Art object VeloNapoleon placed in Rouen on the plinth of the dismantled Napoleon monument

On Sunday morning a new monument to Napoleon appeared in Rouen: on a bicycle, in a worn tracksuit, Air Maxes and Lacoste, in the colours of a food courier's uniform, and in a Napoleonic bicorne. The art object has been installed on the plinth of the real monument to Napoleon, which was dismantled a year ago for restoration. CycleNapoleon stood on the high plinth until evening; on 25 September the object will be presented at the Des Prés arts festival in Graincourt-sur-Rie [sic: Greinville-sur-Ry in the original]. The author of the monument, Rouen native Mieszko Bavenkoff, of Franco-Polish descent, maintains that his escapade is not a political statement but an invitation to stop, reflect and smile, perhaps by picturing Bonaparte as our contemporary. Also to ponder whether it was worth removing Napoleon, who was part of this place, for a "temporary" restoration in 2020, only to replace him for good, as the authorities are now quite seriously discussing, with a statue of the recently deceased feminist and human rights campaigner Gisèle Halimi

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Pope Leo XIV on the courage to do good, to forgive and to enter into dialogue

Our time needs men and women who have the courage to do good, even when it involves sacrifice. Draw near to those who are lonely, support the weary and seek out those who have lost their way. Have the courage to forgive, to begin anew and to enter into dialogue.

Old colour photograph with cracks: adults and children resting on the grass on a slope under a tree.

Orientalist Grigory Kozakov with relatives and children at a picnic near the village of Zhikharevka in 1903

The Orientalist Grigory Alexandrovich Kozakov, surrounded by his relatives, his daughter-in-law Countess Anna Nikolayevna Tolstaya, the children and their tutor, at a picnic near the village of Zhikharevka in 1903

Konstantin Ivanov's Cosmonautics Day poster, published in Moscow in 1977

Grow strong, cosmic youth! A poster for Cosmonautics Day, created by the artist Konstantin Konstantinovich Ivanov in 1977. The work was issued by the Moscow publishing house “Plakat” for 12 April. Konstantin Ivanov was a Soviet graphic artist and poster designer, Honoured Artist of the RSFSR. The theme of space

Signs of violent death found on skulls from burials beside the royal tombs at Abydos

An American archaeologist has carried out a forensic analysis of skulls of people who were buried beside the tombs of Egypt's first kings at Abydos, and has found on many of them traces of violent death. Abydos in Upper Egypt served as the burial place of the kings

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Pope Leo XIV on the courage to do good, to forgive and to enter into dialogue

Orientalist Grigory Kozakov with relatives and children at a picnic near the village of Zhikharevka in 1903

Konstantin Ivanov's Cosmonautics Day poster, published in Moscow in 1977

Signs of violent death found on skulls from burials beside the royal tombs at Abydos