Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
nacular to indicate a winding path. The word 'rival' - someone competing with another for
the same objective - also has its origin in riverine terminology. It is derived from a Latin
word, '
rivalis
', that means 'using the same stream'. The well-known phrase 'crossing the
Rubicon' has its roots in history. The River Rubicon marked the boundary between two
parts of the Roman Empire, and no Roman general was allowed to bring his forces south
over the river because to do so was a direct challenge to the authority of Rome. Hence,
when Julius Caesar decided to cross the river and march on Rome, he passed a point of no
return in crossing the Rubicon.
Landscape painting
Rivers and their valleys have provided a rich source of stimulation for landscape painters in
numerous parts of the world. Twisting channels wind their way through the long history of
landscape painting in China. Probably the best-known painting from the Sung Dynasties,
for instance, is the scroll entitled 'Along the River during the Qingming Festival' created
by Zhang Zeduan in the early 12th century. Its panoramic depiction of daily life at the
Sung capital, Bianjing (today's Kaifeng), is famed for its great detail of people, buildings,
bridges, and boats clustered around and along the river. The painting has been mimicked
by more than twenty other artists of subsequent dynasties. The most recent of these was
a computer-generated animated version produced for the World Exposition in Shanghai in
2010 and shown in the Chinese Pavilion.
Some early examples of landscape painting in Europe are traced to the beginning of the
16th century, when a number of German and Austrian artists became associated with the
Danube School of Landscape Painting. Based largely in the imperial city of Regensburg,
their work combined Upper Italian Renaissance influences with German Gothic traditions.
More than 300 years later, many of the French Impressionists drew inspiration from the
transient colours and effects of light playing on the waters of the River Seine. They include
Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Edouard Manet, and Gustave Caillebotte. Monet chose to
live near the river in the village of Giverny, not far from Paris. The Seine also features in
the work of later French artists, including one of Georges Seurat's best-known pointillist
paintings,
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte - 1884
(La Grande Jatte
is an island in the Seine, at that time used as a bucolic retreat from the grimy centre of
Paris). The Seine also provided early inspiration for the Fauvist painters Henri Matisse and
Maurice de Vlaminck before they moved to the warmer climes of the Mediterranean.
