Three featured lists were promoted this week.

Burrow Mump and the ruins of St Michael's Church atop it, one of the Scheduled M
onuments in Taunton Deane that are the subject of a new featured list.
List of Scheduled Monuments in Taunton Deane (nominated by Rod) We've discus
sed Scheduled Monuments in the Signpost before, but a recap is likely in order:
They are nationally important archaeological sites or monuments that have been p
laced on a list ("schedule") by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sp
ort, generally identified by English Heritage, a charitable trust dedicated to s
uch matters. Taunton Deane is a division of the county of Somerset, and has quit
e a few monuments in its relatively small area, from Neolithic, Bronze Age, and
Iron Age barrows, hill forts and cairns, to Norman castles and World War II defe
nses. It even contains 13th century fish ponds. An interesting list, well worth
a look.
List of Pakistan women Twenty20 International cricketers (nominated by Khada
r Khani) The Pakistan national women's cricket team first played in Women's Twen
ty20 International (T20I) in 2009. Since then, 32 players have played at least o
ne match for the team. Sana Mir, the current captain of the team, has made the m
ost appearances with 52. Bismah Maroof is the leading run-scorer with 817 runs f
rom 46 innings. Mir has taken 44 wickets in the T20I matches, the most by a Paki
stani woman player. Batool Fatima has 50 dismissals to her name, the second high
est after England's Sarah Taylor.
List of municipalities in Nunavut (nominated by Mattximus) Nunavut separated
from Canada's Northwest Territories in 1999, and consists of a decently-sized c
hunk the mainland and many, many islands, some quite large, extending towards Gr
eenland in the North, but also including several more southerly islands in Hudso
n Bay and James Bay, which lie nearer other Canadian territories than any other
parts of Nunavut (for example, Akimiski Island is just off the coast of Ontario)
. One of the most remote, sparsely settled regions in the world, being so far no
rth, 99.97% of its population is clustered into its twenty-five municipalities,
which are relatively well-scattered throughout the territory.
Pierre Auguste Cot's The Storm
Franois Boucher's Venus Consoling Love
Featured pictures
Fifteen featured pictures were promoted this week.
St. James's, Spanish Place, photographed by David Iliff.
Schnbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria, as photographed by Thomas Wolf.
Paul Gauguin's The Flageolet Player on the Cliff
Red Hawk cheese, photographed by Frank Schulenburg.
Worcester College, Oxford, as photographed by Andrew Shiva (Godot13)
The European Parliament, yet another featured picture by David Iliff this week.
Gilt-bronze Maitreya in Meditation (created by 6th century sculpture, nomina
ted by Crisco 1492) Haven't we seen this one already recently? No, not quite: Th
e Gilt-bronze Maitreya in Meditation should not be confused with the Gilt-bronze
Maitreya in Meditation... wait, let's start again. Despite having the same desc
riptive name, these are two different artworks, and both National Treasures of K
orea, this one being National Treasure No. 78, whereas the previously featured o
ne is National Treasure No. 83. Although it has a more formalized depiction than
the relative naturalism of No. 83, hinting at an origin in the Silla kingdom of
Korea, it is nonetheless a fine work, with a delicately posed hand, and a very
expressive face with just a hint of a smile. Likely dating from the middle or la
te 6th century, its detailed craftsmanship and superb preservation (a gilt halo
has been lost, but the rest of it looks near-perfect), means it well deserves it
s own featured picture. Even if having the same name as another work is confusin

g. We can deal with that.

Venus Consoling Love (created by Franois Boucher, nominated by Hafspajen) Ven
us Consoling Love is a painting from 1751 by the leading French Rococo artist Fr
anois Boucher. This painting belonged to Mme de Pompadour, the French king's mist
ress, who commissioned it, and it is said that she is the very charming young la
dy who is depicted in the painting, impersonating the goddess of Love (and also
the French Rococo ideal of beauty). The young Venus sits beside the pond with wh
ite doves, the symbol of the goddess, at her feet, and is about to disarm Cupid,
taking the arrows he uses to make people fall in love. Boucher's continued succ
ess lies in his mastery of his brush and his superior technical knowledge of his
medium he works with. This old French master depicts the charming and sensual s
cene with the young nude goddess with a real master's fluid brushstrokes and col
ors, with asymmetric lines and sinuous curves
creating a scene ready to seduce t
he viewer. The only jewels the goddess adorned herself with are the pearls in he
r hair but then, she is a goddess, she doesn't need anything more. The white dov
es at her feet, her complexion, the pearls in her hair are just as luxurious as
the silk draperies that were wrapped around her. The French Enlightenment re evalu
ated the concept of what was natural. It was believed that it was right to follo
w nature, and that the human body, the pursuit of pleasure and its functions wer
e natural. This influenced a new acceptance for the conception of the nude body
and the depiction of the naked. It was only after the French Revolution, when a
new morality emerged based on political grounds, that these visions of pleasure
and delight were condemned, and the expressions of beauty free from moral strict
ures became less fashionable.
The Flageolet Player on the Cliff (created by Paul Gauguin, nominated by Cri
sco 1492) Dating from 1889, The Flageolet Player on the Cliff] by Paul Gauguin d
epicts a dramatic scene in Le Pouldu, a remote coastal village in Brittany. It s
hows a panoramic view on a narrow path with a couple on it, a girl and a boy. He
plays a flageolet, an early flute, and is seen from an unusual vantage point, o
verlooking the Atlantic.
European Parliament (created and nominated by David Iliff) Gleaming white an
d almost aggressively modern, the European Parliament in Strasbourg marks a star
k contrast from the older, dark-wood dominated parliamentary buildings of many c
ountries, and, indeed, even from places like the Scottish Parliament, which imit
ate the older ones, or, indeed, the debating chamber of the Parliament before 19
99. This gorgeous photo shows the Parliament in session in 2014.
Moros, Zaragoza (created by Diego Delso, nominated by Crisco 1492) Moros is
an attractive and picturesque setting on the narrow valley above the Manubles ri
ver, with hundreds of small houses on narrow streets that zigzag across the slop
e, all clustered together on the sunny side of the mountain, surrounded with gar
dens and orchards, and topped with the parish church and the remains of a Mooris
h castle. Many of the houses are made by mud bricks; some are covered with Arabi
c tiles, and some houses have been whitewashed with white lime, but none of this
breaks the color harmony. It's a beautiful scene.
Worcester College, Oxford University (created and nominated by Andrew Shiva
(Godot13)) Come, join us on a journey through Oxonian history, searching for the
mysterious, lost Gloucester College, which was attached to a monastery, and los
t to the University of Oxford when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1539.
However, buildings around a growing university never stay empty forever... St.
John's College was happy to snatch them up... but then, wait! In 1714, Sir Thoma
s Cookes decided to reform the lost college, naming it, not after Gloucester, bu
t after his own county of Worcestershire! And so, we have the stately halls, dat
ing back to the 13th century as an institution of learning... but by a long, wav
y path, because Henry VIII just couldn't handle married life very well, and so f
ounded his own religion. ...That sounds wrong, somehow.
The Storm (created by Pierre Auguste Cot, nominated by Crisco 1492) A gorgeo
us, delicately painted work, The Storm shows a young woman wearing a diaphanous,
gleaming white dress (that shows far more than it conceals), and a young man (n
ot particularly well-clothed either) clinging to her, both holding a cloak over
their head as a makeshift umbrella and running down a dimly-lit path while a sto

rm brews behind them. A shaft of sunlight illumines the two as they seek shelter
. The artist, Pierre Auguste Cot, had made a huge hit at the Salon of 1873 with
his similar painting Spring, which showed a woman with similar taste in lack of
clothing cuddling with a young, virile man on a swing. That painting was bought
by John Wolfe, and is believed to have led his cousin, Catharine Lorillard Wolfe
, to have commissioned this painting, on a similar subject.
St Christopher's Chapel, Great Ormond Street Hospital (created and nominated
by David Iliff) Built in 1875 for the old Great Ormond Street Hospital building
, the gorgeously-detailed Franco-Italianate chapel is full of references to chil
dhood, as befits a chapel inside a major children's hospital. One can easily see
the "teddy bear choir" (it's literally what it sounds like) and the prayer tree
(it's literally what it sounds like), but what one can't see is a fascinating b
it of the chapel's history: when the old Great Ormond Street Hospital building w
as demolished in the 1980s, the chapel was moved on a "concrete raft" to its new
position intact. I presume that it still exists, buried in the chapel's foundat
ions.
Schnbrunn Palace (created by Thomas Wolf, nominated by Tomer T) Located in Vi
enna, Austria, Schnbrunn Palace, a former imperial residence, is one of the most
important cultural, historical and architectural monuments in the country. Now t
hat we've badly paraphrased the article's lead... It's a UNESCO World Heritage S
ite, which definitely backs the article's claims of importance. Originally a hun
ting ground, the main palace was built in the reign of Maria Theresa (note that
that link is not disambiguated: despite the relatively common name, she's that i
mportant) of the Habsburg monarchy, and is also noted for its formal gardens. In
the photograph, we see the formal gardens near us, a relatively austere face of
the palace behind them, and then Vienna rising up behind the palace. It's gorge
ous. The major part of the garden is the parterre, the Baroque French formal gar
den, designed by Jean Trehet (who needs an article written on him), a disciple o
f the famous French landscape architect Andr Le Ntre, in 1695. The garden contains
, among other things, sculptures, fountains, a maze, Roman ruins the Tiergarten,
an orangerie and a palm house, while the eastern parts were turned into an Engl
ish garden and beside it, a botanical garden. The Gloriette today houses a caf an
but more about
d an observation deck, which provides panoramic views of the city
that part next week.
The Virgin in Prayer (created by Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato, no
minated by Hafspajen) A painting by the Italian Baroque painter Giovanni Battist
a Salvi da Sassoferrato, has a bold black background setting off the main figure
apparently a trend in his artworks
with an almost glowing, detailed, beautiful
figure of the Virgin Mary emphasized by the plain background. This painting depi
cts Mary praying. Like in this picture to, traditionally Mary wears blue and red
. Blue was considered since the Middle Ages the color of spirituality, calm and
contemplation, while the red clothing was a sign of status and wealth, but also
symbolized the blood of Christ. After the Protestant reformation many of the pro
testant countries stopped painting religious paintings and went over to paint st
ill-lifes, and especially the paintings depicting the Virgin Mary declined, but
never stopped, particularly in Catholic countries. Her hands raised in prayer, h
ead demurely covered, the gorgeous fabric wrinkles and delicate skin mark this a
s a master painting.
Red Hawk cheese (created by Frank Schulenburg, nominated by Tomer T) The art
icle is a bit of a stub, so I think I'll just quote it in full: Red Hawk is a tr
iple-crme, aged, cow's milk cheese with a brine washed rind created by the Cowgir
l Creamery in Point Reyes Station, California (founded in 1994). The brine wash
encourages the development of the red-orange rind that gives the cheese its name
. The Cowgirl Creamery crafts their own artisanal cheeses using organic milk fro
m the neighboring Straus Family Creamery. It was awarded "Best in Show" at the 2
0th annual conference of the American Cheese Society.
Dordogne (created by Luc Viatour, nominated by Tomer T) A lovely elevated pi
cture of a river, the Dordogne, as it passes through the Prigord area of southwes
t France, near Castelnaud-la-Chapelle. The bridge is part of the D57 road. The c
ounty of Prigord that was the former province of Prigord, a natural region and a f

ormer province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne dpart
ement witch was one of the original 83 departments created during the French Rev
olution. The region is noted for its well-preserved mediaeval architecture, thou
gh as this scene appears to be taken from some of said architecture and thus doe
sn't show it, we shan't tempt you with a description of the several castles, cha
teaux, churches, bastides and cave fortresses; nor with the number of wonderful
villages which still have their market halls, dovecotes, tories (stone huts), ch
urches, abbeys and castles. We certainly won't mention Connezac, La Roque-Gageac
, Saint-Jean-de-Cle and Saint-Lon-sur-Vzre and other jewels of medieval architecture
.
St James's, Spanish Place (created and nominated by David Iliff) As a buildi
ng, St James's, Spanish Place is a relatively recent church, first opening to th
e public in 1890, and being consecrated in 1949 (although that was after some ma
jor delays caused by war). Its history as a congregation, however, goes back qui
te a ways further, to 1791, when it served as a rare Catholic church in Protesta
nt England, connected to the Spanish Embassy; however, the original building was
leased without possibility of renewal, requiring construction of a new one. Des
pite its relative recentness, it is designed in an early Gothic style
although p
robably really more of a Gothic Revival, in truth and is considered one of the m
ost artistically designed in London (according to our not-entirely-unbiased arti
cle, at least but an inspection of the photo will confirm it is beautiful).
Oenothera biennis (created by George Chernilevsky, nominated by National Nam
es 2000) When once the sun sinks in the west, / And dewdrops pearl the evening's
breast; / Almost as pale as moonbeams are, / Or its companionable star, / The e
vening primrose opes anew / Its delicate blossoms to the dew; / And, hermit-like
, shunning the light, / Wastes its fair bloom upon the night, / Who, blindfold t
o its fond caresses, / Knows not the beauty it possesses; / Thus it blooms on wh
ile night is by; / When day looks out with open eye, / Bashed at the gaze it can
not shun, / It faints and withers and is gone. John Clare
Vertumnus (created by Giuseppe Arcimboldo, nominated by CorinneSD) There are
some paintings that are both famous enough that most people have seen them, and
weird enough that most people who have seen them will be unable to forget them.
Guiseppe Arcimboldo's Vertumnus (c. 1590-1) is one such work. Showing Holy Roma
n Emperor Rudolf II re-imagined as the Roman god of metamorphoses in nature, cre
ated out of plants gourds, pears, apples, cherries, grapes, wheat, artichokes, p
eapods, corns, onions, artichoke, cabbage foils, cherries, chestnuts, figs, mulb
erries, grapes, plums, pomegranates, various pumpkins and olives
a riot of edibl
e delights. The flowers and fruits from all season symbolize the abundance of th
e Golden era that has returned under the Emperor's rule. Looking from the distan
ce, Arcimboldo's whimsical portraits might look like straight portraits, but the
y are assembled using vegetables, books, plants, kitchen utensils, fruits, sea c
reatures, animals and tree roots, each individual object chosen to give the impr
ession of anatomical trait of a human face. Generally these faces are composed a
round certain themes, like the four seasons, four elements and so on. These port
raits were an expression of the Renaissance minds fascination with riddles, puzz
les, and the bizarre Arcimboldo's traditional religious subjects were forgotten
but his portraits of human heads made up by objects were greatly admired by his
contemporaries and are still fascinating even today.