A global, interconnected world is not as recent as we think.
These works of art all demonstrate cross-cultural relationships.
All content | across cultures
Alejo Fernández, Virgin of the Navigators
Mary offers solace and protection to those individuals directly involved in colonization and evangelization
Different Places: Japanese porcelain with English gilt-bronze mounts
The entire trip halfway around the world from Japan, of about 20,000 miles (32,000 kilometers), would have taken over a year.
Across cultures, an introduction
Long before our global world, works of art often demonstrate rich interaction across cultures.
At the crossroads of Eastern and Western Christianity: the church of St. Nicholas
A church painted inside and out, at the crossroads of the (Eastern) late Byzantine and the (Western) late Medieval worlds.
The Medici collect the Americas
After Columbus landed on Hispaniola in 1492, items from the Americas were shipped to Europe where they were perceived as exotic items of wonder and fascination.
Altneushul, Prague
The Gothic forms used in churches are also employed here, but have been adapted to meet Jewish needs and traditions.
Mohammed ibn al-Zain, Basin (Baptistère de Saint Louis)
How did this object created by a Mamluk artisan come to be used for the baptism of French royal babies?
The David Vases
The blue cobalt glaze that seems so typical of Chinese porcelain actually comes from present-day Iran.
African art and the effects of European contact and colonization
Arts practices on the African continent have evolved both independently of and in response to European imperialism.
Kilwa Kisiwani, Tanzania
This island’s architecture attests to its long and tumultuous history of wealth, power, exchange, and conquest.
Hagia Sophia as a mosque
The Ottoman Turks turned this Byzantine church into a mosque, but a few adaptations to the space were necessary.
The manuscripts of Luis de Carvajal
The Carjavals converted to Christianity but practiced Judaism in secret, even after immigrating to Mexico.
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