“... had been filmed over the previous three years. Clark and his crew had found themselves in Paris in May 1968 in the thick of the événements. His producer, Michael Gill, recalls ‘riot police … just off-camera’, adding, laconically: ‘I was gassed.’ Despite being so apparently out of sympathy with the temper of ‘these days’, Civilisation was hugely ...”

“... well as for its art historical connection to the Venetian old masters). They are dated 4 May and 24 June 1728; in the first, Richardson, with his slouchy indoors cap, left eyebrow slightly raised and lips just parting, turns to his left; in the other, turning to his right, his eyes face out at us (or rather at himself), with lips pursed, brow ...”

“... as humble as it was grandiose: works like these ‘have no back, no front, no up or down, they may be attached to the wall or spread out on the floor’. Such a version of sculpture, in other words, relies wholly on the room in which it is situated, not least because there it can enact its misbehaviours at will. Four of these 1960s cloth pieces are ...”

“... university, the court said, ‘to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that those whom it may control, that is to say its members, students and employees, do not prevent the exercise of freedom of speech within the law by other members, students and employees and by visiting speakers’. This wasn’t so much a moral duty as a legal obligation that ...”

“... departed dramatically from the kind of thing built in the 1880s. Materials and precise geometry may have changed, but not the basic structure. An 1888 Rover, introducing the exhibition’s urban cycling section, features a diamond frame with a more or less horizontal crossbar and a chain drive to the back wheel, which is the same size as the front. It turns ...”

“... up for HS2 will, they say, be called Curzon Street too, and so Hardwick’s handsome ticket hall may yet have a role, even if it’s largely symbolic. Curzon Street Station in a lithograph of 1838, shortly after its completion The story of Curzon Street Station is an extreme illustration of what can happen to a building when architectural quality plays ...”

“... Innocent is reported to have said, ‘an inexhaustible well from whose plenty many things may be extorted.’ (Paris went on to note that ‘the London merchants who dealt in these things were not displeased, and sold them at whatever price they chose.’) A detail from the Clare chasuble. In many ways opus anglicanum was not very English at ...”

“... than this Hollywood tale of Agustín’s romantic obsession. But the banality of the story, which may after all be Estrella’s invention, enhances rather than depletes the sadness of the whole film. Even if the story is true, it still serves only to remind us that when it comes to our obsessions we don’t exercise impeccable taste, and any sort of past can ...”

“... uninterpretable protrusions and bowling-ball shapes. According to the catalogue for the show, this may have been originally intended as a double portrait of Man Ray (‘Man’) and Duchamp; Man apparently switched the titles on the second set of prints, which he later sent to Jean Arp. It’s easy to love the visual and language play here: the photo of Tzara ...”

“... just make out that the windows on the bottom level have been opened. I have a copy of the seal. It may have lost some of its definition – it’s worn or has softened and if you hold it for more than a few seconds the black wax it’s made of becomes sticky – but the detail that remains is extensive: you can tell that the hundred-odd members represented are ...”

“... There have been several UFO sightings of cigar-shaped vessels, including one seen over Paris in May. Many Oumuamua-watchers have also noticed the similarity between Oumuamua and the alien spaceship in Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama, a cylindrical vehicle that turns out to be hollow and filled with strange machinery, including hybrid ...”

“... right. Language itself seems to be grinning at the truism that if you want to be the king you may have to kill the king. One of the most haunting features of the Macbeth story, very well caught in this version, is the failure of its main characters to be who they think they are. Macbeth is not the tough guy his kingship plan requires, and this makes him ...”

“... the camera that it is 23 July and that she has been out of prison for a week and one day. On 24 May she says she is pregnant with twins and has been for 22 weeks. A little later she talks about a marriage, but we still don’t know where to place it, or her, on a chronology. We are seeing time in close-up and we don’t know what time it is. The woman is ...”

“... complete with smart skirt and tie, and has an air of innocence that convinces us at once that she may be the most dangerous figure on the train. We don’t know what her mission is until late in the film but we are not surprised to learn she is the daughter of the arch-capo of this world, a Russian known as White Death, played by Michael Shannon.So what ...”

“... presa’ became:To every heart which the sweet pain doth move,And unto which these words may now be broughtFor true interpretation and kind thought,Be greeting in our Lord’s name, which is Love.Through Rossetti, Ezra Pound (who called Dante ‘a knower of dreams rather than a mixer among men’) and T.S. Eliot discovered Dante, and, through ...”