T he Sawing a Body in Half Illusion is a timeless theatrical performance. In this trick, an assistant lies on a table and is secured with a wooden crate or shallow box. The assistant's head and feet remain visible and active as the magician appears to cut them with a saw blade. At the moment of the sawing, the person's whole body fits into one half of the box. There are actually two individuals inside: one person reveals her head, while the other extends her feet. When the magician appears to...

Duccio, Rucellai Madonna, 1285, Tempera on wood, 429 x 290 cm, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. “ C reepy kids” in art may refer to how strangely children were depicted for much of the medieval and early Renaissance period, especially in religious images of the Christ Child. These children often look like stiff, shrunk‑down adults rather than naturalistic kids, which many modern viewers find eerie or unsettling. Medieval “little adults” in medieval European painting, most children shown are...

The Map of Hell painting by Botticelli is one of the extant ninety-two drawings that were originally included in the illustrated manuscript of Dante's Divine Comedy. | mid-1480s-mid-1490s T he Divine Comedy Illustrated by Botticelli is a manuscript of Dante's Divine Comedy, featuring 92 full-page illustrations by Sandro Botticelli. These illustrations are regarded as masterpieces and among the finest works of the Renaissance artist. Most of the images are silverpoint drawings, many of which...