Regions

Pontormo Detail from The Visitation Mannerism

Pontormo: The Neglected Mannerist Painter

Pontormo was a Renaissance painter, admired by both Michelangelo and Raphael. His first apprenticeship was in Leonardo da Vinci's workshop. His work is treasured by The National Gallery and The Uffizi. His luminous work is truly magnificent, so why is he so neglected?

Guest Profile 7 November 2022

Baroque

Francisco de Zurbarán: The Spanish Caravaggio

Francisco de Zurbarán was one of the major Spanish painters of the 17th century. He is especially known for his religious subjects and for the...

Vithória Konzen Dill 7 November 2022

William Blake, Death on a Pale Horse, ca. 1800, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK. Art State of Mind

Not Only in Movies: The Apocalypse in Art

Recently, all over the world people have felt like they were “in the middle of the apocalypse”. Why does everyone naturally associate that word...

Camilla de Laurentis 7 November 2022

Animals

The Medieval Bestiary – Cute, Quirky, and Weird Animals

Of all the medieval manuscripts, bestiaries are definitely the most fun. A medieval bestiary is a book about animals. It’s full of unusual...

Alexandra Kiely 6 November 2022

Review

Artists in Margaret Randall’s Life: A Personal Journey

A new book by Margaret Randall: feminist poet, photographer, and social activist, containing intimate and personal recollections of her favourite artists.

Candy Bedworth 5 November 2022

Asian Art

Art from Horror Movies: Japanese Woodblocks of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

For centuries, gore has been part of the culture in Japan, rooted in its history. Its representation is very common in woodblock engraving pictures.

Sofia Rodriguez Cuevas 4 November 2022

Erotica

All You Must Know About Japanese Erotic Art, Shunga (18+)

Ukiyo-e art, pictures of the “floating world” are famous among those interested in art history. Everyone knows Hokusai’s The Great Wave off...

Zuzanna Stańska 4 November 2022

Olafur Eliasson - Under the weather, 2022 Review

Olafur Eliasson’s Investigation of Time and Space at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence

Nel tuo tempo (In your time), which recently opened in Florence, is Icelandic-Danish Olafur Eliasson’s largest exhibition and first solo show in...

Carlotta Mazzoli 3 November 2022

Alexandre Cabanel, Cleopatra, 1887, Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp, Belgium. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Cleopatra by Alexandre Cabanel

Queen Cleopatra is a popular subject today – as she was in the late 19th century. Alexandre Cabanel’s Cleopatra explores a single moment of her...

James W Singer 3 November 2022

Art History 101

Orientalism – Quick Explanation

19th-century Europeans were fascinated by the Near East and North Africa. Everything began roughly around the time of the Napoleonic invasion of...

Magda Michalska 3 November 2022

Bizarre

Party with Skulls and Skeletons: Day of the Dead in Mexico

Heaven and earth are never as close as they are on that day. November 1 and 2 are traditionally celebrated as the Day of the Dead when spirits come...

Magda Michalska 2 November 2022

Painting

11 Famous Funeral Paintings of Western Art

Funeral practices are deeply ingrained in all cultures. Varied traditions around the globe reflect widespread beliefs and values. On this day when we...

Zuzanna Stańska 1 November 2022