Wooden Nativity Scene from Sutrio Installed in Saint Peter's Square

This year's Christmas crib for Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican was made in the northern Italian village of Sutrio, in the province of Udine. All the figures are made entirely of wood, and the hemisphere above them symbolises the grotto in which the Holy Family found shelter. This time a realistic style has been chosen, unlike last year, when sculptures of a most unfamiliar appearance from Peru were installed in the square

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

In the finale of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic, the Golden Ball is told: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to offend nobody, but the digest really does come free of charge. So, here is the main business of the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

Wooden Nativity Scene from Sutrio Installed in Saint Peter's Square

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s