Image title: The Head of the Virgin in Three-Quarter View Facing Right Medium: Black chalk, charcoal, and red chalk, with some traces of white chalk (?); some remains of framing lines in pen and brown ink at upper right (not by Leonardo) Date: 1510–13 Source: The Met Collection “ Read more…
Image title: Paris Medium: Bronze, partially fire-gilt, silver inlay Date: ca. 1518–1524 Source: The Met Collection “ The attempt to combine wisdom and power has only rarely been successful and then only for a short while. ” — Albert Einstein The Bronze Dilemma: Why Ancient Sculptures Rarely Survive Read more…
Image title: The Jabach Family Medium: Oil on canvas Date: ca. 1660 Source: The Met Collection “ It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped. ” — Tony Robbins The Celestial Brush: How Astronomy Shaped Sacred Indian Miniatures Introduction: A Universe on Canvas In Read more…
Image title: The Musicians Medium: Oil on canvas Date: 1597 Source: The Met Collection “ The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion. ” — Thomas Paine ‘Oil is My Weapon’: Caravaggio’s Guerrilla Realism Explained Introduction: The Rebel with Read more…
Image title: Portal from the Church of San Leonardo al Frigido Medium: Marble (Carrara marble) Date: ca. 1175 Source: The Met Collection “ The secret of getting ahead is getting started. ” — Mark Twain Melted Stone: The Secret History of Softness in Sculpture Introduction: When Stone Breathes Read more…
Image title: The Fortune-Teller Medium: Oil on canvas Date: probably 1630s Source: The Met Collection “ Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it. ” — Ralph Waldo Emerson The Communist Palette: Color Theory Behind the Iron Curtain Introduction: Beyond the Greyscale of Ideology Read more…
Image title: Virgin and Child Medium: Oil on wood Date: ca. 1455–60 Source: The Met Collection “ Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. ” — William Shakespeare “Failed” Masters: Why Some Renaissance Artists Fell from Grace—And Read more…
Image title: The Harvesters Medium: Oil on wood Date: 1565 Source: The Met Collection “ That old law about ‘an eye for an eye’ leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing. ” — Martin Luther King Jr. Eyes That Kill: The Dangerous Iconography Read more…
Image title: The Crucifixion; The Last Judgment Medium: Oil on canvas, transferred from wood Date: ca. 1436–38 Source: The Met Collection “ The cause is hidden. The effect is visible to all. ” — Ovid The Unseen Studio: Unearthing the Hidden Labor Behind Masterpieces Introduction: Shadows Behind the Read more…
Image title: ”Abiding nowhere, the awakened mind arises” Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper Date: early to mid-14th century Source: The Met Collection “ One that desires to excel should endeavor in those things that are in themselves most excellent. ” — Epictetus Ink That Moves: Animated Manuscripts in Read more…