Murder podcasts are so trendy right now, but horrible gory tales have attracted human attention for centuries. (#grendelwasnothefirst) Take this gent, for instance — the legendary Scottish cannibal, Sawney Beane! (Or Bean, but I like “Beane” better because the spelling invokes Days Of Yore). There are different accounts of when Sawney lived: the earliest put […]
Sawney Beane, Scotland’s Most Famous Cannibal Read More »
Take a good look at this painting from about 1650 by an anonymous English artist, and think about what it all means. Here we have two wealthy women’s three-quarter portraits — they wear jewelry and fancy clothes, and they are posed in a mirror image of each other. Suggestive of equality, right? But one woman
Smallpox Scars and Women’s Cosmetics Read More »
Masking women’s faces across history has a common denominator — the practice focuses on how society monitors female sexuality, and shows how often a woman’s place in society was equated with her sexuality. The creepy face mask known as a “Visard” in Early Modern Europe is a case in point. This French painting from 1581
The Visard, an Early Modern Woman’s Facemask Read More »
I cannot imagine how knowledge of this Early Modern European hairstyle has evaded me for so long. It’s absolutely disgusting and I cannot look away, but I suggest really thinking twice before you flip to the second image. I am talking about “Plica Polonica” or the “Polish Plait”. It went by a bunch of different
Here you are looking at the compound microscope developed by Robert Hooke (d 1703), a Renaissance scientist more famous for dabbling in academic fields as disparate as physics and palaeontology than a particular discovery. Nevertheless, his microscope allowed him to illustrate things he included in _Micrographia_, which utterly captivated his British audience. Samuel Pepys the
Robert Hooke and Micrographia Read More »
This shirt dating from 15th-early 16th century northern India contains the entire Qur’an. Check out the picture-like framing, as though the wearer were adorning himself with a book rather than mere cotton. The illustrated rondels that overlay the pectoral muscles, the shoulder-pad-esque details, and the fringes that look like lapels all contribute to a faux-armor.
Talisman Shirt with Qur’an from Early Modern India Read More »
Feel free to scroll in at this larger-than-lifesize automaton known as the “Peacock Clock”, created in the 1700s by James Cox and now in St. Petersburg, Russia. It’s as close as we can get to viewing a bejewelled-encrusted tree with moving birds that sang and astonished viewers at the Byzantine Court of Constantinople. With all
The Throne of Solomon and Byzantine Automata Read More »
This Hindu Goddess has been around for a long time: I introduce to you all the deity Sheetala (also Shitala). In English, her name means “the cooling one,” and she is a mother goddess protector from smallpox and childhood illnesses — except for the times when she becomes the embodiment of disease and annihilates those
Sheetala Hindu Goddess and Smallpox Read More »
The town of Salem, Massachusetts, began as a settlement called “Naumkaeg,” but the Puritan settlers who arrived in 1626 renamed it after the Hebrew word for “peace,” which is of course ironic considering the legacy of witch-killings for which it is most famous. This exquisite example of an early New Englandtombstone comes from the Charter
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It’s not-so-nice to know that the Andrew Tates of this world were preceded by a long legacy of women haters. Take one Joseph Swetnam (d. 1621), an Englishman who is famous for the first extant fencing manual to be written in English but also a super-popular pamphlet called “The Arraignment of Lewd, Idle, Froward, and
Joseph Swetnam and Rebuttal to His Misogynist Pamphlet Read More »
Vlad “the Impaler” III, aka, one of the inspirations behind the Dracula character (he was also known as Vlad Dracula), just had a study published on him, and he might have had a condition that made him cry tears of blood. Metal. Just as a refresher, Vlad III (d 1476/7) was an Early Modern ruler
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This woodblock print from about 1787 is by the Japanese artist Torii Kiyonaga, and it’s one of the most elegant examples of the distinct art from the Edo period in Japan, a time when the country’s artistic creativity generated works admired both at home and by Europeans. “Interior of a bathhouse” shows several women in
Torii Kiyonaga the Woodcut Artist Who Focused on Women and Erotica Read More »
Automata are machines that operate on their own, and have been around since Ancient Egyptian times. Often they are automated animals or people designed to impress an audience. This one might give you nightmares. Tragically, the “Automaton of a Friar” that you see here is currently not on display at the National Museum of American
