Faith · Art · People
Albrecht Altdorfer. Samson and Delilah and the scissors with which she cut his hair. Note that the severed hair is only hinted at. Early sixteenth century. We see the legendary Samson still asleep or already drained of strength. Without the hair in which his might lay hidden, he cannot even
Art · Museums · People
"...Before whom amid the Chesme deeps The mass of ships blazed up, And Navarino fell for the first time." So Pushkin wrote of the victories in the Russo-Turkish war won by his great-uncle, Ivan Abramovich Gannibal (1735-1801), the eldest of the 11 children of Abram
Archive · Books · Monarchies · People
"The Song of Harald the Bold" is not the only Russian rendering of the French translation of "Harald's Saga". The popularity of this particular text is owed, of course, to its Russian connection: the fragment tells of Harald's unrequited love for Elizaveta
Books · People
We, friends, have flown over stormy seas, Flown far from our dear homeland! On land and on sea we fought fiercely; And sea and land submit to us! O friends! how the hearts of the bold did seethe, When, drawing our ships together like a wall, Like birds we sped
Art · Moscow · Observations · People · Society Pages
Dmitry Bulnygin was the first contemporary artist in my collection. Known in the 2000s as a punk artist, Bulnygin, who went on to win recognition as a painter, sculptor, digital artist and videographer, seems to have had time to work in every medium. He even organised his own Ultra-Short
NB! · Art · Books · Mores · People
"Young mare!": this is how Pushkin declares his love to Olenina, the very one with the samovar. Promising, of course, to tame her with a "shortened bridle".
Art · Observations · People
Ivan Bilibin at twenty-five, portrait by Boris Kustodiev. Admit it: you never pictured him like this either!
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Books · Observations · People · Humour
Writer, wizard, mall Santa, Rasputin impersonator. Now that, I understand, is a solid CV. You're hired, Alan Moore
Archive · Art · Monarchies · Society · People · Saint Petersburg · Humour
Mathilde Kschessinska: My intimate relations with the old government came easily to me: it consisted of just one man. But what am I to do now, when the new government, the Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, consists of 2,000 people? Caricature by Nikolai Remizov (Re-Mi)
Archive · Paris · People
In 1939, Serge Lifar, dancer of the Ballets Russes and at that time principal ballet master of the Paris Opéra, came to visit the famous dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, who was undergoing treatment in a psychiatric clinic. By 1939 Vaslav Nijinsky had been ill for almost 20 years. The ballet dancer