NB! · Coming Up · Art · Museums · People
Since we are on the subject of châteaux, a reminder that until 2 September the Château d'Amboise is hosting an exhibition devoted to the death of Leonardo da Vinci. This year marks the 500th anniversary of Da Vinci's passing
Coming Up · Art · Moscow · Museums · Saint Petersburg
For those too idle to hunt out items for their own cultural programme, a small selection of events for the coming week. An exhibition by the practising National Geographic photojournalist Gerd Ludwig, “The Long Shadow of Chernobyl”. He is the only foreign photojournalist to have received permission to photograph in
Coming Up · Aristocracy · Art · Pop Culture
If you happen to have a couple of spare millions lying about, do not rush to invest in securities and cryptocurrency: this autumn two weighty collections of antiques, furnishings, art, jewellery and clothing go under the hammer. The auction houses will present the collections of two celebrated society ladies, icons
Coming Up · Faith · Art · Moscow · Ethnography
In the Russian North, special 'icons' were venerated: three-dimensional wooden figures of saints set in icon cases, sometimes carved at full length and reaching two metres in height. The oldest such icons in Arkhangelsk date from the 16th century. These original sculptural images were known as carved
NB! · Coming Up · Art
Coming Up · London · Museums · Observations · New York · People
Speaking of remains, do you remember my writing about my favourite philosopher, Jeremy Bentham, whose mummified body and head are on display at University College London? Well, for the first time in 186 years the philosopher's body will leave London and travel to the USA, where it will
Coming Up · Cinema · Moscow · Observations
In the film "Tender Age", the protagonist Kir Lopukhov, on the day before leaving for the front, says: "How can it be? A true Muscovite, and I have never once been to the planetarium." And on his last day in his native home he leaves his
Coming Up · Art · Books · Observations · Heritage
For some time I have been studying the subject of cultural losses in the war years, and for Victory Day I have decided to prepare a series of notes on the treasures of art and culture that our country has lost. Over the weekend I shall share the stories that
Coming Up · Archaeology · The East · Museums · Education · Saint Petersburg
The Hermitage Lecture Hall has launched a lecture series, “The Desert Castles of Khorezm”. Those of you in Saint Petersburg, do drop in for a cup of tea. Khorezm is a millennia-old Asian oasis, where excavations have uncovered settlements lost in the sands, irrigation works and necropolises. The next
NB! · Coming Up · Museums · Observations · Palaeontology
Tomorrow at 11.00 the Ulyanovsk Regional Museum of Local Lore will present a 120-million-year-old ichthyosaur skull with four nostrils. I would happily go myself. Those of you in Ulyanovsk, do not miss your chance
NB! · Coming Up · Archaeology · Science · Education
Applications and abstracts for the 4th Youth School of Geoarchaeology, organised by the Institute of Mineralogy of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, are accepted until 20 February. The website, however, seems to have trouble with its encoding: https://clck.ru/AT6Mx