NB! · Archive · Books · Moscow · Observations
A Work by Ivan Zabelin, Written on Commission from the Moscow City Duma
A work by Ivan Zabelin, written on commission from the Moscow City Duma. Happy City Day!
Alexandr Radayev
NB! · Architecture · Art · Observations · People
Miniatures of the Panthéon in the frame of Louis-Michel van Loo's portrait of Soufflot
A portrait of Soufflot by the Rococo master Louis-Michel van Loo caught my attention for the miniatures set into its frame. They show the façade and the interior of the Panthéon, the architect's principal creation
NB! · Architecture · Paris · People
Jacques Germain Soufflot, architect of the Paris Panthéon and mentor of Bazhenov
The French architect of the eighteenth century Jacques-Germain Soufflot was the author of the Paris Panthéon (the church of Sainte-Geneviève). He interests us because for a time he was the mentor of the Moscow architect Bazhenov
NB! · Faith · The East · Books · Observations · Humour
A 45-metre demon from an Urdu-language book about an island where terrifying voices can be heard, where King Solomon shut away the vanquished unclean spirits
A 45-metre demon from an Urdu-language book about an island where terrifying voices can be heard, where King Solomon shut away the vanquished unclean spirits. This demon, apparently, licked its victims to death. I am perfectly willing to believe it and have no wish to meet him
Aristocracy · Observations · Ethnography · Humour
Head of the Miklukho-Maklai Foundation descends from the traveller's brothers, not from him
Saw a rather diverting advertisement for coconut condensed milk at an acquaintance's, the proceeds of which will support an expedition to the shores of Papua New Guinea. FURTHER IN THE TEXT: "organised by the descendants of the great Russian traveller Nikolay Miklukho-Maklay". The Miklukho-Maklay
NB! · Cinema · Observations · Humour
Natalya Gramolina on the perception of culture as a service and an incident outside the museum
Old woman, do not spoil my culture! I simply adore Natalya Nikolayevna Gramolina
NB! · The East · Art · Cinema · Humour
Chinese iron throne of the 19th century with blades and dragon heads
What the Iron Throne really looks like. China, nineteenth century
Archive · Books · Mores
Instructions to the Steward for a Feast in the Domostroy, 16th Century
"If a great feast is to be held, the master must oversee everything himself: the kitchen, the carving-room and the bakehouse. To serve the dishes at table, a capable man should be appointed, and at the sideboard, with the drinks and the vessels, an experienced man is needed
NB! · Art · Paris · Humour
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1894-1896
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1894-1896. “So how do you like the Kremlin diet?”
Observations · Humour
The Latin word monoceros as the name for the unicorn
The unicorn in Latin is monoceros. It sounds like a diagnosis.
NB! · Faith · Art · Moscow · Observations · Rome
Jules Eugène Lenepveu, Saints in the Catacombs (of Rome)
Jules Eugène Lenepveu, Saints in the Catacombs (of Rome). One more thing I love about Moscow is that there are no mass burials beneath it, as there are under so many European capitals. Only rivers. Somehow life is calmer with that thought
NB! · Observations · Science