Art · Humour
Ah, the eighteenth century: one would sit there thinking, why not pose completely undressed for a talented monkey! Oh là là! Painting by Jean-Baptiste Henri Deshays
NB! · Archive · Monarchies · Humour
Anastasia Romanova and a selfie. The figure in the background is not a ghost, but one of the household, caught moving through the long exposure
Art · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour
A Modern Venus, or a Woman of Modern Fashion in Her Natural State. 1786. The resemblance to Kim Kardashian is simply incredible. It is surprising, truth be told, that the standards of the late eighteenth century should be so relevant in our own day, and almost shocking that what has
Museums · Mores · People · Humour
The jacket of the famous fat man Edward Bright, which could accommodate seven people: the star exhibit of the museum of this rosy-cheeked provincial giant of the eighteenth century, who lived to be only 29. A rather restrained and modern style, it must be said. An idea for an
Archive · Mores · People · Humour
How can the suit of a very fat man serve the public? When in 1750 the 29-year-old Edward Bright, a stout fellow of Maldon in England, famed for nothing but his remarkable weight, departed this life, the townsfolk acquired a diverting attraction: to squeeze seven persons into Bright&
Art · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour
At first glance I thought that Palekh had at last graced the cover of the Christie's catalogue, and I rejoiced. But no, this is a 22-centimetre French vase of the late nineteenth century, with handles of turned and patinated bronze, partly gilded, decorated with dragonflies, insects and
NB! · Pop Culture · Humour
Faith · Monarchies · Observations · Ethnography · Humour
The hongi is the traditional Maori greeting, based on the belief that the nose is the centre of the body and that the divine breath passes through it, so that touching the tips of noses makes people close: they have shared one divine breath and are, as it were, united
NB! · Observations · Humour
Don't think anything of it when I vanish for a couple of days. I was merely withdrawing to the dacha, in token of the end of the working week
NB! · Moscow · Observations · Society · Humour
Recently, outside the Moscow government building, I saw a lone picketer with a placard: "We feared the 90s, and got the 30s instead". There is something in that. At the very least, it holds out hope for the 50s
NB! · Archive · Mores · Humour
Aristocracy · Mores · People · Humour
William, 5th Baron Byron, British nobleman, peer, politician and great-uncle of the famous poet, went down in history as the Wicked Lord or the Devil Byron: a dreadful scoundrel who beat his wife; the killer of his own cousin, whom he stabbed in a dark room and was convicted