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Engineer training elevated by new facilities at UNAM’s Ongwediva campus

Engineer training elevated by new facilities at UNAM’s Ongwediva campus

This week marks an important milestone in the training of engineers with the inauguration of the so-called German Wing of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology on the Ongwediva campus of the University of Namibia.

The inauguration of the German Wing is the culmination of the extended construction phase of a new building for UNAM’s department of Civil and Environmental Engineering which started in 2015. The building will be ready for occupation next month.

The Assistant Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Ongwediva campus, Prof Frank Kavishe, welcomed the dignitaries and sketched the background and growth of both the campus and its engineering faculty.

UNAM’s Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Lazarus Hangula, the Minister of Higher Education, Training and Innovation, Hon Dr Itah Kandji-Murangi, the German Ambassador to Namibia, HE Christian Schlaga, and the Head of Division for southern Africa in the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, Mr Alois Schneider, all added their weight to the auspicious occasion.

The almost N$311 million project was co-sponsored by the German Cooperation through the German Development Bank (Kreditanstallt fuer Wiederaufbau) and the University of Namibia.

The Ongwediva engineering faculty accommodates some 300 students, all hoping one day to become professional engineers but hampered in this quest by the standards set for professional registration. The German Embassy in Windhoek stated that the new facilities and infrastructure will substantially help to improve and increase the qualification and number of Namibian civil engineers.

UNAM engineering graduates can apply for professionial registration after working in the field for at least three years. An extensive report covering technical competence and experience must accompany the application after which the candidate is interviewed by a review panel. Only after successfully complying with all these requirements, can a so-called incorporated engineer, or an engineer in training, be admitted as a professional engineer by the Engineering Council of Namibia.

“The German Cooperation, through the German Cooperation Agency (die Gesellshchaft fuer Internationale Zusammerarbeit – GIF), has assisted UNAM in the development of Bachelor and Master degree programmes and their accreditation. It has also assisted the university to improve the operational level of the engineering laboratories. Lecturers from German universities have been invited as lecturers at UNAM and student exchanges with German partner universities also help to foster cooperation and improve the standard of tuition.

Properly trained an qualified civil engineers are a requisite for the ambitious expansion of Namibia’s road network. This is covered by the long-standing support from the German Government for the local transport sector. Transport is one of three focal areas in the latest Namibian German cooperation agreement.

In the picture: the German Ambassador to Namibia, HE Christian Schlaga (left) congratulating the Minister of Higher Education, Training and Innovation, Hon Itah Kandji-Murangi on the completion of the new building for the Faculty of Engineering on the Ongwediva campus of the University of Namibia.

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Sanlam 2018 Annual Results

7 March 2019

Sanlam’s 2018 annual results provides testimony to its resilience amid challenging operating conditions and negative investment markets

Sanlam today announced its operational results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2018. The Group made significant progress in strategic execution during 2018. This included the acquisition of the remaining 53% stake in SAHAM Finances, the largest transaction concluded in the Group’s 100-year history, and the approval by Sanlam shareholders of a package of Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) transactions that will position the Group well for accelerated growth in its South African home market.

Operational results for 2018 included 14% growth in the value of new life insurance business (VNB) on a consistent economic basis and more than R2 billion in positive experience variances, testimony to Sanlam’s resilience in difficult times.

The Group relies on its federal operating model and diversified profile in dealing with the challenging operating environment, negative investment markets and volatile currencies. Management continues to focus on growing existing operations and extracting value from recent corporate transactions to drive enhanced future growth.

The negative investment market returns and higher interest rates in a number of markets where the Group operates had a negative impact on growth in operating earnings and some other key performance indicators. This was aggravated by weak economic growth in South Africa and Namibia and internal currency devaluations in Angola, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.

Substantial growth in Santam’s operating earnings (net result from financial services) and satisfactory growth by Sanlam Emerging Markets (SEM) and Sanlam Corporate offset softer contributions from Sanlam Personal Finance (SPF) and Sanlam Investment Group (SIG).

Key features of the 2018 annual results include:

Net result from financial services increased by 4% compared to the same period in 2017;

Net value of new covered business up 8% to R2 billion (up 14% on a consistent economic basis);

Net fund inflows of R42 billion compared to R37 billion in 2017;

Adjusted Return on Group Equity Value per share of 19.4% exceeded the target of 13.0%; and

Dividend per share of 312 cents, up 8%.

Sanlam Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ian Kirk said: “We are satisfied with our performance in a challenging operating environment. We will continue to focus on managing operations prudently and diligently executing on our strategy to deliver sustainable value to all our stakeholders. The integration of SAHAM Finances is progressing well. In addition, Sanlam shareholders approved the package of B-BBEE transactions, including an equity raising, at the extraordinary general meeting held on 12 December 2018. Our plan to implement these transactions this year remains on track.”

Sanlam Personal Finance (SPF) net result from financial services declined by 5%, largely due to the impact of new growth initiatives and dampened market conditions. Excluding the new initiatives, SPF’s contribution was 1% down on 2017 due to the major impact that the weak equity market performance in South Africa had on fund-based fee income.

SPF’s new business sales increased by 4%, an overall satisfactory result under challenging conditions. Sanlam Sky’s new business increased by an exceptional 71%. Strong growth of 13% in the traditional individual life channel was augmented by the Capitec Bank credit life new business recognised in the first half of 2018, and strong demand for the new Capitec Bank funeral product. The Recurring premium and Strategic Business Development business units also achieved strong growth of 20%, supported by the acquisition of BrightRock in 2017. Glacier new business grew marginally by 1%. Primary sales onto the Linked Investment Service Provider (LISP) platform improved by 5%, an acceptable result given the pressure on investor confidence in the mass affluent market. This was however, offset by lower sales of wrap funds and traditional life products.

The strong growth in new business volumes at Sanlam Sky had a major positive effect on SPF’s VNB growth, which increased by 7% (14% on a comparable basis).

Sanlam Emerging Markets (SEM) grew its net result from financial services by 14%. Excluding the impact of corporate activity, earnings were marginally up on 2017 (up 8% excluding the increased new business strain).

New business volumes at SEM increased by 20%. Namibia performed well, increasing new business volumes by 22% despite weak economic conditions. Both life and investment new business grew strongly. Botswana underperformed with the main detractor from new business growth being the investment line of business, which declined by 24%. This line of business is historically more volatile in nature.

The new business growth in the Rest of Africa portfolio was 68% largely due to corporate activity relating to SAHAM Finances, with the East Africa portfolio underperforming.

The Indian insurance businesses continued to perform well, achieving double-digit growth in both life and general insurance in local currency. The Malaysian businesses are finding some traction after a period of underperformance, increasing their overall new business contribution by 3%. New business production is not yet meeting expectations, but the mix of business improved at both businesses.

SEM’s VNB declined by 3% (up 6% on a consistent economic basis and excluding corporate activity). The relatively low growth on a comparable basis is largely attributable to the new business underperformance in East Africa.

Sanlam Investment Group’s (SIG) overall net result from financial services declined by 6%, attributable to lower performance fees at the third party asset manager in South Africa, administration costs incurred for system upgrades in the wealth management business and lower earnings from equity-backed financing transactions at Sanlam Specialised Finance. The other businesses did well to grow earnings, despite the pressure on funds under management due to lower investment markets.

New business volumes declined by 13% mainly due to market volatility and low investor confidence in South Africa. Institutional new inflows remained weak for the full year, while retail inflows also slowed down significantly after a more positive start to the year. The international businesses, UK, attracted strong new inflows (up 57%).

Sanlam Corporate’s net result from financial services increased by 4%, with the muted growth caused by a continuation of high group risk claims experience. Mortality and disability claims experience weakened further in the second half of the year, which is likely to require more rerating of premiums in 2019. The administration units turned profitable in 2018, a major achievement. The healthcare businesses reported satisfactory double-digit growth in earnings, while the Absa Consultants and Actuaries business made a pleasing contribution of R39 million.

New business volumes in life insurance more than doubled, reflecting an exceptional performance. Single premiums grew by 109%, while recurring premiums increased by a particularly satisfactory 56%.

The good growth in recurring and single premium business, combined with modelling improvements, supported a 64% (71% on a comparable economic basis) increase in the cluster’s VNB contribution.

Following a year of major catastrophe events in 2017, Santam experienced a relatively benign claims environment in 2018. Combined with acceptable growth in net earned premiums, it contributed to a 37% increase in gross result from financial services (41% after tax and non-controlling interest). The conventional insurance book achieved an underwriting margin of 9% in 2018 (6% in 2017).

As at 31 December 2018, discretionary capital amounted to a negative R3.7 billion before allowance for the planned B-BBEE share issuance. A number of capital management actions during 2018 affected the balance of available discretionary capital, including the US$1 billion (R13 billion) SAHAM Finances transaction. Cash proceeds from the B-BBEE share issuance will restore the discretionary capital portfolio to between R1 billion and R1.5 billion depending on the final issue price within the R74 to R86 price range approved by shareholders.

Looking forward, the Group said economic growth in South Africa would likely remain weak in the short to medium term future, and would continue to impact efforts to accelerate organic growth. The outlook for economic growth in other regions where the Group operates is more promising. Recent acquisitions such as the SAHAM transaction should also support operational performance going forward.

“We remain focused on executing our strategy. We are confident that we have the calibre of management and staff to prudently navigate the anticipated challenges going forward,” Mr Kirk concluded.

Details of the results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2018 are available at


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Official Guide to Edinburgh
  • 11°C

Martin Wishart

Martin Wishart is an award-winning chef and restaurateur, who in 1999 established his eponymous Edinburgh restaurant. Situated in the historic port area of Leith, it was awarded a Michelin star in 2001, and has retained this accolade every year since. Following this success, Martin established a sister restaurant at Cameron House Hotel in Loch Lomond, which in turn received a Michelin Star in 2011. His most recent venture is The Honours, a contemporary brasserie in the heart of Edinburgh's New Town.

When I hear the words ‘This Is Edinburgh’, the first thing that springs to mind is…
When I hear the words ‘This Is Edinburgh’, the first thing that springs to mind is a vibrant, historic, fun and a very exiting city to live in and to visit. Edinburgh offers a magnificent spread of old and new combinations. There are also lots of things to see and do. Edinburgh Festivals in the summer, rugby weekends and of course, Hogmanay.  Where else would you like to be?

What makes you proud to live and work in the city?
I love the friendliness of people in Edinburgh.  I am so proud to belong to this unique city and always happy to show people around or to enjoy it myself with my family and friends. I also love working in Edinburgh, it’s a city that has it all without being too big, you’re just so close to the sea, the mountains.  It’s a perfect place to get fantastic fresh ingredients to cook with, such as fish, shellfish, game and wonderful beef.

A perfect Day in Edinburgh ends with….
A perfect day in Edinburgh ends with a nice meal in one of the many restaurants that the city offers - followed by a pub crawl in the Grassmarket and Royal Mile. A couple of personal favourite Edinburgh pubs are Kay's Bar and The Canny Man. I also really rate Blackfriars, a great place for a drink, but the restaurant is really worth a visit too.

Edinburgh still surprises me when…
Edinburgh still surprises me every day. Wherever you are in the city centre, you’re surrounded with things to look at and appreciate. The dominating presence of the Castle on the volcanic rocks, the unique New Town architecture and the great advantage of being near the sea, Edinburgh is packed with drama.

Where are your favourite places to eat and drink in the city-centre?

When it comes to eating out, we are spoiled for choice in Edinburgh no matter what your budget. Artisan Roast serves terrific coffee, while the delicious Turkish-Mediterranean cuisine at Café Truva on the Royal Mile is ideal for a quick, light lunch. For fish and shellfish it has to be a visit to Ondine in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town.  And of course - I have to recommend The Honours for a night out and meal with friends! You have not tried the best meat in Scotland until you’ve tried a rib-eye steak perfectly cooked on our fantastic Josper grill. Delicious.

As a local, my hidden gem that most visitors to Edinburgh may miss is…
If I’m in need a nice bottle of wine, the only place to go is Raeburn Fine Wines in Stockbridge where you can find rare and excellent wines.


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Public washrooms on trailers could address Rogers Place playoff demand: Edmonton officials

The City of Calgary shut its un-manned public toilets in the East Village after improper use. Lyle Aspinall / Postmedia

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Downtown residents dealing with smelly back alleys after Rogers Place concerts and Edmonton Oilers games might soon see relief.

City officials are hoping portable washroom trailers can give fans with full bladders a sanitary alternative.

“We’re in the playoffs now,” Mayor Don Iveson said Monday, pushing for a quick investment in addition to a long-term citywide plan. “There’s an urgency where issues are most acute. … I don’t want to wait a year for a strategy.”

Last year, 120 people were given $500 fines for urinating in public, with downtown seeing fines issued double in number to 52. Residents blame that on Rogers Place patrons, saying back alleys are extra smelly after games and concerts, but also on a lack of facilities for the homeless.

That’s a long-standing issue. Edmonton tried providing un-manned port-a-potties in the McCauley neighbourhood, but ended up with dealing with too many discarded syringes and other issues. A permanent facility off Whyte Avenue cost $530,000.

Many large cities provide small kiosks in high-density areas for tourists, the homeless and other members of the public. Some are even self-washing, but all struggle with maintenance and some are more expensive in winter climates, said city staff in a presentation to council’s community services committee Monday.

The temporary trailers costs about $12,000 a month to operate, including an attendant. A smaller, permanent kiosk costs anywhere from $300,000 to $450,000, depending on how complex it is to hook up the infrastructure, said Jeff Chase, a city planning director working on the file.

Human rights issue

Iveson said if Edmonton goes with a distributed kiosk model around downtown, the cost could likely be covered by the downtown revitalization levy — a pocket of money funded through increased property taxes around Rogers Place. It would be counted as street furniture.

Coun. Scott McKeen called it a “human rights issue.”

Some people don’t want public washrooms in their neighbourhood for fear it will attract crime, disorder and people who are homeless, he said. “But so-called less-than-desirable people don’t have access to restaurants and other facilities with washrooms like the rest of us do.”

Tourists and bar patrons also need to relieve themselves sometimes. That’s affecting downtown.

“The place stinks the next day and I just think we could do better,” McKeen said.

Citywide washroom plan

Councillors also asked administration to develop a citywide public washroom master plan, considering parks and public spaces across the city. That report is due in early 2018.

Coun. Ed Gibbons said whatever works in the downtown area should also go to 118 Avenue, especially since most homeless people getting a $500 fine can’t pay.

“This is ticket after ticket,” he said. “We really have to step forward with this. … (These aren’t cheap), but we’re a big city.”

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Arctic Fox Life Cycle Clip Art Bundle (Color and B&W)

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This is a set of images to illustrate the life cycle of an Arctic fox.
The images in this set are: cub, pup, adolescent, adult, fox in summer coat, den, word art, arrow.
17 images (9 in color and 8 in B&W)

This set is also available at a discount as part of this Arctic Life Cycles Big bundle:

Arctic Life Cycles Clip Art Bundle (Color and B&W)

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Category: Curated Content

Literary Article Round-Up

From Ideation to Revision: Margaret George’s Writing Advice

Every writer is asked, “Where do you get your ideas?” Writers create people and worlds in a way that hints of magic, making things seemingly real that didn’t exist before. This mystery intrigues readers, who enjoy the final result but wonder how it came about. –  MARGARET GEORGE, Signature

A Reader’s Guide to the Works of Haruki Murakami

Haruki Murakami is a difficult writer to characterize. Broadly, his style falls under magical realism with an occasional absurdist streak. His writing is simple yet dense, filled with lush imagery, richly drawn characters, and a deep well of underlying emotion. –  KEITH RICE, Signature

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This Woman Opened a Bookstore and Drove It Across the Country

Do you love reading so much you’d like to bring books to people all over the country? That’s just what Rita Collins has done with her mobile bookshop, Saint Rita’s Amazing Traveling Bookstore and Textual Apothecary, a white van full of books that has traveled around the country multiple times. – G.G. Andrew, Bookbub

John Boyne Explores the Dark Side of Literary Ambition

A Ladder to the Sky

Graham Greene wrote that “there is a splinter of ice in the heart of a writer.” By that measure, the novelist antihero of John Boyne’s gripping new book, A Ladder to the Sky, must have an entire ice rink at his core.

Maurice Swift is gorgeous, charming, and hell-bent on literary fame. His only problem? He can’t think of a thing to write about. After beguiling aging German novelist Erich Ackermann, however, Swift extracts from Ackermann a devastating wartime confession of love and betrayal. He steals it for his own bestselling debut, ruining what’s left of Ackermann’s life. Soon it’s clear that “literary larceny” is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Swift’s dark ambition. – Goodreads

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5 Classic Books That Are Ripe for a Retelling

Before I began writing The Winters, my modern response to Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, the first thing I did was Google whether another writer had already taken a stab. Turns out there are a few Rebecca retellings, including at least two sequels, one sanctioned by the estate called Rebecca’s Tale by Sally Beauman. – LISA GABRIELE, Signature

Stephen King Sells Film Rights to Teens for One Dollar

Talk about encouraging young artists: Stephen King just sold the film rights to his short story “Stationary Bike” (from the Just After Sunset collection) to a couple of teenagers for just one dollar. This is part of a program on King’s website called “Dollar Babies,” which offers up some of his smaller and less popular works to aspiring filmmakers, including stories from older collections like Night Shift and Skeleton Crew. You never know which of these dollar deals could end up making a splash on the festival circuit, potentially making someone’s career. So dive in, auteurs! As The AV Club points out reassuringly, “Nothing you make will be as bad as the Dark Tower movie.” – TOM BLUNT, Signature

Interesting Articles

Same, but Different: Why We Love Revisiting Famous Literary Characters

I recently watched a brand-new dramatization of a classic work of literature — if, that is, the definition of literature includes manga.

The work in question is Hana Yori Dango, usually translated into English as Boys Over Flowers, the all-time most popular shōjo manga, i.e., manga aimed at a teenage female readership. It ran for twelve years in a biweekly magazine and was collected in thirty-seven volumes, which have sold more than sixty million copies. – SHERRY THOMAS, Signature

Cărturești Carusel Bookstore

This wonderful building was built in 1903 by a wealthy family of Greek bankers, only to be confiscated by the Communist regime in the 1950s. It was turned into a general store and later abandoned and left to decay as Communism collapsed. – Atlas Obscura

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Awards Introduction: 6 Literary Prizes and a Few Winning Books We Love

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Earlier this year the Nobel Prize Committee announced it wouldn’t be awarding a prize for literature this year due to an internal sex scandal within the Swedish Academy, which oversees the prize. So readers who look forward each October to discovering new international writers – or cheering for the victory of a beloved favorite – will have to wait a year, until fall 2019, to find out who the winner is. The Academy plans to award two prizes next year. (While you wait, though, consider the book by the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, Nadia Murad’s The Last Girl.)  In the meantime, there are plenty of other literary contests to watch (or, in the case of a rich award like the Man Booker, bet on.) Read on to get a sense of what the prizes are and who’s won in the past. –  JENNIE YABROFF, Signature

In Perfect Harmony: Why Music and Fiction Work Well Together

There is an inherent problem about writing fiction that concerns another art form – especially if you’re claiming that your fictional artist has real talent, or is exceptionally good at what he or she does.  How can you prove it? It’s not so hard if you’re writing about a writer – the qualities and textures of the prose that you, the author, employ will almost do the job for you. The examples you cite about the fictional author will surely reflect your own standards. This perhaps explains why there are more novels about novelists than any of the other potential artists and art forms on offer. How do you prove that your fictional painter, dancer, sculptor, composer, filmmaker are worthwhile, genuinely gifted? It’s tricky. – WILLIAM BOYD, Signature

Interesting Articles from the Booksphere

9 New Books Editors Have on Their Reading Lists

assorted books on wooden table

Do you have a million books on your to-be-read list, but are unsure where to start? Let us make it easy (or at least easier) for you. Three of our BookBub editors — ZanHannah, and Diana — shared recent releases they’re excited about, from nail-biting bestsellers to humorous book club suggestions. Check out our list of editor recommendations below, complete with publishers’ descriptions. – Bookbub

8 of the Best Cocktails from Classic Literature

As owners of the cocktail institution, Death & Co and authors of the New York Times bestselling book of the same name and our new book, Cocktail Codex, we make and study cocktails for a living. Therefore, it is no surprise that we have a great appreciation for writers who use cocktails as a means for creating character traits or for setting a scene.

To celebrate the important role cocktails play in literature, we’ve compiled some of the most well-known books where the cocktail itself, becomes a character, along with some fun facts about each drink. – ALEX DAY AND DAVID KAPLAN, Signature

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Why We Need More Literature About Intersectionality and Young Women

Two anthologies provide space to girls and women to articulate the realities of lives where “femaleness” is supposed to be the preeminent part of one’s identity. In the case of Can We All Be Feminists?, women write of how assumptions about a preeminent need to overcome misogyny contributes to other forms of oppression, while in Girls Write Now, girls growing up in the new millennium write their observations of first experiences that help to define who they are. –  LORRAINE BERRY, Signature

18 Short Classics You Can Read in One Sitting

brown maple leaf on open book

Many think of classic novels as long, ponderous texts, but that’s not always the case! There are many famous classics that are actually quite short. If you’re looking for a thought-provoking read, check out this list of short classics you can read in one sitting. Arranged from shortest to longest, these books pack a punch in 200 pages or less. – Elisabeth Delp, Bookbub

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4 Interesting Articles from the Booksphere

Before we get into today’s Article Round-Up I wanted to mention a new offer from Audible that’s available until December 14th. At the moment you can join Audible for £3.99/month for the first four months instead of the usual £7.99/month.

I think this is such an amazing offer! Check it out here.

Audible Black Friday 2018 Offer

With your Audible membership, you get a monthly credit that can be used to get any audiobook no matter what length or price AND you get to keep the book for life even if you cancel your membership.

Here are some interesting articles I read this month about books and reading. I especially enjoyed Bookbub’s Little Fires Everywhere book club kit and the article from Medium on the joys of rereading.

Article Elaine Howlin Book Blog

There’s a Limit to Writing What You Know, and Here’s Why

“Write what you know;” it’s a familiar refrain and popular advice given to aspiring writers. But even that can be fraught with difficulty. In writing characters, places, and events from our own lives, we can all too easily fall into the trap of sharing too much detail.” – Elyssa Friedland, Signature

12 Things Readers Really Want Nonreaders to Know

“Every reader has friends or family members who just don’t get it. “Why do you read so much?” they might ask, staring at your overflowing bookshelves or your Reading Challenge on Goodreads. “I haven’t read an entire book in years.”

Oh, those poor, unfortunate souls… ” –Hayley, Goodreads

The Joys of Rereading

“I have devoted my life to reading, and I spend a good portion of that life reading things I’ve already read. Not everyone understands this, and not everyone feels this impulse to begin again. The act of reading is inherently progressive: It tends forward, toward the future, letter after letter, word after word, sentence after sentence, page after page. Rereading is a doubling; every movement forward is also a repetition, an echoing, a recalling.” – Gavin Paul, Medium

Book Club Kit: ‘Little Fires Everywhere’ by Celeste Ng

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If your book club is looking for a thought-provoking and captivating novel, we recommend Celeste Ng‘s Little Fires EverywhereWe’ve rounded up everything you need to host a successful book club, including:

☐ An overview of what to expect from Little Fires Everywhere

☐ Recommendations from other bookworms

☐ Book club discussion questions

☐ Hosting inspiration (including a link to the author’s playlist!)” – Kristina Writght, Bookbub

What interesting articles have you read recently about books and reading?

Audible Black Friday 2018 Offer

They’ve taken the mice to Isengard | LOTR Mouse Movie

This is so good! The mice are just so cute and the end gave me a giggle. The hobbits and Gandalf are all mice while the orcs are rats and Sauron is a creepy owl.

Mice Animated Short Film by Jade Baillargeault, Nazli Doale, Dimitri James, Quang Daniel La, Morgane Lau, Mélanie Pango et Manon Pringault at ISART DIGITAL. Featured on CGMeetup.

“In a dark subway tunnel, a group of mice find a gold ring-pull that seems to have a mysterious effect on one of them. Not so far from them, an owl and his enslaved rats are watching. The owl sends his rats to get hold of this strange object…”

via Pinterest

And for old times sake…

Audible Black Friday 2018 Offer


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Khan Academy Essay Contribution – Cassone with the Conquest of Trebizond

Check out my essay on the Cassone with the Conquest of Trebizond which I wrote for the Khan Academy Website.

Jan Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait

van_eyck_arnolfini_large-resized-600 Van Eyck, Arnolfini Portrait, 1434, National Gallery London

This week’s post moves away from Renaissance Italy to look to the art of Northern Europe. Jan Van Eyck’s iconic work the Arnolfini Portrait (also called the Arnolfini Wedding), dating from 1434 and located in the National Gallery London, is one of the earliest examples of oil painting in Europe. My focus is the representation of the woman, Giovanna (Jeanne) Cenami, who stands beside her groom and the patron of the work, Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini. The portrait provides us with a fascinating insight into society’s expectations for women, their roles as wives and mothers which they were trained for from childhood. By hiring Van Eyck, Giovanni ensured that Italian marital tradition and social convention was successfully combined with Flemish style to create a truly unique piece of art.

Measuring three feet in height, the panel depicts an austerely and expensively dressed man clasping the hand of an equally elegantly attired young woman.  Van Eyck’s painting is quite unusual as standing double portraits dating from this period were rare. The subjects are positioned by the artist for us to observe the scene. Their bodies face in the direction of the onlookers, they address their actions and their glances towards us. The audience therefore becomes witnesses to the official ceremony of marriage which is taking place in the portrait. As Italians living in Bruges, Giovanni wished to memorialise the ceremony, as it was vital for the marriage to be witnessed in order to make it official. The representation of Giovanna is particularly interesting in terms of how the artist visually compared her to the ideal woman and mother, the Virgin Mary and continually refers to her role as a wife through the inclusion of subtly placed symbols.

Giotto, Marriage of the Virgin, c.1305, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua

As befitting a woman of her status, Giovanna is portrayed by the artist as a respectful bride. Van Eyck captures her demure demeanour by averting her eyes so that she does not engage directly with the audience or her husband. Compare Giovanna’s representation to that of the Virgin Mary in Giotto’s Marriage of the Virgin dating from c.1305. The pose, averted eyes and demeanour are very similar. Why would Van Eyck present the sitter in this manner in the portrait? By linking the marriage of the Virgin to this double portrait, Van Eyck underlines the sacred nature of the socially significant event. He therefore transforms a familiar trope from Marian imagery into a statement of another kind by relocating the couple into the secular world. Giovanna is presented to the audience as a contemporary version of the Virgin, a woman who will fulfil her marital duties by producing children and particularly male heirs for her husband.

Detail of Giovanna, Arnolfini Portrait

Her delicate facial features and hands denote a woman of standing and the all-important characteristic of beauty. Leon Battista Alberti in his book Della Famiglia (On the Family) wrote about beauty as an essential feminine quality, and argued that the beauty of a bride denoted her ‘aptitude for bearing and giving birth to many fine children’. The allusion to the importance of fecundity is mirrored in a number of elements of the painting. There has been a lot of debate about the girl’s physical appearance and the possibility that she was pregnant when this portrait was painted. It has now been established that Giovanna was not pregnant; the way she gathers the fold of her dress to emphasise her abdomen was a common feature in contemporary fashion. The emphasis on this part of her body was vital as an allusion to her potential fertility as a young newly-married woman.

Detail of the carved figures of a dragon and woman and the dusting brush, Arnolfini Portrait

The importance of fertility is reinforced by the presence of a carved figure of a dragon alongside the representation of a female figure on the top of the bedstead which is partially hidden by Giovanna. There are two possible readings for their inclusion here. Firstly, the carved female figure who is accompanied by the dragon can be interpreted as the representation of St. Margaret, the patron saint of childbirth. The legend surrounding the saint states that she was swallowed by a dragon and through her constant prayers to God, escaped through the belly of the dragon untouched. St. Margaret was prayed to by women in labour to ensure the safety of the woman and her unborn child. Women were often given a prayer book to St. Margaret during pregnancy which served as a talisman. The second interpretation for the figure is the representation of St. Martha, the patron saint of housewives. This reading is supported by the inclusion of a dusting brush which hangs from the bedstead, referring to Giovanna’s role in managing and maintaining the home, the designated space of women of this period.

Another interesting feature of this scene is the juxtaposition of Giovanna and the object which dominates the right of the image, the bed. This element serves to draw the viewer’s attention to the private site of sexual encounter and the site for the woman’s production of children for her husband, reinforcing Giovanna’s role within the marriage.

Detail of the dog, Arnolfini Portrait

To ensure the legitimacy of the children which Giovanna produces during her marriage, the artist includes a dog at her feet, the traditional symbol of fidelity and loyalty. In a similar manner to the tomb of Ilaria del Carretto which I looked at in a previous post, the dog serves to remind the audience of the importance of chastity within marriage as a way of ensuring the purity of the bloodline of her husband. Standing between Giovanni and Giovanna in the foreground, the dog alludes to the ideal marriage, with a faithful wife ensuring the longevity of her husband’s lineage for future generations.

Although this image focuses upon the representation of a marriage, it presents us with a number of subtle symbols which allude to the depicted woman’s imminent role as a wife and especially as a mother. Van Eyck in his realistic artistic style successfully portrays the social conventions and expectations of the feminine sex.

Ilaria del Carretto: A Mother Memorialised in Marble (Part Two)

Continuing on from part one of the post on Ilaria de Carretto’s tomb, this post will focus on the analysis of the effigy and inclusion of the ten putti figures on the sides of the sarcophagus.

Detail of the effigy of the tomb of Ilaria del Carretto

The physical appearance of the effigy not only explicitly commemorates Ilaria, it simultaneously makes reference to the wealth and prestige of the Guinigi. Each aspect of the effigy, from the costume she wears, her hair style, headdress and swollen abdomen demonstrate the duality of meaning ascribed not only to this element but to the monument as a whole by her husband. Once again in a similar manner to the inclusion of the dog, the representation of the deceased Ilaria was clearly influenced by Northern European sources. The effigy had no counterparts in contemporary Italian funerary monuments.[1] The high stiff collar with its large opening which frames Ilaria’s face, the long pendant sleeves, high waisted belt, the flowered headdress and the pointed shoes were considered the height of fashion during this period, especially among the elite classes in Northern Renaissance Italian courts.[2] It demonstrated to the contemporary viewer that Paolo wished for his wife to be portrayed in a costume associated with the wealthy elite classes of Northern European and Northern Italian courts. The effigy thus projected an image of the wealth and prestige of her husband to those who saw the tomb. Paolo wished to emphasise and promote his prestigious standing in order to justify his legitimacy as the self-proclaimed ruler and Lord of Lucca. He did so by dressing his deceased wife’s effigy in a costume appropriate for a Northern European princess. Thus Paolo used the monument to further his own political agenda and to reinforce his rule to his subjects in Lucca.

The effigy’s facial features have been somewhat idealised by della Quercia, a common practice by artists of this period when portraying those of the elite class. The domed forehead, high hairline and perfectly proportioned facial features enhance and highlight the beauty of the woman commemorated by this work. Beauty was a quality deemed essential for a Renaissance woman to possess. Physical beauty was seen as an indicator of the inner qualities of a person. Thus della Quercia depicted Ilaria in her death as an ideal woman who possessed the necessary feminine qualities, such as beauty evident from the effigy’s facial features, as well as her chasteness, evoked by the presence of the sculpted dog. Thus the artist and patron chose to add various subtle symbols to the tomb’s effigy which emphasised Ilaria’s virtuous nature.

Another powerful element of the tomb is the prominence given to the wedding ring worn on the right hand of the effigy. It is interesting to note that the effigy does not wear any other form of jewellery (apart from the diadem which will be discussed below). Therefore the inclusion of this wedding band on her ring finger clearly indicated her role as a wife and marked her for posterity as her husband’s property. The ring may have ensured that this symbol of marriage stood out prominently from the rest of the effigy and tomb.[3]

ilaria head 2

Detail of the ghirlanda (headdress)

The headdress (ghirlanda) which adorns the effigy adds to the aristocratic semblance of Ilaria. In fact, the headdress looks similar to a crown, once again reinforcing Paolo’s aim to enhance his family’s prestige. A bronze diadem may have also been located at one time just above the effigy’s headdress.[4] The possibility of the presence of a physical jewelled crown would have made a powerful visual statement to the tomb’s audience. To associate Ilaria with royalty was an unambiguous and bold statement about her husband’s reign as the Lord of Lucca. Decorated with flowers, the headdress can also be interpreted as having connotations to fertility and in particular Ilaria’s fecundity. The allusion to Ilaria’s reproductive capabilities is complemented by further suggestion to this attribute by the inclusion of the putti carrying garlands loaded with fruit and flowers which will be discussed below.

The final element of the effigy which must be examined is the placement of the crossed hands on top of her noticeably swollen abdomen which serves as a potent symbol within this piece. Paolo clearly wished to subtly indicate to the tomb’s audience the cause of Ilaria’s death. In fact, Ilaria’s tomb is one of a very small number of art works depicting women which includes a reference to the cause of death as childbirth. The patron achieves this link through the positioning of the hands on the stomach, drawing the viewers’ eyes to her pregnant body. The effigy promotes Ilaria’s role as a wife and mother, echoing the message of the abundant vegetation surrounding the joint coat of arms of the two families mentioned in part one of this blog post.

ilaria tomb

Detail of the ‘joyous’ putti on the side panel of the sarcophagus

The classically influenced swag-bearing putti on the two side panels of the sarcophagus continued the monument’s emphasis on Ilaria’s commemoration as the mother of the Guinigi heir. These were the earliest examples in the 15th century of large-scale putti in Renaissance art, a motif which was to become very popular.[5] The presence of these activated nude little boys can be interpreted in a number of ways. The putto became a popular figure found on domestic objects and in particular on objects associated with the event of childbirth. Jacqueline Marie Musacchio argued that the inclusion of a naked male child held a magical resonance and their presence on domestic objects during this period clearly made reference to the much-desired male child who was essential for a society dominated by the patriarchal lineage.[6] Thus one possible interpretation for the inclusion of the putti on the sarcophagus is that Paolo wanted to emphasise his wife’s fulfilment of her duties through the birth of a male heir. The monument stood to contemporaries as a powerful visual affirmation of the strength of the Guinigi bloodline through Ladislaus’ birth. The heavy garlands which they carry are laden with fruit similar to that which surrounds the coat of arms and the effigy’s headdress. In the classical period, the garlands heaving with fruit are carried by putti referring to the ‘life-supporting spirits contained in the fruits of the earth, the source of all life in nature’.[7] The putti and garlands symbolically refer therefore to Mother Nature and placed on the tomb of a woman who died in childbirth, highlighted Ilaria’s fertile nature.

sad putti good

Detail of the ‘solemn’ putti on the side panel of the sarcophagus

The facial expressions and movement of the bodies of the putti are of particular interest as the two sets express very different emotions which add to the work’s commemoration of Ilaria. On one side, the putti appear sad and overburdened by the heaving garland they carry. On the opposite side, the figures appear to possess a freer spirit and perform a choral dance.[8] The polarity of the emotions evoked to the audience the emotions of the patron towards the sudden death of his young wife. The grief he felt is poignantly expressed by the solemn-looking putti and the burden they carry (the garland), a further physical manifestation of their pain and suffering. This group may also represent the sadness of Ilaria’s children over the loss of their mother at a very young age. Paolo simultaneously wanted to celebrate the life of his wife and the joy she brought to his family which is captured by della Quercia through the lively dance of the putti on the opposite panel of the tomb.

ilaria tomb

Ilaria’s tomb is a truly unique monument from the period in question in terms of its style, appearance and meaning within the Italian context. Della Quercia succeeded in combining a number of innovative features with classically-inspired elements to ensure that the tomb remains a masterpiece of western sculpture to this day. The commissioning of such a lavish work by the Lord of Lucca demonstrates the high regard he had for his wife and the mother of his first two children. Accordingly, Ilaria is memorialised for posterity as a mother by means of her physical presence on the tomb in the form of the effigy as well as the tomb’s placement in a prestigious location within the city’s cathedral. Through his design and execution of the funerary monument, della Quercia imbued Ilaria with a sense of dignity and nobility in her death which augmented her posthumous elevated standing in her conjugal family. The tomb stands as a testament to the importance of motherhood in fifteenth-century Renaissance society.

[1] Allan Marquand, ‘The Tomb of Ilaria del Carretto’, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Jan-Mar 1915), pp24-33, 28.

[2] M. Paoli, ‘Jacopo della Quercia E Paolo Guinigi: Nuove Osservazioni e Ipotesi Sul Monumento di Ilaria’ in Ilaria del Carretto E Il Suo Monumento- La Donna Nell’Arte, La Cultura E La Societa Del ‘400, Ed. by Stephanie Toussaint, San Marco Lithotype, Lucca, 1995, 16-17.

[3] Charles Seymour, Jacopo Della Quercia: Sculptor, Yale University Press, London, 1973, 33.

[4] Robert Munman, Sienese Renaissance Tomb Monuments, American Philosophy Society, 1993, 121.

[5] James Beck, Jacopo della Quercia, Vol. 1, Columbia University Press, New York, 56.

[6] Jacqueline Marie Musacchio, The Art and Ritual of Childbirth of Renaissance Italy, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1999, 127.

[7] Charles Dempsey, Inventing the Renaissance Putto, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill and London, 2001, 28.

[8] A. Marquand, ‘The Tomb of Ilaria del Carretto’, 31.

Ilaria del Carretto- A Mother Memorialised in Marble (Part One)

ilaria tomb

Jacopo della Quercia, Tomb of Ilaria del Carretto, c.1406, St. Martin’s Cathedral, Lucca.

On the 8th of December 1405, Ilaria del Carretto- wife of Paolo Guinigi, Lord of Lucca- died in childbirth. As the mother of Paolo’s first-born son Ladislaus and daughter (named Ilaria after her mother), Ilaria is commemorated for her success in producing an heir by the commissioning of an extravagant tomb located in the Cathedral of St. Martin. Designed by Jacopo della Quercia, one of the foremost sculptors of the fifteenth century, the unique marble sarcophagus dedicated to Ilaria’s memory provides the art historian with a plethora of information about the role of court women in Renaissance Italy.

As Paolo’s second of four wives, it is interesting to question why Ilaria alone was honoured by this distinctive form of commemoration. Three of his wives, including Ilaria, provided their husbands with 8 children in total, 5 sons and 3 daughters. Paolo’s first wife, Maria Caterina di Valerano degli Antelminelli, died aged 12 in 1400 before the marriage was consummated. In 1403, Ilaria married Paolo and produced 2 children during her short life as his wife. Paolo’s third wife, Piacentina da Varano whom he married in the spring of 1407 gave birth to 5 children (4 boys and 1 girl). In 1420, Paolo wed his final wife, Iacopa Trinci who had 1 daughter and died during her second pregnancy. As can be clearly seen by the number of children, the wives of the Lord of Lucca attempted to fulfil their societal roles as women by giving birth to as many children as possible, even if it resulted in their deaths. Ilaria stood out among the wives by giving birth to Paolo’s first-born son and heir to his father’s name, wealth and position. Therefore Ilaria is commemorated posthumously for her contribution to the patriarchal lineage of her husband’s family. Paolo chose to honour Ilaria for her achievements and contribution to his family. The tomb serves as much as a statement about the importance of the Guinigi lineage and her role in its continuation as it was a commemorative monument to his deceased wife. This point is clearly evident when the elements which constitute the monument are examined including the Guinigi and Carretto coat of arms, the presence of the dog at Ilaria’s feet, Ilaria’s physical appearance and the putti who adorn the side panels of the sarcophagus.

Detail of the Guinigi and Carretto Coat of Arms

Each of the decorative elements included by della Quercia on the monument were carefully chosen by the patron and artist for their inherent symbolism and ability to not only commemorate the deceased consort but also to emphasise to the audience the importance of the Guinigi family. The coat of arms located on the panel below the effigy’s head can be considered as the most obvious expression of this idea on the tomb. It combines the heraldic devices of both the Guinigi and Carretto. Due to the lack of an inscription (it is believed that an inscription did exist but was later removed and lost), the coat of arms is the only means by which the deceased can be identified. The presence of the darts of the Guinigi imprese marks Ilaria as Paolo’s wife and thus her identity as a woman is intrinsically linked to that of her husband’s. Combining the two families’ coat of arms also served to maintain friendly relations with the Carretto after Ilaria’s death. The Carretto were a powerful and influential family during this period, the creation of a strong political alliance was a key factor in Paolo’s decision to marry Ilaria. This need to stress the alliance between the Guinigi and Carretto explains the prominent inclusion of the two impresi in this manner by della Quercia.

The foliage decoration surrounding the coat of arms on both sides also warrants further investigation for its symbolic meaning to the contemporary audience. Allan Marquand describes this foliage as ‘florid gothic plants bearing seeded flowers’.[1] The inclusion of the abundant vegetation and its deliberate placement around the combined coat of arms refers to the fruitful union of Paolo and Ilaria. The seeded flowers represent Ilaria’s fertile nature and therefore focus on her reproductive role and the securing of her husband’s lineage.

ilaria and dog

cangnolinoDetails of the Effigy of Ilaria and her faithful companion

The dog depicted lying at his mistress’ feet is an element of the funerary monument which has not received as much attention as other components of the piece. The presence of the symbolically-charged cagnolino was not a feature commonly found on Italian funerary monuments of this period. Dogs were commonly depicted on monuments in Northern Europe such as the Netherlands and France.[2] The dog was regarded as a symbol of fidelity and in this case he looks up directly and attentively towards his mistress’ head. In della Quercia’s monument, the dog can be interpreted in a number of ways. Firstly, it acts as a sign of Ilaria’s unwavering fidelity to her husband, a key quality a married woman must possess in order to ensure the legitimacy of her children and the purity of the future generations of the Guinigi bloodline. Giorgio Vasari saw the dog as a symbol of conjugal love. Its inclusion on the monument can therefore be viewed as a visual demonstration of Paolo’s love for his deceased wife and his grief over her untimely death. The sculpted dog and its placement in relation to the effigy provides a third possible reading. The alertness of the dog with his gaze fixed firmly towards Ilaria’s head functioned as a means of directing the audience’s attention to her face, denoting the importance of the deceased who is remembered by this ostentatious marble memorial. Here, the dog acts as an eternal protector for Ilaria’s effigy, dutifully guarding this woman who remained faithful throughout her marriage.

Part Two of this post will be published by the end of the week- stay tuned!

[1] Allan Marquand, ‘The Tomb of Ilaria del Carretto’, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Jan-Mar 1915), pp24-33, 31.

[2] Robert Munman, Sienese Renaissance Tomb Monuments, Vol. 205, American Philosophical Society: Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, 1993, 72.

Happy 2015!!

Firstly, I want to wish everyone a very happy new year. Let’s hope 2015 is a great year for everyone! Starting the Renaissance Mothers blog last year was one of my goals for 2014 and wow has the year gone by so quickly!! As a second year PhD student who often feels like a rabbit stuck in headlights, the blog has been a great way for me to write about what I love (even when I was suffering from writer’s block in my PhD research!). One of my goals for 2015 is to write more posts for my blog and to raise awareness of the plethora of images of Renaissance women and mothers. Women were commemorated for posterity for their roles as wives and mothers in Renaissance culture and became exemplars for not only their children and immediate families, but for all women who saw these images and understood the importance placed on their fulfilling of their roles within Renaissance Italian society.

Ritratto_di_maddalena_strozzi  visitation

Raphael’s Portrait of Maddalena Doni (1506-7) and Ghirlandaio’s Visitation (1495-98)

On a recent research trip to Florence (one of my most favourite places in the entire world!), I got the opportunity to revisit many of the galleries, museums, and palazzi which house the art works which are the focus of my research. I came across so many exquisite portraits of women including Raphael’s Maddelena Doni and the beautiful representations of the Tornabuoni women in the family chapel located in Santa Maria Novella. Surrounded by these images, it has inspired me to break through my writer’s block and to keep writing each day (no matter how small the word count!)

To those who have followed my blog, I thank you for your interest and I hope you will continue to enjoy reading about Renaissance mothers in the coming months!! Keep an eye on the blog which will be updated with a new blog post shortly!

The Bargello Relief- Representing the Realities of the Renaissance Birth Chamber

Figure 1: Andrea del Verrocchio, Bargello Relief, late 1400’s, Bargello Museum, Florence.

The Bargello Relief represents one of the most harrowing and realistic depictions of the realities of childbirth in art (Fig. 1). Located in the Bargello Museum, Florence, the relief depicts two separate scenes; a woman dying during the process of childbirth surrounded by grieving female attendants is portrayed on the right with the presentation of the deceased baby by the midwife to his father and a group of onlookers represented on the left.

The piece was commissioned by Giovanni Tornabuoni (the father-in-law of Giovanna degli Albizzi whose portrait I looked at in a previous blog post). Giovanni ordered the creation of this work to commemorate the death of his beloved wife Francesca Pitti who died in labour on September 23rd 1477. The relief in fact may have been a component of a much larger sculptural piece, a tomb executed by Andrea del Verrocchio and dedicated to Francesca located in the Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, Rome (where Giovanni worked as the head of the Medici bank). Unfortunately, the tomb has been dismantled and lost with the Bargello relief the sole surviving piece of the work. The creator of the relief has been the subject of much debate with two of the leading Verrocchio scholars, Butterfield and Covi, attributing it to Francesco di Simone, a Florentine sculptor who worked with Verrocchio.[1] Verrocchio himself designed and executed the most important elements of the commission and assigned artists present in his workshop to assist him in the decoration.

At first glance, the relief appears to have been designed within the traditional format used for birth iconography; the depiction of the ‘lying-in scene’ (depicting the birth of a child) and the portrayal of the presentation of the child to the father for naming.[2] This scene realistically portrays the event which took place within the feminine and private realm of the birth chamber. Verrocchio graphically depicts the apparent dangers associated with childbirth and motherhood, which were faced by all women. Traditional lying-in scenes commonly found on birth trays such as Masaccio’s 1425 Desco da Parto (Fig.2) represented the ideal situation and outcome for this process, namely the successful birth of the child (preferably a boy) and the survival of the mother.

Figure 2: Masaccio, Desco da Parto, 1425-28, Gemaldegalerie, Berlin.

These trays and the illustrations adorning them were believed to possess talismanic properties, acting to protect and reassure the expectant mother at a time when death in childbirth was a common occurrence.[3] The Bargello relief depicts the opposite of these protective scenes. Kisler argues that the authenticity invested by the artist by the sculptor allowed contemporary women to read through the deceased woman’s body, sympathetically in the image and physically and emotionally through their own experiences of birth.[4] From a feminine perspective, the truthful representation of Francesca’s demise in this commemorative piece publicly validated and highlighted the risks women undertook to provide male heirs for their husbands and for the republic.

Eight grieving women surround the free-standing bed where Francesca lies. She is physically held up by one attendant whose right hand touches the deceased’s breast in the traditional position of a birth assistant. The midwife holds the other arm and searches for a pulse.[5] The women display their grief in a variety of ways; one sits hunched over in front of the bed holding her head in her hands while the woman on the far right pulls her hair in anguish.

Bargello_-_Verrocchio_Tornabuoni_2 (2) Bargello_-_Verrocchio_Tornabuoni_2 (3)

Their collective declaration of sadness contrasts sharply to the austere and somewhat restrained expressions of the figures in the presentation scene. The articulation of suffering was customary among Florentine women when a death occurred.[6] They grieve openly whereas when the child was presented to his father and bystanders in the more public sphere, such expressions were internalised as they would have been deemed inappropriate considering the context and environment. Within the confines of the domestic bedchamber, the women disclose their feelings over the loss of the mother and male child.

The pose of the dying figure with her serene expression differentiates to the visible expression of mourning displayed by those who surround her. Francesca’s depiction is heavily influenced by examples of classical art; she is dressed in Roman garb and lies on a bed in the all’antica style. There are a striking number of similarities between Francesca’s depiction and that of the death of Meleager. Murdered by his own mother with the aid of the goddess Diana in revenge for the slaughter of his uncles, the Death of Meleager was a popular subject matter found on ancient Roman sarcophagi (Fig. 3).

meleager sarcophagus louvre large

Fig. 3 Death of Meleager, 2nd Century A.D, Louvre, Paris

Traditionally, the dying hero is represented lying in state surrounded by his mourning loved ones. In both the Bargello Relief and the Death of Meleager scene, the dying protagonist lies on a bed surrounded by a group of figures with varying expressions of profound melancholy including the seated female holding her head in her hands. The principal characters do not exhibit the suffering they have endured. By depicting Francesca in this manner, Verrocchio conferred the deceased with a sense of heroic dignity and gravitas. Her calm appearance masks the pain and suffering she obviously endured. It is only subtly referenced to through the depiction of her limp, tousled hair which sticks to her neck, her dress slipping down her left arm and the exposing of her left breast. The fact that she is portrayed as sitting up in the bed demonstrates how she was physically exhausted from the labour.[7]

Bargello_-_Verrocchio_Tornabuoni_2 (4)

It is interesting to note that Verrocchio chose not to depict the caesarean birth which Giovanni alludes to in a personal letter about Francesca’s death. The focus is upon the aftermath of the childbirth process, with the child swaddled and held by the wet nurse whose bodice remain tied, indicating that the child is dead, as well as Francesca’s final moments. The representation of such a traumatic and grisly procedure would have been deemed inappropriate and too graphic for this commission and its contemporary audience. The emphasis here is on Francesca’s portrayal as a courageous woman who, after suffering the agony of a failed delivery, remained dignified to the end. Her willingness to die in order to give birth to her son demonstrates her heroic nature.

Unlike typical representations of the presentation of the infant to his father for naming, Verrocchio depicts the moment when the midwife presents the dead swaddled child. Immediately, the viewer is confronted with a sense of tragedy and loss of not only the baby but also his mother. The inclusion of a clearly recognisable Giovanni (when compared to other representations of the patron, (Fig. 4) provides an insight into society’s focus upon the promotion of the patriarchal line and strength of the family. Francesca was only identifiable through her association with her husband and his portrayal in the opposite episode. Emphasis is thus placed upon the Tornabuoni lineage and Francesca’s contribution to it as the mother of the family’s sole heir.

Fig. 4. Detail of Domenico Ghirlandaio’s Donor Portrait of Giovanni Tornabuoni, 1485-1490, Tornabuoni Chapel, Santa Maria Novella, Florence.

The relief was designed to act as a didactic narrative to emphasise the role of motherhood to the female audience. Although the scene depicts her death, the implied message is a positive one as it points to the possibility of achieving a revered status through the fulfilment of their duties as patrician wives. Verrocchio chose to portray the realities of the surrounding death within the domestic context, respectful of the mourning customs of the time while simultaneously giving a truthful image of this emotional event for all those involved in the process, an event which women would experience in one capacity or another during their lives.

[1] A. Butterfield, The Sculptures of Andrea del Verrocchio, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 1997, 238 and D. Covi, Andrea del Verrocchio, Life and Work, Arte e Archeologia, Studi e Documenti, 27, Leo S. Olschki Editore, Florence, 2005, 148.

[2] M. Kisler, ‘Florence and the Feminine’, in J. Levaric Smarr and D. Valentini (eds.), Italian Women and the City: Essays, Dickinson Press, Madison, NJ, Fairleigh, 2003, 70.

[3] J.M. Musacchio, ‘Imaginative Conceptions in Renaissance Italy’, in G.A. Johnson and S.F. Matthew Grieco (eds.), Picturing Women in Renaissance and Baroque Italy, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1997, 42-60.

[4] Kisler, ‘Florence and the Feminine’, 71.

[5] Ibid, 70.

[6] S. Strocchia, Death and Ritual in Renaissance Florence, The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London, 1992, 117.

[7] Kisler, ‘Florence and the Feminine’, 71.

The Model Mother- Ghirlandaio’s Portrait of Giovanna degli Albizzi Tornabuoni

thyssen museum ghirlandaio image

Fig. 1. Domenico Ghirlandaio, Portrait of Giovanna degli Albizzi Tornabuoni, 1488, Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid.

Pregnancy was a dangerous event in the life of a fifteenth-century Florentine patrician woman. One-fifth of all deaths among females that occurred in Florence during this period were in fact related to complications in childbirth or ensuing post-partum infections. In the years 1424-25 and 1430, the Books of the Dead recorded the deaths of fifty-two women as a result of labour. As conditions for pregnant women did not improve in the ensuing half a century, childbirth remained a dangerous event for women to endure. Husbands took many precautions to ensure a successful birth as can be seen in the vast array of objects associated with this event created at this time. People turned to religion and magic in order to ensure that both the mother and child would survive this perilous process. Death in childbirth affected women from all classes and wealth did not act as a deterrent. The loss of a fertile young woman was detrimental to both her family and to society in general. Not only did her natal and conjugal families lose out on the children she may have had in the future, the loss of the child that she carried (which was commonplace) denied the family the opportunity to forge advantageous marriage alliances and heirs to the family name and wealth.

In a society which had recently experienced the devastating effects of the Black Death, leading to the loss of approximately 80,000 of its citizens, the civic authorities of the city-state began to actively promote the need for the production of children to counter-act the dramatic population decline. A family-centred ideology emerged at the core of Florentine society. In the writings of resident authors such as Leon Battista Alberti, marriage and family were regarded as the building blocks of a strong and prosperous society. The need for children was of paramount importance to the citizens of Florence as a means of ensuring the continuation of family lineages and the prosperity of the society which they were born into. The production of children was thus perceived primarily as for the good of both the family and society rather than just for individual satisfaction. The inhabitants of the city-state and particularly the women were under immense societal pressure to carry out their civic duty by producing offspring. As women were the bearers of children, their roles within their marital families centred upon their ability to fulfil the role of motherhood and produce as many children as possible for their husbands.

A number of art works dedicated to women who died in childbirth survive to the present day and Ghirlandaio’s Portrait of Giovanna degli Albizzi Tornabuoni dating from c.1488 is one of the most famous examples [Fig.1]. It is clear through the examination of these art works that a woman received a privileged status through her death in childbirth, particularly if she had already provided her husband with a male heir. Although the depictions of women who died in this manner do not usually reference what caused their demise, these works promote motherhood to contemporary Italian viewers in a number of ways. This argument stems from an idea put forward by the historian David Herlihy who states that, due to motherhood, Renaissance Italian women were elevated in status.[1] The following brief synopsis of a painted portrait of a Florentine woman demonstrates that, within the context of the republican city-state, a woman was clearly defined by her role as mother and contributor to her husband’s dynastic lineage.

Giovanna degli Albizzi Tornabuoni

Giovanna was born into one of the most influential and powerful families of the period, the Albizzi. At the age of eighteen, Giovanna entered into another powerful Florentine family, the Tornabuoni, through her marriage to Lorenzo Tornabuoni. Marriage was the key event in the lives of Florentine citizens, particularly for women as they were dependent upon matrimony alone to define their status. Girls were conditioned for their nuptials from an early age. The similarities in the ages of the bride and groom is considered unusual in the Florentine context; usually the man would choose his bride when he was twenty to twenty-five years old and, if he should feel that his position would improve, he would wait until he reached thirty to marry. The bride was usually in her early teenage years at the time of betrothal. Gert Jan van der Sman argues that the similarity in their age suggests that their union was for dynastic purposes.[2] On 11th October 1487, Giovanna successfully gave birth to her first child, a boy who was named Giovanni after his grandfather, the family patriarch. Giovanna died less than a year later on 7th October 1488, as a result of childbirth. Of particular interest are the series of images created by the prominent Florentine artist Domenico Ghirlandaio commissioned by her grieving husband and also her father-in-law shortly after her death.

Ghirlandaio’s Portrait

The Portrait of Giovanna degli Albizzi Tornabuoni dating from 1488 includes a number of interesting elements such as the Latin epigram. It reads as:

                                ‘Ars Utinam Mores Animum que Effingere Posses                                                                                Pulchrior In Terris Nulla Tabella Foret’

[Art, if only you were able to portray character and soul, no painting on earth would be more beautiful]

thyssen museum ghirlandaio image (4)

The identity of the author of these words has been a matter of much contention amongst art historians. Maria DePrano presents the most relevant interpretation and identification of the true author of the verse by arguing that it was Lorenzo’s composition which had been based upon an epigram written by the ancient Roman poet Martial with a minor change in the verb conjugation to make the words more personalised.[3] Lorenzo verbalises his sorrow over the sudden death of his wife. Not only did he lose his beloved wife who he had been married to for only a brief period of time, he also lost the child which she was giving birth to. Their first-born son, Giovanni, who was less than a year old at the time of her death, lost his mother. Therefore the epigram is one of both anguish and lament by a grief-stricken husband beseeching art to bring his wife back to life. The position of the inscription within the portrait itself is interesting and deliberate on the part of the artist as the bottom left hand corner is partially obscured by the sitter’s beautifully elongated neck. The viewer is left in no doubt that the words of this epigram are in fact referring to Giovanna herself, her character, mind and feminine virtues. It is important to note that the majority of inscriptions included in the portraiture of Florentine women were located on the reverse side of the images such as Leonardo da Vinci’s Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci c.1474-78 [Fig. 2] Their placement on the reverse suggests that they were intended to be viewed by a select private audience such as the patron who commissioned the work and close family. In the case of Ghirlandaio’s portrait, the inscription’s prominence within the work itself must be interpreted as a public statement, intended to be viewed by a wider audience.

Fig. 2. Leonardo da Vinci, Portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci, c.1474-78, National Gallery of Art, Washington

The open nature of this personal statement of Lorenzo’s lament is furthered by the work’s original location. This image is one of the only female portraits of the Renaissance period whose exact location was documented in an inventory. It was located in Lorenzo’s personal chambers in the chamera del palcho d’oro (‘chamber with the gold ceiling’) of the Palazzo Tornabuoni and hung in this room for nearly ten years after her death when Lorenzo had in fact remarried.[4] The private chambers of Florentine patrician men were quasi-public spaces within the palazzo and the camera was in fact the most controlled space, only accessible to those who were admitted to the space by its owner. Those who saw the portrait would have been invited by Lorenzo himself into the room. It was within these spaces that men placed their most valuable art works and prized possessions so that their wealth and prestige could be exhibited and seen. By placing Giovanna’s portrait in this chamber, Lorenzo not only gave Giovanna a prized position within his household but simultaneously suggested that her image and thus Giovanna herself was in fact a cherished possession of his. The inscription acts as a public acknowledgement of her worth and significance to her husband and adds to the sense of high regard she achieved posthumously.

The significance of physical appearance in female portraiture

thyssen museum ghirlandaio image

The manner in which Ghirlandaio represents his sitter including the profile format and her appearance added to the perception of her privileged status within the Tornabuoni family. In classical times, the use of the strict profile pose was allied to biography so that these portraits came to stand for their sitters’ virtuous behaviour. Its use in Florentine art asserted similar virtues upon those represented. With her eyes and face averted, Giovanna’s depiction was particularly apt in a society which idealised the images of women in terms of their chastity and modesty. Her upright posture emphasised through the pose demonstrates her chaste nature, considered the most fundamental virtue for a patrician woman to possess as it was deemed vital to ensure the legitimacy of the offspring she produced. It also allowed the viewer to appreciate Giovanna’s beauty, as the observer can clearly see her domed forehead, elongated neck and high hairline, features considered beautiful in Florentine society. Beauty was regarded as another significant quality for women to possess which was clearly emphasised by its reference in the portrait’s inscription.

The domestic environment was seen as the space reserved for women and Jacqueline Marie Musacchio points out that many Florentine women spent a large portion of their lives being controlled by male family members and contained within the walls of the family palazzo.[5] Alberti argued that it was in fact natural for a woman to remain inside and to tend to the household while the man’s place was outside the home, tending to all other matters. In a culture which believed that a woman should give the impression that her body was contained and protected with her limbs controlled, the use of the profile in female portraiture was perfectly suited to demonstrate this ideal.[6] This is furthered by Giovanna’s physical containment within the confines of the Netherlandish motif of the dark tomb-like niche.[7] Therefore Giovanna is shown here as exemplary and virtuous in the 1488 portrait.

Giovanna’s pose and appearance also held importance with regards to the exhibition of the wealth and prestige of her marital family. Extravagant costumes and jewellery were symbols of affluence and status in this society. The dominance of the initial ‘L’ on the sleeve of Giovanna’s giornea (dress) refers to her husband and thus denotes her as Lorenzo’s wife. The use of heraldic or familial devices on women’s clothing demonstrates how women were perceived in terms of their families- firstly their father’s and then, through marriage, their husband’s. A woman was thus never viewed as an individual with a separate identity who earned honour for their own merits, but was only seen in terms of her ability to assist in the continuation of the patriarchal lineage of the family.

thyssen museum ghirlandaio image (3)

Each of the objects included in the portrait were carefully chosen to provide a further insight into the sitter’s personality and nature which the artist could not evoke in the portrait. The prayer book symbolised the piety Giovanna possessed and the string of coral beads alluded to the use of talismanic objects to safeguard the wellbeing and health of the new born child. Of particular interest is the dragon pendant with its reference to the symbol of St. Margaret, the patron saint of childbirth, to whom women in labour prayed to ensure a safe delivery. The dragon pendant is an unusual inclusion as no other example of such a necklace has been found in a Quattrocento female portrait. The incorporation of the coral beads and dragon necklace in particular subtly allude to the circumstances surrounding her death. The artist successfully constructed an image of Giovanna as a paradigm for the ideals a woman was expected to possess and an exemplar which other women should aspire to imitate in their own lives.

thyssen museum ghirlandaio image (2)

Giovanna’s fate was shared by many of her contemporaries, including her closest female kin. Her mother, Caterina Soderini, mother-in-law Francesca Pitti Tornabuoni, and sister-in-law Ludovica, all died as a result of childbirth, demonstrating the devastating effects of this event on Florentine families. The emphasis on the commemoration of Giovanna in the painted portrait by Ghirlandaio expresses how she was perceived as having played a crucial role in this family in ensuring its continuation and was thus regarded as a valued member due to her role as the mother of the Tornabuoni male heir. Lorenzo, through the medium of art, venerated his spouse for her achievements as a woman through the realisation of her civic duty as a wife. To commission a painted portrait of an individual at this time was to commemorate the sitter for their accomplishments, confirmed in the writings of Alberti who asserted that: ‘Through painting the faces of the dead go on living for a very long time’.[8] Accordingly, Giovanna was commemorated for posterity as an exemplar amongst her sex, the highest of accolades.

[1] D. Herlihy, ‘The Natural History of Medieval Women’ in D. Herlihy, Women, Family and Society in Medieval Europe: Historical Essays, 1978-1991, ed. A. Molho, Berghahn Books, Providence, 1991, 53.

[2] Gert van der Sman, Lorenzo and Giovanna: Timeless Art and Fleeting Lives in Renaissance Florence, trans. By D. Webb, Madragora, Florence, 2010, 29.

[3] Maria DePrano, ‘No Painting on Earth would be more beautiful’: an analysis of Giovanna degli Albizzi’s portrait inscription’, Renaissance Studies, Vol. 22, No. 5, 2008, 632-33.

[4] Ibid, 634.

[5] Jacqueline Marie Musacchio, Art, Marriage and Family in the Florentine Renaissance Palace, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2008, 62.

[6] L.B. Alberti, The Family in Renaissance Florence, Waveland Press, Illinois, 2004, 207-8.

[7] J. Woods-Marsden, ‘Portraits of the Lady, 1430-1520’, in D.A. Brown (ed.), Virtue and Beauty Leonardo’s Ginevra de’ Benci and Renaissance Portraits of Women, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford, 2001, 69.

[8] L.B. Alberti, On Painting and Sculpture, trans. C. Grayson, Phaidon, London, 1972, 60.


text:
Last year, we reported on Atieva, an electric vehicle startup founded by Bernard Tse, a former Tesla Vice President and board member. Tse was on Tesla’s board from 2003 to 2007 and he headed Tesla’s short-lived energy division during his last year at the company – long before it relaunched a new and improved ‘Tesla Energy’ division in 2015.

Tse resigned from the board to head the ‘Tesla Energy Group’, but left not long after Martin Eberhard, then Tesla’s CEO and longtime friend of Tse, was ousted by Elon Musk. Tesla reorganized to adjust their worrying cash burn at the time and focused on the Tesla Roadster instead of energy storage solutions.

After leaving, he found Atieva with the ambition to make it something similar to what he and Eberhard hoped the ‘Tesla Energy Group’ could become; a company developing cell agnostic battery packs both for third-party electric vehicles and other energy storage applications.

But as we reported last year, the company eventually hired Peter Rawlinson, Tesla VP and Model S Chief Engineer, along with several other EV experts from Tesla and other companies, and then changed its focus to bring to market a new electric vehicle from the ground up and not just the drivetrain.

The company received hundreds of millions in funding from investors including Mitsui & Co and Venrock to develop its EV platform and its first vehicle. While details have been sparse for a long time, Reuters recently got a few new tidbits of information to share.

Atieva is reportedly testing its drivetrain in a Mercedes-Benz Vito commercial van named “Edna.”

Reuters reports some specs:

“The drivetrain propels the van from zero to 60 mph in just 3.1 seconds, a fraction slower than the fastest Tesla Model S. Atieva’s 0-60 acceleration target for its 2018 sedan is 2.7 seconds, faster than a 12-cylinder Ferrari supercar.”

Rawlinson, who is now CTO at Atieva, was instrumental in the development of the Tesla Model S from 2009 to 2012 – when the automaker brought the first all-electric luxury sedan to market. He is now behind the technology powering Atieva’s vehicles.

While the publication didn’t share any pictures, it apparently got a sneak peek at the actual first vehicle Atieva plans to release and offered a short description:

“The Atieva sedan, being developed under the code name Project Cosmos, looks like a futuristic descendent of the Audi A7. Its headlamps are ultra-thin, with thousands of insect-inspired micro lenses. Its dashboard has a three-piece reconfigurable digital display that can be controlled by voice or touch.”

Here’s an Audi A7 and a Mercedes-Benz Vito for a visual reference:

The company hopes to bring the sedan to market as soon as 2018 and then leverage its EV platform to release two luxury crossovers in 2020 and 2021.

Atieva is also working on autonomous technologies for its lineup of vehicles. The company hired senior researchers from Bosch’s Palo-Alto lab to lead the effort.

About the Author


text:
“Tell me, are you OK with yourself?”

“How can you raise your weapon at your brother?” asks a new song which aims to challange Israel’s attempts to recruit Palestinian citizens of the state to its occupation army.

Titled “Tell me, are you OK with yourself?” (The Electronic Intifada’s translation), the track was released last week by Ehna TV, an independent Palestinian media group inside present-day Israel.

The video for the track, which can be viewed at the top of this page, shows scenes of singer Mira Azar, wearing a traditional embroidered shawl, in what appears to be a destroyed Palestinian village, as well as archive footage of Israeli violence.

Some of those scenes include slain Jerusalem teenager Muhammad Abu Khudair’s funeral and Israeli bombing in Gaza and its bloody aftermath, as well as Palestinians fearlessly confronting heavily armed Israeli soldiers.

“Tell me, have you seen the pictures? Tell me, have you heard the news,” the song asks, referring to the terrible atrocities carried out by the military in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

“And still you want to serve?” the lyrics, written by Azar, implore.

The track is the latest cultural intervention pushing back against Israel’s attempts to divide and rule Palestinian citizens by fomenting sectarianism.

Israel’s renewed effort to enlist young Palestinian Christian citizens into its army was the subject of Project X, a short film featuring Omar star Samer Bisharat released earlier this year.

The Electronic Intifada reported earlier this week on denunciations of Nazareth priest Jibril Nadaf’s claims at the United Nations that Israel is the only country in the region where Christians are “not persecuted.”

“He represents no one but himself. The army he wants us to join is the same one shedding the blood of our innocent brothers and sisters — Palestinian blood just like ours,” Yara Salameh, a young Palestinian from the Galilee, told The Electronic Intifada.

Israel has groomed a handful of clergy and members of the Christian community like Nadaf to promote military service among Christians. Recruitment papers have recently been sent to Palestinian Christian youths.

Except for numerically small groups such as the Druze, Palestinian citizens of Israel, who comprise approximately 20 percent of the state’s population, are not required to perform army service.

Yet many state benefits are tied to army service, including employment.

However, the recruitment efforts are being met with resistance by Palestinian students at Israeli universities and anti-enlistment campaigning by Palestinian civil society organizations.

Meanwhile, a growing number of Druze youths are refusing to serve in the army and the state is facing an organized campaign within the community against conscription.

Of course, Palestinian citizens of Israel, oppressed by Zionism, do not want to serve their oppressors. And, like all citizens, their right to refuse military service must be recognized. But, is individual refusal the road to national liberation, i.e. the overthrow of the racist Zionist regime? What would happen if Palestinian citizens demanded, en masse: "We demand equality. We demand a democratic state. We demand arms and military training for all. We demand that the military training be supervised by community groups, popular committees, and labor unions". Zionist racism will not be defeated by the pacifism of the oppressed, but by a revolutionary policy, which includes mobilizing and arming the people for revolutionary mass action. In a highly militarized society, the demand to be unarmed is tantamount to accepting second-class citizen status, i.e. remaining the pathetic victims of oppression.

Everyone can do National Service and claim full benefits. Those services can be within the arab community or humanitarian work such as hospitals. Young arabs prefer to not do those for either national reasons or just to save time and start academic education or a career earlier.

well the Zionists are using the od tried d true method of divide and rule. Using Palestinian Christians dissatisfaction to turn them against their brothers and sisters. And as for the claim that Israel respects Christians ,well that is about garbage . The day before the POPE arrived in PALESTINE churches in Israel were vandalized by ZIONIST GANGS and to date no one ha been charged . And tell the PAETINIAN CHRITIANS who are persecuted by ZIONIST THUGS. just how free they are . More lies from the masters of lies and disinformation, the government of ZIONIST Israel .

Of course Palestinians are objecting to giving their time and service to the very military that dehumanizes them. Since the Israeli military doesn't consider a Palestinian life to be worth as much as an Israeli one, what good would the enlistment of such inferiors as Palestinians be to them?
Hey Israel, stick to Israelis when it comes to recruiting and filling your "country's" army boots unless you decide to curb illegal occupation (kick the "settlers" out and put them back on the planes they invaded with and send them back to where they came from...IN THEIR OWN TIMES, NOT THEIR ANCESTORS...because if the point of this game is to be able to go back to where we are from, expect EVERY HUMAN ON EARTH to arrive to the M.E./cradle of civilization region!
Israeli abuse of Palestinians must stop!

Maureen Clare Murphy

Maureen Clare Murphy's picture

Maureen Clare Murphy is the managing editor of The Electronic Intifada and lives in Chicago.


text:
by forestbelton

GitHub Readme.md

Heroku buildpack: Play!

This is a Heroku buildpack for Play! framework apps.

Note: This buildpack only applies to Play 1.2.x apps. Play 2.0.x apps are handled by the Scala buildpack

Example usage:

$ ls
app	conf	lib	public	test

$ heroku create --stack cedar --buildpack http://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-play.git

$ git push heroku master
-----> Heroku receiving push
-----> Fetching custom build pack... done
-----> Play! app detected
-----> Installing Play!..... done
-----> Installing ivysettings.xml..... done
-----> Building Play! application...
       ~        _            _
       ~  _ __ | | __ _ _  _| |
       ~ | '_ \| |/ _' | || |_|
       ~ |  __/|_|\____|\__ (_)
       ~ |_|            |__/
       ~ play! 1.2.3, http://www.playframework.org
       Building Play! application at directory ./

The buildpack will detect your app as using the Play! framework if it has an application.conf in a conf directory. Your dependencies will be resolved using play dependencies and your app precompiled with play precompile. If you don't provide a Procfile the build pack will default to launching your app with play run --%prod -Dprecompiled=true.

Play Versions

The buildpack will read the Play! version that your application expects from your dependencies.yml file. The version comes on the same line where you already declare a dependency on the Play! framework itself:

- play 1.2.4

If you don't specify a version it will be defaulted for you and you'll see a warning message in your build output. It is a best practice to specify the version off the framework that you intend to use.

Once your application is live you can upgrade the Play! version simply by changing the version in your dependencies.yml. If you don't specify a version and use the default version your application will not be updated when the default version is updated. This is so that you don't have to deal with your application being upgraded unexpectedly.

To use this buildpack, fork it on Github.  Push up changes to your fork, then create a test app with --buildpack <your-github-url> and push to it.

For example one of the things that the build pack does is download and install the Play! framework that will be used to run your app. If you want to use a version of the framework other than those that are supported place a tar.gz of the framework in a public location and then alter the line that sets this variable in the compile script to point there:

This will alter the behaviour to pull down and install your chosen version of Play! rather than the default.

Commit and push the changes to your buildpack to your Github fork, then push your sample app to Heroku to test. Once the push succeeds you should be able to run:

$ heroku run bash

and then:

$ play version

and you'll see the your chosen play version printed.

Licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE file.


text:
by igorkramaric

GitHub Readme.md

Heroku Buildpack: Python

Build Status

This is the official Heroku buildpack for Python apps, powered by pip and other excellent software.

Recommended web frameworks include Django and Flask. The recommended webserver is Gunicorn. There are no restrictions around what software can be used (as long as it's pip-installable). Web processes must bind to $PORT, and only the HTTP protocol is permitted for incoming connections.

Some Python packages with obscure C dependencies (e.g. scipy) are not compatible.

See it in Action

Deploying a Python application couldn't be easier:

$ ls
Procfile  requirements.txt  web.py

$ heroku create --buildpack heroku/python

$ git push heroku master
-----> Python app detected
-----> Installing python-2.7.13
     $ pip install -r requirements.txt
       Collecting requests (from -r requirements.txt (line 1))
         Downloading requests-2.12.4-py2.py3-none-any.whl (576KB)
       Installing collected packages: requests
       Successfully installed requests-2.12.4
-----> Discovering process types
       Procfile declares types -> (none)

A requirements.txt file must be present at the root of your application's repository.

You can also specify the latest production release of this buildpack for upcoming builds of an existing application:

$ heroku buildpacks:set heroku/python

Specify a Python Runtime

Specific versions of the Python runtime can be specified with a runtime.txt file:

$ cat runtime.txt

Runtime options include:

  • python-2.7.13
  • python-3.6.0
  • pypy-5.6.0 (unsupported, experimental)
  • pypy3-5.5.0 (unsupported, experimental)


text:
MEAN Contact List

by chrisckchang

Mean Contactlist Angular2

Contact List is a RESTful API server and web application built with the MEAN (Angular 2) stack. It is a simple example that aims to concisely demonstrate basic MEAN and REST architecture. You can find the full tutorial here:

You can deploy a live copy of this application to Heroku with the button below.


text:
+44330 808 1616

We’re excited to announce a new feature of our Floorplan Sketch Conversion service – Zoned colour floorplans.

A feature that’s been requested a lot recently is the ability to assign different colours to different parts of a property on floorplan orders.

We’ve been working hard behind the scenes to make this a reality and now Zoned colour floor plans are ready for service!

What is a Zoned colour floorplan?

Zoned colour floorplans separate different spaces and areas of the property by filling a particular room or area with a specific colour.

Living areas, bedrooms, bathrooms, storage areas etc are differentiated by using unique colours for each ‘zone’.

How do I order a Zoned colour floorplan?

If you’re new to Elements, get started by creating an account and learning how to place an order. Then, its a simple as selecting ‘Zoned colour’ as the colour scheme on the New order page.

If you’d like to set Zoned colour as your default style of floorplan moving forward, update your settings or your client’s settings if you’re a supplier.

Is this like a Metropix floorplan?

Those of you familiar with Metropix floor plans may recognise the similarity of the colours. We’ve designed the Zoned colour scheme to match this.

This means you can order a floorplan that we’ll produce in AutoCAD that looks just like a Metropix floorplan, but avoids the need to actually use Metropix.

Can I change the colours?

Please note, the colours used in Zoned colour floorplans are fixed and cannot be customised. If you’d like more customisation over the colour of your floorplans, you should order a Custom colour floorplan, please see this article.

Is there any extra charge?

No, Zoned colour floorplans don’t carry any additional charges and are the same price as other Floorplan Sketch Conversion orders. Learn more about pricing.

Want Elements to create your Zoned colour floor plans?

This is part of our Floorplan Sketch Conversion service where we transform your hand drawn layout of a property into a digital floorplan.

Alex Stretton

Alex Stretton

Alex is the Founder of Elements Property, a UK company with a drive to help estate and letting agents market their property better, faster and with more wow factor!
Alex Stretton

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