Art · Humour
Porcelain figure from the Wallendorf manufactory, made in the 1770s
Never Ask Saturn What He Had for Lunch. Porcelain figure, Wallendorf manufactory, 1770s.
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Archive · In the Press · Society · Humour
What One May Write About
It is forbidden to write: of the bureaucrat, Of the officers, of the soldier, Of the strike, of the movement, Of the clergy, of the ferment, Of the peasant, of the ministry, Of the execution, of the Cossacks' brutality, Of the police, of arrests, Of robberies, of manifestos! But
Archive · Books · People
Lunin's reaction to his 1826 sentence in Rosen's memoirs and Svistunov's rebuttal
The memoirs of the Decembrist Andrey Yevgenyevich Rosen contain a curious detail about the Decembrist Lunin. When Mikhail Sergeyevich Lunin, who had confessed under interrogation to proposing the murder of the Tsar on the road to Tsarskoye Selo, heard the sentence read out condemning him to penal servitude in perpetuity,
NB! · Art · New York · Humour
The Mona Lisa in the New York Subway
Faith · Observations · People · Rome
The Bishop of Rome renounces the See of Saint Peter as of 28 February 2013
On the morning of 11 February 2013, Pope Benedict XVI announced his forthcoming voluntary abdication from the papal throne. "...in today's world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the barque of
Archive · Monarchies · Mores
Women of the Imperial Family as Colonels-in-Chief of Russian Regiments
Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in the uniform of Her Majesty's Life-Guards Uhlan Regiment, of which she was Colonel-in-Chief from 1903. On their fourteenth birthdays, the emperor's daughters became colonels of one of the formations of the Russian Imperial Army. The eldest daughter of Nicholas
Archive · The East · Geography · Books · Nature · Rome
The greatest tragedy has struck the peoples of Turkey and Syria on Monday 6 February
The greatest tragedy has struck the peoples of Turkey and Syria on Monday 6 February. Two earthquakes, of magnitude 7.8 and 7.7, have affected vast territories in both countries. It is hard to judge as a non-specialist, but the epicentre of the earthquakes seems to lie in
NB! · Observations · Society Pages · Humour
When you wear your very best to the occasion, come what may
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Corner of a half-timbered house before and after restoration: rough clay and white plaster
Architecture · Observations · Heritage
The Appalling "Restoration" of One of the Oldest Dwellings in France
The appalling "restoration" of one of the oldest dwellings in France. During the pandemic, the owners of the world-famous House of Jeanne in the small town of Séverac-le-Château in the south of France carried out repairs. After the house, a contemporary of the Crusades, became
NB! · Observations
They Knew How to Live...
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