John Dee performing an experiment before Elizabeth I, by Henry Gillard Glindoni. Photograph: Wellcome Library
John Dee painting originally had
circle of human skulls, x-ray imaging
reveals
“Enigmatic Tudor polymath known in his day as ‘the Queen’s conjuror’ is subject of exhibition at Royal College of Physicians
Hidden beneath a painting of the enigmatic Tudor polymath John Dee performing an experiment for Elizabeth I is a dark and slightly terrifying secret, research has discovered.
X-ray imaging of the stately Victorian artwork has revealed that Dee was originally surrounded by human skulls before the ghoulish image was painted over, probably because it was too odd for the buyer. But curators of an exhibition opening on Monday believe it sums up the conundrum of Dee: should we remember him as brilliant pioneering scientist, or as an occultist who thought he could talk to angels?
The question arises at the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) headquarters in London, where remarkable books from Dee’s personal collection go on public display for the first time.”
Read Mark Brown [Arts correspondent for ‘the guardian’]: full article: HERE
Detail of skulls discovered in Glindoni’s painting of John Dee. Photograph: National Gallery, London/Wellcome Library
