I see you guys are not up to speed when it comes to Music, Art, Literature and History. I would have thought at least one person would have attempted at least one question.


1. What does "Expulsis Piratis, Restituta Commercia" mean, and with what entity is it associated?

It is Latin for "The pirates having been expelled, commerce was restored." It is the motto of The Bahamas, adopted in 1728.



2. Who are Mimi, Rodolfo, Colline, Marcello and Musetta?

They are the main characters in the opera "La Bohème" composed by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger.



3. What does "Che Manina Gelida" mean, who said it, to whom, what was the occasion, and where?

In Italian, it means "What a cold hand". In "La Bohème", Rodolfo sings this aria to Mimi. She had lost her door key in the dark, and they were both searching for it when his hand found hers … he had already found the key and pocketed it … he just wanted an excuse to have an encounter with her.



4. Who painted "La Ghirlandata", and what was his nationality?

Dante Gabriel Rosetta, 1873. British, born in London, May 12, 1828, died April 9, 1882, Birchington-on-Sea. The model who sat for the painting was Alexa Wilding.





5. Who composed "Après un Rêve", and who played it recently at what event?

Composed 1870-1877 by Gabriel Urbain Faure, French, born May 12, 1845, died November 4, 1924.

It was recently performed by 19 year-old Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason at the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeDB27cq3fE



6. Who painted "The Garden of Earthly Delights" and what does it depict?

The Garden of Earthly Delights is the modern title given to a triptych oil painting on oak panel painted in 1503 to 1515 by the Early Netherlandish master Hieronymus Bosch, housed in the Museo del Prado in Madrid since 1939.

The scenes depicted in the triptych are thought to follow a chronological order: flowing from left-to-right they represent Eden, the garden of earthly delights, and Hell. God appears as the creator of humanity in the left hand wing, while the consequences of humanity's failure to follow his will are shown in the right. The center panel shows humanity acting with apparent free will as naked men and women engage in various pleasure-seeking activities. The right hand panel is believed to show God's penalties in a hellscape.





7. Who wrote "The Scarlet Letter" and who is the main character?

Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1850. The main character is Hester Prynne. After she had a child out of wedlock and refused to name the father (Arthur Dimmesdale), a Puritan community forced her to wear the letter A, for adulteress.



8. What is the longest verse in The Bible?

Esther 8:9 is the longest verse in the Bible which says, “The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language.”



9. What is the shortest verse in The Bible?

John 11:35 ~ "Jesus wept".



10. What is "Kamchatka and where is it?

It is a large peninsula in eastern Russia, about 750 miles in length.