The Paramaterial Phantasy
I have been arguing for a medieval and early modern paramaterial phantasy which paradoxically positioned the phantasy and its spirits somewhere between the material and the immaterial, and between the body and the soul. In this post, I want to explore Marsilio Ficino’s Neoplatonic construction of love in his De Amore (On Love) to further […]
It has been nearly a year since I have posted to my website, but, rest assured, I have continued my engagement with the medieval, early modern, and printmaking worlds. I want to assure you that this website, like print itself, is not dead. You can always find these woodcuts and many others at my Etsy […]
While I have not been posting to this blog on early modern vision as regularly as I want, I have been busy making more woodcuts inspired by the medieval and early modern periods. While my Henry VIII woodcut attained some popularity on social media sites not long after I made it, I had yet to […]
The “Sceptick,” first published in 1651 and attributed to Sir Walter Raleigh, offers one of the first known English translations, albeit unacknowledged, of portions of Sextus Empiricus’ Outlines. While it is not a pure translation, and while it only offers an expurgated version of Sextus’ classical skeptical work, it is undoubtedly based on portions of […]
Part I. “He thinks tis but our fantasy”: The Ontology and Epistemology of Ghosts and Spirits In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the skeptical and possibly Stoic Horatio reveals to the melancholic eponymous prince that he has seen a phantasm. Before Horatio can even reveal his harrowing yet problematic tale of seeing a “form like [Hamlet’s] father,” […]
Last week I received the following Tweet from scholar and #WoodcutWednesday fan Sjoerd Levelt: Another Adamite expose with a similar woodcut may be "the first depiction of an erect penis in English popular print." #TheMoreYouKnow — John Overholt (@john_overholt) October 24, 2013 I’m not sure how I attained a reputation to have expertise on […]
For some time, I’ve been toying around with the idea of making small semi-interactive interfaced presentations on various important aspects of early modern life and culture. My first attempt, which was quite long, explained the sensitive soul and is still in progress. Because that file is so large and unwieldly, I thought I would try […]
“Buy U A Drank (Shawty Masquein’)” by T-Cramm (ft. H-8) “Buy U A Drank (Shawty Masquein’)” by T-Cramm (ft. H-8) Shawty Masque (Yeah). T-Cramm. Damn. Shawty Masque. H-8. (Shawty). [H-8:] Ay, Ay, She masqueing. Ah, she masqueing. Shawty masquein’. [T-Cramm:] Mask your face, do the step, you can do it all by yourself. [Verse 1:] […]
In his poem “To His Coy Mistress,” Andrew Marvell’s speaker begins by imagining a scenario in which he and his lover have all the time in the world to love one another without a fear of death. During the course of his musings, the lover makes an odd metaphor for the growth of his love […]
Nearly everyone is familiar with the ubiquitous dorm room and man-cave wall hanging that is popularly known as “Dogs Playing Poker.” This series of sixteen predominantly card-playing canines, cigar advertisements from the early twentieth century, reveal a fascination with anthropomorphized animals, especially when they are engaged in illicit activity or otherwise questionable behavior. This corporate […]