"The Starry Night" from Belarus

The Starry Night (Dutch: De sterrennacht) is a painting by Dutch post-impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh. The painting depicts the view outside his sanatorium room window at night, although it was painted from memory during the day. Since 1941 it has been in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Reproduced often, the painting is widely hailed as his magnum opus.

The Starry Night

The previews of stamp to be issued in March

Souvenir sheet «Sochi is the capital of the XXII Olympic Winter Games 2014» is prepared to be issued.


On March 15, 2011, the souvenir sheet dedicated to the XXII Olympic Winter Games, which would be held in Sochi in 2014 is issued.
Souvenir sheet depicts the official logo of the XXII Olympic Winter Games against the background of snow-covered slopes of Krasnaya Polyana and stylized torch with ribbons, painted in Olympic colors.



Design: O. Shushlebina.
Face value: 25 rub.
Size of souvenir sheet: 90x60 mm, size of stamp: 42х30 mm.
Circulation: 120 thousand souvenir sheets.

Postcards from Portugal

Fado is a music genre which can be traced from the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. In popular belief, fado is a form of music characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics, often about the sea or the life of the poor. However, in reality fado is simply a form of song which can be about anything, but must follow a certain structure.



Fado

Postman from Russia

A mail carrier, mailman (US), postman/postwoman(UK), letter carrier (in American English and in New Zealand) or postie[citation needed] (in Australia, New Zealand) is an employee of the post office or postal service, who delivers mail and parcel post to residences and businesses. The term “mail carrier” came to be used as a gender-neutral substitute for “mailman” soon after women began performing the job. In the Royal Mail, the official name changed from "letter carrier" to "postman" in 1883, and "postwoman" has also been used for many years.



Postman

Russia. Stamps schedule_2011

The 100th anniversary of birth of Mstislav Keldysh (1911 - 1978), scientist

Sochi - the capital of the XXII Olympic Winter Games 2014

Joint issue the Russian Federation - Aland Islands (Finland). The 150th anniversary of foundation of Marienhamn

XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. Winter Olympic sports

The 150th anniversary of birth of Konstantin Korovin (1861 - 1939), artist souvenir sheet of 1 stamp

Historical and cultural heritage of Russia. Museum of wooden architecture and folk art "Malye Korely"

Monuments of science and technology. Watches. Continuation of series

Russia. Regions. Continuation of series. Omsk Region, Tyumen Region, Kaluga Region.

XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. Tourism at the Black Sea coast of Russia

50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin space flight

Cities of military glory. Continuation of the series. Vladikavkaz, Rostov-on-Don and Tuapse, Velikiye Luki, Veliky Novgorod, Vyborg

Weapon of victory. Continuation of series. Aviation

The 100th anniversary of birth of Kirill Shchelkin (1911-1968), professor, nuclear physicist

EUROPA issue. Forests

Architectural constructions. Bridges.

The 350th anniversary of Irkutsk

The 200th anniversary of independence of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Joint issue between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Montenegro

The 350th anniversary of voluntary occurrence of Buryatia into the structure of the Russian state

Russia. Regions. End of series. Novgorod Region, Tambov Region.

Natural heritage of Russia. Pechora-Ilych Nature Reserve

History of Russian Cossacks. Continuation of series

World-wide cultural heritage in Russia. Continuation of the series. Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of Derbent souvenir sheet of 1 stamp

The 250th anniversary of birth of Miсhail Barclay de Tolly (1761 - 1818), general-field marshal

Culture of the peoples of Russia. Folk costumes (headdresses) of Russian North

The 300th anniversary of plant «Arsenal»

The 300th anniversary of Moscow head post office

The 300th anniversary of birth of Mikhail Lomonosov (1711 - 1765), scientist

Happy New Year!

Fayum mummy portrait

Mummy portraits or Fayum mummy portraits (also Faiyum mummy portraits) is the modern term given to a type of realistic painted portraits on wooden boards attached to mummies from the Coptic period. They belong to the tradition of panel painting, one of the most highly regarded forms of art in the Classical world. In fact, the Fayum portraits are the only large body of art from that tradition to have survived.

Mummy portraits have been found across Egypt, but are most common in the Faiyum Basin, particularly from Hawara and Antinoopolis, hence the common name. "Faiyum Portraits" is generally thought of as a stylistic, rather than a geographic, description. While painted Cartonnage mummy cases date back to pharaonic times, the Faiyum mummy portraits were an innovation dating to the Coptic period on time of the Roman occupation of Egypt.

They date to the Roman period, from the late 1st century BC or the early 1st century AD onwards. It is not clear when their production ended, but recent research suggests the middle of the 3rd century. They are among the largest groups among the very few survivors of the highly prestigious panel painting tradition of the classical world, which was continued into Byzantine and Western traditions in the post-classical world, including the local tradition of Coptic iconography in Egypt.

The portraits covered the faces of bodies that were mummified for burial. Extant examples indicate that they were mounted into the bands of cloth that were used to wrap the bodies. Almost all have now been detached from the mummies. They usually depict a single person, showing the head, or head and upper chest, viewed frontally. In terms of artistic tradition, the images clearly derive more from Graeco-Roman traditions than Egyptian ones.

Two groups of portraits can be distinguished by technique: one of encaustic (wax) paintings, the other in tempera. The former are usually of higher quality.

About 900 mummy portraits are known at present. The majority were found in the necropoleis of Faiyum. Due to the hot dry Egyptian climate, the paintings are frequently very well preserved, often retaining their brilliant colours seemingly unfaded by time.

Fayum mummy portraits

Baba Yaga by Ivan Bilibin

Baba-Yaga is a witch-like character in Slavic folklore. She flies around on a giant pestle or broomstick, kidnaps (and presumably eats) small children, and lives in a hut that stands on chicken legs. In most Slavic folk tales, she is portrayed as an antagonist; however, some characters in other mythological folk stories have been known to seek her out for her wisdom, and she has been known on rare occasions to offer guidance to lost souls. According to Propp, she often fulfills the function of donor; that is, her role is in supplying the hero (sometimes unwillingly) with something necessary for the further quest.

Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin (16 August [O.S. 4 August] 1876 – 7 February 1942) was a 20th-century illustrator and stage designer who took part in the Mir iskusstva and contributed to the Ballets Russes. Throughout his career, he was inspired by Slavic folklore.

Ivan Bilibin was born in a suburb of St. Petersburg. He studied in 1898 at Anton Ažbe Art School in Munich, then under Ilya Repin in St. Peterburg. In 1902-1904 Bilibin travelled in the Russian North, where he became fascinated with old wooden architecture and Russian folklore. He published his findings in the monograph Folk Arts of the Russian North in 1904. Another influence on his art was traditional Japanese prints.

Bilibin gained renown in 1899, when he released his illustrations of Russian fairy tales. During the Russian Revolution of 1905, he drew revolutionary cartoons. He was the designer for the 1909 première production of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's The Golden Cockerel. The October Revolution, however, proved alien to him. After brief stints in Cairo and Alexandria, he settled in Paris in 1925. There he took to decorating private mansions and Orthodox churches. He still longed for his homeland and, after decorating the Soviet Embassy in 1936, he returned to Soviet Russia. He delivered lectures in the Soviet Academy of Arts until 1941. Bilibin died during the Siege of Leningrad.

Ivan Bilibin
Baba Yaga