Observations · Mores · Society
Graffiti left by vandals in Tsarist Russia
Popular graffiti has of course existed in every age, but it has not always taken such hideous forms. https://theparnassian.com/graffiti-ot-vandalov-tsarskoi-rossii/
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Observations · Society · Humour
The Brezhnev constitution contained a good deal of absurdity of its own: the USSR was described as a state of the dictatorship of the proletariat that had fulfilled its tasks and become a state of the whole people, "developed socialism" was defined as a s
The Brezhnev constitution contained a good deal of absurdity of its own: the USSR was described as a state of the dictatorship of the proletariat that had fulfilled its tasks and become a state of the whole people, "developed socialism" was defined as a stage on the road
Books · Observations · Society · Humour
Playwright Noël Coward and propaganda for US entry into the Second World War
A doomed quotation of the day, and very much in season. Though, given that at this very minute the dollar stands at 75.63/72.63, one is tempted to cite Gandalf the Grey’s “Fly, you fools”. As it is, it is curious that the celebrated British playwright Noël
Archive · Art · Museums · Observations
How works of colossal size are exhibited is more interesting still
How works of colossal size are exhibited is more interesting still. Look at the system of blocks and ropes that several workmen used to hang a large-scale painting in the Museum of Picardy a little over 100 years ago. As far as I know, the photograph shows work on
Art · Moscow · Observations
Huge canvases were carried through Moscow lanes rolled on wooden and plywood rollers
Not long ago, at a lecture by a very educated woman, the question was put of how enormous canvases were carried through the narrow lanes of Moscow to be hung in the mansion of a famous collector. How astonished I was that this lady-in-waiting of the writing profession
The East · Monarchies · Moscow · Observations · Society · Humour
Maxim Suchkov, the Russian editor of the American Al-Monitor, has drawn attention to the setting of Putin's talks with Erdoğan on 5 March: behind Recep stands a bronze Catherine II, who routed the Turkish army, destroyed the Turkish fleet at Ochakov and I
Maxim Suchkov, the Russian editor of the American Al-Monitor, has drawn attention to the setting of Putin's talks with Erdoğan on 5 March: behind Recep stands a bronze Catherine II, who routed the Turkish army, destroyed the Turkish fleet at Ochakov and Izmail in 1768-1774 and
Observations · Education · Society
A lecture on the privileges of students and teachers at medieval universities
I came across an interesting lecture on the university liberties of the Middle Ages on Theories and Practices. Just what privileges did students and teachers enjoy? By the standards of the time, very weighty ones: for example, the right to be absent from their parish, since most students and teachers
Observations · Pop Culture · Humour
Written in just 8 hours, Aram Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance" was once acknowledged as the most performed and popular piece of music in the world
Written in just 8 hours, Aram Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance" was once acknowledged as the most performed and popular piece of music in the world. I even had it as the text-message tone on my Nokia 6630
Observations · Mores · Ethnography · Humour
English humorous superstition about wedding dress colours condemns yellow and red
If, like the rest of us, you believe in everything under the sun, do take note of the instructions of a jocular English superstition on the colour of wedding dresses, which by various threats and manipulations compels the choice of white, and white alone. To marry in yellow is to
Architecture · Moscow · Observations
Caryatids of the house at 3 Znamenka, built in 2002, and the Erechtheion canon
To all who categorically despise the so-called Luzhkov architecture, I want to show this house at 3 Znamenka, built in 2002. There was a separate story there, about how a certain artist, A. Shilov, was granted two plots at once in the very heart of the city, and two
NB! · Observations · Humour
I want the magazines to print something like this beside my photographs
NB! · Museums · Observations · Paris
Guillotine blade from the Revolutionary Terror in the Paris Police Prefecture Museum
Time to freeze. A guillotine blade used during the years of the Revolutionary Terror in France. From the Museum of the Paris Police Prefecture in the Latin Quarter, which is unfashionable, but quite large and rich.