Vita icon of the Prophet Elijah's fiery ascent, late 16th century

The Fiery Ascent of the Prophet Elijah, the very man who slew the priests of the god Baal and prophesied before King Ahab, a hagiographic icon of the late sixteenth century. Saint Elijah was taken into the kingdom of heaven alive, ascending on a fiery chariot drawn by blazing horses and casting down from the sky his sheepskin mantle, with which he passed his power to his disciple Elisha. Such an ascent is linked with the pagan cults of thunder-gods. On the icon, two angels lift the fiery orb bearing Elijah's chariot; in the lower part of the panel Elijah reclines beside a stream that resembles an enormous worm, while an angel bends over him

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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

Vita icon of the Prophet Elijah's fiery ascent, late 16th century

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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