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Alexandr Radayev
Architecture · Faith · London · Observations · Heritage
New Coventry Cathedral of the 1960s beside the ruins of the bombed Cathedral of St Michael
In the 1960s the English decided to build a new cathedral beside St Michael's in Coventry, bombed in 1940, right next to the ruins, so that neither the tragedy nor the grandeur of the former building should be forgotten. The old Coventry cathedral was once the largest and
Art · Moscow · Museums · Humour
A subscriber at the Tretyakov Gallery tells a charming story
A visitor standing before "Lenin in Smolny" asked whether it was true that Brodsky had given the bald head an extra glow so that it would look like a halo. The guide replied that no, of course not: the bald head simply had to be set off from
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Museum painting: a woman with a bouquet shakes hands with a man at a meeting
NB! · Moscow · Museums · Observations
Visitors to the New Tretyakov Gallery are invited to the fourth floor
How can one not love the New Tretyakov Gallery? Do look in on the 4th floor
Books · London · Observations · Mores
The White Lady cocktail, the English legend and Boieldieu's opera after Walter Scott
There is a classic cocktail made from gin, orange liqueur and lemon juice: the White Lady. Its name is usually linked to Ella Fitzgerald, who sang about a white lady. But the cocktail itself was devised in London when Ella was still an infant. And in England the image of
Observations · Mores · Nature · Humour
Lady Hamilton's poodle Codina and the fashion for poodles during the fall of the French monarchy
Aww, what a darling! Little Codina, the favourite poodle of Horatio Nelson's mistress, Lady Hamilton. In Russia at this time large poodles were the fashion, while in Europe small ones like this were preferred. Poodles came into great vogue precisely in the years of the fall of the
Books · Observations · Society
Irina Prokhorova is preparing a book on women entrepreneurs in Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries
Irina Prokhorova has revealed that she is preparing a large book on women entrepreneurs in Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries. According to her, before the Revolution 13% of women in Russia had a business of their own. Well, we shall await the book.
Observations · Mores · Society Pages · Humour
At the Veuve Clicquot Award I learnt that Madame Clicquot was widowed very young and inherited rich wine cellars which it was DANGEROUS to enter, owing to the shards of exploding champagne bottles, so that the wine vaults could only be visited…
At the Veuve Clicquot Award I learnt that Madame Clicquot was widowed very young and inherited rich wine cellars which it was DANGEROUS to enter, owing to the shards of exploding champagne bottles, so that the wine vaults could only be visited in special protective suits, against the explosions. Sounds
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Man examining a painted ancient Egyptian sarcophagus at an excavation site
Archaeology · The East
In Luxor, a burial site containing 30 beautifully preserved 3,000-year-old sarcophagi of children and of male and female priests from the 22nd Dynasty has been discovered
In Luxor, a burial site containing 30 beautifully preserved 3,000-year-old sarcophagi of children and of male and female priests from the 22nd Dynasty has been discovered. It is the largest find since the nineteenth century. More here: https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-30-ancient-egyptian-sarcophagi-opened-
Archaeology · Art · Monarchies · Museums · Mores · Humour
Leather shoes of Henry VIII's era in Holbein's portrait and in museum collections
In Holbein's portrait, Henry VIII is wearing some seriously cool white leather loafers. This type of footwear was popular in Renaissance England, and such slippers became widespread in court circles precisely in the early sixteenth century, though they had to compete with another fashionable model, the heeled shoe.