The oldest known cello in the world is "The King" made by Italian instrument maker Andrea Amati (c. 1505 - 26 December 1577) around mid-16th century AD in Cremona, Italy.
It was part of a set of 38 stringed instruments made for the court of King Charles IV of France.
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The Midfords and the inversion of gender roles
So the Midfords have been on my mind lately, specifically the way they establish themselves within a heavily gendered society.
This already starts when we look at their names. Alexis and Frances are incredibly gender neutral names, meanwhile Edward and Elizabeth are THE boy and girl names of that time.
They present themselves as the ideal family: a powerful husband, a dutiful wife, an ambitious eldest son and an engaged younger beautiful daughter, but if we look closer at the family, we see that they do not fit neatly into those categories.
-Alexis may be a man of high power and status, but he is also very much like his daughter. He's bubbly, incredibly affectionate, crafty and absolutely adoring of his strong wife.
-Francis is very well mannered and proper, but she is strict. She is very open about her opinions (especially regarding men) and is authoritative over the way people present themselves. She possesses over incredible strength (which lead to her husband falling head over heels for her) and acts as the head of the household.
For Lizzy and Edward we thankfully had some internal dialogues, which makes it a lot easier to read them.
-Elizabeth is a sweetheart and a girly girl in every sense of the word, but just like her mother she possesses over a lot of strength and skill. In terms of her behaviour and interests, she takes a lot from her father, being very affectionate and bubbly, but when faced with danger, she takes after her mother: jumping in the face of danger without a second thought and abandoning her image of a helpless girl to protect her loved ones. Her character arc revolves around her struggling to find the balance and connection between her girlhood and her strength. She is tied to the gender roles of Victorian society, but because of her families status as British knights as well as her future husband's job, she is also forced to abandon them in order to protect herself.
-Edward is ambitious gentleman and very protective over his family, but he's also incredibly awkward and his desire to be a gentleman is stretched to a very ridiculous extreme, causing the exact opposite effect of what hes trying to achieve: He doesn't trust other men, He's awkward, hes loud, he is very salty and very sex-repulsed. He does not possess the same strength as his sister and has come to accept that with grace. He takes after his mother in both looks and behaviour, although he fails to have the threatening aura his mother does, because of his awkwardness. He takes a lot after his father in terms of his awkwardness, being a little air headed just like him and being very obedient to Francis.
Overall, this family adheres to gender roles on a surface level, but the deeper you look, the more it is apparent they also stray very far from them. I love the way they are written and I do hope we get to explore more of them in depth in future arcs.
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You can help Palestinans right now by boycotting companies that profit of the genocide.
I am using this app in Germany. It works really good. Also boycott is forever. There is no redemption from Genocide.
I boycotting Disney since I found out that they helped the Nazi genocide the Jews wwII, 10 years ago.
Boycott Israel today!
You can help. Proof: Look at the stock market....
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The UK had the chance to be the funniest country on earth if after Louis xvi was executed they were just like “so happy you finally killed that usurper! Obviously king George iii is the rightful king of France, descended from Edward iii, so we’re gonna be installing him asap”
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