Art · Books
A wondrous marble once a sculptor bought For carving. "Whether I make a god, or a table, Or a vessel for washing, — It shall be a god! Let the sovereign Hold thunderbolts in his hands! Fall to the dust, you mortals, — Behold the master of the universe!" So
Architecture · Faith · Art · Heritage
Almost 600 square metres of frescoes are called the most accomplished creation of Gury Nikitin. The subject of the main volume glorifies Our Lord Jesus Christ, telling the whole story of his life. On the piers are depicted the venerated saints, the pillars of the Church, together with representatives of
Art · Science · Pop Culture · Humour
Botticelli's "Madonna of the Veil" turns out to be a twentieth-century fake, painted from the popular 1930s actress Jean Harlow. Doubts about its authenticity were confirmed by the discovery of modern pigments. The true author of the "Botticelli Madonna" proved to be the
Coming Up · Archive · Art · Saint Petersburg
The Béton Centre for Visual Culture has announced a new project, "Masterpieces of Early Photography". The exhibition, which opens on 29 August, will present unique works by outstanding nineteenth-century photographers: David Hill and Robert Adamson, Édouard Baldus, Henri Le Secq, Gustave Le Gray and other masters whose
Archive · Art · Observations · Society
In the 1790s, campaigns against influences from France appear in England, frightened by the backdrop of bloody reprisals and the overthrow of the monarchy. A propaganda broadsheet compares two allegories of Liberty: Britannia with the scales of justice, Magna Carta under the protection of the imperial lion, and a staff
NB! · Archive · Art
Sophocles' *Ajax* staged in Sicily in 1939. The scene before the funeral of Ajax
Archive · Art · Society · People
"Personally, I am against freedom; I am for the Holy Inquisition" Salvador Dalí Context: Dalí made this remark after Franco, in 1975, had executed three members of the Anti-Fascist Patriotic Revolutionary Front and two members of the organisation Free Basque Country, all of them branded terrorists. Protests
Art · Cinema · Observations
A selection of films about the art world, painters and their muses, adventurers, passionate collectors and skilful forgers: cinema of various genres united by the theme of painting. Essential viewing; every one of these pictures will bear more than a single watching and will make a fine addition to the
Art · London · Society
Summer is a relatively quiet season on the auction market, but the Old Masters sale at Christie's in London on 1 July proved an exception. Canaletto's "Venice: The Return of the Bucentaur on Ascension Day" sold for £31.9 million, a new record price
NB! · Art
Faith · Art
An unidentified early Netherlandish painter, active approximately between 1483 and 1527. He is known by the name of the Master of the Magdalen Legend. The Holy Family. c. 1515 Joseph returns home with a basket of carpenter's tools. Jesus clutches at his mantle and points to Mary
Coming Up · Art · Museums · Observations
Works by Jean-Michel Othoniel in Avignon. Yes, this is the same contemporary artist whose chandelier of multicoloured glass beads hangs in the Petit Palais in Paris; his style is instantly recognisable. At present, works by Othoniel are on show in all the museums and historic sights of Avignon. I