The Arts Story Briefs

Visual and Musical Arts bring beauty into our lives. These stories explore and reveal the inspiration behind great artworks, the challenges to create them and their impact on the world.

Guido Reni created a painting—The Abduction of Helen—in 1631. There is more to this painting than meets the eye of today’s beholders.

Abu Bakr al Baghdadi leads insurgents called ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) and/or IS (Islamic State). Does his name have a special meaning?

During the 14th-century plague epidemic in Europe, Jews are accused of having something to do with spreading the "Black Death." In Strasbourg, residen...

Ansel Adams, one of America's greatest photographers, started his professional life as a pianist. What made him decide to switch profressions?

A famous statue of the Greek goddess, Athena Parthenos, is now lost. The work, by Pheidias, once graced the Parthenon in Athens.

Dante Alighieri's Inferno, part of his "Divine Comedy," is a place where Virgil accompanies Dante as they see individuals who were characterized by av...

The Irish Rebellion of 1798 - when the United Irishmen attempted to free their country of British rule - ultimately did not succeed.

A significant battle, between the Spanish and English fleets, took place off Gravelines in August of 1588.  Today, Gravelines is part of France.&...

Robert Adams created this map, "Expeditions of the Spanish in England," during 1590.

Although beautiful, this famous painting inaccurately depicts how the sea met the land at the time of the famous battle at Thermopylae.

It is said that when Beethovens Ninth Symphony premiered in Vienna (on the 7th of May, 1824), the deaf maestro kept conducting even after the audience...

Leonard Bernstein's 100th birthday is August 24, 2018. In 1954, a young Leonard Bernstein makes his first television appearance as he explains (and il...

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