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Night Visions, René Magritte
Art · Observations · Humour
A lemon or an orange in Jan Davidsz de Heem's painting of 1665
A magnificent lemon, if we trust the title of the painting, or an orange, if we trust our own eyes. By the master of the Golden Age of Dutch painting Jan Davidsz. de Heem, 1665 Have you ever seen a fruit peeled in so unusual a fashion?
NB! · Archive · London · Monarchies
Charles III in the courtyard of Buckingham Palace after the State Opening of Parliament in 2023, for the first time as king, and in 1952 with Elizabeth II, who opened Parliament for the first time as queen
NB! · Architecture · Books · Observations
View of the former Stroganov cast-iron foundry on the lake in Satka, Chelyabinsk Oblast
Photographed an extraordinary view in the town of Satka, Chelyabinsk Region, on the shore of a genuine factory lake, straight out of Alexey Ivanov's "Mining-Works Civilisation". The photograph shows the Iron Foundry, founded by a Stroganov, though I do not know to which period this
NB! · London · People · Humour
Oliver Cromwell on the London Underground
Archive · Monarchies · Saint Petersburg · Humour
The Emperor sent two letters to Saint Petersburg and received no reply
Napoleon Sent Two Letters to Saint Petersburg and Received No Reply. Worse than importunate people are only importunate emperors
Art · Humour
Van Gogh's portrait of a baby sold in 2015 for 7.6 million dollars
What a lovely child! Is it a boy? It's a Van Gogh. In 2015 this child was sold for 7.6 million dollars
NB! · Coming Up · Art · London · Monarchies · Museums
Holbein exhibition opens at Buckingham Palace on 10 November, with more than 100 works by the royal painter on show
Books · Monarchies · People · Saint Petersburg
How Catherine the Great invited Diderot to Russia and bought his library
Within ten days of Catherine II's accession to the throne, she had invited Denis Diderot to come to Russia. She even proposed that he move the publication of the "Encyclopédie", which kept running into bans in France, to Riga or Saint Petersburg. But Diderot did not
Archive · Books · Science · Humour
Why is it coldest at dawn and before morning, of all the hours of the day?
Why is it coldest at dawn and before morning, of all the hours of the day? So an unknown inquirer asks Paul Taverner, Rector of the University of Lyon, in 1597. But we already know that the darkest hour is just before the dawn. Thanks be to Benjamin Disraeli or
Art
Jupiter, Mercury and Virtue
A painting by the Italian artist Dosso Dossi, 1523-24. While Jupiter paints butterflies, that is, creates all that exists, his son, the light and nimble Jupiter in a diadem and winged sandals, gestures to Virtue for silence.