History.

In 1952, J. Amado Araneta, a member of the Araneta family, purchased from Radio Corporation of America (RCA) of land in Cubao which includes the Araneta family home and is bounded by Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue or EDSA, Aurora Boulevard, P. Tuazon and 15th Avenue.  The Araneta Coliseum was constructed from 1957 to late 1959, and designed and built by Architect Dominador Lacson Lugtu and Engrineer Leonardo Onjunco Lugtu. From 1960 to 1963, the Coliseum received international recognition and was recognized as the largest covered coliseum in the world. Today, it remains one of the largest clear span domes in the world with a dome diameter of 108 meters. It occupies a total land area of almost and has a floor area of.  The coliseum opened on March 16, 1960, with Gabriel "Flash" Elorde boxing for the World Junior Lightweight crown against Harold Gomes. General admission then was 80 centavos and the reserve section was five pesos.  Among the notable events to take place at the arena were the 11th and 34th FAMAS Awards, the 1975 "Thrilla in Manila" boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, in which the arena was renamed into the "Philippine Coliseum", and the annual Binibining Pilipinas beauty pageant. The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) has played more than a thousand games at the Araneta Coliseum as of today. Other basketball events hosted by the arena were the 1978 FIBA World Championship, a game between the 1978 NBA champions Washington Bullets and a PBA selection in 1979, and the 1982 Asian Youth Basketball Championship where the Philippines defeated China in the final. In the third quarter of 1998, the Aranetas and Pilipinas Shell (local arm of Royal Dutch Shell) started negotiations for a naming rights deal that would have lasted until 2008. The Aranetas, who wanted to retain their name at the arena rejected proposed name ""Shell Coliseum at the Araneta Center"". Instead, the parties agreed on a contract where Shell's name and logo will be painted at the arena's basketball court, a move that was almost shelved due to objections from other PBA teams because Shell owned the then-PBA team, the Shell Turbo Chargers.  In 1999, the coliseum underwent its first major renovation at the cost of P200 million. The major changes include the renovation of the lower box area, replacement of seats for the patron and lower box sections, and installation of a four-sided center hung scoreboard. The section names were also given numerical designations: 100 for Patron section, 200 for Lower Box, 300 for Upper Box A and 400 for Upper Box B. In 2006, a LED display was added to the scoreboard.  From 2001 to 2008, the highest grossing event at the arena is the Pacquiao vs. Larios boxing fight between Manny Pacquiao and Óscar Larios, earning 96.2 million Philippine pesos. A concert by Westlife was attended by 17,887 people and earned 18.5 million pesos, while a Cliff Richard concert earned 17.2 million despite being watched by 5,647 spectators.  Prior to the Ultimate All-Star Weekend in July 2011, it was announced that the Aranetas entered into a naming rights deal with mobile network operator Smart Communications, Inc. (a subsidiary of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company), renaming the arena into "Smart Araneta Coliseum". The deal was for five years and includes improvements the arena such as the installation of escalators to improve access in the upper box and general admission areas, and the construction of a parking lot that can accommodate up to 2,000 cars.  Additional improvements were made in 2012, including the renovation of the Red Gate entrance and the Green Gate side facade, and the replacement of Upper Box level seats, thus increasing its seating capacity. The Lower Box and Patron sections were combined to make a new Patron section (100 and 200 level seats). A pathway between the former Patron and Lower Box sections was also made. The former Upper Box A section (300 level seats) was renamed as Box section and the former Upper Box B section (400 level seats) is now referred as the "Upper Box" section.  In January 2015, the Hydra-Rib basketball backboard first used in 1995 was replaced with a Spalding backboard. The backboard was first used in Game 1 of the 2014–15 PBA Philippine Cup Finals.

Events.

Sports.

The arena is primarily the home arena for the Philippine Basketball Association and the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) basketball leagues. It annually hosts every PBA Basketball Championship, NCAA Basketball Championship, as well as the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Basketball and Volleyball championships, UNTV Cup regular season and off season opening games and championships, and also the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League.  The facility has also hosted the 1975 Thrilla in Manila, 1978 FIBA World Championship, the 2007 Philippines World Pool Championship and the 2017 SEABA Championship.  The coliseum will also be one the venues for the upcoming 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Entertainment and others.

The coliseum also hosts concerts, shows, graduations, seminars, ice shows, circuses, and beauty pageants.  To date, TNT BOYS are the youngest performers to stage a concert in the coliseum at the age of 12, 13 and 14 with their Listen: The Big Shot Concert held on November 30, 2018.  Eat Bulaga!, the longest running noontime show of the Philippines, also used the coliseum for some special events such as its TV special "Eat... Bulaga!: Moving On" on February 18, 1989 and its 10th anniversary on September 23, 1989 in ABS-CBN and "Eat...Bulaga!: The Moving" held on January 28, 1995 on its new home, GMA Network.  The coliseum has hosted the Binibining Pilipinas pageants annually. From 1990 until 2016, the coliseum hosted Disney on Ice productions during the holiday season; in 2016, the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay began hosting these productions.  At the turn of the new millennium, Regine Velasquez held her iconic two-night sold-out concert entitled, in support of her album "R2K", on April 7 and 8, 2000. R2K The Concert which became the most attended concert at the coliseum with over 37,000 attendees, was center staged and has used the seating capacity to its 360-degree maximum.  Some notable international performers include Air Supply on 2008, Akon (on July 4, 2009), Kelly Clarkson as part of her All I Ever Wanted World Tour on May 1, 2010, Incubus (in 2008 and 2011), Carly Rae Jepsen (in 2013 and 2015), Lady Gaga as part of her The Fame Ball Tour on August 11, 2009, Avril Lavigne as part of her The Best Damn Tour on September 3, 2008, The Black Star Tour on February 16, 2012 and the Avril Lavigne On Tour on February 17, 2014, Kylie Minogue as part of her on July 5, 2011, Bruno Mars as part of his The Doo-Wops and Hooligans Tour on April 8, 2011, The Script (in 2011 and 2013), Snow Patrol (on August 9, 2012), Taylor Swift as part of her Speak Now Tour on February 19, 2011, and Westlife in 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2019. as well as the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2011 (on September 21 and 22, 2011), and the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2012 (on September 21, 2012). Following her performance with the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2012 five months prior, Filipino-American "American Idol" runner-up Jessica Sanchez had her first sold out solo concert at the coliseum on February 14, 2013.  The coliseum also housed K-pop artists like Super Junior's Super Show-the first Korean to perform in the arena, 2NE1, SS501, CNBLUE, Beast and EXO. K-Pop group U-KISS also had their concert at the big dome and later released into a concert DVD dubbed as U-KISS 1st Kiss Tour in Manila DVD. It was the first time that an international artist released a concert DVD featuring the coliseum. GOT7's first fan meeting in Manila was also held in the Coliseum last November 14, 2015.  On April 14, 2018, Sarah Geronimo held her 15th anniversary concert called "This Is Me" stylized as "This 15 Me" at the Araneta Coliseum. The sold-out concert was reported as the "Highest Grossing Local Concert of All-time." The concert's official hashtag was also the number one trending topic on Twitter Philippines on the day of the concert with over 200,000 tweets. Netflix acquired the rights to stream the concert film starting in August 2019 making Geronimo the first Southeast Asian artist to have a concert film on the said platform.  On October 12, 2014, the main celebration of the 75th Diamond Anniversary of Quezon City was held at the coliseum.  The Coliseum is also the home to the annual ABS-CBN Christmas Special, which is typically held during the early weekdays of the second week of December.  Filipina girl group DIVAS, which is composed of Kyla, Yeng Constantino, KZ Tandingan and Angeline Quinto staged two concerts at the Araneta, their first concert titled DIVAS Live in Manila, and another one in 2018 with Boyz II Men titled Boyz II Men with DIVAS.  The Coliseum has hosted the A Song of Praise Music Festival Grand Finals Night from 2012 to 2017, and the Wish 107.5 Music Awards annually every January since 2016.

Religious services and other uses.

The Big Dome also hosted a praise and worship concerts like Israel Houghton, Parachute Band, Don Moen, Bethel Music, Hillsong Worship, Sonicflood, Planetshakers, Planetboom, Hillsong Young & Free and Hillsong UNITED. Starting 2017, The Annual Planetshakers Conference is being held at the coliseum.  The Big Dome is also the venues of religious gatherings like the anniversary celebration of Members Church of God International also known as the Ang Dating Daan, Christ's Commission Fellowship, Iglesia ni Cristo, International Convention of Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ (4th Watch), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Philippines, Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide, Jesus Miracle Crusade, Kingdom of Jesus Christ: The Name Above Every Name (during early years), Shalom CCFI (Every Holy Week), the Special Assembly of Jehovah's Witnesses and Victory Christian Fellowship, and different talent search finales, like "Pinoy Big Brother", "Pilipinas Got Talent", "Philippine Idol", "Starstruck", and "Artista Academy" (which held its one-time grand audition at the coliseum).

Attendance records.

On October 1, 1975, when the Thrilla in Manila took place, the Coliseum was filled with more than 50,000 people despite the hot & humid temperatures, and breaching the total design capacity back then of the Coliseum, consisting of over 36,000 people. On October 15, 2014, the third game of the UAAP Season 77 Men's Basketball Tournament Finals Series between the FEU Tamaraws and NU Bulldogs set the all-time basketball attendance record of 25,138 which broke the previous record last October 8, 2014, the second game of the series (one week before the third game) attendance of 24,896. For the PBA, On February 12, 2014, the seventh game of the 2013–14 PBA Philippine Cup Semifinals series between Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and San Mig Super Coffee Mixers set the record of 24,883.

The Smart Araneta Coliseum (formerly and also known as Araneta Coliseum) or The Big Dome, is an indoor multi-purpose sports arena that is part of the Araneta City in the Cubao area of Quezon City, Philippines. It is one of the largest indoor arenas in Asia, and it is also one of the largest clear span domes in the world. The dome measures approximately making it the largest dome in Asia from its opening in 1960 until 2001 when it was surpassed by the Ōita Stadium in Japan with a dome measuring.

Le Smart Araneta Coliseum, surnommé "", est une salle omnisports située dans le quartier de Cubao, à Quezon City, aux Philippines. C'est une des plus grands salles de ce genre en Asie, et un des plus grands dômes du monde.


Historical background.

First a Carthaginian township, Córdoba was captured by the Romans in 206 BC, soon becoming the capital of Hispania Citerior with fine buildings and imposing fortifications. In the 6th century, with the crumbling of the Roman Empire, the city fell to the Visigoths until the beginning of the 8th century when it was conquered by the Moors. In 716, Córdoba became a provincial capital and, in 766, capital of the Muslim emirate of al-Andalus. By the 10th century, as the Caliphate of Córdoba it had become one of the most advanced cities in the world, recognized for its culture, learning and religious tolerance. It addition to a huge library, the city enclosed over 300 mosques and a multitude of palaces and administrative buildings.  In 1236, King Ferdinand III took the city, built new defences and converted the Grand Mosque into a cathedral. The Christian city grew up around the cathedral with palaces, churches, and a fortress. Although the city lost its political significance under Christian rule, it continued to play an important role in commerce thanks to the nearby Sierra Morena copper mines.

Geographic boundaries.

The historic centre as defined by UNESCO comprises the buildings and narrow winding streets around the cathedral. It is bordered on the south by the River Guadalquivir so as to include the Roman Bridge and the Calahorra Tower, on the east by the Calle San Fernando, and on the north by the commercial centre. To the west, it includes the Alcázar and the San Basilio district.

Monuments.

Evidence of the Roman period can be seen in the 16-span bridge over the Guadalquivir, the mosaics in the Alcázar, the columns of the Roman temple, and the remains of the Roman walls. In addition to the Caliphal Baths, the Moorish influence in the city's design is evident in the Alcázar gardens adjacent to the former Grand Mosque. Minarets from the period survive in the churches of Santiago, San Lorenzo, San Juan and the Santa Clara Hermitage. The Jewish presence during Muslim rule can be seen in the La Judería district in which the synagogue was used until 1492.  The Alcázar, originally a Moorish castle, was adapted to serve as a residence for the Christian kings in the 14th century while the Calahorra Tower, built by the Almohads, was comprehensively reworked by King Henry II in 1369. The little Chapel of San Bartolomé was completed in the Gothic-Mudéjar style in 1410. Originally a church, the former San Sebastián Hospital, now the Congress Centre, was completed in 1516 in a combination of Gothic, Mudéjar and Renaissance styles. Other churches from the period include San Nicolás and San Francisco.  There are also a number of important 16th-century buildings including the San Pelagio Seminary, the Puerta del Puente, and the Palacio del Marqués de la Fuensanta del Valle designed by Hernán Ruiz. Also of note is the 18th-century Hospital del Cardenal Salazar with its Baroque facade.  Other historic monuments in the old town include the Episcopal Palace built on the remains of the former Visigoth palace and now the Diocesan Fine Arts Museum, and the Royal Stables built by King Philip II in 1570 as part of the Alcázar.

The historic centre of Córdoba, Spain is one of the largest of its kind in Europe. In 1984, UNESCO registered the Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba as a World Heritage Site. A decade later, it expanded the inscription to include much of the old town. The historic centre has a wealth of monuments preserving large traces of Roman, Arabic, and Christian times.

Le centre historique de Cordoue, en Andalousie, est l'un des centres historiques les plus grands d'Europe. En 1984, l'Unesco a inscrit la mosquée de Cordoue au patrimoine mondial. Plus tard, en 1994, l'Unesco a étendue cette dénomination à la plus grande partie de la vieille ville de Cordoue.


Description.

The Löwchen is a compact companion breed with slightly off square proportions and balanced moderate angles in the front and rear. The silhouette of the breed calls for a long mane in the front with a flat topline. The Löwchen tail should be set coming off the topline and be over the back in the shape of a tea cup handle in movement.  The Löwchen's coat is long and flowing and comes in many colours. The coat should not be thin and fluffy like a Bichon Frise, but fairly straight with waves. It is a multi-texture coat with a 50/50 mix of silkier thicker hairs and softer hair. This allows for a easy to maintain coat that is silky to the touch. Löwchen coat should not be harsh, wooly or cottony. The Löwchen does not shed, and this breed has very low allergic effects, and are considered hypoallergenic. It is important to note, however, that there is no such thing as a completely hypoallergenic dog. The saliva and skin or dander, of a dog can still trigger an allergic event in sensitive people.  The head of the Löwchen is one of its most important features, with its relatively wide muzzle, broad skull, lively round eyes, and pendulant ears. They can come in all colours with dark pigmentation around the eye rings and nose. The head, when in proportion to the body, is neither too big nor too small, but helps to emphasize the friendly, regal, and leonine personality of the Löwchen. The litter size is usually between two to five puppies. The Löwchen's life span is around 14 to 18 years.

Lion cut.

The Löwchen's long and wavy coat can be presented in a lion cut. This means that the rear, back legs (except the hocks), front legs (except 1/2 bracelets around the forearm), and the 1/3–1/2 of the tail closest to the body are shaved, and the rest of the coat is left natural to give the dog the appearance of a male lion. The lion cut is the traditional way of presenting these dogs. It is speculated that the lion clip was to allow the naked areas to provide warmth to their owners while the long coat would collect lice and nits from their owners. Dogs in lion clip may need some protection in wintertime on the shaved parts.

Colour.

Löwchen can come in a variety of colors, and their colors can change throughout their lives. Many that are born dark will lighten up into cream or silver. You will also find a variety of colors within a single litter. Common colors are sable, silver, cream, white, parti, Irish pied, chocolate, and red/gold. A less common color is brindle. The American Kennel Club standard does not give preference to any color.

Temperament.

The Löwchen is a friendly, healthy, and happy dog. Dogs of this breed are both active and playful, and very intelligent. The Löwchen is an excellent house pet. The Löwchen makes also a good pet for families with children. This breed has a history as a companion dog and the dogs need the attention of humans and they are not happy left alone for longer periods of time. The Löwchen can be vocal in excitement or demands, though some can be quiet.

Health.

The Löwchen is a robust breed with few health issues that impact the dog. Yearly eye exams, patella evaluation, and hip conformation evaluations are recommending for breeding stock. The breed can be impacted by Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA) and luxating patellas, however the frequency is low. Other issues tend to be issues related to old age.

History.

The breed is traceable to as far back as 1442. They are found in many old paintings, tapestries, engravings, drawings and in literature. It is an old breed type, found in many countries as far back as the sixteenth century. The little 'lion dog' is seen in many art pieces featuring dogs as far back as the sixteenth century, but it is unclear whether these were all dogs like the Löwchen, or simply small dogs of the Bichon type that were trimmed in a lion cut. Although this dog may be related to the Bichon Frise, the Löwchen's history remains obscure.  The Löwchen has a history as a companion dog to the wealthy and elite. It is possible to trace the modern history of the breed to late-19th-century enthusiasts in what are now Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It is thought the breed's ancestors were dogs that were brought in by travelers from the far eastern lands of Tibet and mingled with local dogs such as Spitz and terrier-type dogs. Occasionally a genetic throw-back is found. Madame Bennerts started a breeding program in 1944, later with the help of veterinarian Dr. Rickert.  Lowchen were imported into Britain in 1968 and the breed was accorded Kennel Club (UK) recognition in 1971. The Lowchen would finally make an appearance in America in 1971, by way of England. At this time, the Löwchen was still known as the “Little Lion Dog”. Also in 1971, The Löwchen Club of America (LCA) was formed and the breed's name was officially changed to “Löwchen ”. The Lowchen was accepted into the American Kennel Club Miscellaneous class in 1996, and then fully recognized into the non-sporting group in 1999. The number of Lowchen worldwide continues to fall with the breed being listed as at risk for extinction. An effort to keep the breed from becoming extinct was started along with efforts across other rare breeds.

The Löwchen or Little Lion Dog (German: "Löwchen", "little lion"; French: "Petit chien lion", "little lion dog") is a breed of dog. A small dog, they are considered by some registries as a toy dog and by the American Kennel Club as a non-sporting dog.

Le petit chien lion est une race de chiens originaire de France. Des petits chiens de compagnie toilettés en lion existent depuis le. L'origine exacte de la race est inconnue : elle est probablement issue de nombreux croisements avec des caniches, des bichons et des barbets. Très populaire notamment au, les effectifs de la race ont fortement décru durant le et dans les années 1960, le petit chien lion est déclaré. La race est toujours assez peu représentée.


Terminology.

Polish sources use a variety of terms for olęder settlers: Hollendrzy, Holędrzy, Holendrzy, Olędrzy, and Olendrzy. These are interchangeable, and derive from the first settlers from the Netherlands, who moved into Ducal Prussia and Royal Prussia beginning in the 16th century. It is important, however, to recognize that over time the term lost its ethnic meaning, and therefore Olendrzy refers to all settlers living under the legal regime introduced by the Dutch colonists, including most notably the Vistula Germans and Vistula delta Mennonites.  It is also important to underline, that not all settlements carrying the name "Olędry" (or similar) were in fact settled by Olendrzy. Rusiński gives examples of such instances in Greater Poland: Wymysłowo (known in some sources as Czarkowskie Olędry) or Burzykowo in the parish of Oborniki (on some German maps called Burzykower Holl.). Rusiński argues that although though those villages had the name Olędry, that is not a basis for calling them genuine olędry settlements, because in their cases one does not find the legal arrangements typical of such colonization (collective responsibility to the land owner and characteristic olęder self-government).  A separate problem is the question of the German words that function as two alternatives: "Holländer" and "Hauländer." According to earlier German historical writings, they had two distinct meanings, reflecting a difference in the type of settlement. After all, "Olędry" were settled chiefly on difficult terrain, which required proper preparation to plant or raise livestock. The referenced historians argued that on low, wet terrain subject to flooding, settlers were called "Holländer" (in reference to the settlers from the Netherlands who were specialists in flood control and drainage), while those who colonists who settled in thick forests requiring clearing were called "Hauländer" (from the German "hauen" – to hew, to chop). However, that viewpoint has been recognized as inaccurate (both in German history writing as well as Polish), as evidenced by those settlements on flood plains called "Hauland" and villages that appeared on the road to clearings in the forest called "Holland." Most likely, the word "Hauländer" started as a variant of "Holländer," and appeared through blending the names of settlements with the name for woodcutters.

Reasons for colonization.

The beginnings of Olęder colonization must be sought in the Middle Ages in the area where Germans lived. The first records come from the area of Bremen in the year 1106. At that time, settlement was closely linked to the territorial expansion of the German rulers into Slavic territory. Southern Holstein was colonized by Duke Adolf II of Holstein, while Albert "the Bear" and Henry "the Lion" installed settlers from the Netherlands in Brandenburg and Mecklenburg. (Indeed, Albert "the Bear" was an especially active coloniser.)  The beginning of the second wave of settlement from the Netherlands, this time directly to Polish soil, occurred in the 16th century. Three chief causes of that colonization can be distinguished:

Course of colonization.

Before Olęder settlers arrived on the soil of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, they were already present in Ducal Prussia. The first settlement in that region appeared in the area of modern-day Pasłęk. However, conflicts frequently arose between the Dutch and Germans regarding property, religion and customary law. Before long, those first settlers began looking for a new home. The first Polish terrain colonized by newcomers from the Netherlands was in Royal Prussia. In the middle of the 16th century, the government of Gdańsk, led by Mayor Ferber, decided to populate Żuławy Gdańskie, which had been given the city by King Casimir IV Jagiellon in 1454. The effort to settle locals there failed, because the peasants could not cope with flooding. Consequently, the people of Gdańsk agreed to an attempt to settle Netherlanders in the deserted village of Laudan. The newcomers from the Netherlands easily mastered the unfavorable conditions, and soon thereafter additional Olęder settlements appeared in Pomerania. Among others, these included Nowy Dwór (called "Tiegenhof" in 1562), Orłowo, Żelichowo, Markusy and Jurandowo. Soon colonization spread to the Starostwo of Puck (such as Karwieńskie Błoto and Reda), and – even more importantly – began to progress up the Vistula River.  Settlements appeared in the starostwas of Gniew and Sztum (including Szkaradowo, Benowo, Pułkowice, Szropy and Nowa Wieś). Olęder settlements were also located in the Osiek and Międzyłęż starostwas. The area around Nowe, Grudziądz and Świecie were also thickly settled. In 1597, Olęder settlement reached Greater Poland. A settlement appeared in Ługi Ujskie, near Ujście. Four years later another appeared in Nowe Dwory, on the Wieleński family's estate. In that instance, the colonization was directly linked to Pomerania, since the Wieleński lord's wife was the widow of the Starosta of Świecie. In 1624 the Dutch reached as far as Warsaw, where they settled, among other places, on Saska Kępa. Earlier (in the second half of the 16th century), they were already in the area of Lublin (18 settlements appeared in the area of Sławatycze, on the Bug River.). Olęder settlement continued to spread up to the times of the Partitions of Poland, and even reached Volhynia in Ukraine.  With the passage of time the national character of the settlers changed. While at the beginning they were almost entirely of Dutch origin (sometimes arriving directly from the Netherlands, sometimes moving on after an initial stop in Ducal Prussia), later, with increasing frequency, they were descendants of the original Dutch, born on Polish soil, and subsequently from a completely different ethnic group—most often German, sometimes Polish, and occasionally representatives of other groups. For example, in reference to Greater Poland, Rusiński wrote "of the Dutch nation... it is generally difficult to speak." Chodyła gives a precise figure: descendants of the Dutch in Pomerania accounted for 0.8% of settlers; Evangelical (Lutheran) Germans, for 54%; and Polish Catholics, 38%. A further 7.2% were of mixed ethnicity and faith.  Most studies agree that the Partitions of Poland and subsequent period (up to the mid-19th century) was a turning point signalling the end of Olęder settlement. For example, many Mennonites abandoned the lands they had occupied in Prussia, because their religious beliefs did not allow them to perform military service, which conflicted with the ethos of such a heavily militaristic state. In addition, administrative reforms carried out by the partitioning powers eliminated the legal arrangements that constituted the distinguishing characteristic of Olęder settlements.

Settlement characteristics.

Types.

Considering the large differences in Olęder colonization in different regions and at different times, it is hard to speak of a single type of village or economic activity. Everything depended on local conditions (the requirements of the terrain and the character of land cleared for sowing or pasture), and the background of the settlers.  In the case of villages on terrain that had been drained, most often one finds buildings constructed in a straight line, with farms located between the river and a road running parallel. Each settler received a thin strip of land located at a right angle to the river or other body of water. If the chief task of the colonists was clearing forest lands, the land owner would designate a specified area, and the settler would choose himself the best place to make a clearing and would situate his farmstead there. This led to the appearance of so-called "zabudowa kolonijna", and in effect the village had a dispersed character.  In the earliest period of settlement, on the fertile soil of Prussia, large and wealthy farms prevailed. In a later period, especially in the valley of the Vistula River, there appeared ever more frequently small, poor and more dispersed farms. As regards the type of buildings, that depended strongly on the ethnicity of the colonists. Szałygin distinguished three types:  Górak points out the pros and cons of the Frisian and German types of farm. On the one hand, such placement of the buildings facilitated work and communication, especially in the rainy season or winter, when it was possible to maintain the farm without going outdoors (except to draw water). On the other hand, there is no way to ignore the terrible sanitary conditions and discomfort (especially the stench) resulting from having livestock living so close by.  If the settlers came from the Netherlands, and their task was flood control and draining flooded terrain, they applied certain typical methods of protecting their farms against high water. Buildings were located on an elevated platform, raised using dirt from excavating canals and drainage ponds. In the vicinity, they planted poplars and willows, whose purpose was to stop ice floes in the river during melts. The residential portion of the building was always close to the river, or pointed upstream, so that in case of flood the water would flow first through the residential portion, then through the rest of the farm buildings, and finally spill out onto the fields, which helped to keep the building clean.  In discussing characteristic buildings of the Olęder settlement, one must also mention houses with open passageways on the groundfloor, and windmills (often based on Dutch designs) – the distinguishing contribution of the Dutch and Frisian immigrants to the Polish rural landscape (especially in Żuławy).

Legal regulation and village organization.

Because the Olęder settlement was not monolithic, either with regard to ethnicity, religion or economics, the basic distinguishing characteristic of that type of colonization was the legal conditions regulating both the relationships of the settlement to the broader world and its internal affairs.

Legal relations.

Settlement contracts and leases.

The legal foundation and mark of the beginning of settlement was the settlement "privilege" (also called the "contract" ("kontract") or "law" ("prawo"), which was rendered in Latin as the "privilegium" or "ius", and in German as the "Gerichtigkeit"), which was issued in the case of a significant majority of settlements. It usually took a ceremonial and ornamental form, being drawn up on parchment and appropriately stamped with official seals, either placed directly on the document or on cords attached to the document. From a formal legal point of view, this document was not a binding contract, but rather a unilateral declaration expressing the will of the land owner. "De facto", however, its contents reflected the agreement of both sides. In this regard, the most important distinguishing factor of olęder settlement is the fact that the second party was not a "zasadzcza" (that is, a figure in medieval Poland who acted as a sort of headman of a village, and intermediary between the land owner and his peasants), but rather the community of settlers acting collectively, or their representative acting on their behalf. The original document remained in the hands of the land owner, although it was often recopied into the appropriate "land book," since the land owner was obligated to produce a duplicate in case the original was lost or destroyed.  Contracts were drawn up in German, Polish or Latin. German or Latin appear most often in Royal Prussia (although contracts in Polish were also found there). The Polish language dominated elsewhere in the Kingdom of Poland. In Greater Poland, around 22% of contracts were written in German, and one can even find contracts written both in German and Polish. Most often contracts were written only at the outset of settlement, although situations did occur—especially in later periods—where a contract's purpose was to recognize legally an already existing situation, such as the rights and relations of settlers already living on the land owner's lands. It also happened that a land owner would extend the new Olęder law to peasants who had been living on given lands for some time.  The contract precisely regulated relations of the Olęder community with the land owner and with other persons and institutions. One basic issue was the conditions on which the settlers were given tenure of lands ("dzierżawa"). At the beginning of the period of Olęder settlement, land was delivered to the settlers for a specified period, usually from a few dozen to 60 years (although it also occurred that Olęder settlers were given the land only for a few years—as a test period—and if the settlement was successful, the tenure was extended. In later periods, often tenure was turned into emphyteusis, often in perperuity. (In Roman and civil law, an emphyteusis was a contract by which a landed estate was leased to a tenant, either in perpetuity or for a long term of years, upon the reservation of an annual rent, and upon condition that the lessee should improve the property; the real right by which a person is entitled to enjoy another's estate as if it were his own, and to dispose of its substance, as far as can be done without deteriorating it. This occurred both in cases of extended contracts of tenure, as well as in the founding of new Olęder settlements. (Rusiński gives as an example Olędry Róża, in Greater Poland, settled before 1624). Such tenure was not only perpetual, but also heritable and alienable, although nothing could be done that would harm the interests of the land owner.)  In return for tenure of the land, the settler paid the land owner the so-called "wkupne" (also called the "gottespfenik") While in Royal Prussia and Kuyavia the "wkupne" had to be paid before the first assumption of tenure, and also at each subsequent extension, in Greater Poland Olęder settlers paid the land owner the so-called "Gruntgeld" only upon converting tenure for a term of years into tenure in perpetuity.  For the use of the land, the community had to pay the land owner an annual rent ("czynsz"), specified in the settlement contract. (Rent usually were paid only in money; rents in kind were rare outside of Greater Poland). Frequently, at the founding of a settlement, the land owner gave the settlers a few years to get established, foregoing collection of rents during that period (the so-called "wolnizna"). In only a few cases were Olęder settlers also obligated to provide labor, and even then to a limited degree.

Personal and legal relationships.

The Olęder settlers were free persons. They were not dependent upon the land owner, as underscored in the majority of contracts for settling new villages. They could, at any time of their choice, sell their farm and depart the property. The situation is not entirely clear regarding existing inhabitants of a village to which the Olęder law was subsequently extended. For example, the inhabitants of Olędrów Chorzępowa, on the Sieraków estate, theoretically could sell their farms (and perhaps depart the property), but the settlement contract did not clearly describe them as free people, and an inventory of the estate made a few years later counts some of the farmers as serfs.  Minor judicial matters generally were tried before the local government of the Olęder community. However, the land owner reserved the right to hear the matter himself in the case of serious crimes (robbery, arson, murder, assault causing bodily harm, etc.) The land owner's court was also the court of review for appeals from the decision of the community. That legal arrangement placed the Olęder settler on a somewhat higher level than an enserfed peasant, who did not have access to community justice. Only rarely were Olędrzy without the right to settle any legal questions. Such was the case on Saska Kępa, where only the mayor and the land owner's clerk were entitled to judge disputes.  On royal estates, in case of a conflict with the starosta in charge of administering the estate for the king, the Olędrzy could appeal to the royal referendary court ("sąd referendarski"), a right which they invoked frequently. In the case of noble estates, nothing is known regarding the regulatory conditions allowing appeal from decisions of the land owner. However, almost certainly the Olędrzy had the capacity on their own initiative to file a complaint in the civic and land courts ("urzęd grodzki i ziemski"), in contrast to serfs who could file such a complaint only in the presence of the land owner himself.

Faith, public and religious obligations.

Olęder settlers identified with different Christian sects. This is the case both with the first colonists, from the Netherlands and Frisia (most often Anabaptists and Mennonites), and with the later, ethnically different peasants (Lutherans and Roman Catholics). In general, they enjoyed freedom of religion, which after all was one of the reasons for the original Dutch colonization. The great majority of settlement contracts contained the limitation that the settlers were not allowed to prevent Catholic laborers they employed from participating in Holy Mass or other church visits. Only rarely did a founder interfere with the colonists' freedom to carry out their own religious observances (for example, the Warsaw authorities not only prohibited the Olędrzy from building a Protestant church, but also from holding services, either privately or publicly. They were required to participate in Catholic services.).  Even if an Olęder settlement was populated by non-Catholic peasants, most often the settlement was within the jurisdiction of Catholic Church administration. Consequently, both Catholics and Lutherans were required to make certain payments (in return for which, Lutherans were, in certain situations, authorized to use the services of Catholic priests). Olędrzy paid tithes or "meszne", a payment for saying Mass, often made in kind but sometimes in money, and paid by all inhabitants in a parish (it was rare for both tithes and "meszne" to have to be paid), as well as payments for specific services (performing baptisms, marriages, burials, etc.) These were paid to the Roman Catholic Church by Lutherans even if the service was performed by a Protestant chaplain, and was treated as compensation for the reduction in Church finances. Payments for these things to the Roman Catholic Church were only abolished in 1768, when the Cardinal Laws equalized the legal rights of Catholics and dissenters.  Like other peasants, Olędrzy were also required to pay certain taxes to the state (and only rarely did the land owner take that responsibility upon himself, and in those cases he may have compensated himself through higher rents). These included taxes levied per capita or per hearth, having to provide winter quarters for soldiers, and other taxes (such as those on hides or the "subsidium charitativum").

Organization.

Local self-government.

Strong self-government was one of the most fundamental distinguishing characteristics of Olęder settlement, even though there were cases where the land owner attempted to limit it (by trying to appoint a hereditary "sołtys," who was a dependant of the manor), in which case the community's system of local government was closer to that of villages founded under the German Law. Most often, however, the manor respected the rights of the community granted in the settlement contract.  The local government of the community consisted of the "sołtys" and his councillors, each called a "ławnik". Most often there were two of these, rarely three and extremely seldom four.). They were not appointed by the land owner, but chosen by all the inhabitants of the settlement (although women did not have the right to vote). Local government elections were usually held annually. At times the term of office lasted two or three years. Election to an office for life was truly exceptional.  On the one hand, local officials served as intermediaries between the settlement and the manor. They were directly responsible for ensuring complete and punctual fulfillment of the obligations owed to the manor, such as collecting a delivering payments and rents to the land owner. On the other hand, the "sołtys" and councillors managed the administration of the community and its judicial system. This was most often regulated by administrative ordinances ("wilkierz"), which frequently were also spelled out in the settlement contract. The legal content of these had the objective of regulating relations among the peasants, which was especially important in the context of the shared responsibility of the community to fulfill the obligations toward the land owner contained in the contract. For example, the officials of the local government were even required to remove an Olęder who neglected his land and settle somebody else there. The local government was also responsible for the care of minor orphans, with security (especially against fires) and cleanliness of the settlement.  At the same time, the "sołtys" and councillors acted as the court of first instance for minor infractions and arguments. For all of these actions, local officials received payment from the community. Income from payments was placed in the community chest, kept by the sołtys (and keys to which were held by the councillors). Funds from the community chest were used, among other things, to cover the travel costs of jury members, as well, perhaps, as payment to a community shepherd, a night watchman, a teacher or the cost of insuring against fire.

Schools.

An important distinguishing characteristic of non-Catholic Olęder settlements was the existence on their terrains of schools. Above all, these fulfilled a religious function, preparing youth to join the community of faith. Rusiński even doubts whether anything other than the catechism was taught in some schools.  The school generally was located in its own building, to the construction of which the land owner agreed in the settlement contract. He also facilitated upkeep of the school by designating for it a specified area of land free of rents. For example, in Chmielinko the settlers received one-half of a "huba" for the school. The teacher cultivated that land, although he often also received additional contributions from the community. His duties included providing instruction in religion, and how to participate in the religion's rituals, and teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. The community sometimes took advantage of the teacher's knowledge of how to write to perform certain tasks associated with administration of the settlement: maintaining the community's records and the local government's correspondence. Surely, the teacher also sometimes acted as scribe for the personal correspondence of the peasants.  It is difficult to assess the quality of instruction in the Olęder schools. In Rusiński's opinion, the manner of recruiting teachers in Olęder settlements in Greater Poland—from among weavers, inkeepers, shoekeepers or tailors in small towns who could not find work—is proof that the quality cannot have been very high. At the same time, he recognized that the fact of these schools' existence was an undeniable benefit to the community. In turn, Szałygin indicated that, for the settlers from the Netherlands the schools were a safeguard for their language, culture, traditions and Mennonite faith, which allowed them to keep their own identity and resist Polonization. However, after the partitions of Poland, Prussian policy led to their Germanization.

Impact.

Studies thoroughly analyzing the effects of the Olęder settlement on the Polish economy are lacking. Researchers have treated the topic summarily. For example, Rusiński limits himself to the claim that, "as an economic phenomenon, the settlement must undoubtedly be assessed positively." In turn, Szałygin points out that "their farms were characterized by a significantly higher efficiency, modernization and better organization of work than the farms of enserfed peasants. Precisely defining the effects of this type of colonisation is even more difficult because so far no studies have appeared that encompass the entire territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, from Ducal Prussia, through Kuyavia, Mazovia and Greater Poland to the area around Lublin. The fullest and richest work remains that of Rusiński, published in 1947, and which deals only with Greater Poland.  However, there is no doubt—as proved by the willingness of land owners to grant settlement contracts to additional villages—that the Olęder settlement phenomenon had positive effects on the Polish rural economy, in two ways. First, the arrival of the colonists from the Netherlands and Friesland, with their centuries of experience in cultivating difficult floodplains, gave a push to development of Polish agriculture and livestock breeding. Second, land owners received higher incomes thanks to the higher efficiency and economic skill of free persons.

Olędrzy (, Singluar form: Olęder; ) were people, often of Dutch or German ancestry, who lived in settlements in Poland organized under a particular type of law.

Les Olędrzy (singulier : Olęder; allemand : Holländer ou Hauländer) sont des personnes, le plus souvent d'origine néerlandaise ou allemande, qui vivaient en Pologne dans des lieux régis par une loi particulière.


Plot.

Tired of facing assaults by the corrupt policemen and lawbreakers in the hilly village areas, Kundan (Sunil Shetty) decides to move to Mumbai with his younger brother Kisna (Kunal Khemu), with the help of honest lawyer Satyaprakash (Om Puri) and his daughters Pooja (Pooja Batra) and Meenu (Sonali Bendre). Kundan soon gets a job as an auto driver, and begins to send Kisna to school. Soon they change their lifestyle and become city dwellers. Don David (Ashish Vidyarthi) and Malik (Rajendra Gupta) are arch rivals in the city, struggling to come to power, and corrupt minister Mantri tries to support both for his own profit.  Satyaprakash is murdered by David's men. Kundan's brother Kisna witnesses David murdering Satyaprakash, and he tells Kundan. When David finds out that Kisna will tell the police, he sends his men to murder Kisna, killing him. An angry and devastated Kundan seeks revenge. He sets out and murders the don's men one after the other. He is supported by honest cop Inspector Lalit Kapoor (Kader Khan) and the entire locality, including friends (Shakti Kapoor). He does not even acknowledge Malik when he comes to him to support him.  Soon Kundan becomes "Bhai", a don who is loved and respected by all. He marries Pooja and they have a son whom they name Kisna. But Pooja is not happy with Kundan's activities, as she feels it can harm both him and his family. Kundan is joined by Meenu in all his activities. Enemies never at bay for those who take the gun, Mantri gets Inspector Lalit transferred to another area. Malik and David now team up along with Mantri to eliminate Kundan. On one occasion, when Kisna is taken to hospital by Kundan's friends and Meenu, all of them are attacked and murdered, but not before Ganesh (Mohan Joshi) manages to save Kisna and bring him to Kundan.  Kundan is arrested on false charges of murder. His enemies conspire to take him to the hills and eliminate him, coincidentally, at the very jungles from which Kundan first came. Kundan breaks away in the police jeep which the villains immolate, and drives it through the waterfalls in the jungle, into the river. Malik, David, Mantri and the other corrupt cops set out in search of Kundan, unfortunately for them, Lalit arrives as the inspector in charge of the area. He helps Kundan by shooting his handcuffs. Kundan takes on all the goons in the jungle he knows so well, eliminating them one by one, even blasting the helicopter carrying Mantri trying to shoot him down. After all is over, he surrenders to Lalit.  The film ends with Lalit and Kundan arriving back at home and a happy reunion.

Soundtracks.

Anand-Milind and Sameer teamed up yet again with director Deepak Shivdasani after composing successful songs in films like "Pehchaan" (1993) and "Gopi Kishan" (1994).

Bhai is a 1997 Indian Hindi gangster drama action film directed by Deepak Shivdasani, and written by Kader Khan. It starred Sunil Shetty, Pooja Batra, Sonali Bendre and Ashish Vidyarthi in lead roles. It received above average reviews and became a surprise hit at the box office.

Bhai est un film indien de Bollywood réalisé par Deepak Shivdasani sorti le. Le film met en vedette Sunil Shetty, Sonali Bendre et Pooja Batra.


Background.

Vermeer's artistic style in the 1670s is often compared to his earlier style of the mid-1660s. "The Guitar Player" properly demonstrates the energy of Vermeer's late style. His earlier paintings portray quiet self-contained worlds, but "The Guitar Player" is different. His late style demonstrated abstract painting techniques, in which the depiction of motion is portrayed through the diffused illustration of shifting objects. With Vermeer's experience, he began to create paintings that demonstrate dynamic poses and actions, implying that a movement (or in this case, sound) is taking place. "The Guitar Player" is often compared to Vermeer's, "Woman with a Lute".

Composition and Style.

"The Guitar Player" represents a new direction in Vermeer's art. Because he developed and perfected compositional balance and harmony during the 1660s, he was able to expand and paint scenes that show imbalance and fluctuation. Vermeer's painting of "The Guitar Player" rejects compositional balance and harmony, which contradicts his previous paintings. This painting exhibits an unbalanced arrangement that depicts a lack of compositional consistency, but also rejects the past instrument of the lute to focus on the modern guitar. The rejection of the lute and depiction of the guitar may be linked to Vermeer's compositional organization. Vermeer painted the young guitar player far to the left, covering the right half of the paining in light and shadow. This imbalance gives the viewer a sense of change and movement. The combination of an uneven arrangement conjoined with a gleam of light coming from the right rather than the left, forces the viewer engage with the character and instrument in this painting. The compositional arrangement is reinforced by Vermeer's decision to specifically direct the light onto the guitar player, which helps the viewer feel the impact of her presence. As a result of Vermeer's decision to paint a single personality, a greater importance and focus is placed on the instrument. The inclusion of a pastoral landscape, dark curtains, three books, and a blue tablecloth provide a counterbalance to the overriding composition displayed on the left of this artwork.  The late style of Vermeer utilized a number of painting techniques, most of which suggest an abstract style. His fascination with objects and actions that portray movement and sound are represented by an approach to painting that establishes objects as diffused and illuminated. In his painting, Vermeer integrated the use of abstraction through the strum of the guitar strings and movement of the right hand. Because this painting stayed with him until he died in 1675, we are to assume that this was his own stylistic direction, and not a request of a patron.

Visual Analysis.

In this painting, Vermeer depicts a young girl strumming a guitar. The instrument is placed comfortably on her lap while she plays near a window, sitting in the corner of a room. Her attire is made up of an ermine-bordered yellow jacket, an ivory-colored satin dress, and a pearl necklace. Surrounding her is a painted pastoral landscape bordered by an extravagant picture frame, a blank wall, three books, and a guitar. Prior to this painting, Vermeer portrayed individuals with obscure expressions. On the contrary, this young girl has an open expression that is joyous and flirtatious. The girl's smile and tipped head, along with the fixed gaze on something just outside the painting suggests that she is playing not for us, but for an unseen individual. Her dress and hairstyle reflect the relevant fashions of the wealthy Dutch, in that day.  The young girl is portrayed with wholesome features and a free expression, as if she is in the act of speaking or singing. The joyous demeanor established in this painting is conveyed through the young girl's self expression, the peaceful landscape pictured behind her, and the soft tones of light and dark. Due to these factors, Vermeer is able to provoke feelings of calmness and contentment.

Yellow Jacket and Satin Dress.

The morning jacket portrayed in this painting resembles five separate Vermeer paintings, three of which are "A Lady Writing" a Letter, "Mistress and Maid", and "Woman with a Pearl Necklace". In each painting, the jacket depicts different types of folds, distribution of spots, and fur trim. The thin patches of gray and yellow led-tin paint categorize the abstract pattern that establishes the folds in the jackets fabric and fur trim. Vermeer's devotion to painting light and shade can be acknowledged through the inclusion of dark brown shadows painted on the young musicians right arm and shoulder. From a distance these small patches seem blended, but they are actually laying side-by-side. Historians conclude that the fur on Vermeer's morning jacket was not made from ermine, but either cat, squirrel, or mouse. The fur was then decorated with faux spots. The jacket in "The Guitar Player" is one of the few surviving examples of 17th century overcoats.  The depiction of a satin dress implies a life of luxury. The young girls gown is presumably starched satin. For the dress to appear heavy and shimmery, the material was stiffened with starch and then ironed. The act of painting fine materials such as satin, took time and talent. To realistically represent luxurious materials, the artist had to be able to depict small details in the folds and patterns of the dress. To complete such a task, the artist often set up a life-sized wooden manikin dressed in the garments.

Pearl Necklace.

Vermeer's depiction of a pearl necklace alludes to the young girls elegant lifestyle. In this work he used an abstract technique to portray the pearl necklace, which was replicated his painting, "Allegory of Faith". To begin, he painted a base layer of dark greenish gray that curved around her neck to depict a shadow. Over the shadow, he created a hazy sequence of white spherical highlights. He didn't define the individual pearls to portray the natural translucence of the gemstone. Compared to his paintings of the mid-1660s, Vermeer simplified and dismissed intense detail for abstracted portrayals. This shows an outgrowth of his own style, along with a technique that was not frequented by artists of his time.

Guitar.

Vermeer's depiction of a young girl making music is associated with the nobility found in artistic inspiration, as well as the art of painting in the seventeenth century. The guitar originated in Spain, and was keenly sought after in the Dutch Republic. Compared to the lute, the guitar was cheaper and easier to play. This instrument has been decorated with a combination of ivory, ebony, tortoiseshell, and mother-of-pearl. The soundhole is created with multiple layers of ornately scrolled paper. In the seventeenth century, the guitar was used as both a continuo (harmonic) instrument, and a solo instrument. The music the guitar produces is bolder than that of the lute, and this is due to the design of the cords. The guitars strings reverberate deeper and fuller than that of past instruments. It does not play as loud as the modern flamenco guitar, and the gut strings are played with fingers. This painting depicts a five-course guitar, which was standard for most solo musicians.  Vermeer's depiction of a guitar suggests a move into the modern world of music, in which the lute is left behind with its contemplative and conservative traditions. The depiction of this guitar was created with immense attention to detail. The sound hole is created with a depiction of a finely tooled gold rose, where Vermeer has created an abstract arrangement of painted strokes. These strokes are highlighted with hazy accents of lead-tin yellow paint. The decorative white and black trim of the guitars border intensifies the painting's cheerful atmosphere. The small detailed sound hole was created with blobs of impasto paint, which portrays the light reflecting across its slick uneven surface. The most influential and well thought out technique Vermeer used in this painting focusses on the guitar's strings. Some of the strings are blurred, this suggests that they have been strummed and are vibrating. Because of this, we can assume she is in the midst of playing a song.

Landscape Painting.

Vermeer's picture-within-a-picture was identified by art historian Gregor Weber. The landscape that is depicted behind the young girls head is identified with Pieter Jansz's, "A Wooded Landscape with a Gentleman and Dogs in the Foreground". In Vermeer's version, the mimicked composition is cropped slightly on top, and on the right. The head of the young musician covers the gentleman and dogs. Vermeer's version guides the viewers focus towards the centered tree, as well as incorporating blue skies and greener foliage.  Vermeer may have incorporated this sun-filled pastoral landscape into his painting in reference to woman's beauty. Artists in the seventeenth century were often attributing the topic of female beauty to nature, which was frequently expressed through poetry and music.

Wall.

Vermeer's depiction of a whitewashed wall allowed him to set the stage for a scene that illustrates an individual strumming a guitar composed on the left side of the canvas. The painting's composition is balanced due to the large negative space the wall creates. The unobtrusive wall helps establish the mood of the painting, as well as the lighting scheme and spatial depth. Because of the wall's color, Vermeer was able to establish a warm and welcoming temperature from the incoming light. Vermeer's brushwork also implies the lights direction.  According to the Delft building historian Wim Weeve, the use of whitewashed walls was frequently integrated in the houses, castles, and churches of the Dutch in the Middle Ages. The beginning process of whitewashing a wall starts with a thick application of lime putty, which is created with burned seashells. When the putty dries, and the wall is thick enough, then the process of whitewashing with paint can begin.

Chair.

Although unrecognizable to the untrained eye, this wooden chair is portrayed several times through Vermeer's artistic career. At the top left hand side of the painting, behind her shoulder, a silhouette of a lion head finial can be found. This finial references chairs designed and crafted by the Spanish. When constructing this chair, the Spanish craftsman used leather and not cloth. This is due to Spains constant supply of rawhide. These chairs were respected for their craftsmanship and creativity, and the creators of these chairs regarded themselves as superior within the craftsman guilds.

Books.

Vermeer's decision to depict three books suggests the young girls sophistication, which is implied through a high level of education. Even though scholars do not know the book titles, it has been argued that the middle book's bulkiness resembles the Bible. With that being said, it was stated that the possible representation of the Bible implies biblical advice. If this is true, then the painting could indicate a decision to morally ignore the religious text. The young girl's body language and facial expression turn away from the book to pay attention to the individual on her right. Others argue that the presence of the book implies learning, which is familiar in Dutch paintings of the Middle Ages. According to scholar Elise Goodman, the young musician featured in this painting would be a member of the haute bourgeoisie who could read, write, and speak several languages.

Provenance.

After Vermeer's death in 1675, the painting stayed in Delft in the hands of Maria de Knuijt, his widow. In 1682, Maria gave the painting to their daughter, Magdalena van Ruijven. After Magdalena's death, the painting was passed on to her widower, Jacob Abrahamsz Dissius, in 1695. On the 16th of May, 1696, the painting was auctioned off at a Dissius sale in Amsterdam. From 1794 to 1802, "The Guitar Player" was in the hands of Henry Temple, 2nd Viscount Palmerston, in London. From the dates of 1802 to 1865, the painting was owned by Temple's son, Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston. Eventually, the painting was in the ownership of John Temple's step-son, William Francis Cowper-Temple, 1st Baron Mount Temple, from 1865 - 1888. In 1888, his step son, Evelyn Melbourne Ashley, sold the painting to Thomas Agnew and Sons, in London. Between the dates of 1888 and 1889, the painting was sold by the Agnews to Edward Guinness. From the dates of 1889 to 1927, the painting was in the hands of Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh, in London.  In 2012, Kenwood House closed for renovations. While construction was taking place, the painting was on display in the National Gallery, beside the visiting galley's own two Vermeer's. In 2013, The painting was returned in late December when construction was over. "The Guitar Player" is currently on display in the Kenwood House in London, as part of the Iveagh Bequest collection.

Theft.

On February 23, 1974, someone stole the painting from Kenwood House and ransomed it for a deal to deliver and distribute over $1 million (US) dollars in food to the Caribbean island of Grenada, or the thief would destroy the painting. Following the threat, a small strip of the painting was sent to "The Times" in London, along with another demand that requested the Irish Republican sisters Marian and Dolours Price be allowed to serve their prison sentences near their homes in Northern Ireland. It was recovered by Scotland Yard in the cemetery of St Bartholomew-the-Great, in London's financial district, on May 7, 1974. The painting showed signs of dampness, but was otherwise undamaged.  A period copy, "A Lady Playing the Guitar", is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The Guitar Player is an oil painting by Dutch Baroque artist Johannes Vermeer (1632 - 1675), dated c. 1672. This work of art is one of Vermeer's final artistic activities, providing insight into the techniques he mastered and approaches to painting he favored. The painting has been on display at Kenwood House, London since the 1920s, as part of the Iveagh Bequest collection. After being recovered from a theft in 1974, when the painting was held for ransom, "The Guitar Player" was returned to Kenwood House.

Une femme jouant de la guitare est un de Johannes Vermeer (huile sur toile, ) peint vers 1670-1672, et exposé à la Kenwood House de Londres.


Competition history.

1st, 2015 Men's Snowboard Superpipe, ASPEN, CO  1st, 2014 Men's Snowboard Superpipe, ASPEN, CO  1st, 2010 Winter Dew Tour Wendy's Invitational, SNOWBASIN, UT  1st, 2010 US Grand Prix of Snowboarding, MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN, CA  1st, 2009 Winter Dew Tour Totino's Open, BRECKENRIDGE, CO  1st, 2009 Burton European Open, LAAX, SUI  4th, 2009 Winter Dew Tour, MT. SNOW, VT  1st, 2008 Winter Dew Tour, BRECKENRIDGE, CO  2nd, 2007 US Open of Snowboarding (Halfpipe), STRATTON, VT  2nd, 2007 World Superpipe Championship, PARK CITY, UT  2nd, 2007 Nippon Open (Halfpipe), FUKUSHIMA, JPN  1st, 2007 Nippon Open (Rail Jam), FUKUSHIMA, JPN  5th, 2007 HONDA SESSION AT VAIL (Slopestyle), VAIL, CO  16th, 2007 O'NEILL EVOLUTION (Quarterpipe), DAVOS, SUI  1st, 2006 U.S. GRAND PRIX (Halfpipe), BRECKENRIDGE  3rd, 2006 PAUL MITCHELL PROGRESSION SESSION (Quarterpipe), BRECKENRIDGE  15th, 2006 BURTON NEW ZEALAND OPEN (Slopestyle), WANAKA, NZ  3rd, 2006 BURTON NEW ZEALAND OPEN (Superpipe), WANAKA, NZ  2nd, 2006 ABOMINABLE SNOW JAM (Slopestyle), MT. HOOD, OR  7th, 2006 ABOMINABLE SNOW JAM (Halfpipe), MT. HOOD, OR  8th, 2006 TELUS WORLD SKI amp; SBD FEST (Superpipe), WHISTLER, BC  7th, 2006 WORLD SUPERPIPE CHAMPIONSHIPS (Superpipe), PARK CITY, UT  2nd, 2006 US OPEN (Superpipe), STRATTON, VT  1st, 2006 US OPEN (Quarterpipe), STRATTON, VT  Best Trick, 2006 US OPEN, STRATTON, VT  13th, 2006 US OPEN (Slopestyle), STRATTON, VT  1st, 2006 NIPPON OPEN (Superpipe), BANDAI, JPN  21st, 2006 CHEVY GRAND PRIX 1–22 (Halfpipe) MOUNTAIN CREEK, NJ  10th, 2006 CHEVY GRAND PRIX 1–20 (Halfpipe) MOUNTAIN CREEK, NJ  9th, 2006 HONDA SESSION (Rail), VAIL, CO  12th, 2006 CHEVY GRAND PRIX 1–8 (Slopestyle), MT. BACHELOR, OR  3rd, 2006 CHEVY GRAND PRIX 1–8 (Halfpipe), MT. BACHELOR, OR  9th, 2006 HONDA SESSION (Rail), VAIL, CO  5th, 2006 CHEVY GRAND PRIX SEASON END RANKINGS  12, 2006 TTR WORLD SNOWBOARD TOUR SEASON END RANKINGS  3rd, CHEVY GRAND PRIX 12–17 (Halfpipe), BRECKENRIDGE, CO  17th, CHEVY GRAND PRIX 12–14 (Halfpipe), BRECKENRIDGE, CO  2nd, AUSTRALIAN OPEN (Slopestyle), PERISHER BLUES, AUS  2nd, AUSTRALIAN OPEN (Halfpipe) PERISHER BLUES, AUS  10th, 2005 FIS WORLD CUP #1 (Halfpipe), VALLE NEVADO, CHILE  2nd, 2005 MIDDLE EARTH SUPERPIPE CHAMPIONSHIPS (Halfpipe), SNOW PARK, NZ  2nd, 2005 NZ OPEN (Slopestyle), WANAKA, NZ  5th, 2005 NZ OPEN (Halfpipe), WANAKA, NZ  4th, 2005 ABOMINABLE SNOW JAM (Slopestyle), MT. HOOD, OR  15th, 2005 WORLD SUPERPIPE CHAMPIONSHIPS (Halfpipe), PARK CITY, UT  5th, 2005 US OPEN (Halfpipe), STRATTON, VT  6th, 2005 US OPEN (Slopestyle), STRATTON, VT  8th, 2005 GRAVITY GAMES (Slopestyle), COPPER MOUNTAIN, CO  2nd, 2005 GRAVITY GAMES (Halfpipe), COPPER MOUNTAIN, CO  13th, 2005 VANS CUP (Best All-Around) NORTHSTAR-AT-TAHOE

X Games History.

1st, X GAMES 19 SUPERPIPE  1st, X GAMES 18 SUPERPIPE  4th, X GAMES 13 BEST TRICK SHOWDOWN  14th, X GAMES 13 SUPERPIPE  6th, X GAMES 13 SLOPESTYLE  15th, X GAMES 10 SUPERPIPE  15th, X GAMES 10 SUPERPIPE  Davis is supported by Burton Snowboards and apparel, Mountain Dew, Dragon Eyewear, Martin Guitars, and Frends Headphones

Danny Davis (born June 22, 1988 in Highland, Michigan) is a professional snowboarder. He was voted 2006 Rookie of the Year in the Transworld Snowboarding Riders Poll Awards, 2006 Rookie of the Year for Snowboarder Magazine, and 2008 Snowboarder Magazine Top 10 Riders of the Year.

Danny Davis né le à Highland (Michigan) est un snowboardeur américain spécialiste du half-pipe. En 2014, il a été sélectionné pour participer aux Jeux olympiques d'hiver à Sotchi et a terminé dixième. Peu avant ces Jeux, il a remporté les Winter X Games à Aspen.


Plot.

"Pop. 1280" is the first-person narrative of Nick Corey, the listless sheriff of Potts County, the "47th (out of 47) largest county in the state". He lives in Pottsville which has a population of "1280 souls".  Sheriff Nick Corey presents himself as a genial fool, simplistic, over-accommodating, and harmless to a fault, given he is Pottsville's sole lawman. In reality, he is a clever psychopath able to manipulate people by appealing to their worst instincts and to get away with multiple murders.  The novel begins with Nick visiting Ken Lacey, the sheriff of a nearby county. Nick visits Sheriff Lacey ostensibly to ask for advice as he has in the past. Nick has two pimps in charge of a whorehouse on the river at the edge of town who regularly insult and abuse him. Nick asks Lacey what to do about them and Lacey mocks and belittles Nick including literally kicking him in the behind multiple times. Lacey finally explains that he is doing all this to show Nick that when someone hurts you, you need to hurt them back twice as hard, finishing with the boast that if any pimps tried to disrespect him, he would shoot them dead on the spot. In the process of suffering the abuse of Lacey and his deputy Buck, Nick realizes that Buck harbors ill will toward sheriff Lacey as well. He manipulates Lacey to have Buck see him off at the train station and has a discussion with Buck before heading back home.  Early that evening Nick goes to see the two pimps. As usual they berate and mock him for taking their graft and for being generally spineless. Nick plays the fool and takes their abuse waiting for a steamboat to traverse a bend in the river and blow its whistle. When it does, to the shock of the pimps, Nick pulls his gun and kills them both, relying on the noise of the whistle to cover the sound of his gun.  He dumps their bodies in the river and returns home to take a nap. He's awakened by his wife Myra to find that Sheriff Lacey has come to see him. At the prodding of his deputy Buck, Sheriff Lacey became concerned that Nick might actually kill the pimps and make him an accessory for encouraging the crime. Nick reassures Lacey that the thought never entered his mind. He gets Lacey drunk and then apologizes that even though it's too late to get a train back Nick doesn't have room to let Lacey stay the night and there are no hotels in Pottsville. He tells Lacey the only place to spend the night is the whorehouse run by the pimps. In his drunken state Lacey is eager to spend the night this way. As Nick walks him there he manipulates Lacey to brag to several people that he would never take abuse from the pimps, virtually claiming he would kill them if they tried. He further manipulates Lacey to make similar claims to the prostitutes at the house.  The next day, the county attorney Robert Lee Jefferson berates Nick for not doing his job and never making any arrests. Jefferson warns Nick that he will face a strong opponent in the coming election from Sam Gaddis. Nick replies that the people don't really want him to do his job, that they enjoy petty crimes such as gambling, public drunkenness, and prostitution and that if he started to arrest people for such crimes he would have to arrest the whole town. Jefferson is adamant that Nick needs to stop being so lazy and cowardly because Gaddis is everything that Nick is not. Nick agrees with Jefferson that Gaddis is a man of the highest moral quality regardless of all the rumors about him people are spreading. Jefferson asks and then demands to know what these rumors are but Nick refuses to tell him. In reality there are no rumors but Nick realizes that he has planted a seed that will result in them.  Nick then goes to find Tom Hauck, the husband of Rose Hauck who Nick is having an affair with. He finds Hauck drinking and fishing at the river. Nick tells Hauck that he has been having sex with his wife and as Hauck begins to sputter with rage Nick picks up Hauck's shotgun and lets him have both barrels in the stomach. As Hauck lies in agonizing pain Nick kicks him a few times and leaves him to die a painful death. Nick leaves Hauck to go see Hauck's wife Rose. He encourages Rose to have sex with him, but as much as she wants to, she has work that must be done at her farm or her husband will viciously beat her when he returns from fishing. Nick toys with her a while then finally gives her the news that he has killed her husband. She is overjoyed and they retreat to her bedroom to have passionate sex.  In addition to Rose Hauck, Nick is also having an affair with Amy Mason. He sometimes has difficulties juggling both affairs while keeping either woman as well as his wife Myra and her imbecile brother Lennie from discovering them but by quick thinking and manipulation he is always able to.  Where as Rose is foul mouthed and hypocritical, Amy is the only person in Pottsville that is beyond Nick's manipulation because she has a strong sense of morality. As she learns that Nick is planning to frame Sheriff Lacey for the murder of the two pimps which Nick committed she threatens to tell the authorities regardless of any potential consequences for her and Nick realizes that she would actually do it. This makes Amy more appealing to Nick than Rose. He realizes that he must choose between them because Amy is too intelligent to try and deceive about his relation with Rose and she will no longer tolerate Nick seeing Rose.  Nick comes up with a way to get rid of his wife Myra, her brother, and Rose all at once. He manipulates Rose, who thinks she is taking part in a scheme to get rid of Nick's wife, to tell Myra's brother Lennie that she has seen him and Myra having passionate sex. Upon hearing this, Myra takes Lennie and heads for Rose's house. Myra breaks in on Rose and tells her that because she discovered her and Lennie's secret (what seemed like a vicious rumor turned out to be the truth) she is going to have Lennie rape her while she takes photos in order to blackmail Rose and force her to leave town. Rose gets a pistol that she purchased to protect herself from her abusive husband and kills both Myra and her brother.  Rose finally realizes she has been manipulated by Nick. When she confronts Nick he just laughs at her and suggests she get out of town as soon as possible before the bodies are discovered. Toward the end of the novel, Nick's inner dialogue becomes more and more delusional as he comes to believe he is Jesus come to Earth to dispense justice on the guilty, hypocritical people of Pottsville. The novel ends without Nick being caught for any of his crimes but with the impression that circumstances are finally catching up to him while he becomes more delusional.

Themes.

The character of a sheriff who plays the fool but is in reality highly intelligent is used several times by Thompson. Sometimes, as in this novel and "The Killer Inside Me", the sheriff is a psychopath. In the novels "Wild Town" and "The Transgressors", the sheriff is heroic, a highly intelligent man who was forced by circumstances to take a job that didn't allow him to take full advantage of his abilities and who plays at being a clown to fit in to his role and to manipulate people for altruistic ends.  In his autobiography "Bad Boy", Thompson wrote that this character was based on an actual deputy who pursued him when he neglected to pay a fine for being drunk and disturbing the peace. As recounted in a NY Times article, Thompson describes the encounter he had with the deputy:  The sheriff also is quite likely based to some degree on Thompson's own father, who had many of the same characteristics: a born politician who knew just what to say to win favor with anyone and who appeared friendly on the outside but inside harbored a great deal of pent up rage and misanthropy.  "Pop. 1280" is also one of Thompson's most overtly political books. Nick constantly uses jokes to point out the racism, classism, and sexism of American society, for example at the end of Nick's discussion with the county attorney who is after Nick to make more arrests when Nick promises to arrest anyone who breaks the law, "Providing o' course, that he's either colored or some poor white trash that can't pay his poll tax".

Adaptations.

"Pop. 1280" was adapted as the French film "Coup de Torchon" (1981), directed by Bertrand Tavernier, set in French West Africa in 1938.  Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos has been tapped to direct a new adaptation for release in 2020.

Pop. 1280 is a crime novel by Jim Thompson, published in 1964. NPR's Stephen Marche described it as Thompson's "true masterpiece, a preposterously upsetting, ridiculously hilarious layer cake of nastiness, a romp through a world of nearly infinite deceit."

1275 âmes ou Pottsville, 1280 habitants (titre original : "Pop. 1280") est un roman policier de Jim Thompson, paru en 1964.


Details.

The Moore family consisted of parents Josiah B. (aged 43), Sarah (née Montgomery) (39), and their four children: Herman Montgomery (11), Mary Katherine (10), Arthur Boyd (7), and Paul Vernon (5). An affluent family, the Moores were well-known and well-liked in their community. On June 9, 1912, Mary Katherine Moore invited Ina Mae (8) and Lena Gertrude Stillinger (12) to spend the night at the Moore residence. That evening, the visiting girls and the Moore family attended the Presbyterian church where they participated in the Children's Day Program, which Sarah Moore had coordinated. After the program ended at 9:30 p.m., the Moores and the Stillinger sisters walked to the Moores' house, arriving between 9:45 and 10 p.m.  At 7 a.m. the next day, June 10th, Mary Peckham, the Moores' neighbor, became concerned after she noticed that the Moore family had not come out to do their morning chores. Peckham knocked on the Moores' door. When nobody answered, she tried to open the door and discovered that it was locked. Peckham let the Moores' chickens out and called Ross Moore, Josiah Moore's brother. Like Peckham, Moore received no response when he knocked on the door and shouted.  He unlocked the front door with his copy of the house key. While Peckham stood on the porch, Moore went into the parlor and opened the guest bedroom door, where he found Ina and Lena Stillinger's bodies on the bed. Moore immediately told Peckham to call Hank Horton, Villisca's primary peace officer, who arrived shortly thereafter. Horton's search of the house revealed that the entire Moore family and the two Stillinger girls had been bludgeoned to death. The murder weapon, an axe belonging to Josiah, was found in the guest room where the Stillinger sisters were found.  Doctors concluded that the murders had taken place between midnight and 5 a.m. Two spent cigarettes in the attic suggested that the killer or killers patiently waited in the attic until the Moore family and the Stillinger guests were asleep. The killer(s) began in the master bedroom, where Josiah and Sarah Moore were sleeping. Josiah received more blows from the axe than any other victim; his face had been cut to such an extent that his eyes were missing.  They used the blade of the axe on Josiah while using the blunt end on the rest of the victims. They proceeded into the children's rooms and bludgeoned Herman, Mary Katherine, Arthur, and Paul in the head in the same manner as their parents. They returned to the master bedroom to inflict more blows on the elder Moores, knocking over a shoe that had filled with blood, before moving downstairs to the guest bedroom and killing Ina and Lena.  Investigators believed that all of the victims except for Lena Stillinger had been asleep when murdered. They thought that she was awake and tried to fight back, as she was found lying crosswise on the bed, and with a defensive wound on her arm. Lena's nightgown was pushed up to her waist and she was wearing no undergarments, leading to law enforcement speculation that the killer(s) sexually molested her or attempted to do so.

Investigation.

Over time, many possible suspects emerged, including Reverend George Kelly, Frank F. Jones, William Mansfield, Loving Mitchell and Henry Lee Moore (no relation). George Kelly was tried twice for the murder. The first ended in a hung jury, while the second trial ended in an acquittal. Other suspects in the investigation were also exonerated.

Andrew Sawyer.

Every transient and otherwise unaccounted-for stranger was a suspect in the murders. One such suspect was a man named Andy Sawyer. No real evidence linked Sawyer to the crime, but his name came up often in grand jury testimonies.  According to Thomas Dyer of Burlington, Iowa, a bridge foreman and pile driver for the Burlington Railroad, S.A. (Andy) Sawyer approached his crew in Creston at 6:00 a.m on the morning the murders were discovered. Sawyer was clean-shaven and wearing a brown suit when he arrived. His shoes were covered in mud and his pants were wet nearly to the knees. He asked for employment and, as Dyer needed an extra man, he was given a job on the spot.  Dyer testified that later that evening when the crew reached Fontanelle, Iowa, Sawyer purchased a newspaper and went off by himself to read it. The newspaper carried a front page account of the Villisca murders and, according to Dyer, Sawyer "was much interested in it." Dyer's crew complained that Sawyer slept with his clothes on and was anxious to be by himself. They were also uneasy that Sawyer slept with his axe next to him; he often talked of the Villisca murders and whether or not a killer had been apprehended.  He reportedly told Dyer that he had been in Villisca that Sunday night and had heard of the murders. Afraid of being taken as a suspect, he had left and gone to Creston. Dyer was suspicious and turned him over to the sheriff on June 18, 1912.  Dyer later testified that prior to the sheriff's arrival, he walked up behind Sawyer. He was rubbing his head with both hands and suddenly jumped up and said to himself, "I will cut your god damn heads off." At the same time, he made striking motions with the axe and began hitting the piles in front of him.  Dyer's son (J.R.) testified that one day as the crew drove through Villisca, Sawyer told him he would show J.R. where the man who killed the Moore family got out of town. He said the man that did the job jumped over a manure box which he pointed out about 11⁄2 blocks away, and then showed where he crossed the railroad track. J.R. said there were footprints in the soggy ground north of the embankment. Sawyer told J.R. to look on the other side of the car and said he would show him an old tree where the murderer stepped into the creek. According to J.R. Dyer, he looked over and saw such a tree south of the track about four blocks away.  Sawyer was dismissed as a suspect in the case when officials learned that he could prove he had been in Osceola, Iowa, on the night of the murders. He had been arrested for vagrancy there, and the Osceola sheriff recalled putting him on a train (to send him away) at approximately 11 p.m. that evening.

Reverend George Kelly.

Kelly was an English-born traveling minister in town on the night of the murders. Kelly was described as peculiar, reportedly having suffered a mental breakdown as an adolescent. As an adult, he was accused of peeping and several times asking young women and girls to pose nude for him. On June 8, 1912, he came to Villisca to teach at the Children's Day services, which the Moore family attended on June 9, 1912. He left town between 5:00 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. on June 10, 1912, hours before the bodies were discovered. Reverend Kelly had confessed to the murders in court, but the jury didn't believe his confession.  In the weeks that followed, he displayed a fascination with the case and wrote many letters to the police, investigators, and family of the deceased. This aroused suspicion and a private investigator wrote back to Reverend Kelly, asking for details that the minister might know about the murders. Kelly replied with great detail, claiming to have heard sounds and possibly witnessed the murders. His known mental illness made authorities question whether he knew the details because of having committed the murders or was imagining his account.  In 1914, two years after the murders, Kelly was arrested for sending obscene material through the mail (he was sexually harassing a woman who applied for a job as his secretary). He was sent to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, the national mental hospital in Washington, D.C. Investigators speculated again that Kelly could be the murderer of the Moore family.  In 1917, Kelly was arrested for the Villisca murders. Police obtained a confession from him; however, it followed many hours of interrogation and Kelly later recanted. After two separate trials, he was acquitted.

Frank F. Jones.

Frank Fernando Jones was a Villisca resident and an Iowa State Senator. Josiah Moore had worked for Frank Jones at his implement store for many years before leaving to open his own store. Moore reportedly took business away from Jones, including a very successful John Deere dealership. Moore was rumored to have had a sexual affair with Jones’ daughter-in-law, though no evidence supports this.

William Mansfield.

Another theory was that Senator Jones hired William "Blackie" Mansfield to murder the Moore family. It is believed that Mansfield was a serial killer because he murdered his wife, infant child and parents-in-law with an axe two years after the Villisca crimes. He is believed to have committed the axe murders in Paola, Kansas, four days before the Villisca crimes. He was also suspected in the double homicide of Jennie Peterson and Jennie Miller in Illinois. Each crime site was accessible by train, and all murders were carried out in virtually the same manner.  Mansfield was released after a special Grand Jury of Montgomery County refused to indict him, on grounds that his alibi checked out. Nine months before the murders at Villisca, a similar case of axe murder occurred in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Two axe murder cases followed in Ellsworth, Kansas, and Paola, Kansas. The cases were similar enough to raise the possibility of having been committed by the same person. Other murders reported as possibly being linked to these crimes include the numerous unsolved axe murders along the Southern Pacific Railroad from 1911–1912, the unsolved Axeman of New Orleans killings, as well as several other such murders during this time period.  The murders in Colorado Springs were closely related in execution to those in the Moore house. Nine months before the Villisca murders, H.C. Wayne, his wife and child, and Mrs. A.J. Burnham were found dead in Colorado Springs, murdered with (an) axe/s. The Colorado Springs Police found it difficult to believe that the same person could perpetrate a similar crime in a city. As in the Villisca murders, bed sheets were used to cover the windows to prevent passersby from looking in. At the Moore house, the murderer hung aprons and skirts to cover the windows. As in the murders in Villisca, the murderer in Colorado Springs wiped the blood off his axe and covered the heads of the victims with bed clothes.  Mansfield was also the prime suspect of the Burns Detective Agency of Kansas City and Detective James Newton Wilkerson, who suggested that he was a cocaine-addicted serial killer. According to contemporary news reports, Wilkerson believed Mansfield was responsible for the axe murders of his wife, infant child, father-in law, and mother in law in Blue Island, Illinois, on July 5, 1914 (two years after the Villisca murders), the axe murders committed in Paola, Kansas, four days before the Villisca murders, and the murders of Jennie Peterson and Jennie Miller in Aurora, Illinois.  According to Wilkerson's investigation, all of the murders were committed in precisely the same manner, indicating that the same man probably committed them. Wilkerson stated that he could prove that Mansfield was present in each of the differing crime scenes on the night of the murders. In each murder, the victims were hacked to death with an axe and the mirrors in the homes were covered. A burning lamp with the chimney off was left at the foot of the bed and a basin in which the murderer washed was found in the kitchen. In each case, the murderer avoided leaving fingerprints by wearing gloves, which Wilkerson believed was strong evidence that the man was Mansfield, who knew his fingerprints were on file at the federal military prison at Leavenworth.  Wilkerson managed to convince a grand jury to open an investigation in 1916, and Mansfield was arrested and brought to Montgomery County from Kansas City. Payroll records, however, provided an alibi that placed Mansfield in Illinois at the time of the Villisca murders. He was released for a lack of evidence, and later won a lawsuit he brought against Wilkerson, and was awarded $2,225. Wilkerson believed that pressure from Jones resulted not only in Mansfield's release but also in the subsequent arrest and trial of Reverend Kelly.  However, R.H. Thorpe, a restaurant owner from Shenandoah, Iowa, identified Mansfield as the man he saw the morning after the Villisca murders boarding a train at Clarinda. This man said he had walked from Villisca. If proven to be true, this testimony would disprove Mansfield's alibi. Furthermore, it was reported that a Mrs. Vina Tompkins, of Marshalltown, was on her way to testify that she heard three men in the woods plotting the murder of the Moore family a short time before the killings.

Henry Lee Moore (no relation).

Henry Lee Moore was a suspected serial killer (who was not related to the slain Moore family) who was convicted of the murder of his mother and grandmother several months after the murders in Villisca, his weapon of choice being an axe. Before and after the murders in Villisca, the very similar axe murders on his mother and grandmother were committed, and all of the cases showed striking similarities, leading to strong suspicion that some, or all of the crimes were committed by an axe-murdering serial killer and, just like "Blackie" Mansfield, the axe-murdering Henry Moore can also be considered a suspect in some of these slayings.

Sam Moyer.

At the inquest, it was reported that Sam Moyer (Josiah's brother-in-law) often threatened to kill Josiah Moore; however, upon further investigation, Moyer's alibi cleared him of the crime.

Paul Mueller.

In their 2017 book "The Man from the Train", Bill James and his daughter Rachel McCarthy James discuss the Villisca murders as part of a much larger series of murders which they believe were all committed by a single serial killer. They conclude the murderer was Paul Mueller (or Miller), an immigrant possibly from Germany who was the subject of an unsuccessful yearlong manhunt as the sole suspect in the 1897 murder of a family in West Brookfield, Massachusetts, who had employed him as a farmhand.  James started his research in an attempt to solve the Villisca murders, and with his daughter found archival newspaper stories detailing dozens of families murdered under similar circumstances across the US. The Jameses thus believe that Mueller was guilty of the Villisca murders as part of a killing spree that lasted over a decade, killing at least 59 people in 14 separate incidents, including the Colorado Springs and Paola crimes. The Jameses identify common features to these crimes, many of which are also found at the Villisca scene.  The killer selected families who lived near railroad tracks (hence their book's title), seemingly struck in ambush at about midnight while the victims were asleep, used the blunt side of an ax rather than the blade to strike the victims in the head and face, used an ax found at the victim's home and left in plain sight after the murders, the killer covered the victims with blankets to prevent blood splatter, covered windows from inside the house and locked the doors before departure. In Mueller's suspected crimes there was often but not always a sexual motive directed towards a pubescent girl, as with Lena's being partly disrobed.  In a blurb on the dust jacket of the hardcover edition of "The Man From the Train", professor and crime writer Harold Schecter writes that the Jamses offered the most probable solution yet for the Villisca murders.

In popular culture.

The paranormal reality television series "Ghost Adventures" covered the story of the Villisca axe murders, in the episode "Villisca Axe Murder House".  The paranormal reality television series "Scariest Places on Earth" covered the story of the Villisca axe murders and hosted a paranormal investigation on the property.  The case was profiled on the television series "Most Terrifying Places in America".  The murders were also described in Episode 16 of the podcast "Lore", by Aaron Mahnke. As well as being referred to on the Lore tv show.  The murders and purported paranormal activity was described in Episode 21 of the podcast "And That's Why We Drink".  The crime was also detailed in the August 3, 2017 episode of the podcast, "Stuff You Should Know".  The slayings were the subject of a book, "Morning Ran Red", by Stephen Bowman.  The murders were the subject of a 2016 book, "Murdered in Their Beds", by paranormal author and researcher Troy Taylor, who discussed the murders as part of a larger pattern of axe murders throughout the Midwest.  Tony E. Valenzuela directed a 2016 horror movie, "The Axe Murders of Villisca". The film establishes Reverend Kelly as the killer (albeit while possessed).  YouTube Studios Los Angeles made a film called "The Axe Murders Of Villisca" in 2016.  The podcast "Last Podcast on the Left" covered this case in their episode Axe Murderers Part 2- Pinning Butterflies (episode 163, December 20, 2017)  The podcast "My Favorite Murder" covered this case in their live episode in Des Moines, Iowa (episode 168, March 23, 2019).  The podcast "Scared To Death" covered this case in their episode released on January 14, 2020.  The podcast "Marriage is a Scream" covered this case in their episode released on April 3, 2020.

The Villisca axe murders occurred between the evening of June 9, 1912, and the early morning of June 10, 1912, in the town of Villisca in southwestern Iowa. The six members of the Moore family and two house guests were found bludgeoned in the Moore residence. All eight victims, including six children, had severe head wounds from an axe. A lengthy investigation yielded several suspects, one of whom was tried twice. The first trial ended in a hung jury and the second ended in an acquittal. The crime remains unsolved.

Les meurtres de Villisca (aussi appelés "«Villisca Axe Murders»" en anglais) désignent un fait divers s’étant produit à Villisca, dans l’Iowa, aux États-Unis, dans la nuit du 9 au et qui fit 8 victimes, parmi lesquelles 6 enfants.