Art · Humour
It may look like the work of a contemporary artist, but this is the creation of the sixteenth-century German goldsmith Wenzel Jamnitzer, inspired by the myth of Daphne, a servant of Diana, who begged the gods to turn her into a laurel tree. Daphne had taken a vow of
Faith · Museums · Observations · Humour
A unique artefact, of course, and the most astonishing thing is that for its own time this mask of an eminent preacher of the Covenanter movement was a far more ordinary phenomenon than it is for us. Alexander Peden wore this mask not as some manifesto but, as historians write,
NB! · Archive · Science · Humour
It is hard to believe this invention did not become the most popular in history. A contrivance for descending from the upper floors without a staircase! GE-NI-AL!
Moscow · Observations · Mores · Humour
It is a matter of common knowledge that Andropov was a very modest man. Yet, looking at the interior of his Moscow flat, it is hard not to ask oneself: why not summon a decorator, from some theatre or other if need be, or any other artist, to help make
NB! · Humour
NB! · Archaeology · Museums · Observations · Mores · Humour
I thought Soviet baby dolls were creepy, and then I saw these Roman bone dolls with movable limbs, 3rd to 4th centuries AD. Shall we talk about the psyche of the children of Ancient Rome?
NB! · Faith · Observations · Humour
In the Christmas bustle I always find myself, for some reason, remembering the undeservedly forgotten little Mithras. Though the bull really need not have been killed
NB! · Humour
Archaeology · Monarchies · Museums · Observations · Mores · New York · Humour
This couch is assembled from fragments, some of which come from the imperial villa of Lucius Verus near Rome and date to the 1st-2nd centuries AD. It is kept at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The glass inlay may not correspond to the original, but the bone panels are
NB! · Ethnography · Humour
NB! · Humour
NB! · Art · Museums · Saint Petersburg · Humour
Knaves of Diamonds in their drawers: Ilya Ivanovich Mashkov (with violin) and Pyotr Petrovich Konchalovsky (with sheet music). 1910, Mashkov. Painting from the collection of the Russian Museum