Saturday 29 January 2011

condotteiri



condotteiri


Condottieri (singular condottiero and condottiere) were the mercenary soldier leaders (or warlords) of the professional, military free companies contracted by the Italian city-states and the Papacy,[1] from the late Middle Ages and throughout the Renaissance. In Renaissance Italian, condottiero meant "contractor", and was synonymous with the modern English title Mercenary Captain, which, historiographically, does not connote the hired soldier’s nationality[clarification needed]. In contemporary Italian, "condottiero" acquired the broader meaning of "military leader" (e.g., not restricted to mercenaries).









These Italian words were standard usage in English writing of the Napoleonic times that remained current in written histories until the late 20th century; because formally-employed, standing, professional armies were uncommon until late in the Napoleonic Wars (1800–1815) thus, the word Condottiere in the English language has come to denote, in the modern sense, any hired soldier.







artemesia gentileschi is the great painter here

Saturday 22 January 2011

dien bien phu conversions from crescent



these are dien bien phu french paras converted from crescent british paras. one of the first conversions i ever did.

Sunday 16 January 2011

F. Vizetelly


the ditch at fort wagner the morning after




cotton burners discovered by union troops




fort wagner




rebel prisonors attacked in washington by union troops

F. Vizetelly (1861this artist was killed in the Sudan by followers of the mahdi