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Elephant Mask (Bamileke Peoples)
Elephant Mask (Bamileke Peoples)

Members of the Kuosi society express the authority, affluence, and strength of the ruler through masquerade.

Artist, scribe, and poet: Abu Zayd and 12th-century Iranian ceramics
Artist, scribe, and poet: Abu Zayd and 12th-century Iranian ceramics

Poetry is central to this bowl—Persian and Arabic poems encircle the vessel on both its exterior and interior.

Tomb model of a watchtower
Tomb model of a watchtower

Buried in an Eastern Han tomb, this watchtower model represents the ideal world of the tomb occupant's afterlife in miniature.

A Mamluk candlestick base
A Mamluk candlestick base

Mamluk sultan al-Nasir Muhammad's candlestick base exemplifies a new visual language of power that emerged in 14th-century Egypt and Syria.

André Masson, <em>Battle of Fishes</em>
André Masson, Battle of Fishes

The Surrealist interest in chance, subconscious creativity, and metamorphosis of forms can be seen in Masson's Battle of Fishes

Depicting Judaism in a medieval Christian ivory
Depicting Judaism in a medieval Christian ivory

With two figures representing the Church and the Synagogue, this work demonstrates how Carolingians were negotiating the relationship between Christianity and Judaism

Rhod Rothfuss, <em>Yellow Quadrangle</em>
Rhod Rothfuss, Yellow Quadrangle

Rothfuss, an important voice in Latin American modernism, rejects recognizable forms by breaking the frame

The Ardashirnama: a Judeo-Persian manuscript
The Ardashirnama: a Judeo-Persian manuscript

This illuminated manuscript of the Ardashirnama reveals how 17th-century Iranian Jews visually and poetically emphasized their identities as both Iranian and Jewish.

<em>The Prato Haggadah</em>
The Prato Haggadah

This unfinished Hebrew manuscript meant for a Passover ritual helps us understand how medieval manuscripts were made

Joachim Michael Salecker, Cup with cover with Hebrew inscriptions
Joachim Michael Salecker, Cup with cover with Hebrew inscriptions

This ornamented silver cup tells a story about a prominent Jewish man close to rulers and European courts at a time when Jewish life was restricted

In Full Color, Ancient Sculpture Reimagined
In Full Color, Ancient Sculpture Reimagined

Contrary to the white marble of the ancient Mediterranean we see today, the ancient Greeks and Romans painted their statues in vibrant colors

Jacques-Louis David, <em>The Death of Socrates</em>
Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Socrates

What is worth dying for? David draws comparisons between ancient Roman philosopher Socrates and the French Revolution