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Napoleon's army, retreating from Russia, was not merely worn down by cold, hunger, want, disease and appalling losses: on Prussian soil, through which it was obliged to pass on its way home, it was also met by a wave…

Faith · The East · Observations · Rome · Humour

Pope Francis and the Magi

Am I the only one who finds it strange, this joyful meeting of the Bishop of Rome with Chaldean astrologers, Zoroastrian priests and sorcerers?

NB! · Books · Observations · Pop Culture

I have never worn a stitch of Thom Browne, but the collection inspired by the novel "Moby-Dick; or, The Whale" went straight to my heart 💎

NB! · Moscow · Observations

December Smiles upon Muscovites

Faith · Art · Museums

Saint Sebastian of 1490 by the painter of the early Italian Renaissance Andrea Mantegna, and a barely noticeable detail: an inscription on the ribbon wound around the candle, "nil nisi divinum stabile est caetera fumus", which means "only the divine…

The dying flame symbolises the life of the saint himself, departing towards the heavens, to which his last gaze is turned. But the arrows of martyrdom promise eternal life. Mantegna has other Sebastians too, in the Dresden and Louvre collections. This one is from the Franchetti collection in Venice.

Art · Museums · Observations · Society

An African offers emeralds from the Chavor mine on a golden tray

An African offers emeralds from the Chavor mine on a golden tray. To European sovereigns, by all appearances. Balthasar Permoser's sculpture of 1724 is on show at the Luxembourg Museum and, by and large, is not in the least archaic. The exploitation of Africa has since taken on

Coming Up · Art · Moscow · Observations

Interest in contemporary art has long proved that fairs and exhibitions are events not only for professionals and old hands of the art market, but also for a great many people with no connection to art, or only just beginning their acquaintance with…

Interest in contemporary art has long proved that fairs and exhibitions are events not only for professionals and old hands of the art market, but also for a great many people with no connection to art, or only just beginning their acquaintance with young, living artists. Among my acquaintances, many

NB! · Humour

In That Case, I Am Lord Vasily Kurochka of Fotosalon Anna

Observations · Society · Pop Culture

Remember how Liza Yankovskaya raised the topic of nepo babies a whole year ago?

https://theparnassian.com/dorogaia-liza-iankovskaia-takoe-slovo-est/

Colour print of a winter scene: a soldier in a tall fur cap embraces a woman, with an old man, a child and a seated elderly woman with baskets nearby.

NB! · Archive · Mores · Society

An English soldier bids his family farewell before the Crimean War, after earlier Anglo-Russian conflict

An English soldier bids farewell to his family as he leaves for the Crimean War, the first combat encounter between the Russian and English armies on Russian territory. Before the Crimean War, England and Russia had been at odds in 1807-1812, during the Anglo-Russian War, but mostly at

A young white deer with short antlers stands on snow, with bare trees in the background.

NB! · Nature

Sacred white deer in Norway in a photograph by Mads Nordsvin

The sacred white reindeer, Norway. Photo by Mads Nordsveen

NB! · Archive · London · Monarchies · People

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