There have been dozens of interpretations of Las Meninas but most critics assume that either the Royal couple, or their portrait in the Velazquez's large canvas shown in the picture, is actually reflected on a back mirror. I shall provide evidence, however, to support the view that this mirror never existed. And there is no evidence whatsoever that the double portrait was ever painted. In view of these facts I shall make a new proposal about the way the picture was painted and about the painter's intentions. I shall show evidence that the king was adamant that he did not want his portrait painted, since he did not want to show his age (he was more than double the age of his queen). It is thus reasonable to assume that Velázquez, in order to assuage the King's qualms, created the mirror, thus allowing him to produce a very diffuse picture of the royal couple, where no evidence of aging could possibly be discerned.

Is a common approach to knowledge about man and nature possible? With Leonardo da Vinci as our starting point we will explore this question. Leonardo was much more than a painter; he was a sharp observer of man and nature. What he saw (structures) and what he did (using his miraculous left hand as syntax) was translated into insights and methods of constructions as recorded in his notebooks. His view was holistic, as witnessed by his study of the eye; from the anatomy of the eye he proceeded outwards to a theory of perspective, and inwards to an understanding how perception and the mind are grounded in the brain. In this we see similarities to current studies of language, mind and brain. It is possible to see a kind of proto-version of the art and science of mathematical modelling in Leonardo. This is a methodology of wide scope, extending far beyond physics and engineering. With a sufficiently broad understanding of the key concepts of structure, syntax and algorithms we have a method strong enough to allow for a common approach to knowledge of man and nature, to what there is and how we know.

This article is part of a larger project on the interaction between Natural/Life Sciences and Literature, and is a first attempt to scout the area through concentrating on Degeneration, a book that sees Literature through the eyes of Medicine. Max Nordau, the author of the book, was a turn-of-the-twentieth-century German physician who read contemporary movements in Art and Literature as Disease. He was an adversary of pre-modernist and modernist movements such as aestheticism, decadence, impressionism, and so on, and failed to recognize their avant-garde character. The article examines how Nordau reads certain features of literary texts and works of art which he cannot understand as symptoms of the malfunctioning of the nervous system of the painters and writers concerned. Moving from the body of the text to the body of the artist, Nordau reads particular artistic features as signs of bodily disease of the artists, and he does so by opposing the rationalist discourse of Medicine to the figurative language of Literature.

Today Europe consists of a great number of nation states – some large like Germany, some small like Latvia – where nationhood coincides with statehood. This situation is the result of political upheavals, such as the Italian resorgimento and the waning of the Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth century, and the dismemberment of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the collapse of the Soviet Union and Communist Yugoslavia in the twentieth century. The process is still going on and the United Kingdom may one day be divided into three nation states, England, Scotland and Ireland. The author explores the origins of the modern state after Europe had passed through the tribal and feudal phases (fifth–twelfth centuries) and the role of the Church in the success of the late medieval monarchies, while making clear that the Church also thwarted their ambition to achieve full sovereignty. The author finally wonders what encouraged the European peoples to achieve independence and national statehood.

History as recorded very often follows the desire of political pragmatists. Nineteenth-century French views of Russia are a good example. France was in conflict with Russia through most of that century. As racism grew across Europe, French historians presented Russians as brutish Asiatics and a mortal threat to civilized Europe. The Russo-French alliance in 1894 changed these views, but the stereotypes continued to hibernate in the collective subconscious of the West to be resurrected in times of political expediency.

‘The Soviet Union, like the United States, was a country established to serve and promote a political idea, not to be a state for nations. The United States was founded in order to be a modern democratic polity; the Soviet Union in order to promote Marxism-Leninism. The Soviet Union thus began as a ‘modern,’ post-imperialist state. The cement holding the state together was a compound of ideology, a hierarchical, disciplinary party, charismatic leadership, and external treats. [In the 80s] this cement was crumbling… [The Soviet] state had lost its raison d’être and the people turned to the traditional and conventional basis of the state – that is, the nation. But since this was a multinational state – and unlike the multiethnic United States, most peoples in the USSR have distinct languages and territories of their own – [they returned to them to establish independent states.]’1

This article challenges the notion that the EU accession process has reduced the scope for informal practice in the judiciary in post-communist states. Elite survey data suggest that such practice is widespread – although primarily used in response to transition, informal practice has to some extent been carried over from communism and is largely used out of habit. Efforts to reduce the negative impact of informal practice in the judiciary should therefore not only seek to enhance its independence and capacity, but also address (1) public attitudes towards the law and the judiciary as such; (2) the coping strategies applied when interacting with the judiciary; and (3) the judges’ and prosecutors’ responses to such strategies.

Several pieces of legislation have been enacted with a view to regulating the European integration process in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A plethora of bodies are in charge for approximating the EU acquis. However, the stabilisation and association process in the field of justice related matters has not proceeded as planned due to the existence of at least four legislatures for the Justice Sector and 14 Ministries of Justice (MoJs) whose competences and tasks are not well delineated. This article focuses on the specific issues affecting the transposition of Chapters 23 (Judiciary and fundamental rights) and 24 (Justice, freedom and security) of the EU acquis. Based on the analysis of existing legislation and administrative structures and meetings with local officials and foreign donors, the author argues how, for an effective legal approximation process, a review of the current allocation of competences among State, Entities, Brčko District and canton level cannot wait. After drawing comparisons with regional best practices in the field of European integration and illustrating the complex constitutional framework of the country, the administrative and legislative obstacles characterising the approximation of domestic legislation with European standards in the field of Justice and Home affairs are explained. The author concludes by offering a set of solutions to overcome the current situation.

This paper examines the importance of human rights protection – in particular the European Convention on Human Rights – to the Council of Europe's survival as a political authority. Its underlying premise is that the proliferation of regional organisations in Europe in post-war Europe, and the creation of the Communities in 1958, contributed to a loss of a sense of purpose as to the Council of Europe's role in post-war Europe. Initial attempts to widen the scope of its political authority in relation to the Member States and other regional organisations were unsuccessful. It was, therefore, necessary for the Council of Europe to consolidate its existing mandate in ensuring the region's democratic security through human rights protection. Thus, led by its Parliamentary Assembly, Council of Europe institutions have, since 1949, provided the Member States with the necessary regional fora for examining and promulgating regional human rights legislation, such as the European Convention on Human Rights and its two additional protocols abolishing the death penalty.