The Red Boy, or Portrait of Charles William Lambton, 1825, Thomas Lawrence

Charles William Lambton, heir to a barony and an ancient family castle, lived only 13 years; tuberculosis cut him down. In the portrait the boy is seven. A canvas by so celebrated an artist and academician cost a small fortune: 600 guineas, equivalent today to some 60,000 dollars. The boy was originally painted in a yellow suit, which displeased his father, who insisted on a change of colour. Lawrence himself, for that matter, was none too pleased with how the yellow sat against the tones of the background. In the end red won the day.

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free. So, here is 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

The Red Boy, or Portrait of Charles William Lambton, 1825, Thomas Lawrence

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

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