European Art

Art State of Mind

The British Landscape in Art

The British Landscape: where do we start? From Turner to Hogan the British landscape presents a constant challenge to artists to capture its elusive...

Sarah Mills 20 September 2023

Winterfled Diptych: Mary Magdalene Raised by Angels WTF Art History

Why Is She So Hairy? Iconography of Mary Magdalene

Whenever I come across Gothic or early Renaissance representations of Mary Magdalene I always ask myself this question – why is she so hairy? Keep...

Magda Michalska 19 September 2023

Sculpture

Donatello’s Mary Magdalene: Penitence and Salvation

Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, better known as Donatello, was a sculptor born around 1386 in Florence, which is also the city in which he died in...

Soledad Castillo Jara 19 September 2023

Nike of Samothrace, ca 200-175 BCE, Parian and Lartian marble, Paleopoli, Samothrace, Greece, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Nike of Samothrace

Nike of Samothrace is the masterpiece of an unknown Hellenistic artist. While the artist’s story may be unknown, the statue’s story is as complex...

James W Singer 18 September 2023

Ancient Art

Have You Ever Seen Ancient Sculptures’ Colors?

We admire the beauty and plasticity of ancient sculptures, how harmoniously they fit into the surrounding landscape. But we rarely ask ourselves the...

Elizaveta Ermakova 18 September 2023

Ancient Rome

How to Identify a Roman Emperor by His Beard

How many times have you walked into a museum full of statues or busts and not been able to tell one ancient sculpture from another? It can be...

Lauren Dorsey 18 September 2023

Caravaggio, The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula, 1610, Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano, Naples, Italy. Baroque

Caravaggio’s Last Painting: The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula

In May 1610, Caravaggio completed The Martyrdom of St Ursula. Two months later, he was dead. We investigate the story behind his last commission,...

Catriona Miller 17 September 2023

Post-Impressionism

Vincent van Gogh’s Last Painting?

In July 1890, Vincent van Gogh painted one of his best-known artworks, Wheatfield with Crows. The painting is on display in The Van Gogh Museum in...

Heather Johnson 17 September 2023

Masterpiece Stories

Gustav Klimt’s Last Painting – Lady with a Fan

Since its creation, at the end of Gustav Klimt’s life, Lady with a Fan was controversial. The piece was shown to the public only three times,...

Giordana Goretti 17 September 2023

discarding image: Rothschild Canticles, Flanders, c. 1300 Medieval Art

The Best of Discarding Images

During the Middle Ages, illuminated manuscripts were first used in the Roman Catholic Church for liturgical services and prayers. The popularity of...

Anna Ingram 15 September 2023

Bizarre

Top 10 Strange and Bizarre Paintings

For every picturesque painting, there is at least one strange and bizarre counterpart. We usually gloss over the oddities, because, well, they’re...

Abreeza Thomas 15 September 2023

Dine & Wine

Meet Asparagus, The King of Vegetables! Not Just for Vegetarians

The season for asparagus is very short as it starts around the 23rd of April (St George’s Day) and lasts only until June. Its special qualities and...

Magda Michalska 15 September 2023