Museums · Observations · Heritage

Smolensk Museum-Reserve, its branches and the possible inclusion of Khmelita

The Smolensk State Museum-Reserve as it already stands today includes the Art Gallery, the "Smolensk Flax" Museum, the S.T. Konenkov Sculpture Museum, the Historical Museum, the "Smolensk Region in the Years of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" Museum, the "In the

Aristocracy · Art · Monarchies · Museums

Parures of the early 19th century and Napoleon I's wedding gift to Marie-Louise

As such, parures reached the height of their popularity in the early nineteenth century: in the 1800s it was precisely sets of jewellery that adorned ladies in Europe's principal capitals. This fashion owed a great deal to the jewellers of the future house of Chaumet, which over its

Art · Monarchies · Museums · Mores · Paris

Tradition of the groom's wedding gift basket for the bride at the Chaumet exhibition

The Chaumet exhibition presents a magnificent tradition dating back to the seventeenth century: the corbeille de mariage, or wedding basket. The set of gifts that the bridegroom prepared for his bride was presented in a special casket in the shape of a vase with a lid. The chest was usually

Maps · Monarchies · Museums · Observations · Science · Nature · Reportage

Prince Albert I and his ocean research instruments at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco

Our stroll through the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco continues. In the frame: equipment for exploring the seabed and taking soil samples, along with preserved marine fauna from the time of the museum's founder, Prince Albert I, who, after service in the French navy, devoted his leisure to a

NB! · Architecture · Museums · Observations · Nature

The staircases of Monaco's Oceanographic Museum are adorned with the shells of giant molluscs

The staircases of Monaco's Oceanographic Museum are adorned with the shells of giant molluscs. Remember the tridacna that serves as a holy water stoup in Saint-Sulpice?

Architecture · Monarchies · Museums · Science · Nature

The Oceanographic Museum, founded in the late nineteenth century by Prince Albert I, occupies an enormous building overhanging the sea

The Oceanographic Museum, founded in the late nineteenth century by Prince Albert I, occupies an enormous building overhanging the sea. Inside are a colossal collection of stuffed marine animals, equipment for the study of the ocean, an aquarium, interactive exhibits and a collection of personal belongings and instruments of the

NB! · Museums · Observations · Nature

I had only ever seen the European anglerfish in Donat Naumov's "The World of the Ocean" and in the children's encyclopaedia "Pochemuchka", and I am greatly impressed by this handsome grump on display at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco

NB! · Museums · Observations · Palaeontology · Nature · Humour

The Giant Fossil Turtle from the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco: This Is How I See Russian Officialdom

Architecture · Faith · Art · Museums · Humour

Archangel Michael statue on Brussels Town Hall replaced by a copy, original moved to museum

Saint Michael the Archangel of Brussels. The statue recalls the works of Tsereteli, but this is another creator: Martin Van Rode, who lived in the fifteenth century. The Archangel with the dragon crowned the 96-metre spire of the town hall. Michael is made of copper sheets, which have oxidised

Books · Monarchies · Museums · Mores · Society

Cupid and Sideron, court Moors of William V, in the Hague Historical Museum

In the Historical Museum of The Hague, it is impossible to walk past two child mannequins in eighteenth-century royal livery. These exhibits are a modern reconstruction of the costumes of two court Moors, as Black people were then commonly called at court: Cupido and Sideron. The first came from

A golden frog-shaped purse made of finely woven thread, with a long cord and pale fabric at the back, against a dark background.

NB! · Museums · Mores · Humour

Women's handbags in the shape of frogs from the seventeenth century

Aww! If you think fashion was once plain and monotonous, these ladies' handbags in the shape of frogs from the seventeenth century will persuade you otherwise. Ribbit-ribbit

Architecture · Museums · Heritage · People

Viktor Kulakov, who saved the Griboyedov palace at Khmelita from ruin, has died

An empty desk in the director's study of the A.S. Griboyedov "Khmelita" State Historical, Cultural and Natural Museum-Reserve, at which Viktor Kulakov worked. Today Viktor Evgenyevich Kulakov passed away. He was a unique man who will remain in our memory and in the history