Patients from the Larco Herrera Psychiatric Hospital wear costumes in the likeness of the first governor and founder of the Inca civilization, Manco Capac, right, and his wife Mama Ocllo, during the hospital's Independence Day parade in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, July 22, 2015. The parade is held on the hospital's campus every year ahead of the Andean nation's official Independence Day celebrations on July 28. (Photo by Martin Mejia/AP Photo)

Young women wearing facemasks and traditional costumes of Song dynasty and Tang dynasty are seated on a bench in a park next to the East Lake in Wuhan, in China’s central Hubei province on May 17, 2020. The Guardian picture desk has chosen on December 17, 2020, the AFP photojournalist Hector Retamal as “Agency Photographer of the Year 2020” for his coverage of the novel coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic in Wuhan, China. (Photo by Hector Retamal/AFP Photo)

Chinese women dressed in traditional costumes and wearing masks visit a popular shopping street in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province, Saturday, January 23, 2021. A year after it was locked down to contain the spread of coronavirus, the central Chinese city of Wuhan has largely returned to normal, even as China continues to battle outbreaks elsewhere in the country. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

Austyn Scruggs, Alex Sutton and Josh Taylor, all sailors from NAS Jacksonville make their way down the 18th hole fairway in their St. Patrick's Day dragon costumes during the fourth and final round of The Players Championship PGA golf tournament at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. on March 17, 2024. (Phoot by Bob Self/Florida Times-Union via USA TODAY Network)

To produce the images that convey his fatalistic and ironic approach to life, tinged with hope, he needed the environment and knowledge of Mother Russia, oiled with a bit of bribery to certain circus trainers. Enter the Great Russian Bear, the personification of Russia for the last several centuries, onto center stage and into his studio. The bear is recognized as both brutish and cute – Misha was the mascot for the 1980 Olympic Games – and has remained a symbol of Russia since Tsarist times. In 2009 it is the symbol of the United Russia Party.

Indian ivory furniture legs in the shape of a goddess from the first century AD are displayed in the 'Afghanistan Crossroads of the Ancient World' exhibition at The British Museum on March 1, 2011 in London, England. Displaying treasures that were in great danger during the years of civil war and Taliban rule, these surviving artifacts reveal Afghanistan's ancient culture, its fragility and its remarkable place in world history. The exhibition opens to the public on March 3 and runs until July 3, 2011. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images). LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 01

“The Waterloo Cup was a coursing event. The three day event was run annually at Great Altcar in Lancashire, England from 1836 to 2005 and it used to attract tens of thousands of spectators to watch and gamble on the coursing matches. It was founded by William Philip Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton, and, originally, was supported by his patronage”. – Wikipedia

Photo: A Greyhound races after Hare at the last Waterloo Cup Hare coursing event, February 14, 2005, near Liverpool, England. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)