Art · Observations · People · Pop Culture

François-Marie Banier, perhaps one of the foremost celebrity photographers of the twentieth century

François-Marie Banier is perhaps one of the foremost celebrity photographers of the twentieth century. I remember how, at the exhibition of his work in the Manege some 15 years ago, I was struck by the number of remarkable people whom Banier had managed to capture. But he is known

NB! · Archive · Monarchies · People · Pop Culture

Mood: Elizabeth II through the lens of François-Marie Banier, 1992

NB! · Observations

Athens 💛

Art · Monarchies · Society · Paris

Antoine Augustin Parmentier, Chief Apothecary of the Hôtel des Invalides, presents the first potato harvest to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette on the Plaine des Sablons in 1786

Antoine Augustin Parmentier, Chief Apothecary of the Hôtel des Invalides, presents the first potato harvest to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette on the Plaine des Sablons in 1786. Antoine Parmentier received from the king 54 acres of land on which to cultivate the potato and make it fashionable among the

NB! · Pop Culture · Humour

A Dutch Bilbo Baggins in a Green Cloak Bids You Good Evening

Horsemen in old-fashioned dress ride across a snowy field, a borzoi in the foreground, a sleigh and dogs on the right.

NB! · Art · Monarchies · People

Valentin Serov’s painting “Peter I Hunting with Hounds”, created in 1902

Peter I Hunting with Hounds, 1902. Valentin Serov

Geography · Art · Monarchies · Museums

Allegory of the Volga from Meissen’s “Big Russian Order” for Catherine the Great

The figure of a majestic, serene river god reclining on a bed of boulders and waterweed is the allegory of the Volga from the exquisite "Great Russian Commission" of the Meissen manufactory. The heroically built old man leans upon an overturned vessel, from which turbulent waters pour forth,

Antique engraved map of Asia with Cyrillic labels, coloured borders and a decorative cartouche reading “Азия” in the lower left corner.

NB! · The East · Geography · Maps

Russian map of Asia of 1745 showing Great Tartary, Free Tartary and Chinese Tartary

A map of Asia from 1745. It shows Great Tartary, which comprises Independent Tartary and Chinese Tartary

Archive · The East · Geography · Books

The Russian Empire is bounded on the north by the Northern Ocean; on the east it is parted from America by the Eastern, Pacific or Kamchatka Sea; on the south it borders upon Chinese and Free Tartary, upon Persia, Georgia and Little Tartary; and on the we

From the Methodical Geographical Description of the Russian Empire, with a Proper Introduction to a Thorough Knowledge of the Terrestrial Globe and of Europe in General, 1776. By Chinese Tartary, in all likelihood, are meant the lands of present-day Mongolia and China; by Free Tartary, the lands of Turkestan

Art · Observations · Humour

Girolamo Induno’s “Sad Presentiment” of 1862 and the Bust of Garibaldi

A girl pines for her beloved and scrolls through their photos together on an iPhone. Girolamo Induno, 1862. On the wall, as a tribute to romantic memories, hangs a reproduction of Francesco Hayez's "The Kiss". So that is how it goes: they wander about kissing, and

Archive · Art · Monarchies · Moscow · Mores · Society

Apollinary Vasnetsov and the menus of the coronation dinners in Moscow in May 1896

Menu of the dinner for the volost elders, 18 May 1896, at the Petrovsky Palace on the occasion of the coronation of Nicholas II, printed in colour lithography at the Levenson quick-printing house from sketches by Apollinary Vasnetsov, younger brother of t. Apollinary Vasnetsov, like his brother, took part

NB! · Archaeology · Geography · Maps

Latest