NB! · Archive · Faith · Ethnography

Members of the Russian Doukhobor sect in Saskatchewan in 1907: the Doukhobors fled persecution at home, with the sponsorship of Leo Tolstoy and other benefactors, and founded a flourishing diaspora in Canada

NB! · Art · Museums · Humour

"Why is the child kissing a naked woman?" "Pay no attention, he is a pupil of Michelangelo"

NB! · Humour

"You've lost weight." "Thanks"

NB! · Art · Books · Mores

The girl with a squirrel is no accident in the engraving illustrating the tale from the Canterbury Tales of decrepit January and his young and faithless May, who cuckolds the old man under his very nose

Engraving of a woman in a lace and ribbon-trimmed dress holding a squirrel with a bushy tail on her arm.

NB! · Art · London · Science · Mores · Nature · Humour

The squirrel in women's portraits of early modern England and the spread of leprosy by rodents

In Early Modern England the squirrel symbolised prostitution, so this rodent in a woman's portrait augurs nothing good. Though it has recently been proved that squirrels also spread leprosy

Two plates with green and gold borders and painted landscapes beside an octagonal leather case inscribed “Assiettes de dessert”.

NB! · Monarchies · Museums · Observations · Humour

Travelling set of dessert plates of Emperor Napoleon in its case

The Emperor's travelling set of dessert plates. What can one say, an indispensable item, and not only for Napoleon.

A branch with oranges in front of a yellow stone church façade and a cobbled square.

NB! · Faith · Art · Observations · Humour

The Forbidden Fruit in Culture and Citrus Instead of the Apple in Renaissance Art

In our culture the forbidden fruit is personified by the apple, but with the masters of the Renaissance it is sometimes an orange or another citrus fruit. In any case, let me remind you: first the forbidden fruit, then the church, not the other way round!

NB!

True Story

A wide-brimmed red hat with gold embroidery and a bow in a museum display case, with a dark crucifix visible below it.

NB! · Faith · Monarchies · Museums · People

Hat worn by Pius VII in 1814 during his captivity under Napoleon in Savona

Pius VII wore this hat in 1814 during his captivity in Savona: the pontiff was shut up in confinement for refusing to submit to Napoleon. In the end Pius not only returned to Rome, but outlived Bonaparte

Baroque church facade with a central dome and two bell towers under an overcast sky.

NB! · Architecture · Faith · Rome

The Church of Saint Agnes and the legend of its construction on the site of a brothel

The Church of Saint Agnes, a twelve-year-old girl who was publicly stripped, tortured and consigned to a brothel. They say the church stands on the site of that very brothel, but most likely this is merely a legend

NB! · Architecture · Faith · Art · Rome

Not all of Rome's obelisks are genuine: this 16-metre fake in Piazza Navona was raised by the family of Pope Innocent X to lend their house an air of importance

Not all of Rome's obelisks are genuine: this 16-metre fake in Piazza Navona was raised by the family of Pope Innocent X to lend their house an air of importance. Later Bernini built the Fountain of the Four Rivers here and saved the view

Underground ruins of the Stadium of Domitian with a wooden enclosure for an educational excavation area and a sign showing the entrance 50 metres away.

NB! · Archaeology · Architecture · Observations · Rome

Remains of Rome's first stone athletics stadium beneath Piazza Navona

From my window I observe the remains of the first stone athletic stadium in Rome, a building quite unique in the history of sport. Where the stadium once stood there is now a residential district, piazza Navona