Young men rest on the grass, wrestle and bathe in a woodland pool on a sunny day, a painting signed Bazille 1869.

NB! · Art · Observations

Summer scene in Frédéric Bazille’s “Bathers”, painted in 1869

Frédéric Bazille's Bathers, 1869. It is astonishing how modern this summer scene looks, as though it had been captured in our own day.

Aristocracy · Observations · Mores · People

Karamzin's family and court connections and his pension under Alexander I

A great-great-granddaughter of the Russian historian Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev spoke about the background of another famous historian, Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin. Karamzin's stepmother had a nephew, Ivan Ivanovich Dmitriev, who was on friendly terms with Senator Mikhail Nikitich Muravyov, the curator of Moscow University, a former tutor

A dark cat sits on the grass in front of a blue manor building with a white curved staircase.

NB! · Observations · Nature · Humour

Masyusya the cat greets visitors at the Khmelita estate and sees them off to the park

And this is a very clever little cat who lives on the grounds of the estate. Masyusya greets the guests, and she saw us off into the park. If you go to Khmelita, take a treat for the little paw-bearer

NB! · Observations · Heritage · Nature

One of the three-hundred-year-old oaks of the Khmelita formal park, beneath which Griboyedov loved to rest

One of the three-hundred-year-old oaks of the Khmelita formal park, beneath which Griboyedov loved to rest. The oaks are now entered in the atlas of the oldest and most remarkable trees of Russia (I do not remember the exact title)

Museums · Observations · Heritage

Film photographs from a summer trip to Khmelita, the Griboyedov estate

Today we travel once more to my beloved Khmelita. I have developed the film from my summer journey, so the memories are especially warm. And I recommend that everyone follow the Griboyedov estate on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/griboedovmuseum/ and on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GriboedovMuseum And for those

Many books laid out in tight rows, among them “Arbatsky arkhiv”, “Kreml za reshyotkoy” and “Gubernatory i khany”.

NB! · Books · Observations · Reportage

Books from past years and rare editions at the Nonfiction fair

I barely escaped the Nonfiction fair with my life. Pleased with my purchases; best of all, there were plenty of books from past years and even some rare editions

London · Observations · Society

The post of Prime Minister in Britain before 1917 and the First Lord of the Treasury

Until 1917 there was, strictly speaking, no such office as Prime Minister in Great Britain; moreover, Parliament at various times expressed doubt that a first and sole minister could exist in Britain at all, going so far as to call the office of prime minister dangerous to the liberty of

A darkened silvery coin with a relief inscription lies on a dark metal surface with glare.

NB! · Observations

Request for help attributing a coin and translating its inscription

Lads, help me identify a coin. Only please don't just tell me what it looks like, I can see that for myself. I need help with the attribution and with translating the inscription

NB! · Aristocracy · Archive · Observations · Mores

For some time I have been gathering material on twins among the aristocracy and the royal houses

For some time I have been gathering material on twins among the aristocracy and the royal houses. One of the most remarkable and touching stories is, perhaps, that of the Faucher brothers, who lived in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century.

A pair of turquoise silk slippers with floral embroidery and pale ties lying on a quilted bedspread.

NB! · The East · Museums · Observations · Mores

Dancing slippers of the 1820s and 1830s with Chinese embroidery and, apparently, a British leather sole

Dancing slippers of the 1820s to 1830s with Chinese embroidery and, it would seem, a British leather sole. Well, nineteenth-century footwear on a flat sole looks far better than heels, like

Faith · Cinema · Monarchies · Observations

The Mont-joie Saint-Denis battle cry under Louis the Fat and the film “The Visitors”

The composite battle cry of the French knights, Mont-joie Saint-Denis!, has been known since the time of Charlemagne, but it spread most widely under Louis the Fat, who in the story is the suzerain of the Count de Malfête. The etymology of the cry is traced back to

A stone arch and enfilade of rooms with a chequered tiled floor and a red table in the Bishop's Palace in Chartres.

NB! · Aristocracy · Architecture · Art · Observations

Interior of the Bishop's Palace in Chartres, shown in the portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Angoulême

And here is the place where the Duke and Duchess of Angoulême are depicted in Étienne Garnier's portrait. Chartres, Bishop's Palace, 2017. Almost nothing has changed