Assyrian kings in the ninth to seventh centuries BC decorated their palaces with masterful relief sculptures that represent a high point of Mesopotamian art, both for their artistic quality and ...

Ancient Iran, historically known as Persia, was the dominant nation of western Asia for over a millennium (about 550 BC–AD 650), with three native dynasties controlling an empire of unprecedented size ...

For nearly 3,000 years a series of kingdoms flourished in ancient Nubia (present-day southern Egypt and northern Sudan). The region was rich in sought-after resources such as gold and ivory and its ...

Manuscripts known as “books of hours” were among the most widely produced and used during the Middle Ages. These decorated prayer books not only structured time for their readers (over a day, a year, ...

The 16 th-century German artist Hans Holbein the Younger created portraits for a wide range of patrons, including scholars, statesmen, and courtiers, in Switzerland and England. Holbein’s drawings and ...

Among their rigorous preparations for eternity, ancient Egyptians developed an intricate set of religious writings to help the deceased achieve a blessed afterlife in union with the solar god Re and ...

Violence was considered a necessary part of life in the Middle Ages (about 500–1500 A.D.). People were surrounded by violence in many forms, including wars, brutal tournaments, and deadly rivalries ...

Renaissance artists transformed the course of western art history by making the nude central to their art. Drawing inspiration from classical sculpture and the study of the live model, these artists ...

Still life derives from the Dutch word stilleven, coined in the 17th century when paintings of objects enjoyed immense popularity throughout Europe. The impetus for this term came as artists created ...

Blue paper has been a popular artist material since the fifteenth century. Crafted from blue rags formed into sheets, this humble material that required expert knowledge to produce and had a profound ...

American photographer André Kertész is one of the most original photographers of the 20th century, often creating unexpected compositions from everyday subjects. Born in Budapest in 1894, he made his ...

In a peripatetic career that spanned five decades, the photographer Felice Beato (1832–1909) covered a wide swath of East Asia. Following in the wake of Britain's vast colonial empire, he was among ...