NB! · Aristocracy · Art · Observations · Humour

A charming Gothic-style chair from the study of the Comtesse d'Osmond

A charming Gothic-style chair from the study of the Comtesse d'Osmond. The work of Jacob Dismalter, a reproduction of around 1820. Terribly cool unicorns.

Faith · Art · Observations · Humour

The Magi, called magicians and kings, and the three parts of the medieval world

At different times the Magi were called sorcerers and kings. And they represent, naturally, the three parts of the world known in the Middle Ages: Africa, Asia and Europe. Though, you know, I rather got carried away: Magi are all very well, but how are we to know what they

Illuminated initial of a medieval manuscript: three crowned men lie in one bed under a pink cover, with a golden angel above them.

NB! · Faith · Art · Books · Humour

Three Magi in One Bed in Medieval Christian Book Miniatures

A picture of three kings in one bed is a common sight in medieval Christian books. They are not up to what you thought. These are the Magi (wise men, kings), to whom an angel is bringing glad tidings

Round miniature of a columned domed interior in a gilded frame, with a nameplate reading J. G. Soufflot below.

NB! · Architecture · Art · Observations · People

Miniatures of the Panthéon in the frame of Louis-Michel van Loo's portrait of Soufflot

A portrait of Soufflot by the Rococo master Louis-Michel van Loo caught my attention for the miniatures set into its frame. They show the façade and the interior of the Panthéon, the architect's principal creation

Carved wooden chair with metal blades on the back, seat and footrest, and armrests ending in dragon heads.

NB! · The East · Art · Cinema · Humour

Chinese iron throne of the 19th century with blades and dragon heads

What the Iron Throne really looks like. China, nineteenth century

NB! · Art · Paris · Humour

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1894-1896

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1894-1896. “So how do you like the Kremlin diet?”

NB! · Faith · Art · Moscow · Observations · Rome

Jules Eugène Lenepveu, Saints in the Catacombs (of Rome)

Jules Eugène Lenepveu, Saints in the Catacombs (of Rome). One more thing I love about Moscow is that there are no mass burials beneath it, as there are under so many European capitals. Only rivers. Somehow life is calmer with that thought

Three small children in satin outfits of red, silver and blue stand on a carpet beside a golden-brown dog.

NB! · Art · Monarchies · Observations · Mores · Humour

Children of Charles I by Van Dyck as a model for modern children's clothing

In the West, a movement is under way to do away with gender stereotypes in children's clothing. I suggest taking our bearings from the seventeenth century: van Dyck's portrait of the children of Charles I of England, Princess Mary and the future Charles II and James

Painted dish with a blue pattern: in the centre a fox looks up at a crow on a branch, with bird medallions around the rim.

NB! · Art · Books · Humour

Eighteenth-century dish with Jean de La Fontaine's fable of the crow and the fox

A dish of the eighteenth century. Only this is not the crow and the fox, and Krylov has nothing to do with it: these are Master Raven and Master Fox of Jean de La Fontaine

A green bowl with a white relief of a seated woman and a girl with a jug bending at her feet beneath a drape.

NB! · Art · Mores · Humour

Wedgwood porcelain of 1869 and its popularity in Russia since the time of Catherine the Great

Sorrow is sorrow, but one must still wash one's feet. Wedgwood porcelain, 1869. Catherine II was fond of it, which is how it won its fame in Russia and has kept its popularity 250 years on

NB! · Architecture · Art

And on the Ceiling, Golden Dragons

A wall of arched wooden panels topped with gilded palm trees with spreading fronds.

NB! · Architecture · Art · Monarchies

The Hall with Palms in Stuttgart's New Palace, Created 150 Years Before Art Deco

The New Palace in Stuttgart, the hall with palms. The interior was created 150 years before the appearance of the Art Deco style