Art · Observations · People · Humour

Brothers Carduccios Plantagenet and Morston Constantine, Artists from Ohio

The Edible, Exceedingly Appetising Still Lifes of the American Painter Carduccius Plantagenet Ream (1838-1917) And note that Carduccius Plantagenet is his given name; his brother, also a well-known painter, was called Morston Constantine. They were born in Ohio, and Carduccius studied in London. We must, of course, pay

In a museum hall, an old painting of the Madonna, Child and kneeling Magi in a gold frame hangs on a white wall. Other paintings and white partitions are visible beyond.

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Adoration of the Magi painting in a gilded frame in a museum gallery

Faith · Art · Moscow · Museums

The Pushkin Museum Acquires “The Adoration of the Magi” by Otto van Veen, Teacher of Rubens

The Pushkin Museum has acquired the painting "The Adoration of the Magi" by Otto van Veen, one of the greatest Flemish masters of the 17th century and the chief teacher and mentor of Rubens. The painting was executed by the celebrated master in his Antwerp period, around 1600.

Aristocracy · Archive · Mores

Russian roots of the Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn princes and their living descendants

Princess Yvonne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, aged 13, and her brother Prince Alexander zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, aged 12, on holiday in Majorca in 1955. Yvonne sips Dry Sack sherry, Alexander finishes off a cigarette. The photograph is by the models' mother, Princess Marianne, who worked as a professional

Painting of a nude man and woman before dark foliage: she offers him an apple, he holds a leafy twig. A snake coils on the tree; a stag and a lion lie below.

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Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with a serpent, a stag and a lion

NB! · Faith · Art · Observations · Humour

Lucas Cranach shrewdly observed that one small bite of the forbidden fruit was quite enough for Adam and Eve

Map of Kiribati showing white land on a blue ocean with markers for London, Paris, Poland and Banana.

Geography · Humour

Map of Kiribati with settlements named London, Paris, Poland and Banana

London-Paris-Poland-Banana. everything you need to know about Kiribati

Fresco detail: a grey-bearded old man in a pink cloak looks over his shoulder, with other figures in yellow and blue robes beside him.

NB! · Art · People · Rome

Daniele da Volterra portrayed his friend Michelangelo as an apostle in a fresco in Rome

Portrait of Michelangelo in the guise of one of Christ's apostles. Michelangelo sat for the portrait for his friend Daniele da Volterra, who later transferred it to a fresco in Rome

Faith · Mores · Rome · Ethnography

The name of February from the Etruscan god Februus and the Roman Lupercalia

In most European languages, February is named after the Roman tradition. In Rome the month was called februarius mensis, after the Etruscan god of the underworld Februus, who was associated with rites of purification (februa, februare, februum), as was the month named in his honour. In mid-February the Romans

NB! · Architecture · Observations

The Fountains of Peterhof in Winter

Cobbled courtyard and a facade of glass blocks set in a black metal frame. A white van is at left, steps of the neighbouring house at right, and a low hedge stands before the entrance.

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Facade of Pierre Chareau’s Maison de Verre in a Paris courtyard

Architecture · Art · Mores · Paris

France's first glass house, built for Jean Dalsace between 1928 and 1932

Maison de Verre, the House of Glass: Pierre Chareau's ambitious and avant-garde project in Paris, at 31 Rue Saint-Guillaume. The house was built between 1928 and 1932 for Dr Jean Dalsace, a physician and well-known Communist, and a close friend of the designer Pierre Chareau,

Alexandr Radayev