Faith · Art · Madrid · Museums · Rome

Two El Greco sketches for a Madrid polyptych in Palazzo Barberini, Rome

To see an El Greco in the flesh is a great stroke of luck. Of the slightly more than a hundred surviving works by El Greco in the world, Russia holds, for example, just five, and Italy eleven, of which Rome has only two, both in the Palazzo Barberini. These

Architecture · Faith · Heritage

Late 18th century church where a mammoth bone was reportedly gnawed to cure toothache

The Church of the Exaltation of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross at Nikolo-Berezovets. This church is said to have housed a unique relic: a mammoth bone, which, by custom, was gnawed to rid oneself of toothache. The vaults, as you can see, are in a sorry state of

A polished metal egg with a wavy seam across the middle and three inset stones: one purple, one pink and one striped yellow.

Faith · Art

Egg with coloured stones by the Austrian artist Koloman Moser, 1905

Easter egg of silver and precious stones. The work of the Austrian artist Koloman Moser, 1905

Marble cathedra with mosaic decoration, round inlays of green and red stone, twisted columns and a red cushion on the seat.

NB! · Architecture · Faith · Rome

Episcopal cathedra of 1254 in the Basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura in Rome

The episcopal throne of 1254 in the Roman Basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura. The blue-eyed one

Archaeology · Architecture · Faith · Heritage

One of History's More Original Riddles: Whose Relics Lie in the Tomb Beneath the Altar of St Mark's Basilica in Venice?

The relics stolen by the Venetians from Alexandria in the ninth century belong, according to the principal version, to Saint Mark, yet there is a stubborn legend that in place of the Evangelist's remains the thieves carried home those of Alexander the Great.

Architecture · Faith · Heritage · Paris

Notre-Dame de Paris nearly lost on 15 April 2019 and the restoration of the cathedral

5 years ago, on 15 April 2019, humanity nearly lost one of the greatest structures of our era, the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. They say that no more than half an hour remained before the masterpiece of a church was destroyed. The first stone of the Cathedral of

Coming Up · Faith · Art · Moscow

Which Lectures to Attend?

Which lectures to attend? If you are asking yourself this question and are in search of some intellectual leisure, I suggest casting an eye over the forthcoming events in Moscow. 🧩20 April, 12:00 Lecture “Anticipating Easter. The Raising of Lazarus and the Entry into Jerusalem”. Lecture hall of the

Faith · Art · Books · Museums · Paris · Nature

At the exhibition "The Medieval Bestiary" at the Musée de Chantilly: a Flemish manuscript of the late fifteenth century, the Mirror of Human Salvation, with a scene of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise

On the wall of the Earthly Paradise sits a Peacock, which in the Middle Ages was associated with the sin of pride, the very pride that made Adam and Eve think they could be equal to God?

Faith · Art

The Beating of Saint Anthony

Master of the Osservanza, c. 1430

A red church with white columns, one golden dome and blue domes with stars, under an overcast sky.

NB! · Architecture · Faith · Moscow · Observations

Klimentovskaya Church in Zamoskvorechye with red walls and white columns

I am very fond of the Church of St Clement. Such a smartly dressed Roman lady, but in Zamoskvorechye

NB! · Faith · Society

World Religions in Figures

Architecture · Faith · Monarchies · Rome

The Column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome and the rain episode as described by Cassius Dio

The Column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome. Erected in 193 in honour of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius's victory in the Marcomannic War. The marble column itself stands 29.6 m tall, and its pedestal 10 m; the original height of the monument was almost 42 metres, and for