Marble relief on a red wall: a large eagle bends toward a seated, half-naked youth who feeds it from a bowl.

NB! · Art · Museums · Observations · Saint Petersburg · Humour

Relief in the Hermitage showing Ganymede feeding the eagle, the form Zeus took

Zeus stole the beautiful Ganymede by turning himself into an eagle. I do not know whether the youth is feeding the bird on this bas-relief from the Hermitage before the abduction or after it, but I think you will have understood what a vile, lecherous beast this Zeus was

NB! · Aristocracy · Archive · Art · Saint Petersburg · Humour

The Bengal Lion and Tiger and the Petersburg Lion and Tiger

The Bengal Lion and Tiger and the Petersburg Lion and Tiger. A caricature, presumably of the 1840s, from the album of Prince Pyotr Urusov. In the guise of the Petersburg lion is Arkady Pavlovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov (above)

Mores · Ethnography · Humour

English rhyme on what cutting nails on each day of the week foretells

An old English nursery rhyme warns that cutting your nails on a Friday will bring grief and misfortune! Better make it Saturday: a Saturday manicure promises a journey. As for Sunday's nails, they will be dedicated to evil and will deliver you into the devil's power

Hand-coloured engraving of a smiling man in an armchair with a swollen leg on a stool, surrounded by small black demons.

NB! · Science · Mores · Humour

Gout in caricature: a disease that betrayed a prosperous way of life

No one will laugh at the touch of gout. Still, people felt no embarrassment in speaking of this malady, which betrayed their prosperous and leisurely way of life

NB! · Art · Observations · Humour

The New Year has begun splendidly, and at last I have found an excellent cat for the front door

The New Year has begun splendidly, and at last I have found an excellent cat for the front door. The eighteenth century remains my favourite by far, and this is, well,

NB! · Art · Museums · Humour

"Why is the child kissing a naked woman?" "Pay no attention, he is a pupil of Michelangelo"

NB! · Humour

"You've lost weight." "Thanks"

Engraving of a woman in a lace and ribbon-trimmed dress holding a squirrel with a bushy tail on her arm.

NB! · Art · London · Science · Mores · Nature · Humour

The squirrel in women's portraits of early modern England and the spread of leprosy by rodents

In Early Modern England the squirrel symbolised prostitution, so this rodent in a woman's portrait augurs nothing good. Though it has recently been proved that squirrels also spread leprosy

Two plates with green and gold borders and painted landscapes beside an octagonal leather case inscribed “Assiettes de dessert”.

NB! · Monarchies · Museums · Observations · Humour

Travelling set of dessert plates of Emperor Napoleon in its case

The Emperor's travelling set of dessert plates. What can one say, an indispensable item, and not only for Napoleon.

A branch with oranges in front of a yellow stone church façade and a cobbled square.

NB! · Faith · Art · Observations · Humour

The Forbidden Fruit in Culture and Citrus Instead of the Apple in Renaissance Art

In our culture the forbidden fruit is personified by the apple, but with the masters of the Renaissance it is sometimes an orange or another citrus fruit. In any case, let me remind you: first the forbidden fruit, then the church, not the other way round!

Observations · Heritage · Rome · Humour

A French guide in the Belvedere and the Napoleonic removal of treasures from Rome's palaces

In every room of the Belvedere the French guide cried: Vive la France! And why not, for nobody ever carried off so many treasures from the palaces of Rome as the French did under Napoleon

Humour

"Only I haven't had time to put my face on"

"Never mind, you really do look well."