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Mesopotamia, Ancient World

Mesopotamia

Poetry, war, and the invention of law

The invention of written language is the most important milestone in human history, and we owe it to the accountants. Mesopotamia was a wild place at the dawn of the Bronze age. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers created a fertile stripe of perfect agricultural land arcing from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. read more
The Etruscans, 400BCE
Chimera of Arezzo
This is an undeniably modern interpretation. The chimera, like most beasts of antiquity, was the bad guy. Child of the giant serpent Typhon and the half woman half snake Echidna (you know her from the Starbucks logo) the Chimera was an abominable thing, unnatural combination of lion and goat, with the head of a snake for a tail. Her brothers and sisters live in legend. read more
Chimera of Arezzo, The Etruscans
Toyen
What's in a name?
Names are assigned to us before we are aware of their meaning, and we grow into them as much as they come to reflect us. In Japan artists often changed names after milestones in their lives, but in the west, once you've been given a name, you're usually stuck with it—a rigidity that makes claiming a new name even more powerful magic. read more
Toyen, The Artists
Sascha Schneider, 1904
Hypnosis
To Sascha Schneider the male body was perfection, and the world its antagonist. Schneider worked in Germany in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, during the development of Freikörperkultur, free body culture, also called the Health and Hygiene movement. Freikörperkultur aimed to counteract the restraint and stress of industrialization with a restorative mix of open air nudity, exercise, and healthy diet. read more
Hypnosis, Sascha Schneider
Born on April 6
Raphael Sanzio, The ArtistsPortrait of Raphael Sanzio

Raphael Sanzio

Star boy parties himself to death

1483 – 1520
Gustave Moreau, The ArtistsPortrait of Gustave Moreau

Gustave Moreau

A hermit explores the dreamscape

1826 – 1898
Leonora Carrington, The ArtistsPortrait of Leonora Carrington

Leonora Carrington

"I'm not anyone's muse"

1917 – 2011
Félix Nadar, The ArtistsPortrait of Félix Nadar

Félix Nadar

Photographer, novelist... balloonist?

1820 – 1910
John William Waterhouse, The ArtistsPortrait of John William Waterhouse

John William Waterhouse

1849 – 1917

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