Between 24th august and 30th October 2016 central Italy trembled: a sustained period of seismic activity, which at the time of writing has still not come to an end, struck the entire region around Monte Vettore standing on the borders of Umbria and the Marche. This is a remote part of Italy, far from the great cities and divided between four regional admininstrations: the Marche, Umbria, Lazio and Abruzzo. 

To celebrate its thirtieth birthday, the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, put on a show entitled Spectaculaire Second Empire, 1852–1870 (closed 16th January) devoted to what in France is still considered a problematic era. To handle this ‘sulphurous’ topic, the museum’s director, Guy Cogeval, tells us, has proved a delicate exercise, requiring ‘sensitive abridgements’ (‘raccourcis épineux’).