Archaeology · Archive · The East · Interviews · Museums · Saint Petersburg

Curator Natalya Sutyagina on the Noin-Ula finds exhibition at the Hermitage until 29 September

Until 29 September the Hermitage is hosting the exhibition "The Archaeological Phenomenon. Between Past and Future". Today an interview was published with the exhibition's chief curator, Natalia Sutyagina, Senior Researcher in the Hermitage's Department of the East. I decided to highlight the most interesting

Society · People

Maria Branyas Morera, the world's oldest person, has died at the age of 117

Yesterday the Spanish supercentenarian María Branyas Morera passed away. Since 2023 María Branyas had been the oldest living person on Earth whose date of birth is documented. At the time of her death she was 117 years and 169 days old. Señora Morera was born in San Francisco, California, on

Monarchies · Observations

Why Russian Calls the French Kings Louis by the Name Ludovic

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Russian usage allowed both Lyudovik and Ludovik as correct spellings, which is why many sources give the names of French kings in precisely this way. Strictly speaking, however, French has the name Ludovic, Ludovicus alongside the name Louis, and the kings are called precisely

NB! · Art

Nicolas de Staël, View of Le Havre from the Honfleur Coast, 1952

NB! · Architecture · Faith · Society

The plot of land on which Florence's first mosque will be built was bought from the Catholic Church

Art · Mores · Ethnography

Polish Dress in Dutch Portraits of Children of the 17th Century, from Bol to Netscher

Here we have a most interesting instance of foreigners borrowing national dress: Dutch merchants in Poland dressed their children in costumes stylised after the clothing of the Polish nobility. The first portrait, of 1656, by the Dutch painter Ferdinand Bol, a pupil of Rembrandt, shows the son of a Dutch

NB! · Archive · The East · Art · Education · Society

Turkish Posters of the 1930s Promoting the Introduction of the Latin Alphabet

NB! · Observations · Rome · Humour

We've Got a Colosseum at Home

We've got a Colosseum at home. The Colosseum:

In the Press · Books · Moscow · Museums · Heritage

New director Vladimir Tolstoy plans to complete restoration of the Khamovniki estate

In a recent interview with Kommersant, Vladimir Tolstoy, who a month ago took up the post of Director General of the Leo Tolstoy State Museum, spoke of the main tasks awaiting him in his new office. The first item on the new director's list of priorities is to

Coming Up · Art · Moscow · Museums

Five Moscow exhibitions, from the image of the builder to the history of Novodevichy Convent

As every Monday, in the "Where to Go" column I gather for you the main events at Moscow's museums and art galleries. Do hurry! ✔️The exhibition "The Construction of Creativity", tracing the image of the builder from the 1930s to the present day, at

The East · London · Society · Humour

Remember that amusing story, worthy of a Richard Gere and Julia Roberts double act, about the Indian Maharajah who walked into a Rolls Royce showroom in London in 1920 dressed in ordinary clothes, only to be refused service and simply shown the door…

Remember that amusing story, worthy of a Richard Gere and Julia Roberts double act, about the Indian Maharajah who walked into a Rolls Royce showroom in London in 1920 dressed in ordinary clothes, only to be refused service and simply shown the door? He then changed into royal attire and

NB! · Archive · The East · Geography

Alexandr Radayev