In the sixteenth century, wheellock pistols sometimes were combined with swords, knives, axes, maces, spears, and even crossbows, which co...

  The scene on this copper plate is usually thought to represent Aristotle being ridden by Phyllis, but it may be more accurately identified...

 As well as a knife, spoon, and fork, this implement provides a spike, spatula and small pick. The spike might have helped in extracting the...

 The design and execution of the sphinx is masterful. It rests with its tail characteristically following the contour of its right, hind leg...

  Dated to the early 1500s, the globe was likely crafted in Florence, Italy, from the lower halves of two ostrich eggs. It is engraved with ...

  BATTLE OF THE FROGS Two stuffed frogs with "human attitudes" play out a miniature battle in a work by a Parisian taxidermist, Ma...

  Bronze statuette possibly of the Roman fertility god Priapus, made in two parts (shown here in assembled and disassembled forms). This sta...

 The invention of the telescope played an important role in advancing our understanding of Earth's place in the cosmos. While there is e...