and fraud.
In the middle of the 2nd century AD the tribe of the Goths left its native homeland. The tribesmen moved southwards and expelled other people from their homes who in their turn tried to find new land further south. One of these tribes were the Marcomanni.
In 479 BC the Greeks defeated the Persians at Plataiai. At that time nobody dared to hope that the fight was so soon to end. On the contrary, every Greek city was afraid of the Persian king, who had vast resources at his disposal. He was feared to raise another army in order to conquer the whole of Greece. Something had to be done to prevent that.
This impressive piece belongs to a small series of silver medallions celebrating the vicennalia of Constantine II, the eldest surviving son of Constantine the Great, in 336.
