title: Odd-toed ungulate

text: Relationships within the large group of odd-toed ungulates are not fully understood. Initially, after the establishment of "Perissodactyla" by Richard Owen in 1848, the present-day representatives were considered equal in rank. In the first half of the 20th century, a more systematic differentiation of odd-toed ungulates began, based on a consideration of fossil forms, and they were placed in two major suborders: Hippomorpha and Ceratomorpha. The Hippomorpha comprises today's horses and their extinct members (Equoidea); the Ceratomorpha consist of tapirs and rhinos plus their extinct members (Tapiroidea and Rhinocerotoidea). The names Hippomorpha and Ceratomorpha were introduced in 1937 by Horace Elmer Wood, in response to criticism of the name "Solidungula" that he proposed three years previously. It had been based on the grouping of horses and Tridactyla and on the rhinoceros/tapir complex. The extinct brontotheriidae were also classified under Hippomorpha and therefore possess a close relationship to horses. Some researchers accept this assignment because of similar dental features, but there is also the view that a very basal position within the odd-toed ungulates places them rather in the group of "Titanotheriomorpha".


title: Odd-toed ungulate

text: Originally, the Chalicotheriidae were seen as members of Hippomorpha, and presented as such in 1941. William Berryman Scott thought that, as claw-bearing perissodactyls, they belong in the new suborder Ancylopoda (where Ceratomorpha and Hippomorpha as odd-toed ungulates were combined in the group of Chelopoda). The term Ancylopoda, coined by Edward Drinker Cope in 1889, had been established for chalicotheres. However, further morphological studies from the 1960s showed a middle position of Ancylopoda between Hippomorpha and Ceratomorpha. Leonard Burton Radinsky saw all three major groups of odd-toed ungulates as peers, based on the extremely long and independent phylogenetic development of the three lines. In the 1980s, Jeremy J. Hooker saw a general similarity of Ancylopoda and "Ceratomorpha" based on dentition, especially in the earliest members, leading to the unification in 1984 of the two submissions in the interim order, "Tapiromorpha". At the same time he expanded the Ancylopoda to include the "Lophiodontidae". The name "Tapiromorpha" goes back to Ernst Haeckel, who coined it in 1873, but it was long considered synonymous to Ceratomorpha because Wood had not considered it in 1937 when Ceratomorpha were named, since the term had been used quite differently in the past. Also in 1984, Robert M. Schoch used the conceptually similar term Moropomorpha, which today applies synonymously to Tapiromorpha. Included within the Tapiromorpha are the now extinct Isectolophidae, a sister group of the Ancylopoda-Ceratomorpha group and thus the most primitive members of this relationship complex.


title: Odd-toed ungulate

text: The evolutionary development of Perissodactyla is well documented in the fossil record. Numerous finds are evidence of the adaptive radiation of this group, which was once much more varied and widely dispersed. "Radinskya" from the late Paleocene of East Asia is often considered to be one of the oldest close relatives of the ungulates. Its 8 cm skull must have belonged to a very small and primitive animal with a π-shaped crown pattern on the enamel of its rear molars similar to that of perissodactyls and their relatives, especially the rhinos. Finds of "Cambaytherium" and "Kalitherium" in the Cambay shale of western India indicate an origin in Asia dating to the Lower Eocene roughly 54.5 million years ago. Their teeth also show similarities to "Radinskya" as well as to the Tethytheria clade. The saddle-shaped configuration of the navicular joints and the mesaxonic construction of the front and hind feet also indicates a close relationship to Tethytheria. However, this construction deviates from that of "Cambaytherium", indicating that it is actually a member of a sister group. Ancestors of Perissodactyla may have arrived via an island bridge from the Afro-Arab landmass onto the Indian subcontinent as it drifted north towards Asia. A study on "Cambaytherium" suggests an origin in India prior or near its collision with Asia.


title: Odd-toed ungulate

text: The alignment of hyopsodontids and phenacodontids to Perissodactyla in general suggests an older Laurasian origin and distribution for the clade, dispersed across the northern continents already in the early Paleocene. These forms already show a fairly well-developed molar morphology, with no intermediary forms as evidence of the course of its development. The close relationship between meridiungulate mammals and perissoodactyls in particular is of interest since the latter appear in South America soon after the K–T event, implying rapid ecological radiation and dispersal after the mass extinction.


title: Odd-toed ungulate

text: The Perissodactyla appear relatively abruptly at the beginning of the Lower Paleocene before about 63 million years ago, both in North America and Asia, in the form of phenacodontids and hyopsodontids. The oldest finds from an extant group originate among other sources from "Sifrhippus", an ancestor of the horses from the Willswood lineup in northwestern Wyoming. The distant ancestors of tapirs appeared not too long after that in the Ghazij lineup in Balochistan, such as "Ganderalophus", as well as "Litolophus" from the Chalicotheriidae line, or "Eotitanops" from the group of brontotheriidae. Initially, the members of the different lineages looked quite similar with an arched back and generally four toes on the front and three on the hind feet. "Eohippus", which is considered a member of the horse family, outwardly resembled "Hyrachyus", the first representative of the rhino and tapir line. All were small compared to later forms and lived as fruit and foliage eaters in forests. The first of the megafauna to emerge were the brontotheres, in the Middle and Upper Eocene. "Megacerops", known from North America, reached a withers height of and could have weighed just over . The decline of brontotheres at the end of the Eocene is associated with competition arising from the advent of more successful herbivores.


title: Odd-toed ungulate

text: More successful lines of odd-toed ungulates emerged at the end of the Eocene when dense jungles gave way to steppe, such as the chalicotheriid rhinos, and their immediate relatives; their development also began with very small forms. "Paraceratherium", one of the largest mammals ever to walk the earth, evolved during this era. They weighed up to and lived throughout the Oligocene in Eurasia. About 20 million years ago at the onset of the Miocene the perissodactyls first reached Africa when it became connected to Eurasia because of the closing of the Tethys Ocean. For the same reason, however, new animals such as the mammoths also entered the ancient settlement areas of odd-toed ungulates, creating competition that led to the extinction of some of their lines. The rise of ruminants, which occupied similar ecological niches and had a much more efficient digestive system, is also associated with the decline in diversity of odd-toed ungulates. A significant cause for the decline of perissodactyls was climate change during the Miocene, leading to a cooler and drier climate accompanied by the spread of open landscapes. However, some lines flourished, such as the horses and rhinos; anatomical adaptations made it possible for them to consume tougher grass food. This led to open land forms that dominated the newly created landscapes. With the emergence of the Isthmus of Panama in the Pliocene, perissodactyls and other megafauna were given access to one of their last habitable continents: South America. However, many perissodactyls became extinct at the end of the ice ages, including American horses and the "Elasmotherium". Whether over-hunting by humans (overkill hypothesis), climatic change, or a combination of both factors was responsible for the extinction of ice age mega-fauna, remains controversial.


title: Odd-toed ungulate

text: In 1758, in his seminal work "Systema Naturae", Linnaeus (1707–1778) classified horses ("Equus") together with hippos ("Hippopotamus"). At that time, this category also included the tapirs ("Tapirus"), more precisely the lowland or South American tapir ("Tapirus terrestus"), the only tapir then known in Europe. Linnaeus classified this tapir as "Hippopotamus terrestris" and put both genera in the group of the "Belluae" ("beasts"). He combined the rhinos with the Glires, a group now consisting of the lagomorphs and rodents. Mathurin Jacques Brisson (1723–1806) first separated the tapirs and hippos in 1762 with the introduction of the concept "le tapir". He also separated the rhinos from the rodents, but did not combine the three families now known as the odd-toed ungulates. In the transition to the 19th century, the individual perissodactyl genera were associated with various other groups, such as the proboscidean and even-toed ungulates. In 1795, Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772–1844) and Georges Cuvier (1769–1832) introduced the term "pachyderm" (Pachydermata), including in it not only the rhinos and elephants, but also the hippos, pigs, peccaries, tapirs and hyrax . The horses were still generally regarded as a group separate from other mammals and were often classified under the name "Solidungula" or "Solipèdes", meaning "one-hoof animal".


title: Odd-toed ungulate

text: In 1861, Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (1777–1850) classified ungulates by the structure of their feet, differentiating those with an even number of toes from those with an odd number. He moved the horses as "solidungulate" over to the tapirs and rhinos as "multungulate" animals and referred to all of them together as "onguligrades à doigts impairs", coming close to the concept of the odd-toed ungulate as a systematic unit. Richard Owen (1804–1892) quoted Blainville in his study on fossil mammals of the Isle of Wight and introduced the name "Perissodactyla".


title: Odd-toed ungulate

text: In 1884, Othniel Charles Marsh (1831–1899) came up with the concept "Mesaxonia", which he used for what are today called the odd-toed ungulates, including their extinct relatives, but explicitly excluding the hyrax. "Mesaxonia" is now considered a synonym of "Perissodactyla", but it was sometimes also used for the true odd-toed ungulates as a subcategory (rhinos, horses, tapirs), while "Perissodactyla" stood for the entire order, including the hyrax. The assumption that hyraxes were "Perissodactyla" was held well into the 20th century. Only with the advent of molecular genetic research methods had it been recognized that the hyrax is not closely related to perissodactyls but rather to elephants and manatees.


title: Odd-toed ungulate

text: The domestic horse and the donkey play an important role in human history particularly as transport, work and pack animals. The domestication of both species began several millennia BCE. Due to the motorisation of agriculture and the spread of automobile traffic, such use has declined sharply in Western industrial countries; riding is usually undertaken more as a hobby or sport. In less developed regions of the world, the traditional uses for these animals are, however, still widespread. To a lesser extent, horses and donkeys are also kept for their meat and their milk.


title: Odd-toed ungulate

text: In contrast, the existence in the wild of almost all other odd-toed ungulates species has declined dramatically because of hunting and habitat destruction. The quagga is extinct and Przewalski's horse was once eradicated in the wild.


title: Lambert W function

text: In mathematics, the Lambert function, also called the omega function or product logarithm, is a multivalued function, namely the branches of the converse relation of the function , where is any complex number and is the exponential function.


title: Lambert W function

text: For each integer there is one branch, denoted by , which is a complex-valued function of one complex argument. is known as the principal branch. These functions have the following property: if and are any complex numbers, then


title: Lambert W function

text: The Lambert relation cannot be expressed in terms of elementary functions. It is useful in combinatorics, for instance, in the enumeration of trees. It can be used to solve various equations involving exponentials (e.g. the maxima of the Planck, Bose–Einstein, and Fermi–Dirac distributions) and also occurs in the solution of delay differential equations, such as . In biochemistry, and in particular enzyme kinetics, an opened-form solution for the time-course kinetics analysis of Michaelis–Menten kinetics is described in terms of the Lambert function.


title: Lambert W function

text: The Lambert function is named after Johann Heinrich Lambert. The principal branch is denoted in the Digital Library of Mathematical Functions, and the branch is denoted there.


title: Lambert W function

text: The notation convention chosen here (with and ) follows the canonical reference on the Lambert function by Corless, Gonnet, Hare, Jeffrey and Knuth.


title: Lambert W function

text: The name "product logarithm" can be understood as this: Since the inverse function of is called the logarithm, it makes sense to call the inverse "function" of the product as "product logarithm". (Technical note: as it is multivalued, it is not actually a function and thus W is described as the converse relation rather than inverse function.) It is related to the Omega constant, which is equal to .


title: Lambert W function

text: Lambert first considered the related "Lambert's Transcendental Equation" in 1758, which led to an article by Leonhard Euler in 1783 that discussed the special case of .


title: Lambert W function

text: He then put and obtained a convergent series solution for the resulting equation, expressing "x" in terms of "c".


title: Lambert W function

text: After taking derivatives with respect to and some manipulation, the standard form of the Lambert function is obtained.


title: Lambert W function

text: In 1993, it was reported that the Lambert function provides an exact solution to the quantum-mechanical double-well Dirac delta function model for equal charges—a fundamental problem in physics. Prompted by this, Rob Corless and developers of the Maple computer algebra system realized that "the Lambert W function has been widely used in many fields, but because of differing notation and the absence of a standard name, awareness of the function was not as high as it should have been."


title: Lambert W function

text: Although it was widely believed that the Lambert function cannot be expressed in terms of elementary (Liouvillian) functions, the first published proof did not appear until 2008.


title: Lambert W function

text: There are countably many branches of the function, denoted by , for integer ; being the main (or principal) branch. is defined for all complex numbers "z" while with is defined for all non-zero "z". We have and for all .


title: Lambert W function

text: The branch point for the principal branch is at , with a branch cut that extends to along the negative real axis. This branch cut separates the principal branch from the two branches and . In all branches with , there is a branch point at and a branch cut along the entire negative real axis.


title: Lambert W function

text: The functions are all injective and their ranges are disjoint. The range of the entire multivalued function is the complex plane. The image of the real axis is the union of the real axis and the quadratrix of Hippias, the parametric curve .


title: Lambert W function

text: The range plot above also delineates the regions in the complex plane where the simple inverse relationship is true. "f" = "ze" implies that there exists an "n" such that , where "n" depends upon the value of "z". The value of the integer "n" changes abruptly when "ze" is at the branch cut of , which means that , except for where it is .


title: Lambert W function

text: Inside the regions bounded by the above, there are no discontinuous changes in , and those regions specify where the "W" function is simply invertible, i.e. .


title: Lambert W function

text: ( is not differentiable for .) As a consequence, we get the following formula for the derivative of "W":


title: Lambert W function

text: (The last equation is more common in the literature but is undefined at ). One consequence of this (using the fact that ) is the identity


title: Lambert W function

text: The radius of convergence is , as may be seen by the ratio test. The function defined by this series can be extended to a holomorphic function defined on all complex numbers with a branch cut along the interval ; this holomorphic function defines the principal branch of the Lambert function.


title: Lambert W function

text: where , , and is a non-negative Stirling number of the first kind. Keeping only the first two terms of the expansion,


title: Lambert W function

text: The other real branch, , defined in the interval , has an approximation of the same form as approaches zero, with in this case and .


title: Lambert W function

text: which is, in general, a Laurent series of order . Equivalently, the latter can be written in the form of a Taylor expansion of powers of :


title: Lambert W function

text: Note that, since is not injective, it does not always hold that , much like with the inverse trigonometric functions. For fixed and , the equation has two real solutions in , one of which is of course . Then, for and , as well as for and , is the other solution.


title: Lambert W function

text: The principal branch of the Lambert function can be represented by a proper integral, due to Poisson:


title: Lambert W function

text: There are several useful definite integral formulas involving the principal branch of the function, including the following:


title: Lambert W function

text: The third identity may be derived from the second by making the substitution and the first can also be derived from the third by the substitution .


title: Lambert W function

text: Except for along the branch cut (where the integral does not converge), the principal branch of the Lambert function can be computed by the following integral:


title: Lambert W function

text: The Lambert function is used to solve equations in which the unknown quantity occurs both in the base and in the exponent, or both inside and outside of a logarithm. The strategy is to convert such an equation into one of the form and then to solve for using the function.


title: Lambert W function

text: where "a", "b", and "c" are complex constants, with "b" and "c" not equal to zero, and the "W" function is of any integer order.


title: Lambert W function

text: Granular and debris flow fronts and deposits, and the fronts of viscous fluids in natural events and in laboratory experiments can be described by using the Lambert–Euler omega function as follows:


title: Lambert W function

text: where is the debris flow height, is the channel downstream position, is the unified model parameter consisting of several physical and geometrical parameters of the flow, flow height and the hydraulic pressure gradient.


title: Lambert W function

text: In pipe flow, the Lambert W function is part of the explicit formulation of the Colebrook equation for finding the Darcy friction factor. This factor is used to determine the pressure drop through a straight run of pipe when the flow is turbulent.


title: Lambert W function

text: The principal branch of the Lambert function was employed in the field of mechanical engineering, in the study of time dependent transfer of Newtonian fluids between two reservoirs with varying free surface levels, using centrifugal pumps. The Lambert function provided an exact solution to the flow rate of fluid in both the laminar and turbulent regimes:


title: Lambert W function

text: The Lambert function was employed in the field of neuroimaging for linking cerebral blood flow and oxygen consumption changes within a brain voxel, to the corresponding blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal.


title: Lambert W function

text: The Lambert function was employed in the field of chemical engineering for modelling the porous electrode film thickness in a glassy carbon based supercapacitor for electrochemical energy storage. The Lambert function turned out to be the exact solution for a gas phase thermal activation process where growth of carbon film and combustion of the same film compete with each other.


title: Lambert W function

text: In the crystal growth, the distribution of solute can be obtained by using the Scheil equation. So the negative principal of the Lambert W-function can be used to calculate the distribution coefficient, formula_98:


title: Lambert W function

text: The Lambert function was employed in the field of epitaxial film growth for the determination of the critical dislocation onset film thickness. This is the calculated thickness of an epitaxial film, where due to thermodynamic principles the film will develop crystallographic dislocations in order to minimise the elastic energy stored in the films. Prior to application of Lambert for this problem, the critical thickness had to be determined via solving an implicit equation. Lambert turns it in an explicit equation for analytical handling with ease.


title: Lambert W function

text: The Lambert function has been employed in the field of fluid flow in porous media to model the tilt of an interface separating two gravitationally segregated fluids in a homogeneous tilted porous bed of constant dip and thickness where the heavier fluid, injected at the bottom end, displaces the lighter fluid that is produced at the same rate from the top end. The principal branch of the solution corresponds to stable displacements while the −1 branch applies if the displacement is unstable with the heavier fluid running underneath the lighter fluid.


title: Lambert W function

text: This application shows that the branch difference of the function can be employed in order to solve other transcendental equations.


title: Lambert W function

text: The centroid of a set of histograms defined with respect to the symmetrized Kullback–Leibler divergence (also called the Jeffreys divergence ) has a closed form using the Lambert function.


title: Lambert W function

text: Solving for the optimal group size to pool tests so that at least one individual is infected involves the Lambert function.


title: Lambert W function

text: The Lambert function appears in a quantum-mechanical potential, which affords the fifth – next to those of the harmonic oscillator plus centrifugal, the Coulomb plus inverse square, the Morse, and the inverse square root potential – exact solution to the stationary one-dimensional Schrödinger equation in terms of the confluent hypergeometric functions. The potential is given as


title: Lambert W function

text: A peculiarity of the solution is that each of the two fundamental solutions that compose the general solution of the Schrödinger equation is given by a combination of two confluent hypergeometric functions of an argument proportional to


title: Lambert W function

text: The Lambert function also appears in the exact solution for the bound state energy of the one dimensional Schrödinger equation with a Double Delta Potential.


title: Lambert W function

text: In the Schwarzschild metric solution of the Einstein vacuum equations, the function is needed to go from the Eddington–Finkelstein coordinates to the Schwarzschild coordinates. For this reason, it also appears in the construction of the Kruskal–Szekeres coordinates.


title: Lambert W function

text: The s-wave resonances of the delta-shell potential can be written exactly in terms of the Lambert function.


title: Lambert W function

text: If a reaction involves reactants and products having heat capacities that are constant with temperature then the equilibrium constant obeys


title: Lambert W function

text: for some constants , , and . When (equal to ) is not zero we can find the value or values of where equals a given value as follows, where we use for .


title: Lambert W function

text: If and have the same sign there will be either two solutions or none (or one if the argument of is exactly ). (The upper solution may not be relevant.) If they have opposite signs, there will be one solution.


title: Lambert W function

text: In the calculation of the phase diagram of thermodynamically incompatible polymer mixtures according to the Edmond-Ogston model, the solutions for binodal and tie-lines are formulated in terms of Lambert functions.


title: Lambert W function

text: Wien's displacement law is expressed as formula_106. With formula_107 and formula_108, where formula_109 is the spectral energy energy density, one finds formula_110. The solution formula_111 shows that the spectral energy density is dependent on the dimensionality of the universe.


title: Lambert W function

text: The classical finite-size corrections to the dispersion relations of giant magnons, single spikes and GKP strings can be expressed in terms of the Lambert function.


title: Lambert W function

text: In the limit of the SIR model, the proportion of susceptible and recovered individuals has a solution in terms of the Lambert function.


title: Lambert W function

text: The total time of the journey of a projectile which experiences air resistance proportional to its velocity can be determined in exact form by using the Lambert function.


title: Lambert W function

text: The transcendental equation that appears in the determination of the propagation wave number of an electromagnetic axially symmetric surface wave (a low-attenuation single TM01 mode) propagating in a cylindrical metallic wire gives rise to an equation like (where and clump together the geometrical and physical factors of the problem), which is solved by the Lambert function. The first solution to this problem, due to Sommerfeld "circa" 1898, already contained an iterative method to determine the value of the Lambert function.


title: Lambert W function

text: The family of ellipses formula_112 centered at formula_113 is parameterized by eccentricity formula_114. The orthogonal trajectories of this family are given by the differential equation formula_115 whose general solution is the family formula_116formula_117.


title: Lambert W function

text: The standard Lambert function expresses exact solutions to "transcendental algebraic" equations (in ) of the form:


title: Lambert W function

text: Applications of the Lambert function in fundamental physical problems are not exhausted even for the standard case expressed in () as seen recently in the area of atomic, molecular, and optical physics.


title: Lambert W function

text: The function may be approximated using Newton's method, with successive approximations to (so ) being


title: Lambert W function

text: For real formula_121, it could be approximated by the quadratic-rate recursive formula of R. Iacono and J.P. Boyd:


title: Lambert W function

text: The Lambert function is implemented as codice_1 in Maple, codice_2 in GP (and codice_3 in PARI), codice_2 in Matlab, also codice_2 in Octave with the codice_6 package, as codice_7 in Maxima, as codice_8 (with a silent alias codice_1) in Mathematica, as codice_2 in Python scipy's special function package, as codice_1 in Perl's codice_12 module, and as codice_13, codice_14 functions in the special functions section of the GNU Scientific Library (GSL). In the Boost C++ libraries, the calls are codice_15, codice_16, codice_17, and codice_18. In R, the Lambert function is implemented as the codice_19 and codice_20 functions in the codice_21 package.


title: Lambert W function

text: C++ code for all the branches of the complex Lambert function is available on the homepage of István Mező.


title: Joe Dante

text: Joseph James Dante Jr. (; born November 28, 1946) is an American film director, producer, editor and actor. His films—notably "Gremlins" (1984) alongside its sequel, "" (1990)—often mix 1950s-style B movies with cartoon comedy.


title: Joe Dante

text: Dante's films also include "Piranha" (1978), "The Howling" (1981), "Explorers" (1985), "Innerspace" (1987), "The 'Burbs" (1989), "Matinee" (1993), "Small Soldiers" (1998), and "" (2003). His work for television and cable includes immigration satire "The Second Civil War" (1997) and episodes of anthology series "Masters of Horror" ("Homecoming" and "The Screwfly Solution") and "Amazing Stories", as well as "Police Squad!" and "Hawaii Five-0".


title: Joe Dante

text: Dante was born in Morristown, New Jersey, and grew up in nearby Livingston. His father, Joseph James Dante, was a professional golfer, though Dante was more interested in becoming a cartoonist.


title: Joe Dante

text: Dante began his film career working for legendary, low-budget producer Roger Corman, who provided similar opportunities to future directors Francis Ford Coppola and James Cameron. In 1968, he made "The Movie Orgy", a 7-hour compilation of film clips, commercials and film trailers assembled by Dante.


title: Joe Dante

text: He then worked as an editor on "Grand Theft Auto" after co-directing "Hollywood Boulevard" with Allan Arkush. His next feature film, the Roger Corman-produced "Piranha", was released in 1978 inspired by Steven Spielberg's "Jaws". In 1979, Dante helped direct "Rock 'n' Roll High School" when Allan Arkush fell ill due to exhaustion, but remains uncredited as a director.


title: Joe Dante

text: Dante enlisted John Sayles to rewrite the script for the werewolf tale "The Howling", loosely based on the novel by Gary Brandner. Dante directed episodes of television series "Police Squad!", before Steven Spielberg invited him to join the directing team on anthology movie "". Dante's segment, "It's a Good Life", featured cartoon-style special effects, and revolved around a woman played by Kathleen Quinlan who is 'adopted' by an omnipotent boy. His next film, "Gremlins" proved to be one of Dante's biggest hits to date, being the third-highest-grossing film of 1984. Combining horror and comedy elements, the film revolves around Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan), who is given a strange creature he calls Gizmo as a pet. After Billy fails to follow the rules for looking after Gizmo, the creature spawns other creatures, which transform into destructive monsters who then begin rampaging through the local town. Dante next directed "Explorers", about a group of friends who build a working spacecraft and encounter extraterrestrial life. The film marked the debuts of both River Phoenix and Ethan Hawke. In 1987, Dante made the comedy adventure "Innerspace", in which Dennis Quaid's character is miniaturised and injected inside a human body. In 1989, Dante directed Tom Hanks in "The 'Burbs", a black comedy in which Hanks' character deals with nightmarish neighbors.


title: Joe Dante

text: In 1990, Dante directed a to his film "Gremlins", this time set in a New York high rise. In 1993, he directed "Matinee", which received positive reviews. Set during the 1960s, the film pays homage to B movies and the showmen who made and promoted them. In his review for the Chicago Reader, Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote, "At the same time that Dante has a field day brutally satirizing our desire to scare ourselves and others, he also re-creates early-60s clichés with a relish and a feeling for detail that come very close to love". USA Today reviewer Mike Clark wrote "Part spoof, part nostalgia trip and part primer in exploitation-pic ballyhoo, Matinee is a sweetly resonant little movie-lovers' movie". Dante was creative consultant on short-lived fantasy series "Eerie, Indiana" (1991–1992), and directed five episodes. He played himself in the series finale. In the mid-90s, he worked on "The Phantom". When he was removed from the film, he chose screen credit as executive producer rather than pay. In 1998, he directed "Small Soldiers" which received mixed reviews and was a moderate box office success.


title: Joe Dante

text: Dante directed the 2003 live-action/animation hybrid, "". A box office bomb, the film received mixed reviews. In 2007, Dante launched the web series "Trailers from Hell", which provides commentary by directors, producers and screenwriters on trailers for classic and cult movies. He is also a contributor to the website. Dante's 2009 film "The Hole" received positive reviews, and was awarded the Premio Persol at the 2009 Venice Film Festival. The new award was for the "3-D feature deemed the most creative among those produced globally between September 2008 and August 2009." With Roger Corman producing, Dante also directed the interactive web series "Splatter" for Netflix. The series stars Corey Feldman as a rock star seeking revenge on those he thinks have wronged him.


title: Joe Dante

text: In 2014, Dante made "Burying the Ex", a horror comedy about a young man whose controlling girlfriend suddenly dies in a freak accident but when he tries to move on with his life along with his new partner he discovers that his now undead Ex has come back. The film stars Anton Yelchin and Ashley Greene. It was selected to be screened out of competition at the 71st Venice International Film Festival, and was released in 2015. Dante served as executive producer on the independent feature length thriller "Dark", starring Whitney Able and Alexandra Breckenridge, directed by Nick Basile. The film is set in New York City during the 2003 blackout. The film was released by Screen Media Films on June 7, 2016. In 2018, Dante directed a segment of "Nightmare Cinema", a horror anthology film starring Mickey Rourke and featuring shorts also directed by Alejandro Brugués, Mick Garris, Ryūhei Kitamura, and David Slade.


title: Joe Dante

text: In 2020, it was announced that Dante would be returning to the world of "Gremlins" serving as a consultant on the HBO Max prequel series "".


title: Joe Dante

text: Like most directors, Dante has developed a stock company of actors who have worked with him over a long period of time.


title: Joe Dante

text: Dante's long-time friend and business associate, Sylvia, played one of the nuns at the concert in Allan Arkush's "Rock 'n' Roll High School". Dante co-wrote and directed five scenes of the film when Arkush became ill.


title: Joe Dante

text: Dante's films are well known for their many references to other movies and for their special effects. Dante's garage is frequently mentioned in audio commentaries as holding many of the props from his various films, including the Peltzer Peeler Juicer from "Gremlins", and where the mock-pornographic scene in "The Howling" was shot.


title: Joe Dante

text: His respect for the screenwriter extends to the point where, in order to make sure Dante can confer with the writer on-set and provide some minor, additional remuneration, he always casts the writer in a small part of the production itself. The studio is normally unwilling to pay to have the writer on-set in any other way.


title: Joe Dante

text: Dante has cited among his major influences Roger Corman, Chuck Jones, Frank Tashlin, James Whale and Jean Cocteau, as well as an admiration for the film "Hellzapoppin'", from which he frequently borrows jokes because of how difficult the film is to see in the United States.


title: Joe Dante

text: The moving image collection of Joe Dante and Jon Davison is held at the Academy Film Archive. The joint collection includes feature films, pre-production elements, and theatrical trailer reels.


title: Something Rotten!

text: Something Rotten! is a musical comedy with a book by John O'Farrell and Karey Kirkpatrick and music and lyrics by Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick. Set in 1595, the story follows the Bottom brothers, Nick and Nigel, who struggle to find success in the theatrical world as they compete with the wild popularity of their contemporary William Shakespeare.


title: Something Rotten!

text: "Something Rotten!" opened on Broadway at the St. James Theatre on April 22, 2015, where it played for 708 performances. It was nominated for ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and won one (Christian Borle as Best Featured Actor in a Musical). Tours and international productions have followed.


title: Something Rotten!

text: The musical began with an idea that brothers Karey and Wayne Kirkpatrick had had since the 1990s. They finally joined with John O’Farrell to write several songs and presented those songs and a treatment to the producer Kevin McCollum in 2010. The team then joined with Casey Nicholaw, who brought in several of the actors, resulting in the workshop in 2014.


title: Something Rotten!

text: "Something Rotten!" was expected to have a pre-Broadway tryout at the 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle, Washington, in April 2015. However, when a Broadway theatre became available, Kevin McCollum decided to open the show without the Seattle tryout. "David Armstrong, artistic director of 5th Avenue Theater, said ... that after the positive buzz surrounding the musical’s workshop in October [2014], he and Mr. McCollum began discussing the possibility of the show bypassing Seattle in favor of Broadway." The developmental lab took place in New York City in October 2014 with Casey Nicholaw as director and choreographer.


title: Something Rotten!

text: "Something Rotten!" opened on Broadway at the St. James Theatre in previews on March 23, 2015, and officially opened on April 22, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, with the sets designed by Scott Pask, costumes by Gregg Barnes and lighting by Jeff Croiter. The production closed on January 1, 2017 after 742 performances. It was nominated for ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and won one (Christian Borle as Best Featured Actor in a Musical).


title: Something Rotten!

text: The show launched a US national tour with previews at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, New York on January 10, 2017, before officially opening at the Boston Opera House on January 17. The tour cast featured Rob McClure (Nick Bottom), Adam Pascal (Shakespeare) and Josh Grisetti (Nigel Bottom).


title: Something Rotten!

text: The show also launched a Non-Equity national tour beginning on September 19, 2018 at the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts in Columbus, Georgia. The tour starred Matthew Janisse (Nick Bottom), Matthew Baker (Shakespeare), and Richard Spitaletta (Nigel Bottom) and was staged by Steve Bebout (associate director of the original Broadway production). In June 2019, the show played a short run of June 9–30 at the Chungmu Art Center Grand Theater in Seoul, Korea, marking the final destination on the tour.


title: Something Rotten!

text: A Swedish-language production ran from November 8, 2018 to March 3, 2019 at the Wermland Opera in Karlstad, Sweden, directed by Markus Virta. The translation was by Calle Norlén.


title: Something Rotten!

text: A South Korean production in Korean was scheduled to run from 7 August 2020 to 18 October 2020 at the Chungmu Art Center Grand Theater. Some of the performances were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.


title: Something Rotten!

text: The musical was scheduled to play at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in October 2020 but has been postponed until at least 2022. It is set to be directed by Sean Foley and choreographed by Carrie-Ann Ingrouille.


title: Something Rotten!

text: The musical opens with the Minstrel welcoming the audience to the English Renaissance ("Welcome to the Renaissance"). He tells the audience that "not everybody is getting what he wants", referring to Nick Bottom, who runs a theatre troupe with his brother Nigel. They are rehearsing for their upcoming play "Richard II", while William Shakespeare (referred to as "the Bard") is opening "Romeo and Juliet". Lord Clapham, a patron who trusts the brothers and raises funds for their troupe, enters to announce that Shakespeare is doing "Richard II". The news outrages Nick, as Shakespeare has already done "Richard III", and the thought of going backwards seems absurd to him. He rants about his hatred of Shakespeare to the troupe members, who are horrified ("God, I Hate Shakespeare"). Lord Clapham leaves, telling the brothers he is stopping their funds unless they have another play by the next morning.


title: Something Rotten!

text: Nigel and Nick go home to their small house, and on the way Nick encounters Shylock the Jew. Shylock expresses a desire to help fund the troupe, but Nick rejects him as it is illegal to employ a Jew. Bea, Nick's wife, tells them the events of her day and how she acquired their dinner as she serves it. They are saving for a better life, and when Nick tries to open the Money Box, Bea smacks his hand away. Bea tells him how she could help them out, but Nick is ambivalent ("Right Hand Man"). Despite Nick's arguments, Bea goes out to do jobs that Nick claims are for men. As Nigel sleeps, Nick faces the real reason he hates Shakespeare: "the Bard" makes Nick feel self-conscious ("God, I Hate Shakespeare (Reprise)"). He wishes there was a way to top Shakespeare, and steals from the Money Box to see a soothsayer. He finds a soothsayer named Thomas Nostradamus (the nephew of the famous soothsayer Nostradamus). Nick asks him what the next big thing in theatre will be, and Nostradamus says that it will be "a musical", a play where "an actor is saying his lines, and out of nowhere he just starts singing". Nick thinks it is ridiculous but quickly warms up to the idea ("A Musical").


title: Something Rotten!

text: Later, Nick meets Nigel on the street. Nigel has just met Portia, the daughter of Brother Jeremiah; they immediately fall in love. Nick tells him that he shouldn't pursue her because she is a Puritan. The Puritans leave and Nick tells Nigel what the soothsayer said, but neglects to tell him that it was not Nick's own idea. Nigel wants to do "The Brothers from Cornwall", the story of the two brothers' lives, but Nick vetoes saying it has to be bigger, and decides to do a play about the Black Death. The troupe performs a song for Lord Clapham (”The Black Death”), who is disgusted and deserts the troupe.


title: Something Rotten!

text: Nigel sits down to try to write a new play. Portia sneaks out to see him, and they discover more about their similarities, especially in the way they both love poetry ("I Love the Way"). A messenger arrives with an invitation for Nigel to attend Shakespeare in the Park and an after-party. Nigel explains to Portia that he sent one of his sonnets to the Bard for feedback. Nigel asks the messenger if Portia can be his "plus one".


title: Something Rotten!

text: In the park, Shakespeare performs for the people ("Will Power"). Nigel and Portia go to the after party, where Portia gets drunk. Shakespeare asks to read Nigel's journal of poems and writings, but Nick runs in with Shylock and chastises Shakespeare for trying to steal Nigel's ideas, as well as reprimanding Nigel for his naiveté. Brother Jeremiah then runs in to find a drunk Portia and once again admonishes Nigel.


title: Something Rotten!

text: In a rage, Nick goes back to Nostradamus with what he has left of the money he stole from the Money Box. He asks Nostradamus what Shakespeare's new hit is going to be. Nostradamus sees "Hamlet" but misinterprets it as "Omelette", among other mistakes (such as the Prince eating a danish pastry rather than being a Danish prince). Nick gets excited at the possibilities of success and dreams of a future in which crowds cheer for him and Shakespeare bows down to him ("Bottom's Gonna Be on Top").


title: Something Rotten!

text: The Minstrel welcomes the audience back and tells them of the stresses that the Bottom brothers and Shakespeare face ("Welcome to the Renaissance (Reprise)"). Shakespeare shows the stress he faces while trying to write hits and manage his fame ("Hard to Be the Bard"). A spy tells him that the brothers are trying to steal Shakespeare's upcoming hit. An excited Shakespeare decides to disguise himself as "Toby Belch" and audition for the brothers' troupe in order to steal the play.


title: Something Rotten!

text: Meanwhile, the troupe is rehearsing "Omelette: The Musical" ("It's Eggs!"). Shylock has become their new investor, though they cannot find a title that would make his role legal. When some of the actors become suspicious of Nostradamus and why he is at their theatre, Nick lies and says that Nostradamus is an actor. "Toby Belch" arrives at the theatre and is hired for the company. He is surprised to learn that his hit is about eggs.


title: Something Rotten!

text: Nigel sneaks out to London Bridge to see Portia, where he reads her another poem about his love for her. He worries about their future together, but Portia reassures him by saying that everyone, even Nick and Brother Jeremiah, will change their minds about their relationship when they hear Nigel's beautiful sonnets ("We See the Light"). Nigel is not very happy with "Omelette" and claims that it doesn't feel right. Brother Jeremiah interrupts the lovers and takes Portia away to be imprisoned in a tower for disobeying. Saddened by the loss of his love, Nigel becomes inspired to write a completely different play that is revealed to be "Hamlet".


title: Something Rotten!

text: Nigel goes into the theatre the next day and tells Nick about his new improvements. They get into a huge argument and Shakespeare tries to take advantage of their squabble to get his hit ("To Thine Own Self"). A hurt Nigel scrambles out onto the street and is confronted by Shakespeare, who steals his hit under the guise of "improving it". Later, Nigel runs into Bea, who explains to him that they should still trust Nick because they can always fall on him if they need him ("Right Hand Man" (Reprise)).


title: Something Rotten!

text: Nick is having qualms about "Omelette: The Musical" as well, but dismisses these doubts once he learns that the town lined up all the way around the theatre for tickets. He and the troupe prepare for the show ("Something Rotten!"). Once the audience arrives, they perform a bombastic dance number that has many references to modern-day musicals (such as "The Lion King" and "The Phantom of the Opera") ("Make an Omelette"). Towards the end of the number, Shakespeare reveals himself and sues the brothers. The troupe and Nigel find out that Nostradamus is a soothsayer, and are horrified.


title: Something Rotten!

text: In court, Shylock, Nick, Nigel, and Nostradamus are on trial and Nick is sentenced to beheading. Bea enters, disguised as a lawyer, and makes Nick confess that he stole from the Money Box. She tells the judge that beheading him would be redundant because he has already lost his head. She has made a deal with Shakespeare that they will be exiled to America ("To Thine Own Self (Reprise)"). She says that they always wanted a new country house and they are getting a house in a new country. Portia then arrives, having escaped the tower. She renounces her father's ideals and joins the Bottoms, Shylock, and Nostradamus in exile.


title: Something Rotten!

text: They arrive in America and tell the audience of the new opportunities in the New World ("Finale"). Nick hears about the opening of Shakespeare's new masterpiece, "Hamlet", to which Nostradamus replies "I was "this" close".


title: Something Rotten!

text: Ghostlight Records released the Original Broadway Cast Album of "Something Rotten!" on June 2, 2015 in digital music stores and July 17, 2015 on CD.


title: Something Rotten!

text: In the recording, "Something Rotten!" and "Make an Omelette" are combined into one track because of the brevity of the former.


title: Something Rotten!

text: The show includes references to numerous musicals. For example, during the song “A Musical,” "Nostradamus and the chorus men don sailor hats, which harkens to several nautical-themed musicals, including "South Pacific", "Anything Goes", "On the Town" and "Dames at Sea"." The "TheaterMania" reviewer noted that the song "A Musical" "encapsulates the entire book-musical form in six hilarious minutes. It's so chock-full of witty references and energetic dance; it's hard to see how it could be topped."


title: Something Rotten!

text: "Variety" also pointed out that the song "A Musical" "simultaneously celebrates and sends up everything we hold dear about this peculiar art form, from the 'jazzy hands' of Bob Fosse to the synchronized line dancing of the Rockettes."


title: The Chair (2021 TV series)

text: The Chair is an American comedy drama streaming television series. The series was released on Netflix on August 20, 2021. It is set at the fictional Pembroke University, "in what seems like New England".


title: The Chair (2021 TV series)

text: Professor Ji-Yoon Kim is the newly appointed chair of the English department at Pembroke University. The first woman chosen for the position, she attempts to ensure the tenure of a young black colleague, negotiate her relationship with her crush, friend, and well-known colleague Bill Dobson, and parent her strong-willed adopted daughter.


title: The Chair (2021 TV series)

text: "The Chair" was created by Amanda Peet and Annie Julia Wyman. Peet also served as an executive producer, alongside David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, Bernie Caulfield, Daniel Gray Longino, and Sandra Oh. Peet and Annie Julia Wyman co-wrote the pilot episode. Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania, and the Shadyside campus of Chatham University in Pittsburgh were used to represent Pembroke University, with the Shadyside neighborhood standing in for the town of Pembroke.


title: The Chair (2021 TV series)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 86 percent approval rating with an average rating of 6.9 out of 10, based on 69 critic reviews. The critics consensus reads, ""The Chair" is too short to achieve all of its ambitions, but spot-on observations about academia and a sturdy ensemble led by an empathetic—and hilarious—performance from Sandra Oh ensure it's never less than watchable." Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 73 out of 100 based on 33 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: The Chair (2021 TV series)

text: Reviewing the series for "USA Today", Kelly Lawler gave the series a rating of three out of four stars and said, "Like most college students, "The Chair" is incredibly ambitious at what it will achieve in its short time and occasionally falls flat, but overall the series beats the metaphorical curve."


title: The Chair (2021 TV series)

text: Ben Travers of "IndieWire" gave the series a B and wrote, "If "The Chair" were just a collegiate-level romantic-comedy, it would be a delight, boosted further by its brevity, but the show's eagerness to cover more ground is both exciting and a bit much."


title: Drum

text: The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a percussion mallet, to produce sound. There is usually a resonant head on the underside of the drum. Other techniques have been used to cause drums to make sound, such as the thumb roll. Drums are the world's oldest and most ubiquitous musical instruments, and the basic design has remained virtually unchanged for thousands of years.


title: Drum

text: Drums may be played individually, with the player using a single drum, and some drums such as the djembe are almost always played in this way. Others are normally played in a set of two or more, all played by the one player, such as bongo drums and timpani. A number of different drums together with cymbals form the basic modern drum kit.


title: Drum

text: Drums are usually played by striking with the hand, a beater attached to a pedal, or with one or two sticks with or without padding. A wide variety of sticks are used, including wooden sticks and sticks with soft beaters of felt on the end. In jazz, some drummers use brushes for a smoother, quieter sound. In many traditional cultures, drums have a symbolic function and are used in religious ceremonies. Drums are often used in music therapy, especially hand drums, because of their tactile nature and easy use by a wide variety of people.


title: Drum

text: In popular music and jazz, "drums" usually refers to a drum kit or a set of drums (with some cymbals, or in the case of harder rock music genres, many cymbals), and "drummer" to the person who plays them.


title: Drum

text: Drums acquired even divine status in places such as Burundi, where the "karyenda" was a symbol of the power of the king.


title: Drum

text: The shell almost always has a circular opening over which the drumhead is stretched, but the shape of the remainder of the shell varies widely. In the Western musical tradition, the most usual shape is a cylinder, although timpani, for example, use bowl-shaped shells. Other shapes include a frame design (tar, Bodhrán), truncated cones (bongo drums, Ashiko), goblet shaped (djembe), and joined truncated cones (talking drum).


title: Drum

text: Drums with cylindrical shells can be open at one end (as is the case with timbales), or can have two drum heads, one head on each end. Single-headed drums typically consist of a skin stretched over an enclosed space, or over one of the ends of a hollow vessel. Drums with two heads covering both ends of a cylindrical shell often have a small hole somewhat halfway between the two heads; the shell forms a resonating chamber for the resulting sound. Exceptions include the African slit drum, also known as a log drum as it is made from a hollowed-out tree trunk, and the Caribbean steel drum, made from a metal barrel. Drums with two heads can also have a set of wires, called snares, held across the bottom head, top head, or both heads, hence the name snare drum. On some drums with two heads, a hole or bass reflex port may be cut or installed onto one head, as with some 2010s era bass drums in rock music.


title: Drum

text: On modern band and orchestral drums, the drumhead is placed over the opening of the drum, which in turn is held onto the shell by a "counterhoop" (or "rim"), which is then held by means of a number of tuning screws called "tension rods" that screw into lugs placed evenly around the circumference. The head's tension can be adjusted by loosening or tightening the rods. Many such drums have six to ten tension rods. The sound of a drum depends on many variables—including shape, shell size and thickness, shell materials, counterhoop material, drumhead material, drumhead tension, drum position, location, and striking velocity and angle.


title: Drum

text: Prior to the invention of tension rods, drum skins were attached and tuned by rope systems—as on the Djembe—or pegs and ropes such as on Ewe drums. These methods are rarely used today, though sometimes appear on regimental marching band snare drums. The head of a talking drum, for example, can be temporarily tightened by squeezing the ropes that connect the top and bottom heads. Similarly, the tabla is tuned by hammering a disc held in place around the drum by ropes stretching from the top to bottom head. Orchestral timpani can be quickly tuned to precise pitches by using a foot pedal.


title: Drum

text: Several factors determine the sound a drum produces, including the type, shape and construction of the drum shell, the type of drum heads it has, and the tension of these drumheads. Different drum sounds have different uses in music. For example, the modern Tom-tom drum. A jazz drummer may want drums that are high pitched, resonant and quiet whereas a rock drummer may prefer drums that are loud, dry and low-pitched.


title: Drum

text: The drum head has the most effect on how a drum sounds. Each type of drum head serves its own musical purpose and has its own unique sound. Double-ply drumheads dampen high frequency harmonics because they are heavier and they are suited to heavy playing. Drum heads with a white, textured coating on them muffle the overtones of the drum head slightly, producing a less diverse pitch. Drum heads with central silver or black dots tend to muffle the overtones even more, while drum heads with perimeter sound rings mostly eliminate overtones. Some jazz drummers avoid using thick drum heads, preferring single ply drum heads or drum heads with no muffling. Rock drummers often prefer the thicker or coated drum heads.


title: Drum

text: The second biggest factor that affects drum sound is head tension against the shell. When the hoop is placed around the drum head and shell and tightened down with tension rods, the tension of the head can be adjusted. When the tension is increased, the amplitude of the sound is reduced and the frequency is increased, making the pitch higher and the volume lower.


title: Drum

text: The type of shell also affects the sound of a drum. Because the vibrations resonate in the shell of the drum, the shell can be used to increase the volume and to manipulate the type of sound produced. The larger the diameter of the shell, the lower the pitch. The larger the depth of the drum, the louder the volume. Shell thickness also determines the volume of drums. Thicker shells produce louder drums. Mahogany raises the frequency of low pitches and keeps higher frequencies at about the same speed. When choosing a set of shells, a jazz drummer may want smaller maple shells, while a rock drummer may want larger birch shells.


title: Drum

text: Drums made with alligator skins have been found in Neolithic cultures located in China, dating to a period of 5500–2350 BC. In literary records, drums manifested shamanistic characteristics and were often used in ritual ceremonies.


title: Drum

text: The bronze Dong Son drum was fabricated by the Bronze Age Dong Son culture of northern Vietnam. They include the ornate Ngoc Lu drum.


title: Drum

text: Macaque monkeys drum objects in a rhythmic way to show social dominance and this has been shown to be processed in a similar way in their brains to vocalizations, suggesting an evolutionary origin to drumming as part of social communication. Other primates make drumming sounds by chest beating or hand clapping, and rodents such as kangaroo rats also make similar sounds using their paws on the ground.


title: Drum

text: Drums are used not only for their musical qualities, but also as a means of communication over great distances. The talking drums of Africa are used to imitate the tone patterns of spoken language. Throughout Sri Lankan history drums have been used for communication between the state and the community, and Sri Lankan drums have a history stretching back over 2500 years.


title: Drum

text: Drumming may be a purposeful expression of emotion for entertainment, spiritualism and communication. Many cultures practice drumming as a spiritual or religious passage and interpret drummed rhythm similarly to spoken language or prayer. Drumming has developed over millennia to be a powerful art form. Drumming is commonly viewed as the root of music and is sometimes performed as a kinesthetic dance. As a discipline, drumming concentrates on training the body to punctuate, convey and interpret musical rhythmic intention to an audience and to the performer.


title: Drum

text: Chinese troops used tàigǔ drums to motivate troops, to help set a marching pace, and to call out orders or announcements. For example, during a war between Qi and Lu in 684 BC, the effect of drum on soldiers' morale is employed to change the result of a major battle. Fife-and-drum corps of Swiss mercenary foot soldiers also used drums. They used an early version of the snare drum carried over the player's right shoulder, suspended by a strap (typically played with one hand using traditional grip). It is to this instrument that the English word "drum" was first used. Similarly, during the English Civil War rope-tension drums would be carried by junior officers as a means to relay commands from senior officers over the noise of battle. These were also hung over the shoulder of the drummer and typically played with two drum sticks. Different regiments and companies would have distinctive and unique drum beats only they recognized. In the mid-19th century, the Scottish military started incorporating pipe bands into their Highland regiments.


title: Drum

text: During pre-Columbian warfare, Aztec nations were known to have used drums to send signals to the battling warriors. The Nahuatl word for drum is roughly translated as "huehuetl".


title: Drum

text: The Rig Veda, one of the oldest religious scriptures in the world, contains several references to the use of the "Dundhubi" (war drum). Arya tribes charged into battle to the beating of the war drum and chanting of a hymn that appears in Book VI of the Rig Veda and also the Atharva Veda where it is referred to as the "Hymn to the battle drum".


title: Battle of Buxar

text: The Battle of Buxar was fought between 22 and 23 October 1764, between the forces under the command of the British East India Company, led by Hector Munro, and the combined armies of Mir Qasim, Nawab of Bengal till 1764; the Nawab of Awadh, Shuja-ud-Daula; and the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II. The battle was fought at Buxar, a "strong fortified town" within the territory of Bihar, located on the banks of the Ganga river about west of Patna; it was a challenging victory for the British East India Company. The war was brought to an end by the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765.


title: Battle of Buxar

text: The British army engaged in the fighting numbered 17,072 comprising 1,859 British regulars, 5,297 Indian sepoys and 9,189 Indian cavalry. The alliance army's numbers were estimated to be over 40,000. According to other sources, the combined army of the Mughals, Awadh and Mir Qasim consisting of 10


title: Battle of Buxar

text: ,000 men was defeated by a British army comprising 10,000 men. The Nawabs had gained their military power after the battle of Buxar.


title: Battle of Buxar

text: The lack of basic co-ordination among the major three disparate allies was responsible for their decisive defeat.


title: Battle of Buxar

text: Mirza Najaf Khan commanded the right flank of the Mughal imperial army and was the first to advance his forces against Major Hector Munro at daybreak; the British lines formed within twenty minutes and reversed the advance of the Mughals. According to the British, Durrani and Rohilla cavalry were also present and fought during the battle in various skirmishes. But by midday, the battle was over and Shuja-ud-Daula blew up large tumbrils and three massive magazines of gunpowder.


title: Battle of Buxar

text: Munro divided his army into various columns and particularly pursued the Mughal Grand Vizier Shuja-ud-Daula the Nawab of Awadh who responded by blowing up his boat-bridge after crossing the river, thus abandoning the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II and members of his own regiment. Mir Qasim also fled with his 3 million rupees worth of gemstones and later died in poverty in 1777. Mirza Najaf Khan reorganised formations around Shah Alam II, who retreated and then chose to negotiate with the victorious British.


title: Battle of Buxar

text: Historian John William Fortescue claimed that the British casualties totalled 847: 39 killed and 64 wounded from the European regiments and 250 killed, 435 wounded and 85 missing from the East India Company's sepoys. He also claimed that the three Indian allies suffered 2,000 dead and that many more were wounded. Another source says that there were 69 European and 664 sepoy casualties on the British side and 6,000 casualties on the Mughal side. The victors captured 133 pieces of artillery and over 1 million rupees of cash. Immediately after the battle, Munro decided to assist the Marathas, who were described as a "warlike race", well known for their relentless and unwavering hatred towards the Mughal Empire and its Nawabs and Mysore.


title: Battle of Buxar

text: The British victory at Buxar had "at one fell swoop", disposed of the three main scions of Mughal power in Upper India. Mir Qasim disappeared into impoverished obscurity. Shah Alam II surrendered himself to the British, and Shah Shuja[Shuja-ud-Daula] fled west hotly pursued by the victors. The whole Ganges valley lay at the company's mercy; Shah Shuja eventually surrendered; By 1765, the British had become the virtual rulers of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Robert Clive became the first governor of Bengal.


title: Guillermo Díaz (actor)

text: Guillermo Díaz (born March 22, 1975) is an American actor. He is known for films "Half Baked" (1998), "200 Cigarettes" (1999) and "Stonewall" (1995). He is best known for his role as Diego "Huck" Muñoz in the drama series "Scandal". Díaz has made guest appearances on "Chappelle's Show", "Law & Order", "Weeds", "ER", "Broad City", and "Girls".


title: Guillermo Díaz (actor)

text: Díaz was born in New Jersey to Cuban parents, and grew up in Washington Heights, Manhattan. In 1994, he landed his first speaking role as Spike in Boaz Yakin's "Fresh". From there he began working on "Party Girl" as Leo, Parker Posey's roommate. His next role was a drag queen (La Miranda) in Nigel Finch's "Stonewall". In 1996, Díaz worked in Jim McKay's "Girls Town" as Dylan, after which he appeared in "I'm Not Rappaport".


title: Guillermo Díaz (actor)

text: Díaz played Paco de la Vega al Camino Cordoba Jose Cuervo Sanchez Rodriguez Jr., a high school gang member in "High School High". He later appeared in "Freeway" as Flaco, another gang member. While in Los Angeles, he did guest spots on "ER" and "Party of Five".


title: Guillermo Díaz (actor)

text: After finishing work on the West Coast, Díaz traveled back east to play a stoner named Eric in Brian Sloan's film "I Think I Do". A similar role followed as Scarface in the film "Half Baked". One of his co-stars was Dave Chappelle, who later cast him in several episodes of "Chappelle's Show". In 1999, he landed a non-speaking role in "200 Cigarettes", and went on to act in both Ethan Hawke's directorial debut "Chelsea Walls" and the movie "Just One Time", where as secondary characters one critic thought that he and Jennifer Esposito provided what little "comic spark" existed in the film.


title: Guillermo Díaz (actor)

text: Díaz played Guillermo García Gómez, a drug dealer/trafficker, in seasons 2-6 of the series "Weeds". In 2009, he starred on the series "Mercy", where his portrayal of the gay nurse Angel received negative criticism in online forums for being too flamboyant. In 2010, he appeared in the thriller film "Exquisite Corpse".


title: Guillermo Díaz (actor)

text: After having portrayed several Mexican thugs (cholos), Díaz was cast in 2010 as a Latino gangster named Poh Boy in "Cop Out". When asked about being typecast, he said: "I [used to worry], but not really anymore. Now I'm just grateful that I'm working. I try to make everything different."


title: Guillermo Díaz (actor)

text: In 2010, Díaz did a photoshoot for "Pinups Magazine". The photoshoot featured full frontal nudity from Díaz.


title: Guillermo Díaz (actor)

text: In 2011, Díaz appeared alongside Britney Spears in a music video for the single "I Wanna Go", and took part in a scene referencing his character Scarface from "Half Baked".


title: Guillermo Díaz (actor)

text: Díaz is gay. In 2011, he told "Out" magazine that his rough upbringing in New York City, during which he hid his sexuality so as not to become a target, ultimately made him a better actor. He said: "I went to school in the Bronx. I learned to constantly try to cover up the fact that I was gay. That façade of being somebody I'm really not just to protect myself definitely helped with acting." He was named one of "Out" Magazine's 100 most influential gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender people for 2013.


title: Guillermo Díaz (actor)

text: Díaz has said on multiple occasions that he is a fan of Madonna. He has been to all of her tours apart from The Virgin Tour and The Who's That Girl Tour. He also has her face tattooed on his right arm.


title: Guillermo Díaz (actor)

text: In November 2017, Díaz was nominated to "Out" magazine's "OUT100" for 2017 in recognition of his work and his visibility.


title: Guillermo Díaz (actor)

text: In 2006, he joined the cast of a series of improv-based commercials for Sierra Mist titled "Mist Takes". A Spanish version of the advertisements began airing, and the bilingual Díaz also starred in those with other Latino comedians.


title: Dominick Napolitano

text: Dominick Napolitano (June 16, 1930 – August 17, 1981), also known as Sonny Black, was an American Mafia caporegime in the Bonanno crime family. He is known for unwittingly allowing FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone to become an associate in his crew and nearly getting him made.


title: Dominick Napolitano

text: Napolitano's grandparents were immigrants from Naples, Italy. Napolitano was born with blond hair, but by his forties it had turned a gunmetal white-silver color. To hide the color, he dyed it black, earning him the nickname "Sonny Black". He was a close friend of future Bonanno crime family boss Joseph Massino; incarcerated boss Philip Rastelli knew Napolitano before he went to prison. He was close to Carmine Napolitano (May 30, 1943 – February 15, 1999), a cousin and fellow Bonanno mobster. Like his sons Peter Napolitano (November 17, 1957 – June 29, 1994), Aniello Napolitano and Rocco Napolitano who were born and raised in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; he was also raised there.


title: Dominick Napolitano

text: Napolitano controlled Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and from 1979–80, he operated in Pasco County, Florida, and from Holiday, Florida, after negotiating control of the territory with Santo Trafficante, Jr. At that time, Napolitano set his sights on operating a major bookmaking operation in Orlando.


title: Dominick Napolitano

text: Napolitano rose to prominence in 1973 as a soldier for Michael Sabella and was promoted to capo, replacing his mentor after the gangland execution of the powerful rival capo Carmine "The Cigar" Galante. Sabella was demoted and Napolitano took over the crew. He became a trusted confidant of the imprisoned mobster Phillip "Rusty" Rastelli who took over leadership permanently again. But when Rastelli took over, it caused the Bonannos to split into two factions, one loyal to Rastelli, the other attempting to overthrow him in favor of the Sicilian faction, led by Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato.


title: Dominick Napolitano

text: Napolitano owned the Wither's Italian-American Veterans of Foreign Wars Club at 415 Graham Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and also The Motion Lounge at 420 Graham Avenue. He later ran an illegal casino in Pasco County, Florida, and owned a tennis club and night club called "The King's Court Bottle Club" in Holiday, Florida.


title: Dominick Napolitano

text: Napolitano's headquarters were in the heart of Williamsburg's Italian neighborhood. His crew, involved in burglary, extortion, robbery, bank robbery, loansharking, hijacking, bookmaking, casino operations and drug trafficking, were one of the most successful crews in the Bonanno family. Napolitano's crew included Bonanno street soldiers Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero, Nicholas Santora, Louis Attanasio, John Cersani, Jerome Asaro, Anthony Francomano, Sandro Asaro, John Faraci, Daniel Mangelli, Robert Lino, Frank Lino, Richard Riccardi, Joseph Grimaldi, Nicholas Accardi, Peter Rosa, Patrick DeFilippo, Michael Mancuso, Vito Grimaldi, Anthony Urso, James Tartaglione, Joseph Cammarano, John Zancocchio, Edward Barberra, Frankie Fish, Bobby Badheart, Bobby Smash and his previous capo Michael Sabella, Joseph Puma, Steven Maruca, Salvatore Farrugia, Anthony Pesiri, Antonio Tomasulo, Anthony Rabito, Raymond Wean, Frank DiStefano, Salvatore D'Ottavio, James Episcopa and Donnie Brasco.


title: Dominick Napolitano

text: Napolitano assigned associate Donnie Brasco in September 1981, whom he hoped to make a made man, to kill Bruno Indelicato, who had previously evaded death when he missed the meeting when the three capos were killed in May 1981. "Brasco", however, was in fact an undercover FBI agent named Joseph Pistone; shortly after the hit was ordered, Pistone's assignment was ended, and Napolitano was informed of their infiltration. In 1981, Napolitano and Joseph Massino, who were loyal to Rastelli, were chiefly responsible for helping to end the struggle by killing three capos opposed to Rastelli: Alphonse Indelicato, Dominick Trinchera and Philip Giaccone. Already skeptical of Napolitano's support of "Brasco", Massino was deeply disturbed by the breach of security when he learned of the agent's true identity. Salvatore Vitale would later testify that this was the reason Massino subsequently decided to murder Napolitano as well; as he would later quote Massino, "I have to give him a receipt for the Donnie Brasco situation."


title: Dominick Napolitano

text: On August 17, 1981, Napolitano was summoned to a meeting in the basement of Bonanno associate Ron Filocomo's home in Flatlands, Brooklyn. Anticipating that he would be killed, Napolitano gave his jewelry to his favorite bartender, who worked below his apartment at the Motion Lounge, along with the keys to his apartment so that his pet pigeons could be cared for. Bonanno capo Frank Lino and Steven Canone drove Napolitano to the house of Filocomo and Frank Coppa, who was also present. Napolitano was pushed down the staircase to Filocomo's basement and shot to death by Filocomo and Lino with .38 caliber revolvers. When the first shot misfired, Napolitano told them, "Hit me one more time and make it good".


title: Dominick Napolitano

text: Napolitano's girlfriend Judy later contacted Pistone and told him that, shortly before his death, Napolitano had told her that he bore no ill will towards Pistone, knowing that Pistone was only doing his job, and that if anyone was responsible for taking him down, he was glad it was Pistone. She said that Napolitano really loved Pistone and was upset when he found out he was an agent. Napolitano could not believe that Pistone was an agent because of the "things we had done together, the conversations we'd had, the feelings we'd had."


title: Dominick Napolitano

text: In August, FBI surveillance noticed workmen dismantling Napolitano's pigeon coops atop the Motion Lounge. On August 12, 1982, a body was found at South Avenue and Bridge Street in Arlington, Staten Island; the corpse's hands were severed and the face was so badly decomposed that dental records were required to verify the identity. The FBI announced that it had found the corpse of Napolitano. In 2000, however, they publicly revealed doubts about whether the corpse was correctly identified.


title: Dominick Napolitano

text: In 2003, Bonanno boss Joseph Massino was arrested and charged with a variety of crimes, with the case centering on the murder of Napolitano. At Massino's trial, prosecutors claimed that Napolitano was killed by his associates for allowing his crew to be compromised, and that his hands had been removed as a warning to other mobsters to follow the rule about proper introductions (the implication being the association between shaking hands and being introduced to someone). Massino was convicted in 2004 and sentenced to life imprisonment.


title: Dominick Napolitano

text: In 2006, Frank Lino and Frank Coppa turned state's evidence, providing authorities with the details of Napolitano's murder. Although the FBI were reasonably sure that the body found in Staten Island was Napolitano’s, one discrepancy existed: Lino claimed that he and Filocomo shot Napolitano with .38 caliber revolvers and that he himself had fired more than once. But the corpse had only one bullet wound, apparently made by a .45 caliber pistol. Coppa later said that Napolitano "died like a man". Napolitano was buried in Calvary Cemetery, Queens. About Napolitano's fate, Pistone had stated, "My intention in all of this was to put people in jail, not get them killed"; and, although he was glad it was not him who got killed, he nonetheless regretted Napolitano's murder.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( , , ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and the Romanticism of the previous generation of visual artists. His independence set an example that was important to later artists, such as the Impressionists and the Cubists. Courbet occupies an important place in 19th-century French painting as an innovator and as an artist willing to make bold social statements through his work.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Courbet's paintings of the late 1840s and early 1850s brought him his first recognition. They challenged convention by depicting unidealized peasants and workers, often on a grand scale traditionally reserved for paintings of religious or historical subjects. Courbet's subsequent paintings were mostly of a less overtly political character: landscapes, seascapes, hunting scenes, nudes, and still lifes. Courbet, a socialist, was active in the political developments of France. He was imprisoned for six months in 1871 for his involvement with the Paris Commune and lived in exile in Switzerland from 1873 until his death four years later.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Gustave Courbet was born in 1819 to Régis and Sylvie Oudot Courbet in Ornans (department of Doubs). Anti-monarchical feelings prevailed in the household. (His maternal grandfather fought in the French Revolution.) Courbet's sisters, Zoé, Zélie, and Juliette were his first models for drawing and painting. After moving to Paris he often returned home to Ornans to hunt, fish, and find inspiration.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Courbet went to Paris in 1839 and worked at the studio of Steuben and Hesse. An independent spirit, he soon left, preferring to develop his own style by studying the paintings of Spanish, Flemish and French masters in the Louvre, and painting copies of their work.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Courbet's first works were an "Odalisque" inspired by the writing of Victor Hugo and a "Lélia" illustrating George Sand, but he soon abandoned literary influences, choosing instead to base his paintings on observed reality. Among his paintings of the early 1840s are several self-portraits, Romantic in conception, in which the artist portrayed himself in various roles. These include "Self-Portrait with Black Dog" (c. 1842–44, accepted for exhibition at the 1844 Paris Salon), the theatrical "Self-Portrait" which is also known as "Desperate Man" (c. 1843–45), "Lovers in the Countryside" (1844, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon), "The Sculptor" (1845), "The Wounded Man" (1844–54, Musée d'Orsay, Paris), "The Cellist, Self-Portrait" (1847, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, shown at the 1848 Salon), and "Man with a Pipe" (1848–49, Musée Fabre, Montpellier).


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Trips to the Netherlands and Belgium in 1846–47 strengthened Courbet's belief that painters should portray the life around them, as Rembrandt, Hals and other Dutch masters had. By 1848, he had gained supporters among the younger critics, the Neo-romantics and Realists, notably Champfleury.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Courbet achieved his first Salon success in 1849 with his painting "After Dinner at Ornans". The work, reminiscent of Chardin and Le Nain, earned Courbet a gold medal and was purchased by the state. The gold medal meant that his works would no longer require jury approval for exhibition at the Salon—an exemption Courbet enjoyed until 1857 (when the rule changed).


title: Gustave Courbet

text: In 1849–50, Courbet painted "The Stone Breakers" (destroyed in the Allied Bombing of Dresden in 1945), which Proudhon admired as an icon of peasant life; it has been called "the first of his great works". The painting was inspired by a scene Courbet witnessed on the roadside. He later explained to Champfleury and the writer Francis Wey: "It is not often that one encounters so complete an expression of poverty and so, right then and there I got the idea for a painting. I told them to come to my studio the next morning."


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Courbet's work belonged neither to the predominant Romantic nor Neoclassical schools. History painting, which the Paris Salon esteemed as a painter's highest calling, did not interest him, for he believed that "the artists of one century [are] basically incapable of reproducing the aspect of a past or future century ..." Instead, he maintained that the only possible source for living art is the artist's own experience. He and Jean-François Millet would find inspiration painting the life of peasants and workers.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Courbet painted figurative compositions, landscapes, seascapes, and still lifes. He courted controversy by addressing social issues in his work, and by painting subjects that were considered vulgar, such as the rural bourgeoisie, peasants, and working conditions of the poor. His work, along with that of Honoré Daumier and Jean-François Millet, became known as "Realism". For Courbet realism dealt not with the perfection of line and form, but entailed spontaneous and rough handling of paint, suggesting direct observation by the artist while portraying the irregularities in nature. He depicted the harshness of life, and in doing so challenged contemporary academic ideas of art. One of the distinctive features of Courbet's Realism was his lifelong attachment to his native province, the Franche-Comté, and of his birthplace, Ornans.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Considered to be the first of Courbet's great works, "The Stone Breakers" of 1849 is an example of social realism that caused a sensation when it was first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1850. The work was based on two men, one young and one old, whom Courbet discovered engaged in backbreaking labor on the side of the road when he returned to Ornans for an eight-month visit in October 1848. On his inspiration, Courbet told his friends and art critics Francis Wey and Jules Champfleury, "It is not often that one encounters so complete an expression of poverty and so, right then and there I got the idea for a painting."


title: Gustave Courbet

text: While other artists had depicted the plight of the rural poor, Courbet's peasants are not idealized like those in works such as Breton's "The Gleaners".


title: Gustave Courbet

text: In February 1945, the work was destroyed during World War II, along with 154 other pictures, when a transport vehicle moving the pictures to the castle of Königstein, near Dresden, was bombed by Allied forces.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: The Salon of 1850–1851 found him triumphant with "The Stone Breakers", the "Peasants of Flagey" and "A Burial at Ornans". The "Burial", one of Courbet's most important works, records the funeral of his grand uncle which he attended in September 1848. People who attended the funeral were the models for the painting. Previously, models had been used as actors in historical narratives, but in "Burial" Courbet said he "painted the very people who had been present at the interment, all the townspeople". The result is a realistic presentation of them and life in Ornans.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: The vast painting, measuring , drew both praise and fierce denunciations from critics and the public, in part because it upset convention by depicting a prosaic ritual on a scale which would previously have been reserved for a religious or royal subject.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: According to art historian Sarah Faunce, "In Paris, the "Burial" was judged as a work that had thrust itself into the grand tradition of history painting, like an upstart in dirty boots crashing a genteel party, and in terms of that tradition it was, of course, found wanting." The painting lacks the sentimental rhetoric that was expected in a genre work: Courbet's mourners make no theatrical gestures of grief, and their faces seemed more caricatured than ennobled. The critics accused Courbet of a deliberate pursuit of ugliness.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Eventually, the public grew more interested in the new Realist approach, and the lavish, decadent fantasy of Romanticism lost popularity. Courbet well understood the importance of the painting, and said of it, ""Burial at Ornans" was in reality the burial of romanticism."


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Courbet became a celebrity and was spoken of as a genius, a "terrible socialist" and a "savage". He actively encouraged the public's perception of him as an unschooled peasant, while his ambition, his bold pronouncements to journalists, and his insistence on depicting his own life in his art gave him a reputation for unbridled vanity.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Courbet associated his ideas of realism in art with political anarchism, and, having gained an audience, he promoted democratic and socialist ideas by writing politically motivated essays and dissertations. His familiar visage was the object of frequent caricature in the popular French press.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: During the 1850s, Courbet painted numerous figurative works using common folk and friends as his subjects, such as "Village Damsels" (1852), "The Wrestlers" (1853), "The Bathers" (1853), "The Sleeping Spinner" (1853), and "The Wheat Sifters" (1854).


title: Gustave Courbet

text: In 1855, Courbet submitted fourteen paintings for exhibition at the "Exposition Universelle". Three were rejected for lack of space, including "A Burial at Ornans" and his other monumental canvas "The Artist's Studio". Refusing to be denied, Courbet took matters into his own hands. He displayed forty of his paintings, including "The Artist's Studio", in his gallery called "The Pavilion of Realism" (Pavillon du Réalisme) which was a temporary structure that he erected next door to the official Salon-like "Exposition Universelle".


title: Gustave Courbet

text: The work is an allegory of Courbet's life as a painter, seen as a heroic venture, in which he is flanked by friends and admirers on the right, and challenges and opposition to the left. Friends on the right include the art critics Champfleury, and Charles Baudelaire, and art collector Alfred Bruyas. On the left are figures (priest, prostitute, grave digger, merchant, and others) who represent what Courbet described in a letter to Champfleury as "the other world of trivial life, the people, misery, poverty, wealth, the exploited and the exploiters, the people who live off death."


title: Gustave Courbet

text: In the foreground of the left-hand side is a man with dogs, who was not mentioned in Courbet's letter to Champfleury. X-rays show he was painted later, but his role in the painting is important: he is an allegory of the then-current French Emperor, Napoleon III, identified by his famous hunting dogs and iconic twirled mustache. By placing him on the left, Courbet publicly shows his disdain for the emperor and depicts him as a criminal, suggesting that his "ownership" of France is an illegal one.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Although artists like Eugène Delacroix were ardent champions of his effort, the public went to the show mostly out of curiosity and to deride him. Attendance and sales were disappointing, but Courbet's status as a hero to the French avant-garde became assured. He was admired by the American James Abbott McNeill Whistler, and he became an inspiration to the younger generation of French artists including Édouard Manet and the Impressionist painters. "The Artist's Studio" was recognized as a masterpiece by Delacroix, Baudelaire, and Champfleury, if not by the public.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Courbet wrote a Realist manifesto for the introduction to the catalogue of this independent, personal exhibition, echoing the tone of the period's political manifestos. In it, he asserts his goal as an artist is "to translate the customs, the ideas, the appearance of my epoch according to my own estimation."


title: Gustave Courbet

text: In the Salon of 1857, Courbet showed six paintings. These included "Young Ladies on the Banks of the Seine (Summer)", depicting two prostitutes under a tree, as well as the first of many hunting scenes Courbet was to paint during the remainder of his life: "Hind at Bay in the Snow" and "The Quarry".


title: Gustave Courbet

text: "Young Ladies on the Banks of the Seine", painted in 1856, provoked a scandal. Art critics accustomed to conventional, "timeless" nude women in landscapes were shocked by Courbet's depiction of modern women casually displaying their undergarments.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: By exhibiting sensational works alongside hunting scenes, of the sort that had brought popular success to the English painter Edwin Landseer, Courbet guaranteed himself "both notoriety and sales". During the 1860s, Courbet painted a series of increasingly erotic works such as "Femme nue couchée".


title: Gustave Courbet

text: This culminated in "The Origin of the World (L'Origine du monde)" (1866), which depicts female genitalia and was not publicly exhibited until 1988, and "Sleep" (1866), featuring two women in bed. The latter painting became the subject of a police report when it was exhibited by a picture dealer in 1872.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Until about 1861, Napoléon's regime had exhibited authoritarian characteristics, using press censorship to prevent the spread of opposition, manipulating elections, and depriving Parliament of the right to free debate or any real power. In the 1860s, however, Napoléon III made more concessions to placate his liberal opponents. This change began by allowing free debates in Parliament and public reports of parliamentary debates. Press censorship, too, was relaxed and culminated in the appointment of the Liberal Émile Ollivier, previously a leader of the opposition to Napoléon's regime, as the "de facto" Prime Minister in 1870. As a sign of appeasement to the Liberals who admired Courbet, Napoleon III nominated him to the Legion of Honour in 1870. His refusal of the cross of the Legion of Honour angered those in power but made him immensely popular with those who opposed the prevailing regime.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: On 4 September 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, Courbet made a proposal that later came back to haunt him. He wrote a letter to the Government of National Defense, proposing that the column in the Place Vendôme, erected by Napoleon I to honour the victories of the French Army, be taken down. He wrote:


title: Gustave Courbet

text: On 18 March, in the aftermath of the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, a revolutionary government called the Paris Commune briefly took power in the city. Courbet played an active part and organized a Federation of Artists, which held its first meeting on 5 April in the Grand Amphitheater of the School of Medicine. Some three hundred to four hundred painters, sculptors, architects, and decorators attended. There were some famous names on the list of members, including André Gill, Honoré Daumier, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Eugène Pottier, Jules Dalou, and Édouard Manet. Manet was not in Paris during the Commune and did not attend, and Corot, who was seventy-five years old, stayed in a country house and his studio during the Commune, not taking part in the political events.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Courbet chaired the meeting and proposed that the Louvre and the Museum of the Luxembourg Palace, the two major art museums of Paris, closed during the uprising, be reopened as soon as possible and that the traditional annual exhibit called the Salon be held as in years past, but with radical differences. He proposed that the Salon should be free of any government interference or rewards to preferred artists; no medals or government commissions would be given. Furthermore, he called for the abolition of the most famous state institutions of French art; the École des Beaux-Arts, the School of Rome, the School of Athens, and the Fine Arts section of the Institute of France.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: On 12 April, the Executive Committee of the Commune gave Courbet, though he was not yet officially a member of the Commune, the assignment of opening the museums and organizing the Salon. They issued the following decree at the same meeting: "The Column of the Place Vendôme will be demolished." On 16 April, special elections were held to replace more moderate members of the Commune who had resigned their seats, and Courbet was elected as a delegate for the 6th arrondissement. He was given the title of Delegate of Fine Arts, and on 21 April he was also made a member of the Commission on Education. At the meeting of the Commission on 27 April, the minutes reported that Courbet requested the demolition of the Vendôme column be carried out and that the column would be replaced by an allegorical figure representing the taking of power of the Commune on 18 March.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Nonetheless, Courbet was a dissident by nature, and he was soon in opposition with the majority of the Commune members on some of its measures. He was one of a minority of Commune Members who opposed the creation of a Committee on Public Safety, modeled on the committee of the same name which carried out the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Courbet opposed the Commune on another more serious matter; the arrest of his friend Gustave Chaudey, a prominent socialist, magistrate, and journalist, whose portrait Courbet had painted. The popular Commune newspaper, "Le Père Duchesne", accused Chaudey, when he was briefly deputy mayor of the 9th arrondissement before the Commune was formed, of ordering soldiers to fire on a crowd that had surrounded the Hotel de Ville. Courbet's opposition was of no use; on 23 May 1871, in the final days of the Commune, Chaudey was shot by a Commune firing squad. According to some sources Courbet resigned from the Commune in protest.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: On 13 May, on the proposal of Courbet, the Paris house of Adolphe Thiers, the chief executive of the French government, was demolished, and his art collection confiscated. Courbet proposed that the confiscated art be given to the Louvre and other museums, but the director of the Louvre refused to accept it. On 16 May, just nine days before the fall of the Commune, in a large ceremony with military bands and photographers, the Vendôme column was pulled down and broke into pieces. Some witnesses said Courbet was there, others denied it. The following day, the Federation of Artists debated dismissing directors of the Louvre and of the Luxembourg museums, suspected by some in the Commune of having secret contacts with the French government, and appointed new heads of the museums.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: According to one legend, Courbet defended the Louvre and other museums against "looting mobs", but there are no records of any such attacks on the museums. The only real threat to the Louvre came during "Bloody Week", 21–28 May 1871, when a unit of Communards, led by a Commune general, Jules Bergeret, set fire to the Tuileries Palace, next to the Louvre. The fire spread to the library of the Louvre, which was destroyed, but the efforts of museum curators and firemen saved the art gallery.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: After the final suppression of the Commune by the French army on 28 May, Courbet went into hiding in the apartments of different friends. He was arrested on 7 June. At his trial before a military tribunal on 14 August, Courbet argued that he had only joined the Commune to pacify it and that he had wanted to move the Vendôme Column, not destroy it. He said he had only belonged to the Commune for a short period, and rarely attended its meetings. He was convicted, but given a lighter sentence than other Commune leaders; six months in prison and a fine of five hundred Francs. Serving part of his sentence in the prison of Saint-Pelagie in Paris, he was allowed an easel and paints, but he could not have models pose for him. He did a famous series of still-life paintings of flowers and fruit.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Courbet completed his prison sentence on 2 March 1872, but his problems caused by the destruction of the Vendôme Column were still not over. In 1873, the newly elected president of the Republic, Patrice Mac-Mahon, announced plans to rebuild the column, with the cost to be paid by Courbet. Unable to pay, Courbet went into a self-imposed exile in Switzerland to avoid bankruptcy. In the following years, he participated in Swiss regional and national exhibitions. Surveilled by the Swiss intelligence service, he enjoyed in the small Swiss art world the reputation as head of the "realist school" and inspired younger artists such as Auguste Baud-Bovy and Ferdinand Hodler.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Important works from this period include several paintings of trout, "hooked and bleeding from the gills", that have been interpreted as allegorical self-portraits of the exiled artist. In his final years, Courbet painted landscapes, including several scenes of water mysteriously emerging from the depths of the earth in the Jura Mountains of the France–Switzerland border. Courbet also worked on sculpture during his exile. Previously, in the early 1860s, he had produced a few sculptures, one of which – the "Fisherman of Chavots" (1862) – he donated to Ornans for a public fountain, but it was removed after Courbet's arrest.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: In May 1877, the state set the final cost of reconstructing the Vendôme Column at 323,000 francs for Courbet to repay in annual installments of 10,000 francs for the next 33 years. On 31 December 1877, a day before the first installment was due, Courbet died, aged 58, in La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland, of a liver disease aggravated by heavy drinking.


title: Gustave Courbet

text: Courbet was admired by many younger artists. Claude Monet included a portrait of Courbet in his own version of "Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe" from 1865–1866 (Musée d'Orsay, Paris). Courbet's particular kind of realism influenced many artists to follow, notably among them the German painters of the Leibl circle, James McNeill Whistler, and Paul Cézanne. Courbet's influence can also be seen in the work of Edward Hopper, whose "Bridge in Paris" (1906) and "Approaching a City" (1946) have been described as Freudian echoes of Courbet's "The Source of the Loue" and "The Origin of the World". His pupils included Henri Fantin-Latour, Hector Hanoteau and Olaf Isaachsen.