Museums · Heritage · Society · Paris
Today the Louvre was forced to close owing to a staff strike. The strike is the outcome of a mounting crisis that began several months ago, after the leak of a letter from the museum's director, Laurence des Cars, to the French Minister of Culture. In it she
NB! · Books · Society · Humour
Chitai-gorod conducted an internal audit and found out which books are stolen from its shops most often. The list was topped by the Constitution of the Russian Federation. In second place among book thieves came Orwell's dystopia 1984.
Architecture · Moscow · Observations · Heritage
The restoration project includes the recovery of the graphic design of the façades, executed by Rodchenko and Stepanova. The wooden windows and doors will be restored, as will the Metlakh tile flooring in the entrance hall. On the staircase, the metal railings with their wrought and cast decorative details will
Faith · Art · Museums · Heritage
An incredible medieval crucifix of copper alloy by the craftsmen of Limoges, which returned a couple of years ago to York, where it was long kept in St Mary's Abbey, now no more. The Yorkshire Museum bought the figure at auction for 8,500 euros. For more than
Architecture · Moscow · Society · Rome · Humour
If you too sometimes feel that most Moscow architects, with all their arches, cappuccino colours and studiedly plain façades, are simply trying to copy some little-known famous building, your instinct has not failed you. Such a building exists. It is called the Palace of Italian Civilisation and was built
NB! · Art · People · Humour
Interviews · Cinema · Observations · Paris
Not very well known, but still the winner of several film awards as director, actress and screenwriter, Zabou Breitman is the daughter of the fairly recognisable, if second-rank, actor, director and screenwriter Jean-Claude Deret, a descendant of baptised Jews from Russia. Zabou's mother is the actress
Observations · Mores · Paris · People
I read about Françoise Dumas, an 85-year-old Parisian society organiser and legend of the dinner party, who for the last 50 years has been engaged in the country's most important gala dinners, balls and other such rendezvous, is acquainted with royal and presidential families, and continues
Art · Museums · Heritage
Participants in the theft of the golden lavatory have been sentenced. The landmark work by Maurizio Cattelan, the very Italian-American who taped a banana to a wall, entitled "America", was stolen straight out of a museum in 2019. At around five o'clock on the morning
NB! · Archive · Art · Books
The Wheel of Fortune in a 15th-century edition of Giovanni Boccaccio's "On the Fates of Illustrious Men and Women" is shown as a carousel, with a king seated at the very top while courtiers go flying off the rickety side seats
Archaeology · Art · Museums · Rome
In the spring of 1885, a magnificent bronze sculpture of a resting boxer was found during excavations on the Quirinal Hill in Rome. The most interesting thing is that, unlike many finds from antiquity, this sculpture was originally hidden on purpose. Its excellent state of preservation is explained precisely by
London · Monarchies · Society · Humour
No, Charles III was not born on the same day as Donald Trump. But it so happens that both of them celebrated a birthday today. Only Donald Fredovich does so by right of birth, whereas Charles Philipovich does so by right of the crown. The point is that all English