NB! · Cinema · Observations · Society Pages

Yesterday we were rather cinematic, my beloved Mademoiselle Shipilova and I

NB! · Geography · Museums · Humour

All Olympian gods who descend for a short while into a mortal body to wander the city streets, the taverns or, as in our case, the museums, must bear in mind that the road from Athens to Mount Olympus is no short one, and the journey by post-horse will ta

A woman in a black sweater and glasses speaks into a microphone at a table with a water bottle and a glass. Behind her are shelves of old books, including Ves Petersburg and address calendar

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Woman speaking into a microphone in front of shelves of old directories

NB! · Observations

I shall begin every acquaintance with my students with these words

A small girl in a beige coat and pink bonnet stands in front of a pale green door with a glazed upper panel.

NB! · Art

Belgian Symbolist Fernand Khnopff painted “Portrait of Jeanne Kéfer” in 1885

"Portrait of Jeanne Kéfer", by the Belgian Symbolist Fernand Khnopff, 1885. Jeanne is about 5 years old

Old pen drawing of three hooded figures with covered faces beside woven beehives, with a person sitting in a tree.

NB! · Archive · Mores · Humour

Medieval beekeepers' costumes and their kinship with modern fashion

The costumes of medieval beekeepers were well ahead of their time. Today, they are the very height of fashion

NB! · Archaeology · Architecture · The East · Geography

The Pyramid of Cheops, Seen from Above

Black and white engraving of elephants bathing in a river, with people and two horsemen standing on the bank under a large tree.

NB! · Archive · Art · Museums · Nature

Elephants bathing in an engraving of 1682 from the Rijksmuseum

Elephants frolicking in the water. Engraving, 1682. Rijksmuseum

NB! · Coming Up · Art · Paris

In June, Christie's Paris Old Master sale will offer a melon still life by the eighteenth-century French painter Jean Siméon Chardin

In June, Christie's Paris Old Master sale will offer a melon still life by the eighteenth-century French painter Jean Siméon Chardin. Painted in 1760, it is in an oval format, a rarity for Chardin. The estimate is €8-12 million.

NB! · Art · Monarchies · Mores · Paris

Engraving of the masked ball of 23 January 1782, given by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette in honour of the birth of Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France, their eldest son, born after 11 years of marriage

Engraving of the masked ball of 23 January 1782, given by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette in honour of the birth of Louis Joseph, Dauphin of France, their eldest son, born after 11 years of marriage. Louis Joseph was a sickly child and lived only 7 years, dying of tuberculosis

Vertical abstract painting in a black frame on a grey museum wall: geometric shapes, arches and columns in blue, grey and ochre. A signature at lower right, a label beside it.

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Mikhail Shvartsman, Hieratura: an abstract composition in blue tones

NB! · Books · Science · People