Archaeology · Museums · Humour
Silver Bust of Livia and Bronze Figure of the God Bes from Herculaneum
"You look fantastic!" "Thanks, so do you" A silver bust identified as Livia, and the Egyptian bronze god Bes. Finds from Herculaneum
Alexandr Radayev
Science · Mores · People · Humour
Anecdote about the mineralogist Alexander Ushakov, who as a juror acquitted every defendant
There is an anecdote about the nineteenth-century Russian writer and mineralogist Alexander Pavlovich Ushakov. Ushakov was the kindest of men, wrote several important works on mineralogy and was reputed a connoisseur of the stage and the ballet. But he held rather original principles, calling idiots all who did not
Faith · Society · People · Saint Petersburg
Pushkin's funeral service in the Konyushennaya Church and burial at Svyatogorsky Monastery
The widow intended to have the funeral service for Alexander Sergeyevich held in Saint Isaac's Cathedral, but was refused: the priest regarded the duel as a suicide and declined to bury the poet. Other churches refused too. Far too many believed that Pushkin had in effect quit this
NB! · Architecture · Faith · People · Saint Petersburg
The Stable Church, where Pushkin was given his funeral service
Aristocracy · Archive · Observations · Mores · People
Pushkin's Closed Funeral Service and Invitations Sold for One Hundred Silver Roubles
Owing to the great unrest, Pushkin's funeral service was held behind closed doors: besides relatives and friends, only select representatives of the nobility and prominent public figures were invited. Entry to the cathedral was by invitation card, and these, as Skalon recalls, very soon turned up on the
Art · Monarchies · Museums · People
Execution of Emperor Maximilian, Manet's paintings and his coffin in the Vienna Furniture Museum
The coffin of Maximilian of Habsburg, Archduke of Austria and Emperor of Mexico, who came to the throne with the help of Napoleon III and by means of a so-called plebiscite. Maximilian was in many respects a charming ruler, but he failed to hold on to power: he swerved
Archive · Faith · Art
Repin repainted the priest’s face in “Religious Procession in an Oak Forest” in 1924
"The extract of our deacons, those lions of the clergy, in whom not one iota of anything spiritual is to be found: he is all flesh and blood, goggle eyes, maw and senseless roar" - so Repin wrote to Kramskoy of his "Protodeacon" in 1878. Well, these
Art · Moscow · Museums · Observations · Society Pages
I was very lucky on Monday, the museum day, to find myself at the colossal Repin exhibition and, avoiding queues and crowds, to see 300 works gathered over 3 floors from 21 Russian and 7 foreign museums and 7 private collections: nothing like it…
I was very lucky on Monday, the museum day, to find myself at the colossal Repin exhibition and, avoiding queues and crowds, to see 300 works gathered over 3 floors from 21 Russian and 7 foreign museums and 7 private collections: nothing like it has been seen for 25 years.
NB! · Faith · Art · Ethnography
The pilgrim women Repin painted in 1878 reached the canvas "Religious Procession in Kursk Province" by 1883 almost unchanged
Faith · Art · Books
Repin's paintings “Go After Me, Satan” and the dispute over translating a line from Matthew's Gospel
Ilya Repin has several paintings titled “Get thee behind me, Satan”. In them, a hideous figure of the devil stands behind Jesus. The words are a disputed quotation from chapter 4 of the Gospel of Matthew: some maintain that the Greek and Church Slavonic texts say “go (follow) behind me”
NB! · Architecture · Books · Heritage
Chukovsky's tiny library building, today No. 266, holds 14,000 books and is open every day except Monday
NB!