Faith · Books · Monarchies · Saint Petersburg

Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “The Night Before Christmas”, censorship and Gogol’s tale

Originally, Rimsky-Korsakov's opera "Christmas Eve" was held up by the censors, because among the dramatis personae there was a tsaritsa (in Gogol's tale, Catherine II), and at that time members of the House of Romanov were forbidden to appear on the operatic stage.

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In the New Year of 1766 the admirable orator and thinker Platon, Metropolitan of Moscow, delivered in the court church a Sermon before Catherine II and the heir Pavel Petrovich on the essence and nature of time

In the New Year of 1766 the admirable orator and thinker Platon, Metropolitan of Moscow, delivered in the court church a Sermon before Catherine II and the heir Pavel Petrovich on the essence and nature of time. The address is rich and beautiful; I shall quote a few passages, and

Archive · Monarchies · Observations · Mores · People

The day of ten-year-old Tsesarevich Pavel at Catherine's court, from congratulations to the ball

I read how His Imperial Highness Pavel Petrovich, the future Emperor Paul I, celebrated his tenth birthday. The first to congratulate the Tsesarevich that morning was his confessor, the hieromonk Platon Levshin, after which the heir was led to the apartments of Her Majesty, and together with the Empress he

Spines of brown leather books with gilt tooling: “Histoire de Pierre III”, volumes 1 to 3, and “Vie de Catherine II”, volumes 1 and 2.

Books · Monarchies · Observations · Humour

Three volumes of “Histoire de Pierre III” and two of “Vie de Catherine II” in antique bindings

A History of Peter III: three volumes. The Life of Catherine II: two volumes. There is in this a certain inexpressible historical irony.

NB! · London · Monarchies · Pop Culture · Humour

What Makes Us Think That Charles III Is Subscribed to the "Thoughts of Great Lads" Page?

Colour map of Central Europe showing the many small territories of the Holy Roman Empire, with labels and a list of abbreviations.

NB! · Geography · Maps · Monarchies · Humour

Political map of the Holy Roman Empire in 1359

Has it fallen apart? The Holy Roman Empire in 1359. Mind you don't lose count

Aristocracy · London · Monarchies · People

Princess Alexandra of Kent, the most Russian member of the British royal family, turns 87

First cousin of Elizabeth II, granddaughter of Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna and great-great-granddaughter of Emperor Alexander II

Art · Monarchies · People

Delaroche’s painting of Napoleon crossing the Saint Bernard Pass and the guide’s reward

Most often Napoleon crossing the Alps is imagined as in the portrait by Jacques-Louis David: a proud horseman astride a white stallion. Delaroche's painting, created more than thirty years after Napoleon's death, shows the then First Consul crossing the Great St Bernard Pass, the shortest

NB! · Art · Monarchies · People

Death of a King in a Veil, by the Victorian Artist Charlotte Minor Will, 1893

Aristocracy · Archive · Monarchies · Mores

Theodora, Olga and Kira Kirillovna at the 1956 wedding of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria

Girlfriends Meet over a Glass of Sparkling Wine to Talk About Princes. From left to right: Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark, elder sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh; Princess Olga of Yugoslavia; and the Prussian Princess Kira Kirillovna Romanova, Princess of the Blood Imperial. The photograph was taken

Two gilded stools upholstered in green floral silk, each with a cushion and tassels on top and an arched opening with curtains.

NB! · Art · Monarchies · Museums · Humour

Pair of stools with kennels for the dogs of Louis XV, 1765

A pair of stool-kennels for the dogs of Louis XV, 1765. The luxury doghouse

NB! · Monarchies