Visual Arts Story Briefs

What does it mean when we say "art is in the eye of the beholder?" How have artists' subjects changed over the centuries? This collection features diverse art forms (from ancient mosaics to modern cubism).

A moralisée, popular in the medieval era, is a pictorial Bible in which Biblical events and their “moralizations” are presented in ...

Ferdinand Knab, a 19th-century German painter, created artistic images of some of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

This drawing might seem a bit simplistic because it merely describes the main parts of a much-more complicated object. What we see here are the main p...

A Caliph, called Omar, allegedly wrote "The Covenant of Peace," directed to Christians living in Jerusalem.

Using unexpected strategy, American generals surprise the British military and turn the tide of the Revolutionary War.

Mexico's independence began with an event called "The Cry of Dolores" when a priest challenged his parishioners: "Will you free yourselves?"

As Dante and Virgil reach the City of Dis, they see the flaming towers of a city seemingly on fire. Inhabitants of Dis wonder how these two individual...

Danzig, a city in German-controlled Prussia during WWII—and now, as Gdansk, part of Poland—was particularly damaged during the war.Hitler ...

Scientists have mapped-out the octopus genome! A villain in "Penguins of Madagascar," Dave is an octopus who changes form. A very intelligent inverteb...

Elizabeth Shoumatoff (1888-1980) was painting President Roosevelt's portrait at his Little White House, in Warm Springs, on the 12th of April, 1945. T...

In the summer of 451 AD, the Roman general Aetius assembled a military force to resist the advances of Attila the Hun. Theodoric, King of the Visigoth...

This image depicts a page from the "Deeds of Alexander the Great" (Alexandri Magni Historia) also known as Manuscript (Cod. Lat. 161).  This impo...

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