Art · Museums · Observations · Society
An African offers emeralds from the Chavor mine on a golden tray. To European sovereigns, by all appearances. Balthasar Permoser's sculpture of 1724 is on show at the Luxembourg Museum and, by and large, is not in the least archaic. The exploitation of Africa has since taken on
Art · Museums · People · Ethnography
The Three Princesses of the Underground Kingdom. Viktor Vasnetsov, 1884. The painting was composed on a motif from the Russian folk tale of Ivan Tsarevich, who descends into the underground kingdom and meets there the Golden, Silver and Copper Princesses. Vasnetsov took up the subject while fulfilling a commission from
Museums · Observations · People · Rome · Humour
Can you picture this horror in place of the face of so soulful and refined a Byron? The poet wore this frightening mask to a carnival in February 1820. It once had hair and a beard, which have not survived to our day, though they probably lent some small adornment
Art · Museums · Paris
The Seasons. Rouen faience, Nicolas Fouquay manufactory, 1730s. The anthropomorphic allegories of the seasons take their cue from the style of Ovid's "Metamorphoses". Winter is represented by a pensive old man. The Rouen faience manufactory is known for the virtuosity of its masters, and it is
Art · Museums
Sir Henry Raeburn, founder of the Scottish school of painting, “The Reverend Robert Walker Skating on Duddingston Loch”, 1784, National Gallery of Scotland
London · Museums · Heritage · Society
News of Progress in Talks between Greek Officials and the British Museum on the Repatriation of the Parthenon Sculptures Stolen by the English: a Tangible Shift May Be Coming on the Return of the "Elgin Marbles" to Greece. Firstly, strange as it may seem, after decades of Greek
Archaeology · Art · Museums
The Charioteer of Delphi, one of the most photographed statues in the world, sometimes called the Mona Lisa of Ancient Greece, was created between 470 and 466 BC and has survived to our day, or rather to its discovery in the spring of 1896, thanks to a landslide brought down
Aristocracy · Museums · Observations
You can recognise an archer's ring by this characteristic shape: it is worn on the thumb to protect it from damage by the bowstring. The design of this ring from the British Museum's collection strongly reminded me of the newly fashionable rings inscribed "Save and
NB! · Art · London · Museums · Mores · Humour
Faith · Art · Museums · Observations · Heritage · People · Humour
I Cannot Work Out Who Was Roasted for Christ at the Last Supper of the Self-Taught Florentine Artist-Nun Plautilla Nelli (1524–1588): a Capybara or a Monkey? In the Renaissance, women were still barred from studying art, anatomy and the construction of the male figure, so the skill
NB! · Coming Up · Moscow · Museums
A Museum of the Cossacks will soon open in Moscow, and in the meantime the State Historical Museum has launched a website devoted to Cossack history, which sets out, year by year, facts about the Cossack hosts that have existed in the country. The information may not be the most
Moscow · Museums · Observations · Society
From time to time the news carries reports that some masterpiece has been found among the rubbish. Not long ago in Bavaria, originals by the Dutch artist Samuel van Hoogstraten and the Italian Pietro Bellotti were discovered in a dustbin. We, too, have something to boast about: two museums holding