Archaeology · Museums · Mores · Rome · Humour

An Idea for the Met Gala

An idea for the Met Gala. The madcap hairstyle of this Roman lady, which resembles a wasps' nest, was the last word in fashion in the Flavian era, when the women of Rome at last abandoned the plain parting, the single-coloured headscarf, the plait or the straight hair

Observations · Society · Paris · Humour

YouTube channel on Freemasonry in the French judiciary and corruption in Europe

Aaaaaaaaaa!!! I have found a YouTube channel whose author explains that the French judicial system is enmeshed in the cobwebs of Freemasonry, and that judges belonging to one lodge or another decide cases according to Masonic interests rather than the letter of the law. What is more, unlike in Great

NB! · Observations · Humour

A certain Frenchman, here in full dress: and are you ready for Friday evening?

NB! · Art · Museums · Observations · Rome · Humour

I maintain that in Bernini's "Rape of Proserpina" it is most unjust that all the attention goes to Proserpina's bottom: Hades is very fine too

NB! · Architecture · Faith · Rome · Humour

The Marble Lion in Santa Maria del Popolo Awaits His Appointment with the Dentist

Art · Observations · Mores · People · Humour

Portrait of the Reverend Thomas Gisborne and His Wife Mary

Portrait of the Reverend Thomas Gisborne and his wife Mary. A splendid umbrella, a cool dog and a remarkable likeness: do you not think so? He and his wife might be twins. People used to murmur that Gisborne had married for money: the girl from the wealthy Babington family was

A girl in a white cap and apron stands on a chequered floor holding a fish, while a cat stands on its hind legs beside her.

NB! · Art · Observations · Humour

Jacob Cuyp paints a four-year-old girl holding a fish, with a cat beside her

You ask what is going on here? I shall tell you: three hundred and seventy years have passed and nothing has changed. Four-year-old children still torment animals, and the grown-ups still find it amusing. The girl also holds a fish in her right hand. All in all,

Books · Observations · Mores · Humour

There is a well-worn quotation about how Tolstoy created the image of Natasha Rostova: "I took Tanya, ground her up with Sonya, and out came Natasha"

Tanya is Tatyana Andreyevna Bers-Kuzminskaya, Lev Nikolayevich's sister-in-law, who also lived at Yasnaya Polyana; Sonya is his wife, Sofya Andreyevna. Agreed, it is hard, even with the greatest effort, to believe that these women could have been the prototypes of Natasha. For my part, I

NB! · Art · Observations · Nature · Humour

Psyche, a white Persian cat, portrayed by Francis Sartorius the Elder

Psyche, a white Persian cat, captured by the celebrated artist of the day Francis Sartorius the Elder (1734-1804). She looks like the Choupette of her age

A hand with a silver chain bracelet reaches towards a marble statue torso without head or arms, partly covered by drapery.

NB! · Museums · Observations · Humour

A pull towards museum treasures and a hand beside a marble statue torso

I feel an irresistible pull towards museum treasures. As usual, though

Aristocracy · Art · Humour

Portrait of Marshal Duke de Gontaut-Biron as a peacock and the debate over its meaning

When One Has Not Quite Made Up One's Mind About One's Political Allegiance. A very strange portrait of Louis-Antoine de Gontaut-Biron, Duke and Marshal of France (1700-1788). Art historians dispute whether the depiction in the form of a peacock was a mockery, a

Archive · Faith · Monarchies · Saint Petersburg · Humour

Pahlen arrested Bishop Sestrentsevich instead of a chamber page on the orders of Paul I

A Very Short Story about Dim but Dutiful Officials, Which Could Quite Easily Have Happened in Our Own Day. One day Paul I was receiving the Governor-General of Saint Petersburg, Count Pahlen, and the Catholic bishop Stanisław Siestrzeńcewicz, who enjoyed the Emperor's particular favour. How far the