Faith · Books · London · Mores · Ethnography
Yes, he has fallen asleep In the last, eternal, unwaking sleep. I shall make a coffin his bed, Fairies will gather at his grave And no worm will dare creep into it. Literal translation Indeed, in ancient Britain there was a belief that fairies take particular care of young corpses
Aristocracy · Art · Museums · Mores · Humour
Sabina Poppaea, unknown artist of the School of Fontainebleau, 1550–1570, Museum of Art and History, Geneva. Tacitus wrote that the Empress Poppaea, wife of Nero, drew the attention of the Romans by strolling about naked, wrapped only in a gauze veil, as women of easy virtue commonly went. This
Art · Mores · Paris
Courtesans Go to the Louvre, 1586. "Courtesan" derives from the word court, which was, one way or another, the centre of courtly life and of state administration. Originally a "courtesan" was a person admitted to that court and initiated into certain matters: a courtier at a
Science · Mores · People · Humour
There is an anecdote about the nineteenth-century Russian writer and mineralogist Alexander Pavlovich Ushakov. Ushakov was the kindest of men, wrote several important works on mineralogy and was reputed a connoisseur of the stage and the ballet. But he held rather original principles, calling idiots all who did not
Aristocracy · Archive · Observations · Mores · People
Owing to the great unrest, Pushkin's funeral service was held behind closed doors: besides relatives and friends, only select representatives of the nobility and prominent public figures were invited. Entry to the cathedral was by invitation card, and these, as Skalon recalls, very soon turned up on the
Archive · Books · Monarchies · Observations · Mores · Humour
"Ah, you naughty girl! How could you write such a letter! How cold it is! My soul is sad! My heart melts, and my imagination simply frightens me. You love me less strongly. A day will come when you will cease to love me altogether." I have been
Observations · Mores · Society · Humour
In 301, Emperor Diocletian attempted to fix uniform prices for basic goods and issued the Edict on Maximum Prices. Footwear, for instance, could cost anywhere from 50 to 150 denarii. On average, that is the equivalent of 50 bricks, three weeks of a soldier's pay and two months
Architecture · Museums · Mores · Paris
On the ground floor are two spacious drawing rooms, the red and the blue, richly furnished with Chinese curiosities, hung with costly fabrics and adorned with unique pieces of furniture. Here the Hugo family received guests. True, not everyone within these walls was as happy as its creator, enchanted by
NB! · Monarchies · Mores · People
Four-year-old little Victoria, the future Queen of Great Britain, in black. Victoria spent nearly half her life in black, from the death of Prince Albert in 1861 to the end of her days in 1901
Architecture · Monarchies · Mores · Rome · Humour
At the entrance to the main building of the Villa Medici, which today houses the French Academy in Rome, stands a fountain of imposing size. The round basin was acquired by Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici, who bought it in 1587 for 200 scudi from the monastery of San Salvatore
Books · Observations · Mores
“Drink to me alone with your eyes... and, please, do not spill the wine, but add water to it and, raising the cup to your lips, fill it with kisses and pass it to the thirsty” (XXXIII, 5-7). “I sent you a wreath of roses not to do you
Aristocracy · Art · Monarchies · Mores
The grand portrait of the Dauphins of France with the Marquise de Lansac. In 1638 Cardinal Richelieu filled every court office with his own creatures, and installed a relative of his as governess to the future king and the Duke of Orléans. The elderly woman beside the little boys is