In the Press · Faith · Society

Five days before the conclave, Italian and French media accuse Macron of interference

The Italian and French press continue to accuse Emmanuel Macron of meddling in the conclave. Conclave means, literally, "a locked room", and nobody is supposed to know what goes on behind its doors. Yet the veil of secrecy looks rather less impenetrable once one considers the quite unconcealed

Books · Observations · Humour

- May a Rational Man Be Melancholic?

- Dejection, being alien to man's nature, sits ill with wisdom and plunges whoever is possessed of it into madness. Is that clear? No moping around here!

NB! · Archive · The East · Paris · Nature

The Rhinoceros from Iran, as the Young Merchant Jean Chardin Remembered It While Travelling from Paris to Persia in the 1670s

Archive · Books · People

Nominations of Boris Pasternak for the Nobel Prize from 1946 to 1958

It Turns Out Pasternak Was Nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature Six Times. The first occasion was in 1946, when Boris Pasternak's candidacy was proposed by the English Slavist and translator of Silver Age poetry Cecil Maurice Bowra. He nominated Pasternak again in 1949. In 1948 and

Books · Society

Machiavelli on Florence under the rule of Gautier de Brienne, Duke of Athens

So lived the citizens of Florence, watching with indignation as the grandeur of their state was brought low, as every institution was perverted, the rule of law destroyed, morals corrupted and all decency trampled underfoot. Those who had never beheld the outward pomp of monarchical power could not without grief

NB! · Archive · Faith · The East · Society · People

Saint Gabriel (Urgebadze) of Georgia burns a twelve-metre portrait of the godless Lenin during the May Day demonstration in Tbilisi in 1965

Art · Society · Pop Culture

While the global market slipped by 4.1%, sales of Russian art at foreign auctions rose by 18%, reaching $27.8 million

ARTinvestment.RU has compared the performance of the Russian art market at foreign auctions in the first quarter of 2025 and of 2024. The report includes the results of auction transactions in works by all artists who were born, worked or are significant in the context of the art history

Nature · Humour

The Cardinal Who Was Not Invited to the Conclave

Cardinalis cardinalis lives in the eastern states of the USA, south-eastern Canada, Mexico and northern Guatemala, as well as in Bermuda, Hawaii and California

NB! · Faith · Cinema · Pop Culture

UAZ Pickup as the Popemobile in the Second Season of "The Young Pope"

Art · Science · Society

Artsy publishes Art Market Trends 2025 report on pricing and transparency in the art market

Artsy, a major online platform for buying, selling and learning about art, has released the report Art Market Trends 2025, based on more than 1,600 responses from collectors and gallerists in 60 countries. The main findings: 🖋 52% of collectors doubt that art prices are justified. Prices for art are

NB! · Archive · The East · Geography

View of Yerevan, from "Chardin's Travels in Persia", undertaken by the merchant Jean Chardin in 1666

Cinema · Observations · People

Louis Malle’s Film “Volchonok”, Based on Georges Darien’s Novel, and Julien Guiomar’s Talent

Mont-Saint-Michel, Julien Guiomar and Jean-Paul Belmondo in Philippe de Broca's film "L'Incorrigible", 1975. If you fancy watching something human, beautiful and heartfelt over this long weekend, it comes recommended. And, while you are at it, there is another film with this

Alexandr Radayev