Art · London · Observations · Nature · Humour
Trump the pug, dog of William Hogarth. The finest Trump I have ever had occasion to see. Incidentally, how different the pugs of the eighteenth century were from their modern descendants: their legs were longer and their bodies slimmer. And wigs suited them far better, too.
Faith · Art · Museums · Humour
They are kept in the White Chamber of the Rostov Kremlin, which houses the delightful display of the Museum of Church Antiquities, which has existed since 1883. These sculptures in the round adorned the bases of the prayer places built for Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich and Patriarch Nikon on the model
Art · Moscow · Museums · Observations · Heritage
Speaking of cultural heritage, an appeal to help save the museum of the sculptor Anna Golubkina keeps turning up in my Instagram feed. The most curious thing is that the appeal comes from the Tretyakov Gallery, hardly a destitute institution, which in theory ought to have the money for this
Architecture · Faith · Art
Everything You Need to Know About the Baroque, in Two Photographs. The altar of St Peter's Church in Malmö
NB! · Art · Monarchies · Observations
I adore this portrait of Catherine II: so charming, so unaffected and, above all, unflattering. It is a great pity that the artist's name has not come down to us
Art · Society · People · Rome
If you should ever find yourself in an unequal struggle with the hidebound notion that the history of world culture knows no great women creators, then remember, for instance, Lavinia Fontana, a Renaissance or, as she is sometimes called, early Baroque painter from Bologna. Fontana achieved the same successes as
NB! · Art · People · Humour
Isabella Ruini as Venus likewise does not shy from an age gap with Cupid. A work by Lavinia Fontana
Art · Humour
- Oh, come now
Art · Museums · Observations · People · Rome
Statue of Pyrrhus (318-272 BC) in the Capitoline Museums, 1st century AD. Of course you remember the expression "Pyrrhic victory", but it is not the military past of this commander and ruler, so important to the history of Greece, that I wish to draw your attention to,
Art · Paris
Why was I born a slave? This heart-rending work by the French sculptor Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, made in 1868-70, was conceived as a sketch for a major commission: the fountain opposite the Observatory in Paris. Four female figures on the fountain personified the four quarters of the world:
NB! · Coming Up · Art · Museums · People
Since we are on the subject of châteaux, a reminder that until 2 September the Château d'Amboise is hosting an exhibition devoted to the death of Leonardo da Vinci. This year marks the 500th anniversary of Da Vinci's passing
Aristocracy · Art · Mores · People · Humour
An unequal match, you say? The President of the Royal Bohemian Society of Sciences, friend of Emperor Joseph II, seasoned diplomat, civil servant, and man of letters and poet of acknowledged standing in Europe, Franz de Paula Anton Count von Hartig (1758-1797), is suckled at the breast of his