Books · Paris · People

Saltykov-Shchedrin was not a particularly sociable man, nor one inclined to make new acquaintances: for many years he kept company with one and the same circle of people

Saltykov-Shchedrin was not a particularly sociable man, nor one inclined to make new acquaintances: for many years he kept company with one and the same circle of people. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he was not dazzled by foreign authors and did not cling to them. All the more

Detail of a painting: an archangel in a blue robe with large wings reaches toward a pedestal bearing a coat of arms, with smoke rising above it.

Faith · Art · Humour

Reynaud Levieux's 1663 painting of the Archangel Gabriel appearing to Zechariah, and Gabriel's patronage in Catholicism

The Archangel Gabriel appearing to Zacharias. Reynier Levy (Reyno Levye), 1663. In the Catholic Church the Archangel Gabriel is regarded as the patron saint of telecommunications: radio, television and, presumably, the internet.

NB! · Society

Only 10 Refusals to Take Part in the Auction Have Been Commented On by the Organisers

Archive · Monarchies · Pop Culture · Humour

Princess Elizabeth and Prince Charles, photograph by Cecil Beaton, 1948, Vogue

Princess Elizabeth and Prince Charles, photograph by Cecil Beaton, 1948, Vogue. Although the child here is only a month old, there is no tiger-cub emoji on his face. Besides being the first published photograph of Prince Charles in the magazine, it is the first royal photograph printed in the

Coming Up · Architecture · Books · Society · Nature

Art estate Veretyevo asks visitors to help restock the library in its park pavilions

The park created by the architect Brodsky at the Veretyevo art estate needs help restocking its library, scattered across tiny pavilions over 7 hectares of wooded marsh. Anna Narinskaya, curator of the Veretyevo book project, has already written that many visitors to the park, for some reason, take the bookshelves

Architecture · Art

Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s fresco on bad government in the Hall of Nine of Siena’s town hall

A fourteenth-century masterpiece, an allegory of bad government and its consequences by Ambrogio Lorenzetti: tyranny reigns with a bestial grin, justice is oppressed, cities are gripped by violence, people suffer, and chaos and destruction are everywhere. The fresco in the Sala dei Nove of the town hall of Siena

NB! · Observations

Well, hello

Four identical lines reading Registration denied, separated by thin lines.

NB! · Art · Observations · Society · Humour

Nine European auctions have cancelled the author's registration as a buyer

At present 9 European auction houses have cancelled my registration as a buyer. I cannot recall anyone in my whole life who has taken such tender care of the safety of my money

Faith · Nature · Ethnography

The parasitic plant Peter's Cross in bloom in France and in Russian folk beliefs

In France, toothwort is already in full bloom, a most beautiful parasitic plant that has no chlorophyll of its own and lives by attaching itself to the roots of other plants. In Russian it is called "Peter's cross" (petrov krest) for the shape of its rhizomes,

Cinema · Books · Observations

Philip K. Dick's novel about androids, a mood modulator and an empathy test

If anyone remembers one of Philip K. Dick's most popular novels, the one on which "Blade Runner" is based. The action is set in 2021, after a world war that has wrecked the whole earth; part of humanity has emigrated into space, while the rest have