A 1646 engraving of caution and boldness in pharmacy and surgery

An engraving of 1646 depicts Prudence (left) and Boldness (right). Besides the ideals of medical practice, the engraving conveys the two principal medical trades of its day: the apothecary's art, with a physician giving medicine to a patient in bed, and surgery, with a surgeon amputating the leg of a seated patient under the physician's supervision. One can quite understand a man who is revolted by his potion, but why is the fellow so calm while his leg is being sawn off? So perhaps, quite possibly, the engraving should be read as sensible revulsion set beside insane fearlessness.

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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

A 1646 engraving of caution and boldness in pharmacy and surgery

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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