NB! · Observations · Mores · Humour

One should not, of course, compare the ballrooms of 1725 and 1925 with those of 2025; it will be better for everyone

NB! · Geography · Observations · Nature

Who would have thought Lake Titicaca was quite so high!

Who would have thought Lake Titicaca was quite so high! It turns out to stand at 3,812 metres above sea level. Baikal lies at an altitude of 455 metres. Lake Superior, of the American Great Lakes system, lies at 183 metres

A man in a tweed jacket and bow tie leans toward a dark-haired young woman in a patterned pink dress. They sit on a sofa with yellow patterned upholstery and a carved frame.

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Man and Woman in Period Dress on a Yellow Sofa

NB! · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour

As far as I can tell, nobody remembers palo santo apart from this unknown artist of the school of Georges de La Tour, yet for a while every lifestyle publication was waving it about

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The World Order for This Week

NB! · Monarchies · People

Elizabeth II and the Legendary Quotation about Monomakh's Cap

NB! · The East · Art

Babylonian Prefab

Babylonian Prefab. Ivan Ponivanov, 2024

Museum hall with wooden display cases holding labelled mineral specimens under glass, in both table and tall cabinets. The floor is herringbone parquet.

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Mineral collection in a hall with wooden display cases

Detail of a painting: two pink roses and green leaves with dewdrops in a glass vase on a marble ledge.

NB! · Art · Observations · Nature

Pink roses in a glass vase in a painting by Jean François van Dael

In my opinion, Jan Frans van Dael has captured the loveliest variety of rose in the world. I do not know what it is called, but these flowers are magnificent

Oil painting of a red-haired woman in a knitted vest seen from behind, set against a dark background. A museum label hangs beside it on the wall.

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Vasily Chuikov, At the Piano, 1970s: painting on a museum wall

Young woman with long reddish hair, a red hat and an ornate dress holds a sword and the severed head of a bearded man resting on a stone ledge.

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Judith with a sword and the head of Holofernes, Renaissance painting

NB! · Observations · Nature