Faith · Art · Books

The world wallows in evil not because God wills it, but because sin-loving man wills it

Hieromonk Roman (Kropotov) ill.: Job and His Friends. Vladimir Borovikovsky, 1810s.

Faith · Art · Museums · Saint Petersburg

Ilya Repin painted “Job and His Friends” in 1869, depicting the biblical righteous man

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. And that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.. The story of Job, one of the greatest of the righteous, has drawn many artists, but one of the most piercing illustrations

NB! · Faith · Art

Job and His Daughters, William Blake

Architecture · Faith · London · Observations

A 1904 project envisaged a new neo-Gothic abbey in the immediate vicinity of Westminster Abbey, which had been judged too crowded with antiquities

A 1904 project envisaged a new neo-Gothic abbey in the immediate vicinity of Westminster Abbey, which had been judged too crowded with antiquities. The complex was to include the tallest building in Great Britain, far higher than the towers of Westminster, Big Ben and Saint Paul's Cathedral.

Faith · Art · Moscow · Mores

The opera "Stiffelio" never became widely known

The opera "Stiffelio" never became widely known. On its appearance in 1850 it was mangled by the censors and consigned to oblivion. The story of a married Protestant pastor capable of forgiving his wife her infidelity provoked a stormy and hostile reaction in Catholic Italy. Years later Verdi

Archive · Faith · The East · Education

The Mir Yeshiva’s route from Mir through Vilna and Shanghai to Brooklyn and Jerusalem

Pupils of One of the Most Famous Jewish Religious Schools, the Mir Yeshiva in Shanghai. Founded in 1815 in the small town of Mir in the Russian Empire, on the territory of present-day Belarus, the Mir Yeshiva played a key role in the development of Jewish religious education. And

Faith · Art · Moscow · Museums

The Pushkin Museum Acquires “The Adoration of the Magi” by Otto van Veen, Teacher of Rubens

The Pushkin Museum has acquired the painting "The Adoration of the Magi" by Otto van Veen, one of the greatest Flemish masters of the 17th century and the chief teacher and mentor of Rubens. The painting was executed by the celebrated master in his Antwerp period, around 1600.

NB! · Faith · Art · Observations · Humour

Lucas Cranach shrewdly observed that one small bite of the forbidden fruit was quite enough for Adam and Eve

Faith · Mores · Rome · Ethnography

The name of February from the Etruscan god Februus and the Roman Lupercalia

In most European languages, February is named after the Roman tradition. In Rome the month was called februarius mensis, after the Etruscan god of the underworld Februus, who was associated with rites of purification (februa, februare, februum), as was the month named in his honour. In mid-February the Romans

Architecture · Faith · Art · Heritage

The 1488 Church of Saint George at Voroneț Monastery and Voroneț blue

The most beautiful of Romania's churches, a pearl of Moldavian architecture, the Church of Saint George, built in 1488 and painted both inside and out. It stands in the Voroneț convent for women. A UNESCO World Heritage Site. The chief distinguishing feature of the frescoes is held to

Faith · Art · Heritage

The Voices of France, Paul Sibra, 1924, a painting and a fresco in the Church of Saint-Jean in Castelnaudary

What appears to be depicted is the apparition to Joan of Arc of the Archangel Michael, Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret, who told the girl that it was she who was destined to lift the siege of Orléans and drive out the invaders.