One of Titian's greatest canvases, "Ecce Homo", 1543

Pontius Pilate presents the captive Christ to a people thirsting for an execution and pronounces: "Behold the man!" The expression on Pilate's face remains a riddle: what does he feel at this moment, compassion, regret or disappointment?

The commission came from a wealthy Venetian merchant. Researchers have pointed out that the canvas assembled the eminent figures of its day: it has been established that Pilate bears the features of the Italian writer Pietro Aretino; the bearded horseman has been linked with the likeness of the Roman Emperor Charles V, the richly dressed elderly man in the foreground has been associated with the Venetian Doge Pietro Lando, and the oriental horseman behind him has been identified as Sultan Suleiman II. Apart from Pilate, the identifications of the other figures are disputed.

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Pope Leo XIV on the courage to do good, to forgive and to enter into dialogue

Our time needs men and women who have the courage to do good, even when it involves sacrifice. Draw near to those who are lonely, support the weary and seek out those who have lost their way. Have the courage to forgive, to begin anew and to enter into dialogue.

Old colour photograph with cracks: adults and children resting on the grass on a slope under a tree.

Orientalist Grigory Kozakov with relatives and children at a picnic near the village of Zhikharevka in 1903

The Orientalist Grigory Alexandrovich Kozakov, surrounded by his relatives, his daughter-in-law Countess Anna Nikolayevna Tolstaya, the children and their tutor, at a picnic near the village of Zhikharevka in 1903

Konstantin Ivanov's Cosmonautics Day poster, published in Moscow in 1977

Grow strong, cosmic youth! A poster for Cosmonautics Day, created by the artist Konstantin Konstantinovich Ivanov in 1977. The work was issued by the Moscow publishing house “Plakat” for 12 April. Konstantin Ivanov was a Soviet graphic artist and poster designer, Honoured Artist of the RSFSR. The theme of space

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

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Pope Leo XIV on the courage to do good, to forgive and to enter into dialogue

Orientalist Grigory Kozakov with relatives and children at a picnic near the village of Zhikharevka in 1903

Konstantin Ivanov's Cosmonautics Day poster, published in Moscow in 1977

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