Archive · Faith · Society
In the eighteenth century a number of crimes carried ecclesiastical penalties alongside civil sanctions. One such measure was penance, imposed by a church court. In 1716, for instance, the Military Statute obliged offenders to repent of idolatry, sorcery, the charming of firearms, fornication, perjury and manslaughter. Practice, however, could differ
NB! · Archive · Moscow · Museums · Heritage
Archive · Faith · Society
On 1 July 1949 Pope Pius XII excommunicated all Communists from the Catholic Church, calling Marxism an "implacable enemy" of Christianity. Excommunication was imposed for embracing the Communist doctrine and propagating it, for membership of the Communist Party and collaboration with it, and for reading and distributing its
Architecture · Observations · Humour
What Is Stopping You from Building Houses Like This? (In fact, we know what)
Art · Observations · Humour
The drawing is called “Big Dreams”. The artist is Jean-Jacques Sempé, 1997 And how do your weekends begin?
Archive · Mores · Paris · Humour
Tasty, and That's Full Stop: A Hundred Years Ago. A man awaiting his chips in Paris in 1920
Observations · Science · Society
Vladislav Panchenko, Vice-President of the Academy of Sciences, proposes the creation of a national list of scientific periodicals. He explains that “without a single national list of scientific periodicals we shall not be able to go on developing, or to defend our positions in the international scientific community, including
NB!
Cinema · Monarchies · Humour
Emperor Marcus Opellius Macrinus? I hardly recognise you under the make-up Surprises of Ridley Scott's "Gladiator II"
Architecture · Faith · Heritage
Firefighters have finished extinguishing the blaze at Rouen Cathedral. Repairs had been under way at the cathedral for the past several years, and its 151-metre spire was surrounded by scaffolding, where the fire broke out. Rouen Cathedral has burned more than once in its long history: in 841 a
Faith · Art · Books
Some Sample Schemes of the Layout of Hell, Purgatory and Paradise according to the Text of Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy" Hell: 9 circles. Purgatory: 6 circles and 3 circles of Ante-Purgatory. Paradise: 9 levels. In Hell there is pitch darkness, in Limbo, half-light. In
Art · Cinema · People · Rome
William Klein's photograph "Simone + Nina, Piazza di Spagna, Rome", taken in 1960, is one of the finest examples of the innovative style of the American photographer William Klein. Klein was drawn to street photography and sought to take fashion photography out of the studio. Here he