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Sister Plautilla Nelli’s “Last Supper” shown again to the public after restoration

I Cannot Work Out Who Was Roasted for Christ at the Last Supper of the Self-Taught Florentine Artist-Nun Plautilla Nelli (1524–1588): a Capybara or a Monkey?

In the Renaissance, women were still barred from studying art, anatomy and the construction of the male figure, so the skill of Sister Plautilla Nelli, embodied in this seven-metre masterpiece, is doubly impressive. She mastered the craft of painting on her own, already living in the convent, and in the end founded a painting workshop that allowed the sisters to live in comfort.

The first woman artist of the Renaissance signed her pictures thus: pray for the painter, Sister Plautilla Nelli. After 450 years of oblivion, Plautilla's Last Supper has recently been restored and is once more on show to the public. So let us pray together for the gifted Sister Plautilla!

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Signs of violent death found on skulls from burials beside the royal tombs at Abydos

An American archaeologist has carried out a forensic analysis of skulls of people who were buried beside the tombs of Egypt's first kings at Abydos, and has found on many of them traces of violent death. Abydos in Upper Egypt served as the burial place of the kings

Black-and-white group photograph of people in masquerade costumes with fans and headdresses, some seated on a floor covered with confetti.

Guests at a costume party in a Moscow theatre in the early 20th century

A costume evening at one of the Moscow theatres in the early twentieth century

Professor Mie Oba proposes Japan as ASEAN's third partner alongside the US and China

Professor Oba Mie of Kanagawa University writes that Japan could become a third partner for the ASEAN countries alongside the USA and China. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations preserves its independence under the slogan of "centrality": the bloc's members seek to remain the principal forum

Blessing of Animals on 4 October, the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi

On 4 October, the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, who is regarded as the patron of animals and of nature, animals are blessed in churches all over the world. Stories of his sermon to the birds and of the wolf of Gubbio are associated with the name of Francis,

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Signs of violent death found on skulls from burials beside the royal tombs at Abydos

Guests at a costume party in a Moscow theatre in the early 20th century

Professor Mie Oba proposes Japan as ASEAN's third partner alongside the US and China

Blessing of Animals on 4 October, the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi