Marble statue of a nude Spartacus with arms crossed on his chest, standing on an inscribed plinth before an arched niche.

NB! · Art · Education · Paris · Rome

Denis Foyatier created the marble Spartacus in 1830 while studying at the Villa Medici

This is not an antique sculpture. The marble Spartacus was made in 1830 by Denis Foyatier, who was completing his studies at the Villa Medici in Rome, as a reward for his successful progress at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris

Architecture · Faith · Observations · Rome

Saints John and Paul on the ceiling of the Roman basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo

Good day to you from the holy Roman martyrs John and Paul, with their palm branches, on the coffered ceiling of the Roman basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio, built in 398 over the house of the saintly brothers. The church was plundered and rebuilt more than once.

Faith · People · Rome

Before his week-long pilgrimage to Canada, Pope Francis prayed in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore before the especially venerated icon of the Mother of God, "Salus Populi Romani" ("Protectress of the Roman People"), in which the Virgin Mary is depict

Before his week-long pilgrimage to Canada, Pope Francis prayed in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore before the especially venerated icon of the Mother of God, "Salus Populi Romani" ("Protectress of the Roman People"), in which the Virgin Mary is depicted wearing a consular ring,

NB! · Architecture · Rome · Humour

The Trevi Fountain Has Done Rather Well for Itself

NB! · Archive · Architecture · Faith · Heritage · Rome

The bell tower of the Roman basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in a photograph of the late nineteenth century and today

The bell tower of the Roman basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in a photograph of the late nineteenth century and today. In our own day the bell tower is closer to its original appearance thanks to a reconstruction, in the course of which the rows of arches in the

NB! · Faith · The East · Rome

Today at Mass in St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, the Georgian Patriarchal Choir of His Holiness Ilia II sings

NB! · Faith · Society · People · Rome

So that the condition of Pope Francis's knee should not worsen, the pontiff has, on his doctors' insistence, postponed the apostolic journey to Africa planned for July

Archaeology · Mores · Rome

The naumachia of Augustus in Rome, an artificial lake for staged naval battles

Can you picture a stadium in the middle of a city, filled with water and twelve times the size of Luzhniki? The ancient Romans could, and they passed their time at such a stadium very agreeably indeed. Naumachia, from the ancient Greek for "naval battle", was a specially

NB! · Art · Cinema · Museums · Pop Culture · Rome · Humour

Tony Stark, Captain America: Civil War, 2016, and the Dying Gaul, Capitoline Museums, 230s BC

Faith · The East · People · Rome

Mehmet Ali Agca's 1981 assassination attempt on John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square

On 13 May 1981, as the Pope's motorcade moved across St Peter's Square and John Paul II greeted the pilgrims, six shots rang out. A Turkish extremist standing in one of the front rows wounded the Pope in the abdomen and the hand: by a miracle,

NB! · Observations · Rome · Humour

Elephants in Rome

Elephants in Rome. Hannibal, is that you again?