Faith · Art · Madrid · Museums
Naples had an excellent school of carving not only in stone, but also in bone. And if the famous sculpture in the Sansevero Chapel showed a man struggling free from the net of vice, then the treasury of the National Archaeological Museum of Spain holds, for example, a 40-centimetre
NB! · Art · Moscow · Museums · New York
Do you remember the cups of precious metals and exotic shells in the Kremlin Armoury? Well, the Metropolitan Museum holds a vessel made of a gold-mounted nut shell from the Seychelles, fashioned in the sixteenth century by Viennese craftsmen
NB! · Aristocracy · Art · Monarchies · Paris · Pop Culture
Speaking of costly jewels, this pearl parure of Marie Antoinette was inherited by her daughter, Marie-Thérèse, the last Dauphine of France, Duchess of Angoulême. The enormous pearl pendant from this set was recently sold for £27,881,497
NB! · Aristocracy · Art · Monarchies
Incidentally, in the surviving portraits of the Habsburgs' foremother, Cymburgis of Masovia, the protruding jaw is not shown, whereas her descendants were for the most part portrayed with the family trait quite unconcealed. Leopold I, from the seventeenth century, for one
NB! · Art · Observations · Humour
The simplest answer to why I do not regard comparison with Oscar Wilde as a compliment. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1895.
Architecture · Faith · Art
Hard to recognise, but this is a pelican, captured on the side panel of one of the wooden pews in Lund Cathedral. A traditional medieval Christian symbol of self-sacrifice, often associated with Jesus, the pelican was frequently depicted tearing open its breast to feed its hungry chicks with its
Art · Humour
Ah, the eighteenth century: one would sit there thinking, why not pose completely undressed for a talented monkey! Oh là là! Painting by Jean-Baptiste Henri Deshays
Art · London · Museums · Science
The Science Museum in London delighted visitors barely a week ago by opening a new gallery devoted to medicine. The exhibition is enlivened by a remarkable work of art, a bridge between historical eras and the present day: the bronze sculpture "Saint Medicine" by the English artist Eleanor
Art · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour
A Modern Venus, or a Woman of Modern Fashion in Her Natural State. 1786. The resemblance to Kim Kardashian is simply incredible. It is surprising, truth be told, that the standards of the late eighteenth century should be so relevant in our own day, and almost shocking that what has
Art · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour
At first glance I thought that Palekh had at last graced the cover of the Christie's catalogue, and I rejoiced. But no, this is a 22-centimetre French vase of the late nineteenth century, with handles of turned and patinated bronze, partly gilded, decorated with dragonflies, insects and
Art · Observations · People
I'd rather lie abed a little longer than face all this... Punting under the Willows (1887) and Siesta (1907) by the American painter John Singer Sargent (1856-1925). Sargent moved among the Impressionists, and this seems to have left a mark on his work. American by birth, he
NB! · Archaeology · Art · Monarchies · Museums · People
A rather grim portrait of the birthday boy: the head of Emperor Vespasian, born on 17 November AD 9 and died in AD 79. This fragment of a statue of Vespasian was found in the forum of Hippo in Algeria and set into the wall of its museum. Not the