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An entry on blackberries from De materia medica, a book by a Roman military physician named Dioscorides. Written originally around 50 CE, the book was the standard text on the medicinal properties of plants in Europe until the Renaissance.

HAND AND FRONT Female ARM in plaster and wax (probably a molding), the ring finger carries a wedding ring. The whole rests on a base covered with purple velvet. XIX-XXth century.

Anonymous

St. Vitus in the boiler 1500

In a cauldron is the naked body of Saint Vitus visible to the hip. He folded his hands in front of his body for prayer. Red flame tongues can be seen on the boiler wall. According to legend, the emperor Diocletian of Vitus demanded that his Christian faith be abandoned. When he refused, he was thrown into boiling oil. But angels saved him and brought him back to his homeland of Lucania. Like all martyrs, Saint Vitus has an exemplary function: as a steadfastness in faith that defies all challenges.

Jacobus Vrel

Woman at a Window, waving at a Girl

c. 1650

Oil on panel