Architecture · Geography · Heritage

The Lion's Mound at the Waterloo battlefield, its construction and the symbolism of the lion

The Lion's Mound, or Butte du Lion, is a 52-metre monument to the Battle of Waterloo, begun in 1820 and completed in 1826. To build the 40-metre mound, earth was brought in from various parts of the battlefield, and on its summit a 4-metre lion

NB! · Monarchies · People · Pop Culture · Humour

Why does Alexander I look like Junior from Duolingo?

NB! · Aristocracy · Art · Museums · People

Equestrian Portrait of Prince Boris Nikolayevich Yusupov, 1809, by Antoine-Jean Gros

Equestrian portrait of Prince Boris Nikolayevich Yusupov, 1809, by Antoine-Jean Gros. Collection of the Pushkin Museum

Architecture · Art · London · Monarchies · Heritage

The 1834 fire at Westminster Palace in London and the paintings of William Turner

189 years ago in London the medieval Palace of Westminster, the ancient residence of the English kings, burned down. The painter William Turner, like most Londoners, watched the fire to the very end. The palace, where Parliament had sat since the sixteenth century, was almost completely destroyed. Turner got into

Elderly woman with round glasses and pinned-up hair, wearing a knitted cardigan over a striped blouse with a dark collar, speaking; a coat rack stands behind her.

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Elderly woman in glasses and a knitted cardigan, black-and-white film still

NB! · Cinema · People · Pop Culture

In the 1947 film "Spring", Lyubov Orlova plays both a scientist and an actress

NB! · Art · Observations · Humour

But which of the Stalinist skyscrapers, precisely, is reflected in the helmet of the guardsman in Gerard David's 1498 painting "The Judgement of Cambyses", made for the courtroom of the town hall in Bruges?

NB! · Humour

Only This Mood in Stock; No Other Capuchins Have Arrived Yet

Art · Moscow · Observations

Nikolai Sapunov’s Work “Still Life with a Self-Portrait”, 1910–1911

I very much liked this painting at the new exhibition at the In Artibus foundation marking the centenary of Dmitry Vladimirovich Sarabyanov. The work is Nikolay Sapunov's "Still Life with a Self-Portrait", 1910-1911. You have to look very closely to find the self-portrait

A black-and-white photo of a Palace of the Soviets model fragment in a pale frame on a red wall; a label naming Abram Sorkin is at left.

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Abram Sorkin's photograph of a Palace of the Soviets model on display

Art · Books · Museums · Observations

The Jewish Museum invites visitors to look at art through the prism of Kafka's work

The Jewish Museum invites visitors to look at art through the prism of Kafka's work. At the entrance they hand out booklets, one red and one brown. The two routes, we are told, are built on the story "The Metamorphosis" and the novel "The Trial&

Monarchies · Science · Education · Paris

Charles V, the College of Maître Gervais and astrology teaching at the University of Paris

Charles V of France reads, seated on his throne; beside the books on the table stands an armillary sphere, an astronomical instrument for determining the coordinates of celestial bodies. Charles V made a considerable contribution to the development of astrology. He opened a faculty at the University of Paris to

Alexandr Radayev