Nobuyoshi Araki
“Of course, in every work there is a pornographic connotation. Otherwise, it would be just eroticism - pure, intellectual and uninteresting. And I do an upgrade by adding a bit…

Continue reading →

strip tease
Goncharov "Zion of agony"
In his article “Zion of agony”, I. A. Goncharov begins the characterization of the comedy “Woe from Wit” (see the summary, analysis and full text) with an indication of its…

Continue reading →

"Drone", Novikov magazine
Of the Russian prints of the beginning of the reign of Catherine II, the most serious was Novikov’s journal “The Drone”, which was published in the capital from May 1769…

Continue reading →

beat the people

Boyardo, Matteo Maria, and his “Roland in Love”

Matteo Maria Boyardo (1434 or 1441-1494) was descended from a noble surname, who zealously served the Este family (who owned Ferrara and Modena) and received from him in 1423 fief possession the county of Scandiano. Count Matteo Maria Boyardo studied in Ferrara, acquired a thorough acquaintance with Greek and Latin literatures, received the degree of Ph.D. and jurisprudence. The dukes of ferrara showed great respect for him; he married a girl from the Gonzag dynasty. From 1478 until his death, he almost continuously served as ruler of Reggio (in Lombardy). Modern lawyers blamed him for being too gentle, saying that he is better able to write poetry than to punish crimes. Continue reading

Beaumarchais The Marriage of Figaro

Exceptional success fell on the second part of the Beaumarchais comedy trilogy – “Mad Day, or the Marriage of Figaro”. (For the first part – see “The Barber of Seville” – analysis.)

Before us is Figaro again. But now it is no longer the Barber of Seville, arranging the love affairs of a young aristocrat. Managing the castle of Count Almaviva, he now comes into conflict with his master. Continue reading

Rose and Cross block

The ideological and philosophical basis of the drama is a characteristic of the Bloc of the 1910s the idea of ​​the many-sided nature of life, the idea of ​​merging its opposing principles. Its main motive is connected with this – the dual unity of Joy-Suffering, a motive that is also reflected in its title, where “rose” should mean pleasure, joy of life, and “cross” – suffering that fell to a person or voluntarily accepted by him. The same motif is organically intertwined with a number of images of the multicolored world that surrounds the hero (Bertrand) and the heroine (Isoru): inviting mysterious, gloomy sea distantly, invoking a new and deep meaning to their dull being. Continue reading

Books about the art market
Several years ago I bought almost all books on the art market almost in a row and gradually created my own library of this literature. I have it all in…

...

Katerina Akhmakova in Dostoevsky's “Teenager”
To the unearthly friend of his, Sofia Andreevna, the main character of the “Teenager” Versilov faces a bright face. Dark, he turned to the earth of his love - Katerina…

...