Faith · Art · Museums · Observations

The Entombment

The Entombment. Fresco by Fra Angelico, painted in 1441 in the Convent of San Marco A dream for 2026: to visit Florence once more and see this beauty

Observations · Science · Pop Culture · Humour

This is roughly how I picture the passengers of comet 3I/ATLAS

Everyone has suddenly stopped talking about it, and yet it is right on the approach to our planet

Books · Observations · Education · Society · Humour

Gorky, Brodsky and Bunin had no higher education but became writers

The Russian Ministry of Labour Has Approved a Professional Standard for “Writer”, to Take Effect on 1 September 2026. One of its provisions states that a writer is a person with a higher education. No, Maxim Gorky did not have a higher education. He tried to enter Kazan University, but

Museums · Observations · Heritage · Paris · Humour

Protective Makrolon layer installed on Apollo Gallery window at the Louvre

Probably the most long-suffering window opening in the world. Yesterday the notorious window of the Galerie d'Apollon at the Louvre was at last fitted with a protective layer of Makrolon, a polycarbonate of exceptional strength with fire-resistant properties. Not yet bulletproof glass, but already a very

Architecture · Moscow · Museums · Observations · Heritage

The Tretyakov Gallery on Krymsky Val Ceases to Organise Exhibitions

Following a recent expert appraisal, the condition of the building has been judged unsatisfactory. The museum's director, Yelena Pronicheva, expressed the hope of beginning work on a renovation project for the New Tretyakov Gallery next year. What on earth? It's a perfectly good building, Soviet quality

NB! · Observations

Or at Least Magic Realism

Observations · Mores · Paris · People

I had never before met such an original definition

Coco Chanel was dubbed a "horizontal collaborator" from the Ritz, a hint at her long liaison with Baron Hans Günther von Dincklage, a German lawyer and NSDAP official who was also, in his spare time, a secret agent and special representative attached to the Reich Ministry of Propaganda.

Art · Books · Observations · Humour

I wrote that I was impressed to hear Wagner performed by Currentzis's orchestra; a music critic replied: a mediocre performance of a mediocre arrangement

I recommended Smirnov von Rauch's book "The Board of Dionysius" to my book club, and my fellow members say: a dreadful book, Alexandr, why did you choose it? I find no answers; such, it seems, is my taste 😭 The photograph shows a portrait of Pushkin by

Art · Books · Observations

Nikolay Aseyev's poem on money, power, fame and the community of people

People still cling to money, as people clung to crosses in the days of the remote Kerzhenets, but it will not last for ever. People still reach for power, not knowing its measure or its price, but this will not endure for long: other times will come. People still chase

Books · Observations · Education

Errors in the use of prepositions in time and numerical intervals

A very common error in the government of prepositions turned up in a book title. It is usually met with in the formatting of time intervals, but ordinarily in humdrum circumstances: in notices of opening hours, in announcements and in regulations of every sort, drawn up in haste and without

Archaeology · Observations · Mores · Ethnography

President of Finland Tarja Halonen in the historical Eura dress at the annual Independence Day reception in 2001

President of Finland Tarja Halonen in the historical Eura dress at the annual Independence Day reception in 2001. The dress is an exact reconstruction of the attire of a Viking Age woman, found in a Viking burial at Eura in western Finland. Just imagine loving your country and your people

Art · Books · Moscow · Museums · Observations

My favourite monument to Leo Tolstoy stands in the courtyard of his museum on Prechistenka

My favourite monument to Leo Tolstoy stands in the courtyard of his museum on Prechistenka. It is the work of Sergey Merkurov, who, incidentally, took the death mask of Lev Nikolayevich. The monument, completed in 1913, could not be erected in Moscow: the Black Hundreds threatened to blow it up.