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The Devil’s “greatest enemy”
North Berwick, All Hallows Eve 1590 – and the Devil is abroad. According to the pamphlet Newes from Scotland he took human form, appearing before a group of witches to whom he requested to “kiss his Buttocks, in signe of… Continue reading
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Witchcraft on trial
The Wellcome Library features a wealth of material on improving health but it also contains information on those whom, some believe, may also do us harm. Many works focus on the subject of witchcraft, including a whole gallery devoted to… Continue reading
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Mervyn Peake in China
At the weekend we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of the artist and writer Mervyn Peake (1911-1968). Most famous for his Gormenghast trilogy – the story of a hermetically sealed earldom decaying within the seams of arcane ritual… Continue reading
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Inner visions of a twilight world
As already noted here, the exhibition Watercolour at Tate Britain (until 21 August 2011) has a section on Watercolour and War, in which a spectacularly gruesome painting by Charles Bell (1815) from the RAMC Muniments Collection is the earliest exhibit,… Continue reading