Faith · People · Rome

Benedict XVI, 95, who abdicated in 2013, photographed in the Vatican gardens

The 95-year-old Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI strolling through the Vatican Gardens, in one of his most recent photographs. As you can see from this picture from the Joseph Ratzinger Foundation, Benedict, though very frail, is nonetheless in tolerable health for a man of his venerable age. Let me

NB! · Archaeology · Geography · Maps

Map of Greek Possessions and Colonies in the Archaic Period, 8th–5th Centuries BC

Black-and-white engraving of a creature with a horse's head and a human torso, arms raised, with hoofed legs.

NB! · Faith · Art · Books · Ethnography

Orobas, a spirit of King Solomon, in Collin de Plancy’s “Dictionnaire infernal”

Orobas, one of the spirits of King Solomon, appears when conjured in the form of a man with a horse's head and gives answers to questions about the past, present and future. Illustration from Collin de Plancy's "Dictionnaire Infernal"

Interior with a richly painted coffered ceiling, a white openwork chandelier, ornamented walls and turquoise tiles. Two people sit on benches between the arched windows.

NB!

Hall with a painted ceiling, carved columns and an openwork chandelier

Ceiling with geometric ornament in green, blue and gold, carved cornices and white openwork lamps.

NB! · Architecture · The East · Art · Museums · Observations

Painted ceiling of a hall in the Museum of Applied Arts of Uzbekistan

In the Museum of Applied Arts of Uzbekistan, a single room is enough to fall irrevocably in love. No exhibits, guided tours or wall labels are required: just lift your head

NB! · Art · Observations · Humour

Do You Love Arnold Böcklin as I Love Him?

NB! · Archive · Art · People

The Delft Gunpowder Explosion of 12 October 1654, in Which Carel Fabritius, Creator of the Legendary "Goldfinch", Perished

Gilded pulpit shaped like a ship with a mast, sail, anchor and angels against the white walls of a Baroque church.

NB! · Architecture · Faith · Art

Baroque pulpit shaped like a ship with an anchor and Archangel Michael, Irsee Abbey

A pulpit symbolising hope, in the form of a ship's prow with a raised anchor and a golden sculpture of the Archangel Michael, in Irsee Abbey, Germany. Church Baroque: a love for all time

NB! · People · Humour

The French as Hungry Rats in the Command of Village Elderwoman Vasilisa

Archive · Art · Society · People

Vasilisa Kozhina and the Partisan War Against Napoleon in Smolensk Governorate

The elder of a certain village in the Sychyovka district led a party of prisoners, taken by the peasants, into town. In his absence the villagers caught several more Frenchmen and at once brought them to the elder's wife, Vasilisa, to be dispatched whither they ought to go.

NB! · Faith · Art

Saint Michael, Piero della Francesca

NB! · Archive · Architecture · Heritage

Alexandr Radayev