“Historically, many cases of demonic possession have masked major psychiatric disorder[s].”-Kazuhiro Tajima-Pozo et. al. BMJ Case Reports 2009 “Juana (also known as Joanna and Joan) of Castile was born in Toledo, Spain on 6 November 1479, the third child of Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. Not long after her marriage [...]

A little blast from the past to puzzle over while your head spins from chocolate overload this weekend. Two centuries before M.C. Escher confounded us with his optical illusions and play on perspective, William Hogarth (1697-1764) created Satire on False Perspective. Hogarth was a British painter and engraver sometimes credited with beginning the tradition of [...]

Last summer I had the pleasure of going the Association of Medical Illustrators meeting here in Toronto. Among the speakers and session moderators, including E.O.Wilson and Jennifer Fairman, was a name familiar to anyone who is fan of illustration – not just scientific illustration, but of the art of illustration in any form: James Gurney. [...]

Last month, we posted a wide variety of science-art here at Symbiartic. We thought it’d be nice to post an overview in case you missed or wanted to revisit any. Enjoy!

As our month of SciArt of the Day winds down, I had to share this image. For me, this is a touchstone of what makes wonderful science-art: marrying metaphors from past and present, science and myth. The idea that art and science represent two cultures, as C.P. Snow described is a curious one. Art, or [...]

  Charles Darwin’s grand discovery of evolution by natural selection (oh and hey – what’s up, Wallace!) has been with us for over 150 years and transformed medicine, society and any number of scientific disciplines. Paleoart and nature illustration are thriving, lively fields. So why are we still stuck with the Ascent of Man, March [...]

The great Symbolist draughtsman Max Klinger created this image as one of ten in a narrative series of etchings called, Paraphrase on the Discovery of a Glove, which follows the dreamy travels of a single lost glove. This second-last panel, The Seizure is remarkable in a couple of ways. Symbolists, like their artistic descendants the [...]

What do you see when you look at this painting? Do you only see the original drawing and woodcut by Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer, done from a description of a rhino in 1515? The future artists’ rendition of rhinos after they have gone extinct?  Humanity’s view of nature? Let us know in the comments below! [...]

It’s been a quieter than usual month here on Symbiartic, but rest assured, both Kalliopi and myself have more fascinating images and stories from the intersection of science and art to share. Today I’d like to kick off a new series of posts about science and fine art history by looking at one of the [...]

Jean Giraud (Moebius) 1938-2012 – Lines and Colors Ralph McQuarrie, 1929-2012 – Lines and Colors Calling all GNSI Illustrators – Britt Griswold, Guild of Natural Science Illustrators Why hire a professional illustrator? – News from the Studio of Emily Damstra Bringing Plants to the People – Carol Gracie, ArtPlantae Today Evolutionary Biology in Video Games? [...]

Most people are aware that there are trends and movements in the Fine Art world, just as there are in design, fashion, music and architecture. The most powerful aesthetic movements with the most lasting impact in the last several centuries have had distinguishing attributes that crossed the boundaries of the various arts and permeated cultures. [...]