Country Gallery

Paying a Visit, 1915, (1939). Creator: Abram Arkhipov

Paying a Visit, 1915, (1939). A group of village women in brightly-coloured clothes and scarves, chatting in a sunlit room. Abram Arkhipov (1862-1930) studied in Moscow and St Petersburg, and was a member of the art collective The Wanderers, and of the Union of Russian Artists. He was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR. Painting in the collection of The State Russian Museum, St Petersburg, Russia. From "The Russian State Museum". [State Art Publishers, Moscow and Leningrad, 1939]

© The Print Collector / Heritage-Images

Scotland for Ever'; the charge of the Scots Greys at Waterloo, 18 June 1815

Scotland for Ever'; the charge of the Scots Greys at Waterloo, 18 June 1815. The attack by the Royal Scots Greys cavalry regiment on the French 45th infantry was immortalised in this famous painting of 1881 by Lady Elizabeth Butler (1846-1933). The wife of a general as well as a popular Victorian painter, she persuaded the commander of the regiment to reconstruct the charge so she could make the painting. Some military historians doubt that the action actually took the form of the spectacular headlong charge depicted in the picture. What is known however is that the Scots Greys overpursued the French infantry, became split into disorganised small groups, and suffered heavy casualties at the hands of French cavalry formations before they were able to regain the British lines

© Ann Ronan Picture Library / Heritage-Images

Map of Japan in Provinces in time of Iyeyasu, 1903. Creator: Unknown

Map of Japan in Provinces in time of Iyeyasu, 1903. Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616) first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1600-1868 and is known as the Edo period. Leyasu chose to distance Japan from European influence, although granting trading rights to the Dutch East India Company, in 1614 he signed the Christian Expulsion Edict which banned the practice of Christianity. From A History of Japan during the century of early foreign intercourse (1542-1651) by James Murdoch, M.A. and Isoh Yamagata. [Kobe, Japan, 1903]

© The Print Collector/Heritage Images