Art · Observations · People
An anemone, daisies and a buttercup: a charming little posy from the goddess Flora. For a long time it was held that in this painting the artist Bartolomeo Veneto had deified the notorious Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI, though many scholars dispute the view. Whoever she may be,
Architecture · Paris · People
This strange and slightly daft creature, flying along the stone balustrade of a Neo-Renaissance mansion in the centre of Paris, is the banker Émile Gaillard. As you may have guessed, he came from a wealthy but provincial family. The banker assembled an enormous collection of medieval and Renaissance antiques,
Books · Society · People
In his day the American writer Charles Chesnutt was called an octoroon, a designation resting on the notorious "one-drop rule". "Octoroon" or "octaroon" is a racial term adopted in the United States for people with one eighth of African blood, that is, 12%
Science · Mores · People · Humour
There is an anecdote about the nineteenth-century Russian writer and mineralogist Alexander Pavlovich Ushakov. Ushakov was the kindest of men, wrote several important works on mineralogy and was reputed a connoisseur of the stage and the ballet. But he held rather original principles, calling idiots all who did not
Faith · Society · People · Saint Petersburg
The widow intended to have the funeral service for Alexander Sergeyevich held in Saint Isaac's Cathedral, but was refused: the priest regarded the duel as a suicide and declined to bury the poet. Other churches refused too. Far too many believed that Pushkin had in effect quit this
NB! · Architecture · Faith · People · Saint Petersburg
Aristocracy · Archive · Observations · Mores · People
Owing to the great unrest, Pushkin's funeral service was held behind closed doors: besides relatives and friends, only select representatives of the nobility and prominent public figures were invited. Entry to the cathedral was by invitation card, and these, as Skalon recalls, very soon turned up on the
Art · Monarchies · Museums · People
The coffin of Maximilian of Habsburg, Archduke of Austria and Emperor of Mexico, who came to the throne with the help of Napoleon III and by means of a so-called plebiscite. Maximilian was in many respects a charming ruler, but he failed to hold on to power: he swerved
NB! · Archive · Books · People
NB! · Architecture · Moscow · People
Aristocracy · Architecture · Faith · Observations · People
Monsignor Vincenzo Giustiniani, a Genoese patrician turned diplomat, in his 64 years gave Apulia, the region where he served as bishop, several churches and public buildings. Among them is the unique church of Madonna della Grazia in Gravina. Have you ever seen so majestic an eagle on the façade of
Museums · Science · Education · People
An anatomist's head is precisely what one expects to find in a museum of science. Antonio Scarpa, the foremost surgeon of his day, left behind neither lawful heirs nor any well-wishers after death, and in the absence of a last will his assistant took it upon himself