Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2011 June 2

= June 2 =

Source and artist of painting of Alexander, Bucephalus and Diogenes?
Asking on behalf of someone else.


 * , from . The publisher doesn't have archives from that project.


 * Asked Sem Presser and the Encyclopedia's editor, the J. Getty Research Institute, The British Museum, The Italian National Museum, an art expert, two Alexander experts, a local library; looked on the net and WM gallery.


 * Opinions received conclude that it's an unusual treatment with Alexander as an old man with a beard, it's truncated to the right, likely from an illuminated or northern manuscript, possibly from a 15th century manuscript, not from any version of the Alexander Romance/Historia de proeliis, nor in Quintus Curtius's history.

-- Jeandré, 2011-06-02t17:35z


 * Your image is truncated on both sides. Here is a version that shows the complete left side (but is still truncated on the right). I got it from this blog which labels it "15th Century French manuscript". It seems to be from the Philip Hofer Collection at Harvard College Library, "MS. Typ. 207H". The only google book reference I found (with the help of the truncated caption "Diogenes has a snug wooden barrel") is from Horizon, Volume 5, Issue 4, Horizon Publishers, 1963 . I cannot view the text, however. ---Sluzzelin talk  23:40, 2 June 2011 (UTC)


 * I'm not an expert, but that really looks to me like a tapestry rather than a painting. Looie496 (talk) 01:27, 3 June 2011 (UTC)


 * No, it is in fact an illuminated manuscript: Les diz moraulx des philosophes : translattez de lattin en francois par noble homme Messire Guillemme de Tignonville : manuscript, [ca. 1418-ca. 1420] with "16 oblong miniatures in tempera and gold, by the workshop of the Master of the Harvard Hannibal". It can be viewed here, at the Houghton Library. More information on the work can be found on this page. ---Sluzzelin talk  01:47, 3 June 2011 (UTC)

Muslims vs. Quebec Referendum
Is there any documentary film or books talk about how Muslims, both Anglophone and Francophone, faced the issue of Quebec Referendum in 1980 and 1995 and in Montreal especially? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.95.107.194 (talk) 18:34, 2 June 2011 (UTC)
 * This study of the 1995 referendum indicates that non-Francophone immigrants overwhelmingly opposed sovereignty for Québec, whereas a substantial portion of immigrants from countries with a French-language legacy (including those from North and West Africa, many of them Muslim) supported sovereignty. This book probably also addresses this question.  Marco polo (talk) 20:32, 3 June 2011 (UTC)

Is there any other articles that are in English? because I don't read French nor understand it. Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.92.155.117 (talk) 14:13, 4 June 2011 (UTC)

Help identify a poem
Does anybody know the pome that contains these lines?

And the men Two fragile bodies Flesh and blood and brittle bones Carbon and water, nerves and dreams

Thanks/ 87.194.239.235 (talk) 22:13, 2 June 2011 (UTC)


 * when you had the exact quote... see John Axon --Saalstin (talk) 22:19, 2 June 2011 (UTC)
 * To clarify Saalstin's answer a little, the poem is The Ballad of John Axon by Ewan MacColl. Tevildo (talk) 23:34, 2 June 2011 (UTC)

What Are The Branches


Is it oak and holly?Curb Chain (talk) 23:58, 2 June 2011 (UTC)
 * According to this site, it's oak and olive. Tevildo (talk) 00:15, 3 June 2011 (UTC)


 * I really hate to say this, but clearly what we are seeing there is poison oak. Looie496 (talk) 01:19, 3 June 2011 (UTC)
 * I'm sorry to be thick, Looie496, but can you unpack that joke for me? (I presume you were not serious in suggesting a plant native to the Pacific coast of North America would be depicted on an antique flag of Hungary.) {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.201.110.199 (talk) 07:55, 3 June 2011 (UTC)
 * The oak is specifically Pedunculate oak - you can see the acorns on their peduncles (ie stalks). This species of oak is used in the national arms and emblems of a number of European countries including England. Not sure about olives, they don't grow in the UK - rather like poison oak ;-) Relating to these arms, there's an interesting read at Holy Crown of Hungary, Alansplodge (talk) 08:08, 3 June 2011 (UTC)
 * No, I wasn't serious. But to somebody familiar with California coastal forests that leaf shape immediately shouts "Poison oak!".  Anyway, I understand now how poison-oak got its name, something that had always puzzled me since none of the true oaks around here have leaves that resemble it. Looie496 (talk) 23:18, 3 June 2011 (UTC)