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Rogier van der Weyden - Portrait of a Lady

In this picture, there is a woman posing for a portrait. She seems to be slightly higher than [|peasantry], mainly because of her jewelry. Other than that, her clothing and face seem to be rather plain. However, she has a large forehead and no eyebrows, the beautiful trademarks of Renaissance women. Her face is easily the focal point of the picture, because mostly everything else is black while she is very white. van der Weyden used shadows versus light very expertly; he managed to somehow paint much of the painting pitch black with other parts of the picture hardly peach. "Portrait of a Lady", by [|Rogier van der Weyden], painted in the fifteenth century, is an expressive painting that symbolizes [|humanism]. Humanism was the major movement during the [|Renaissance] which centered around education as opposed to religion. This woman is not wearing a cross. This painting is thought to be an [|aristocratic] entreaty to a marriage proposal.

Prince Henry the Navigator

Prince Henry the Navigator is most famous for his voyages to rounding Africa and establishing the sea route to the Indies. He had good taste in hats. His country of origin is Portugal, as his father was King Joao of Portugal. Supposedly, Prince Henry was a very educated man, and that he formed a school of exploration at Sagres. However these ideas have no historical backing, they are just thought to be true. He explored for Portugal. He was the Governor of the Order of the Christ from 1420 until his death in 1460. He led 15 expeditions between 1424 and 1434 before one passed by the [|Cape Bojador], in Africa. Prince Henry the Navigator helped begin the Great Age of Discovery.

Joseph Stalin



Joseph Stalin was born on 21 December 1879. He was born into a poor peasant family in Gorgi, Georgia. While at the Tiflis Theological Seminary, he joined a secret society called Messame Dassy, which advocated for the independence of Russia. It was through this group that he was first introduced to the ideas of Karl Marx. In 1901 he joined the [|Social Democratic Labour Party], and stayed in Russia in order to organize the resistance to Tsarism. Between this time and the 1917 Revolution, Stalin was exiled and arrested many times. However, he managed to keep coming back to Russia. Stalin took total control of Russia after the death of Vladimir Lenin. Although there was a power struggle between Stalin and Leon Trotsky, Stalin eventually won and Trotsky was exiled to Mexico where he was assassinated. In 1928, after taking power, Stalin ended Lenin's New Economic Policy, and returned to a completely controlled  [|command economy] It was also in this year that Stalin launched his first [|Five-Year Plan], which was composed of laid plans for expanding the educational system, building more hospitals, and industrial, agricultural, and social goals for the next five years. Stalin's changes were harsh, and forced farmers and workers to increase farm production. Rather than recieving any reward for their hard work, the Soviet people faced higher proces as consumer goods became more scarce. Stalin installed [|totalitarianism] in Russia, and made himself the absolute leader.