A journey through Europeana’s collections

The idea was simple – emphasize what Europeana is all about, ideas, knowledge and inspiration – By showing a users journey through the portal starting and finishing with a search for Descartes. Each scene links to the next with a factual piece of our cultural heritage.

Read the rather long-winded full explanation below:

Descartes

The best place to start is with the man who made thinking central to our experience of the world. ‘Cogito, ergo sum’, wrote Descartes in 1644 in his Principia Philosophiae: I think, therefore I am. Rene Descartes [1596-1650] is the father of modern philosophy, and one of the great European thinkers of his time, writing in French and Latin, working and publishing in the Netherlands.

Newton

He defined laws of reflection and refraction, worked on the structure of the brain, the new physics and mathematics. He was a major influence on Isaac Newton [1643-1727], whose laws of gravity were famously inspired by watching an apple fall. Newton’s three laws of motion were published in1687 in his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica.

Darwin

The apple is the symbol of another fall – that of Adam and Eve, who on eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil are banished from Eden. The fundamental challenge to the story of the Creation and the Fall is the Theory of Evolution, set out in Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, 1859. Charles Darwin [1809-1882] recognised that species were not fixed, that they evolved to improve their chances of survival. His theories began to develop while he was the naturalist and geologist on board the Beagle, on a 5 year voyage surveying the coast of South America.

Wedgwood

Darwin’s genius was the product of an English family of talent and reputation. He was the grandson of Josiah Wedgwood [1730-1795], one of the great entrepreneurs of the industrial revolution. Taking inspiration from Greek, Etruscan and Roman styles, especially the Portland Vase, he created a range of neo-classical pottery that delighted the new English merchant classes, keen to display their sophistication with references to design classics. Wedgwood used scientific innovation, factory techniques of mass production and the new canal network of the UK to transport his fragile wares to the new consumers of the growing towns and cities.

Abolition

A philanthropic employer, Wedgwood was also a founder member of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. His support was most memorably expressed in the cameos he produced in the 1780s, showing a chained slave with the motto Am I not a Man and a Brother? Distributed in their thousands, these became the first protest fashion accessory.

Migration

The anti-slavery campaigners succeeded in abolishing the slave trade in 1807 and in the following years it was outlawed in the colonies of western Europe. But the ideal of equality on which it was founded continued to inspire. Over a century on, it fuelled the political aspirations that drove the colonial independence movements. Migration from the former colonies in recent decades has pushed concern for equality of opportunity up the political agenda as Europe has become increasingly diverse.

Bridgetower

Talented Europeans of African descent were making their mark in the capitals of Europe even as the abolition movement was gathering supporters. George Bridgetower [1780-1860] was the Polish-born son of a West Indian servant of the Prince Esterházy, Joseph Haydn’s Hungarian patron. He was a musical prodigy whose talent was quickly spotted, and he made his debut in Paris at the age of 9. One reviewer noted “his talent is one of the best replies one can give to philosophers who wish to deprive people of his nation and his colour of the opportunity to distinguish themselves in the arts”.

Beethoven

By 1803 he was giving the premiere of Beethoven’s Kreutzer sonata (Op.47). He played the violin part, Beethoven the piano. So delighted was Beethoven with the performance that he initially dedicated the sonata to Bridgetower and gave him his tuning fork.

Ludwig van Beethoven [1770-1827] is the greatest of the Romantic composers: his Third Symphony, the Eroica, was originally dedicated to Napoleon, who he believed ushered in an age of democracy and republican ideals. When Napoleon fell short, Beethoven scratched the dedication from the manuscript so forcefully he tore a hole through the paper.

Rossini

Beethoven’s genius was felt across Europe and had a profound influence on the succeeding generation of composers, including Gioachino Antonio Rossini [1792-1868]. Rossini travelled to Vienna in 1822, where he met the master. His reverence was such that he asked for Beethoven’s Funeral March to be played at his burial in Paris.

Rossini’s popularity continues: the 20th century’s most famous diva, Maria Callas [1923-1977], was one of his great interpreters; Una voce poco fa, Rosina’s famous aria from Il Barbiere de Siviglia, was a fixture in her concert repertoire. Rossini’s speed for musical composition was legendary, particularly of La Gazza Ladra – The Thieving Magpie.

Magpies and mirrors

The title refers to the magpie’s eye for shining things; like Europeana, it gathers treasures. It’s also believed to be the only non-mammal that can recognise its reflection in a mirror – which brings us back to Descartes’ interest in reflection and refraction. Artists through the ages have similarly been fascinated with the properties of light and perception as depicted in the vivid translucency of Renaissance and Baroque portraits; the perspective of Vermeer, enthralled by the discoveries of the Scientific revolution; the technical virtuosity of 19th century Pointillists which led onto 20th century Cubism, where both objects and space merge.

Most of all, the eyes, the faces, the ideas from the past invite us to think again. To take inspiration, to make new connections and to share new discoveries.