Archive · Observations
Visitors at café tables on Capri in 1984, photographed from above
Capri, 1984. Look: nobody is sitting on their phones, people are simply living through the moment. Photo by Ferdinando Scianna
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Observations
NB! · Observations · Humour
When you are sitting in a meeting that could have been an email
Art · Monarchies · Observations · Humour
Portrait of Charles IV of Spain from behind, painted from memory by Jean Bozil in 1820
A portrait of King Charles IV of Spain from behind, painted by the court miniaturist Jean Bozil in 1820, twelve years after his abdication, from memory. Apparently all that he could recall. Charles IV is that very King of Spain in whose stead the country came to be set to
Architecture · Observations · Heritage · Paris
Basketball court in Remilly follows the outline of the gardens of the Palace of Versailles
Versailles has given a thoroughly French look to a basketball court in the Rémilly sports complex. The new court follows the outlines of the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, while keeping every sporting dimension required. I look forward to seeing similar courts in Moscow, in place of the dull
Observations · Society
Forced coin exchange at unfavourable rates in Europe from the Middle Ages to the 18th century
The right to issue currency has in every age been a source of colossal revenue for those who held it and of incredible injustice for everyone else. In medieval Europe there existed the practice of withdrawing coins from circulation. It happened constantly, sometimes twice a year. People were obliged to
NB! · Art · Observations
The Floating Diana from the Fresco in the Painter's House at Pompeii and Marc and Bella Flying over the Sky of Vitebsk in Marc Chagall's "Over the Town"
Art · Observations · Ethnography
Henri-Paul Motte depicts the druid rite of cutting mistletoe with a golden blade
The aesthetics of druid life always remind me of pictures of Ancient Rus'. Druids Cutting the Mistletoe on the Sixth Day of the Moon. Henri-Paul Motte (1846-1922) It is believed that sprigs of mistletoe were cut with a golden blade, after which cattle were offered in sacrifice
NB! · Observations
Good Night
Art · London · Observations · Society · Humour
Britain Impoverished by the Liberals Begs on the Thames Embankment with Her Battered Lion, the Palace of Westminster in Ruins Behind Her
Colour lithograph by Tom Merry, 1891. On the whole, 130 years on, the subject is topical once more. Only now the old lady Britannia must also sit there with a black eye, courtesy of her cultural enrichers.
Archive · Books · Monarchies · Observations · Society
Catherine II’s “Nakaz” as a portrait of the empress and its article on customs duties
I continue reading the draft of Catherine's Code, her "Instruction" of 22 chapters and 655 articles, that is, the direct guide for the deputies in drawing up the principal body of laws of the Russian Empire, a new Code to replace the "Sobornoye Ulozhenie"
Observations · Society
An international set of 26 words for spelling out names and addresses
A is for Alfa, I is for India, P is for Papa, T is for Tango, V is for Victor. For those occasions when one must set down someone's name, or convey by letters the code of a number plate, an address, or some other word or abbreviation,
Art · Observations · Nature · Humour
Osborne’s painting “Cupboard Love” and the English idiom for self-interested love
Cupboard Love, Walter Osborne, 1886. In English the painting is called Cupboard Love, an idiom denoting self-interested affection. That is to say, the object of love is regarded as a source of benefits, namely as a cupboard stocked with tasty things. According to Osborne's conception, such is