WTF Art History

Bizarre

Chilling Beauty: Exploring Europe’s Bone Churches

From the ancient period through the 18th century, European Catholics and Orthodox Christians displayed and maintained bones of the deceased to honor...

Julia Bourbois 28 March 2024

Animals

Thomas Gainsborough and His Dog Portraits

Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) was a portrait and landscape painter. During his career, he often painted dogs accompanying his sitters. He always...

Joanna Kaszubowska 26 March 2024

Correggio, Jupiter and Io, 1530, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria. Detail. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: Jupiter and Io by Correggio

Jupiter and Io by Correggio is a masterpiece of the Northern Italian Renaissance. It explores sensual nudity through the lens of a Roman...

James W Singer 24 March 2024

Art State of Mind

Art in the Golden Hour

The golden hour is a brief and awe inspiring moment filled with the most radiant light, intense colors, and deep shadows. For centuries artists have...

Marga Patterson 23 March 2024

Art State of Mind

10 Sunny Beaches in Art

Do you remember the joy of being on the beach? How warm, how sunny, how glorious! If you miss the light and warmth, join us to explore the ten most...

Joanna Kaszubowska 23 March 2024

Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Major’s Marriage Proposal by Pavel Fedotov

When you think of 19th-century Russia, images of Anna Karenina with black furs and white diamonds may come to mind. The lives of the wealthy...

James W Singer 19 March 2024

WTF Art History

The Dark Age of Rome – The Cadaver Synod

In a career that spanned over two decades, Jean-Paul Laurens painted some of French art’s most plaintive historical moments: two young princes...

Guest Author 15 March 2024

Art State of Mind

Florence Welch — A Modern Pre-Raphaelite Muse

We all know Florence Welch, the leader of the indie-rock band Florence + The Machine. And if you don’t, I suggest you find her cosmic music right...

Elizaveta Ermakova 15 March 2024

Dine & Wine

Come Dine with Art History: Famous Feasts in Art

Socrates said that “We eat to live, not live to eat” (although his wife must have thought differently since according to legend she was terribly...

Magda Michalska 13 March 2024

Dine & Wine

Baroque Foodies – Social Media of the Dutch Golden Age

Carefully arranged plates of food surrounded by carefully planned out backgrounds, images with hidden meanings, a snapshot of wealth… What may...

Rachel Witte 13 March 2024

Bizarre

Dante and Virgil in Bouguereau’s Hell

Established by the Academy, the hierarchy of genres and subjects was essential for almost every graduate of École des Beaux-Arts. Throughout the...

Christopher Michaut 9 March 2024

Paintings of Satan. Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Ghosts, Devils, and The King of Hell, 1850. Woodblock print. The British Museum, London, UK. Bizarre

5 Paintings of Satan You Haven’t Seen Before

Paintings of Satan are a recurrent theme in art, ranging from religious portrayals to contemporary interpretations. As the symbolic representation of...

Errika Gerakiti 9 March 2024