Wikipedia:Picture of the day/July 2013

Poster for Queen Christina, a Pre-Code Hollywood biographical film produced in 1933 and directed by Rouben Mamoulian. Starring Greta Garbo and John Gilbert, the film was loosely based on the life of Queen Christina of Sweden. Although initially receiving mixed reviews, it has since been credited as one of Garbo's best films.

Poster: Uncredited; restoration: Chris Woodrich

The Dog is a painting by Spanish artist Francisco Goya which is now in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. One of the Black Paintings which Goya painted directly onto the walls of his house sometime between 1819 and 1823, the work was transferred to canvas in 1874. Interpretations of the work vary greatly, such that art critic Robert Hughes said "We do not know what it means, but its pathos moves us on a level below narrative."

Painting: Francisco Goya

The Cape Petrel (Daption capense) is a seabird common to the Southern Ocean. The species are aggressive eaters which feeds mostly on crustaceans, although they are also known to eat fish, squid, and edible waste. When feeding they may spit their stomach oil at competitors.

Photograph: JJ Harrison

Official portrait of the 1899 Michigan Wolverines football team, an American football team which represented the University of Michigan in the 1899 season. Coached by Gustave Ferbert, the Wolverines opened the season with six consecutive shutouts, outscoring opponents in those six contests by a combined score of 109 to 0. However, they finished the season by going 2–2 in their final four games, losing against the University of Pennsylvania Quakers and a championship game against the Wisconsin Badgers.

Photograph: Fred Rentschler

The western terrestrial garter snake (Thamnophis elegans) is a species of colubrid snake found in southwestern Canada and the western United States. It is the only species of garter snake with a well-documented tendency to constrict prey.

Photograph: Steve Jurvetson

Thomas More (1478–1535) was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England, humanist, and author of several books, including Utopia. During the English Reformation More was staunchly against the King's separation from the Roman Catholic Church and refused to accept him as Supreme Head of the Church of England. As a result More was imprisoned, convicted of treason, and beheaded. As such, More was canonised by the Catholic Church in 1935 as an early martyr in the schism.

Painting: Hans Holbein the Younger

The GameCube is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo beginning in 2001. Meant as a successor to the Nintendo 64, the GameCube sold approximately 22 million units worldwide. It was the third most-successful console of its generation, behind Sony's PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox. The GameCube was succeeded by the Wii in 2006.

Photo: Evan Amos

Francisco Goya (1746–1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker regarded as both the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Goya was a court painter to the Spanish Crown, and through his works was both a commentator on and chronicler of his era. This portrait was completed when Goya was 80 years old.

Painting: Vicente López y Portaña

The Australian water dragon (Physignathus lesueurii) is a lizard native to eastern Australia, from Victoria north to Queensland. Adult males can grow slightly longer than one metre (3 feet), and both males and females have long powerful limbs and a long muscular tail. The dragons are primarily arboreal, although they can also swim.

Photograph: John O'Neill

Two adult Long-tailed Fiscals in Mikumi National Park, Tanzania. The Long-tailed Fiscal (Lanius cabanisi) is a species of bird in the shrike family Laniidae which is native to Africa. The birds prey on insects and small vertebrates, perching on a tree branch then diving at its target.

Photograph: Muhammad Mahdi Karim

The Church of St. John the Baptist in Harescombe, a small village in Gloucestershire, England. The church, consecrated in 1315, is a Grade II* listed building. It has an unusual bellcote, a small octagonal stone spire, and is home to the oldest bell in the county.

Photograph: Saffron Blaze

Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people in wheelchairs and is considered one of the major disabled sports practiced. Depicted here is a game from the first round of the 2012 Euroleague tournament, showing players from Toulouse (in red) and Roma (in white).

Photograph: Pierre-Selim

The Rokeby Venus is a painting by Diego Velázquez which was completed between 1647 and 1651. It depicts the Roman goddess Venus in a sensual pose, lying on a bed and looking into a mirror held by her son Cupid. The painting is the only surviving female nude by Velázquez. Since 1906 it has been in the National Gallery in London.

Painting: Diego Velázquez

Virasat-e-Khalsa is a museum located in Anandpur Sahib, Punjab, India, which was inaugurated on 25 November 2011 and consists of two complexes, one at each side of a ravine, connected by a bridge. It is intended to commemorate both 500 years of Sikh history and 300 years of the Khalsa (the collective body of all initiated Sikhs).

Photograph: Sanyam Bahga; edit: Ottojula

The SAP Center at San Jose (shown in 2008, when known as the HP Pavilion at San Jose), is an indoor arena located in San Jose, California, United States. It is commonly called the Shark Tank or the Tank, after its primary tenant, the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League.

Photo: JaGa

Zoe Lyons (born 1971) is a British comedian who has appeared on shows such as Dave's One Night Stand, Mock the Week, and The Wright Stuff.

Photo: Steve Ullathorne

Wheat Field with Cypresses is the title of three similar paintings produced in 1889 by Vincent van Gogh. This one, painted in July, can be seen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It was painted at the Saint-Rémy mental asylum near Arles, France, where Van Gogh was a patient.

Painting: Vincent van Gogh

Fredrik Pettersson (born 1987) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player, pictured while with Frölunda HC and now playing for HC Donbass in the Kontinental Hockey League. A right winger, Pettersson's international record includes a gold at the 2013 IIHF World Championship and bronze in 2010.

Picture: Krm500

A map showing Camp Sumter, an American Civil War-era prisoner-of-war camp at Andersonville, Georgia, United States. Prisoner-of-war camps are used for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war. During the Civil War, it was common for prisoners to die of starvation or disease; in Sumter, for instance, 28 percent of the 45,000 Union soldiers died.

Drawing: John L. Ransom; restoration: Jujutacular

A Double-banded Plover (Charadrius bicinctus) in breeding plumage. This wader averages 18 centimetres (7.1 in) in length and lives in beaches, mud flats, grasslands and on bare ground.

Photograph: JJ Harrison

A map (full view) showing the progression of the Second Battle of Guam (July 21 – August 10, 1944), in which the United States recaptured the Japanese-held island of Guam. The Japanese, who had taken the island almost three years earlier, saw more than 18,000 casualties during the campaign, most of whom were killed; the American forces took nearly 8,000 casualties, with over 1,700 killed. The first date of the battle is now celebrated as Liberation Day in Guam.

Map: Grandiose

The Princess from the Land of Porcelain is a painting completed by American-born artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler between 1863 and 1865. Depicting model Christine Spartali, an "Anglo-Greek beauty whom all the artists of the day were clamoring to paint", in a kimono, the painting was influenced by Japanese woodblock maker Kitagawa Utamaro and the French chinoiserie stylings. Since 1919 it has been held at the Freer Gallery of Art as part of the Peacock Room (another of Whistler's designs).

Painting: James Abbott McNeill Whistler; edit: Papa Lima Whiskey 2

The sperm whale is the largest toothed animal on Earth. The species was hunted extensively by humans throughout history, until protected by a worldwide moratorium on whaling starting in 1985–86.

Photograph: Gabriel Barathieu

St Luke's Church in Frampton Mansell. Built in 1843 by Lord Bathurst, the church is of Neo-Norman conventicle design (by J. Parish). It is an English Heritage Grade II Listed Building.

Photograph: W. Lloyd MacKenzie

DeWitt Clinton (1769–1828) was an early American politician who served as United States Senator and the sixth and eighth Governor of New York. He was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal.

Painting: Rembrandt Peale

A line-out at a rugby union match between Stade Toulousain and Lyon OU. When a player puts the ball out of the field of play, the opposing team is awarded a line-out; in the case of a penalty kick, the team that was awarded the penalty throws into the resulting line-out. A line-out is also awarded if a player in possession of the ball crosses or touches the touch-line while still in possession of the ball.

Photograph: Pierre Selim

The Black-headed Heron (Ardea melanocephala), a species of wading bird common throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. The heron is a large bird, standing up to 85 centimetres (33 in) tall with a 150-centimetre (59 in) wingspan.

Photograph: Muhammad Mahdi Karim

Liberty Leading the People is a painting by Eugène Delacroix commemorating the July Revolution of 1830, which toppled Charles X of France. Completed in the same year, the painting shows a woman personifying Liberty, leading the people forward over the bodies of the fallen.

Painting: Eugène Delacroix

A mating pair of Papilio demoleus, a common and widespread Swallowtail butterfly, photographed at Kadavoor, Kerala, India. After successful mating the female goes from plant to plant, laying a single egg at a time on top of a leaf, and flies off as soon as the egg is laid.

Photograph: Jkadavoor

Comet Lovejoy is a long-period comet and Kreutz Sungrazer which was discovered in 2011. Named after its discoverer, Terry Lovejoy, the comet was nicknamed "The Great Christmas Comet" owing to it becoming visible near Christmas.

Photograph: NASA/Dan Burbank

Persimmons are the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus Diospyros. Though not popularly considered to be berries, in terms of botanical morphology the fruit is, in fact, a berry. Pictured here is a Jiro persimmon.

Photograph: Joe Ravi