In 1776 Joseph Wright of Derby presented a painting of a Solar System model as a scientific mystery

The faces of the figures in Joseph Wright's painting are lit by an unseen candle in accordance with the principal phases of the Moon.

In 1776 the British artist Joseph Wright of Derby presented to the public a painting in which a scientific subject was depicted as though it were a religious one. It was a bold attempt to demolish the hierarchy of genres.

"A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery, in which a lamp is put in place of the sun" is a painting astonishing for its time, in which the scholar and his pupils are portrayed in a mystery worthy of classical religious painting. The miracle of science and the rapture of contemplating it take the place of the Christian miracle. And the painting's symbolism is built not around an alchemical mystery or an antique myth, but around up-to-date scientific knowledge.

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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

In 1776 Joseph Wright of Derby presented a painting of a Solar System model as a scientific mystery

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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