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This article explores the post‐celebrity career of Elizabeth Sheridan, revealing her involvement in politics and scandal, alongside her experiences of disease, disaster and disappointment. Rather than become merely the object of distant adoration after her marriage, Sheridan entered into ‘secret service' for the Whigs. While her activities are significant, the article focuses on Sheridan's tactical appropriation of ‘privacy'. It was by claiming to be private that Sheridan justified her diverse endeavours. Her dextrous self‐presentation reveals not just the critical importance of privacy but also the ways in which it was deployed within the competing cultures of celebrity and Whig politics.

This paper presents the results of analyses carried out on three decorative phases of the presbytery of the church of Santa Maria Antiqua al Foro Romano in Rome: the fourth-century ad mosaics setting bed; the Adoration of the Cross, dated to the papacy of John VII (ad 705–7); and the paintings in the apse of the Pope Paul I (ad 757–68) phase. The research allowed the characterization of the painting techniques, pigments, organic compounds and degradation products by means of a video microscope, optical microscopy, and μ-Raman and FT–IR spectroscopy, contributing to a better understanding of the changes in the techniques and materials used throughout the centuries in one of the most relevant medieval Christian monuments in Western Europe.

The hortus conclusus, or the “garden enclosed,” is a motif of biblical origin that images the Virgin Mary as a cloistered garden. Gaining popularity in the early medieval period, the Marian hortus conclusus remained the property of the Catholic church after the Reformation. There it briefly thrived, reaching its apogee in the early modern period as the eponymous subject of Henry Hawkins’ emblem book, Partheneia Sacra. The Virgin in (and as) the garden still lives a half-life today, continuing to appear without our recognizing it in medieval and Renaissance artwork, in hymns, in the names of flowers, and in prayers. Where it is known, the Marian hortus conclusus is usually perceived as a Catholic object of adoration, but its enduring nature suggests that it holds promise as a catholic subject of devotion as well.

This paper explores the interconnections between early modern natural history and European visual culture by focusing on the representation of a single motif, the bird of paradise, in one of Peter Paul Rubens's most celebrated paintings: the Adoration of the Magi (1609; 1628–29), now in the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid. Portrayed as an aigrette in the Black Magus's headwear, the bird of paradise is interpreted as a symbol of exoticism and geographical diversity, in a painting of unmistakable Counter-Reformist facture, produced in a context of tense religious and political disputes and conflicting commercial interests. By considering the representation of this motif in the Prado Adoration as well as in other works by Rubens and his contemporaries, this paper studies the contribution of artists and paintings to the dissemination of natural knowledge, and examines early modern visual culture as part of a wider context shaped by religiosity, political interests, the cult of the exotic and global trade.

In The Grain of Wheat, Hans Urs von Balthasar quotes St. Basil on the intent contemplation of God's works. In Letters to Malcolm, C. S. Lewis speaks of making “every pleasure into a channel of adoration”, by praising “these pure and spontaneous pleasures” as “‘patches of Godlight’ in the woods of our experience.” According to Iris Murdoch, such attentiveness requires a degree of “selflessness” that resembles aesthetic contemplation and— it may be inferred — prayerful reflection. Using these passages and others by Kathleen Norris and Simone Weil, this essay offers related perspectives on the process and the effects of attentiveness, in poetry and prayer. Poets practise, and thereby teach an attentiveness that is analogous to that achieved in certain forms of prayer. Prayer, like poetry, gives thanks for the mysteries — even as it seeks to understand and respond to the injustices and sufferings — of life. Denise Levertov illustrates in her poetry an awareness of how such attentiveness can be productive, in her late religious poems especially.

The dusky, roundish and thorny beetle carcasses (figs 2, 3a-d, 4a-f) originating from the pre-dynastic tomb B17 (˜4000-3300 BC) of Diospolis parva (upper Egypt, fig. 1) and the archaic tomb 120 (˜2900 BC) of Tarkhan (lower Egypt, fig. 1) were identified as Prionotheca coronata Olivier 1795 (Pimeliinae, Tenebrionidae). This coleopteran species (fig. 4g) was named Radiant-sun beetle due to the sun-like appearance of its body trunk as well as its mythical significance. It is most likely that the chthonic behaviour as well as the spinous and armoured appearance of the Radiant-sun beetle (fig. 4g) renders this species to be aposematic as well as easily remembered by an observer. Despite having been buried for ˜ 5.5 or ˜4.9 millennia respectively, the ancient beetle carcasses, kept in clay jars, were found to be remarkably well preserved (fig. 2). The beetle carcasses had been hollowed out, their head capsule, prothorax, legs and two posterior abdominal sternites had been skilfully removed by human hand, leaving empty cases with an anterior and a posterior opening (fig. 4c, d, table 1d). The exoskeletal beetle cases were kept as funerary offerings or were worn as pendants to serve as protective amulets, which were supposed to avert evil spirits from the deceased in their imaginary Underworld (d u a t). The ancient Egyptians were attentive observers of nature and knew the peculiarities of numerous vertebrate and arthropod species occurring in the Nile valley. The chthonic behaviour of Prionotheea coronata as well as the mythical concept of ‘sexless self-generation of certain sacred animals emerging from the earth’ (cf. A m d u a t: 11th hour) could have motivated the pre-historic and early dynastic Egyptians to worship the Radiant-sun beetle as a divine symbol. The same view was also utilized in the adoration of the chthonic Scarabaeus (= Ateuchus) sacer Linne 1758 (Scarabaeinae, Lamellicornia, fig. 5) during the late Old Kingdom (˜2345-2181 BC) and first Intermediate Period (˜2181-2040 BC). It follows that Prionotheca coronata can be regarded as an ideological precursor of the Sacred scarab beetle in the religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptians concerning cosmogony and resurrection (cf. A m d u a t: 12th hour, Book of Gates: final scene and Book of the Earth).

Much of the wealth of patristic teaching on the significance of the Blessed Virgin Mary's fiat in the work of Redemption – “Let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38) – was either entirely disregarded or completely dismantled by the Protestant Reformers. While still recognizing Mary as the mother of God and perpetually virgin, the Reformers viewed her largely as a mere passive receptacle whom God sovereignly invaded and used for the incarnation. This was due mainly to their strict insistence on solus Christus, to the point of excluding the necessity of human cooperation with grace. Reducing Mary to a mere puppet on God's stage, the Reformers taught that one should not pray to the Blessed Virgin as the channel of her Son's grace. Keywords: wealth of patristic teaching; blessed virgin mary's fiat, work of redemption; solus christus; contemplation and adoration, mystery of God incarnate; consecration of oneself to jesus through mary, baptismal covenant

This Spanish artist's most productive years were from 1635, during which he painted mainly for religious orders. His first documented commission was in 1636 for a cycle of paintings for the Dominicans of S. Pablo el Real in Seville. Another commission was the series painted for the Merced Calzada (1629–1630), including Vision of St. Peter Nolasco and Fray Francisco Zumel. He settled in Seville at the invitation of the city council in 1629. His first work there was part of a cycle dedicated to St. Bonaventura, painted for the Franciscans. He was at his best when painting isolated figures, such as St. Francis in Meditation (1655), or martyr virgins, such as St. Margaret (1634). He was the favorite painter of the monastic orders, who loved his blend of realism and spirituality. However, he stopped receiving major commissions from the monasteries after 1650. But he continued to paint religious subjects, including Virgin and Child with the Infant St. John (1656) and St. Francis in Meditation (1658). Among his noblest works is the Martyrdom of St. Serapion (1628), a martyr of the Mercedarian Order. His two versions of St. Francis (1635 and 1639) are unforgettable in their simplicity. St. Bonaventura at the Council of Lyons and the Saint on his Bier include very sensitive portraits. He displays a superb sense of the color white in the Adoration of the Magi (1638), and his portraits of Carthusian and Mercedarian saints. Keywords: Spanish artist; cycle of paintings, for dominicans of s. pablo el real in seville; series painted for the Merced Calzada (1629–1630); St. Francis in meditation; virgin and child with the infant ST. John; portraits of carthusian and mercedarian saints

Flemish artist, the foremost painter of the grand Counter-Reformation. He went as a court painter to the Duke of Mantua in 1600. In 1606 he painted the altarpiece of the Sta Maria in Vallicella in Rome. On his return to Antwerp he was appointed court painter to the Spanish governors of the Netherlands. His first great commissions were for Antwerp Cathedral, The Raising of the Cross (1610), and the Descent from the Cross (1611–1614). For the church at Malines he produced the Miraculous Draught of Fishes. For the Medici series he designed the tapestry Triumph of the Eucharist, which found a home in the Spanish convent Descalzas Reales. A series of religious paintings followed: St. Ignatius of Loyola Healing the Possessed (1619), Martyrdom of St. Livinus (1633), Adoration of the Magi (1624), the Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine showing the fourteen auxiliary saints (1628), Assumption (1626), and Last Judgment (1616). He also painted smaller religious works, including Christ and the Doubting Thomas (1613), Flight into Egypt (1614), and Lamentation over the Dead Christ (1614). His decoration for the Jesuit Church in Antwerp consisted of 39 ceiling paintings commissioned in 1620. All but three were burned along with the church in 1718. Many of his compositions were engraved. The series of 15 engravings known as the Images of the Holy Apostles was published between 1646 and 1650. Earlier versions of the Holy Face, Mater Dolorosa, and Christ as Salvator Mundi were also engraved. Toward the end of his life he was knighted by King Charles I of Great Britain. Keywords: Rubens, sir Peter Paul (1577–1640); court painter to duke of mantua, in 1600; paintings, altarpiece of sta Maria in Vallicella, Rome

Father Damien was born Joseph De Veuster in Tremeloo, Belgium on January 3, 1840. He died on the island of Molokai in the kingdom of Hawai'i of Hansen's disease, a victim of his own passionate service, on April 15, 1889. Damien was a missionary priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and of Perpetual Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. Ending his training early, he replaced his ill older brother, also a Sacred Hearts priest, who had been assigned to the mission to the Hawaiian islands. After 148 days aboard ship, Father Damien arrived in Hawai'i on March 19, 1864 to begin his ministry as a parish priest that would last until his death. Keywords: Damien, father (1840–1889); congregation of the sacred hearts of Jesus and Mary; most blessed sacrament of the altar; protestant missionaries, among native people; advancement of the catholic mission; Damien, calling for the rest of his life; father Damien, and people at kalawao

Beccaria is widely acknowledged as one of penology's great reformers. This paper analyzes aspects of Beccaria's life and works and concludes that the adoration afforded Beccaria by penologists far outweighs the actual contributions he made to penology. Many of the reforms that occurred during the eighteenth century can as easily be ascribed to social and political conditions as to Beccaria's work When compared with the works of other great reformers of the eighteenth century, such as Voltaire or Bentham, Beccaria's works are less profound. The myth of Beccaria nonetheless presides over the modern paradigm of liberal penology.