Archaeology · Architecture · The East · Observations · Heritage · Society · Saint Petersburg

As for Vladimir Putin's speech today at the Cultural Forum in Saint Petersburg, besides his remark about transformers, I noticed the quotation to the effect that "cultural figures build bridges between peoples – this is a mission…

Let me remind you that terrorists blew up the arch, reconstructed by the French in the 1930s, in 2015. In April this year a visualisation of the Russian project for restoring the monument was presented at the Hermitage Theatre; it was developed at the Centre for Rescue Archaeology together with

Art · Observations · People

Louise Bourgeois: a work of art does not need to be explained; if you feel nothing about it, I cannot explain it to you; if it does not move you, I have failed

Well, then.

Interviews · Cinema · Observations · Humour

Ridley Scott answers historians' criticism of his Napoleon film on French radio

Ridley Scott answers critics of his "Napoleon" who accuse him of falsifying history. I listened to Ridley Scott's interview on French radio, and when the talk turned to the barrage of criticism from historians who had abused his new film, the director said, curtly: "How

NB! · London · Monarchies · Observations · People

I Had Never Noticed This Striking Resemblance Between Elizabeth II and Her Grandmother Mary of Teck

A youth in a wreath of vine leaves and a white robe holds a glass of red wine, with a bowl of fruit before him.

Art · Observations

Wine offered by a god, lavish detail and Horace's call to a modest life

Everything in this early Caravaggio is exquisite, but just look at the glass! This is exactly how wine offered by God ought to be served. And the longer one gazes at the refined luxury of the details, the less one believes Horace's invitation to a modest life, half

NB! · Geography · Observations · Science · Humour

Geological Ideas of the Sixteenth Century: Pure and Subtle Stony Juice from Earth and Water Engenders Stones of Great Price, While Coarse and Impure Juice Yields Plain Stones

Geological ideas of the sixteenth century: pure and subtle stony juice from earth and water engenders stones of great price, while coarse and impure juice yields plain stones. It turns out that with stones it is almost as it is with people.

Art · Observations · People · Nature

Impermanent sculptures of branches and vines by American artist Patrick Dougherty

My favourite artist of the day is the 78-year-old American Patrick Dougherty, who makes fantastical sculptures out of twigs and saplings. Dougherty's chief technique is stickwork: armed with stems, secateurs and a saw, he clothes the familiar furniture of the landscape (walls, fences, trees, hillocks) in

Cinema · Observations · People · Pop Culture

Hannibal Barca from a Phoenician aristocratic family and the question of his appearance

Denzel Washington to play the Carthaginian general Hannibal, who invaded Italy on an elephant from North Africa, in a new Netflix project. The director is Antoine Fuqua, who has filmed Washington before: think of the action film The Equalizer. As for the historical figure, it is hard to speak of

NB! · Observations · Humour

Somewhere, a Giacomo Puccini Wept

Books · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour

I have learned of a wonderfully intriguing theory that the Harry Potter books are set in the Sixth Age of Middle-earth from The Lord of the Rings, when magic had ceased to be commonplace, the elves had left the stage, and those who remained turned into ho

Cinema · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour

Did you, too, imagine Ron Weasley's return to Hogwarts rather differently?

Rupert Grint on the set of "Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities" two years ago

NB! · Cinema · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour