Partisan arrangements, dodgy dollars, a mysterious union of strings, and a hole that became a monument: Four featured articles, seven featured lists, and 23 featured pictures were promoted this week.
Eight Bells, an 1886 oil painting by the American artistWinslow Homer which depicts two sailors determining their boat's position.
ThisSignpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted from 22 March through 28 March. Text may be adapted from the respective articles and lists; refer to their page histories for attribution.
Partisans crossing theMrežnica river in theKordun region, 1943The1804 dollar: A gift fit for a sultan, and literally for a sultan.Rawr! ADeinocheirus! ... Or part of one. I can has body?
German–Yugoslav Partisan negotiations(nominated byPeacemaker67) During the redeployment ofJosip Broz Tito'sheadquarters and hispartisans across theNazi puppet state of Croatia in August 1942, a group of Germans from theOrganisation Todt were captured. The leader of the group had been tasked by the GermanAbwehr with making contact with the partisans, and a series of prisoner swaps were initiated. By March 1943, the partisans' military situation had deteriorated, and to forestall continuing German attacks, they again entered into tentative negotiations regarding prisoner swaps and a possible truce. The Germans saw a possibility that the partisans might oppose a British landing, which would have given support to the RoyalistChetniks. There was an exchange of "between 600 to 800 partisans in total" by 1945. Tito stated in 1978 that the objective of the negotiations was "solely to obtain German recognition of belligerent status for the Partisans".
1804 dollar(nominated byRHM22) The1804 dollar is an odd bird. Despite the date, none with this date were minted until the 1830s; although some silver dollars had actually been minted in 1804, they were dated 1803. Large silver coins, such as theMaria Theresa thaler, were used worldwide as standard trade coins. The introduction of the US silver dollar in 1794 added another coin to the trade, and large numbers of dollars were exported by traders. From 1806, the production of silver dollars was officially halted (none had been struck since March 1804) in favour of the minting of smaller denominations; this meant that there was small change available to the US economy but that the exporting of coins stopped. The "1804" dollars were struck whenEdmund Roberts, who headed a trade mission to the Far East, requested sets of coinage to be presented to kings and sultans as gifts. The date may have been chosen because the Chief Coiner thought that therehad been coins minted with that date; he was anxious to avoid angering coin collectors!
M-theory(nominated byPolytope24)M-theory is a unification of "all consistent versions ofsuperstring theory". It's not yet been completely formulated, but it's reckoned that the theory "should describe two- and five-dimensional objects calledbranes and should be approximated by eleven-dimensionalsupergravity at low energies" (that's exactly what we were about to say...). M-theory was introduced byEdward Witten, whose "proposal was based on the observation that the five string theories can be mapped to one another by certain rules called dualities and are identified by these dualities".
World Fantasy Award for Best Artist(nominated byPresN) TheWorld Fantasy Award for Best Artist is an annual award given to the "artists of works related to fantasy released in the preceding calendar year". It is awarded at theWorld Fantasy Convention; the winners are decided by a selection process which starts with an attendee ballot to select two finalists, followed by a nomination of three more by a panel of fantasy authors, who then vote on the overall winner. The winner receives a caricature bust ofH. P. Lovecraft.
List of scheduled monuments in Sedgemoor(nominated byRodw) They do say that if you walk through the ankle-high mist on thelevels, you'll be dead within the fortnight. While you are awaiting your inevitable demise, you can spend the fortnight visiting thesemarvellous monuments. You'll have probably seenBrent Knoll, a flat-topped hill close to theM5 motorway. The hole that became a monument? There's several on the list, but our favourite's not on it. That's Fox's Hole atCrook Peak, which is great if you like confined spaces and spiders.
Stitching the Standard byEdmund Leighton, one of the lesser known paintings by the artist, was digitized bySotheby's before its "disappearance" into a "private collection".Soyuz TMA-14M was a 2014 flight to theInternational Space Station. It transported three members of theExpedition 41 crew to the International Space Station.Blue petrel (Halobaena caerulea), east of the Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania, Australia. ByUser:JJ HarrisonFrida Kahlo, once stated:"I was born a bitch. I was born a painter." seated here next to an agave from a 1937 photo shoot forVogue entitled "Señoras of Mexico".
1804 dollar(created by theU.S. Mint, photographed byHeritage Auctions,nominated byGodot13) A Class III 1804 dollar, created specifically for collectors years after the "originals" were struck as diplomatic gifts. Although not actually minted in 1804, they're still valuable; this one sold for $2.3 million in 2009.(This image was promoted on 13 March, but the feature was held back to coincide with the above article on the same subject.)
Audi e-tron(created byThomas Wolf (Der Wolf im Wald), retouched by:LiveChocolate,nominated byCrisco 1492) TheAudi e-tron is a series of cars byAudi, using either one or more electric motors or a combination of an internal combustion engine and electric motors in the same car (hybrids). This photograph shows an e-tronconcept car, shown at the 2009 International Motor Show in Frankfurt. It is powered by four electric motors, providing four-wheel drive.
Eight Bells(created byWinslow Homer,nominated byCrisco 1492)Eight Bells is an oil painting byWinslow Homer of two fishermen holdingsextants. The "eight bells" refers to the nautical time, which is noon; the fishermen are using their sextants to determine the highest position of the sun, and hence local apparent noon. They can then calculate theirlongitude.
Clanculus corallinus(created byLlez,nominated byArmbrust) You knew right away that these whorls were convex, spirally granose-lirate, but you had forgotten what a globose-conic shape with an acute spire looks like. Now you remember.
Embryonic stem cells(created byRyddragyn,nominated byThe Herald) The blob in the centre of this photograph is a colony of humanembryonic stem cells. They have been taken from theinner cell mass of theblastocyst stage of a human embryo, five days after fertilisation. Their importance lies in the fact that they arepluripotent, that is, they candifferentiate into any kind of cell found in the human body. The first clinical trial using stem cells was on patients withspinal-cord injuries. Started in 2009, it was halted in 2011 for financial reasons.
[[:|Alison Bechdel]](created by Riccardo De Luca for the MacArthur Foundation,nominated byCrisco 1492)Alison Bechdel, an American cartoonist, is here seen drawing a self-portrait, using the image on the screen of a digital camera as an aide-memoire. The eponymousBechdel test is applied to works of fiction; they pass if they have two women who talk to each other about something other than a man.
Descent of the Soyuz TMA-14M(created byNASA,nominated byThe Herald) On March 12, 2015, shortly after local sunrise over central Asia, thisSoyuz TMA-14M spacecraft floated over a sea of golden clouds during its descent by parachute through Earth's dense atmosphere. TMA-14M was the 123rd flight of aSoyuz spacecraft, the first flight launching in 1967. The Soyuz remained docked to the space station for theExpedition 42 increment to serve as an emergency escape vehicle until undocking and landing as scheduled in March 2015.
Dishes with Oysters, Fruit, and Wine(created byOsias Beert the Elder,nominated byHafspajen)Osias Beert was a Flemish painter who specialised in breakfasts. His paintings were built up using glazes of semi-transparent oil colour to give depth and a wide range of colours. Beert's paintings of food are called in Dutchontbijtjes, or "little breakfasts" – here there are oysters, honey, chestnuts, raisins, sugared almonds, bread, and meringues, with a glass ofMadeira wine.
Frida Kahlo(created byToni Frissell, restored andnominated byAdam Cuerden) This photograph of Mexican artistFrida Kahlo was part of a 1937 photo shoot byToni Frissell for fashion and lifestyle magazineVogue. Kahlo was being photographed for an article entitled "Señoras of Mexico", published in the US edition of 1 October 1937. The photograph used in the magazine was of Kahlo standing upright against theagave, holding herrebozo above her head; the photo wascolourised. She was referred to as "MrsDiego Rivera", as she often was at the time – besides a 1939 purchase by theLouvre, she was largely ignored by the mainstream art world during her lifetime, and wouldn't gain widespread recognition until decades after her death.
Mariana(created byJohn Everett Millais,nominated byHafspajen) With the painting technique of an angel and the imagination of a Hackney barmaid,John Everett Millais combined "precision, attention to detail, and stellar ability as a colorist" with ponderous didacticism to produce works of art that told a moral story. In the stained glass windows, the portrayal of theAnnunciation promises a virgin birth, but the broken snowdrop in the coat of arms symbolises a loss of virginity; it is already too late. The mottoIn coelo quies (In Heaven there is rest) was the motto ofCardinal Wiseman. Millais had a certain non-committal fascination with the pomp and ceremony of theRoman Catholic church, to which attitudeJohn Ruskin referred when he drew attention to Mariana's boredom with her "idolatrous toilet table".Mariana is based on a poem byAlfred comma Lord Tennyson: "With blackest moss the flower-plots / Were thickly crusted, one and all / The rusted nails fell from the knots / That held the pear to the gable-wall.dah dah dah The sparrow's chirrup on the roof / The slow clock ticking, and the sound / Which to the wooing wind aloof / The poplar made, did all confound". What's it all about,Alfie?
The Stolen Kiss(created byJean-Honoré Fragonard,nominated byAlborzagros) Jean-Honoré Fragonard's works display the kind oferoticism andvoluptuousness and the liking forromanticfolly that was popular before theFrench Revolution among Frencharistocrats.The Stolen Kiss was no different. Fragonard includes scenes of voyeurism in his paintings. This scene depicts a stolen kiss in lavish surroundings, containing luxurious details of textures, silks, and lace, like the rug with flower pattern, silk draperies, her shawl on thechair, and the elegantly clad ladies visible through the opendoor. For half a century or more, Fragonard was so completely ignored thatWilhelm Lübke's 1873 art history volume omits the very mention of his name. (Of course, Lübke was an anti-Semite and also omitted Jews, so there is that.) On December 5, 2013,Bonhams sold the Fragonard portrait ofFrançois-Henri duc d'Harcourt for $28,058,081 – setting a world record price for the artist at auction.
Stitching the Standard(created byEdmund Leighton,nominated byBrandmeister) Painted in 1911, this canvas byEdmund Blair Leighton depicts a woman stitching anAustro-Hungarian military flag, with its crowned two-headed black eagle on a gold field. The painting was sold atChristie's in 1928 under the titlePreparing the flag to the art dealer W. W. Sampson, who was the leader of an illegalknockout ring of dealers. Theinebriated Sampson drowned in a bathtub inBrighton in 1929, leaving an estate worth £10. The painting seems to have gone out of sight until art dealer Richard Green bought it at aPhillips auction in 1977 under the titleAwaiting his Return. Green sold it to a private collector, and it re-appeared asStitching the Standard at aSotheby's auction a year later. In 2011, the painting went back to Sotheby's, where it was sold for an eye-watering £373,250. Leighton reworked the subject in hisHostage of 1912 using the same model, this time with blonde hair, sitting on the ramparts doing embroidery.Paula Rego, in her 1987 paintingThe Policeman's Daughter, subverts the whole genre; the daughter sits by a window through which moonlight streams, polishing her father's jackboots.
Blue petrel(created byJJ Harrison,nominated byJJ Harrison) The word "petrel" is derived fromSaint Peter and the story of his walking on water. This is in reference to the petrel's habit of appearing to run on the water to take off. This wonderful photo of ablue petrel from our longtime contributor of fine work in the nature field,JJ Harrison, is a fine example of one of nature's more fortunate creatures using its most precious skill. And the bird looks good as well. Leaves us to ask, if you could fly, would you? Silly question, contact ground control on 121.8, have a good flight ....
The Kiss(created byGustav Klimt,nominated byCrisco 1492) A golden Kiss?Gustav Klimt's "Golden Phase" was marked by positive critical reaction and financial success. Many of his paintings from this period includegold leaf. Klimt had previously used gold in hisPallas Athene (1898) andJudith I (1901), although the works most popularly associated with this period are thePortrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907) and this wonderful work of art,The Kiss (1907–08).
The Mystical Nativity(created bySandro Botticelli,nominated bySchroCat)The Mystical Nativity bySandro Botticelli is on display at the National Gallery in London and depicts a scene of joy and celebration, of earthly and heavenly delight, with angels dancing at the top of the painting. The Greek inscription at the top translates as: "This picture, at the end of the year 1500, in the troubles of Italy, I Alessandro, in the half-time after the time, painted, according to the eleventh [chapter] ofSaint John, in the second woe of the Apocalypse, during the release of the devil for three-and-a-half years; then he shall be bound in the twelfth [chapter] and we shall see [him buried] as in this picture". Alrighty then.
Dorf in den Berner Alpen(created byAdolf Mosengel,nominated byHafspajen) Are the people next door getting under your skin? We have the perfect place for you: the Alps. Et voilà,Dorf in den Berner Alpen by German painterAdolf Mosengel (1837–1885) – only 68 by 50 centimetres (27 in × 20 in), but never mind the width, feel the quality. Mosengel was a landscape painter fromHamburg, Germany. He had built a reputation painting Alpine scenes, like this one, and he later turned to scenes fromWestphalia.
Good articles
This is a new feature, including a list of all the good articles promoted during the week covered in this report (22–28 March 2015). Pleasetell us what you think! This week, thirty-fivegood articles were promoted.
Hi, everyone. Would it be ok to use the recently featuredFile:1804 Silver Dollar (Class III).jpg instead of the infobox image to illustrate the article? Godot13 asked that it be withheld from the previous Signpost issue so that it could appear in this one, along with the article.-RHM22 (talk)03:17, 9 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for including the GA list also. I suggest that if in the future a particularly high importance article is listed as GA have a short para similar to FAs.Nergaal (talk)04:10, 10 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
That's... really not practical. Who determines what's particularly high importance? In addition, it'd break all formatting. Might try to give a high-importance GA the illustration, but, on the other hand, one rule I have is that the images used in theSignpost FC sectionmust be worth highlighting, so it'd need at least one good-quality image that's more than just a thumbnail. That said, whether this continues will depend on response.Adam Cuerden(talk)04:20, 10 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Also, on Osias BeertBeert's paintings are called in Dutch ontbijtjes, or "little breakfasts" - is wrong. His paintings are calledstill-life. Hisdepictions on breakfasts are called in Dutch ontbijtjes.Hafspajen (talk)07:52, 10 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
I like the idea of the GAs listed in there. I agree with Adam that it's not practical to have additional paras for the GAs, or to try and decide which article is "more important" than any other, which would be too much POV really. The only possible change I could suggest would be to add the name of the GA nominator, but whether that would lead to too much additional work is another matter. -SchroCat (talk)09:03, 10 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Frankly, it's not possible: The name of the nominator isn't even listed anywhere obvious once it leaves the GAN page. It's not in theGA log I used to make this up, nor in the GA review, nor on the talk page of the article. I'd have to go digging very deep to find it.Adam Cuerden(talk)09:50, 10 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
…the unicorn is in love with the virgin, but has lost out to the Pope. I think that's what was meant by the author. It's not a good idea to start your Tinder profile with "I've got the horn you're looking for".Xanthomelanoussprog (talk)11:40, 10 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
I know.I am the author. But it is not explained, only copied, with no context. If someone is using my phrase without even understand it, I do react, especially when he just copies my own comment and doesn't even explain it, what is all about. I don't like it. I don't like when people copy my comments and not even credit me for it. I think nobody is willing to cope with this kind of sloppy editing. We had discussions, but the problem is still there.Hafspajen (talk)11:49, 10 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]
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