Archaeology · Art

Workers find 2,000-year-old copy of Polykleitos's Diadumenos on Delos

Two workmen have unearthed a 2,000-year-old sculpture of the Diadumenos on the Greek island of Delos, that is, a victorious athlete tying the red ribbon of triumph around his head. It is one of the many copies of a lost bronze original by the ancient Greek sculptor

NB! · Faith · Society · Paris

Sixteen French Carmelite nuns who resisted revolutionary state control over the Catholic Church were executed on 17 July 1794 and became the Martyrs of Compiègne

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I'm alive, Marta!

I'm alive, Marta! I'm alive!

Close-up of an old gilded bronze vessel: a ribbed shoulder, silver vine leaves, reclining figures at the neck and a relief of female figures on the body, with patina.

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Gilded bronze vessel with relief figures and a vine motif

A bronze krater with a golden sheen, relief figures, sculptures on the shoulders and a vine ornament in a museum display case.

NB! · Archaeology · Art

Bronze krater of the late 4th century BC with Dionysian scenes from a burial near Thessaloniki

A delightful piece of work from the late 4th century BC. This bronze krater with Dionysian scenes was found in a burial near Thessaloniki. The craftsmen achieved its golden gleam through a high tin content

NB! · Art · Observations · Mores · Humour

Ancient Greek hairstyles and headdresses make one wonder: at precisely which moment did fashion take a wrong turn?

Archive · Books · Moscow · Science · Mores

Dutch barber Quirin suspected of sorcery because of a skeleton on his wall

Adam Olearius, in his "Detailed Description of the Journey of the Holstein Embassy to Muscovy and Persia in 1633, 1636 and 1639", relates the following incident:. "...a barber named Quirinus, a Dutchman and a man of merry disposition, being in the service of the Grand Duke, kept

Aristocracy · Monarchies · Observations · Humour

Spanish Bourbons and the claim of Luis Alfonso, Duke of Anjou, to the French throne

I see excellent potential for a dynastic union in this photograph, an alliance of the English and Spanish crowns against France, say, if Prince George were to marry the Infanta Sofía. There is just one small "but": Spain is tied to France through Bourbon-Anjou, and King Felipe

Art · Museums · Paris

The Cheese Seller, Annibale Carracci (1560-1609)

Collection of the Louvre

Faith · Books · Observations

When your time comes to die, as soon as your soul has left the sublunary world and the light of the Sun, go to the right along the sacred meadows and groves of Phersephoneia, taking careful heed of temptations

You will come to the well-built temple of Hades. On the right (on the left) is a spring flowing from the lake of oblivion, Lethe; white waters gush forth there, and beside it stands a white cypress. Do not go near that spring, not even close. Here the descending

Black-and-white photograph of an empty room with striped wallpaper, a double door, damaged patches on the wall and debris on the floor.

NB! · Archive · Architecture · Monarchies · Heritage

Basement room of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, where the Tsar's family was shot in 1918

The cellar of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, where the Tsar's family was shot on the night of 16–17 July 1918. The house was demolished on 16 and 17 September 1977

NB! · People · Pop Culture

Sophia Loren and her younger sister Maria Scicolone, actress and singer

Sophia Loren and her younger sister Maria Scicolone, actress and singer. Sophia is now 89 years old, Maria 86

Alexandr Radayev