What could be a nearly 400-year-old butterfly has been discovered pressed between the pages of an ancient library book at Cambridge University. The perfectly preserved specimen, thought to be a small tortoiseshell, was found inside a copy of England’s earliest insect book, Theatre of Insects, published in 1634. The butterfly could be as old as the … Read more
Renovations at Florence’s Uffizi Galleries turned up some startling surprises, including a 17th century fresco and human remains. A painting of Cosimo II de Medici by Mannerist painter Bernardino Poccetti was uncovered from behind plaster when the museum’s coat room and ticketing booth were made over. Workers excavating unused basement rooms found the skeletons of … Read more
Renovations at Florence’s Uffizi Galleries turned up some startling surprises, including a 17th century fresco and human remains. A painting of Cosimo II de Medici by Mannerist painter Bernardino Poccetti was uncovered from behind plaster when the museum’s coat room and ticketing booth were made over. Workers excavating unused basement rooms found the skeletons of … Read more
A ship believed to have been used by the Dutch Empire during the 17th century has been found at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The vessel, known as a fluyt, was a three-masted ship with a hull designed to maximise cargo capacity and minimize crew numbers and also carried no guns. It was made with … Read more
A hiker came across a surprising sight in a remote area of the Italian Alps – the preserved remains of a 400-year-old goat. With only half of its body sticking out of the ice, Hermann Oberlechner said the animal’s skin ‘looked like leather, completely hairless.’ Oberlechner had hiked six hours into the mountains, so an … Read more