Museums · Paris · People
On 17 February 1673, seated in this very chair, the dying Molière played the part of Argan, the "imaginary invalid" who is forever convinced that something ails him. In the play, Argan resolves to feign death in order to see how those around him will behave once he
NB! · Archaeology · Art · Museums · Rome
NB! · The East · Art · Museums · Observations
Tutankhamun's child's chair, ebony, bronze, gold, ivory. The armrests are adorned with gold plates depicting antelopes and plants. How utterly charming
Art · Museums
The Wounded Amazon, Franz von Stuck, 1905. The image of the wounded Amazon is described by Pliny the Elder, who tells of a competition for the finest sculpture on the theme, in which the celebrated sculptors of the 5th century BC Polykleitos, Phidias, Kresilas and Phradmon took part. The statues
Art · Museums · Observations · Mores
To pose for Ribera, the 52-year-old Doña Magdalena Ventura was lodged in the palace of the Duke of Naples. It is believed that at this time she had just given birth to a child who, in the opinion of many art historians, is not depicted in the portrait:
Art · Museums · Mores · People
The great wonder of nature, Magdalena Ventura of the town of Accumoli among the Samnites, commonly called the region of Abruzzo, in the Kingdom of Naples, aged 52 years. And it is noteworthy that at the age of 37 she began to grow hairy and sprouted a beard so thick
Art · Museums · Observations
Pierre Mignard from the collection of Hélène and Guy Motais de Narbonne, shown at the exhibition of their collection in the Fine Arts Museum of Orléans. A naked man holds a nude child on his lap. What do you suppose this scene is really about? It looks for all the
NB! · Archaeology · Art · Museums · Rome
Archaeology · Art · Museums · Observations · Rome
In the collection of the National Museum of Rome there is an extraordinary marble block with a relief of a half-naked woman rising with the help of two attendants whose heads and shoulders, regrettably, have been broken off. This monument of the 5th century BC is usually called the
NB! · Archaeology · Museums · Observations · Mores · Humour
I thought Soviet baby dolls were creepy, and then I saw these Roman bone dolls with movable limbs, 3rd to 4th centuries AD. Shall we talk about the psyche of the children of Ancient Rome?
Archaeology · Art · Museums · Rome
The young centaur from the celebrated pair of Furietti Centaurs of the 2nd century, found in the 18th century at Hadrian's Villa and kept in the Capitoline Museums. Copies of these sculptures are displayed all over the world; this two-coloured replica, for instance, dates from the Hadrianic
Archive · Faith · Museums · Mores
What Did the Common People of Ancient Rus' Die Of? Of wild beasts, the elements, disease and clumsy cookery. The synodikon, a handwritten church book listing names for commemoration, is recorded in Rus' quite early. In theory, a synodikon ought to name every Orthodox Christian who had ever