Art · Mores · Ethnography

Polish Dress in Dutch Portraits of Children of the 17th Century, from Bol to Netscher

Here we have a most interesting instance of foreigners borrowing national dress: Dutch merchants in Poland dressed their children in costumes stylised after the clothing of the Polish nobility. The first portrait, of 1656, by the Dutch painter Ferdinand Bol, a pupil of Rembrandt, shows the son of a Dutch

NB! · Archive · The East · Art · Education · Society

Turkish Posters of the 1930s Promoting the Introduction of the Latin Alphabet

NB! · Observations · Rome · Humour

We've Got a Colosseum at Home

We've got a Colosseum at home. The Colosseum:

In the Press · Books · Moscow · Museums · Heritage

New director Vladimir Tolstoy plans to complete restoration of the Khamovniki estate

In a recent interview with Kommersant, Vladimir Tolstoy, who a month ago took up the post of Director General of the Leo Tolstoy State Museum, spoke of the main tasks awaiting him in his new office. The first item on the new director's list of priorities is to

Coming Up · Art · Moscow · Museums

Five Moscow exhibitions, from the image of the builder to the history of Novodevichy Convent

As every Monday, in the "Where to Go" column I gather for you the main events at Moscow's museums and art galleries. Do hurry! ✔️The exhibition "The Construction of Creativity", tracing the image of the builder from the 1930s to the present day, at

The East · London · Society · Humour

Remember that amusing story, worthy of a Richard Gere and Julia Roberts double act, about the Indian Maharajah who walked into a Rolls Royce showroom in London in 1920 dressed in ordinary clothes, only to be refused service and simply shown the door…

Remember that amusing story, worthy of a Richard Gere and Julia Roberts double act, about the Indian Maharajah who walked into a Rolls Royce showroom in London in 1920 dressed in ordinary clothes, only to be refused service and simply shown the door? He then changed into royal attire and

NB! · Archive · The East · Geography

A Rolls-Royce Crosses a River in Nepal, 1950

Archive · Society · Paris · Pop Culture

Alain Delon's letter to de Gaulle and the president's resignation after a negative vote

Letter from Alain Delon to General de Gaulle, written on the eve of de Gaulle's official departure from the French presidency in 1969. An extraordinary time in the history of Europe, effectively the last season of a truly great France. Alain Delon writes as follows: “My General, for

Aristocracy · Cinema · Books

A fine occasion today to recall the magnificent 1963 screen adaptation of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's novel “The Leopard”, on the life of the aristocratic Salina family amid the political and social upheavals of the Risorgimento in Italy

Civil war is breaking out in Italy. On one side stand the republicans, adherents of Garibaldi; on the other, supporters of the ruling Bourbon dynasty. Alain Delon plays Tancredi, nephew of the central character, Prince Salina, who embodies the aristocracy in the face of fatal change. Prince Salina is played

NB! · Cinema · Pop Culture · Humour

There Is No Mick Jagger Who Would Not Lower His Eyes in the Presence of Alain Delon

Faith · Observations · Society · Humour

A study by a Durham-based community organisation shows that the Church of England has, over the past 10 years, stopped using the word church for its new parishes, preferring words such as community or…

A study by a community organisation based in Durham shows that over the past 10 years the Church of England has stopped using the word church for its new parishes, preferring words such as community or congregation. According to the findings, not one of the churches opened in England in

NB! · Monarchies · Humour

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