Lagoon Gallery

Flamingo flock, Ras al Khor Sanctuary, Dubai

Ras Al Khor wildlife Sanctuary. Rakws is located at the head of the 14Km long watercourse known as Dubai Creek, and covers an area of 620 hectares featuring sabkhas saline flats, intertidal mudflats and mangroves, small lagoons and pools, and a few tiny islands which lies at the interface between the Persian gulf and the Al Awir Desert. During winter, RAKWS supports more than 20, 000 water birds of 67 species and acts as a critical staging ground for the wintering birds of the East African-West Asian Flyway. The site hosts more than 500 species of flora and fauna and is one of the best-managed arid zone wetlands in the region. Located within Dubai city, it is an important eco-tourism destination and receives increasing numbers of local and international visitors

© 2014 Frans Sellies

STINGRAY - These large soft rays live on sand in the Moorea lagoon. They have become a tourist attraction

VT-8656 STINGRAY - These large soft rays live on sand in the Moorea lagoon. They have become a tourist attraction. Moorea, French Polynesia. Taeniura sp Valerie & Ron Taylor Please note that prints are for personal display purposes only and may not be reproduced in any way

© Ron and Valerie Tayor / ardea.com

Fish, Fishes, French Polynesia, In Water, Indo Pacific, Lagoon, Marine, Oceania, Pacific Ocean, Polynesia, Ray, Single, Sting Ray, Tropical, Under Side, Under Water, Wild Life

View of Venice, 1500 (woodcut)

3557439 View of Venice, 1500 (woodcut) by Barbari, Jacopo de (1440/50-a.1515); 132.72x277.5 cm; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, MN, USA; (add.info.: Published by Anton Kolb
Woodcut from six blocks on six sheets of paper
Long before the advent of balloons and other aircraft, Jacopo de Barbari created a bird's-eye view of Venice through the power of his intellect and imagination. The mural-size print was unprecedented in scale when it was published in the year 1500. Every building, canal, and open square is documented here. One imagines Barbari and his assistants climbing up the city's 103 bell towers in order to survey the dense urban landscape. The View of Venice also features the maritime activities that made the city an international center of trade. Mercury, the god of commerce, presides over the city, while watchful Neptune, god of the seas, rides his dolphin through the harbor.
The incredible advance in the presentation and dissemination of information makes this the Google Earth of its day. The View is a landmark in the history of printmaking. It was printed in sections from six carved wooden blocks. Each part is so big that the individual sheets of paper were the largest ever produced in Europe at that time. When published, the View was very expensive, and most examples were probably displayed on walls. The result is that only a dozen of the original edition are known to survive. Mia's example, acquired in 2010, was the first to change hands in 55 years; it is one of just three in America and is in unusually good condition.); A© Minneapolis Institute of Art; The John R. Van Derlip Fund; Italian, out of copyright

© © Minneapolis Institute of Art The John R. Van Derlip Fund / Bridgeman Images