Location: tbd

Stupa introductory image, great stupa of Sanchi — A mound of dirt or the body of the Buddha? These sacred sites give practitioners insight into the Four Noble Truths.

The Great Stupa at Sanchi

An Anglo-Saxon princess founded a nunnery in the eel-filled marshy waters of East Anglia; see how it developed during the Middle Ages.

Four styles of English medieval architecture at ...

Raimondi Stele, Chavin de Haunter, Peru, c. 400 B.C.E. — This image is so complex that its features could only be perceived, let alone understood, by the initiated.

Complexity and vision: the Staff God at ...

Ai Weiwei, Remembering — When thousands of schoolchildren died in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Ai Weiwei refused to stay silent.

Ai Weiwei, Remembering and the Politics of ...

Knossos — The archaeological site of Knossos (on the island of Crete) —traditionally called a palace—is the second most popular tourist attraction in all of Greece.

The Palace at Knossos (Crete)

Apollo 11 caves stones — All evidence points to Africa as the origin of our species … is Africa also the birthplace of art?

Apollo 11 Cave Stones

Shore Temple — A temple with three shrines, this majestic complex faces the sea and features a rich sculptural program.

Shore Temple, Mamallapuram

Achilles sacrificing Trojan prisoners to the shade of Patroclus, tablinum of the François Tomb, Vulci (Villa Albani, Rome) — The François Tomb is chock-full of elaborate frescoes with complicated messages we may never fully understand.

The François Tomb

Sao Francisco de Assis, Ouro Preto — Ouro Preto was a remote yet cosmopolitan town where gold supported both artists and architects.

Church of São Francisco de Assis, Ouro ...

The creation of a beloved landmark destroyed a thriving community of African Americans and Irish immigrants.

Seneca Village: the lost history of African ...

Diarna digitally documents endangered Jewish sites—like this historic shrine near Damascus, now razed.

Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue, Jobar (Syria)

Costumbrismo — Stereotypical folkloric scenes were widely circulated, shaping perceptions of Latin America at home and abroad.

Costumbrismo

This tiny book tells the complex story of the conflict between Christians and Jews in the Old and New Worlds.

The manuscripts of Luis de Carvajal

The Kingdom of Chimor was conquered by the Inka, but impressive adobe walls survive in their capital, Chan Chan.

Introduction to the Chimú culture

The beguiling—and tragic—story of the Carvajal family of crypto-Jews, is illuminated by the manuscripts Luis made.

The manuscripts of Luis de Carvajal

The enormous west front of Lincoln Cathedral stacks Gothic lancets over rounded Romanesque arches. Inside, “crazy vaults” render space illegible.

Lincoln Cathedral

Hidden behind a brightly painted, screen-like façade, the medieval musicians of Wells Cathedral played for crowds assembled outside.

Wells Cathedral

Durham Cathedral — Spiral columns, carved zig-zags, round arches—at Durham, the rhythmic Anglo-Norman Romanesque pulses with life.

Durham Cathedral

Descent of the Ganges or Arjuna’s Penance, 7th-8th century, Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu, India — This extraordinary carving is one of the largest relief sculptures in the world. Scholars still debate its meaning.

The Great Relief at Mamallapuram

Mask with Nose Ornament, c. 500 B.C.E.–1600 C.E., gold alloy, 15.5 x 18 cm, Quimbaya © The Trustees of the British Museum. This spectacular hammered mask with a dangling nose ornament would probably have been placed on top of the face of a funerary bundle – the wrapped body of the deceased—transforming him into an ancestor and semi-divine figure. — For centuries Europeans were dazzled by the idea of a lost city of gold in South America… but did it really exist?

Ancient Colombian goldmaking