NB! · Art · Humour
Meissen vase with a bird cage and elephant-shaped handles, 1728
A Meissen cage vase with elephants. 1728. Madness and adoration.
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NB! · Archaeology · Faith · Mores · Humour
Pilgrim badge of the 14th century shaped like a travelling vagina
Badges like this were a popular souvenir among medieval pilgrims. True, they say little about the holy places visited, but in every other respect they are eloquent enough. This travelling vulva is from the 14th century
Books · Monarchies · Mores · Humour
Small stature of Marina Mnishek and False Dmitry and the myth of a slender beauty on the throne
Alexei Tolstoy has lines about the pretender (False Dmitry) climbing onto the throne with his bride (Marina Mniszech) and dangling his legs beside her. The first crowned Russian tsarina, Marina Mniszech, and her husband were indeed of very slight stature. And while of Tsar Dmitry it was merely said "
NB! · Art · Observations · Humour
The old man in the air bubble is Alexander the Great, spying from beneath the water on his beloved Roxana with some fellow
The old man in the air bubble is Alexander the Great, spying from beneath the water on his beloved Roxana with some fellow. God forbid one should look like that at 30, and, for that matter, go travelling in a bubble either
Books · Observations · Humour
Taras Bulba's weight of 20 puds and his horse named Chyort
Taras Bulba weighed 20 poods, or about 326 kilograms. What is one to do with such a weight? How is one to manage? Probably only die. But Taras Bulba still contrived to ride on horseback. Then again, if one remembers that his horse was called Chort (Devil), everything falls into
Books · Observations · Mores · Humour
A cloak, a britzka and a girl in Gogol's works and the thousandfold fall in the rouble's value
To feel the real fall of the rouble that everyone talks about, it is enough to imagine it a thousand times cheaper than in Gogol's day. A good lady's cloak cost 80 roubles ("Nevsky Prospekt"), a good britzka 4,000 roubles ("The Carriage&
NB! · Observations · Science · Humour
Speaking of Renaissance inventions, one cannot fail to mention the printing press, the parachute, the rolling bearing, the water pump, the telescope and, of course, the steerable centaur costume. Where would we be without it?
Books · Monarchies · Observations · Science · Humour
James IV's experiment with two infants on a desert island in Walter Scott's “History of Scotland”
Walter Scott, in his "History of Scotland", describes an experiment of James IV, who sent two infants to an uninhabited island with a deaf-mute nurse, to find out which language is innate to man, and whether there is one at all. Besides the settlers, the island was
Books · Education · People · Humour
John Milton, author of "Paradise Lost" and Foreign Secretary in Cromwell's government, was known during his student years at Cambridge (Christ's College) as the Lady of Christ's: he was long-haired, pale and languid, and sat under a tree in the Fellows' G
John Milton, author of "Paradise Lost" and Foreign Secretary in Cromwell's government, was known during his student years at Cambridge (Christ's College) as the Lady of Christ's: he was long-haired, pale and languid, and sat under a tree in the Fellows&
NB! · Faith · Art · Humour
Ignatius Loyola plays billiards with Francis Xavier; the loser must obey the winner unconditionally for a month
Ignatius Loyola plays billiards with Francis Xavier; the loser must obey the winner unconditionally for a month. The cunning Loyola, of course, won
Aristocracy · Books · Observations · Humour
Nabokov's paternal grandmother Maria Ferdinandovna was born Baroness von Korff
It turns out that Nabokov's paternal grandmother, Maria Ferdinandovna, was born a Baroness von Korff. I wonder whether she was related to Baron Korf from "Poor Nastya"? What an amusing turn of events that would be
Faith · The East · Monarchies · People · Humour
Nicholas II had a dragon tattooed on his forearm during his 1891 journey to Japan
It is well known that in 1891 Nicholas II travelled in Japan and had a dragon tattooed on his forearm. So what are we to make of it: holy relics with a dragon tattoo?