Category: Russia

Russian History: Anastasia for Tweens and Up

The Bashful Adventurer reviews Anastasia and Her Sisters by Carolyn Meyer.

Reading Anastasia and Her Sisters by Carolyn Meyer In some ways, Anastasia Romanova is like any teenager anywhere, replete with crushes, squabbling sisters, working parents, the inability to cook, concerns about her weight. Then, of course, she is actually one…

Crouching Boy Close Up

Barely more than an arm’s length away, Michelangelo’s Crouching Boy rests behind ropes in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia. Photo credit: M. Ciavardini.

Appreciating Michelangelo’s Work at the Hermitage Of the many things to appreciate about St. Petersburg’s Hermitage—in addition to the vastness and quality of its art collection—is the opportunity to experience so much of it up close and in a luxurious…

The Matisse Dance: Practice/Perfection

A portion of Henri Matisse's Dance at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The work was a study for the final version, which is at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia. Photo credit: M. Ciavardini

The Dance of Matisse in New York and Russia     Henri Matisse’s Dance works appear in practice form in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and in their final version in its Hermitage in Saint Petersburg,…

The Mystery of the Amber Room

The Amber Room, Catherine Palace, Pushkin, Russia. Photo credit: M. Ciavardini

A Must-See in Pushkin, AKA Tsarskoye Tselo To the list of places I don’t know I need to see when I head to Russia is Pushkin, also known as Tsarskoye Tselo (‘czar’s village,’ I am told). Not far from St.…

Free Radical: The Lesson of Louise Bryant

Moscow Photo credit: M. Ciavardini

A Russian Revolution Chronicler’s Extraordinary Life I am late to the life of Louise Bryant. I become interested in her long after watching Reds, and reading her husband’s book, Ten Days That Shook the World, and going to Russia, where…

Remembering the Romanovs in Russia

Maria and Anastasia Romanov's remains are now in a church at Peter and Paul Fortress in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Photo credit: M. Ciavardini

A Reading of Helen Rappaport’s Romanov Sisters The story of some sisters burdened with a bit of a wackadoodle mother and an autocratic father appeals to many of us, even if we do know the ending, as in the case…

Looking for the Revolution in Russia

statue in Russia

November 7 is Something of a Big Day The New York Times in 1917 reported that on November 7, “the Bolsheviki” had seized government buildings in what was then called Petrograd; in the same day’s paper, November 8, the Times…

Finding Napoleon beyond France

Napoleon left some cannons behind when the French fled Moscow. This cannon is in the Kremlin. Photo credit: M. Ciavardini.

Enamored with the French Revolution on my visit to Paris, I pay scant attention to Napoleon during my time there. Stopping by at Les Invalides, I focus more on a car show on its grounds than to the tomb of…

American Red

A bust of Vladimir Lenin in the Moscow subway Photo credit: M. Ciavardini

A Romance with Revolution Rewatching the 1981 Warren Beatty film Reds, about journalist and eventual collaborator John Reed’s coverage of and interest in the Russian revolution, I remember that Reed is buried at the Kremlin, a point that I neglect…

Mothers and Marys around the Planet: Red Square

Mother's Day on her mind? A visitor contemplates an image of Mary and Jesus in St. Basil's Cathedral, Moscow. Photo credit: M. Ciavardini

Some images are universal: here, Mary and Jesus depicted in St. Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow. The art of Christianity unites Russians with others here in Red Square. —Lori Tripoli ~Advertisement~ ~Advertisement~ Considering a trip to Russia, with or without your mother?…