The bones were found with a ceramic cup the remains of small crucifixes that would have been worn around the neck and leather

The bones were found with a ceramic cup, the remains of small crucifixes that would have been worn around the neck, and leather sandals.Chemical tests have shown that both men worked with paint and metal, and the leading anthropologist Elena Alexandrovskaya has concluded that one of the corpses is highly likely to be that of Rublev.His distinctive and hauntingly beautiful work decorates the walls of the Cathedral of the Annunciation in the Kremlin and several other churches across Russia. During the course of restoration work on a Moscow church located in the city’s Andronikov Monastery, where Rublev is said to have died in 1430, the remains of two monks have been uncovered underneath the altar.
Experts believe it is “highly probable” that one of the men is Rublev, a monk whose icons are regarded as some of the finest pieces of religious art that have ever been created.Scientists are now to run exhaustive tests on the bones to confirm their theory. More than 500 years after he is thought to have died, Russian experts believe they have found the remains of the inspirational medieval icon painter Andrei Rublev, and intend to use them to build up a better idea of what he looked like. “At the end of the day, shoes are just shoes aren’t they?”And football? “Well that’s just a game isn’t it?”Two empires head to headADIDAS:Founded: 1949HQ: Herzogenaurach, GermanyEmployees: 17,023 (2004 figure)Pre-tax profits in 2005: €768m (£531m)Sales in 2005: €6.9bn (£4.8bn)2006 World Cup teams sponsored by Adidas:Germany, France, Spain, Japan, Trinidad and Tobago, ArgentinaPUMA:Founded: 1948HQ: Herzogenaurach, GermanyEmployees: 3,910 (2004)Pre-tax profits in 2005: €286m (£197m)Sales in 2005: €2.4bn (£1.7bn)2006 World Cup teams sponsored by Puma:Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Iran, Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Paraguay, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, Angola.

It is investing heavily in African football and supplies kit to eight African football associations The next World Cup will be held in South Africa in 2010. Payback time? The Puma people flash quietly confident smiles. The company’s long-term aim is to become the “most desirable sports-lifestyle company on the market”.High above Herzogenaurach, a young woman is heaving large bags of purchases out of the Adidas factory outlet “I don’t know what the fuss is about,” she says. But Puma has already moved on, taking the competition out of Herzogenaurach, out of Germany and out of Europe to a different continent.

The last World Cup final was watched by a billion people and a similarly huge audience is expected when this year’s tournament concludes in Berlin in July.Perhaps Germany will win and Adidas will claim victory. “We might be only kitting out six teams, but as you can see, they are the teams with the best chances.” The company is also sponsoring Argentina, France, Japan, Spain, and Trinidad and Tobago Yet Puma may yet have the last laugh. “Adidas has long been the world market leader in football,” said a spokeswoman, Kristin Koopmann, with more than a hint of Schadenfreude. “I doubt the two companies would ever be able to agree on a common history,” he sighs.Fifa says the World Cup is “arguably the biggest media event on the planet” and Adidas clearly wants to win. It worked so well that they went and turned up at Adidas the next month wearing Puma.”It’s just a pity, says Ernst Dittrich, that Herzogenaurach will probably never get a much-wished for joint shoe museum. Investors at Adidas have raised concerns about the company’s future, after its recent acquisition of Reebok.Back in Herzogenaurach, the locals certainly know how to exploit the battle of the brands.

“Some painters who were commissioned to paint the outside of the Puma building rolled up to put up the scaffolding all wearing Adidas shoes,” recalls Ernst Dittrich, the town archivist. “Within minutes, the boss had them all inside and gave them the latest Puma trainers to put on instead. The Adidas stripes may be adorning the official World Cup balls, and Adidas is an official Fifa partner, but Puma’s shares have rocketed, with sales expected to top €2.3bn (£1.6bn) this year due to an increase in the purchase of soccer goods.Puma is the smaller company, with about 4,000 employees worldwide compared with Adidas’s 17,000, and its sales fall far short of those of its competitor, but Puma’s profit margins are better. er, like one of George Bush’s grandsons working for Saddam Hussein.”Puma has certainly scored points against Adidas in Germany’s World Cup year. “Something like that, even a few years back, would have unimaginable It would have been like … “One of Rudi Dassler’s grandsons now works as a legal consultant for Adidas,” says Trulsson.

Secrets are no longer swapped at the bus stop by the unfaithful, but designers who move between Puma and Adidas are all forced to take extended leave before starting their new jobs, to prevent them taking corporate secrets with them.At managerial levels, the atmosphere has also relaxed. His friend, who is kicking a bench, has got a pair of Adidas on, and the third, clearly a town rebel, wears Nike. “Go on,” he taunted Rudi’s son, Armin Dassler, who was the Puma chief “Take on Boris. That’ll really make your cousin mad.” It was all Armin needed to hear to sign the then unknown Becker under a £100,000 advertising contract.In the Cafe Rommelt, a group hunched over their beers are all wearing Adidas; workers at both firms enjoy large discounts on the newest gear, and most of Herzogenaurach’s 25,000 burghers amble among the ancient wood-beamed houses and cobbled streets in tracksuits.But the younger generation hanging around the pedestrian precinct don’t appear to choose their friends according to the shoes they wear any more One teenager, licking an ice-cream, wears Puma.