Tag Archives: 16th Century

8th Century BC: His Heart was Filled with Fury and He Showed Forth All his Strength

Posted on July 9, 2017 by corvusfugit

You’ll remember from your Greek mythology that the Titans were the sons and daughters of the primordial gods Gaia and Uranus. They were thus gods themselves, ruling (after one of them, Kronos, overthrew Uranus with Gaia’s help) during the peaceful … Continue reading →

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1573: A Hundred Sundry Flowers

Posted on June 17, 2017 by corvusfugit

The full title of George Gascoigne’s 1573 collection of courtly poetry is A Hundredth Sundry Flowres bound up in one small Posie. Gathered partly (by translation) in the fyne outlandish Gardens of Euripides, Ovid, Petrarch, Ariosto and others; and partly … Continue reading →

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1935: Renaissance Man

Posted on June 3, 2017 by corvusfugit

Leonardo da Vinci spent the last years of his life (1513-1519) in central France, in the town of Amboise, where he was supported by King Francis I. Although likely ailing from a stroke, Leonardo continued working, constructing  a mechanical lion … Continue reading →

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17th Century: Werewolf on Trial

Posted on May 28, 2017 by corvusfugit

Sennertus [Daniel Sennert, 1572–1637], on the authority of a respectable man, informs us that a certain woman was apprehended on the suspicion that she was a werewolf; which she also acknowledged. The magistrate promised to spare her life, provided she … Continue reading →

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16th Century: Manhattan Before New York

Posted on May 28, 2017 by corvusfugit

By the time Europeans appeared on the scene, a mere five hundred years ago, what is now New York City had as many as fifteen thousand inhabitants—estimates vary widely—with perhaps another thirty to fifty thousand in the adjacent parts of … Continue reading →

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1505: The Dog Hidden Under the Hidden Unicorn

Posted on May 22, 2017 by corvusfugit

In 1934, restoration work on this early 16th-centruy portrait by Raphael revealed that sometime in the mid-17th century, an anonymous artist had painted over it in places, transforming it into a representation of Saint Catherine of Alexandria holding a spiked … Continue reading →

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1900: The Magician Entertains the Queen

Posted on May 21, 2017 by corvusfugit

Henry Gillard Glindoni: John Dee Performing an Experiment before Elizabeth I (c. 1900) (source) The enigmatic John Dee was one of the most learned men of the Elizabethan period. Having amassed one of the largest libraries in England, he was … Continue reading →

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1573: The Inquisition Grills an Artist for the Last Supper

Posted on May 19, 2017 by corvusfugit

Paolo Veronese: The Feast in the House of Levi (1573) Veronese’s painting was the cause of an investigation by the Roman Catholic Inquisition, which balked at the lavish settings and costumes—as well as the “buffoons, drunken Germans, dwarfs and other … Continue reading →

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1550: A Book Is a Heart

Posted on May 13, 2017 by corvusfugit

“The Heart Book is regarded as the oldest Danish ballad manuscript. It is a collection of 83 love ballads compiled in the beginning of the 1550’s in the circle of the Court of King Christian III. Shown above is the … Continue reading →

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16th Century: The Throne Verse of the Qur’an as a Horse

Posted on May 1, 2017 by corvusfugit

This is the post excerpt. Continue reading →

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