When this monumental painting by Delacroix was exhibited at the Paris Salon, it created an instant scandal. The presentation of this work marked an important date in the history of the French...

The architect Andrea Palladio revolutionized the design of human habitations, aspiring to a harmony of architecture and natural environment. The Villa Barbaro represents his ideal, an ideal that has...

The baptismal basin of St. Louis is a surprising work of art. This masterpiece of bronze inlaid with gold and silver was made by Mohammed ibn Al-Zain during the Mamluk sultanate (a dynasty of slave...

The Gladiator was discovered in the 17th century, when the Borghese family ordered excavations of their estates. This remarkable statue, carved from a single block of marble, can be considered one of...

In the desert of Saqqara, south of Cairo, French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette set out on the trail of a lost necropolis: the Serapeum. He found, buried in the sand, a mysterious statue with an...

Shortly before 1789, an eminent group of Enlightenment writers and philosophers led by Diderot commissioned a statue of Voltaire from the renowned sculptor Pigalle. The resulting work—an emaciated...

Pope Julius II invited Michelangelo to Rome in 1505, intending to commission a number of works from the great artist—such as the construction of the papal tomb, which was to be adorned with some...

The vase known as "Suger's Eagle" belonged to the treasury of St. Denis—one of the most remarkable in Christian history. Made from an antique porphyry vase mounted in the shape of an eagle, the vase...