Books · Moscow · Paris
The French have their own “Borodino”: a poem no less piercing and significant about the events of 1812. This is L’expiation (“The Expiation”), written by Victor Hugo in exile and describing the retreat of Napoleon's army from burnt Moscow. Since the poem is very long, only an
Art · Museums · Heritage · Paris
The Sounds of the Tocsin have a curious fate: in 1892 they were shown in the French pavilion at the World's Fair. After being purchased, the painting ended up in the Museum of Picardy, founded by Napoleon, though whether the artist himself gave the canvas to the museum
NB! · Museums · Observations · Paris
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.
Architecture · Observations · Heritage · Paris
The aesthetics of paving every habitable corner of the earth in granite has reached Paris too. The Pavillon de l'Arsenal in Paris is showing a project to reconstruct the Champs-Élysées by the architect Philippe Chiambaretta and his agency, painfully reminiscent of Moscow's Muzeon park and
Art · Museums · Observations · Paris
We recently discussed the installation of new vents in the floors of Versailles for the ventilation system, which can be viewed in different ways, both from the standpoint of improved comfort and a favourable microclimate, and from conservative considerations of the immutability of the palace's appearance. Well, the
Art · Monarchies · Museums · Paris · People
1960: De Gaulle at the Nicolas Poussin exhibition in the Louvre with the Minister of Culture, André Malraux. The exhibition was organised by the Poussin specialist Anthony Blunt (pictured with Elizabeth), a man of remarkable biography. Blunt was a second cousin of Elizabeth II's mother through his own
Architecture · Museums · Observations · Heritage · Paris
There is such a photograph of the outlets of the very Louis-Philippe system of central heating and, accordingly, ventilation in the Gallery of Battles at Versailles. Of course, for its time such a system was the optimal solution, but then the palace was not visited by 15,000 people
Architecture · Museums · Heritage · Society · Paris
A scandal where none was expected. For the first time in the history of Versailles, the floors have undergone such sweeping changes: in several rooms the parquet now bears a great many brass ventilation grilles. The administration explains that the old air-conditioning and heating system can no longer cope
The East · Art · Paris · People
The grave of Rudolf Nureyev (1938-1993) at the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois near Paris. The idea of making the tombstone in the form of an oriental carpet covering the slab belongs to Nureyev's friend Enzo Frigerio, one of the leading designers of the Paris
Books · Society · Paris · People
Théroigne de Méricourt opened schools for women, so that our silly girls might graduate from them as nihilists... There was in the nineteenth century a satirist by the name of Nikolay Shcherbina, by and large an interesting poet and, it seems, a decent man, though not without his rough edges
Monarchies · Observations · Heritage · Paris
How do you like Louis Philippe with painted lips? I never cared for the Pear King, but I see nothing amusing in the fact that someone has rouged the lips of his statue at Les Invalides. The saddest thing about this act of vandalism is that lipstick scarcely comes off
NB! · Faith · Art · Museums · Observations · Paris
The Deposition from the Cross, second quarter of the 13th century, Umbria, Louvre. The three-dimensional, life-size figures of polychrome poplar, willow and walnut wood recall the church sculpture of the Russian North.