Faith · Art · Books · Museums · Saint Petersburg

Nabokov's poem “The Guardian Angel” and a Guardian Angel icon from the Russian Museum

In the hour of mournful midnight the beating of the heart grows more distinct, and nearer comes the bright-winged companion, my grieved and gentle friend. He draws near, but soon I lose myself, and in my sleep I see a storm, I see the sea And maidens laughing on

NB! · Faith · Art · Humour

A Plump Evangelist Luke in a Coloured Engraving on Vellum by Cornelis van Merlen, Patron of Artists, Physicians and, Judging by Appearances, of Those Who Have Rather Overdone the Luncheons Between Manuscripts

Archaeology · Museums · Paris · Humour

Etruscan funerary urn of the 4th–3rd century BC in the Louvre collection

Judging by the gestures, he is still arguing with the tour guide. An urn that proves that ancient art is not merely vases, but a philosophy of form. The photograph shows an Etruscan funerary urn, roughly of the 4th to 3rd centuries BC, from the collection of the Louvre. Such

Black and white film still of a bearded man in a heavy jewelled crown and brocade robe, glowering sideways.

Cinema · Monarchies · Humour

Orson Welles as Justinian the Great in the film “The Battle of Rome”

Justinian the Great wishes his crown to outshine every star in the firmament. The only trouble is that Orson Welles also demands a spotlight of his own. Still from the film “The Battle of Rome”

Books · Society

Perhaps all this is trifles, And the main thing, the very main thing, Which is more terrible even than mortal anguish, Is coarseness of spirit, coarseness of matter, Coarseness of life, of love, of everything; Coarseness of the native she-beast, the U.S.S

Perhaps all this is trifles, And the main thing, the very main thing, Is that which is more terrible even than mortal anguish: Coarseness of spirit, coarseness of matter, Coarseness of life, of love, of everything; Coarseness of the native she-beast, the U.S.S.R., – Coarseness, savagery – and

Painting of a group of men in winter clothes standing at a long wooden table with a bottle, glasses, bread and fish, a green fence behind them.

NB! · Art

Painting “A Big Company” by Tatyana Nazarenko, 2013

A Large Party. Tatyana Nazarenko, 2013

Blurred black-and-white painting in a frame: two adults stand with clasped hands while a smiling boy sits on the grass in front of them, holding a dark object.

NB!

Detail of a black-and-white painting: a boy seated on grass beside two adults

Art · Museums · Observations · Paris · Society Pages

Yesterday I attended the opening of the Gerhard Richter retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton

Yesterday I attended the opening of the Gerhard Richter retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton. Believe me, taking in all the splendour Richter has created is harder than reading this text. Given that some call the 93-year-old Richter the greatest artist of our time, the exhibition is indeed

Art · Observations · Paris · Humour

This assistant is so devoted to her work that she ignores deadlines even in her sleep

The Parisian gallery Massimo de Carlo presents a project by the Scandinavian contemporary artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset: a hyperrealist sculpture of a gallery assistant, installed in the window in full view of passers-by. The gallery office, usually hidden behind the exhibition space, has been brought to the fore:

London · Science · People · Humour

The legend of Newton's tooth, sold in London and set in a gold ring

There is a legend that in the eighteenth century one of Isaac Newton's teeth was sold in London for several hundred pounds, in those days the price of a decent house. At some point, it is said, the owner of the relic had the tooth set in a

Observations · Mores · People · Nature

Robespierre's Childhood Love of Birds and the Death of a Pigeon in a Storm

As a boy, Robespierre was mad about birds and kept sparrows and pigeons as pets. Once his sisters asked to borrow one of his pigeons and ended up leaving it outside during a storm, and the bird died. On learning of this, Robespierre flew into a rage and wept for

The East · Art · Cinema · Observations · Ethnography

Miyazaki knows the folklore and art of his native Japan very well

Miyazaki knows the folklore and art of his native Japan very well. I am convinced that Utagawa Yoshiuji's graphic rendering of the legend Kamikiri no kidan, about a maidservant who went to the privy at night and was attacked by something utterly black that seemed to fall upon

Alexandr Radayev