Glorious Benedictus

The Seton Watch

A sterling silver skull watch that Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, carried with her

The inscription says:

Pale death visits with impartial foot the cottages of the poor and castles of the rich

Bronze belt buckle decorated with gold filigree and carnelian, The Netherlands, circa 630-640 AD

Drawings of Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna of Russia and her husband Tsar Alexander I of Russia by a Japanese artist (1807).

"Ōtsuki Gentaku’s Kankai Ibun (1807), also referred to as Strange Tales of a Circumnavigation, tells the adventurous story of sixteen Japanese sailors who were shipwrecked on the coast of Russia in 1793. The four surviving sailors stayed in Russia for more than ten years as tutors in the Japanese language and returned to Japan in 1804. Together with Shimura Kōkyō, Gentaku compiled the text for the illustrated travel account based on oral evidence, reporting on the experiences of the Japanese men in the Western world[1]. Originally the manuscript consists of 15 (or occasionally 16) volumes and was produced throughout nineteenth-century Japan[2]."

Looks from the Met Gala 2026 red carpet and the art that inspired them...

Ciara + Nefertiti Bust

Sam Smith + Erté

Cardi B + Hans Bellmer

Angela Bassett + Laura Wheeler Waring

Yu-Chi Lyra Kuo + Nike of Samothrace (Winged Victory)

Claire Foy + John Singer Sargent

Luke Evans + Tom of Finland

Rachel Zegler + Paul Delaroche

Alexi Ashe + Yves Klein