Archaeology · Faith · Science · Nature

Freshwater fish in the diet makes radiocarbon dates of bones from Danish monasteries look older

A fish diet can make radiocarbon dates of bones look older A Danish-Dutch team of scientists has checked the radiocarbon dating of 27 burials in medieval Danish monasteries. One would naturally suppose that monks and noble laymen could not have been buried at a monastery before the brethren had

Faith · Heritage · Society

Thirty communities of the Lithuanian Orthodox Church appeal to the Seimas against bills on churches

By 10 November, thirty parishes and monastic communities of the Lithuanian Orthodox Church, which belongs to the Moscow Patriarchate, had sent appeals to the leadership and deputies of the Lithuanian parliament. The communities object to bills that alter the legal status of the church, curtail its rights and transfer a

Icon of Saint George with a halo and red cloak on a rearing black horse, spearing a dragon against a golden background.

The Golden Age · NB! · Faith · Art

Saint George on a black horse slaying the dragon in a Russian icon of the 14th century

Saint George on a black horse, Russian icon of the fourteenth century

Faith · Observations · Society · People

Preacher Ignaty Lapkin of Poteryaevka, dissident and community founder, has died

It is nine days since the preacher Ignaty Tikhonovich Lapkin of Poteryaevka completed his earthly journey. Within my memory Ignaty Lapkin was perhaps the most vivid and original preacher in all the Russian land. And, curiously, in his last years he gained particular renown through the vast number of admirers

Coming Up · Faith · Art · Museums · Society · Paris

Léon Frédéric’s triptych “The Ages of the Worker” from the Musée d’Orsay at the “Brussels 1900” exhibition at the Petit Palais

A triptych by the Belgian Symbolist Léon Frédéric entitled "The Ages of the Worker", painted between 1895 and 1897. It belongs to the collection of the Musée d'Orsay and is currently on show at the "Brussels 1900" exhibition at the Petit Palais in Paris.

Arched fresco showing Christ with bound hands among Pilate, halberdiers and other figures, with a servant on a staircase above.

Faith · Art

The Servant Bringing Water to Pilate in Pontormo's Fresco from the Galluzzo Charterhouse

I Wash My Hands At the centre of the composition we see Jesus Christ, with Pontius Pilate seated to his right. And who is that in the upper part of Pontormo's fresco from the Carthusian monastery of Galluzzo? A servant is coming down the stairs, carrying the water

A man in white papal vestments holds a piece of grilled meat on a fork, beside a smiling man in an apron at a brick grill.

Faith · People · Humour

Pope Leo XIV offers guests a piece of grilled meat with some fat

Who'd like some with a little fat? (c) Pope Leo XIV

Archaeology · Faith · Science · Ethnography

Hair and nail analysis of eight mummies shows Inca children were given alcohol before sacrifice

The children whom the Incas offered in sacrifice were given alcohol and plant-based substances that dulled the senses before they died. This was shown by a toxicological analysis of the hair and nails of eight mummies from Peru and Argentina, which are about 500 years old. The sacrificial rite

Faith · Art · Museums · Observations · Rome

Sleeping guards in Prospero Fontana’s “Resurrection of Christ” at the Accademia di San Luca

Say ye, His disciples came by night, and stole Him away while we slept Gospel of Matthew 28:13. Perhaps this is a mistaken reading, but I find the sleeping guards in Prospero Fontana's "Resurrection of Christ" (1563–1565), from the collection of the Accademia di

The Golden Age · Faith · The East · Art · Heritage

Two 14th-century Byzantine icons stolen in 1974 returned to Cyprus from Britain

Two priceless fourteenth-century Byzantine icons, stolen more than 50 years ago, have returned to Cyprus The icons of the Evangelists Matthew and Mark, created under the Palaiologan dynasty, were stolen from the Metropolis of Kyrenia in 1974, after the Turkish invasion of the island. Half a century later, the

A man in dark clothing with a hood up talks across a polished table with a pope in white vestments and a white skullcap; a silver tray with a red box stands on the table.

Faith · Pop Culture · Humour

Bob Dylan keeps his hood on during a meeting with the Pope

Bob Dylan chose not to take off his hood at his meeting with the Pope. Then again, the pontiff is wearing a headdress too

The Golden Age · Coming Up · Faith · Moscow · Museums

Night of Arts to take place on 3 November at the Andrei Rublev Museum in the grounds of the Spaso-Andronikov Monastery

On 3 November the Andrei Rublev Museum will hold its Night of Arts. The evening begins at 18:00 in one of the most atmospheric places in Moscow: the grounds of the ancient Spaso-Andronikov Monastery. The programme includes guided tours of icons from the 13th to 17th centuries, a