NB! · Faith · Society · Ethnography

The Amish, who usually take no part in American political life, have this time not stood aside

NB! · Monarchies

The Imperial Family in Foul Weather

NB! · Faith · The East · Art

The Holy Family as Imagined by an Early Seventeenth-Century Artist from Northern India

Black-and-white photograph of a woman and a small girl holding hands beside a wrought-iron railing, with trees behind.

Archive · Books · Paris · People

Marina Tsvetaeva on France and a photograph of the poet in Paris

In some respects of history we (France and Russia) coincide; more than that: there are sides of history that we feel upon our own sides. Marina Tsvetaeva on France. In the photograph: Tsvetaeva in Paris

Monarchies · Observations · People

Napoleon's Height of 168 cm and the Height Requirements in the French Army

The notion of Napoleon's small stature is an English forgery. With the average Frenchman of the time standing at about 164 cm, Napoleon, at 168 cm, was appreciably taller not only than most ordinary men but also than his own soldiers: a recruit could enter the French army

Black-and-white photograph of a grey-haired man with a cigarette in his mouth, leaning on a railing above a street with a lorry and a car.

Books · Paris

Photographic portrait of French poet and playwright Jacques Prévert on a city street

The best way not to move forward is to follow one constant idea. The French poet and dramatist Jacques Prévert

Black-and-white portrait of a smiling young man in a dark uniform with a white sash, buttons, medals and a braided cord.

NB! · Observations · Society · Humour

Comparing the looks of young Donald Trump and young Winston Churchill

In looks alone, the young Donald Trump bears some resemblance to the young Winston Churchill. Or does he not?

Coming Up · Art · Moscow · Museums · Saint Petersburg

Fyodor Bruni's "The Brazen Serpent" from the Russian Museum's collection in Saint Petersburg will be on show in Room 9 of the permanent display of the Tretyakov Gallery in Lavrushinsky Lane from 6 November to 12 May

"The Brazen Serpent" by Fyodor Bruni, from the collection of the Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg, will be on show in Room 9 of the permanent display of the Tretyakov Gallery in Lavrushinsky Lane from 6 November to 12 May. The painting was last in Moscow in 2003,

NB! · Pop Culture · Nature · Humour

The Doggystyle Calendar by the Austrian Photographer Daniel Gebhard

Columned building inscribed State Library of the USSR named after Lenin, with a seated statue and fir trees before it. A metal fence with a red banner is in the foreground.

NB!

Evening view of the Lenin Library with a monument and fir trees behind a fence

Cinema · Books · Observations

The language of Dostoevsky is a subject not merely interesting but essential to understanding his work

The language of Dostoevsky is a subject not merely interesting but essential to understanding his work. Is it possible to grasp the personality of a character without delving into his vocabulary? This is surely one of the first steps to take. Of course, many of the words will prove to

NB! · Art · Humour

Two Violins

Two violins. One painting belongs to Pablo Picasso, 1912, the other to Lyubov Popova, 1915. Guess which is whose?

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