Black-and-white photo: two women in dresses with striped details stand on a zebra crossing as a man rides past on a Vespa. The heads of passersby show at the bottom.

Art · Cinema · People · Rome

William Klein, Simone + Nina, Piazza di Spagna, Rome, 1960

William Klein's photograph "Simone + Nina, Piazza di Spagna, Rome", taken in 1960, is one of the finest examples of the innovative style of the American photographer William Klein. Klein was drawn to street photography and sought to take fashion photography out of the studio. Here he

NB! · Archaeology · Art · Monarchies · People

A reminder of what Cleopatra looked like, the last ruler of Ancient Egypt, a member of the Greco-Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty

Art · London · People

“I prefer to live in colour”

David Hockney turns 87!

Art · Science

In 1776 Joseph Wright of Derby presented a painting of a Solar System model as a scientific mystery

The faces of the figures in Joseph Wright's painting are lit by an unseen candle in accordance with the principal phases of the Moon. In 1776 the British artist Joseph Wright of Derby presented to the public a painting in which a scientific subject was depicted as though

NB! · Archaeology · Art

The Abduction of Europa, a drawing on a Greek vase of the 4th century BC found at Paestum, a Greek colony in Italy

NB! · Art · Humour

None Has Excelled So Well in Mouse Notes as the Cat Orchestra, 1700s, Lombard School

A patterned carpet with fringe carved into the surface of a wooden floor.

Art · Humour

Artist Selva Aparicio carved a carpet by hand into an oak floor

The carpet that never needs vacuuming. A carpet carved by hand into an oak floor. Artist: Selva Aparicio

Coming Up · Art · Moscow

Vinzavod Open Studios of the 11th season open to visitors from 3 July

From 3 July the Open Studios at Winzavod are open to visitors. Visiting the studios, one can meet the participants of the 11th season: Alisa Smorodina, Yury Chernyshev, Anya Grositskaya, Nadya Petrova, Dina Borovik, Lana Morozova, Marina Glebova, Alexandr Gordeyev, Yevgenia Bolyukh and Vanya Repkin. The Winzavod Open Studios form

NB! · Art · Observations

Which Van Dyck Would You Prefer?

NB! · Art · Museums

"Dance at Bougival", Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1883

"Dance at Bougival", Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1883. Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Art · Museums · Heritage · Saint Petersburg

Drive away with all your might the lust of Cupid, or else Venus will possess your blinded soul

The inscription on Lucas Cranach the Elder's "Venus and Cupid" from the Hermitage collection. The painting returned to the permanent display today after restoration. Painted in 1509, Cranach's Venus is the first female nude in the history of German painting, Eve excepted.

Faith · Art · Monarchies · Moscow · Heritage

Monument to Tsar Nicholas II the Martyr near Mytishchi, village of Taininskoye, Moscow Region

Monument to Tsar Nicholas II the Martyr near Mytishchi, village of Taininskoye, Moscow Region. The author is the sculptor Vyacheslav Klykov. The monument was erected in 1996, for the centenary of Nicholas II's coronation, on the ancient royal road from Moscow to the Trinity Lavra of St Sergius,