Long reads

Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of Henry VIII of England, ca. 1537, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain.

History

Royal Portraits: The Art of Image

Shakespeare once wrote, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” For monarchs...

Abreeza Thomas 17 February 2025

Women Artists

Maria Sibylla Merian—An Artist Who Changed Science Forever

In the 17th century, it has been widely believed that insects were just spontaneously born of mud, dirt, or rotting flesh, but that notion has been...

Nicole Ganbold 11 February 2025

Academic Art

Constructing Racism in Western Art – Hans Makart and the Case of Cleopatra

When Netflix cast Black actress Adele James as Cleopatra in a docu-series on the life of the famous Egyptian queen, the world went viral in a heated...

Kero Fichter 10 February 2025

Painting

Johannes Vermeer in 10 Paintings

Johannes Vermeer was one of the masters of the Dutch Golden Age. He was born in Delft, Netherlands, in 1632 and died there at age 43, apparently...

Tom Anderson 6 February 2025

Asian Art

Dragons in East Asian Art

Imagination is the only limit to the stories and myths about dragons. From East to West, storytellers paint them as creatures of fire, of deep...

Yifan Xia 29 January 2025

Asian Art

Edo Period in 10 Words and 4 Schools of Painting

Edo period in Japan lasted from 1603 to 1867/1868. During this time the country was ruled by the Tokugawa shogunate. Those 250 years were a time of...

Joanna Kaszubowska 28 January 2025

European Art

Did Pieter Bruegel Play Dice? The Story of Seemingly Insignificant Detail

Pieter Bruegel The Elder was a prominent Flemish painter of the 16th century, famed for his vivid, often humorous depictions of peasant life and...

Guest Profile 27 January 2025

Paris Salon. Alexandre Jean-Baptiste Brun, View of the Salon Carré at the Louvre, ca. 1880, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France.

Art History 101

Paris Salon: 101 on France’s First Public Exhibition

If you were an artist in the 19th century, you probably dreamed of having your painting in the Paris Salon. Simply put, this exhibition was the most...

Jimena Escoto 24 January 2025