Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads 1860 during the Second Opium War, at which time the fountainheads were looted. They were originally made by an Italian Jesuit, Giuseppe Castiglione. In May 2015, Sean Parker paid US$4.4 million at Phillips for the small (gold) version of the 12-sculpture work by Ai Weiwei. In June 2015, a large (bronze) version sold at auction for $5.4 million. Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads is an artwork by Chinese contemporary artist and political commentator, Ai Weiwei. The work comes in a small (gold) and large (bronze) version. Created in 2010, the zodiac heads (a Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit,
Barbarous name supposed effectiveness of barbarous names rested in their utterance, not their meaning. Barbarous name A barbarous name is a meaningless or seemingly meaningless word used in magic rituals. The term "barbarous" comes from the Greek "barbaroi" () meaning those who do not speak the Greek Language (barbarians). Often these names were derived from foreign sources and acquired their "barbarous" nature from the magician's lack of understanding of that language. Many ancient barbarous names were of Egyptian origin, though there were plenty of Hebrew and Persian names that were corrupted by transcription into Greek. They appear throughout the Greek Magical Papyri,