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The French intellectual of the late nineteenth century Henri Vaugeois, known as one of the founders of the monarchist organisation Action Française, was an advocate, as he put it himself, of an “anti-Semitic, anti-Masonic, anti-parliamentary and anti-demo
The French intellectual of the late nineteenth century Henri Vaugeois, known as one of the founders of the monarchist organisation Action Française, was an advocate, as he put it himself, of an “anti-Semitic, anti-Masonic, anti-parliamentary and anti-democratic” nationalism. In short, the full set of an obscurantist
NB! · Archive · Science
The Indian method and Tagliacozzi's method of nose reconstruction, plate of 1848
Two methods of restoring a lost nose, 1848. The left-hand method was called the Indian; the right was devised by the Italian surgeon Gaspare Tagliacozzi in the 16th century. The patient was obliged to go about for two weeks with an arm strapped to his head
Faith · Books · Observations · Mores · Society
The Theodosian Code and Alfonso X's law on relations between Jews and Christian women
The Theodosian Code, which appeared in the early 4th century, exerted a serious influence on the life of Europe, including on relations between Christians and Jews. The words of one of its laws, “it is perfectly clear that the sect of the Jews is forbidden by no law”, for instance,
Aristocracy · Monarchies · Mores
Upholstered suite of the Duchess of Aumale in mourning drapery after her death in 1869
The thing is that, by ancient tradition, after the death of a king or a member of the royal family the courtiers and the palace were clothed in mourning violet (dark lilac). The upholstered suite from the apartments of the Duchess of Aumale, wife of Prince Henri of Bourbon (Orléans)
NB! · Art · Museums
This is how the little chair looks with its original upholstery
NB! · Aristocracy · Art · Heritage
A little chair from the suite of the Duchess of Aumale, or of the French princess Marie Caroline of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
A little chair from the suite of the Duchess of Aumale, or of the French princess Marie Caroline of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. Restoration revealed that beneath the lilac velvet lay the original green upholstery
NB! · Art · Observations · Mores · Pop Culture · Humour
A young woman helps an elderly lady to dress, presumably her granddaughter
A young woman helps an elderly lady to dress, presumably her granddaughter. Granny is a hundred times more stylish: lace, pearls, and in the casket patches of every size! Now that is cosmetics, not like Rihanna's
NB! · Art · Observations · Humour
Child with a Switch in Arthur Devis's Group Portrait of 1740
A girl with the head of a woman of forty holds a switch to urge on an imaginary pony. The child from Arthur Devis's group portrait of 1740 is ready for the off
NB! · London · Monarchies · People
On 5 November 1605 the plotter against James I, Guy Fawkes, was seized; his name became a byword for conspiracy and, in time, a word for young men
On 5 November 1605 the plotter against James I, Guy Fawkes, was seized; his name became a byword for conspiracy and, in time, a word for young men. The word "guy" derives from the name of Guy Fawkes
Archaeology · Faith · The East · Books · Observations
Vayera, the Torah portion read this week, is one of my favourites
Vayera, the Torah portion read this week, is one of my favourites. Besides Abraham's circumcision and the news of Sarah's pregnancy, it tells how Abraham pleads for mercy for Sodom, yet the angels save from the city's inhabitants only the family of Abraham'
NB! · Faith · Art
Three angels tell Abraham that Sarah will bear a son, 18th-century drawing
The angels came to Abraham, who had lately been circumcised out of love for God. They informed Abraham that his barren wife Sarah would bear a son within a year. Abraham would be 100, and Sarah 90. Drawing, eighteenth century