London · Monarchies · Observations · Mores · Humour

Viktor Konetsky's story of Gagarin, a lemon and Elizabeth II is most likely a myth

A Footnote on the Popular Anecdote of Yury Gagarin, the Queen and the Slice of Lemon. It probably could indeed have happened, but the man drinking tea was not Gagarin at all. It was Captain-Lieutenant Vetoshkin, who fished out a piece of lemon with his fingers and ate the

NB! · Faith · Art · Observations · Humour

Lucas Cranach the Elder and we remind you that there are 8 days left until the end of Lent, and wish everyone a sense of proportion

Art · Observations · Nature · Humour

Artist Maria Katkova and ink made from the inky cap mushroom

I came across an account by the artist Maria Katkova of how she once made several works using mushroom ink. What is that, you ask? The artist explains the recipe: if you pick an ink cap (a dung-loving one, to be precise), place it on a saucer and watch,

Books · Observations · Nature · Humour

Who would have thought that Elizabeth Bowen could be so popular among wasps!

More precisely, among the sceliphron wasps, that is, the digging kind, which make out of clay such charming capsules, as though excavated in the land of Lilliput, and stuff them with little spiders and small insects. The growing wasp larva feeds on the provisions stored in these mud-walled cells,

Art · Mores · Paris · Humour

The Rue du Cherche-Midi in Paris, its name origins and César Baldaccini's centaur

There is a curious street in Paris called Rue du Cherche-Midi, "Seek Noon Street". One version holds that the name comes from an ancient bas-relief of an astronomer taking measurements with a sundial. Another ties the enigmatic, even comical name to the forests that once covered

Hand-coloured engraving “Caisse d'incubation”: an incubator box in section and shaped as brooding hens, with a crowned coat of arms above.

NB! · Books · Observations · Science · Humour

Incubator shaped like a brooding hen in a description from a 1786 book

An eighteenth-century incubator: I came across a description of an egg-hatching machine in a book of 1786. To lend it a harmonious appearance, the author proposes that it be made in the shape of a broody hen. Yet another confirmation that the technologies of the past were far

NB! · Faith · Observations · Humour

So "he flew away, but promised to return" is, quite literally, about Christ

NB! · Art · Humour

"American Ecological Horse Jason and Two Equilibrists Ave Maria", silicone sculpture painted in acrylic, Robert Combas, 2024

NB! · Monarchies · Pop Culture · Humour

King Charles III plays a carrot in Windsor Castle with the London Vegetable Orchestra at a reception for community music groups and music projects, many of them run by volunteers

Black-and-white photograph of a moustached man in a checked jacket, barefoot and without trousers, seated on a stool playing a harmonium.

Archive · Art · Paris · Humour

Paul Gauguin plays the harmonium without trousers at Alphonse Mucha's in 1893

What to Do of an Evening in Paris? Paul Gauguin, trouserless, plays the harmonium at a house party at Alphonse Mucha's; the year is 1893

NB! · Observations · Society · Humour

The Emblem of the Russian Craft Board of the Hairdressers' and Barbers' Guild, Established on 26 April 1785

The emblem of the Russian Craft Board of the Hairdressers' and Barbers' Guild, established on 26 April 1785. Tell me, am I the only one who finds it faintly ghoulish that the hairdresser's dummy is rendered as a living body, which looks lopped off and stuck

NB! · Observations · Paris · Pop Culture · Society Pages · Humour

A Queue for Dolce & Gabbana at the Grand Palais

A queue for Dolce & Gabbana at the Grand Palais. I am not enough of an admirer to deprive genuine devotees of the chance to make the acquaintance of the golden monograms from the second floor of TsUM, so with a quiet heart I proceeded to the Petit Palais