Observations · Mores · Pop Culture · Humour

Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda menswear show and trousers as a sign of Rome's fall

Caesar led the Gauls in triumph, then Caesar led the Gauls into the Senate; they took off their trousers and put on the toga with the purple border. The menswear part of the Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda AW 2019/20 show recalls the Roman proverb about the Gauls. The

A male model in a laurel wreath walks the runway in a green robe with gold trim and old-master style figures, plus burgundy shorts and sandals. A white column is visible behind him.

NB!

Model in a long robe with classical scenes and a laurel wreath on the runway

Wooden bed with a pink silk canopy, patterned blue trim and bronze female heads on the posts, displayed in a museum room.

NB! · Art · Monarchies · Mores · Humour

The 1805 bed made for Napoleon and Josephine and the emperor's love of luxury

The bed made for Napoleon and Josephine in 1805 rather hints that it is time to retire. Napoleon was, in general, a lover of luxury, and the style owes much of its subsequent popularity precisely to the emperor's fondness for it

Cinema · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour

What are my plans for the near future?

What are my plans for the near future? To move into Downton Abbey in The Sims and restore the Dowager Countess of Grantham to her former glory, make Lady Mary's disgrace public, and arrange Henry Talbot's personal life. True, I shall have to shell out for

NB! · Observations · Humour

In principle, there are several more candidates for the role of the mermaid

In principle, there are several more candidates for the role of the mermaid. What say you?

NB! · Cinema · Observations · Pop Culture

Who I Should Like to See in the Lead Role in the "Little Mermaid" Remake

Museums · Science · People

Burning lens of Ehrenfried von Tschirnhaus, the only instrument of his in Russia

In Russia there is only one instrument by the celebrated mathematician Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus (1651-1708): the burning lens from a device acquired by the Academy of Sciences in the early 1700s. Until 1947 the lens was kept in the museum of the Physical Institute of the USSR Academy

Archive · Museums · Science · Saint Petersburg

Formation of the Lomonosov Museum collection and the purchase of 254 items from 1946 to 1948

The Lomonosov Museum's collection was assembled with the help of other academic institutions, the Hermitage, the Russian and Historical Museums, and the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography. In 1946-1948, 343,950 roubles were spent on acquisitions, and for this sum 254 items were bought, illustrating Lomonosov'

Heritage · Society

Zertsalo displaying decrees of Peter the Great in Russian Empire offices

This curious object at the centre of the table was to be found in every government office of the Russian Empire. It is the zertsalo ("mirror"), a special prism of wood or metal, surmounted by the double-headed imperial eagle, on which were displayed the decrees of Peter

Archive · Museums · Science · Saint Petersburg

Academicians' round table passed from the Academy Library to the museum on Vavilov's order

All the scientific institutions of the Academy of Sciences were born in the Kunstkamera. And in its very centre, in the circular hall, stands what is perhaps the key exhibit: the round table at which the academicians sat in session. It came to the museum from the Manuscripts Department of

Museums · Observations · Science · Saint Petersburg

The Lomonosov Museum in the Kunstkamera, conceived by Vavilov in 1938 and created by 1949

My favourite part of the Kunstkamera is the Lomonosov Museum. The collection of objects connected with the life of the great scholar and with his age is housed in the tower in the central part of the building, which was restored to its historical appearance only in the 1940s, almost

Museums · Saint Petersburg · Ethnography

Yupik warrior's armour from Saint Lawrence Island, early 19th century, in the Kunstkamera

This stunning outfit is the attire of a Yupik warrior from Saint Lawrence Island, in the south of the Bering Strait. Early nineteenth century. The armour protecting the back is of sealskin; the parka, mittens, trousers and boots are of leather and reindeer fur. Below: a Yupik military breastplate of

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