Archaeology · Art · Museums

Fresco of Iphigenia at Aulis from the house of a tragic poet in Pompeii

Iphigenia in Aulis. A fresco showing the lovely Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, being carried to the altar of Artemis. Agamemnon had offended Artemis by killing her golden hind, and she sent a calm upon the Greek fleet fitted out for Troy. In order to set sail at last,

Museums · Observations · Humour

Estonia's top museum award Aasta Muuseumirott takes the form of a rat statuette

The principal museum award in Estonia is called Aasta Muuseumirott, that is, "Museum Rat of the Year". The winner receives a statuette of a rat with its paws planted on its hips. The size of the figurine depends on the rank of the award, and the largest rat

Museums · Observations · Ethnography · Humour

Ivan Grinko in “Etno dialogi” proposes viewing the museum through the concept of totemism

Ivan Grinko of the Moscow Agency for the Organisation of Leisure and Tourism offers, in his article in "Ethno Dialogues", a rather original view of museum totemism. Let us replace the word "totem" in the definition with the word "museum", and it really does

Art · Museums · New York

Bronze Paris by Antico in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum

Paris chooses which of three goddesses, Minerva, Venus or Juno, is to receive the golden apple. The work of the brilliant Italian sculptor of the early Renaissance Pier Jacopo Alari Bonacolsi, known by the pseudonym Antico, c. 1460–1528. Bronze, silvered and gilded. Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Snow-covered winged sphinxes on pedestals at the entrance of a columned museum building with wrought-iron doors during a snowfall.

NB! · Madrid · Museums · Nature · Humour

Snowfall in Madrid, the first in 10 years, closes the National Archaeological Museum of Spain

The National Archaeological Museum of Spain has been given a dusting. For the first time in 10 years, snow has fallen in Madrid. The official announcement: the museum is closed on account of a climatic cataclysm. We would put it differently: what a stroke of luck!

Aristocracy · Art · London · Museums · Observations

Kokoshnik, not Mucha style, in Shannon's 1918 portrait of the Duchess of Rutland

Had a small dispute with ArtUK and National Trust Collections over Sir James Jebusa Shannon's 1918 portrait of Violet Lindsay, Duchess of Rutland (1856-1937). The cause of my displeasure is the description of the work, which states that in this exotic portrait Lady Violet, her hands dramatically

NB! · Faith · Art · Museums · New York

Madonna and Child, Andrea della Robbia, 1470–1475

Madonna and Child, Andrea della Robbia, 1470–1475. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Della Robbia made a good many different sculptures of the Virgin, but this one draws the eye because above Mary and Jesus the Lord Himself keeps a solicitous watch, surrounded by angels

Architecture · Art · Moscow · Museums · Observations

Memorial workshop of Pyotr Konchalovsky in the Pigit House on Bolshaya Sadovaya

I was recalling today how, on the first day the memorial museum-studio of Pyotr Konchalovsky opened, we went there on a tour with Club 418. A couple of days later, it seems, the decree closing the museums was issued. So we were lucky to get in in time. This

NB! · Coming Up · Art · Museums · New York

The Museum of Modern Art in New York is showing what is probably the largest private collection of graphic art from the 1920s and 30s, including classics of the Soviet poster, outstanding women artists of the early century, the graphic art of post-revolut

Coming Up · Art · Museums · Observations · Education

The Moscow Art Theatre Museum, together with the School of Historical Sciences and the School of Design of the Higher School of Economics, has prepared a multimedia online exhibition about Stanislavsky's legendary 1909 production of Turgenev's "A Month in

The exhibition is a journey through interactive locations recreated from the original sketches of Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, who was the designer of the 1909 production. And one can not only wander about the display but also interact with the principal characters of the play, and if not father children with them,

NB! · Museums · Observations · Society · Humour

Quite right: if ration cards for sugar and butter are being brought back, one may as well book a museum visit by telephone, or better still, by telegraph

Coming Up · Art · Museums

Anyone who misses travel and museums, or simply wants to look at Rembrandt, Vermeer and Holbein in extremely high resolution, finer than even one's own eyes can manage, should by all means join a tour of the collection…

Anyone who misses travel and museums, or simply wants to look at Rembrandt, Vermeer and Holbein in extremely high resolution, finer than even one's own eyes can manage, should by all means join a tour of the collection of the Dutch Mauritshuis, which has prepared the world'