Portal:The arts

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

The arts

The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompasses multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing, and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both dynamic and a characteristically constant feature of human life, they have developed into innovative, stylized, and sometimes intricate forms. This is often achieved through sustained and deliberate study, training, and/or theorizing within a particular tradition, across generations, and even between civilizations. The arts are a vehicle through which human beings cultivate distinct social, cultural, and individual identities while transmitting values, impressions, judgements, ideas, visions, spiritual meanings, patterns of life, and experiences across time and space. (Full article...)

Outline of arts

View new selections below (purge)

Featured articles - load new batch

Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.

Image 1
Maus, often published as Maus: A Survivor's Tale, is a graphic novel by American cartoonist Art Spiegelman, serialized from 1980 to 1991. It depicts Spiegelman interviewing his father about his experiences as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. The work employs postmodern techniques, and represents Jews as mice and other Germans and Poles as cats and pigs respectively. Critics have classified Maus as memoir, biography, history, fiction, autobiography, or a mix of genres. In 1992 it became the first graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize. (Full article...)
Image 2

William Shakespeare (c. 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted. (Full article...)
Image 3

Title page for Volume I of the first edition of Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852)

Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U.S., and is said to have "helped lay the groundwork for the [American] Civil War". (Full article...)
Image 4
Revolutionary Girl Utena (Japanese: 少女革命ウテナ, Hepburn: Shōjo Kakumei Utena) is a Japanese anime television series created by Be-Papas, a production group formed by director Kunihiko Ikuhara and composed of himself, Chiho Saito, Shinya Hasegawa, Yōji Enokido and Yūichirō Oguro. The series was produced by J.C.Staff and originally aired on TV Tokyo from April to December 1997. Revolutionary Girl Utena follows Utena Tenjou, a teenaged girl who is drawn into a sword dueling tournament to win the hand of Anthy Himemiya, a mysterious girl known as the "Rose Bride" who possesses the "power to revolutionize the world". (Full article...)
Image 5

Dürer's Rhinoceros is the name commonly given to a woodcut executed by German artist Albrecht Dürer in 1515. Dürer never saw the actual rhinoceros, which was the first living example seen in Europe since Roman times. Instead the image is based on an anonymous written description and brief sketch of an Indian rhinoceros brought to Lisbon in 1515. Later that year, the King of Portugal, Manuel I, sent the animal as a gift for Pope Leo X, but it died in a shipwreck off the coast of Italy. Another live rhinoceros was not seen again in Europe until Abada arrived from India to the court of Sebastian of Portugal in 1577. (Full article...)
Image 6

Seen from Park Avenue and 53rd Street

Lever House is a 307-foot-tall (94 m) office building at 390 Park Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Constructed from 1950 to 1952, the building was designed by Gordon Bunshaft and Natalie de Blois of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in the International Style, a 20th-century modern architectural style. It was originally the headquarters of soap company Lever Brothers, a subsidiary of Unilever. Lever House was the second skyscraper in New York City with a glass curtain wall, after the United Nations Secretariat Building. (Full article...)
Image 7
Ghosts I–IV is the sixth studio album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released by The Null Corporation on March 2, 2008. It was the band's first independent release following their split from longtime label Interscope Records in 2007. The production team included Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, studio collaborators Atticus Ross and Alan Moulder, and contributions from Alessandro Cortini, Adrian Belew, and Brian Viglione. (Full article...)
Image 8
Sutton Hoo Helmet outside the Sutton Hoo visitor centre

Sutton Hoo Helmet is a 2002 sculpture by the English artist Rick Kirby. A representation of the Anglo-Saxon helmet by the same name found in the Sutton Hoo ship-burial, it was commissioned by the National Trust to suspend outside an exhibition hall at the Sutton Hoo visitor centre. At the opening of the centre, the sculpture was unveiled by the Literature Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney on 13 March 2002. It remained in place, dominating the entrance of the exhibition hall, until 2019, when it was moved to the entrance to the Sutton Hoo site. (Full article...)
Image 9
Master of Puppets is the third studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released on March 3, 1986, by Elektra Records. Recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark, at Sweet Silence Studios with producer Flemming Rasmussen, it was the band's final album to feature bassist Cliff Burton, who died in a bus accident in Sweden during the album's promotional tour. (Full article...)
Image 10

Stefani performing with No Doubt in 2015

Gwen Renée Stefani (/stəˈfɑːni/ stə-FAH-nee; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs", and "Don't Speak", from their 1995 breakthrough studio album Tragic Kingdom, as well as "Hey Baby" and "It's My Life" from later albums. (Full article...)
Image 11
Marie Lloyd c. 1900

Matilda Alice Victoria Wood (12 February 1870 – 7 October 1922), professionally known as Marie Lloyd (/ˈmɑːri/), was an English music hall singer, comedian and musical theatre actress. She was best known for her performances of songs such as "The Boy I Love Is Up in the Gallery", "My Old Man (Said Follow the Van)" and "Oh Mr Porter What Shall I Do". She received both criticism and praise for her use of innuendo and double entendre during her performances, but enjoyed a long and prosperous career, during which she was affectionately called the "Queen of the Music Hall". (Full article...)
Image 12
Hex Enduction Hour is the fourth studio album by the English post-punk group the Fall. Released on 8 March 1982, it was built on low-fidelity production values and caustic lyrical content of their earlier recordings, and features a two-drummer lineup. Frontman Mark E. Smith established an abrasive Northern aesthetic built as part of the 20th century literary traditions of kitchen sink realism and magic realism. Smith described the album as an often-satirical but deliberate reaction to the contemporary music scene, a stand against "bland bastards like Elvis Costello and Spandau Ballet ... [and] all that shit." (Full article...)
Image 13

Martha Graham, c. 1940

Appalachian Spring is an American ballet created by the choreographer Martha Graham and the composer Aaron Copland, later arranged as an orchestral work. Commissioned by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, Copland composed the ballet music for Graham; the original choreography was by Graham, with costumes by Edythe Gilfond and sets by Isamu Noguchi. The ballet was well received at the 1944 premiere, earning Copland the Pulitzer Prize for Music during its 1945 United States tour. The orchestral suite composed in 1945 was played that year by many symphony orchestras; the suite is among Copland's best-known works, and the ballet remains essential in the Martha Graham Dance Company repertoire. (Full article...)
Image 14

The Illinois Centennial half dollar is a commemorative 50-cent piece struck by the United States Bureau of the Mint in 1918. The obverse, depicting Abraham Lincoln, was designed by Chief Engraver George T. Morgan; the reverse, based on the Seal of Illinois, was by his assistant and successor, John R. Sinnock. Morgan's obverse is based on the statue by Andrew O'Connor. (Full article...)
Image 15
The Last of Us is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Players control Joel, a smuggler tasked with escorting a teenage girl, Ellie, across a post-apocalyptic United States. The Last of Us is played from a third-person perspective. Players use firearms and improvised weapons and can use stealth to defend against hostile humans and cannibalistic creatures infected by a mutated fungus. In the online multiplayer mode, up to eight players engage in cooperative and competitive gameplay. (Full article...)

More featured articles

Featured pictures

Featured pictures about The arts.

Image 1Coca-Cola advertising poster, unknown author (edited by Victorrocha) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 2Doorway from Moutiers-Saint-Jean, by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 3Fliteline medallion of Gemini 5, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 4Robbins medallion of Apollo 8, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 5The Onion Field, at and by George Davison (restored by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 6Vanity Fair cover art, by Ethel McClellan Plummer (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 7Alexander Mosaic detail, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 8Terragen scene at Scenery generator, by Fir0002 (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 9Armenian illuminated manuscript, by Toros Roslin (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 10Colosseum, by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 11Sunrise, Inverness Copse, at and by Paul Nash (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 12Ijazah, by 'Ali Ra'if Efendi (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 13Stained glass windows of Chartres Cathedral, by PtrQs (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 14Fliteline medallion of Gemini 3, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 15Fliteline medallion of Gemini 6A, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 16Ayyavazhi emblem at Ayya Vaikundar, by Vaikunda Raja (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 17Fliteline medallion of Gemini 12, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 18"When We All Believe", at and by Rose O'Neill (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 19The Thin Red Line at Remembrance poppy, by Harold H. Piffard (restored by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 20Christ Pantocrator, by Godot13 (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 21The Miraculous Sacrement at Jean-Baptiste Capronnier, by Alvesgaspar (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 22Robbins medallion of Apollo 12, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 23Zaandam at Etching revival, by James Abbott McNeill Whistler (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 24Tribute in Light, by King of Hearts (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 25Costume designed by David for legislators, at and by Jacques-Louis David and Vivant Denon (edited by Mvuijlst) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 26Beer Street at Beer Street and Gin Lane, by Samuel Davenport after William Hogarth (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 27Mizrah papercut, by Israel Dov Rosenbaum (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 28Computer generated still life, by Gilles Tran (re-rendered by Deadcode) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 29"Wikipedian Protester" at xkcd, by Randall Munroe (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 30Robbins medallion of Apollo 13, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 31Magna Carta (An Embroidery), by Cornelia Parker (edited by Bammesk) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 32Pond in a Garden at Tomb of Nebamun, unknown author (edited by Yann) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 33Cabiria poster, by N. Morgello (edited by Jujutacular) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 34Isaiah Scroll, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 35Birds' Head Haggadah, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 36Stained-glass example of chromostereopsis, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 37The battle of Mazandaran at Mazandaran province, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 38Glass molecular model at V-Ray, by Dllu (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 39Isle of Graia Gulf of Akabah Arabia Petraea at Caravan (travellers), by David Roberts and Louis Haghe (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 40Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal panel, by Zach Weinersmith (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 411910 cover of Life, by Coles Phillips (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 42Robbins medallion of Apollo 17, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 43Paper cutout featuring the Lord's Prayer, at and by Martha Ann Honeywell (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 44Robbins medallion of Apollo 11, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 45Love or Duty at Chromolithography, by Gabriele Castagnola (restored by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 46Ardabil Carpet, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 47Study for Cardinal Niccolò Albergati, by Jan van Eyck (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 48Your Motherland Will Never Forget, at and by Joseph Simpson (restored by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 49Little Nemo comic strip, by Winsor McCay (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 50Nude study at Figurative art, by Kenyon Cox (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 51Gothic plate armour, by Anton Sorg (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 52Fliteline medallion of Gemini 7, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 53Robbins medallion of Apollo–Soyuz, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 54Stucco relief drawing at Maya civilization, by Ricardo Almendáriz (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 55Unfortunate events in the front seats of the ring of Madrid, and the death of the mayor of Torrejón, by Francisco Goya (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 56Robbins medallion of Apollo 10, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 57A Brush for the Lead at Sleigh Ride, by Thomas Worth (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 58Taos Pueblo, by Ansel Adams (edited by Kaldari) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 59The King of Brobdingnag and Gulliver at Gulliver's Travels, by James Gillray (restored by Crisco 1492) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 60The Pig Faced Lady of Manchester Square and the Spanish Mule of Madrid, at Pig-faced women, by George Cruikshank (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 61Grant of Arms at Spanish heraldry, unknown author (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 62The Lady with the Lamp at Florence Nightingale, by Henrietta Rae and Cassell & Co (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 63Fliteline medallion of Gemini 9A, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 64The Tiburtine Sibyl and the Emperor Augustus, by Antonio da Trento (restored by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 65The Adoration of the Shepherds at History of Christianity in Ukraine, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 66Le Violon d'Ingres, by Man Ray (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 67Ambigram, by Basile Morin (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 68H.M.S. Pinafore poster, by Vic Arnold (edited by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 69Idi Amin caricature, by Edmund S. Valtman (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 70Dali Atomicus at Salvador Dalí, by Philippe Halsman (edited by Trialsanderrors) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 71Autochrome nude study, by Arnold Genthe (edited by Chick Bowen) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 72Felbrigge Psalter, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 73The Custer Fight at Lithography, by Charles Marion Russell (restored by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 74Robbins medallion of Apollo 16, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 75The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist, by Leonardo da Vinci (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 76Tilework on the Dome of the Rock, by Godot13 (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 77Ornamental latin alphabet at Initial, by F. Delamotte (restored and vectorized by JovanCormac) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 78The Great Picture, by Douglas McCulloh (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 79Celadon kettle, by the National Museum of Korea (edited by Crisco 1492) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 80Gin Lane at Gin Craze, by Samuel Davenport after William Hogarth (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 81Robbins medallion of Apollo 9, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 82Mirror writing, by Mahmoud Ibrahim (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 83Madonna and child at Chiaroscuro], by Bartolomeo Coriolano (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 84Segment of the Surrogate's Courthouse mosaic, by Rhododendrites (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 85First page of Codex Mendoza, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 86Poster for the United States National Park Service at Federal Art Project, by Frank S. Nicholson (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 87Gorgoneion, by Jastrow (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 88Fliteline medallion of Gemini 10, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 89Rosette Bearing the Names and Titles of Shah Jahan, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 90Pepper No. 30, by Edward Weston (edited by Bammesk) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 91Joseph and Potiphar's Wife, by Rembrandt (edited by Crisco 1492) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 92Fliteline medallion of Gemini 11, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 93Fliteline medallion of Gemini 8, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 94Christmas angel at Gloria in excelsis Deo, by J. R. Clayton and The Brothers Dalziel (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 95Davy Jones's locker, by John Tenniel (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 96Crown of the Andes, by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 97Robbins medallion of Apollo 15, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 98Robbins medallion of Apollo 14, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 99Fantascope at Phenakistiscope, by Thomas Mann Baynes (animated by Basile Morin) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 100Madonna, by Edvard Munch (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 101Crochet table-cloth, by Alvesgaspar/Júlia Figueiredo (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 102Caucasus embroidery, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 103scene from the Little Lord Fauntleroy, by Elco. Corp. (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 104Weeki Wachee spring, Florida at Weeki Wachee Springs, by Toni Frissell (restored by Trialsanderrors) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 105The Pirate Publisher—An International Burlesque that has the Longest Run on Record at The Pirates of Penzance, by Joseph Keppler (restored by Adam Cuerden) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 106Flammarion engraving, unknown author (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 107Fliteline medallion of Gemini 4, by Fliteline (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 108Alchemist's Laboratory at Heinrich Khunrath, by Hans Vredeman de Vries (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 109Golden earrings from Gyeongju, by the National Museum of Korea (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 110Sorrow, by Vincent van Gogh (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 111Battle of Aljubarrota, by Jorge Colaço (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)
Image 112Robbins medallion of Apollo 7, by the Robbins Company (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Artwork/Others)

More featured pictures

Vital articles

Vital articles to understand The arts.

English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over the course of more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon invaders in the fifth century, are called Old English. Beowulf is the most famous work in Old English, and has achieved national epic status in England, despite being set in Scandinavia. However, following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the written form of the Anglo-Saxon language became less common. Under the influence of the new aristocracy, French became the standard language of courts, parliament, and polite society. The English spoken after the Normans came is known as Middle English. This form of English lasted until the 1470s, when the Chancery Standard (late Middle English), a London-based form of English, became widespread. Geoffrey Chaucer (1343–1400), author of The Canterbury Tales, was a significant figure in the development of the legitimacy of vernacular Middle English at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were still French and Latin. The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1439 also helped to standardise the language, as did the King James Bible (1611), and the Great Vowel Shift. (Full article...)