Learning Skills

Article of the day for April 22, 2019 is Lynchburg Sesquicentennial half dollar . The Lynchburg Sesquicentennial half dollar was a commemorative half dollar designed by Charles Keck and struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1936, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of Lynchburg, Virginia. The obverse of the coin depicts former Secretary of the Treasury and U.S. Senator Carter Glass, a native of Lynchburg. The reverse depicts a statue of the goddess Liberty, her arms outstretched in welcome. In the background is the Old Lynchburg Courthouse and the city's Confederate monument. After Congress authorized the half dollar, the Commission of Fine Arts proposed that it should bear the portrait of John Lynch, founder of Lynchburg, instead of Glass, but no portrait of him was known. Glass became the third living person to appear on a U.S. coin, and the first to be shown alone. Issued for $1, the coins have appreciated over the years, with 2018 estimates of ...

With a high of 83F and a low of 64F.

By JOHN WILLIAMS from NYT Books https://nyti.ms/2IwDeyp

By Unknown Author from NYT Books https://nyti.ms/2GwNBA0

By V.V. GANESHANANTHAN from NYT Books https://nyti.ms/2UOyVVC

By DOMINIC DROMGOOLE from NYT Books https://nyti.ms/2GyoU6j

Article of the day for April 21, 2019 is Gothic boxwood miniature . Gothic boxwood miniatures are very small religious wood sculptures produced during the 15th and 16th centuries, mostly in today's Low Countries. They were formed from intricate layers of reliefs often rendered at nearly microscopic levels, with around 150 examples extant today. The majority are spherical beads known as prayer nuts, statuettes, skulls, or coffins; some 20 are in the form of polyptychs including triptych and diptych altarpieces, tabernacles, and monstrances. Typically imagery includes scenes from the Crucifixion of Jesus and extensive vistas of Heaven and Hell. Each miniature required exceptional craftsmanship and may have taken decades to complete. Important collections are in the Art Gallery of Ontario, the British Museum, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.