Science · Mores · Humour
In the 1770s, Umbrellas and Hats with Lightning Conductors Came into Fashion in Europe. The device invented in America for diverting lightning strikes from houses made a strong impression on the fashionable European public, which promptly wished to secure against atmospheric electricity its own persons as well. Umbrellas with lightning
Faith · Art · People
The work was never completed, and the monastery of San Donato a Scopeto commissioned the Adoration from Filippino Lippi instead. Leonardo depicted the Magi differently from the accepted manner: they do not walk one after another bearing their gifts, but worship the infant Christ simultaneously, as he sits in the
Books · People · Humour
The French poet Nicolas Boileau (1636-1711)
The East · Art · Books
The translator, Inoue Tsutomu, gave the book the title "The Trial of the Pledged Flesh". The action was transposed into contemporary settings, and in Utagawa Yoshimune's illustrations the characters appear in the dress and surroundings of the nineteenth century
NB! · Geography · Maps
Aristocracy · Monarchies
The elder of the princes, William, was killed in a flying accident in 1972 at the age of 31: he was piloting an aeroplane in a race in Staffordshire when his wing clipped a tree. The title of Duke of Gloucester was inherited by his younger brother, Richard
Art · London · Museums
In the infant's hands is a pomegranate. The painting is usually called the Salting Madonna, after the man who bequeathed it to the National Gallery in London.
NB! · Books · Observations
Books · Observations · People
In my next life I shall try to make more mistakes. Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986)
NB! · Aristocracy · Archive · Monarchies
NB! · Geography · Maps · Nature
The Netherlands in 1300 and in 2023. This is what a successful battle with Poseidon looks like
Observations · Society · Paris
Paris Bans Electric Scooters for Good! Following the April referendum, in which 90% of participants voted against this appalling form of transport, Paris will become the first European capital entirely free of electric scooters. Good Lord, when will it come to pass in Moscow too?