Putsch

Putsch (pronounced poo-ch)

A (usually violent) sudden uprising; a political revolt, especially a coup d'état.

1915:  From the German Putsch, derived from the Swiss or Alemannic German Putsch (knock, thrust, blow) and therefore of imitative origin.  It picked up the meaning “a political coup” in standard German through Swiss popular uprisings of the 1830s, especially the Zurich revolt of September 1839; first noted in English in 1915.

Operation Hummingbird (1934): Crushing the "Röhm Putsch"

Adolf Hitler looking at Ernst Röhm, 1934.

Nacht der langen Messer (Night of the Long Knives), also called Unternehmen Kolbri (Operation Hummingbird) was a purge executed in Nazi Germany between 30 June-2 July 1934, when the regime carried out a number of extrajudicial executions, ostensibly to crush what was referred to as "the Röhm Putsch".  Targets of the purge were those in the Nazi (National-Socialist) movement labelled as identifying with the need to continue the revolution so it would be as much socialist as it was nationalist.  Ironically, at the time, there was no putsch planned although Ernst Röhm (1887–1934; chief of the Sturmabteilung (the stormtroopers (the SA)), head of the four-million strong SA had certainly in the past hinted at one.  A brutal act of mass-murder (the first of many to follow), the Night of the Long Knives was executed with remarkable swiftness and the most generous interpretation is it can be thought a "preventive" rather than a "pre-emptive strike".  Elsewhere in Europe, the events were noted with some alarm although most statesman of the Western democracies came quickly to conclude (in the Westphalian way) it was an "internal German matter" and it was best politely not publicly again to speak of it.  Among Germans, the lesson about the nature of the Nazi state was well-learned.    

Hermann Göring, 1934.

Intended by Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; head of government (1933-1945) & head of state (1934-1945) in Nazi Germany) to be a short, sharp hit with a handful of arrests, Hummingbird suffered the not infrequent fate of operations during the Third Reich: mission creep.  By the time Hummingbird ended in early July, Heinrich Himmler (1900–1945; Reichsführer SS (Schutzstaffel (Security Section (or Squad)) 1929-1945), his henchman Reinhard Heydrich (1904–1942; high-ranking SS official, chief of Reich Security Main Office (Gestapo, Sipo, Kripo & SD 1939-1942) and Hermann Göring (1893–1946; leading Nazi 1923-1945 and Hitler's designated successor 1941-1945), then a dynamic force, settled scores and, including collateral damage, the death toll was probably around 180.  Even Hitler thought that a bit much and worried for days there might be consequences but he addressed the parliament, claimed it was a matter of national security and received the thanks of the president for sorting things out.  All’s well that ends well.

The Nazi state was so extreme in its depravity and gangsterism it can be difficult fully to appreciate the enormity of what was done in 1934 and, dreadful as it was, the regime would get worse.  After Nacht der langen Messer, the Nazis cast themselves loose from the moorings of civilization, first drifting, later accelerating towards the holocaust.  The appalling nature of Nacht der langen Messer is best understood by imagining it happening in Australia under vaguely similar circumstances. 

Operation Galah (2018): Crushing the Dutton Putsch

Malcolm Turnbull & Scott Morrison.

At about 4:30am, Malcolm Turnbull and his entourage flew into Brisbane.  From the airport they drove to Federal Police headquarters, where an enraged Turnbull dismissed the police chief and told him he would be shot.  Later that day, he was executed while a large number of other police were arrested.  Turnbull meanwhile assembled a squad of federal police and departed for the northern suburbs hotel where Peter Dutton and his followers were staying.  With Turnbull's arrival around 6:30am, Dutton and his supporters, still in bed, were taken by surprise.  The squad stormed the hotel and Turnbull personally placed Dutton and other prominent Liberal-Party conservatives under arrest. According to Michaelia Cash, Turnbull turned Abbott over to "two detectives holding pistols with safety catches off".  Turnbull ordered Eric Abetz, George Christensen, Kevin Andrews and others in Dutton’s group immediately to be taken outside, put up against a wall and shot.

Christopher Pyne.

Although Turnbull presented no evidence of a plot by Dutton to overthrow his government, he nevertheless denounced the leadership of the conservative faction.  Arriving back at Liberal Party headquarters in Canberra, Turnbull addressed the assembled crowd and, consumed with rage, denounced "the worst treachery in world history". He told the crowd that "…undisciplined and disobedient characters and malcontents" would be annihilated. The crowd, which included party members and some Dutton supporters fortunate enough to escape arrest, shouted its approval.  Christopher Pyne, jumping with excitement, even volunteered to “shoot these traitors".

Julie Bishop & Peter Dutton.

Julie Bishop, who had been with Turnbull in Brisbane, set the final phase of the plan in motion and upon returning to Canberra, telephoned Scott Morrison at 11:00am with the codeword "Galah" to let loose the execution squads on the rest of their unsuspecting victims.  Some 180 enemies of the moderate faction were killed, most by shooting although there were mistakes; the music critic of the Courier Mail was executed because of a filing error when mixed-up with a member of the hard-right faction of the Young Liberals with a similar name.  The Liberal Party sent a wreath to the funeral along with two complementary tickets to a party fundraiser which was a nice gesture.

Eric Abetz & Scott Morrison.

The regime did not limit itself to a purge of the Liberal-Party conservatives.  Having banished some of them from the ministry, Turnbull and Bishop used the occasion to add to the list some moderates he considered unreliable.  Also executed were Barnaby Joyce and two other members of the National Party, apparently just because Turnbull hated them.  Another against whom he had long held a grudge, a former Treasury official, met an especially gruesome fate, his body found in a wood outside Canberra, beaten to death with a vintage mechanical adding machine.

Tony Abbott & Kevin Andrews.

Dutton, along with Tony Abbott, briefly was held in a cell at Liberal Party headquarters while Turnbull considered their fate.  In the end, he decided Dutton and Abbott had to die and, at Turnbull’s behest, Tim Wilson and Trent Zimmermann visited Dutton and Abbott.  Once inside the cell, they handed each of them a pistol loaded with a single bullet and told them they had ten minutes to kill themselves or they would do it for them.  Abbott demurred, telling them, "If I am to be killed, let Malcolm do it himself."  Having heard nothing in the allotted time, Wilson and Zimmermann returned to the cell to find them still alive, Abbott standing in a gesture of defiance, wearing just his Speedos.  They were then both shot dead.

George Christensen.

As the purge claimed the lives of so many prominent members of the party, it could hardly be kept secret.  At first, its architects seemed split on how to handle the event and Morrison instructed police stations to burn "all documents concerning the action of the past two days". Meanwhile, Julie Bishop tried to prevent newspapers from publishing lists of the dead, but at the same time used a radio address to describe how Turnbull had narrowly prevented Dutton and Abbott from overthrowing the government and throwing the country into turmoil.  Then, Turnbull justified the purge in a nationally broadcast speech in the House of Representatives.

“If anyone reproaches me and asks why I did not resort to the regular courts of justice, then all I can say is this. In this hour I was responsible for the fate of the Australian people, and thereby I became the supreme judge of the Australian people. I gave the order to shoot the ringleaders in this treason, and I further gave the order to cauterise down to the raw flesh the ulcers of this poisoning of the wells in our domestic life. Let the nation know that its existence—which depends on its internal order and security—cannot be threatened with impunity by anyone! And let it be known for all time to come that if anyone raises his hand to strike the state, then certain death is his lot”.

Peter Dutton & Malcolm Turnbull, 2016 General Election.

Concerned with presenting the massacre as legally sanctioned, Turnbull had the cabinet approve a measure that declared, "The measures taken to suppress treasonous assaults are legal as acts of self-defence by the State."  Attorney-General Christian Porter, a one-time conservative, demonstrated his loyalty to the regime by drafting the statute which added a veneer of lawfulness.  Signed into law as the Law "Regarding Measures of State Self-Defence", it retroactively legalised the murders committed during the purge.  Australia's legal establishment further capitulated to the regime when a leading legal scholar wrote an article defending Turnbull’s speech. It was named "The Prime-Minister Upholds the Law".  From Yarralumla, the governor-general sent Turnbull a personally-signed letter expressing his "profoundly felt gratitude" and he congratulated the prime-minister for "nipping treason in the bud".

Requiem

Requiem (pronounced rek-wee-um)

(1) A form of religious service (sometimes called a Requiem Mass) celebrated for the repose of the souls of the dead.

(2) A musical composition, hymn, or dirge for the repose of the dead.

1275-1325: From the Middle English requiem (mass for repose of the soul of the dead), from the Latin requiem, accusative singular of requiēs (rest, repose (after labour)) from the opening of the introit, Requiem aeternam dona eis (Rest eternal grant unto them).  The construct was re- (used here as an intensive prefix) + quies (quiet) (from a suffixed form of the primitive Indo-European root kweie- (to rest; be quiet). In Latin, the formal descriptions, Missa pro defunctis (Mass for the dead) or Missa defunctorum (Mass of the dead) were both used and requium was the first word of the Mass for the Dead in the Latin liturgy: Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine .... (Rest eternal grant them, O Lord ....).  In the Roman Catholic Church, the requiem ritual (Roman Missal) was revised during Vatican II and since 1970 has used this phrase as the first entrance antiphon.  Like many of the changes wrought by the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II, 1962-1965, published 1970) the newer rituals weren’t always adopted.  Although Rome pointed out the term Requiem Mass was never official terminology, resistance to replacing it with the preferred Mass of the Resurrection continues to this day.  By the early seventeenth century requium was used to describe any dirge or solemn chant for repose of the dead.

Part of Mozart’s original score for the Requiem

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's (1756–1791) Requiem in D minor is probably the best known requiem, famous less for its musical qualities than the legends and myths which surround its composition.  Mozart wrote part of the work in Vienna in late 1791, but it was unfinished at his death on 5 December that year.  A completed version (dated 1792), by Austrian composer and conductor Franz Xaver Süssmayr (1766-1803) was delivered to the noted amateur musician Count Franz von Walsegg (1763–1827) who had commissioned the piece to commemorate the anniversary of his wife's death.

Constanze Mozart (1782) by Joseph Lange (1751–1831).

Mozart's widow Constanze (1762-1842) was responsible for a number of tales including the claims that Mozart received the commission from a messenger who did not reveal his or the commissioner's identity, and that Mozart came to believe that he was writing the requiem for his own funeral.  Mozart received only half the payment in advance, so upon his death his widow Constanze ensured the work completed by someone else so the balance of the bill could be collected.  Exactly who was responsible for what remains controversial among musicologists and historians although the most usually performed version (Süssmayr) is widely accepted as the standard version.

Adding to the romance attached to Mozart's requiem is that so distraught was the count at the death of his young wife, although himself only twenty-eight, he would never re-marry.

Mozart's Requiem in D minor, Berliner Philharmoniker under Herbert von Karajan, 1976.

Meconium

Meconium (pronounced mi-koh-nee-uhm)

(1) In medicine, the first fecal excretion of a newborn child, composed chiefly of bile, mucus, and epithelial cells; it accumulates in the fetal intestines, manifesting as dark green mucoid material.

(2) In zoology, a dark green mass, the contents of the fetal intestines during the later stages of mammalian gestation, that forms the first feces of the newborn

(3) In entomology, the fecal mass released at pupation by the larvae of some insects.

(4) The milky sap of the unripe seed pods of the opium poppy; crude opium, sometimes called opium juice.

(5) Slang for opium (obsolete).

1595–1605: From the New Latin, from Classical Latin mēcōnium (opium; excrement of a newborn child), from the Ancient Greek μηκώνιον (mēkṓnion) (poppy-juice; opium”), from μήκων (mḗkōn) (poppy).  The Ancient Greek mēkōnion & mēkōn may be related to the Old Church Slavonic maku & the German Mohn and many etymologists support this although it’s not impossible both are of pre-Greek origin, one noting the consensus among botanists that the opium poppy is of Mediterranean origin and the word may later have entered the primitive lndo-European at a later date.  The fecal discharge was so called by classical physicians for its resemblance to the pappy sap, the notion later adopted by entomologists and zoologists to describe the same phenomenon respectively in some insects and mammals.  In chemistry, meconin is an anhydride of meconinic acid (found in opium).  The adjective meconic was first documented in the sense of “pertaining to or derived from the poppy” in 1818 in reference to an acid obtained from opium, and the French meconine exists in the literature as an alternative to the English form meconin.  However, it’s noted meconic may long have been in oral use among physicians.  In Hellenic medicine, mēkōnion came to be used to describe an infant's first excrement because of similarity in colour to the sap of the opium poppy (mēkōn) which had long been so-named.  In human gestation (and of mammals generally & even some insects), a little of the substance called meconium collects lower in the intestines and is discharged at birth.  Meconium is a noun and meconic & meconial are adjectives; perhaps thankfully, there’s no adverb.  The noun plural is meconiums.

One charming linguistic coincidence is that the anagram of meconium (baby shit) is encomium which means, inter alia, “a formal speech delivering praise”, the connection between the two not unfamiliar to those who have heard many such insincere orations.  Economium was from the Latin encōmium (praise, eulogy), from the Ancient Greek ἐγκώμιον (enkṓmion) (laudatory ode, praise), from ἐγκώμιος (enkṓmios) (of or pertaining to the victor), from κῶμος (kômos), (festival, revel, ode).

One obstetrician nominated the Ferrari paint color Verde Medio Nijinsky (medium green Nijinsky (Italver)) as a fine way to illustrate to medical students the shade of green a healthy infant’s meconium should display.  It’s probably more pleasing than a photograph (and certainly a sample) of the real thing.

Lester Piggott in green, red & yellow silks, aboard Nijinsky, 1970.

The Ferrari factory named Verde Medio Nijinsky after Nijinsky (Nijinsky II, 1967–1992, by Northern Dancer out of Flaming Page), a Canadian-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred.  In 1970, trained by Vincent O'Brien (1917-2009) and ridden by Lester Piggott (1935–2022), he was the twelfth winner of the English Triple Crown (run since 1853 and comprising (1) the 2,000 Guineas Stakes (run over 1 mile (1,609 m) at Newmarket, (2) the Derby (1 mile, 4 furlongs & 10 yards (2,423 m) at Epsom & the St Leger Stakes (1 mile, 6 furlongs & 132 yards (2,937 m) at Town Moor)).  No horse has since won the English Triple Crown and Aidan O'Brien (b 1969), who in 1996 took over Vincent O'Brien’s Ballydoyle stables, was not related to his predecessor.  The link between horse and factory paint chart was in the colors of the silks worn by the jockey; Piggott’s shade of green chosen for Verde Medio Nijinsky.  Ferrari during the 1960s offered almost thirty colors named after Thoroughbreds, a few of the more lyrical being Bianco Tetratema (1.441.110), Grigio Ortello (2.443.813), Blu Caracalla (2.666.901), Blu Turchese Molvedo (2.443.632) & Verde Sea-Bird (2.665.902).

Major Count Francesco Baracca with his SPAD S-XIII (left), the prancing horse on the fuselage base of that on his family’s coat of arms (right).

The link between horses and the Cavallino Rampante ((little) prancing horse) escutcheon chosen by Enzo Ferrari (1898-1988) for both the Scuderia Ferrari team and later the cars he would build lies in a meeting il Commendatore had with the mother of Major Count Francesco Baracca (1888–1918), Italy's top fighter ace of the Great War.  The count had emblazoned on the side of his aircraft a horse rearing on its rear hooves, a stylized variation of that which appeared on his family’s coat of arms.  In Italian heraldry, the prancing horse was of some significance, dating from 1692 when it appeared on the standard of Victor Amadeus II (1666–1732; Duke of Savoy 1675-1730 & King of Piedmont-Sardinia 1720-1730) of Savoy’s Royal Piedmont cavalry regiment.  The horse on the fuselage was originally red, but was repainted black on one of the count’s surviving fighters following his death in aerial combat.  A myth later arose that Rolls-Royce had followed the precedent, switching the lettering on their radiator emblem from red to black to mark the death in 1933 of Sir Henry Royce (1863-1933).  Actually, although usually red, Rolls-Royce had often used black and other colors and the change is 1933 was aesthetic rather than romantic, the feeling that a dark hue would better suit the colors owners habitually choose and Sir Henry had endorsed the decision well before his death.  It was mere coincidence he died the same year as the change.

Alfa Romeo 8C Monza, Spa Francorchamps, Belgium, 1932.

Enzo Ferrari and Giulio Ramponi (1902–1986) in June 1923 won the first Grand Prix at the Savio Circuit in Ravenna, driving an Alfa Romeo RL-Targa Florio.  As part of the ceremony following the race, Count Enrco Baracca (1855-1936), father of the aviator, "entrusted" Ferrari with the image of the prancing horse to carry on the memory of his late son, later introducing him to the pilot’s mother, Countess Paolina Baracca.  It was the countess who suggested adding the symbol to his cars, assuring him it would bring good luck.  Alfa-Romeo’s corporate policies prevented an immediate use of the prancing horse but in 1929, Enzo Ferrari created Auto Avio Costruzioni (later to become Scuderia Ferrari) as a separate racing team although one still affiliated with Alfa Romeo and in 1932 permission finally was received for the symbol to adorn the cars.  On that day in 1932, fielding a pair of Alfa-Romeo 8C Monzas at Belgium’s Spa Francorchamps, the scuderia was again victorious, vindicating the faith the countess had shown and the prancing horse continued to be displayed until 1939 when Ferrari began his own car-making operation.  Squabbles and the war intervened but in 1947, Ferrari displayed the 125S (1.5 litre (91 cubic inch) Colombo V12, thus 125 cm³ per cylinder, the origin of the factory’s original naming convention) with the equine logo, although subtly modified, the tail now upturned (al la the Baracca coat of arms) the beast more sinuous and the background the canary yellow of Modena where il Commendatore had based his operation.  The prancing horse has adorned every Ferrari since.

1972 Ferrari 365 GTC/4 (Typo F101) in Verde Medio Nijinsky over beige leather (left) and Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Coupé (with Borrani wire-wheels) in Rosso Corsa over tan leather (right).

Although now regarded as a classic of the era, the 365 GTC/4 lives still in the shadow of the illustrious 365 GTB/4 with which, mechanically, it shares much.  The GTB/4 picked up the nickname “Daytona”, an opportunistic association given 1-2-3 finish in the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona involved three entirely different models while the GTC/4 enjoyed only the less complementary recognition of being labeled by some il gobbone (the hunchback) or quello alla banana (the banana one).  It was an unfair slight and under the anyway elegant skin, the GTB/4 & GTC/4 shared much, the engine of the latter differing mainly in lacking the dry-sump lubrication and the use of six twin-choke side-draft Weber carburetors (type 38DCOE59/60) rather than the downdrafts, this permitting a lower bonnet (hood) line.  Revisions to the cylinder heads allowed the V12 to be tuned to deliver torque across a broad rev-range rather than the focus on top-end power which was one of the things which made the GTB/4 so intoxicating.  One quirk in the specification of the Daytona was, unusually for a front-engined car, it used a rear-mounted transaxle to provide optimal weight distribution, reflecting the emphasis on performance. 

Runner-up & winner, 2015 Miss Universe Contest.  Ariadna María Gutiérrez Arévalo (b 1993), Miss Colombia 2014 & first runner-up (left) and Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach (b 1989), Miss Philippines 2015 & Miss Universe 2015 (right).  

Criticizing the GTC/4 because it doesn’t quite have the visceral appeal of the GTB/4 seems rather like casually dismissing the model who managed only to be runner-up to Miss Universe.  The two cars anyway, despite sharing a platform with the same wheelbase and track, were intended for different purposes, the GTB/4 an outright high performance road car which could, with relatively few modifications, be competitive in racing whereas the GTC/4 was a grand tourer, even offering occasional rear seating for two (short) people.  One footnote in the history of the marque is the GTC/4 was the last Ferrari offered with the lovely Borrani triple-laced wire wheels; some GTB/4s had them fitted by the factory and a few more were added by dealers but the factory advised that with increasing weight, tyres with much superior grip and higher speeds, they were no longer strong enough in extreme conditions and the cast aluminum units should be used if the car was to be run in environments without speed restrictions such as race tracks or certain de-restricted public roads (then seen mostly in West Germany (FRG), Montana & Nevada in the US and Australia's Northern Territory & outback New South Wales (NSW)).  A Ferrari in Verde Medio Nijinsky is a rarity but does illustrate how well colors other than the dominant red can suit the lines.  A Ferrari in white or navy blue can be a revelation.

Cinderella.  As a design, the once neglected GTC/4 really should be compared with the other big 2+2 coupés of the era, exotic and otherwise.  Whatever the extent of the mechanical similarity, the GTB/4 was a thing of a certain time and place which both allowed and dictated something more uncompromising.  The still stunning GTB/4 was the evolutionary apex of its species; it can't be improved upon but the GTC/4 is no ugly sister and when contemplating quello alla banana, one might reflect on the sexiness of the fruit.

A neglected color: 1972 Ferrari 365 GTC/4 (left) resplendent in Verde Medio Nijinsky and 1974 Dino 246 GTS (right) in Verde Medio Nijinsky with a matching Lindsay Lohan (centre), rendered in AI (artificial intelligence) as “The Incredible Hulk” by Stable Diffusion.  Ferrari finished only three Dino 246s in Verde Medio Nijinsky.

Patriarch

Patriarch (pronounced pey-tree-ahrk)

(1) The male head of a family or tribal line.

(2) A person regarded as the father or founder of an order, class etc.

(3) Any of the very early Biblical personages regarded as the fathers of the human race, comprising those from Adam to Noah (antediluvian patriarchs) and those between the Deluge and the birth of Abraham (the postdiluvian).

(4) Any of the three great progenitors of the Israelites: Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob.

(5) Any of the sons of Jacob (the twelve patriarchs), from whom the tribes of Israel were descended.

(6) In early Christian church, any of the bishops of any of the ancient sees of Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, Jerusalem, or Rome having authority over other bishops.

(7) In casual use, the oldest or most venerable member of a group or community; a person regarded as the founder of a community, tradition etc.

(8) In the Roman Catholic Church, one of the titles bestowed on a pope.

(9) In the Mormon Church, another word for Evangelist.

(10) In certain churches (especially the Uniat (Eastern Christians who profess the same doctrines as the rest of the Roman Catholic Church)), a title given to a number of bishops, indicating their rank as immediately below that of the pope.

(11) In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the bishops of the four ancient principal sees of Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem, and also of Russia, Romania, and Serbia, the bishop of Constantinople (the ecumenical Patriarch) being highest in dignity among these.

(12) In some of the sects of Eastern Christianity, the head of the Coptic, Armenian, Syrian Jacobite, or Nestorian Churches, and of certain other non-Orthodox Churches in the East (including the Egyptian Coptic church which is headed by a pope).

1175–1225: From the Middle English patriark(e), from the Late Latin patriarcha, later reinforced by the Old French patriarche, from the Byzantine Greek πατριάρχης (patriárkhēs) (the founder of the tribe/family) and patriárchēs (high-ranking bishop), from the Ancient Greek πατριά (patriá) (generation, ancestry, descent, tribe, family) + -αρχης (-arkhēs) (-arch).  The Late Latin sufficx –arch is from the Classical Latin -archēs, from the Ancient Greek -άρχης (-árkhēs), from ἀρχή (arkhḗ) (rule, government), ultimately from the primitive Indo-European hzergh- (to begin, rule, command).  The most familiar early use, dating from the twelfth century, was a patriarke (one of the Old Testament fathers; progenitors of the Israelites) and it was used also as an honorific title of certain bishops of the highest rank in the early Church, notably those of Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome.  The use of the noun patriarchy describe an "ecclesiastical province under a patriarch; church government by patriarchs" emerged in the 1560s and the sense of a "system of society or government by fathers or elder males of the community" was recorded first in the 1630s, the meaning "the father and ruler of a family" dates from 1817.  The feminine form is patriarchess (the wife of a patriarch; a woman with the role of a patriarch) while the noun patriarchist was created to refer to a supporter of the Patriarch of Constantinople against the Exarch of Bulgaria during the schism of 1872–1945.  

Patriarch, patriarchy, patriarchdom, patriarchism, patriarchist, patriarchate & patriarchship are nouns, patriarchal, patriarchic, patriarched & patriarchical are adjectives, patriarchize is a verb, patriarchized is a (contested) verb & adjective and patriarchally & patriarchically is an adverb; the noun plural is patriarchs.  Some of the adjectival forms are obsolete, many unknown since the early nineteenth century.  The rare antipatriarch is mostly a historic reference but is still used by clerics accusing each-other of some heresy.

Constantinople

The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is one of more than a dozen autocephalous (from the Ancient Greek αὐτοκεφαλία (property of being self-headed)) churches (or "jurisdictions") of the Eastern Orthodox Church.  The structure, within the model of a hierarchical Christian church, is one where head bishops do not report to any higher-ranking bishop.  Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is, by virtue of the historical location of Constantinople as capital of the old Byzantine (and former Eastern Roman) Empire, regarded as primus inter pares (first among equals) among all the Eastern Orthodox prelates.  The office is best understood as something similar to that of the Archbishop of Canterbury within the worldwide Anglican community: a spiritual leader.  The seats of Lambeth and Constantinople are thus not comparable with that of the Holy See in Rome where the pontificate exists as an absolute theocracy within the city and an administrative and doctrinal hierarchy beyond although some popes took not long to work out their authority was more impressive on paper than on the ground.

Everywhere one looks, one finds the patriarchy.

The position of the Uniat churches in the Eastern mix is sometime misunderstood.  The Uniat are Eastern Christians who profess the same doctrines as the rest of the Roman Catholic Church although their rites and discipline are drawn as much from Byzantine as from the Latin Rites and within many non-Uniat churches, there are Uniat factions which maintain an allegiance to the Pope.  As a theological point, the word "Uniat," though in wide use as a descriptor, is not often used by Eastern Catholics because it’s thought to imply something less than complete allegiance to the Holy See.

The Roman Catholic Pope Francis (b 1936; pope since 2013) and Bartholomew I (Dimitrios Arhondonis (b 1940); Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople since 1991), waiting for their Uber to take them to the Black & White Ball.

Silhouette

Silhouette (pronounced sil-oo-et)

(1) A two-dimensional representation of the outline of an object, as a cutout or representation drawing, uniformly filled in with black, especially a black-paper, miniature cutout of the outlines of a person's face in profile.

(2) The outline or general shape of something.

(3) Any dark image outlined against a lighter background; the outline of a solid figure as cast by its shadow.

(4) To show in or as if in a silhouette; to cause to appear in silhouette.

(5) In printing, to remove the background details from (a halftone cut) so as to produce an outline effect.

(6) In motorsport, a category which limits modifications which change a vehicle’s side-silhouette.

1759: From the French à la silhouette, named after Étienne de Silhouette (1709–1767), controller general (1759) in the French government.  The surname was a gallicized form from Biarritz in the French Basque country and the southern Basque spelling would be Zuloeta, Zulueta, Ziloeta or Zilhoeta, the construct being zulo (hole, cave) + the suffix -eta (abundance of).  The word came widely to be applied to the artwork (which had existed since 1743 and sometimes called figure d'ombre (shadow figure) in 1859.  The rare alternative spelling is silhouet and the verb dates from 1876, derived from the noun.  Silhouette is a noun & verb and silhouetted & silhouetting are verbs; the noun plural is silhouettes. 

Lindsay Lohan with pony-tail in silhouette, smoking.

Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (1721–1764 and usually referred to as Madame de Pompadour), was a member of the French court of Louis XV (1710–1774; King of France 1715-1774) and the king’s official chief mistress (that how things then were done) between 1745-1751 and a court favorite until her death.  One way the estimable Madame de Pompadour used her influence was in appointments to government offices.  While some of this was little more than nepotism and the spreading around of sinecures, one substantive position in the Ancien Régime was Controller-General (the treasurer or finance minister) and to this, de Silhouette, long recognized in France as something of a “wizz kid” in economics, was appointed early in 1759 with the concubine’s support.  The powers of controller-general made whoever held the job powerful but also vulnerable, the task of limiting the expenditure of the king not one likely to be popular in the Palace of Versailles but given the state of the royal exchequer after years of war, the need for reform was urgent.  Modern economic historians seem to regard the job he did as competent and orthodox example of rationalizing public finances and he managed both to reduce expenditure and institute a system of taxation which was both simpler to administer and more effective although probably more far-reaching were the long-overdue efficiencies he introduced in internal trade.

Silhouette of the Manhattan skyline.

Despite his success however, his budget for 1760 projected a huge deficit and a rising cost in debt servicing.  Seeing no alternative, he suggested adopting some of the methods of the detested English which involved collecting some tax from the previously exempt aristocracy, landed gentry and the richest of the clergy (of which there were a remarkable number.  That was his downfall and after less than nine months as controller general, De Silhouette retired to the country although, such was the urgency of things, his later successors were compelled to follow much the same course.

Prima Donna Deauville 100th anniversary bra (p/n 0161810/11); US$159.95 from Silhouette Fine Lingerie.

Why his name endures to describe the two-dimensional black-on-white images we know as silhouettes is obscure but there are two competing theories.  One is that his methods in finance and administration were all about simplifying what had over the centuries become a system of labyrinthian complexity so, a silhouette being about the simplest form of visual art, the association stuck.  A less sympathetic view is that he was thought an austere and parsimonious fellow so his name was linked to the simple, cheap black & white portraits which had since 1843 been popular with those unable to afford more elaborate forms such as an oil painting.  There’s also the suggestion the minimalist art was named as an allusion to his brief tenure as controller-general and finally, although there’s no evidence, some maintain de Silhouette decorated his office with such portraits.  Whatever the reason, the portraits gained their name in 1859, the year of de Silhouette brief ministerial career.

Silhouette of Mercedes Benz SLC (C107; 1972-1981, left) and 1979 450 SLC 5.0 in competition under the FIA’s silhouette rules (right).

Silhouette racing was introduced essentially because it was simple to administer.  There had been a variety of classes for “modified production” cars which permitted changes to bodywork to improve aerodynamic or allow wider wheels & tyres to be used but formulating and enforcing the rules was difficult; the regulations becoming increasingly precise, subject to variations in interpretation and cheating was rife.  What the introduction of a baseline silhouette for each competing vehicle did was provide a simple, literal template: if the car fitted through, it was lawful and if manufacturers wished to change a silhouette and produce a sufficient number of identical models to homologate the car for whatever competition was involved, that was fine.  Sometimes with variations, the silhouette formula has been widely adopted from classes as varied as series production to quite radical constructions with space frames or carbon-fibre monocoques and drive-trains unrelated to road-cars, the attraction always that the external skin continues to bear more than a superficial resemblance to a production model, something important to both manufacturers wishing to maintain a tangible link to their consumer offerings and an audience prepared willingly to suspend disbelief.

1972 Lamborghini P250 Uracco (left), 1977 Lamborghini Silhouette (centre) & 1984 Lamborghini Jalpa (right).

Despite the name, the Lamborghini P300 Silhouette (1976-1979) wasn’t designed with competition in mind.  Instead, it was an attempt to produce an open-top model which could be certified for sale in the lucrative US market, then a place in which the factory had no offering.  The Silhouette was thus Lamborghini’s first targa-top, based on the P300 Uracco (1972-1979), a mid-engined V8-powered 2+2 which was intended to compete with the Porsche 911 and Ferrari’s Dinos.  Neither the Uracco nor the Silhouette went close to matching the volume of either of its competitors and only 54 of the latter were made but both contributed to the company’s survival in the difficult 1970s, something which at times seemed improbable.  The Silhouette’s successor was the P350 Jalpa (1981-1988), the final evolution of the Uracco.  Lamborghini was now more stable, the Jalpa was much improved and sold both in reasonable volume and, more importantly, was profitable.