europeana

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

Love… Such a grand word in so few let­ters. This pro­found emo­tion has played an impor­tant role in shap­ing our cul­tural and sci­en­tific her­itage. It has influ­enced every­one from the great­est con­querors to com­mon men, from vision­ary artists to inge­nious sci­en­tists. Dis­cover beau­ti­ful love sto­ries to share with your Valentine!

Romeo and Juliet
The story of the two young lovers is one of the most famous love sto­ries around the world. Based on an Ital­ian tale and writ­ten by William Shake­speare as a play, Romeo and Juliet has been told in form of music, dance and fine art. Search on Euro­peana and see the story unfold in paint­ings, writ­ings, operas and film.

Napoleon and Josephine
Despite their tur­bu­lent mar­riage and later divorce, Napoleon and Josephine con­tin­ued to love each other till death did them part. His last word before he died was “Josephine”. Check out the con­fi­den­tial cor­re­spon­dence of Napoleon and Josephine, where, accord­ing to his­to­rian John S.C. Abbott, “his heart is revealed with all its intense and glow­ing affections”.

Marie and Pierre Curie
Another leg­endary cou­ple is Marie and Pierre Curie. Together they dis­cov­ered polo­nium and radium, and were awarded the Nobel prize for physics in 1903. After the death of her hus­band, Marie Curie con­tin­ued to carry out research dri­ven by the mem­ory of Pierre, and received another Nobel prize for chem­istry in 1911. Take a look at some of their works, which were inspired by their love.

Have a look on Euro­peana to dis­cover inter­est­ing love sto­ries and have a splen­did Valentine’s day!