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Museums · Observations · Mores
Faience egg dishes as table decoration in the 18th century in southern European museums
The New Year holidays are coming, and the fussy are preparing to wrinkle their noses at festive suppers of egg and mayonnaise salads. Quite wrongly. In the early modern period eggs were so important an element of the feast that in the 18th century the table was adorned with a
NB! · Archaeology · Observations · Humour
Tutankhamun's sarcophagus resembles my bed in winter, at least in the number of layers
NB! · Art
The painting “Winter” by the artist William Holbrook Beard
Winter. William Holbrook Beard (1825-1900)
The East · Observations · Heritage · Society
Annual ceremony honouring participants of the 1821 revolution in Athens
Every year Greece holds a memorial ceremony honouring its heroic forebears, the participants of the revolution of 1821, also known as the Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire. The country even has clubs of descendants of the fighters for freedom. The ceremony takes place at the memorial necropolis
Books · People · Humour
The Thoughts of Young Gustave Flaubert on Human Suffering and World History
VII I expect every possible evil from men. VIII I believe that mankind pursues only one aim: to suffer. IX World history is a farce Thoughts of the young Gustave Flaubert
NB! · Archive · Books · People
"I feel more attached to my dog than to any human being", from the notes of the twenty-year-old Gustave Flaubert, who turns two hundred today
NB! · Archive · Art · Books · People
The Finnish writer, artist and creator of the Moomin universe Tove Jansson (1914–2001) in the studio at her home, 1956
Museums · Observations · Heritage · Mores
Yesterday I witnessed a flagrant incident: a society lady, moreover one connected with the museum community, twice knocked down barriers in a house museum, pushing her way into a roped-off dining room to photograph the furniture at closer range, and after
Yesterday I witnessed a flagrant incident: a society lady, moreover one connected with the museum community, twice knocked down barriers in a house museum, pushing her way into a roped-off dining room to photograph the furniture at closer range, and after brazenly walking into the area cordoned off from
NB! · Archive · Mores · People
Richard Strauss Happily Spends Time with His Family
Richard Strauss happily spends time with his family. To his left is his father, Franz Joseph; to his right, his son Franz and his mother, Josephine
Faith · Science · Nature
Francis Galton's rabbit experiments disproved Darwin's theory of gemmules
Besides their part in the many rites of Easter and in the Christian legendarium, rabbits also played a role in the scientific establishment of the mechanisms of heredity. And in a rather unexpected fashion. Darwin supposed that certain capsules containing hereditary information were lodged in the germ cells. In his
Architecture · Faith · Art · Nature · Rome
A Rabbit on the Wall of the Franciscan College of St Isidore in Rome
A rabbit on the wall of the Franciscan College of St Isidore in Rome. What is the little fellow doing here, apart from nibbling his cabbage? In the Middle Ages the rabbit was associated with the Immaculate Conception. Notions of the physiology of these animals pointed to purity. It is