Persephone, formidable, venerable majestic queen of the underworld, who carries into effect the curses of men upon the souls of the dead. Japanese illustrator Kinuko Craft

Japanese illustrator Kinuko Craft was born in 1940 in Kanazawa, Japan. She graduated from The Kanazawa Municipal College of Fine and Industrial Art in 1962. Kinuko Y. Craft moved to the United States at the age of 24. She continued studying painting at the Art Institute in Chicago. Kinuko Craft worked in Chicago art studios for several years. By the end of the 1970s her work was in high demand and she and she started her successful career as a free-lance illustrator. Japanese-born fantasy artist Kinuko Craft considers herself a story teller. She illustrated book covers of many well known fantasy authors, opera posters, fairy tale books and covers for many national magazines
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Mosaic Picassiette House by Raymond Isidore. Chartres, France

Chartres – one of the most magical places in France. Of course, the cathedral with magnificent stained glass windows – the main miracle. Here and there was an amazing event, that’s what Raymond Isidore recalled: “I was blind as a child (metaphorically), I was in the cathedral, when first saw a wonderful light. It was dark, at first I did not notice anything, and then fabulous light poured out of the windows, illuminating the cathedral … ” But Chartres is also famous for its Mosaic Picassiette House by Raymond Isidore – the most beautiful mosaic-decorated house in the world. The house attracts thousands of visitors annually. The man who built the Mosaic House – Raymond Isidore (1900-1964), a simple worker of a local cemetery.
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Norman jewelry Holy Spirit pendant

Norman jewelry – Holy Spirit pendants. In Normandy the design of the suspension included a dove flying to the ground with an olive branch in its claws. Less commonly, a bunch of grapes in its beak. Sometimes you can see the suspension, on which other, smaller birds eat up olives or grapes of this dove. Typically, these pendants were made ​​of silver with rhinestones, less gold. Were initially fairly simple with a few crystals, but quickly turned into a complex product, with more than a hundred crystals.
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Realistic painting by Chinese artist Chen Yifei

Realistic painting by Chen Yifei. Chen Yifei (April 12, 1946 – April 10, 2005) was a Chinese realist artist and a filmmaker. He graduated from the Art Institute of Shanghai. In the era of the Cultural Revolution, was known for large-scale portraits of Mao Zedong and large paintings on revolutionary themes. Chen Yifei graduated from the Art Institute of Shanghai in 1965. He lived and worked in the United States. After returning to China, Chen Yifei was one of the most commercially successful artists of the country and appealed to the cinema, directed two feature films and a documentary film “Escape to Shanghai” about the fate of Jewish refugees who fled to Shanghai from Nazi persecution. Chen Yifei died during the filming of his third feature film “Barber”.
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Floral Abundance by Hungarian painter Gyula Siska

Floral Beauty by Hungarian artist Gyula Siska. Gyula Siska was born in 1958 in Szamosszeg, Hungary. His father was an artist and a professor of Fine Art. Gyula Siska graduated from the Art School of Fine Arts and Industrial Design, and the Hungarian University of Fine Arts. Gyula started work as restorer in the Hungarian National Gallery and later in the Szechenyi National Library. He improved his style of painting working as a restorer. During this period he studied the old masters of the 17th and 18th Century, particularly the 17th Century Master Jan Davidsz de Heem (1606-1683). He started painting very detailed still life and floral subjects using a traditional technique. Beautiful paintings of Hungarian artist Gyula Siska have been exhibited in Hungary since 1985 and are now being collected worldwide.
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Machine fantasy. copper, brass gears. Steampunk sculpture by Alisa Didkovskaya-Petrosyuk

Steampunk sculpture by Alisa Didkovskaya-Petrosyuk. Ukrainian artist Alice Didkovskaya-Petrosyuk was born in Berdichev, Zhitomir region. In 1987, after graduating from the school of arts and crafts (Department of decorative metal) in the city of Vizhnitsa of Chernovtsy region, she worked as an artist-jeweler in Zhytomyr Art Fund. From 1999 to 2005 Alisa worked at jewelry company “Lobortas and Karpov” (Kiev). She created a huge series of works under the project “Pantheon of Gods of the ancient world.” The talented artist participated in international specialized exhibitions in Ukraine. The best works are in private collections in America, Germany, Israel, China, the United Arab Emirates.
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Roman Goddess of luck Fortuna

Roman Goddess of luck Fortuna is the oldest Cult of Italic origin (di novensidenses), she is considered Goddess of chance, luck and fate. The oldest original meaning of the goddess Fortuna is difficult to determine. Its ancient temples were Fortis Fortunae and Aedes Fortunae, on the Forum Boarium. Judging by the nature of the holiday Fortis Fortunae and its time (June 24), the original meaning of the goddess was agricultural – deification of the accident, an unforeseen combination of circumstances that play such an important role in the life of the farmer.
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