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Stories

  • Article

A symbol of a lost homeland

The story of one protective amulet from Palestine reveals a complex tale. Encompassing the personal history of an influential doctor and collector, it provides a window onto dispossession and exile, and the painful repercussions that are still felt today.

  • Article

Death and our digital ghosts

When we die, our data lives on. And as companies are increasingly spotting money-making opportunities from digital legacies, now could be the time to think about – and control – yours.

  • Article

The secret hystery of a womb

A Renaissance image of a caesarean section inspired Anna Blundy to recount the story of a hidden, perhaps mysterious part of her body.

  • Long read

Our complicated love affair with light

Sunlight is essential, but our relationship with artificial light is less clear cut. It expands what’s possible; it also obscures and polices. In this long read, Lauren Collee pits light against night, and reveals the shady places in between.

All stories (24)

Images

  • Death, symbolism: three skeletons with roundel of corpses,
  • Death, symbolism: three skeletons with roundel of corpses,
  • A cartouche including symbols of death and a funerary procession. Woodcut.
  • Symbols of death and mourning to mark World AIDS Day 1997. Colour lithograph, 1997.
  • A monument teaching mortality, including figures and symbols alluding to death. Etching by or after G. Fortuna.
  • A monument teaching mortality, including figures and symbols alluding to death. Etching by or after G. Fortuna.
  • Fourteen human skeletons performing activities symbolic of life and death. Engraving, 1740 or 1780, after C. Martínez, ca. 1680 (?).
  • A monument teaching mortality, including figures and symbols alluding to death. Woodcut by A. Andreani after G. Fortuna, ca. 1588.
  • The sleeping infant Christ is surrounded by the instruments of the Passion and symbols of death; representing the forthcoming Passion. Engraving after G. Reni.
  • A human body is consumed by a furnace; a woman holds a small red limbless effigy bearing a crown; a man holds a sheaf, and another a stick; below, by another furnace, a green and red dragon face each other, poised for combat; representing a stage in the process of alchemy. Coloured etching, ca. 18th century.
All images (49)

Catalogue

All works (119)