The Lacemaker by Tropinin

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a millenium-size jigsaw puzzle worth? Featuring paintings and photographs from around the world, these puzzles not only grace our collections with visual imagery, but also challenge the puzzle enthusiast with one thousand elegant problems, or perhaps just one less, because the last piece may render its solution itself, if all the other pieces are solved correctly.

The jigsaw puzzle was born as an instructional game to help children study geography. And what might have been the subject of the first puzzle? The map of the world! One beautiful day in the eighteenth century England, the cartographer John Spilsbury attached a map to a piece of wood and cut around the borders of the countries, using a fine bladed saw. The result was a new educational game - the magic world of jigsaw puzzles. Later, as the years went by, the wood was replaced by the paperboard and as the puzzles developed complexity, they started appealing to adults, as well.

Today, puzzles come in variety of formats, sizes, and skill levels, such as three-dimensional, double-sided, and computerized versions, as well as Family puzzles, that are composed of different size pieces, from large to small, allowing the family of diverse size hands and skill levels to work on the puzzle together. The library visitors at the International Languages department approach the puzzles, many of which have been donated by the Central Library team, for various reasons, such as to take a short break from reading, spend a little fun time while waiting for a computer, or simply as a friendly challenge in search of an elegant solution.

Some puzzles present double challenge – the game to solve and the subject it depicts to puzzle out. Who is that mysterious lady in an open carriage? Here puzzle enthusiast Luis Tlahuiz is puzzling over the Unknown Lady by Kramskoy.

Taj Mahal; Agra, India

Fira Village; Island of Santorini, Greece

Eiffel Tower; Paris, France

San Giorgio Church and gondolas; Venice, Italy

Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany

Nan Lian Garden; Hong-Kong, China

St. Basil Cathedral; Moscow, Russia

Double-Decker; London, England

Times Square, New York City

Curaçao Harbor

Colorful Indian Shades

Riomaggiore; Liguria, Italy

Home, Sweet Home

Foxes

Poolside Pets

Buds in Bloom

Sweetwater Cottage

Beyond the Autumn Gate

A Perfect Summer Day

Conquering the Storms

A Peaceful Time

Neuschwanstein Castle; Bavaria, Germany

Grand Canal; Venice, Italy

Puzzles come in different sizes and formats. Here is a postcard-puzzle of only twenty-four pieces - a bouquet of flowers - the smallest puzzle of the International Languages puzzle gallery.