Images Dated 26th January 2006

Avebury ring

Avebury ring, aerial photograph. The circles of standing stones and the henge (ditch) at Avebury date from about 2500 BC. The entire site encompasses some 28 acres and comprises a perimeter ditch and bank enclosing an outer circle of stones and two inner circles of stones. The ditch and bank are approximately 0.4 km in diameter. The ditch, though still clearly visible, is about a third of its original depth of 10m. Within the perimeter is a circle of Sarsen stones, which have survived best on the western (left) half. Within the outer circle of stone were two smaller stone circles, one to the north and one to the south of the site, now separated by a road. The ring in the southern half has survived best. The site is part of the Avebury World Heritage Site. Photographed in Avebury, Wiltshire, UK

© GETMAPPING PLC/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Scene from Don Juan, ou le Festin de Pierre, 1665, (18th century). Artist: Laurent Cars

Scene from Don Juan, ou le Festin de Pierre, 1665, (18th century). Don Juan is speaking to the stone statue of the Commander whom he killed when the old man challenged the Don who had seduced his daughter. He is asking the statue to a banquet. His manservant cringes in terror. This play was given 15 performances in 1665 and was then proscribed. The libretto of Mozart's opera Don Giovanni (1787) was based on Moliere's text. From Don Juan, ou le Festin de Pierre (Don Juan, or the Stone Banquet) by Moliere. (Paris, 1665)

© Art Media / Heritage-Images

Fire and Water, The Magic Flute, 1816. Artist: Karl Friedrich Schinkel

Fire and Water, The Magic Flute, 1816. Stage design by Karl Freidrich Schinkel for The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflote), showing fire and water, two of the ordeals that Tamino, the hero, had to undergo before being received by Sarastro the High Priest in the temple of Isis and Osiris. The opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) with libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder (1751-1812) was first produced in Vienna in 1791. The plot has overtones of Freemasonry. Some say Queen of the Night is based on the Empress Maria Theresa (1717-1780)

© Art Media - Biblioteque de l'Opera, Paris / Heritage-Images