Barouche Women" by Louisa May Alcott. Barouche A barouche is a large, open, four-wheeled carriage, both heavy and luxurious, drawn by two horses. It was fashionable throughout the 19th century. Its body provides seats for four passengers, two back-seat passengers vis-à-vis two behind the coachman's high box-seat. A leather roof can be raised to give back-seat passengers some protection from the weather. "Barouche" is an anglicisation of the German word "barutsche", via the Italian "baroccio" or "biroccio" and ultimately from the ancient Roman Empire's Latin "birotus", "two-wheeled". The name thus became a misnomer, as the later form of the carriage had
The Fall of Phaeton (Rubens) The Fall of Phaeton (Rubens) The Fall of Phaeton is a painting by the Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens, featuring the ancient Greek myth of Phaeton (Phaethon), a recurring theme in visual arts. Rubens chose to depict the myth at the height of its action, with the thunderbolts hurled by Zeus to the right. The thunderbolts provide the light contrast to facilitate the display of horror on the faces of Phaeton, the horses and other figures while preserving the darkness of the event. The butterfly winged female figures represent the hours and seasons, who react in terror as the night