THE EERIE TRUTH
An X-ray of Glindoni’s famous painting reveals the double nature of Dee’s reputation
Henry Gillard Glindoni’s painting of Dee performing an experiment in front of Queen Elizabeth I is arguably one of the most enduring images of the polymath, despite the fact that it was created during the 19th century. It portrays a fictional scene where Elizabeth is visiting at Mortlake and Dee is demonstrating the effect of combining two elements while she watches, with Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir William Cecil to her left and Edward Kelley seated behind Dee.
However, an X-ray of the painting commissioned for a 2016 exhibition at the Royal College of Physicians reveals that Dee was originally depicted standing in the middle of a circle of human skulls, before Glindoni painted over it. Why Glindoni chose to remove the skulls remains unknown but Katie Birkwood, the exhibition’s curator, suggested that it was likely on the orders of the person who had commissioned the painting – they may have found the skulls too morbid, or they wanted a different impression of Dee. Either way, Glindoni’s original design is evidence that Dee continued to be a divisive figure in the centuries after his death.