News
anatomy
A Brief History of Anatomy Illustration
The desire to understand and study anatomy stretches back through history, certainly to Ancient Egypt and possibly before.
anatomy
Toe-curling facts about early dentistry
After reading through our favourite strange and toe-curling facts about dentistry of the past, you may find yourself brushing your teeth extra thoroughly.
Blog
Will you solve one of the world's most difficult and mysterious puzzles? Introducing Cicada 3301
Do you fancy yourself as a puzzle solver? Here's your chance to try your hand at one of the internet's most difficult unsolved puzzles and join a mysterious top-secret club. Three puzzles were set, but one remains unsolved.
Blog
Fascinating flower facts: the Venus Flytrap, the Rose and the Stinking Corpse Lily
A Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is a magnificent carnivorous plant with hinged leaves edged with spikes. The inside of a Venus Flytrap is red and full of sweet and fragrant nectar, enticing flies and small aphids who think they have found a flower.
Ancient Greece
Surprising facts reveal what statues really looked like in ancient Greece
The ancient Greeks learned the art of sculpture from the Egyptians. Initially, they worked in the Egyptian style, creating figures that copied their rigid poses and forward-facing gaze. The distinctive classical Greek aesthetic emerged over centuries, celebrating freedom of movement, idealised proportions and a sense of harmony and balance.
anatomy
Unusual facts about birds and their skeletons
Bird skeletons are fascinating; they need to be lightweight to fly but strong enough to withstand the stresses of flight. To achieve this, birds have hollow bones, and the bones themselves are structurally very dense, stiff and strong.
Death and Mortality
What are vanitas paintings and what do they symbolise?
A vanitas is a type of still life painting that reminds the viewer about the fleeting nature of life through the use of symbolic objects. It illustrates the futility of earthly pleasures, the transient nature of life, and death's certainty.
Blog
An introduction to The Dance of Death and it's symbolic meanings
The Dance of Death, also known as danse macabre, is an allegory describing the universality of death. Many artists have created their interpretation of The Dance of Death; each version comprises a series of separate images featuring a character from the social strata, from a king to a peddler.
armour
10 Amazing and Deadly Medieval Weapons
We've compiled our list of top ten deadly medieval weapons; of course, we wouldn't forget popular favourites like the sword and axe, but we've also included some unusual weapons you may not know as well.