From the elements of art to the great goddess Durga — Smarthistory is adding new content every week.
Prehistoric to contemporary
videos + essays
Man and centaur
Crafted in the Geometric period, this sculpture would have been offered to a god at an ancient Greek sanctuary.
Anthonis Mor, Portrait of Mary Tudor
Queen of England and Ireland, Mary I's courage, iron will, and brutal impatience are captured in this likeness.
Ilana Savdie, Thirty-Seven Counts and Trismus
Abstracted human, animal, and parasitic forms create both an alluring and grotesque image.
Song Dong, Waste Not
Meticulously arranged possessions offer an intimate look at the life of Song Dong's mother.
Moldovița Monastery, Romania
Local church architecture in Moldavia developed at the crossroads of Latin, Greek, and Slavic traditions.
Andres Serrano, Piss Christ
The sacred and profane come together in Serrano's polarizing photograph.
Congo Square, New Orleans
From the 18th–19th centuries, Black Americans gathered in Congo Square to socialize, play music, and dance.
Gilbert Stuart, The Skater
Depicting his subject in motion was a departure from the norm, making this painting the talk of the town.
The beginnings of Cairo, the city victorious
Now a bustling metropolis, Cairo was once the imperial city for the Fatimid caliphs and their entourage.
Thomas Cole, The Voyage of Life
Cole’s extraordinary series chronicles each stage of human life: childhood, youth, manhood, and old age.
George Inness, The Lackawanna Valley
Inness captures a tension between industrial progress and its effect on the American landscape.
J.M.W. Turner, Snowstorm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps
Turner’s sublime landscape relates to the ancient past to his 19th-century present.
