Aristocracy · Monarchies · Observations · Mores
Prince Nikolay Borisovich Yusupov, favourite of Catherine II and son of a governor of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, was so rich that he could not remember all his estates, which lay in almost every province of Russia. And when he was asked whether he owned land in such-and-such
Archive · Observations · Society · People · Humour
"The post is a hole hewn by foreigners, through which they see plainly all our affairs of state and of trade." And therefore the post "must be abolished as soon as possible. The Russian people know nothing of foreign goods or of their prices, so let the
NB! · Art · Observations
Museums · Observations · Science · Mores
Can a dead body be sexually attractive? The makers of this anatomical model of the 1800s, from the Museum of the History of Medicine of Catalonia, expressed themselves on the matter quite unequivocally. It looks ghastly, of course, that this macabre woman with her disembowelled belly should have such a
NB! · Art · Monarchies · Observations · Humour
Faith · Observations · Heritage
Would you believe that this is the body of a 113-year-old elder who died 1677 years ago? These youthful-looking remains are the relics of one of the first Christian hermits, Saint Paul of Thebes, who lived in the 3rd and 4th centuries. The most interesting detail, to
Faith · Art · Observations · Rome · Humour
Tired, or simply out of sorts? Saint Jerome (in a crimson cassock) and John the Baptist (bareheaded). Masaccio, 15th century. I could not pass by a depiction of two Church Fathers with such eloquent glances. Curiously, Jerome holds a reliquary or a model of a church resembling the famous Santa
Observations · Mores · Humour
An Old Story: He, She and Her Lover... So, the year is 1872. A wealthy bachelor is pursuing a married woman with great persistence, and no refusals have the least effect on him. The spouses resolve to teach the ardent gentleman a lesson: he receives from her a perfumed letter
NB! · Aristocracy · Moscow · Observations · Paris · Humour
Suddenly, on the Diletant website, Moscow's culture chief Kibovsky and Venediktov call Viscount Olivier d'Archiac, Dantès's second in the duel with Pushkin, ARISHAK. The cooks are baking cakes for one another.
Books · Observations · Mores · Society
Is there no amusement here? Why, yes. Over the way, there is the lecture-room, from which shafts of light pour out, and then, three times a week or more, there are evening services for the ladies. For the young gentlemen there are the counting-house, the store and the
Archive · Observations · Society · Humour
November 1919. Exceptionally hard conditions of life for employees. Salaries out of all proportion to the price of food, clothing and fuel. Institutions grant their workers loans to tide them over several months. At a meeting convened by the head of the Chief Archive Administration (Glavarkhiv) the opinion is voiced
NB! · Museums · Observations · Humour