Images

A photograph of liquid gold in a refinery.

A 1757 oil-on-canvas painting, The Alchemists, by Pietro Longhi. (Ca' Rezzonico, Venice)

An 1867 painting showing the Polish alchemist Michael Sendivogius (1566-1636) by Jan Matejko. (Museum of Art in Łódź, Poland)

A c. 1850 lithographic print, The Alchemist, by Celestin Nanteuil. The figure is in possession of the typical apparatus of alchemy such as a condenser and furnace. (Science Museum, London)

As part of Herod the Great's building program, as Herod's Harbor housed 40 acres of water, with its circular configuration, to deflect extreme north-bound waves, along with the lighthouse and outsized tower at the entrance, two free-standing...

The House of Windsor represents the modern phase in the long dynastic evolution of the British monarchy, reflecting how royal identity adapted to political pressure, public opinion, and national crisis. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries...

A 19th-century print titled 'The Alchymist', after Teniers, by W. Baillie. The alchemist is using bellows to increase the temperature of the furnace which is heating a condenser. (Science Museum, London)

A detail of The Alchemist by Joseph Wright of Derby. Oil-on-canvas painted in 1771. (Derby Museum & Art Gallery, Derby, UK)

War Dance, Sioux, oil on canvas by George Catlin, 1845-48. Smithsonian American Art Museum.

French Emperor Napoleon I retreats from Moscow after his disastrous invasion of Russia. Though it has long been said that "General Winter" defeated the French, the failure of Napoleon's invasion of Russia had already occurred by winter's...