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# Fet begged to “drive the living boat off with a single push”, to catch the fleeting before it vanishes
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/fet-prosil-odnim-tolchkom-sognat-ladiu-zhivuiu-poimat-uskolzaiushchee-prezhde-chem-ono-ischeznet/
- Published: 2026-08-02T09:52:34.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:25:29.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Archaeology, Architecture, Faith, The East, Art, Moscow, Museums, Heritage, Science, Paris, Nature, Saint Petersburg

Fet begged to “drive the living boat off with a single push”, to catch the fleeting before it vanishes. The monthly digest has a more modest task, though the same one: to hold on to what matters before the flood of news washes it away. Here is the main news of July.

Archaeology and the origins of humankind 🧑🏻‍🔬 take up most of my time while I work on my dissertation. For the first time, a charred [Herculaneum scroll](https://theparnassian.com/vpervye-v-istorii-tselikom-prochitan-odin-iz-obuglennykh-gerkulanumskikh-svitkov/?ref=theparnassian.com), a Stoic treatise on ethics, has been read in its entirety, unrolled by a neural network and a synchrotron. The [necropolis near Bury](https://theparnassian.com/otkrytie-v-megaliticheskoi-grobnitse-v-50-km-k-severu-ot-parizha-pytaetsia-obiasnit-pochemu-podobnye-sooruzheniia-prekratili-stroit-po-vsei-evrope-primerno-v-odno-vremia/?ref=theparnassian.com) has supplied an answer to why the building of megalithic tombs ceased all across Europe at about the same time. And at Xultun in Guatemala the name of a Mayan mathematician and astronomer, Sak Tan Vash, “White-Breasted Fox”, has been [read for the first time](https://theparnassian.com/v-gorodishche-shultun-v-gvatemale-arkheologi-vpervye-rasshifrovali-imia-drevnego-maiiaskogo-matematika-astronoma-sak-tan-vash-belogrudyi-lis/?ref=theparnassian.com).

Art and its fate 🖼 remains the calling card of the channel. At the Hermitage, after three years of restoration, Titian’s “Saint Sebastian”, painted in patches in plague-stricken Venice, has been [put on show](https://theparnassian.com/v-ermitazhe-otkrylas-vystavka-odnoi-kartiny-titsian/?ref=theparnassian.com). And Jonathan Yeo’s [sinister portrait](https://theparnassian.com/zloveshchii-portret-karla-iii-kisti-dzhonatana-ieo-predstavlennyi-v-2024-godu-na-kotorom-figura-korolia-tonula-v-bagrovom-mareve-preispodnei-vsio-taki-popal-v-bukingemskii-dvorets/?ref=theparnassian.com) of Charles III has made its way into Buckingham Palace after all.

Restoration and heritage 🏛 The [Opéra Garnier](https://theparnassian.com/pri-podgotovke-restavratsii-parizhskoi-opera-garne-otkrytoi-v-1875-godu-v-konstruktsii-stsenicheskoi-ploshchadki-nashli-toksichnyi-svinets-iz-za-chego-raboty-rasschitannye-na-dva-goda-r/?ref=theparnassian.com) closes until 2032, and, by the way, lead has been found in the stage. The [“House of the Master”](https://theparnassian.com/zavershena-restavratsiia-doma-melnikova-emelianovoi-topleninovykh-na-mansurovskom-pereulke/?ref=theparnassian.com) in Mansurovsky Lane was saved only because Mosgornasledie (the Moscow heritage authority) compelled its owner to rescue it.

The market and money 💰 Klaus Kallmann, aged 98, has been [suing the Musée d’Orsay](https://theparnassian.com/98-letnii-klaus-kallman-deviat-let-suditsia-s-parizhskim-muzeem-orse-za-kartinu-vinsenta-van-goga-gospital-sen-pol-v-sen-remi-de-provans-1889-goda/?ref=theparnassian.com) for nine years over a van Gogh plundered by the Nazis. The [heirs of Stettiner](https://theparnassian.com/nasledniki-evreiskogo-art-dilera-oskara-shtettinera-prodolzhaiut-suditsia-za-kartinu-modiliani-sidiashchii-muzhchina-s-trostiu-1918-goda-kotoruiu-schitaiut-svoei-zakonnoi-sobstvennostiu/?ref=theparnassian.com) continue their litigation over a disputed Modigliani.

Church and power ⛪️ At Castel Gandolfo an [assembly on AI and nuclear war](https://theparnassian.com/v-vatikane-proshla-vsemirnaia-assambleia-po-iskusstvennomu-intellektu-i-iadernoi-voine/?ref=theparnassian.com) was held, with thirty Nobel laureates. And in Tallinn a lead [bull](https://theparnassian.com/v-tsentre-tallina-pri-raskopkakh-obnaruzhena-khorosho-sokhranivshaiasia-papskaia-bulla-svintsovaia-pechat-chetyrnadtsatogo-veka-prinadlezhavshaia-pape-klimentu-v/?ref=theparnassian.com) of Pope Clement V has been found.

Empires and learning 🏰 Genetics has shown that Lithuania was [ethnically mixed](https://theparnassian.com/izvestno-chto-velikoe-kniazhestvo-litovskoe-ostavalos-poslednim-krupnym-iazycheskim-gosudarstvom-evropy-do-1387-goda-poka-velikii-kniaz-iagailo-ofitsialno-ne-prinial-katolichestvo-v-obm/?ref=theparnassian.com) even before its baptism. And for a bedtime story, [the Persians sleep on the floor](https://theparnassian.com/persy-spiat-na-polu/?ref=theparnassian.com), courtesy of Dreuille.

Science and its mores 🦸🏽 The Silverpit crater in the North Sea has been confirmed as the [trace of an asteroid](https://theparnassian.com/v-severnoe-more-v-130-km-ot-beregov-iorkshira-upal-asteroid/?ref=theparnassian.com). A journal reviewer [extorted](https://theparnassian.com/vozmozhno-griadet-novyi-skandal-v-nauchnom-mire-na-fone-politiki-nauchnykh-zhurnalov-po-krainei-mere-ego-ochertaniia-uzhe-proslezhivaiutsia/?ref=theparnassian.com) money from an author in exchange for a favourable review.

Nature and history 🌿 In southern Brazil the Jê people grew an [oasis of araucaria forest](https://theparnassian.com/na-iuge-brazilii-na-vysokogornom-plato-v-samom-kholodnom-raione-strany-rastiot-araukarievyi-les/?ref=theparnassian.com) two thousand years ago. And should you feel glum, remember that 95% of the world’s reserves of [chaga](https://theparnassian.com/esli-stanet-grustno-prosto-podumaite-o-tom-chto-95-mirovykh-zapasov-chagi-nakhoditsia-v-rossii/?ref=theparnassian.com) are to be found in Russia.