23 February 1792 - Sir Joshua Reynolds died.

Along with Gainsborough Reynolds was this country's leading artist of the 18th century. Gainsborough specialized in landscapes while Reynolds was the recognized expert portrait artist. He was knighted in 1769 and in 1784 was appointed Principal Painter in Ordinary to the King.

He painted most of the leading figures of the day including the Royal Family.

24 February 1852 - George Moore born. 

Anglo-Irish novelist considered the first great Irish novelist of the 19th century, although his works are largely forgotten today.

He spent several years as a young man in Paris where he was influenced by Zola's realistic style of writing and adopted it in his own novels. His first success came with A Mummer's Wife in 1885, followed by further acclaim with Confessions of a Young Man (1888) based on his experiences in Paris and Esther Waters (1894).

25 February 1841 - Pierre-Auguste Renoir born.

French impressionist painter renowned for his portrayal of feminine sensuality and group scenes.

25 February 1841 - Pierre-Auguste Renoir born.

French impressionist painter renowned for his portrayal of feminine sensuality and group scenes.

That's my kind of art, vibrant, jolly, real life and colourful. Just take a look at that table alone, isn't that fantastic?

26 February 1802 - Victor-Marie Hugo born.

French writer whose two best known works came more than thirty years apart, the novels The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) and Les Misérables (1862). 

He fled France in 1851 after President Napoleon Bonaparte's coup and lived in the British held Channel Islands until 1870 when he returned to France following Napoleon's overthrow. 

Anthony Hopkins played the role too. 

25 February 1841 - Pierre-Auguste Renoir born.

French impressionist painter renowned for his portrayal of feminine sensuality and group scenes.

That's my kind of art, vibrant, jolly, real life and colourful. Just take a look at that table alone, isn't that fantastic?

I see the last supper. 

27 February 1902 - John Steinbeck born.

US novelist who wrote about the struggles of poorer families during the Depression, his best known works are Tortilla Flat (1935), Of Mice and Men (1937), The Grapes of Wrath (1939) and Cannery Row (1945).

28 February 1916 - Henry James died.

Anglo-American novelist and short story writer. He lived in Europe from his mid 20s becoming a British citizen in 1915 less than a year before his death aged 72. Remembered for the novels Daisy Miller (1878), The Portrait of a Lady (1881), The Ambassadors (1903). The Golden Bowl (1904) and perhaps his best known short story The Turn of the Screw (1898).

I find his novels a very mixed bag; some great others unreadable. I've twice started The Ambassadors but given it up as too complex. The good news is that the BBC's adaptation from 1977 is on TV this week.  

29 February 1940 - Edward Frederick Benson died.

E F Benson son of the Archbishop of Canterbury best remembered as a writer of humorous fiction, although he also wrote horror stories, plays and biographies. His most popular works are his five Mapp and Lucia novels published between 1920 and 1939 dramatized twice for British TV.

1 March 1810 - Frédéric Chopin born.

Polish composer who lived in France from the age of 20. Most of his compositions are for piano with the most famous being his Piano Sonata no 2 in B flat minor, the funeral march.

He died in Paris aged just 39.

Not one of my favourites, not enough umphh. This is probably my favourite piece.... Fantasie impromptu

1 March 1810 - Frédéric Chopin born.

Polish composer who lived in France from the age of 20. Most of his compositions are for piano with the most famous being his Piano Sonata no 2 in B flat minor, the funeral march.

He died in Paris aged just 39.

Beethoven and Mozart wrote funeral marches. Beethovan's you would recognise from our state occasions such as remembrance day and Royal Funerals etc. and Mozarts has been used in films and dramas. Handel also wrote one but his is not very well known

This is Ludwig's

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

My sources give a different middle name, although it does begin with F.

2 March 1930 - David Herbert Lawrence died.

D H Lawrence the English novelist poet and playwright. Born into a mining family in Nottinghamshire Lawrence escaped from poverty to become a teacher. His best known novels are Sons and Lovers (1913) and the highly controversial Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928). After the end of the war he travelled widely before settling in the USA in 1922. However advanced tuberculosis compelled him to return to Europe. He lived in Italy but died in France aged just 44.

Lady Chatterley's Lover was only published in its unexpurgated form in the UK in 1960 following an obscenity trial in which prosecution counsel gave the famous words - is this the kind of book "you would wish your wife or servants to read".

The nuns can't get you now. 

The nuns can't get you now. 

It's not the nuns Mark, it's the eternity thingy. Proddy's never "get" the sacrifice part. I shall light a candle for you.