Art · Museums · People · Ethnography
The Three Princesses of the Underground Kingdom. Viktor Vasnetsov, 1884. The painting was composed on a motif from the Russian folk tale of Ivan Tsarevich, who descends into the underground kingdom and meets there the Golden, Silver and Copper Princesses. Vasnetsov took up the subject while fulfilling a commission from
NB! · Archaeology · Mores · Ethnography
A child riding a pig, 3rd century BC, Taranto, Italy. Even over two thousand years ago children played with rattles, but besides entertainment the rattle also served as an amulet: the sound made by the pebbles inside was believed capable of frightening off evil powers
Faith · Art · Rome · Ethnography
This year's Christmas crib for Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican was made in the northern Italian village of Sutrio, in the province of Udine. All the figures are made entirely of wood, and the hemisphere above them symbolises the grotto in which the Holy Family
NB! · Archive · The East · Monarchies · Ethnography
Faith · Art · Observations · Ethnography
The Madonna delle Milizie from the church in the comune of Scicli is a unique representation of the Mother of God as a horsewoman on a white steed. According to legend, it was the Madonna herself, appearing in a radiant cloud on horseback, who saved Sicily from capture by the
Faith · Books · Mores · Ethnography
In Italy there is a famous festive dessert called Saint Lucy's eyes. The iconography of the early Christian patron saint of the blind characteristically shows eyes, which she holds in her hands or on a small dish. According to variants of the hagiographic legend, Saint Lucy, who lived
NB! · The East · Museums · Ethnography
NB! · Faith · Art · Books · Ethnography
Orobas, one of the spirits of King Solomon, appears when conjured in the form of a man with a horse's head and gives answers to questions about the past, present and future. Illustration from Collin de Plancy's "Dictionnaire Infernal"
NB! · Archive · Observations · Ethnography
Mummers used to be far more frightening. After all, between the modern person and the person of the early last century (these photographs were taken in Scotland in 1932) there lies a vast, unbridgeable chasm
Archaeology · Observations · Ethnography · Humour
Good morning! Here is the so-called Serpent Stone from the Roman civilian settlement of Alauna in Britain. The meeting of Celtic traditional beliefs and Roman symbolism looks for all the world like Aesculapius' serpent that has failed to coil itself around a phallus of considerable girth. Such stones
Faith · Ethnography
The angel who redeemed me from all evil bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. Genesis 48:16 During the reading of this passage
NB! · Geography · Nature · Ethnography