The Book of Exposition: A Collection of 15th-Century Erotica from the Middle East (1900)
A collection of fifteenth-century erotica from the Middle East, translated with a lengthy opening essay by the anonymous English Bohemian….more
15th Century and Earlier
Music in the Margins: The Funeral of Reynard the Fox (13th century)
A motley crew of anthropomorphic animals found adorning the lower margins of a finely illuminated book of hours produced in late thirteenth-century England….more
The Flower of Battle: Italian Fighting Manual (ca. 1410)
15th-century how-to guide in the art of combat, including unarmed, with daggers, swords, poleaxes and on horseback….more
Aratea: Making Pictures with Words in the 9th Century
Some of the earliest examples of calligrams found in a 9th-century astronomical manuscript on the constellations….more
Miniatures from a 12th-century Medical and Herbal Collection
Wonderful series of miniatures from a late 12th-century herbal with delightfully abstract depictions of plants including Cannabis), and a variety of medieval medica…more
Rainbows in Art
Depictions spanning more than 800 years – in chronological order – of that most enigmatic of weather phenomena, the rainbow….more
The Human Alphabet
Collection of alphabets comprised of the human body….more
Details from Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights (ca. 1500)
Collection of detailed crops from Hieronymous Bosch’s most ambitious work, The Garden of Earthly Delights….more
The Surreal Art of Alchemical Diagrams
The varied tradition of alchemy has given birth to a whole host of strange and wondrous imagery over the centuries. Here we pick out some favourites….more
Anatomical Illustrations from 15th-century England
Anatomical illustrations from an English medical treatise dating from the mid 15th century, including a Wound Man illustration, depicting a man who has been stabbed…more
14th-Century Illuminations for Dante’s Divine Comedy
One of the most impressive attempts to render Dante’s Divine Comedy visually, the illuminations found in an Italian manuscript produced only 125 years or so after D…more
The Art of Dreams
A compendium of various artworks in which dreams are depicted, including works by Blake, Grandville, Hokusai, Redon and Dürer….more