Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Chagall

Madrid is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. Madrid is part of the historical landscape of Castile and is located in the middle of the Meseta, the plateau of Castile. The site has been occupied since prehistoric times. The first document about the existence of an established settlement in Madrid dates from the Muslim age. In the second half of the 9th century Umayyad Emir Muhammad I built a fortress here. In 1083, Madrid was conquered by the Kingdom of Castile. In 1309, under Fernando IV, the Assembly of Estates (Cortes) of the Kingdom of Castile was convened for the first time in Madrid. In 1561, Philip II moved the royal court from Valladolid to Madrid. It became the de facto capital of Spain, which it remains to this day. The War of the Spanish Succession ended in 1714 with the Bourbons taking over the Spanish throne. Today's royal palace was built under their rule. Particularly during the reign of Charles III the city's public infrastructure was modernized and numerous public buildings were built. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza The museum is named after its founder, Baron Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza. With over 1,600 paintings, it was once the second-largest private collection in the world. After Baron Thyssen, having unsuccessfully sought permission to enlarge his museum in Lugano, searched for a better-suited location elsewhere in Europe end of the 1980s. In 1985, the Baron had married Carmen "Tita" Cervera and introduced her to art collecting. Cervera's influence was decisive in persuading the Baron to relocate the core of his collection to Spain where the local government had a building available next to the Prado. The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum officially opened in 1992, showing 715 works of art. A year later, the Spanish Government bought 775 works for $350 million.These pieces are now in the purpose-built museum in Madrid. After the museum opened, in 1999, Cervera loaned 429 works of her own art collection to the museum for 11 years. The loan was renewed annually for free from 2012. Marc Chagall / 1887 - 1985 / The Grey House / 1917/

The most colourful and surprising item inside the rather bleak Cathedral of Vence is this mosaic behind the baptismal font. It was created by russo-french artist Marc Chagall, who lived in nearby St.- Paul de Vence. Worldfamous Chagall has created many stained windows (Metz, Reims, Mainz, Chichester..) of which the most are very dark blue - in opposite to this light coloured scene, depicting Moses in a small craft of bulrushes, being rescued from the Nile. Maybe this was saying Chagall´s way of saying "Merci beaucoup" to Vence after he was awarded the honorary citizenship of the town.

The old town of Vence on the hill to the right. The foothills of the Maritime Alps to the left. Nice in the distant. Brilliant weather - for December! The old town is still a medieval walled village. The church tower belongs to the old Vence Cathedral, the formerly the seat of the Bishopric of Vence, that existed from 374 (!) to 1801. Vence, only about 10 kms inland from the Mediterranian Sea, has been a very favourable spot for (tourists and) artists since the early 20th. century. Matisse, Dufy, Dubuffet, Chagall, just to name a few, have lived and worked here, as well as the authors D. H. Lawrence and R. Schickele.