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Stories

  • Article

A brief history of tattoos

The earliest evidence of tattoo art dates from 5000 BC, and the practice continues to hold meaning for many cultures around the world.

  • Article

Witches

Many of the women persecuted as witches in the 16th-century “witch craze” were over 50 and exhibited signs of menopause. Helen Foster suggests that the stigma of the wicked witch still affects older women and how they deal with menopause.

  • Article

Booze and bad behaviour

Our love of alcohol is like a party that’s lasted nine centuries. But there are signs that the demon drink is losing its appeal.

  • Book extract

Ayurveda: Knowledge for long life

The story of medicine in India is rich and complex. Aarathi Prasad investigates how it came to be this way.

All stories (18)

Images

  • A staunch magistrate surprised by the apparition of a radical demon. Etching by G. Cruikshank, 1835.
  • Hands showing the sign language alphabet. Coloured etching, ca. 1825.
  • Hands showing the sign language alphabet. Coloured etching, ca. 1825.
  • In a chamber containing stuffed animals, a globe and astrological devices Hudibras, about to draw his sword, startles Sidrophel and Whacum. Engraving by William Hogarth.
  • A male écorché figure holding the skin of his legs in his right hand and the skin of his arms in his left hand. Engraving by G. Bonasone, 155-.
  • A male écorché figure holding the skin of his legs in his right hand and the skin of his arms in his left hand. Engraving by G. Bonasone, 155-.
  • The first plague in Egypt, rivers turned to blood. Coloured etching.
  • The first plague in Egypt, rivers turned to blood. Coloured etching.
  • Chinese woodcut: Play of the five creatures, 2 - The Bear
  • Chinese woodcut: Play of the five creatures, 3 - The Deer
All images (119)

Catalogue

All works (2.6K)