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The Aineta aryballos is an Ancient Greek aryballos (a small, spherical flask or vase), made between approximately 625 and 570 BCE in the city of Corinth in southern Greece. Approximately 6.35 centimetres (2.50 in) in both height and diameter, it was intended to contain perfumed oil or unguent, and is likely to have been owned by a high-class courtesan (hetaira) by the name of Aineta. The vase's illegal sale to the British Museum in 1865 led to the prosecution of its seller, the Athenian professor and art dealer Athanasios Rhousopoulos, and exposed his widespread involvement in antiquities crime. The vase is inscribed with a portrait, probably that of Aineta, who is named in the inscription on the vase. The aryballos is likely to have been found in a grave, probably that of Aineta. In 1877, Rhousopoulos was fined for selling the vase in contravention of Greek law. The case represented a relatively rare successful use of state power against the illegal trade in Ancient Greek artefacts. (Full article...)

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On this day

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1945 – World War II: The US Army's 90th Infantry Division liberated Flossenbürg concentration camp (pictured) in Germany, freeing 1,500 prisoners.
1976 – The American band the Ramones released their debut album, which became highly influential on the emerging punk rock movement.
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Joan of France (b. 1464)
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Today's featured picture

The Chandos portrait is the most famous of the portraits that are believed to depict William Shakespeare (c. 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616). Painted between 1600 and 1610, it may have served as the basis for the engraved portrait of Shakespeare used in his First Folio in 1623. John Taylor (c. 1580–1653) is thought by several scholars to have painted the portrait. It is named for the 3rd Duke of Chandos, who formerly owned the painting. The portrait was given to the National Portrait Gallery, London, on its foundation in 1856, and it is listed as the first work in its collection.

Painting credit: John Taylor; image retouched by Dcoetzee

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