The Catalan Atlas reveals how one 14th-century Jewish mapmaker understood the political and ethnic realities of his world.
Location Country: France
The Pont du Gard is one of the greatest public works projects spearheaded in the Augustan age.
Pont du Gard
Napoleon masterfully manipulated his image, and this painting meant for Parisian audiences is pure propaganda.
Baron Antoine-Jean Gros, Napoleon Bonaparte Visiting the ...
Delacroix's orientalist fantasy exhibited to great acclaim in the Paris Salon.
Delacroix, Women of Algiers in Their Apartment
The title of the photograph suggests that this image of lines and dots in wavy bands represents a walking soldier. But how?
Marey, Joinville Soldier Walking
On the island of Samothrace, the wind whipped the clothing of this stone goddess of victory.
Nike (Winged Victory) of Samothrace
Géricault’s massive canvas takes its format from history painting, but its subject is ripped from the headlines.
Théodore Géricault, Raft of the Medusa
Above the entrance to Amiens, animated figures and flowing drapery attest to the increasing naturalism of Gothic sculpture in the 13th century.
Amiens Cathedral
Hesse proves that powerful, emotionally charged art doesn't have to be pretty.
The last work of Eva Hesse
This ivory triptych was an object of prayer and a vision of paradise for Byzantine viewers following iconoclasm
A Byzantine vision of Paradise — The ...
Fashion's power to reveal the nuances of political power, gender, and ethnicity.
Fashion and Politics in Franz Xaver Winterhalter’s ...
Delacroix's painting is about much more than the Greek War for Independence—it is a universal statement about the cost of war.
The cost of war: Delacroix, Greece on ...
The painting is an overwhelming and learned piece of artistic propaganda.
Peter Paul Rubens, The Apotheosis of Henry ...
The total or partial destruction of churches by fire was a fairly common occurrence in medieval Europe.
Before the fire: Notre Dame, Paris
Even almost 950 years after its construction was begun, St. Sernin remains a religious structure that awes and inspires the pilgrims who still visit.
Basilica of Saint-Sernin
Francis had great reason to emphasize his wealth and magnanimity. For years he had been at war with the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, a gamble that continued to go poorly for the French king.
The Gallery of Francis I at Fontainebleau ...
Delacroix created dramatic images with an intensity of color and expression that no one else could match.
Eugène Delacroix, an introduction
This mask is a rare document of the Dada movement and an embodiment of the so-called “approximate man.”
Dada’s “Approximate Man”: A Portrait of Tristan ...
Introducing a lavish altarpiece with vibrant images. Exploring the narrative and visual threads that connect its featured stories.
Fit for a duke: Broederlam’s Crucifixion Altarpiece
The most recognizable prehistoric works of art are cave paintings—often located deep within narrow passageways and larger caverns.
Browse Smarthistory images for teaching & learning!
