NB! · Archive · Museums · Paris
Alexandr Radayev
NB! · Architecture · Faith · Paris
The central nave of Notre-Dame Cathedral can hold a twelve-storey building
Welcome to Notre-Dame! The central nave of the cathedral could hold a twelve-storey building
NB! · Faith · Art · Ethnography
A Sculptural Group at the Château de Fontainebleau Devoted to Saint Sylvester
A sculptural group at the Château de Fontainebleau devoted to Saint Sylvester. The pontiff is also venerated in the Orthodox Church, with his feast day on 2 January. He is regarded as the patron of domestic fowl, chickens in particular
NB! · Observations · Humour
Obviously, Which Chair I Chose
NB! · Archaeology · Art · Museums · Paris · People
4 January: the birth of Vivant Denon, artist, Egyptologist, collector and first director of the Louvre
4 January: the birth of Vivant Denon, artist, Egyptologist, collector and first director of the Louvre. He accompanied Napoleon on the Egyptian campaign and, in his spare time, cultivated the friendship of Catherine the Great and Madame de Pompadour
NB! · Art · Monarchies · New York
A tapestry that belonged to Henry VIII is offered for sale at a New York gallery
NB! · Faith · Art · Moscow · Heritage
The Canopy over the Shrine of Metropolitan Peter
The canopy over the shrine of Metropolitan Peter. Russia, 1819. Dormition Cathedral, Moscow Kremlin
NB! · Archaeology · Faith · Art · Museums · Rome
Porphyry bowl from Nero's Golden Palace in the rotunda of a Vatican museum
Porphyry bowl from Nero's Golden House, with a circumference of 13 metres. It is now in the Michelangelo Simonetti rotunda of the Belvedere Palace in the Vatican, home to the Museo Pio-Clementino (the museum of Clement XIV and Pius VI)
The East · Books · Monarchies · Mores
Porphyrogenitus status in Byzantium and its role in succession and marriages
The lines "and before the younger capital old Moscow paled, as before a new empress the porphyry-clad widow" also mention a derivative of the Ancient Greek πορφυρα, πορφυρεος, "purple, crimson, dark red" The porphyra is an imperial mantle of a characteristic crimson colour. Oddly enough,
NB! · Geography · Art
Porphyry vase and the porphyry deposit that belonged to Cleopatra
A vase of porphyry, the volcanic rock that turns red when polished. The material came into fashion from the 1st century BC. The only deposit of porphyry known at the dawn of the Era belonged to Cleopatra
NB! · Observations · Mores · Humour
Lessons in Hospitality: Should You Invite Me to Dinner, Adorn the Table with Napkins Bearing the Châteaux of France
NB! · Geography · Society
Today marks the 102nd anniversary of the surrender of Port Arthur, which the Russian army heroically held for 329 days
Today marks the 102nd anniversary of the surrender of Port Arthur, which the Russian army heroically held for 329 days. At the fortress walls the Japanese lost 110,000 men and 15 warships