If we are to believe that the prototype of the Queen of Spades was the old Princess Golitsyna, then we must of course bear in mind: Natalya Petrovna was one of the most beautiful women of her time, in Paris she was called the Muscovite Venus, Emperor Geor

If we are to believe that the prototype of the Queen of Spades was the old Princess Golitsyna, then we must of course bear in mind: Natalya Petrovna was one of the most beautiful women of her time, in Paris she was called the Muscovite Venus, Emperor George II gave her his portrait with a commemorative inscription, and at one of the balls in Saint Petersburg a gold medal bearing her name was procured for her as the most beautiful lady present. The granddaughter of Peter I's orderly married a fabulously rich prince and shone at the courts of Elizabeth Petrovna, Peter III, Catherine II, Paul I, Alexander I and Nicholas I. Golitsyna lived to the age of 97 and did indeed distinguish herself by a formidable temper and wretched habits, while about her card-table fortunes there circulates a multitude of legends

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

In the finale of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic, the Golden Ball is told: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to offend nobody, but the digest really does come free of charge. So, here is the main business of the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

If we are to believe that the prototype of the Queen of Spades was the old Princess Golitsyna, then we must of course bear in mind: Natalya Petrovna was one of the most beautiful women of her time, in Paris she was called the Muscovite Venus, Emperor Geor

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s