Caspar David Friedrich painted lone figures before vast misty landscapes, and was nearly forgotten before his revival

arts, ideas & societyWikipedia1774–1840 · Germany

Caspar David Friedrich painted lone figures before vast misty landscapes, and was nearly forgotten before his revival

the gist

Caspar David Friedrich was a German Romantic painter born in 1774 in Greifswald, then part of Swedish Pomerania. He often placed a lone figure, seen from behind, against night skies, morning mists, bare trees or Gothic ruins, so the human is dwarfed by nature. Art historians read this as directing the viewer toward a spiritual dimension, reflecting a period when many Europeans were turning away from materialism and seeing nature as divine. His work was famous early on, but he fell out of favour and died in obscurity in 1840. A 1906 Berlin exhibition revived him, and after the 1970s he became a major international figure.

so what

Friedrich's reputation shows how an artist's meaning can shift with politics: the Nazis claimed him as a nationalist, which hurt his standing afterward. His revival since the 1970s made him one of the defining images of Romantic feeling.

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗