Archive · Books · Monarchies · Mores · People
To put it mildly, the people and the court received the news of Catherine de' Medici's death with mixed feelings. Here are a few interesting remarks about the poor old lady. “There were those who said all sorts of things about her death, and even about poison.
Faith · Monarchies · Mores · People
In the Year When in France One Eye Shall Rule, Great Turmoil Shall Come upon the Court, the Grandee of Blois Shall Slay His Friend, and Misfortune and Doubt Shall Beset the King. By the end of the sixteenth century, the obsession with the predictions of Nostradamus had reached such
Art · Monarchies · Mores · People
Firstly, this is not the most popular portrait of Marie-Joséphine of Savoy, and the woman depicted in it is scarcely recognisable in her other portraits, where she appears as a pomaded slip of a thing in wigs and jewels. Secondly, what do we actually know of this Queen of
Art · Moscow · Museums · Observations · People · Saint Petersburg
Henri Rousseau, Matisse, Picasso: Sergey Ivanovich Shchukin devoted 20 years of his life to acquiring paintings from the finest French artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The collection of Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, Cubists and Fauves cost the merchant 1 million francs; today its value is estimated at
Monarchies · Mores · People · Humour
In 1876, Alexander II was diagnosed with "exhaustion caused by excesses in sexual relations". And of course, what was meant was his relationship with his mistress Ekaterina Dolgorukaya: the passionate affair lasted 14 years, and it was provoked by the fact that, after the birth of eight children,
Art · Society · People · Rome
If you should ever find yourself in an unequal struggle with the hidebound notion that the history of world culture knows no great women creators, then remember, for instance, Lavinia Fontana, a Renaissance or, as she is sometimes called, early Baroque painter from Bologna. Fontana achieved the same successes as
NB! · Art · People · Humour
Isabella Ruini as Venus likewise does not shy from an age gap with Cupid. A work by Lavinia Fontana
Art · Museums · Observations · People · Rome
Statue of Pyrrhus (318-272 BC) in the Capitoline Museums, 1st century AD. Of course you remember the expression "Pyrrhic victory", but it is not the military past of this commander and ruler, so important to the history of Greece, that I wish to draw your attention to,
NB! · Coming Up · Art · Museums · People
Since we are on the subject of châteaux, a reminder that until 2 September the Château d'Amboise is hosting an exhibition devoted to the death of Leonardo da Vinci. This year marks the 500th anniversary of Da Vinci's passing
Aristocracy · Art · Mores · People · Humour
An unequal match, you say? The President of the Royal Bohemian Society of Sciences, friend of Emperor Joseph II, seasoned diplomat, civil servant, and man of letters and poet of acknowledged standing in Europe, Franz de Paula Anton Count von Hartig (1758-1797), is suckled at the breast of his
Art · Mores · Paris · People
Konstantin Somov, The Boxer. 1933. Somov emigrated to the United States in 1923, but stayed there only a year. The Russian artist found a new home in Paris, where he illustrated Pushkin's poems and mostly painted portraits. The boxer is the nineteen-year-old Boris Snezhkovsky, an artist&
Archive · Monarchies · People · Humour
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich replied to all introductions, petitions and communications in one stereotyped fashion: “Very glad, I thank you heartily.” He replied in just the same way when he was informed of the death of Dobryakov, the chief military doctor. From the memoirs of A. V. Bogdanovich