NB! · Observations · Humour
Latest
Archive · Pop Culture
Eight of Chopin's waltzes appeared in his lifetime, the E minor waltz after his death in 1868
Riyad Mammadov Performs Chopin's Waltz in E Minor for Piano. Chopin is the author of some 20 waltzes. Only 8 were published in the composer's lifetime, and another 9 entered the complete edition, which appeared after the death of Frédéric Nikolayevich. The exquisite E minor waltz
Almaty · Books · Observations · Society
It is with gladness of heart that I learn the bookshops came through the twilight of Almaty's vandalism untouched
It is with gladness of heart that I learn the bookshops came through the twilight of Almaty's vandalism untouched. At any rate, the shop in the photograph and Akademkniga on Furmanov Street suffered no harm in the course of the outrages committed by looters and loathsome rioters. Perhaps
Observations · Mores · Humour
The smoking cap in the 19th-century male wardrobe and its purpose
Velvet caps like these, with embroidery and rich decoration, were a common item of the male wardrobe in the nineteenth century. To the modern eye, admittedly, they look somewhat odd. But the headgear served no merely decorative purpose: this is the so-called smoking cap, worn in smoking rooms or
Faith · People · Pop Culture · Rome · Humour
Pope Francis visits a music shop without a cortege, arriving in a Fiat 500 with Vatican plates
Yesterday evening the Pope slipped out of the Vatican and was caught leaving the StereoSound music shop near the Pantheon. Francis likes not only mischievous escapades but also classical music, Beethoven, Mozart and Bach above all, so why not combine the two passions, he thought? All the more so as
Architecture · Observations · Society
The Throne Wobbles
The throne wobbles. Steps in the residence of the President of Kazakhstan. Photo by Bagdat Asylbek. The residence was originally built as a Lenin museum, but by the time it was completed, the figure of Lenin had lost its relevance in the political life of the country.
NB!
Detail of a 17th-century painting: a boy in a red costume with a blue sash
Art · Monarchies · Museums · Paris
Rubens's painting of the transfer of the regency to Marie de' Medici in 1610
Louis XIII is nine years old in this painting and exactly half the height of his parents, but how elegantly the boy is dressed! The painting by Peter Paul Rubens is entitled "The Preparation of the King for the War in Germany, or the Transfer of the Regency to
NB! · Faith · Rome
Christmas at the Vatican: That's All
NB!
Museum gallery with paintings and sculptures under a glass ceiling
Almaty · Art · Museums · Heritage · Society
Rioters broke into a museum in Almaty, but the exhibits were left untouched
In Almaty, an attack has been carried out on the Kasteyev Art Museum, the largest in Kazakhstan and one of the biggest in the Asian region. The priceless collection, which includes works by Dürer, Savrasov, Repin, Konchalovsky, Saryan, Sidorkin and Khludov, remains intact. In the photograph: the halls of the
NB!