Marble bust of Antinous as Dionysus and Osiris appeared at Sotheby's in June

How can you tell that Antinous is in the guise of Dionysus and Osiris? Look at the hair. It is swept up towards the forehead and gathered beneath a diadem, with ivy leaves and berries woven into it and heavy bunches of grapes at the temples. A splendid headdress, the very juice of the thing! On the head there survives a hole for attaching a separate crown of Egyptian type: there is your Osiris, and coins are known that show the face of Antinous in this guise. The marble bust appeared at Sotheby's in June with an estimate of 60,000 - 90,000 GBP.

Of course, the portrait acquires a special charm from its resemblance to the minister Oreshkin, whose features I have found in ancient sculpture before.

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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

Marble bust of Antinous as Dionysus and Osiris appeared at Sotheby's in June

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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