Electrum Magazine – Why The Past Matters

Art
Leonardo’s ‘Secret’ Design of “The Last Supper”

3 weeks ago

By John Roman – Historians suggest some religious paintings of the Renaissance may have been intentionally designed to induce subliminal, out-of-body experiences in church patrons. Michael Kubovy, in his book The Psychology of Perspective and Renaissance Art (1989), uncovered a remarkable twist in artists’ use of perspective during the Renaissance. He explored the idea that […]
Artifacts of Material History
Egyptian Stone Working Use of Emery?

2 months ago

Small fragment (13 cm h) of Queen Tiye bust, yellow jasper, ca. 14th c BCE / Dynasty 18, Metropolitan Museum New York (image courtesy of MMNY) By Patrick Hunt – Did the Ancient Egyptians know and use emery? I reprised this old question in 1991 in an invited paper at […]
Art
Gulbenkian Museum Memorabilia in Lisbon

3 months ago

Calouste Gulbenkian in 1912 (Image courtesy of Financial Times London) By P. F. Sommerfeldt – In Lisbon in late March I had a list of must visits to Portugal’s beautiful capital city, including the famous Gulbenkian Museum in its private foundation premises. This renowned museum – in modern brutalist style […]
Artifacts of Material History
Minoan Pottery : Form and Technique

4 months ago

By Jess Taylor – Setting The Minoan civilization often evokes thoughts of myths of the bull-headed Monitor and his labyrinth, images of the ruins of the Knossos palace, with its red, tapered columns and advanced multi-storied architecture, their early written languages, the untranslated Linear A and translated Linear B as […]
Controversies
Should Freemasonry Be Considered Controversial?

5 months ago

Freemasonry Lodge in Vienna, 1789 (courtesy of Wienmuseum) By Pauline Chakmakjian – My publisher Markosia in the UK recently released my trilogy: The Sphinxing Rabbit: Her Sovereign Majesty, The Sphinxing Rabbit: Book of Hours and The Sphinxing Rabbit: Clubs and Societies. All three books in the series from a publisher noted for graphic novels make […]