Wellcome uses cookies.

Read our policy
Skip to main content
66 results
  • Lightning striking a rural building during a storm: onlookers react in terror. Engraving, 16--.
  • Lightning over the ruins at Memnonium at Thebes, Egypt. Coloured lithograph by Louis Haghe after David Roberts, 1849.
  • Lightning pierces through the clouds, heralding the coming of Christ. Engraving by J. Barlow, 1813, after W.M. Craig.
  • Saint John and Saint Paul as protectors against storm, thunder and lightning. Engraving.
  • Saint John and Saint Paul as protectors against storm, thunder and lightning. Coloured engraving.
  • Astronomy: various apocalyptic scenes, including gout, lightning, war, and riotous assembly. Coloured lithograph, [c.1836?].
  • Astronomy: various apocalyptic scenes, including a comet, lightning, and French soldiers. Coloured lithograph, [c.1847?].
  • Lightning and stars fall on the earth on the day of Judgement; the sun and the moon hang simultaneously in the sky. Woodcut, 16th century.
  • Two deer struck by lightning in the forest. Etching by M. E. Ridinger after J. E. Ridinger.
  • Experiments concerning the different efficacy of pointed and blunted rods, in securing buildings against the stroke of lightning / [William Henley].
  • A man discovering the physicist Richmann after he has been killed by a bolt of lightning. Wood engraving by O. Jahyer and L. Hotelin after P. Valentin.
  • Vulcan in his forge with Jupiter throwing bolts of lightning, Venus in the sky above, symbolising the element fire. Etching by F. Bartolozzi, 1796, after F. Albani.
  • Vulcan in his forge with Jupiter throwing bolts of lightning, Venus in the sky above: symbolising the element fire. Engraving by E. Baudet, 1695, after F. Albani.
  • A storm of thunder and lightning, rain, wind and floods threaten an ancient town on the sea-coast; representing conflict. Engraving by S. à Bolswert after Sir P.P. Rubens.
  • Early types of Electric lightning. Top A. Edison's bamboo carbon filament lamps (1880-1 type); bottom left B. Tablochkov's electric candle (1876); bottom right C. Swan's original Newcastle Carbon Rod Electric lamp (1878).
  • A storm in a wild and rocky landscape: lightning flashes while a man drives a a coach and four hourses through the darkness. Mezzotint by S.W. Reynolds the elder after G. Morland, 1798.
  • Mount Vesuvius erupting at night, billowing clouds and flashes of lightning, and with many spectators viewing the event across the bay of Naples. Coloured mezzotint with etching by J.M. Mixelle after A. d'Anna.
  • Haemanthus albiflos Jacq. Amaryllidaceae. Paintbrush plant. Distribution: South Africa. Used as a cough medicine and as a charm to ward off lightning (Pooley, 1998). Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • The word 'AIDS' in Hindi (in red) above the black silhouette of a couple lit from the side by forked lightning from a storm brewing up behind them representing the dangers of practising unprotected sex and contracting AIDS. Colour lithograph, ca. 1995.
  • The relic of the Benedictine monastery of Andechs; a host consacrated by Gregory the Great appears above the monastery, sheds its blessing on female representations of four cCatholic German states and sends flashes of lightning against Hunger, Plague and War; on the sides, Pope Gregory the Great (with beard) and an unidentified Pope saint. Engraving by J. and J. Klauber.
  • Plumbago auriculata Blume Plumbaginaceae Plumbago, Leadwort. Distribution: South Africa. It is used traditionally to treat warts, broken bones and wounds. It is taken as a snuff for headaches and as an emetic to dispel bad dreams. A stick of the plant is placed in the thatch of huts to ward off lightning.” Iwou (1993) reports other Plumbago species are used to cause skin blistering, treat leprosy, induce blistering, and to treat piles, parasites and to induce abortions. The genus name derives from the Latin for lead, but authors differ as to whether it was used as a treatment of lead poisoning, or that when it was used for eye conditions the skin turned the colour of lead. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Sempervivum tectorum L. Crassulaceae Houseleek, Senegreene Distribution: Europe. Sempervivum means 'live forever', tectorum means 'roof', and was apparently grown on house roofs to protect against lightning. Lyte (1578 distinguishes Stonecrops (Sedum) from Sengreene (Sempervivum) for he advises the Sempervivum, alone or mixed with barley meal, applied topically to burns, scalds, St Anthony's fire [erysipelas], ulcers and sores, will cure them and sore eyes. Apropos of stonecrops (Sedum), he describes the redness and blistering that the sap has on bare skin, and how it is good for poisons for if taken with vinegar by mouth it causes vomiting, but only safe to do so in strong people. He seems fairly confused as to which is which. Not approved by the European Medicines Agency for Traditional Herbal Medicinal use. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Sempervivum tectorum L. Crassulaceae Houseleek, Senegreene Distribution: Europe. Sempervivum means 'live forever', tectorum means 'roof', and was apparently grown on house roofs to protect against lightning. Lyte (1578 distinguishes Stonecrops (Sedum) from Sengreene (Sempervivum) for he advises the latter, alone or mixed with barley meal, applied topically to burns, scalds, St Anthony's fire [erysipelas] , ulcers and sores, will cure them and sore eyes. Apropos of stonecrops (Sedum), he describes the redness and blistering that the sap has on bare skin, and how it is good for poisons for if taken with vinegar by mouth it causes vomiting, but only safe to do so in strong people. He seems fairly confused as to which is which. Not approved by the European Medicines Agency for Traditional Herbal Medicinal use. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
  • Portents of death and destruction. Gouache, ca. 1910 (?).
  • The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the night of 8 August 1779. Coloured etching by Pietro Fabris, 1779.
  • A man in oriental clothing is leading a horse which is shying away from a semi-naked man who is sitting by the side of the road. Etching by C. Schule after J.D.Schubert.
  • Electricity: scientific and electrical equipment. Coloured engraving by J. Emslie, 1850, after himself.
  • Four female torsos joined at the waist with garden features as heads; symbolising the four seasons in a garden. Etching by T. B., c. 1797.
  • A young barefoot shepherdess and a little girl take refuge near a shrine during a storm. Lithograph by Z. Belliard after M.-Ph. Coupin de La Couperie.
  • A thunder storm approaching a farm, the workers moving the animals into shelter. Engraving by B. Crivellari after M. Ricci.