This painting blends deep piety with scientific observation. Both its architecture and figures were radically new.
A-Level: Identity – the Divine
Holding on to pagan traditions in the early Christian era
The Symmachi Panel
Mary cries and falls into John’s arms. Rogier’s precise observations accentuate the emotional impact of this scene.
Rogier van der Weyden, The Crucifixion, with ...
This exquisite example of a Goryeo Buddhist painting depicts the bodhisattva on his mountain-island abode.
Water-Moon Avalokiteśvara
The sculptor Martínez Montañés was the “God of Wood,” but it’s the painter Pacheco who brought this work to life.
Juan Martínez Montañés and Francisco Pacheco, Christ ...
This boyish bodhisattva reminds us that through humble bearing, we can spiritually blossom—like a lotus flower.
Jizō Bosatsu
Capable of being male or female, the Earth Lord Tlaltecuhtli is shown here as a woman who has given birth.
Monolith of Tlaltecuhtli (Earth Lord)
This Mexica water goddess was believed to have presided over the fourth, or most recent, sun.
Stone kneeling figure of Chalchiuhtlicue
This vessel represents the goggle-eyed deity associated with rain and crops, critical for the agricultural Aztecs.
Tlaloc vessel
Cabrera fancied himself the Michelangelo of Mexico, but chose to borrow the format and iconography of Rubens.
Miguel Cabrera, Virgin of the Apocalypse
The Yup’ik peoples, in one of the world’s coldest climates, made these ceremonial masks during the long winters.
North Wind Mask
Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, emerges from her bath, but what did her nudity mean to the Greeks?
Capitoline Venus (copy of the Aphrodite of ...
Zero in on the beautiful passages of line in this print—and witness the artist at work.
Rembrandt, Christ Crucified between the Two Thieves: ...
Faded though it is, this tapestry retains its breathtaking illusionism: veins pop, wine flows, and hair curls.
Bernard van Orley and Pieter de Pannemaker, ...
Cupid, chubby and quietly sleeping, is a common symbol today … but what did this sculpture mean to ancient Greeks?
Bronze statue of Eros sleeping
The size and solidity of this Virgin and Christ reaffirmed the power of images in the wake of Byzantine iconoclasm.
Theotokos mosaic, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
This bronze god sank to the bottom of the sea where he sat for millennia, but who is he and what can he tell us?
Artemision Zeus or Poseidon
Here, everything is askew. Form dissolves as Tintoretto unites Florentine line with Venetian color.
Jacopo Tintoretto, Last Supper
Monumental figures like these apostles hadn’t been seen since ancient Rome. What sensitivity to rhythm and color!
Pietro Cavallini, The Last Judgment
Straight from the monster’s mouth! Christ leads the way as Adam and Eve escape the jaws of Hell.