Images

Jean-François de Surville (1717-1770) was a French explorer and merchant captain. He sailed with the French India Company before serving in the French navy during the Seven Years' War (1756–1763). In 1767, he commanded the French ship St...

Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (1790-1842) was born at Condé sur Noireau, Normandy, France. He was a French explorer and navigator who made three voyages of discovery to Aotearoa New Zealand between 1827 and 1840. Dumont d'Urville...

Charles Philippe de France, comte d'Artois (1757-1836), during the French Revolution, oil on canvas painting by Henri-Pierre Danloux, 1798. As the youngest brother of King Louis XVI, Artois was one of the first emigres to flee France...

Image depicting the Great Fear, a general panic that swept France from late July to early August 1789, at the beginning of the French Revolution. Bands of peasants raided abbeys and seigneurial estates, refusing to pay tithes and forcing...

An 1880 oil on canvas, Villas at Villers sur Mer, by Gustave Caillebotte (1848-96) the French impressionist painter. Even in this unlikely scene, Caillebotte manages to include a trademark diagonal. (Private Collection)

An 1873 oil on canvas, Self-portrait with Pith Helmet, by Gustave Caillebotte (1848-96) the French impressionist painter. (Private Collection)

An 1877 oil on canvas, The Nap, by Gustave Caillebotte (1848-96) the French impressionist painter. Here the artist takes his interest in bourgeoise leisure activities to its logical conclusion. (Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, USA)

An 1893 oil on canvas, Orchids, by Gustave Caillebotte (1848-96) the French impressionist painter. Caillebotte was a keen gardener and he cultivated rare flowers in his greenhouse. (Private Collection)

An 1878 oil on canvas, The Orange Trees (aka The Artist's Brother in His Garden) by Gustave Caillebotte (1848-96) the French impressionist painter. The subject here is Martial, the artist's younger brother with whom he later shared a house...

A map illustrating the fragmented political situation in Al-Andalus (the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula) after the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba in 1031. Known as taifas (from Arabic "party" or "faction"), numerous...