NB! · Art · Museums · Humour
Alexandr Radayev
Books · Mores
Faina Grimberg's poem about a book by Plato, a winter window and Diotima
The snowflakes fall half-asleep. In the small flat there is silence. I have settled down with a book of Plato By the big winter window. Outside the window there is such a womanly picture. Outside the window, the sweep of an arctic-fox fur coat. Outside the window, the
Observations · Science · Nature
An interesting letter about Knorozov's cat has arrived from Artem K., shedding some light on the history of the Thai and Siamese breeds
I remember a cat my uncle had. We took it for a Siamese, but I now realise that the clever, affectionate and sociable creature was in fact a Thai. Well, now you know too
Aristocracy · Art · Museums
If one had to express all the ideas of the Baroque in a single image, this photograph would serve: a swaddled pearl infant, covered with a pearl blanket, in a cradle of gold filigree with silk trimming and pearl inlay
A masterpiece of the jewellers of the 17th century (the infant's face is even engraved on the pearl) was intended as a gift for the last representative of the House of Medici, Maria Luisa, wife of Elector Johann Wilhelm of the House of Wittelsbach, who was expected to
Art · Books · People
Francis Picabia’s manifesto on Cubism and Dada in the collection “100 Art Manifestos”
Francis Picabia, Who Knows Nothing, Nothing, Nothing. From the excellent book “100 Art Manifestos: From the Futurists to the Stuckists”, which brings together the manifestos of creators of every stripe over the last 100 years
NB!
Detail of a medieval painting: a helmeted man and flies on a gold ground
Faith · Art · Observations
The legend of Saint Narcissus's flies that saved Girona from French sieges
Saint Narcissus and the Miracle of the Flies. Francesc Joan, 16th century. During the siege of Girona in 1285, the troops of the French king Philip the Bold desecrated the tomb of Saint Narcissus of Girona, the city's bishop in the 4th century. The next morning an enormous
Archive · Geography · Maps · Society
A little-known utopian map of Europe's arrangement after the First World War, from the anonymous 1920 pamphlet "The Central European Union: A Guide to Lasting Peace"
The author disputes the Treaty of Versailles and doubts that it will bring eternal peace and prosperity. The project gathers 24 European states under a single roof, as though anticipating the creation of the European Union. The borders of each country form a wedge, and all the wedges converge in
NB! · The East · Art · Museums
The Louvre Abu Dhabi Celebrates Its Fifth Anniversary, and the Public Is at Last Shown the Museum's Generous Gift: Leonardo da Vinci's Masterpiece "John the Baptist"
The Louvre Abu Dhabi is celebrating its fifth anniversary, and the public has at last been shown the generous gift the museum has received: Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece "John the Baptist". The painting, dating from the early sixteenth century, has passed from the Louvre in Paris
Books · Observations · Humour
A note on the French writer Paul de Saint-Onge
The Conditional Mood: The Most Beautiful Grammatical Category in the World and, Naturally, the Most Convenient. The French writer Paul de Saint-Onge
NB! · Observations · Mores
Make Yourself at Home, or What I Mean When I Say "Domesticity Has Swallowed Me Whole"
The East · Art · Museums
Alexander of Macedon and Darius III at the Battle of Issus in Altdorfer's Painting
The Battle of Issus between the armies of Alexander the Great and the Persian King Darius III. A painting by Albrecht Altdorfer of the early sixteenth century. Alexander won this battle, which opened the way for his further conquests. The inscription on the tablet at the top of the painting