With a complex, multi-figure composition, this monumental sculpture captures a moment from ancient Roman history.
Violence + war
Was it a diplomatic gift? Is it even a Rubens? Many questions surround this work; technical analysis can help.
Peter Paul Rubens, Venus, Mars and Cupid
In style and story, this rigorously organized canvas looked back to antiquity; it soon became an icon of Revolution.
Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the Horatii
Intentionally buried as part of an elaborate ritual, this ornate object tells us so much, but also too little.
Standard of Ur
Japanese objects came through Mexico on their way to Spain, and had a lasting impact on the arts of the New World.
Screen with the Siege of Belgrade and ...
A powerful accumulation of names is inscribed on slabs of reflective stone that cuts into the earth on the Mall.
Maya Lin, Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Romans fight barbarians on this chaotic coffin, which shows signs of a turn in artistic trends.
Battle of the Romans and Barbarians (Ludovisi ...
Sources tell us that painting was the Greek’s finest art form: is this a hint at what we’re missing?
Alexander Mosaic from the House of the ...
Time collapses in this ambitious painting. As the Greeks battle the Persians, the West fends off the Ottoman East.
Albrecht Altdorfer, The Battle of Issus
Representing women who entered the workforce during WWII, Rosie is strong, determined, and eating a ham sandwich.
Norman Rockwell, Rosie the Riveter
Such a gruesome act; such a passive woman. But is she really so refined? With Cranach, meaning is never clear-cut.
Lucas Cranach the Elder, Judith with the ...
The artist completed this sculpture during World War I, shortly before he died.
Raymond Duchamp-Villon, Horse
This energetic painting captures the horror of war, from its overwhelming hopelessness to its cultural costs.
Peter Paul Rubens, The Consequences of War
Trajan expanded the Roman Empire to its greatest extent, celebrating his victories with this monumental column.
Column of Trajan
Painted in front of MOMA visitors in 1940 as WWII waged on, Orozco’s mural depicts the triumph of war over humanity.
José Clemente Orozco, Dive Bomber and Tank
Kirchner is rendered unable to create or destroy in this nightmarish wartime painting.
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Self-Portrait As a Soldier
Cowboys of the Apocalypse? It may be black and white, but this woodcut has all the color of a Hollywood Western.
Albrecht Dürer, The Four Horsemen of the ...
When Rodin received the commission for this monument in Calais, he was expected to produce one figure—not six.
Auguste Rodin, The Burghers of Calais
Roll up your sleeves, things are about to get bloody! This beheading is vivid, immediate, and physical.