Art · Monarchies · Mores

Fortification billiards in France with arches, gates and a mallet instead of a cue

Louis XIV Plays His Favourite Game, Billiards, 1694. Note the cue, which resembles a little mallet. Look at the billiard table. First, it has no pockets. Second, a post and an arch stand upon it. What are they? This is a variety popular in France: fortification billiards. For this game

NB! · Art · Moscow · Society

"Big Clay No. 4" is being removed from Bolotnaya Embankment

Art · Observations

Comparing the figure by the water in paintings by Caravaggio and Waterhouse

Caravaggio's Narcissus and Waterhouse's Narcissus. Caravaggio's is stern and sombre, set against an abstract landscape in dramatic light. No stream, no wood: only black emptiness and a reflection. Waterhouse's is poetic and dreamy. Wrapped in a red cloak and crowned with green,

NB! · Faith · Art

The Incredible Detail of Simon Marmion's "Scenes from the Life of Saint Bertin", 1459

NB! · Art · Pop Culture · Ethnography

Russian Headdresses as One of the Most Powerful Impressions of High Fashion

A sick tsar sits on his bed with his hands over his ears, facing ghostly figures in armour, women and children, while two figures in black monastic robes stand at right.

NB! · Art · Monarchies · Museums

Mikhail Klodt's drawing of Ivan the Terrible and the shades of his victims, Stavropol

"Ivan the Terrible and the Shades of His Victims", Mikhail Klodt, paper, ink, gouache. Stavropol Regional Museum of Fine Arts

Archive · Faith · Art

An illustration from a South German codex of 1417 shows the family tree of the descendants of Saint Anne

According to medieval tradition, Saint Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary, was married three times: to Joachim, Cleopas and Salomas (Salomé). From each marriage Anne had a daughter named Mary. The seven grandchildren of Saint Anne depicted in medieval art are these: Jesus Christ, son of the Virgin Mary; James

A group of barefoot men floats above a plain, holding a pole with a dark burning flag, with a pale ring above them and a red pyramid outline below.

Art

“Burning Flag”, a 1934 painting by the German Surrealist Edgar Ende

Don't Panic! The German Surrealist Edgar Ende, painting Burning Flag, 1934

Art · Monarchies · Observations · Society

Arthur Drummond's Allegory of the British Empire, 1901

Arthur Drummond's allegory of the British Empire, 1901. Queen Victoria, already dead by the time the picture was painted, is seated on a heavenly throne, surrounded by aristocrats, bureaucracy and native subjects from the colonies. On earth are Edward VII, the Prince of Wales, and other members of

NB! · Archive · Art · Pop Culture

Elizabeth Taylor through the Lens of Helmut Newton, 1985

NB! · Faith · Art · Humour

Michelangelo's Torments of Saint Anthony look as though the song from the cartoon "Three Bogatyrs" is playing in the background: "Carried off, oh, carried off somewhere, carried me off"

NB! · Art · Cinema · People