Old caricature with a French caption: a huge truffle looms over a balding man in a dark suit, with other guests seated in the background.

Observations · Mores · Humour

Caricature of a dinner guest who must eat truffles he dislikes out of politeness

How an unfortunate guest who detests truffles sees a truffle on his plate. I can tell you that he is plainly not in a Moscow restaurant

Pale statuette of a nude Judith with a sword, holding the head of Holofernes by the hair above a pedestal; a clover image covers the lower body.

Art · Museums · Observations · Humour

Statuette of Judith with a sword and the curly-haired head of Holofernes

Little Judith, 1525, by the German sculptor Conrad Meit, alabaster, Bavarian National Museum. Holofernes has really lovely hair

Faith · Observations · Society · Rome

I listened yesterday to Pope Francis opening a conference on the priesthood, and tried to look at the pontiff afresh

I listened yesterday to Pope Francis opening a conference on the priesthood, and tried to look at the pontiff afresh. We have grown used to the Pope saying, almost invariably, the right things, the things that many would like to hear in their progressive secrecy. But alongside these things, expected

Faith · Society · People

Pope Francis called clericalism a perversion of faith and said what pastors the people need

Pope Francis criticised clericalism, calling it a perversion of faith, because it is founded not on closeness but on distance. While the People of God need shepherds like Jesus, not church functionaries or professionals of holiness, but shepherds full of compassion and care, courageous men ready to draw near to

Blue wooden bed with an arched canopy and carved front arch, floral wallpaper inside, a dresser with crockery on the left.

NB! · Books · Ethnography

Pine canopy bed from County Waterford in Claudia Kinmonth's book on Irish country furniture

A canopied bed resembling a barrel. The decoration of the bed is stylised after the interior fittings of a large, wealthy house, while the bed itself is made of rather rough planks. Illustration from Claudia Kinmonth's book on Irish country furniture.

Low-angle shot: a soldier in a helmet with a chain across his chest raises a finger before a man in a cap and a bearded elder in a hood.

NB!

Black-and-white film still: a helmeted soldier speaking with two hooded men

NB! · Cinema

Stills from Carl Theodor Dreyer's 1928 film The Passion of Joan of Arc

Aristocracy · Archive · Monarchies

A Meeting of Exiled Queens in Lausanne

A meeting of exiled queens in Lausanne. The exiled Queen of Spain, Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, receives the daughters of her cousin, the Greek queen consort Sophia of Prussia, the exiled Queen of Romania, Helen, and the exiled Queen of Croatia, Irene, at her own residence, Vieille Fontaine, in 1968.

Coming Up · Art · Moscow · Humour

Exhibition “Apophenia” on the search for phantom connections opens at Ground Solyanka

A stag made of dung and sticks may nowadays turn out to be the altar of a forest deity, the centrepiece of a spa salon's lounge area and a showpiece at an art exhibition. This handsome fellow is the work of Ho Gui, an art collective that calls

A textile doll in black with a pale face, dark hair and six white hands hangs on threads. A small gilt-framed mirror is set in its chest, and it casts a shadow on the wall.

NB!

Suspended multi-armed textile doll with a small mirror on its chest

Screenshot of two Russian-language comments quoting Tolkien: evil cannot create anything new, only spoil what good forces made. The first has 4.2K likes.

NB!

Two comments quoting Tolkien on the nature of evil

Cinema · Books · Pop Culture · Humour

Tolkien fans have spoken quite clearly about Amazon's new show based on the appendices to The Lord of the Rings

Evil cannot create anything new, it can only spoil and destroy what good powers have invented. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Evil can also spend billions buying up the rights and try to squeeze the maximum profit out of them.

Alexandr Radayev