Images

Sheela-na-gig figure, carved from stone in Ireland, c. 1100-1200 CE. Such Sheela-na-gig figures prominently display their vulvas. Their meaning is still debated: as they were often found on churches and secular buildings in Ireland, Britain...

Statue of a young Roman girl playing a game of knucklebones, using animal ankle bones as four-sided dice, 1st-2nd century CE. The British Museum, London.

Guardian sphinx from a gable, from building H in Xanthos, Lycia (modern-day Turkey), c. 460 BCE. The sphinx, a creature combining elements of a woman, a lion, and a bird, had significant associations with death in both Greece and Lycia...

Marble statue of Athena, found in Italy, made in the 1st century CE. The ancient Greek goddess of war and wisdom was also known as Minerva to the Romans. She had dominion over various aspects of public life, including the military, justice...

Marble figure of Hekate from Italy, 161-200 CE. Hekate was the ancient Greek and Roman goddess of witchcraft, who stood at the entrance of the underworld, between life and death. This picture only shows one of the three faces of this figure...

A photograph of a reconstruction of the original anatomical theatre at the University of Padua, Italy. In use in the Early-modern period and used for dissections before an audience.

An illustration showing the effects of a tourniquet on the blood vessels of the arm. From: Sigerist, Henry E. (1965) Große Ärzte, München, Deutschland: J.F. Lehmans Verlag (5. Auflage) (1. Auflage 1958) plate 26 p 120

A c. 1627 portrait of the English physician William Harvey (1578-1657) who discovered the circulatory system in 1628. (National Portrait Gallery, London)

A statue of the English physician William Harvey (1578-1657) who discovered the circulatory system in 1628. Folkestone, England, where Harvey was born.

A painting showing William Harvey (1578-1657) demonstrating to King Charles I of England (r. 1625-1649) his theory of the circulatory system.