Cinema · Observations · Humour
In the forthcoming 2023 film about Bonaparte's military career and rise to power, Kitbag, the 30-year-old Napoleon and the 36-year-old Josephine will be played by the 46-year-old Joaquin Phoenix and the 28-year-old Jodie Comer. Which means that either we shall
Faith · Books · New York · Society
According to Raimondi, the murder was arranged by Bishop Paul Marcinkus, president of the Vatican Bank from 1971 to 1989, who in 1973 was suspected of involvement in supplying the Vatican with counterfeit bonds worth almost 15 million dollars. The gangster writes that Pope John Paul I intended to expose
Faith · People · Rome
Francis I has issued a decree recognising a miracle wrought through the intercession of Pope John Paul I. This brings a Pope so adored by the people closer to canonisation. The process of beatification began in 2003, in 2017 Francis approved the canonisation of John Paul I, in 2021 his
Aristocracy · Monarchies · Science · Mores · Paris
In the drawing room of the antiquary Michel Meyer stood a microscope, an intriguing trinket, though many would call it heaven knows what, neither the most decorative nor the most useful item in the furnishings. Good for propping up books, perhaps, or weighing down the sauerkraut? Yet this microscope dates
Pop Culture · Humour
A pearl necklace with spatters of blood, in the style of "Death Becomes Her" The American brand Bethroot Crystals makes very life-affirming jewellery; the collection is called Dracula's Kiss
NB! · Monarchies · Observations · Pop Culture · Ethnography
It must be observed that Queen Margrethe II of Denmark wears national dress as no other European monarch can. Only Elizabeth II in the Balmoral tartan might rival her for the fashionable crown
NB! · Art · Museums · Humour
Coming Up · Art · Moscow · Museums · New York
The Museum of Russian Impressionism has a bright, rich exhibition, Other Shores: Russian Art in New York, about the 1924 show that introduced the American public to Konchalovsky, Lentulov, Petrov-Vodkin, Polenov, Yuon, Vasnetsov, Kustodiev, Arkhipov, Larionov, Grabar, Saryan and other outstanding names of Russian art. It was not the
Art · Monarchies · Moscow · Museums · Science · Nature · Humour
Over the long years the picture has been restored more than once, and by our day all the insects, originally natives of the Illyrian Provinces, have been replaced by insects born, lived and died on Russian soil. One might say that this curious heraldic trinket has, in the end, become
Moscow · Science · Society · Humour
Alexander Chubaryan, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Ramzan Kadyrov, Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences; and Karen Shakhnazarov, Academician of the National Academy of Motion Picture Arts. A photograph from the Kremlin reception held in November 2019, on the day the Prize for the Strengthening of
NB! · Archaeology · Archive · Science · People
NB! · Archive · Pop Culture
The idols of France Alain Delon and Édith Piaf backstage at a concert in 1959. Édith was small, 147 cm tall; Delon was around 180. There were 20 years between them in age. At that moment Alain Delon had not yet played his most iconic roles, while Piaf was already