Monarchies · Observations · Mores
Today is the fifty-ninth wedding anniversary of King Juan Carlos of Spain and Queen Sofía. Looking at these loving people, one wishes everyone to carry through the whole of life a kind, warm and tender feeling for somebody, be it a spouse, a partner, a child, a friend, or
Art · Museums · Rome · Humour
Who are you, creature? What are you? Marble sculpture Boy in the Mask of the Satyr Silenus. 1st century AD, Villa Ludovisi. It probably captures a scene from the ritual festivities in honour of Dionysus, in which the figure of Silenus, one of his tutors, held an important place.
Architecture · Art · Moscow
The first sight of Moscow. John Pott Laslett. On 2 September Napoleon approached Moscow and climbed Poklonnaya Hill, expecting that at any moment, somewhere near Dragomilovo, a delegation of townspeople would present him with the keys to the city. But by that day, of the 270,000 inhabitants the ancient
London · Monarchies · Education · Society
Yesterday, at the opening of the parliamentary session, Queen Elizabeth mentioned in her speech a bill on the protection of free speech in connection with the rise of "cancel culture", owing to which many people have lost the ability to speak out, in particular on university campuses, on
Faith · Observations · Rome · Humour
Three church news items, which you may rank by importance yourself:. public audiences with the Pope have resumed in the Vatican, having been suspended since November 2020 because of the pandemic; the Pope told the three hundred people gathered that he was very glad to meet them face to face;
Archive · In the Press · Books · Mores
The Dark One and the Fair One. One can live by Shakespeare in Mariupol. When the Germans entered the dusty town, nothing in life seemed to have changed, for apples were still apples, and a house was still a house, and the October sun went down into the bay just
Archive · Mores · People
“A man who has been the indisputable favourite of his mother keeps for life the feeling of a conqueror, that confidence in success that often induces real success,” Sigmund Freud. In this photograph of 1926 Freud is pictured with his mother, Amalia Nathansohn, an Odessan by upbringing, who lived in
Books · Observations · Humour
Leo Tolstoy's complete works run to 90 volumes. Alexey Tolstoy's, to 15. As the saying goes, and who's going to give you more?
Monarchies · People · Humour
Queen Elizabeth II, speaking by video link with young lifesavers, recalled that in 1941 she had received a medal for her water-rescue training and had been very proud of it. Princess Elizabeth wore the badge constantly on her swimming costume, never suspecting that she had become the first child
NB! · Monarchies · Observations · Science · Humour
NB! · Archive · Moscow · People
Architecture · Moscow · Society · Society Pages
Irina Kupchenko, Rimas Tuminas, Lyudmila Maksakova, Nina Nekhlopchenko and Kirill Krok at a memorial gathering in honour of the Vakhtangov Theatre's veterans of the front. The Vakhtangov Theatre building was destroyed at the very beginning of the war, and dozens of the theatre's actors did not