NB! · Art · Observations

What marvellous hair Mary Magdalene has 💛

Portrait in a gilded Rococo frame: a figure in pink drapery and an animal skin, holding a club, against rocks and sky.

NB! · Aristocracy · Art · Humour

Jean-Marc Nattier's Portrait of the Duke of Chaulnes as Hercules

The half-naked woman in rags, armed with a club, is in fact the Duchesse de Chaulnes as Hercules. It must be said that Jean-Marc Nattier, a painter well known among the aristocracy, made a better job of his portraits of Peter I and Catherine I

NB! · Faith · Art · Monarchies · Museums

A unique fifteenth-century lamp with an amber sculpture of the Virgin Mary on a walrus-tusk pedestal belonged to Sophia, Queen of Bohemia, of the German house of Wittelsbach, who was known for her Hussite sympathies

NB! · Faith · Art

Madonna and Child, St

Madonna and Child with Saints Peter, Augustine, Jerome and Magdalene. Alvise Vivarini gave the "sacred conversation" a new form: the Christ Child sits on a flat rock within a protective circle formed by the Madonna and the saints

Archive · Art · Books · Heritage

Tauromachia etchings found in a hidden recess of a castle library are offered at Sotheby's

A Collection of Goya Etchings Found by Chance in a French Château. Published in 1816, the Tauromaquia was no commercial success, but the etchings that have now turned up are going under the hammer at Sotheby's with a starting price of $820,000 The rare prints were discovered

NB! · Archive · Art · Books

In a French château, an inventory of the library has turned up a hiding place holding a rare set of Goya's bullfighting prints

Faith · Art · Observations

Stars and blue as symbols of the Virgin Mary in Christian art and church architecture

Readers ask: what makes me so sure this is the Madonna and not simply a lady with a child? In fact, it is obvious, if one knows the simplest Christian symbols. First, the tunic is strewn with stars. The star is a sign of the Mother of God, a reminder

A painted sculpture of a seated Madonna holding the Christ Child, in a glass case with a gilt-framed painting behind.

NB! · Faith · Art · Observations · Humour

Terracotta Madonna in sandals by the French sculptor Gervais Delabarre

Terracotta Madonna in sandals, the work of the French sculptor of the 16th-17th century Gervais Delabarre. The toes are admittedly odd; I recommend replacing the sandals with loafers or espadrilles

NB! · Art · Moscow · Museums · Observations

Yasumasa Morimura makes photographic self-portraits, reflecting on the history of art and transforming himself into Da Vinci, Van Eyck, Frida Kahlo and Vermeer

Yasumasa Morimura makes photographic self-portraits, reflecting on the history of art and transforming himself into Da Vinci, Van Eyck, Frida Kahlo and Vermeer. I have been to his exhibition at the Pushkin Museum, and tomorrow I shall go again

Three vintage glasses in purple, blue and amber glass stand on a white countertop beside a sink.

NB! · Art · Observations

The author's new favourite items, Austrian glasses of the early 20th century

I have new favourites. Austrian liqueur glasses of the early twentieth century

NB! · Geography · Art · Books · Nature

And here is a touching drawing of a bird discovered by that same scandalous seafarer William Dampier, from his 1703 book on the voyage to the shores of New Holland

White sculpted bust of a child with short fringe hair, wearing draped clothing, on a round base.

NB! · Archaeology · Art · Humour

Bust of a Roman child with worn paint on the eyes and a comparison to Minister Oreshkin

The Roman child looks like Minister Oreshkin. Pay no attention to the alarming eyes, the paint has simply worn away