Decades before the birth of cinema, a Belgian physicist built a spinning disc that convinced the human eye it was watching motion. That device, invented in late 1832, was the phenakistoscope, and it remains one of the earliest true forerunners of animation and cinema. Today we're taking a closer look at how it worked and examining some beautiful examples.

What does it take to become the most celebrated flower painter in Europe, raise ten children, and still be producing masterworks in your eighties? Read on to find out more about Rachel Ruysch, one of the Dutch Golden Age’s most remarkable artists. 

Martin Schongauer, an engraver and painter from Colmar, was an incredibly talented and accomplished artist. One of his fans was none other than Albrecht Dürer, who collected his work, and Giorgio Vasari, an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer, also reported that Michelangelo copied one of his engravings. Today we'll learn more about his work, and how his technical innovations helped create his legacy. Let's go!

If you've always wanted to draw dinosaurs but thought it was too complex, this book was made for you. How to Draw Dinosaurs by Vault Editions takes 40 iconic prehistoric creatures and breaks each one down into a clear, approachable 12-step process, developed by a professional illustrator and designed specifically for beginners.

If you’ve always wanted to draw skulls but weren’t sure where to start, this book was made for you. How to Draw Skulls by Vault Editions takes 40 iconic skull designs — from precise anatomical studies to bold, imaginative compositions — and breaks each one down into a clear, approachable 12-step process, developed by a professional illustrator and designed specifically for beginners.

What would make a tsar kiss a corpse? In 1697, Peter the Great visited the Amsterdam studio of Dutch anatomist Frederik Ruysch and did exactly that. According to the Linda Hall Library, he was "so taken by" one of the specimens that he couldn't help himself. Twenty years later, he came back and bought the whole collection for 30,000 guilders. Today, we're learning about Frederik Ruysch, his innovations in anatomy, and his influence from vanitas art. Let's go!

French painter Eugène Delacroix was a radical spirit in a rigid age, he rejected the sterile perfection of the time to capture the visceral, the dark, and the sublime.

Bartolomeo Eustachi was a Roman anatomist who made numerous contributions to the study of anatomy and was on the verge of publishing an illustrated book about his anatomical studies. This elusive manuscript was lost for over a hundred years. Today, we’re going to take a closer look at these lost illustrations. Let’s go!

Bjørn Rune Lie is a Norwegian illustrator based in Fife, Scotland. Since graduating from Falmouth College of Arts in 2001, he has developed a distinctive visual language shaped by experimentation, humour, and texture. His work combines the boldness of folk and outsider art with influences from film noir, creating art that feels playful, strange, and full of warmth and beauty. Vault Editions sat down with Bjorn to learn more about his creative process, lets go!