In this issue…

Among the masterpieces of Russian art

The director of the Russian Museum Vladimir Alexandrovich Gusev: “A museum can be compared with a gigantic theatre, its halls with a stage on which a tremendous performance is unfolding.”

…8

“This is your ticket to immortality…”

She came out as she was – wearing a white dress with a train and ostrich feathers swaying on her head. He was waiting on the stage. And looking into his slightly squinting eyes and hearing his agitated voice, she realized that nothing was over.

…14

“Good news” over the Neva

When reconstructing the Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge, the planners decided to recreate the original appearance of the Annunciation Bridge.

…26

Where the muses do a round dance

For three generations of Sheremetevs the estate of Ulyanka remained a cosy nest, a real dacha in which they enjoyed spending the summer months.

…38

The nominations for the Alexander Nevsky All-Russian Literary Prize have been determined.

…46

The Freshness of the Ocean in a Pearly Shell

Each mollusc preserves within the tightly closed halves of its shell a particle of the living ocean: the noise of the tides, the calls of the gulls, the tang of salt, iodine and the fresh breeze. You open the shell and the romantic aroma of travel reaches your nostrils.

…48

A taste for variety

The traditional Sunday brunch at the Taleon Club will satisfy the most demanding gourmet.

…49

Jeweller to Her Majesty

The modest Swiss became the most prestigious and fashionable jeweller in Russia. He was received by the most distinguished inhabitants of St Petersburg, although he was himself granted nobility only after Elizabeth’s death.

…54

An iron man with a flaming soul

He was ready to fight for the cause of liberty in any part of the world, reckoning this to be not heroism, but a simple debt of honour. Until the end of his life he retained a belief in higher justice that would one day inevitably prevail.

…66

A treacherous “son of Odin”

By 1937 Quisling’s party had become the largest Fascist organization in Scandinavia. Yet in Norwegian elections it never gained more than 2% of the vote.

…82

The Sentinels of the Empire

It was only in the early 1700s, however, that Russia began to take the security of its borders in the south of Western Siberia seriously and the active construction of border fortifications began.

…94

Vasari on Michelangelo: A Titan of the Renaissance

Implacability and pride, protest against servitude and a yearning for freedom all those emotions are embodied in the images his genius created.

…106

Roads to Issyk-Kul

It would really have been possible to imagine we were somewhere in the Swiss Alps, had it not been for the occasional encounter with a tribal elder in a white felt or shaggy fur hat.

…112

The Game of St Andrew

For the majority of politicians, businessmen and public performers walking the greens with a set of clubs is an indispensable part of their image.

…122