3 results
Girl's Day
The Japanese art of Ukiyo-e (“Pictures of the floating [or sorrowful] world”) developed in the city of Edo (now Tokyo) during the Tokugawa or Edo Period (1600-1868), a relatively peaceful era during which the Tokugawa shoguns ruled Japan and made Edo the seat of power. The Ukiyo-e tradition of woodblock printing and painting continued into the 20th century. This print is one sheet of an illustrated book from between 1716 and 1736. It shows three richly dressed women or girls eating and drinking, probably celebrating Hina Matsuri (Girl's day ...
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Library of Congress
Good Wishes for Eid
This calligraphic fragment includes four lines in Persian wishing its owner good fortune and happiness on the occasion of Eid (also seen as 'Id). Initiated by praise to “huwa al-'aziz” (God, the Glorified), the verses read: “Oh, the joy of Eid is from your name / The comfort of the world is from your peacefulness / The bubbling of the sky reaches the celestial spheres / The wine of chance is in your glass.” The verses are written in black Thuluth script on a beige paper framed by cloud bands and placed ...
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Library of Congress
Letter on Birch Bark from Siberia by Matilde Kaktiņa, June 10, 1951
On August 5, 1940, the independent country of Latvia was forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union, after having been occupied by the Red Army in June of that year. Estonia and Lithuania suffered a similar fate. Thousands of Latvians were arrested for having anti-Soviet views, taking part in resistance movements, being farmers, belonging to political parties, or refusing to join a collective farm. Many were deported to Siberia. People who were in prisons, concentration camps, or settlements in Siberia wrote letters to friends and relatives on birch bark, which was ...
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National Library of Latvia