videos + essays
![Botticelli, <em>Portrait of a Man with a Medal of Cosimo il Vecchio de’ Medici</em>](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/botticelli-portrait-medal-grid-570x350.jpg)
Botticelli, Portrait of a Man with a Medal of Cosimo il Vecchio de’ Medici
Touch an artwork? Sandro Botticelli’s Portrait of a Man with a Medal helped viewers to think about touch and physical experience.
![Donatello, <em>Equestrian Monument of Gattamelata</em>](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/donatelloequestrianmonumentofgattamelata-thumb-570x350.jpg)
Donatello, Equestrian Monument of Gattamelata
The secrets of large-scale casting were lost for a thousand years, but bronze horses were no sweat for Donatello.
![Fra Fillippo Lippi, <em>Portrait of a Man and Woman at a Casement</em>](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Lippi-Portrait-of-a-woman-thumb-570x350.jpg)
Fra Fillippo Lippi, Portrait of a Man and Woman at a Casement
Who said beauty is skin deep? In the Renaissance, good looks and pale skin signaled interior virtue and purity.
![Raphael, Portrait of Pope Julius II](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Raphael-Pope_Julius_II-thumb-570x350.jpg)
Raphael, Portrait of Pope Julius II
A florin for your thoughts, Pope. As the aging patron sits musing, he clenches his teeth and grips a handkerchief.
![Leonardo, <em>Mona Lisa</em>](https://smarthistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Mona-Lisa.png)
Leonardo, Mona Lisa
Seductive—or maternal? Smiling—or just smug? Sure, we all know this woman, but we’ve yet to figure her out.