Art · Cinema · Observations · Heritage

On Gustav Klimt's birthday, a reminder of the 2015 film "Woman in Gold" with Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds

On Gustav Klimt's birthday, a reminder of the 2015 film "Woman in Gold" with Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds. The plot is based on the story of Maria Altmann, heiress of the Austrian sugar magnate Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, who sued Austria for the return of works

Architecture · Faith · Heritage

Collapse of the Campanile of St Mark's Basilica in Venice on 14 July 1902 and its reconstruction

On 14 July 1902 the 98-metre Campanile of St Mark's Basilica in Venice, built in 1514, collapsed. The bell tower fell for no apparent reason: the load-bearing structures of the building are believed to have been worn and damaged by several earthquakes and lightning strikes. In

Architecture · Moscow · Museums · Heritage

In 2001 a man died when the rear bas-relief fell from the pedestal of the Minin and Pozharsky Monument: a visitor to the capital tried to climb the monument by way of the bas-relief, the copper structure began to come apart, the man fell, and from above o

In 2001 a man died when the rear bas-relief fell from the pedestal of the Minin and Pozharsky Monument: a visitor to the capital tried to climb the monument by way of the bas-relief, whereupon the copper structure began to come apart. The man fell, and a substantial

Architecture · Cinema · London · Observations · Heritage

London restores the 1929-31 control room of Battersea Power Station, which once supplied Buckingham Palace and Parliament

London has restored the control room of Battersea Power Station (1929-31), which once kept the lights on at Buckingham Palace and Parliament. The power station has been out of operation since 1981, and since then its premises have been partly mothballed and guarded as a piece of England'

NB! · Architecture · Geography · Heritage

The fortress of Rocca Calascio in the mountainous Abruzzo region of Italy consists of buildings of the 10th to 13th centuries

NB! · Heritage · Humour

The English, when they were struck by somebody's ancient culture

NB! · Art · Moscow · Museums · Heritage

After Six Years of Restoration, John the Baptist Against the Olive-Grey Hills of Toledo, by Domenikos Theotokopoulos, Known as El Greco, Returns to the Halls of the Pushkin Museum

NB! · Archaeology · The East · Art · Heritage · Humour

The Italian Lorenza D'Alessandro, art historian and curator, during the restoration of the tomb of Nefertari, Queen of Egypt, in Luxor

The Italian Lorenza D'Alessandro, art historian and curator, during the restoration of the tomb of Nefertari, Queen of Egypt, in Luxor. So reincarnation does exist after all?

Moscow · Museums · Heritage · Society · Reportage

Meyerhold Museum in Bryusov Lane closed after the liquidation of the TsIM centre

Soon after the liquidation of the TsIM, the Meyerhold Theatre and Cultural Centre, the Meyerhold Museum closed as well, though this closure passed almost unnoticed by the public. With the TsIM one can still guess at the reasons for what is going on, but why should the blow have fallen

Architecture · Moscow · Heritage

Memorial plaque to French pilots of the Normandie-Niemen regiment on Prechistenskaya Embankment

You lived briefly, but brightly! A memorial plaque to the French airmen of the Normandie-Niemen regiment who fell in the Second World War, fighting side by side with the soldiers of the Soviet army. The plaque is mounted on the Tsvetkov mansion on Prechistenskaya Embankment, which since 1942 has

Archive · Architecture · Faith · Cinema · Moscow · Heritage

The Pushkin Monument opposite the Strastnoy Monastery, 1936

The Pushkin Monument opposite the Strastnoy Monastery, 1936. Alexander Sergeyevich gazes at the spot where he stands today. One of the most beautiful monasteries in Moscow is occupied by the Central Anti-Religious Museum of the Union of Militant Godless of the USSR, the Central Archive, the Communist University of

NB! · Heritage · Nature · Humour