More Illuminations

Paris, Bibl. Mazarine, ms. 0976 (f. 001-127v) / f. 107v / Vie de Jesus Christ (La) / vers 1470-1480 ? / Descente aux Limbes





















Paris, Bibl. Mazarine, ms. 0969 (F 001-077)/F. 053/Consideratione novissimorum (Of)/about 1420? / Hell


Paris, Bibl. Mazarine, ms. 1581/F 211v/Antiquitates judaicae/about 1503/Hybrid anthropomorphic attacking a dragon






















Paris, Bibl. Mazarine, ms. 0507 / f. 189 / Heures à l'usage de Tours/Vie de sainte Marguerite / vers 1490 / Sainte Marguerite /

Paris, Bibl. Mazarine, ms. 0481 / f. 119 / Heures à l'usage d'Angers / 15e s. (premier tiers) / Sainte Marguerite


Paris, Bibl. Sainte-Geneviève, ms. 1028/F 021v/Book of the proprietes of the things (It)/towards 1380-1395/Fall of the Angels


Paris, Bibl. Mazarine, ms. 1559/F. 281/Fleur des histoires(It)/15e S. (third quarter?) / Fall of the Angels

Illuminated Manuscripts

Descent into Limbo, Évrard d'Espinques


Animals and False Prophet in Fire, 1250.


The Council Of The Devils






















"Pluto and Persephone (Proserpine) enthroned. God and goddess of the underworld, with the 3-headed dog, Cerberus at their feet. 'Les Echecs amoureux' late 15th century manuscript produced for Louise de Savoy. B.N., Paris"

Tony Johannot - Le Voyage où il vous plaira

"Tony Johannot: France's foremost illustrator of the 1840's, Tony Johannot was also a fine etcher and painter. He first exhibited his art at the Paris Salon of 1827 and he received Exposition medals in both 1831 and 1848. Tony Johannot was also decorated by the government of France in 1840. In total Tony Johannot illustrated over one hundred books, including classic works by Cervantes, Moliere and Goethe."

Below I've posted my favorite images from the book "de Voyage où il vous plaira" which loosely translates to "Travel Where You Like" published in 1843. You can see the entire thing on display in this collection.

Narasimha - Half Man/Lion Deity

"Described as an incarnation (avatara) of Vishnu within the Puranic texts of Hinduism who takes the form of half-man / half-lion, having a human torso and lower body, but with a lion-like face and claws. He is worshipped in deity form by a significant number of Vaishnava groups throughout India (especially in the South) and is primarily known as the 'Great Protector', being a form of Vishnu who specifically defends and protects his devotees in times of need."
- quote from article at Wikipedia.

The story behind this bizarre deity can be read here.

And an amusing quote from the above link..

"Narasimha caught him again like a snake seizing a mouse; with a loud roar he carried Hiranyakashipu to the threshold of the hall. He sat on the threshold with the Bakshasa in his lap. Then he dug his nails deep into his body and tore it open. He took out the entrails and wore them round his neck. Thus the wicked Asura was finally killed by the hands of the man-lion, Vishnu. All this while the bodyguards and the other courtiers had stood speechless and motionless in paralyzing fear. But at the death of their king they sprang into action. In fierce rage, they fell on Narasimha in a body. But all were crushed into a lump of flesh in the winking of an eye."

Yama Dharmaraja ( The Lord of Death)



"Fearsome and wrathful Dharma Protector with the head of a buffalo, three round eyes, hair flowing upward, a body blue in colour with two upraised hands. The right hand holds a bone stick composed of a fused spine and skull wrapped with an elephant and human skin. The left holds a long black lasso tipped with a gold ring and half vajra. Wearing a necklace of fifty freshly severed heads tied together with human intestines..."

Bottom 2 images dated between 18 - 19th century from Tibet, found at the Himalayan Art Resource. I'll be doing several more posts with works from this site in the near future.

Expect a few more Yama inspired paintings to be dropped into this post soon. Check out the details from this depiction.

Steve's Weird House






Click here to see an insane tour of a house filled with all manner of strange objects. If Pee Wee Herman had an evil twin, this would be his playhouse. Don't miss the devil room!

Found thanks to the Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society, one of the best blogs online!

Peter Klucik












































It's been over a year since I last mentioned Klucik and unfortunately there still isn't a website set up for his work. But I did find this collection of his artwork I'd not seen before. Click the navigation arrow to see an additional 8 pages of artwork. Check through the links I previously mentoned to see more of his amazing artwork.

Olga and Andrej Dugin - Dragon Feathers





















Here is another fantastic storybook from Olga and Andrej Dugin.

If you'd like a copy of this book in English, click here.

Bror Anders Wikstrom's Float Designs




"Bror Anders Wikstrom designed the carnival parades of the Krewe of Proteus from 1900 to 1910. A native of Sweden, Wikstrom ran away to sea at a young age and spent a dozen years as a sailor. When he returned from his travels, he studied at the Royal Academy of Art in Stockholm and later in Paris before setting out to make his fortune in America.

In 1883 Wikstrom came to New Orleans. His entrée to the world of carnival came when he began to work as assistant to Rex's float and costume designer Charles Briton. When Briton died, Wikstrom succeeded him and continued to design for Rex, and later for Proteus, until his death in 1909."

Visit the online gallery with over a dozen other float desgins by Wikstrom at the New Orleans Public Library.