Joan Aruz examines the history and endurance of the Palmyrene people in “Palmyra: Caravan City and Cultural Crossroads.” ...

The Villa dei Papiri was a sumptuous private residence on the Bay of Naples, just outside the Roman town of Herculaneum. Deeply buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, it was rediscovered ...

Michelangelo Buonarroti is recognized as one of the most creative and influential artists in the history of Western art. His most celebrated creations have become icons of world culture: the ...

Ed Ruscha's art is characterized by graphic simplicity, playful humor, and a keen interest in the vernacular as it applies to both language and architecture. This exhibition explores his photography, ...

The nude—the unclothed or partially clothed human body—has been featured in European art for millennia. After 1400, with the waning of the Middle Ages, artists depicted nudes as increasingly ...

The names Albrecht Dürer and Hans Holbein the Younger evoke the dazzling accomplishments of Renaissance panel painting and printmaking, but they may not summon images of stained glass. Nevertheless, ...

The nineteen papers in this volume stem from a symposium that brought together academics, archaeologists, museum curators, conservators, and a practicing marble sculptor to discuss varying approaches ...

Whether connected to grandiose villas or common kitchens, gardens in the Renaissance (about 1400–1600) were planted and treasured by people in all levels of society. Some cultivated gardens for the ...

Ancient Iran, historically known as Persia, was the dominant nation of western Asia for over twelve centuries, with three successive native dynasties—the Achaemenid, the Parthian, and the ...

When Cassas visited Palmyra in 1785, and Vignes nearly 80 years later, they experienced an ancient site that still stirred emotions more than a dozen centuries after its downfall. Positioned at a ...

The Greek philosopher Plato (about 428–347 BC) has had a profound influence on Western culture. His writings, most composed in the form of dialogues led by his teacher Socrates, address fundamental ...

Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Figures 3, 9–17, 22–24, 28, 32, 33, 36, 38, 40, 51, and 54 are reproduced with the ...