Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
What secrets do paintings keep? In this picture from our collection, Queen Elizabeth I watches John Dee— magician, Renaissance scientist, angel-summoner —conduct an 'experiment'. But the painting is hiding something. What was too unsettling to show, and what does it tell us about how Dee has been seen by history?
Alt text: This reel shows details of a 19th century oil painting. The painting depicts Dee - a bearded man in a black Elizabethan gown and cap - pouring liquid from a small vial into a cauldron on the floor of a stately room. The liquid ignites into a spectrum of chemically coloured flame, and a crowd of aristocratic onlookers watch with reactions ranging from fascination to dismay. Among them sits a young Queen Elizabeth I, in a royal golden robe, impassively observing the scene. Close-ups show an x-ray image of the painting, revealing that a ring of white human skulls arranged in a circle around the magician were painted over.
#art #history #magic #painting #alchemy
Credit: John Dee performing an experiment before Queen Elizabeth I.
Glindoni, Henry Gillard, 1852-1913.
Reference:
47369i
See us on Instagram: instagram.com/wellcomecollection
What secrets do paintings keep? In this picture from our collection, Queen Elizabeth I watches John Dee— magician, Renaissance scientist, angel-summoner —conduct an 'experiment'. But the painting is hiding something. What was too unsettling to show, and what does it tell us about how Dee has been seen by history?
Alt text: This reel shows details of a 19th century oil painting. The painting depicts Dee - a bearded man in a black Elizabethan gown and cap - pouring liquid from a small vial into a cauldron on the floor of a stately room. The liquid ignites into a spectrum of chemically coloured flame, and a crowd of aristocratic onlookers watch with reactions ranging from fascination to dismay. Among them sits a young Queen Elizabeth I, in a royal golden robe, impassively observing the scene. Close-ups show an x-ray image of the painting, revealing that a ring of white human skulls arranged in a circle around the magician were painted over.
#art #history #magic #painting #alchemy
Credit: John Dee performing an experiment before Queen Elizabeth I.
Glindoni, Henry Gillard, 1852-1913.
Reference:
47369i
See us on Instagram: instagram.com/wellcomecollection
