NB! · Observations · Society · Pop Culture · Humour

It is pleasant to know that, amid all this horror, someone spends as much time photographing himself as you do

It is pleasant to know that, amid all this horror, someone spends as much time photographing himself as you do. Macron one love

Archive · Observations · Society · Humour

Greeting to women worldwide in Soviet slogan style, urging them to value their freedoms

Dear collective-farm women, fight for organisational and economic management! Esteemed proletarian women, master aviation technology! Sweet peasant women, strengthen your alliance with the workers! My dear women workers, reinforce the shock brigades! Women, girls, little girls, a happy militant holiday to you, women of the whole world! Cherish the

Three-panel altarpiece on a gold ground, with Saint Peter enthroned in the centre holding a key, a kneeling figure at his feet and saints standing at the sides.

Faith · Art · Museums · Rome · Humour

Cardinal Stefaneschi presents the triptych itself to Saint Peter in Giotto's triptych

The Stefaneschi Triptych in the Vatican Pinacoteca contains the so-called Droste effect, named after a tin of cocoa that bore an image of itself bearing an image of itself. If you look closely, on the central panel of the triptych Giotto depicted the patron of the work, Cardinal Stefaneschi,

Museums · Science · People · Humour

Mendeleev's suitcase at the Boblovo estate museum and the scientist's craft of making cases

One of the most valuable exhibits at the Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev Museum, the Boblovo estate, is a suitcase made by Mendeleev. The exhibit was donated to the museum by the scientist's granddaughter, Ekaterina Dmitriyevna Kamenskaya-Kuzmina. Yes, besides collecting art, Mendeleev was fond of making cases, trunks and

NB! · Observations · Society · Humour

At Lavrov's Address, One Wishes to Remark on a Very Handsome Carpet

NB! · Geography · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour

If the Corinth Canal, linking the Aegean and Ionian seas, was opened in 1893, how did the BBC come by this photograph of the ship Argo sailing through it, bearing Jason and the Argonauts from the 27 states of the EU in quest of the Golden Fleece?

NB! · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour

Allow Me to Preen a Little Longer in Dior and Gucci

Old caricature with a French caption: a huge truffle looms over a balding man in a dark suit, with other guests seated in the background.

Observations · Mores · Humour

Caricature of a dinner guest who must eat truffles he dislikes out of politeness

How an unfortunate guest who detests truffles sees a truffle on his plate. I can tell you that he is plainly not in a Moscow restaurant

Pale statuette of a nude Judith with a sword, holding the head of Holofernes by the hair above a pedestal; a clover image covers the lower body.

Art · Museums · Observations · Humour

Statuette of Judith with a sword and the curly-haired head of Holofernes

Little Judith, 1525, by the German sculptor Conrad Meit, alabaster, Bavarian National Museum. Holofernes has really lovely hair

Coming Up · Art · Moscow · Humour

Exhibition “Apophenia” on the search for phantom connections opens at Ground Solyanka

A stag made of dung and sticks may nowadays turn out to be the altar of a forest deity, the centrepiece of a spa salon's lounge area and a showpiece at an art exhibition. This handsome fellow is the work of Ho Gui, an art collective that calls

Cinema · Books · Pop Culture · Humour

Tolkien fans have spoken quite clearly about Amazon's new show based on the appendices to The Lord of the Rings

Evil cannot create anything new, it can only spoil and destroy what good powers have invented. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Evil can also spend billions buying up the rights and try to squeeze the maximum profit out of them.