Protective caps on children in old paintings shielded heads from falls

Have you noticed the strange caps on children in old paintings? They are not strange caps at all, but protective contrivances meant to keep a child from cracking its head in a fall. The cap was stuffed with swan's down and wool, and most often fastened with ties. Until the child had learned to walk as it ought, this would secure it against the highly probable mishap of injuring the most precious part of the body. The protective cap in the form of a hoop was called a blood sausage, and one in the form of a little pot, a pudding.

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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

Protective caps on children in old paintings shielded heads from falls

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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