Miniature of a lion leaning over the rim of a well, with its image visible in the water, while a fox and a hare stand nearby on the grass.

NB! · The East · Art · Books

Reflections in a well in Indian illustrations to a 13th-century Arabic poem

Look at these reflections in the well! Simply mesmerising ❤️ Illustrations to a thirteenth-century Arabic poem, made in India

A long roll wrapped in white paper lies on a wooden floor beside rows of red velvet seats, with the edge of the tapestry visible at one end.

NB! · Art · Museums

Colossal tapestry of Anne of Brittany transported in rolled form

It looks like an enormous cigar, but this is how large canvases are transported. Before you is a colossal tapestry of Anne of Brittany

NB! · Art · Mores · Humour

Caricature of 1796 showing how ladies' dress was expected to look in the near future

Ladies' dress as it was expected to look in the near future more than 200 years ago. Well, the future has arrived

NB! · Archive · Faith · Art · Humour

Drawing from a grammatical compendium of Isidore of Seville, 9th century

Drawing from a grammatical compendium of Isidore of Seville, 9th century. One man stabs another with a knife, holding him by the hands, while they kiss. Do not think of that sort of thing; it is most likely Cain and Abel

NB! · Art · Observations

I Have a Lovely Eighteenth-Century Sugar Bowl for You, My Dear Little Rats

NB! · Faith · Art · Observations

The Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek, Rubens

The Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek, Rubens. A question for the connoisseurs: what is the fellow in the bottom right corner up to?

Two small boys in light costumes with blue sashes stand before a drapery, one holding a red banner with a cross.

NB! · Aristocracy · Art · Monarchies

Grand Dukes Alexander and Konstantin Pavlovich as Children, Portrait by the Artist Heide, 1790

Portrait of the Grand Dukes Alexander Pavlovich and Konstantin Pavlovich as children. Artist: Heyde. 1790

A young woman in a yellow skirt and white wrap sits at a dressing table with a mirror, while a man in dark clothes beside her holds a sheet of paper.

NB! · Art · Moscow · Observations · Mores · Humour

A lady at her dressing table in a painting by Nicolas Lancret, early 18th century

Spent half a day with Mamma in the cosmetics halls of TsUM and am already fit to advise Madame Geoffrin on matters of beauty. Nicolas Lancret, early eighteenth century

A hand-painted fan shaped like a bat with outspread dark blue wings dotted with small white stars.

NB! · Art · Observations · Humour

Miniature Hand-Painted Fan in the Shape of a Bat, 1900

Found a splendid gift for witches of my acquaintance. A hand-painted miniature fan with a bat, 1900

NB! · Art · Humour

A Remarkable Likeness and a Fine Portrait, Sir Henry Raeburn!

Art · Monarchies · Museums · Observations

Two dresses of Catherine II, one with the Russian arms, one a Preobrazhensky Regiment uniform

Incidentally, both of the Empress's dresses are rather instructive as facts in the history of fashion. The first is of silver brocade with silver and gold embroidery. Over it Catherine wore a gold brocade mantle with black eagles. It was the first dress in history whose principal decorative

NB! · Archive · Art · Nature · Humour

A cow covered all over with horns of up to 20 cm

A cow covered all over with horns of up to 20 cm. The three-year-old animal was found in the county of Leicestershire and bought up for the amusement of the public. A sketch from the collection of George III