Art · Museums · Observations

Cronus (Saturn) clips Cupid's wings as an image of time and carnal love

Pierre Mignard from the collection of Hélène and Guy Motais de Narbonne, shown at the exhibition of their collection in the Fine Arts Museum of Orléans. A naked man holds a nude child on his lap. What do you suppose this scene is really about? It looks for all the

NB! · Archaeology · Art · Museums · Rome

The Ludovisi Throne, 460-450 BC, found in the Gardens of Sallust in Rome in 1887

Archaeology · Art · Museums · Observations · Rome

The Ludovisi Throne of the 5th century BC and debate over who is shown on its relief

In the collection of the National Museum of Rome there is an extraordinary marble block with a relief of a half-naked woman rising with the help of two attendants whose heads and shoulders, regrettably, have been broken off. This monument of the 5th century BC is usually called the

Archaeology · Art · Museums · Rome

The young centaur from the celebrated pair of Furietti Centaurs of the 2nd century, found in the 18th century at Hadrian's Villa and kept in the Capitoline Museums

The young centaur from the celebrated pair of Furietti Centaurs of the 2nd century, found in the 18th century at Hadrian's Villa and kept in the Capitoline Museums. Copies of these sculptures are displayed all over the world; this two-coloured replica, for instance, dates from the Hadrianic

Faith · Art · Rome

Riccardo Tommasi Ferroni's Supper at Emmaus in the Artists' Church in Rome

Remember the Biblical story of the supper at Emmaus? On the third day after the Crucifixion, Christ appeared, unrecognised, to two grieving disciples, who invited him to share a meal. At supper the sacrament of the Eucharist took place, and the disciples knew Jesus. Caravaggio painted the scene several times.

Faith · Art · Ethnography

Vita icon of the Prophet Elijah's fiery ascent, late 16th century

The Fiery Ascent of the Prophet Elijah, the very man who slew the priests of the god Baal and prophesied before King Ahab, a hagiographic icon of the late sixteenth century. Saint Elijah was taken into the kingdom of heaven alive, ascending on a fiery chariot drawn by blazing horses

Sculptural group of three wooden angels, the central one with a halo, displayed under glass in a museum gallery.

NB! · Faith · Art · Ethnography

Wooden angels of the late 18th century from the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in Kargopol

Late 18th century, angels from the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in the town of Kargopol. PS: note the amusing halo in the shape of a little plate on the head

Art · London · Monarchies · Mores

Sir John Melville Was Put in an Awkward Position by Queen Elizabeth: She Asked the Scottish Ambassador Whether She Was Fairer Than His Queen

Sir John Melville was put in an awkward position by Queen Elizabeth: she asked the Scottish ambassador whether she was fairer than his queen. Melville replied that "Elizabeth is the fairest queen in England, and Mary the fairest in Scotland". Which of us dances better, then? Elizabeth pressed

Stone head of Marianne with a winged dragon on its helmet and a hole in the face, in a dimly lit room of the Arc de Triomphe.

NB! · Art · Heritage · Society · Paris

Sculpture of Marianne damaged inside the Arc de Triomphe during clashes in Paris

Marianne, victim of circumstance. The sculpture, a symbol of the French Republic, in the display at the Arc de Triomphe was badly damaged during clashes between demonstrators and police in central Paris

NB! · Faith · Art · Ethnography

Saint Nicholas in a Shrine with Folding Wings, Seventeenth Century, from the Church of Saints Florus and Laurus in the Village of Astafyevo, Kargopol District, Arkhangelsk Region

Saint Nicholas in a shrine with folding wings, seventeenth century, from the Church of Saints Florus and Laurus in the village of Astafyevo, Kargopol District, Arkhangelsk Region. In the upper part of the wings: the Nicene miracle, the sun and the moon, painted in the eighteenth century; on the right,

NB! · Faith · Art · Ethnography

A Seventeenth-Century Nicholas of Mozhaisk Holding a Church in His Left Hand, from a Private House in the Village of Lugi, Plesetsk District, Arkhangelsk Region

Faith · Art · Ethnography

Sculpture of Nikola Mozhaysky from Nikolskaya village in Arkhangelsk Region, 17th century

St Nicholas the Wonderworker (the image of Nikola of Mozhaysk, who, according to legend, defended the town of Mozhaysk from the enemy by appearing above it with a sword), seventeenth-century sculpture from the village of Nikolskaya, Kargopol District, Arkhangelsk Region. The traditional Nikola of Mozhaysk from the Arkhangelsk North