The Diwali Festival Through Art
Diwali or Deepawali is an ancient festival and arguably the most important of all Hindu holidays. It is the third day of a five-day-long celebration...
Maya M. Tola 24 October 2022
#religious art
The Wonder and Glory of Medieval Portable Shrines
For devoted Christians, a portable shrine provided an immediate and intimate way to connect to a higher power within a monastic space or the privacy...
Marga Patterson 3 October 2022
Everything You Need to Know About Plautilla Nelli
Sister Plautilla was a Florentine nun and artist who lived in the 16th-century Italy. After centuries of neglect, her work is finally being...
Vithória Konzen Dill 28 September 2022
Art Travels: Beng Mealea in Cambodia
The Beng Mealea is a large and mysterious temple in the remote Cambodian countryside – about 25 miles from the main Angkor region near the stone...
Maya M. Tola 20 September 2022
Sacred Signs – Prehistoric Sculpture
It seems that forming figurative shapes out of natural materials has always been with us. As humans developed, a bigger, more sophisticated brain...
Candy Bedworth 12 September 2022
Baltasar de Echave Ibía and Masterpieces in Blue
Baltasar de Echave Ibía was a renowned Novohispanic painter from the 17th century. In fact, he belonged to an artistic dynasty. Yet, he managed to...
Jimena Escoto 23 August 2022
More than a Stone. Representation of the Kaaba by Hamra Abbas
The 17th century world map from an Ottoman book on the discovery of the Americas Tarih-i Hind-i Garbi (History of the West Indies) points to Mecca...
Magda Michalska 7 August 2022
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
4 Mosques and Their Unique Histories
Islamic architecture is well-known for spacious courtyards, colorful wall paintings, and tiles with incredible patterns. The history of many mosques...
Magda Michalska, Aniela Rybak-Vaganay 28 March 2022
An Instant Becomes Eternity: Nuns’ Profession Portraits in the 18th Century New Spain
At the beginning of the 18th century in New Spain (colonial Mexico), portraits of local elites became an essential genre. In a society with a strong...
Wen Gu 3 March 2022
Faith and Art: The Religious Art of William Hole
I invite you to take a closer look at a great Scottish etcher, muralist, and illustrator, William Hole (1846-1917) whom I discovered by chance when I...
Guest Profile 20 December 2021
Man, Woman or Both? Meet Akhenaten, the Only Androgynous Pharaoh
If you thought that ancient Egypt had always been only about a large pantheon of gods, solid and emotionless sculptures, and masculine pharaohs, have...
Magda Michalska 20 November 2021
