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From the elements of art to the great goddess Durga — Smarthistory is adding new content every week.

Prehistoric to contemporary

videos + essays

Diego Antonio de Landaeta, <em>Portrait of Petronila Méndez</em>
Diego Antonio de Landaeta, Portrait of Petronila Méndez

A rare and elaborate child portrait from Venezuela by an Afro-descendant artist.

Motifs and patterns: fundamentals of design vocabulary
Motifs and patterns: fundamentals of design vocabulary

Motifs and patterns are a language of their own, directly connecting the textiles to art history, visual culture, and deeper symbolism

Weaving the landscape: DY Begay’s <em>The Edge</em>
Weaving the landscape: DY Begay’s The Edge

This contemporary tapestry captures the colors and formations of Diné bíkéyah, the land of the Diné people.

Art, Adornment, and Identity in Africa
Art, Adornment, and Identity in Africa

The visual arts have helped, and continue to help, individuals establish frameworks for negotiating and defining identity on the African continent.

Rachel Ruysch, <em>Fruit and Insects</em>
Rachel Ruysch, Fruit and Insects

No wonder Ruysch treats each element of this still life like a scientific specimen—her father preserved insects.

Stefan Lochner, <em>Madonna of the Rose Bower</em>
Stefan Lochner, Madonna of the Rose Bower

The overriding quality of Lochner's Madonna of the Rose Bower is an intense sweetness.

Vicente Albán, Quito series
Vicente Albán, Quito series

Vicente Albán’s series of paintings seeks to define Quito’s population as distinct racial types, all set against a lush natural landscape.

John Choate, Boarding School Portraits of Tom Torlino
John Choate, Boarding School Portraits of Tom Torlino

Indigenous students at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School were photographed "before and after" forced assimilation.

Mahmoud Hammad, <em>Arabic Writing no. 11</em>
Mahmoud Hammad, Arabic Writing no. 11

Hammad manipulates the texture, color, and spatial ratios of Arabic words to the point of abstracted illegibility.

A Qur’an manuscript from coastal East Africa
A Qur’an manuscript from coastal East Africa

A rare example of a style of illuminated Qur’an produced in coastal East Africa on Pate Island.

Carlos Julião, “Black Kings and Queens”
Carlos Julião, “Black Kings and Queens”

Black kings and queens, accompanied by attendants and musicians, paraded through the streets during festivals in colonial Brazil.

Gentile Bellini and Giovanni Bellini, <em>Saint Mark Preaching in Alexandria</em>
Gentile Bellini and Giovanni Bellini, Saint Mark Preaching in Alexandria

Bellini imagines Saint Mark preaching in a collage of different times and places: ancient Alexandria, 16th-century Venice, and the Ottoman Empire.