Detail of an ancient Greek red-figure painting: a nude youth with outstretched arms and one leg, held by the hands by two figures above him against a black background.

NB!

Red-figure vase painting: a young man between two figures

A man in glasses and a dark suit writes at a desk, with a portrait on the wall behind him and a lamp with a pleated shade and painted vase at right.

NB! · Archive · People · Humour

Shostakovich at his desk in a black-and-white photograph

Shostakovich at work. And you, no shirking

NB! · Archaeology · Archive · Heritage

The Theatre and the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, Greece, 1903

NB! · Moscow · Observations · Humour

As You Will Have Gathered from the Title of the Play, the Hero Stayed in Moscow for More Than Three Days

NB! · Architecture · Moscow · Observations

The decision to mount construction cranes right on the towers of the skyscraper on Kudrinskaya Square looks very handsome indeed

NB! · Archive · Monarchies · Museums

The State Seal of Catherine II

A young man with wavy dark hair and glasses, in a checked blazer and jeans, stands with arms crossed against a draped grey-green curtain.

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Portrait of a man before a grey-green velvet curtain

NB! · Books · Observations · Humour

With the arrival of a new Kindle with a colour display, I cannot help wondering how badly it will glitch and freeze, if the plain black-and-white one starts misbehaving at roughly the three-hundredth book?

NB! · Monarchies · Society · Paris · People

On 16 October 1793, Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, was beheaded on the Place de la Révolution

On 16 October 1793, Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, was beheaded on the Place de la Révolution. In essence, the French Republic has still not acknowledged its crimes against the royal family, and has never reviewed the unjust, shameful trials of the royal family of France

NB! · Monarchies · Museums · Paris · People

The Dress in Which Marie Antoinette Was Executed

Painting of a lush bouquet of white, yellow and pink flowers with one red bloom in a vase against a dark blue background.

NB! · Art

Van Gogh's 1889 visit to Seurat's studio and the bright palette of his 1890 bouquet

In 1889 Van Gogh visited the studio of Georges Seurat, whom he admired, and was deeply impressed by the brilliance and mood of his palette. It was in this period that Van Gogh freed himself from the dark range of his Dutch years. In 1890 he painted this magnificent bouquet

NB! · Observations