
Europe: 1300-1800

More than 5 million artworks were produced in 17th-century Holland in the span of about 100 years

Idealized depictions of sugar plantations and African laborers in Dutch-colonial Brazil were popular in the Dutch art market in the 17th century
Painting Brazil for the Dutch art market, ...

Ivory spoons from West Africa were imported into Portugal in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Spoons from West Africa in Renaissance Lisbon

A central dome dominates this space, while greyish-green stone articulates its perfect geometry.
Filippo Brunelleschi, Pazzi Chapel

From Asia to the Netherlands, the Dutch East India Company dominated maritime trade in the 17th and 18th centuries
Model of the Dutch East India Company ...

Titian’s portrait of Isabella is pure artifice—but that does not mean that it is not an accurate portrayal of her.
Titian, Isabella d’Este (Isabella in Black)

Like a social media post, Pisanello's portrait of Leonello d'Este is all a carefully constructed fiction
Pisanello, Leonello d’Este

Cosmè Tura’s Roverella altarpiece, though known to us only in its current fragmentary state, speaks to the vibrancy and sophistication of late fifteenth-century Ferrarese art.
Cosmè Tura, Roverella Altarpiece

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

This willfully forgotten Dutch artist explores how we experience the world around us during the time of the Scientific Revolution
Michaelina Wautier, The Five Senses

This collection of objects speaks to the international mercantile culture and wealth of the Netherlands in the 17th century.
Symbolism and meaning in Dutch still life ...

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
Joachim Michael Salecker, Cup with cover with ...

Mazzoni, one of the foremost terracotta sculptors of Northern Italy during the Renaissance, incarnates clay with the spirit of a living person
Guido Mazzoni, Head of a Man

Diptych of Maarten van Nieuwenhove is one of the most important diptychs of the fifteenth century, both for its innovative subject matter and condition.
Hans Memling, Diptych of Maarten van Nieuwenhove

One of the earliest of its type, these architectural finials would have decorated a Torah, the sacred text of Judaism, and feature dragon-like creatures and bells
Early Dutch Torah Finials

This intimate portrait of Rembrandt's friend and his collection also hints at the city of Amsterdam's wealth and global connections at this time
Rembrandt, Abraham Francen

The courts of renaissance Italy glittered with splendor.
The Italian renaissance court artist

The surviving decorations of Schifanoia offer modern viewers a precious glimpse of the splendorous forms that once adorned the d’Este’s numerous palaces and villas
Sala dei Mesi (Hall of the Months) ...

What is worth dying for? David draws comparisons between ancient Roman philosopher Socrates and the French Revolution
Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Socrates

Mantegna was fascinated by perspective. His radical foreshortening and realism focus attention on Christ’s wounds.