The East · Art · Museums

Alexander of Macedon and Darius III at the Battle of Issus in Altdorfer's Painting

The Battle of Issus between the armies of Alexander the Great and the Persian King Darius III. A painting by Albrecht Altdorfer of the early sixteenth century. Alexander won this battle, which opened the way for his further conquests. The inscription on the tablet at the top of the painting

Faith · Art · Museums

Unknown 17th-century French painter known as the Master of Processions

The Flagellation of Christ, a painting by the Master of the Processions, sold only recently for more than 160,000 euros. The Master of the Processions is the conventional name of an unknown French painter of the mid-seventeenth century. At various times some of this artist's pictures

Faith · Art

Giotto depicts Sylvester driving demons out of Arezzo at the request of Francis

The Expulsion of the Demons from Arezzo. Scenes from the Life of Saint Francis. Giotto (1266-1337). The life of Francis of Assisi contains a story of how, on approaching the city of Arezzo, whose inhabitants were gripped by mutual enmity, Francis saw the walls and buildings of the city

Archive · Art

A View of the Grand Canal in Venice, 1920

Giuseppe “Beppe” Ciardi (1875-1932)

Art · Books · London · Mores

William Hogarth's engravings on the fate of a woman of loose morals in the 18th century

A Harlot's Progress. William Hogarth's series of engravings of 1731-1732 describes the typical path of a girl of free morals in the eighteenth century, from procuress to grave, and usually not a very long one at that: 1. Ensnared by the procuress 2. Quarrel with

Black-and-white engraving of a creature with a horse's head and a human torso, arms raised, with hoofed legs.

NB! · Faith · Art · Books · Ethnography

Orobas, a spirit of King Solomon, in Collin de Plancy’s “Dictionnaire infernal”

Orobas, one of the spirits of King Solomon, appears when conjured in the form of a man with a horse's head and gives answers to questions about the past, present and future. Illustration from Collin de Plancy's "Dictionnaire Infernal"

Ceiling with geometric ornament in green, blue and gold, carved cornices and white openwork lamps.

NB! · Architecture · The East · Art · Museums · Observations

Painted ceiling of a hall in the Museum of Applied Arts of Uzbekistan

In the Museum of Applied Arts of Uzbekistan, a single room is enough to fall irrevocably in love. No exhibits, guided tours or wall labels are required: just lift your head

NB! · Art · Observations · Humour

Do You Love Arnold Böcklin as I Love Him?

NB! · Archive · Art · People

The Delft Gunpowder Explosion of 12 October 1654, in Which Carel Fabritius, Creator of the Legendary "Goldfinch", Perished

Gilded pulpit shaped like a ship with a mast, sail, anchor and angels against the white walls of a Baroque church.

NB! · Architecture · Faith · Art

Baroque pulpit shaped like a ship with an anchor and Archangel Michael, Irsee Abbey

A pulpit symbolising hope, in the form of a ship's prow with a raised anchor and a golden sculpture of the Archangel Michael, in Irsee Abbey, Germany. Church Baroque: a love for all time

Archive · Art · Society · People

Vasilisa Kozhina and the Partisan War Against Napoleon in Smolensk Governorate

The elder of a certain village in the Sychyovka district led a party of prisoners, taken by the peasants, into town. In his absence the villagers caught several more Frenchmen and at once brought them to the elder's wife, Vasilisa, to be dispatched whither they ought to go.

NB! · Faith · Art