NB! · Books · Nature
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Archaeology · Science
Genetics Confirms That Smallpox Reached the Americas with European Colonisation
Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have for the first time reconstructed and analysed genomes of the smallpox virus from remains found in the Americas. The material was obtained from two people who lived in the colonial era in the north of present-day Chile. The analysis showed that the viruses
Art · Observations · Science · Society
An article in the journal of the American Psychological Association examines how accusing an artist of a crime changes the public's attitude to his works
Participants in the experiment were asked to assess a work of art, then told that its author stood accused of one crime or another, and asked to assess the work afresh, being asked along the way whether the display of this work ought to be restricted. The upshot was that
Faith · Art · Nature
Il Salvatore salvato, the Saved Saviour: a sculpture carved from the trunk of a centuries-old olive tree killed by Pierce's disease
The sculpture Il Salvatore salvato, the Saved Saviour, carved from the trunk of a centuries-old olive tree that died of Pierce's disease. The crucifix stands on the Salento peninsula, in a burnt olive grove from which, shortly before the fire, the trunk of the dead ancient tree
Art · Heritage · New York · Society
The heirs of the Jewish art dealer Oscar Stettiner continue to go to law over Modigliani's 1918 "Seated Man with a Cane", which they consider their rightful property, believing it to have been seized from the estate of their forebear during…
A couple of weeks ago the court ordered the present owner of the disputed painting, the art dealer David Nahmad, to return it to Stettiner's heirs. Now it has further ruled that the heirs are entitled to interest for the period preceding the judgment in the case of
The East · Geography · Observations · Society
The author on the risk of Spain losing control over the Strait of Gibraltar
One must understand that the feral hordes now storming Spain are making their way not to the mainland part of the kingdom, but to Spain's African possessions. And this is not about the arrival of yet more multitudes of thousands in Europe, since they are arriving there quite
Archaeology · Art · Books · Museums
The Blinding of Polyphemus at the Sperlonga Museum and the Rhodian Sculptors
Head of Odysseus from the sculptural group “The Blinding of Polyphemus”, found in 1957 in the grotto of the villa of the Emperor Tiberius at Sperlonga. The work illustrates the episode from the “Odyssey” in which the hero and his companions blind the Cyclops Polyphemus. Because of its stylistic closeness
NB! · Observations · Society · Paris
I wonder whether, forty years from now, people will post photographs of Macron in the same spirit in which we post snapshots of Chirac?
The East · Books · Mores
Gaspard Drouville on how Persians sleep on the floor and make their beds
The Persians sleep on the floor. Beds are made up every evening, cleared away every morning and stored in the closets for the whole day. According to the rank and wealth of the persons concerned, they are made of one mattress or of many, of broadcloth, of a fine chintz
NB! · Archive · Paris · Pop Culture
Dalida and Alain Delon outside the singer's house in Montmartre, 1972
Art · Museums · Society
In early September 2025 the US State Department, which is responsible for the American pavilion, formally notified the curator John Ravenal that his project with the artist Robert Lazzarini had been selected for the Venice Biennale
In early September 2025 the US State Department, which is responsible for the American pavilion, formally notified the curator John Ravenal that his project with the artist Robert Lazzarini had been selected for the Venice Biennale. The project was called History Maker, and its institutional partner and sponsor was the
Art · Museums · Observations · Heritage · Society
The vandals who tried to attach a propaganda photograph to Picasso's 1901 "Motherhood" and poured paint on the floor of the National Gallery have been found guilty of criminal damage
The vandals who tried to attach a propaganda photograph to Picasso's 1901 "Motherhood" and poured paint on the floor of the National Gallery have been found guilty of criminal damage. Sentence will be passed in the autumn. It is all, of course, very stupid and dreadful,