Grotesque ornament panel with two putti standing on the...
print; ornament printHeinrich Aldegrever (Print made by); Grotesque ornament panel with two putti standing on the legs of a satyr. 1549 

Heinrich Aldegrever (Print made by); Grotesque ornament panel with a mask and two satyrs. 1549 Engraving

Belchite Night, by Carlos Santero

Hyacinthe Rigaud | Louis XV (detail) | 1730

Isabelle Adjani in Possession (1981)

Falling, cascading –
Nor fire, nor any metaphor…
                                just roses,
A waterfall of English roses…

Vera Rich, from Selected Works; “Should You Ask Me,”

https://www.facebook.com/Testimonedelfuoco/

Falling, cascading –
Nor fire, nor any metaphor…
                                just roses,
A waterfall of English roses…

Vera Rich, from Selected Works; “Should You Ask Me,”

There are thoughts which are prayers. There are moments when, whatever the posture of the body, the soul is on its knees.

Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

What fields are as fragrant as your hands?

Rainer Maria Rilke, tr. by Paul Weinfield, from “What Fields are as Fragrant as your Hands?,”

detail of hands from guercino’s the return of the prodigal son (1619)

A labyrinthine man never seeks the truth, but only his Ariadne.

Friedrich Nietzsche 

Jacopo Ligozzi

Jacopo Ligozzi, Pesce prete
Seconda metà XVI sec.
Matita nera e tempera colorata rialzata in oro, carta verniciata; 41x28,5 cm
Firenze, Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi

Aggiungi diA figure with the body of a lion and face of a bearded man. 1585
Engraving

Inscriptions
Inscription Content: Lettered below with four lines describing the figure 'Sopra alcune isole del mare ... mudi ch narra el tutto.'dascalia

Love and Psyche (by Stéphane Mahot)

in shifting silence, a softness in the weather
passing through us, dark moods of snows— 
a sense of peace (…)

Joanna Klink, from Winter Field in “Circadian” (

Henry Fuseli - The Shepherd’s Dream, from ‘Paradise Lost’

Henry Fuseli  - The Shepherd’s Dream, from ‘Paradise Lost’

The Garden of Earthly Delights, by Hieronymus Bosch.

The “Is it creepy or kind of cute?”-collection of creatures from paintings by Hieronymus Bosch.

Upper left, lower right: The Last Judgment, c. 1486-1510.

Upper right, lower left: The Garden of Earthly Delights, c. 1490-1510.

In one aspect, yes, I believe in ghosts, but we create them. We haunt ourselves.

Laurie Halse Anderson,  Wintergirls

Natural History Museum. Austria

But, ah, where is that river
Whose hyacinth banks descend
Down to the sweeter lilies
Till soft their shadows blend
Into a watery twilight?—

Christina Rossetti, excerpt of By The Water (

Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland By Jim Richardson

The knyght mad ay god chere,
And sayde: “Quat schuld I wonde?
Of destinés derf and dere
What may mon do bot fonde?”

sir gawain and the green knight, fitt ii, 560

Yet keeping calm the knight
just quipped, “Why should I shy
away. If fate is kind
Or cruel, man still must try.” 

translated by simon armitage

A dragon on top of a globe within an oval cartouche

A dragon on top of a globe within an oval cartouche; wreath and banderole with motto 'Dominabitur astris' above dragon, and inscriptions identifying stars and constellations on the globe; two heads, palm branches and bunches of fruit adorning the cartouche; illustration to page 708 of Antonio de Sousa de Macedo, 'Lusitania Liberata ab injusto Castellanorum dominio' (London, Richard Heron, 1645).

A broadside on the qualities of dwarfs; with a woodcut depicting the dwarf Wendel Berthold, and letterpress text in two columns. 
ca.1560

Bolikana and Marcolfus Print made by Daniel Hopfer After Hans Weiditz (?) Date 1505-1536

18TH C. FRENCH EROTIC LACQUERED SNUFF BOX

Tabacchiera 
A Meissen silver-gilt-mounted erotic snuff-box
Circa 1740

The scene painted in enamel on the lid by Philipp Ernst Schindler II (1723-93) is adapted from an engraving by Michel Aubert published in 1733. It shows Venus with her chariot drawn by swans finding the body of her lover, Adonis, who died while hunting. 

Snuffboxes e automi erotici d'epoca, 18-18 secolo.


Scatole di tabacco con immagini erotiche si trovano in gran numero dal XVIII secolo, a volte erano frammenti di dipinti di artisti, scene romantiche con storie di amanti, il tema di Leda e il cigno.

Tabacchiera ca. 1715

Ma spesso sotto un quadro erotico relativamente innocente sul coperchio si nascondono trame pornografiche, immagini o in una versione più intricata e costosa - figure in movimento di metalli preziosi, e persino con la musica!
Spesso le immagini sono molto ingenue e divertenti.

I bambini sotto il taglio non guardano!

Rota Fortunae

Alciati - Emblemata

Agostino Arrivabene