Masterpiece Stories

Baroque

The Veiled Christ: Art or Alchemy?

In the nave of the Sansevero Chapel in Naples there is a unique sculpture depicting Jesus after the crucifixion. His body is covered with a thin...

Rachel Istvan 3 August 2022

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Cupid and Psyche by Antonio Canova

A true gem of virtuosity, Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss is a marble sculpture made between 1787 and 1793 by Antonio Canova. The sculptor...

Montaine Dumont 3 August 2022

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 3 August 2022

Architecture

Aubette: Neoplasticist Gesamtkunstwerk in Strasbourg

Have you ever visited Strasbourg in Alsace, France? It’s a charming city full of picturesque narrow and tiny houses scattered along the canals.

Magda Michalska 2 August 2022

Chambri People, Ancestor Mask, early 20th century, wood and natural pigments, Ceremonial House, Chambri Lake Village, Papua New Guinea, Musée du quai Branly, Paris, France. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Chambri People’s Ancestor Mask

Ancestor Mask is a masterpiece of Papua New Guinean art. It symbolizes a vanishing tribal lifestyle rarely seen outside of...

James W Singer 1 August 2022

Sculpture

Masterpiece Story: Molecule Man by Jonathan Borofsky

Jonathan Borofsky’s monumental aluminum sculpture, Molecule Man, towers over the Berlin skyline at 30 meters (100 feet). Standing in a region...

Nadine Waldmann 26 July 2022

Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Conscript’s Farewell, 1854, Leopold Museum, Vienna, Austria. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Conscript’s Farewell by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller

Conscript’s Farewell is a masterpiece by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller. It explores a family’s reaction to the conscription of their beloved...

James W Singer 18 July 2022

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Tamara de Lempicka’s Autoportrait (Tamara in a Green Bugatti)

Heralded as one of the greatest Polish artists of all time, Tamara de Lempicka (1898-1980) painted the aristocracy in France and the United States in...

Isabella Hill 11 July 2022

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Death and Life by Gustav Klimt

Death has been a fascinating theme for artists since the beginning of time. It was imagined as a personified force, also known as the Grim Reaper, a...

Zuzanna Stańska 11 July 2022

Muisca Raft, ca 600-1600, gold, Museo del Oro, Bogotá, Colombia. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Muisca Raft

The Muisca Raft is a masterpiece of Pre-Columbian art. It was created by the Muisca people who lived in a region of today’s Colombia. Muisca...

James W Singer 30 June 2022

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault

Théodore Géricault completed The Raft of the Medusa when he was 27, and the work has become an icon of French Romanticism. It is a direct precursor...

Clinton Pittman 27 June 2022

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: A Bigger Splash by David Hockney

David Hockney is one of Britain’s most well-known and influential artists. His iconic style is instantly recognizable. As you hunch over your...

Candy Bedworth 26 June 2022