An X-ray analysis of a 19th-century painting by Henry Gillard Glindoni has revealed a dark secret beneath the depiction of the polymath and royal advisor John Dee performing an experiment before Queen Elizabeth I.Dee was originally depicted standing in a circle of human skulls, a motif that was probably painted over shortly after the painting was created because it seemed too bizarre to the client.However,in16(th)-centuryTudorEngland, theboundariesbetweenmagicandnaturalphilosophywerequitefluid.
