NB! · Aristocracy · Observations · Society

From Hitler to Epstein: Exactly One Rothschild

Aristocracy · Monarchies · Mores · Saint Petersburg

Catherine II's Court Carousel, founded in 1765, and the tournaments of 1766

The First Olympic Medal of the Russian Empire. In 1765 Catherine II instituted a special contest, held in a special arena with stands for spectators, in which the competitors rode on horseback and fired at mannequins. The contest was accompanied by a festivity with a display of costumes and jewels,

Black-and-white photograph of a large crowd in old Russian costume standing on a staircase in a hall with columns and a large chandelier.

Aristocracy · Archive · Monarchies · Mores · Saint Petersburg

Nicholas II in his diary on the famous ball at the Winter Palace

Group photograph of the guests at the court masked ball held in the Hermitage on 13 February 1903 to mark the 290th anniversary of the House of Romanov, at which the whole nobility of the Russian Empire appeared in costumes of the pre-Petrine era. The hall, filled with ancient

Aristocracy · Archive · Art · Moscow · Museums

Silhouettes of the Nyryshkin Family at an Exhibition on the Decembrists

Silhouettes of the Nyryshkin family at an exhibition on the Decembrists. Moscow, 1850. Most remarkable of all, every sitter is identified by name: Anastasia Yakovlevna, Evdokia Mikhailovna, the Abbess Maria, Varvara Alexandrovna, Rachel; in the middle row, Nikolai Alexandrovich, Yakov Alexandrovich, Annette, Kirill Alexandrovich, Mikhail Alexandrovich; in the bottom row,

Aristocracy · Art · Cinema · People · Pop Culture

The monument "Heart of Europe" before the Brussels headquarters of the European Parliament was created by Ludmilla Tcherina (1924-2004)

I first came across the name of Tcherina in the opening titles of the film "The Red Shoes", and it turned out that she was not only an actress and ballerina but also a sculptor, painter and writer. Yet she owed her resonant Russian name not to her

NB! · Aristocracy · Architecture · Moscow · Mores

A Salon at the Arkhangelskoye Estate in the 1890s

NB! · Aristocracy · Art · Mores · People

The Russo-Italian artist Paolo Troubetzkoy, Pavel Petrovich, not only created touching sculptures of animals, but was also a committed vegetarian

Aristocracy · Architecture · Moscow · Observations · Mores

Dmitry Sheremetev's guardians refused to rent the House of Solitude at Kuskovo to actress Sandunova

With the death of Count Nikolai Petrovich Sheremetev, Dmitry Nikolayevich, his seven-year-old son by the former serf actress Praskovya Gorbunova-Zhemchugova, who died soon after the birth, was left a complete orphan. The boy's upbringing was taken on by the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, while as

NB! · Aristocracy · Archive · Museums · Mores

A Precious Reliquary with a Lock of Lucrezia Borgia's Hair in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan

Two elderly men in suits talk, and the man on the right points a finger at the other man's chest.

Aristocracy · Monarchies · Observations · Humour

Witch Ursula's remark on body language beside a photo of two men talking

I am not hinting at anything, but this is Prince Charles, heir to the British crown, and Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, chairman of the Rothschilds' international investment bank. As Ursula the sea witch used to say, body language, ha!

NB! · Aristocracy · Archive · Mores

Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston, with his sons Nikolai and Felix in Cossack costume, 1890s

Aristocracy · Monarchies · People · Humour

The full name of Teresa Cristina, Princess of the Two Sicilies and Empress of Brazil

"Teresa Cristina Maria Josefa Gaspar Baltazar Melchiora Januária Rosalía Lucía Francisca de Assis Isabel Francisca de Paula de Alcântara Donata Bonosa Andreia de Avelino Rita Ludgarda Gertrudes Venância Tadea Spiridione Roca Matilde." "Can you make it shorter?" "Teresa Cristina." "Patronymic?" "Princess