NB!
Latest
NB!
Painting detail: a woman in a dark shawl seated in the snow
Art · Observations
Alphonse Mucha's painting “Winter Night” of 1920 with a lone woman, wolves and a star
A lone wanderer in a deserted field in winter. The oppressive, dark palette is heightened by the black blot of a pack of wolves closing in on the despairing woman. But wait: is it really despair that we read on her face? It is rather an expression of enlightened acceptance,
Archaeology · The East · Observations
The ruins of Uruk and the question of whether every ancient city should be excavated
When I looked out of the car window as a child at such strange hills, it seemed to me that inside them there were secret rooms, corridors, whole buildings and defensive towers. If you take a closer look at the ruins of Uruk, that is just how it turns out.
Archive · Moscow · Observations · Mores · People
Interior of Andropov's apartment on Kutuzovsky Prospekt in photographs from 1984
Andropov's flat at 26 Kutuzovsky Prospekt. The photographs were taken in 1984, after the General Secretary's death. A luxury interior from an era when the profession of interior designer, to all appearances, did not exist in the country
Archive · Faith · Observations · Science · People · Humour
Newton identified 2060 as the year of God's judgment from prophetic chronologies
Isaac Newton, according to his manuscripts of 1704, basing himself on his own interpretation of the Bible, above all the Book of Daniel, calculated that the end of the world would come in 2060. Sir Isaac Newton's prediction of the end of the world in 2060 rests on
Books · Observations · Humour
I am inclined to think that the Romans rather irritated one another with their noses
I am inclined to think that the Romans rather irritated one another with their noses. Hence, perhaps, such a restless people came of them. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations
NB!
Carved wooden shutters on a log wall with palm leaves
Architecture · Observations · Heritage · Education
Baron von Derwies's izba at Valrose in Nice to be restored for 700,000 euros
150 years ago Baron von Derviz, the creator of the Trans-Siberian Railway, bought a plot of land of 10 hectares in Nice, built the Château de Valrose and lived there with his wife and three children. The grounds of the villa were laid out with grottoes, cascades, a great
Art · Heritage · Society
Danish Ministry of Culture decides to remove “Large Mermaid” sculpture from Dragør Fort
Copenhagen Authorities to Remove Mermaid Sculpture Deemed Provocative. The decision has been taken by the Danish Ministry of Culture. But this is not about the famous beauty, Edvard Eriksen's Little Mermaid, but about a contemporary sculpture installed in 2018 in the very centre of the city, on the
NB! · Art · Pop Culture · Humour
Literally any classical subject:
Faith · Books
The legend of a demon who revealed to Saint Bernard seven verses that lead to paradise
Who could be luckier than those who assure us that they will attain supreme bliss by reading, every day, seven short verses from the sacred psalms? There is a tradition that a rather talkative demon once mentioned to Saint Bernard the existence of seven verses, the daily reading of which