Ancient Art

Striding Lion, 604-562 BCE, glazed clay bricks, Processional Way, Babylon, Iraq, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Striding Lion from the Ishtar Gate

Striding Lion is a masterpiece of Mesopotamian art with monumental size and composition. It symbolizes the strength of King Nebuchadnezzar II and the...

James W Singer 5 December 2023

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Fowling in the Marshes

Ancient Egypt. The famous land of Tutankhamun evokes popular images of pyramids, mummies, and tombs. It left an artistic heritage that is still...

James W Singer 3 December 2023

Queen Nefertari & Goddess Isis, New Kingdom, Dynasty 19, ca 1279-1213 BCE, pigment on plaster, QV66 Tomb of Nefertari, Valley of the Queens, Luxor, Egypt. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Queen Nefertari and Goddess Isis

Queen Nefertari and Goddess Isis is a fabulous masterpiece of ancient Egyptian art. The wall painting in the queen’s tomb captures the dream of...

James W Singer 3 December 2023

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Judgement Scene from Book of the Dead of Hunefer

Death continues to be one of the greatest fears of human society. Since the dawn of recorded history through the centuries of plague, pestilence, and...

James W Singer 3 December 2023

Sculpture

A Great Mystery: Sanxingdui Masks

Who doesn’t love a mystery? Especially an art history mystery. Made by a previously unknown Chinese kingdom, the 3,000-year-old bronze...

Nadine Waldmann 30 November 2023

Standing Bodhisattva, 3rd century, gray schist stone, Gandhara, Pakistan, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Standing Bodhisattva

Standing Bodhisattva is a great example of Gandharan art and its blended multicultural origins: East meets...

James W Singer 18 November 2023

Asian Art

The Eighth Wonder of the World: Terracotta Army

When people mention the Terracotta Army, the first thing that comes to mind is the phrase “the eighth wonder of the world”. It is a symbol of...

Marina Kochetkova 13 November 2023

South American Art

Art and Ritual: Culture of the Enigmatic Moche People

The Moche were an ancient, Indigenous people of Andean Peru. They are considered to be one of the most influential civilizations of the ancient...

Marga Patterson 8 November 2023

Ancient Art

Blues of Babylon: The Ishtar Gate

Babylon, the ancient Mesopotamian city (modern-day Iraq) existed from the 18th century to the 6th century BCE. Since that time its legend has...

Nadine Waldmann 6 November 2023

Ancient Egypt

The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut

Hatshepsut (c. 1507-1458 B.C.E.) was the fifth pharaoh of Egypt’s 18th Dynasty and arguably the most important among ancient Egypt’s many female...

Maya M. Tola 6 November 2023

Ancient Greece

The Parthenon of Athens: Ancient Greek Mythology and Architecture

Mythology encompasses a vast realm within Ancient Greek history. Equally extensive is the utilization of mythological figures in ancient Greek art.

Rachel Witte 6 November 2023

Erotica

Erotic Art in Pompeii and Herculaneum (NSFW!)

Erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum is a phenomenon often omitted from textbooks about ancient history. These famous Roman cities destroyed by the...

Zuzanna Stańska 19 October 2023