Aristocracy · Art · Observations · Mores · Humour

Portrait of Lord Byron and His Wife Annabella, Drawn by His Former Mistress Caroline Lamb

In whose place, of this trio, would one care to find oneself?

Map of Europe with most of the territory in yellow for butter, the south in green for olive oil, and a mixed band between them.

NB! · Geography · Observations · Mores

Map of Butter and Olive Oil Consumption Across European Regions

Olive or butter? Which fat is mainly used in the different countries of Europe? As you can see, butter wins, though neither palm oil nor sunflower oil took part in the sample

Engraving “Plan et Élévation d'une Salle de Bain”: an alcove with drapery and two side doors above, a room plan with an oval bath below.

NB! · Archive · Architecture · Mores

Engraving with plan and elevation of an eighteenth-century bathroom with side portals

Plan of an eighteenth-century bathroom. An interesting solution with side portals through which one may enter and leave

Cinema · Mores · People

Three years ago, on receiving the Golden Lion, the actor and director Roberto Benigni addressed his wife, the actress and producer Nicoletta Braschi:

"We have spent 40 years doing everything together. I know only one way of measuring time: with you or without you."

Archive · Mores · Saint Petersburg

Restaurant coupon for 20 kopecks from the Stray Dog cafe in Saint Petersburg, 1912

A restaurant coupon of 20 kopecks from the Saint Petersburg literary café "The Stray Dog Cellar. Mikhailovskaya Square, 5", 1912. Officially, the Stray Dog was called the "Artistic Society of the Intimate Theatre", and in this literary and artistic café the key Petersburg figures of the

Colour children’s drawing: a rider in a plumed turban blows a horn on a blue horse, facing a rider in a red coat on a carrot.

NB! · Archive · Books · Science · Mores

Children’s drawings on the backs of Charles Darwin’s “Origin of Species” drafts

Drawings by Charles Darwin's children on the backs of the drafts of "On the Origin of Species". Of the draft notes, only those sheets have survived on which the scientist's children left their drawings, undoubtedly inspired by natural-scientific interests

NB! · Mores · Humour

The Postwoman's Chastity

Archive · Faith · Books · Mores

If "pilgrim" comes from the Latin peregrinus, "foreigner, wanderer", then the Russian word palomnik comes from the Latin palma, "palm", because pilgrims carried in their hands palm branches in memory of the palm branches with which, at the gates of Jerusa

And the synonymous notion of the kaliki perekhozhie, the wandering "cripples", comes from the Greek "caligae", the name of the leather footwear in which wanderers tramped the roads. The same word gave rise to the nickname of Caligula, who as a child ran about in little

Ice sculpture shaped as an oval medallion with the Russian inscription “Kafe Pushkin” against dark wood panelling and lamps.

NB! · Moscow · Observations · Mores

Café Pushkin Marks Its 25th Anniversary

Our beloved Café Pushkin turns 25 today! A truly legendary place: many happy returns

Observations · Mores · Nature

Horses working in European mines and a fortnight of annual leave in France in 1936

The peculiar, suffering fate of horses rarely comes into focus in historical narratives. For thousands of years horses were humanity's constant companion in everything, from farming and manufacture to war. Of course, we never stop to think that often, where man suffered, horses endured still greater suffering, unnoticed

Archive · Books · Mores · People

In my old age (I turned 36 the day before yesterday), I all but fell in love

Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev

A man in a tailcoat with a blue sash and medals stands beside a smiling woman in a white gown and tiara, with photographers behind.

NB! · Aristocracy · Monarchies · Mores

The Duke and Duchess of Kent have been together for 63 years, he is 88 and she is 91

The Duke and Duchess of Kent: 63 years together. He is 88, she is 91