Ângelo Francisco Neto Martins

By Jupiter, what a good idea Vipsanius Agrippa had when he built this temple! The Pantheon: what majesty, what conviction, what strength! And – between you and me – what a masterstroke… Agrippa well deserves to have his name engraved on its portico. “Dignus Roma locus, quo deus omnis eat …

Injustice can penetrate even the most unsuspected areas of human culture. The proof is that it has infiltrated proverbs, as exemplified by the Italian adage: “Traduttore traditore – The translator is a traitor.” But, despite the insult it casts on the honourable profession, this aphorism has its grain of truth. …

Here are two artistic representations, each portraying a different god, as conceived by their respective worshippers. The first depicts the god Moloch at the apex of the ritual proper to him. The second is an image of Our Lord Jesus Christ that presides over the entrance door of Amiens Cathedral …

There are two kinds of biography that make history captivating: first, that of illustrious, famous figures, the heroes charging at full gallop in the splendour of the day; then there are the stories of those who made mystery their abode, whose most beautiful traits of soul escaped human admiration, allowing …

A unique scene was unfolding in the fortress of Canossa, in the north of the Italian Peninsula. Three days had passed since a miserable man dressed in penitential sackcloth, barefoot in the snow and fasting from morning until night, loudly pleaded on his knees to enter the innermost part of …

I have never witnessed the scene, but I have heard of a tactic used by the ostrich. When it perceives a predator lurking nearby, the bird, which seems to have escaped from the Jurassic era, focuses all its defence not on fleeing but on hiding. But how to hide such …

It would not be surprising if the reader – precisely on account of being someone in the habit of reading – has already carried out the following mental exercise: imagining what the reactions of a certain personage from the past would be if he were to suddenly appear in our …

In one of his famous brilliant quotes, Joseph De Maistre makes the following analogy: “False opinions are like false money, originally struck by criminals and thereafter circulated by honest people, who perpetuate the crime without knowing what they are doing.”1 These “coins”, in general, have a name: sophisms. Sophistry is …

The fifteen hundred metres of wall have been scaled. The very heart of the fortress remains to be conquered. The prudent desist. Only two brave men dare to advance: Wisse and Gabriel. Storm the heights! The Pichincha volcano, the last bastion of mystery in Ecuadorian geography, is about to be …

St. Elisha, who is he? The father and master of the prophets of Mount Carmel. The preacher who multiplied the loaves. The man whom bears obeyed, and who ruled over the kings of his time. The seer for whom the future held no mystery. The most miraculous of the prophets. …