Science · People

Spanish sergeant Antonio Chover survived dozens of wounds in June 1809

During the Peninsular War, in June 1809, the Spanish courier, cavalry sergeant Antonio Chover, found himself surrounded by a detachment of Marshal Claude-Victor Perrin, and, contrary to the law, was not taken prisoner but cut down with sabres. In the fight Chover lost his left ear and received dozens

NB! · Aristocracy · Monarchies · People · Pop Culture

Princess Margaret, evidently, knew what style was

NB! · Art · Museums · Saint Petersburg

Statue of Octavian Augustus in the Guise of Jupiter, Hermitage

NB! · Art

Venus Anadyomene, rising from the sea, as painted by Botticelli (1484-86), Titian (1522), Poussin (1635-36) and Cornelis de Vos (1651)

Books · People

Byron on an enslaved land of vanished greatness and the battle at Thermopylae

A sorrowful land of vanished greatness, In your fall immortal, great. Oh, who will rouse your children with a cry, Who will free you from slavery? Your sons have now become other men. Not disputing with fate, a hopeless battle At Thermopylae they once awaited. Where now is that valour,

Architecture · Observations · Paris

Of course, the ugly 210-metre Montparnasse skyscraper is not in fact all that close to the 330-metre Eiffel Tower, and one has to work rather hard to get the two buildings into the same frame, but all the same, looking at these photographs, it is easy to

NB! · Architecture · Geography

Venice, Piazza San Marco

Cinema · Books · Observations · Mores

Reading Werner Herzog's memoirs "Every Man for Himself and God Against All", I have reached the chapter "Wives, Children", already nearing the end of the book, after the chapters on his youth, childhood dreams, film shoots and how he solved a puzzle in a

I am reading Werner Herzog's memoirs, "Every Man for Himself and God Against All", and have reached the chapter "Wives, Children". We are already close to the end of the book, after the chapters on his youth, childhood dreams, film shoots and how he

Moscow · Museums · Observations · Pop Culture

Pianist Riad Mammadov releases an album recorded at the Pushkin Museum in April 2023

My friend, the pianist and composer Riad Mammadov, has released a new album of academic repertoire and his own compositions, recorded during a solo concert in the Italian Courtyard of the Pushkin Museum in April 2023. The programme of the recital, and of the album, is made up of works

NB! · Art · Monarchies · Observations · Humour

Queen Victoria in life and Queen Victoria in a drawing by Lawrence Alma-Tadema

Queen Victoria in life and Queen Victoria in a drawing by Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Oh, these British artists

Old photograph: a nun in a dark veil sits at left; at right a dark-haired woman lies on pillows, eyes closed. Behind them are carved furniture and floral wallpaper.

NB!

Nun beside a reclining woman's bed in a room with a carved cabinet

NB! · Cinema · Observations

Carl Theodor Dreyer's "Vampyr" of 1932 is an indisputable classic of the horror film

Carl Theodor Dreyer's "Vampyr" of 1932 is an indisputable classic of the horror film, and a treasure-house of the earliest special effects besides. If you are in the mood for a certain refined dread and a Victorian chill, I recommend it for your viewing.

Alexandr Radayev