Explore the past, understand the present, and inspire the future.

Image title: Mars and Venus United by Love Medium: Oil on canvas Date: 1570s Source: The Met Collection   “ Radiate boundless love towards the entire world — above, below, and across — unhindered, without ill will, without enmity. ” — The Buddha Afterimages of War: Painting Trauma Across Cultures   Introduction: A Canvas for Collective Memory The history of war is also a history of its aftershocks, reverberating through the minds of survivors and Read more…

Image title: The Holy Family with the Young Saint John the Baptist Medium: Oil on wood Date: ca. 1528 Source: The Met Collection   “ Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live. ” — Dorothy Thompson Virtual Museology: What Happens When Masterpieces Live Only in VR?   Introduction: A New Canvas Once, a journey to marvel at Rembrandt’s brushwork or to stand in awe before Michelangelo’s sculpted David required pilgrimage—physical Read more…

Image title: The Brioche Medium: Oil on canvas Date: 1870 Source: The Met Collection   “ All is flux; nothing stays still. ” — Heraclitus Paint What You Eat: Culinary Still Lifes from Uncolonized Perspectives   Introduction: A New Appetite for Still Life Still life painting often evokes images of gleaming grapes, porcelain bowls, and Dutch cheese delicately arranged on a linen-covered table. These works, steeped in European artistic tradition, reflect prosperity, trade, and imperial Read more…

Image title: Equestrian Portrait of Cornelis (1639–1680) and Michiel Pompe van Meerdervoort (1638–1653) with Their Tutor and Coachman Medium: Oil on canvas Date: ca. 1652–53 Source: The Met Collection   “ The art challenges the technology, and the technology inspires the art. ” — John Lasseter ‘Land Art’ on Mars? Speculative Futures for Art Beyond Earth   Chapter 1: From Earth to Orbit – A New Canvas Emerges Art has long mirrored the environments in Read more…

Image title: Ia Orana Maria (Hail Mary) Medium: Oil on canvas Date: 1891 Source: The Met Collection   “ Neatness begets order; but from order to taste there is the same difference as from taste to genius, or from love to friendship. ” — Johann Kaspar Lavater Tattooed Icons: Body Art as Visual Protest from Polynesia to Punk   Introduction: Skin as Canvas, Skin as Voice For millennia, the human body has served not only Read more…

Image title: The Adoration of the Magi Medium: Distemper on canvas Date: 1472–74 Source: The Met Collection   “ The art challenges the technology, and the technology inspires the art. ” — John Lasseter Tattooed Saints and Painted Shamans: Body Art as Sacred Symbolism Across Cultures   Introduction: The Canvas of the Divine From cave walls to cathedrals, humans have always used visual art to converse with the sacred. Yet one of the oldest and Read more…