LaurieAnnie's photos with the keyword: quadriga

The Teatro Politeama Garibaldi is the first in order of time of the great theatres constructed in Palermo during the second half of the nineteenth century, as one of numerous far-reaching town-planning projects. Designed by Giuseppe Damiani Almeyda in 1867 and completed in 1891, it dominates the square that was to become the heart of the modern city, reflecting the felicitous condition of artistic culture in Palermo and of the new bourgeois governing class in Europe in general. Some years before, in 1860, the first mayor of Palermo after the unification of Italy, Giulio Benso, Duke della Verdura, had sparked discussions on the city’s future layout between some who supported an “economic” model and others desiring something “grandiose” – in the end the latter group won the day, having accepted some modifications. The plan was for a new city centre stretching westwards from Via Maqueda, expanding along the new Strada della Libertà conceived by Ruggiero Settimo’s revolutionary government in 1848. Along this thoroughfare there were to be three theatres: one more or less there the Massimo is, another beyond the crossroads in Piazza Regalmici (Quattro Canti di Campagna), and the third, an “Olympic circus”, in the garden of Villarosa (now Piazza Ungheria). During the preparatory phase of the international competition for the construction of the Teatro Massimo, the municipal authority entrusted Giuseppe Damiani Almeyda, a young civil engineer born in Capua in 1834, with the task of designing a “polytheama” (a theatre for shows of many kinds), located in the square dedicated to Ruggiero Settimo, to serve as a daytime popular theatre. One reason for the initiative was to combat the atmosphere of social and economic crisis after a cholera epidemic in 1866-67. The theatre was to be a venue of equestrian circus exhibitions of gymnastics and acrobatics, then all the rage, operettas, comedy plays, dramas, and festive celebrations in general – not just for the aristocracy and the well-to-do, as well as operatic performances pending completion of the Teatro Massimo. Thus, perhaps for the only time in Italy, two theatres were being built at one and the same time: one – the Massimo – an aristocratic temple of opera; the other – the Politeama – more popular in character, intended to exalt theatre’s social function. In 1874, although incomplete and unroofed, the theatre was inaugurated with Vincenzo Bellini,s The Montagues and the Capulets; other operas followed in the next few years, alternating with the Teatro Bellini. In 1874 the Oretea Foundry made the metallic covering, an extremely bold work for the times that was declared by some to be “impossible”. In 1882, after his death, the theatre was dedicated to Giuseppe Garibaldi. But the official opening was in 1891, on the occasion of the inaugural evening of the National Exhibition: an exceptional gala in the presence of King Umberto and Queen Margherita, with the performance of Verdi’s Otello, with the celebrated singer Francesco Tamagno in the leading role. In the 1891-92 season, the star conductor was Arturo Toscanini. While the construction of the Massimo dragged on slowly amid sterile polemics that delayed its opening, the Teatro Politeama played an important role in the National Exhibition in 1891-92, when it was the venue of numerous events and public performances. For this special occasion a number of “ephemeral” pavilions were set up in the area adjoining the Radaly orange orchard, in what was known as the Firriato di Villafranca (Villafranca Estate), which stretched between Via Libertà and the present-day Via Dante, Via XX Settembre, Via Garzilli, Via Spaccaforno, Via Villafranca, and Piazza Mordini alle Croci – later to become the city’s new residential quarter. In 1897, with the opening of the Teatro Massimo, the new city centre began to take shape, with its two squares and two theatres opening mirror-wise at opposite ends of Via Ruggiero Settimo: the first, higher up towards Olivella and the old city centre, the second, lower down towards the new development zone of the F

Grand Army Plaza Grand Army Plaza, the oval at the main entrance of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, was meant to provide a wide and picturesque approach to the park, which park designer Calvert Vaux (1824–1895) considered a vital design element. The Plaza was one of the first features of Prospect Park to be built and marks the beginning of the Eastern Parkway (1866), the world’s first parkway, also designed by Vaux and his partner Frederick Law Olmsted (1822–1903). The parkway’s intended purpose was to connect the City’s parks with ornamental roads free of commercial traffic. As the need for open spaces in Brooklyn increased, the New York State Legislature authorized the City of Brooklyn, in 1859, to select sites for public parks. In 1860 a Parks Commission was created which selected the site for Prospect Park. The Commission was led by James S.T. Stranahan (1808–1898), known as “the Father of Prospect Park.” Stranahan served as the board’s president for 22 years, and is honored in Grand Army Plaza with a portrait sculpture by Frederick MacMonnies (1863–1937) dedicated in 1891. Construction on Prospect Park was stalled during the Civil War, but resumed in 1865, when Vaux was asked to submit new plans for the space. His new plan called for an elliptical piece of land at the main entrance to the park, known then as simply “the Plaza.” In 1866, the Plaza began to be graded and its interior paved with granite Belgian blocks and, in 1867, the Plaza’s distinctive mounds were built. Subsequent years saw the addition of gas-fueled lamps (not always functioning because of Brooklyn’s unsteady gas supply), trolley tracks, and a fountain at the Plaza’s center. Brooklyn Parks officials estimated that over 11 million people visited Prospect Park in its first five years of operation; most visitors entered the park through the Plaza’s grand entrance. The economic panic of 1873 stalled significant work on the Plaza during much of the 1870s and by 1887, the Parks Commission clamored for the Plaza to be rebuilt, calling the design a “failure.” “It is devoid of all life and a stony waste,” the Commission noted in its 1888 Annual Report. “It is suggestive of Siberia in winter and Sahara in the summer.” Major reconstruction of the Plaza was marked by the construction of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Arch, which began in 1889. The Arch was dedicated in 1892 as the noted architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White began to formalize the entrance and transform the Plaza into a classical space. The Plaza’s four Doric columns were added between 1894 and 1896, the north mound was extended, the other mounds cleared and replanted, and the land around the arch paved with brick. Electric lamps replaced the gas lamps and the trolley tracks were relocated so that they crisscrossed north of the Arch. The rusty and inefficient 1870s fountain was replaced with an electric fountain in August 1897, whose opening was attended by a reported 20 to 30,000 people. Much of the statuary was added in this period, including Gouverneur Kemble Warren (1896), Henry Maxwell Tablet (1903), Alexander J.C. Skene (1905), and Henry Warner Slocum (1906). The quadriga on the Arch was installed in 1898 and the Arch’s side sculptures were added in 1901 as the Plaza began to be referred to as Grand Army Plaza, honoring the Arch’s subject matter, the triumphant Union Army and Navy of the Civil War. From 1915 to approximately 1920, the Plaza was cut open to make room for the BMT and IRT subway lines. The underground tracks necessitated the removal of the electric fountain, which gave way to a grass oval. Construction on the current Bailey Fountain began in 1928 and was completed in 1932. With the advent of the automobile, the busy junction of streets around the Plaza became increasingly dangerous and a “Death-O-Meter” was installed at the Plaza in 1927 that kept track of Brooklyn automobile fatalities. By the 1950s, the Plaza was dominated by traffic; over 40 traffic signals were added in 1955, and the roadway was entirely repaved in 1958. The bust of John F. Kennedy was adde

Grand Army Plaza Grand Army Plaza, the oval at the main entrance of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, was meant to provide a wide and picturesque approach to the park, which park designer Calvert Vaux (1824–1895) considered a vital design element. The Plaza was one of the first features of Prospect Park to be built and marks the beginning of the Eastern Parkway (1866), the world’s first parkway, also designed by Vaux and his partner Frederick Law Olmsted (1822–1903). The parkway’s intended purpose was to connect the City’s parks with ornamental roads free of commercial traffic. As the need for open spaces in Brooklyn increased, the New York State Legislature authorized the City of Brooklyn, in 1859, to select sites for public parks. In 1860 a Parks Commission was created which selected the site for Prospect Park. The Commission was led by James S.T. Stranahan (1808–1898), known as “the Father of Prospect Park.” Stranahan served as the board’s president for 22 years, and is honored in Grand Army Plaza with a portrait sculpture by Frederick MacMonnies (1863–1937) dedicated in 1891. Construction on Prospect Park was stalled during the Civil War, but resumed in 1865, when Vaux was asked to submit new plans for the space. His new plan called for an elliptical piece of land at the main entrance to the park, known then as simply “the Plaza.” In 1866, the Plaza began to be graded and its interior paved with granite Belgian blocks and, in 1867, the Plaza’s distinctive mounds were built. Subsequent years saw the addition of gas-fueled lamps (not always functioning because of Brooklyn’s unsteady gas supply), trolley tracks, and a fountain at the Plaza’s center. Brooklyn Parks officials estimated that over 11 million people visited Prospect Park in its first five years of operation; most visitors entered the park through the Plaza’s grand entrance. The economic panic of 1873 stalled significant work on the Plaza during much of the 1870s and by 1887, the Parks Commission clamored for the Plaza to be rebuilt, calling the design a “failure.” “It is devoid of all life and a stony waste,” the Commission noted in its 1888 Annual Report. “It is suggestive of Siberia in winter and Sahara in the summer.” Major reconstruction of the Plaza was marked by the construction of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Arch, which began in 1889. The Arch was dedicated in 1892 as the noted architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White began to formalize the entrance and transform the Plaza into a classical space. The Plaza’s four Doric columns were added between 1894 and 1896, the north mound was extended, the other mounds cleared and replanted, and the land around the arch paved with brick. Electric lamps replaced the gas lamps and the trolley tracks were relocated so that they crisscrossed north of the Arch. The rusty and inefficient 1870s fountain was replaced with an electric fountain in August 1897, whose opening was attended by a reported 20 to 30,000 people. Much of the statuary was added in this period, including Gouverneur Kemble Warren (1896), Henry Maxwell Tablet (1903), Alexander J.C. Skene (1905), and Henry Warner Slocum (1906). The quadriga on the Arch was installed in 1898 and the Arch’s side sculptures were added in 1901 as the Plaza began to be referred to as Grand Army Plaza, honoring the Arch’s subject matter, the triumphant Union Army and Navy of the Civil War. From 1915 to approximately 1920, the Plaza was cut open to make room for the BMT and IRT subway lines. The underground tracks necessitated the removal of the electric fountain, which gave way to a grass oval. Construction on the current Bailey Fountain began in 1928 and was completed in 1932. With the advent of the automobile, the busy junction of streets around the Plaza became increasingly dangerous and a “Death-O-Meter” was installed at the Plaza in 1927 that kept track of Brooklyn automobile fatalities. By the 1950s, the Plaza was dominated by traffic; over 40 traffic signals were added in 1955, and the roadway was entirely repaved in 1958. The bust of John F. Kennedy was adde

The Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II) or Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland) or "Il Vittoriano" is a monument built in honour of Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy, located in Rome, Italy. It occupies a site between the Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill. The monument was designed by Giuseppe Sacconi in 1885; sculpture for it was parceled out to established sculptors all over Italy, such as Leonardo Bistolfi and Angelo Zanelli. It was inaugurated in 1911 and completed in 1925. The monument is built of white marble from Botticino, Brescia, and features stairways, Corinthian columns, fountains, an equestrian sculpture of Victor Emmanuel and two statues of the goddess Victoria riding on quadrigas. The structure is 135 m (443 ft) wide and 70 m (230 ft) high. If the quadrigae and winged victories are included, the height is to 81 m (266 ft). The base of the structure houses the museum of Italian Reunification. In 2007, a panoramic elevator was added to the structure, allowing visitors to ride up to the roof for 360 degree views of Rome. Text from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altare_della_Patria

The Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II) or Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland) or "Il Vittoriano" is a monument built in honour of Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy, located in Rome, Italy. It occupies a site between the Piazza Venezia and the Capitoline Hill. The monument was designed by Giuseppe Sacconi in 1885; sculpture for it was parceled out to established sculptors all over Italy, such as Leonardo Bistolfi and Angelo Zanelli. It was inaugurated in 1911 and completed in 1925. The monument is built of white marble from Botticino, Brescia, and features stairways, Corinthian columns, fountains, an equestrian sculpture of Victor Emmanuel and two statues of the goddess Victoria riding on quadrigas. The structure is 135 m (443 ft) wide and 70 m (230 ft) high. If the quadrigae and winged victories are included, the height is to 81 m (266 ft). The base of the structure houses the museum of Italian Reunification. In 2007, a panoramic elevator was added to the structure, allowing visitors to ride up to the roof for 360 degree views of Rome. Text from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altare_della_Patria