NB! · Archive · People

Fidel Castro plays basketball in Kraków in 1972

NB! · Books · People · Humour

Lyudmila Petrushevskaya: Our Answer to Buddy Winkle

NB! · Archive · London · Monarchies · People

Prince Albert, Duke of York, on his way to his house at 145 Piccadilly, 10 December 1936, on the eve of his proclamation as King George VI following the abdication of King Edward VIII

Observations · Society · People · Humour

General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, father of the writer, and claims that Napoleon was Black

Yesterday I read, in the writings of a certain expert, that Napoleon was a black African, since he was born in Corsica. I do not know whom such insinuations serve, but if one genuinely wishes to find black men in the ranks of Napoleon's army, one should look

NB! · Art · Education · People

Young Napoleon Bonaparte studying at Brienne in a 1910 illustration by Jean Onfroy de Bréville

The young Napoleon Bonaparte studying at Brienne. Jean Onfroy de Bréville, 1910. One of the most famous images of Napoleon

Aristocracy · Monarchies · Society · People

This is the arrested 71-year-old German prince Heinrich XIII Reuss of Greiz from Bad Lobenstein, known for his alternative political views and one of the organisers of the planned seizure of the Reichstag in Germany

This is the arrested 71-year-old German prince Heinrich XIII Reuss of Greiz from Bad Lobenstein, known for his alternative political views and one of the organisers of the planned seizure of the Reichstag in Germany. After the seizure of parliament and government, Heinrich XIII was to have been

Museums · Observations · People · Rome · Humour

Byron's Carnival Mask of February 1820 Kept in the John Keats Museum in Rome

Can you picture this horror in place of the face of so soulful and refined a Byron? The poet wore this frightening mask to a carnival in February 1820. It once had hair and a beard, which have not survived to our day, though they probably lent some small adornment

NB! · People · Humour

What Napoleon Would Look Like, Had He Lived in Our Day

A man in a jacket stands with his back to the viewer at a window, while a woman at a desk with a typewriter and papers rests her head in her hand.

Books · People

A note on the French writer Frédéric Dard

Two clever people with opposing ideas can say far more to one another than two idiots of the same party. The French writer Frédéric Dard

Black and white photograph of a woman in a long dress standing with her arms raised above her head beneath two caryatid statues of an ancient temple.

NB! · Archive · Architecture · People · Pop Culture

Isadora Duncan at the Erechtheion Caryatid Porch on the Athenian Acropolis in 1920

Isadora Duncan and the female figures of the "Porch of the Caryatids" of the Erechtheion temple on the Athenian Acropolis. The photograph was taken in 1920, that is, two years before the wedding of the American dancer and Sergei Yesenin, to whom Duncan was married until 1924.

Art · London · Monarchies · People · Humour

King Charles Admires David Hockney's Outfit at the Buckingham Palace Luncheon Where One of the Greatest Living Artists Received the Order of Merit

“Your yellow clogs are a splendid choice,” the British monarch said, glancing at the Crocs of the 85-year-old Hockney.

Faith · Art · Museums · Observations · Heritage · People · Humour

Sister Plautilla Nelli’s “Last Supper” shown again to the public after restoration

I Cannot Work Out Who Was Roasted for Christ at the Last Supper of the Self-Taught Florentine Artist-Nun Plautilla Nelli (1524–1588): a Capybara or a Monkey? In the Renaissance, women were still barred from studying art, anatomy and the construction of the male figure, so the skill