Art · Society · Humour
France. Conscription by lot. A peasant is handed a hat containing two tickets: the black one will send him off to serve, the white one will exempt him from military duty and, on the whole, save his life. The fellow twigs that both tickets in the hat are in fact
Art · London · Museums · Paris · Humour
How many summers, how many winters: a heartfelt reunion of brothers-in-arms. Embracing infants from Nicolas Poussin's painting "The Nurture of Bacchus" in the Louvre collection. The canvas is currently undergoing restoration, which is a good moment to recall the dispute over its attribution: the
NB! · Humour
Her: my father will be at dinner, could you look as serious as possible? Him: not another word
Art · Books · Observations · Pop Culture
An early star has fallen, there is coolness in the fields, A ferry glides, the water sings of something close by. And where the river gleams by a quiet grove, A grey-haired ferryman joins the banks together. There are so many partings on earth, and so many different fates,
Observations · Society
The time has come to "reap the harvest" for those who did, after all, apply for presidential grants in the field of culture. The experts of the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives, which this year is distributing 3.5 billion roubles among cultural projects, have familiarised themselves with
Art · Heritage · Society · Humour
On Sunday morning a new monument to Napoleon appeared in Rouen: on a bicycle, in a worn tracksuit, Air Maxes and Lacoste, in the colours of a food courier's uniform, and in a Napoleonic bicorne. The art object has been installed on the plinth of the real monument
Cinema · Observations
A new director arrives at a provincial theatre, and from the first minutes a smug, haughty expression never leaves his face: I, of course, know how everything here should be done. Gennady Fetisov is neither shallow nor stupid, and he wants to stage a "Seagull" the like of
NB! · Art · Observations · Mores · Humour
NB! · Art · Mores · Humour
A brooch "Look me in the eye, I want to say I'll forget you, I won't weep", with the portrait of a lover's eye, as you will understand. England, early nineteenth century
NB! · Archaeology · The East · Museums
With empty eye sockets and gaping mouths: not guests of Mutabor, but Neolithic masks from the Judean Desert. These 9,000-year-old artefacts are carved from limestone and served a ritual purpose, embodying the spirits of ancestors
NB!
Art · Museums · Observations · Paris · Humour
It must be said, a very good likeness: you have scarcely changed, my dear