Art from every continent, prehistoric to today— interpreted by leading scholars

Donatello, David, date unknown but likely late 1430s–1440s, 158 cm high (Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence)

Donatello, David Video and Essay by Dr. Heather Graham

Video Video Essay Essay

  Published December 18, 2025

Nicolas Poussin, The Holy Family on the Steps, 1648, oil on canvas, 73.3 x 105.8 cm (Cleveland Museum of Art; photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Nicolas Poussin, The Holy Family on the Steps Essay by Dr. Letha Ch'ien

Essay Essay

  Published December 18, 2025

Merovingian Looped Fibulae, 6th century, silver, gold, glass, stone, and garnet? (National Archaeological Museum, Saint-Germain-en-Laye)

Merovingian Looped Fibulae Video by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

Video Video

  Published December 17, 2025

Gentile Bellini, Procession in Piazza San Marco, c. 1496, tempera on canvas, 373 x 745 cm (Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice; photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Gentile Bellini, Procession in Piazza San Marco Essay by Dr. Letha Ch'ien

Essay Essay

  Published December 17, 2025

The Neonian Baptistry, Ravenna, 4th–5th century C.E.

The Neonian Baptistry, Ravenna Video by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

Video Video

  Published December 16, 2025

Folio 66 verso, The Rutland Psalter, c. 1260 (The British Library, London, MS 62925)

Marginalia in the Rutland Psalter Essay by Dr. Betsy Chunko-Dominguez

Essay Essay

  Published December 16, 2025

The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, 425 C.E., Ravenna, Italy

The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia Video by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

Video Video

  Published December 12, 2025

Maruyama Ōkyo, Geese Over a Beach, 18th century (Japan), ink on paper, 176.7 x 372 cm (Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1898.143, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Washington, D.C.)

Maruyama Ōkyo, Geese Over a Beach Video by Dr. Frank Feltens, Dr. Steven Zucker and National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution

Video Video

  Published December 9, 2025

Bowl with Courtly and Astrological Motifs, late 12th–early 13th century (Central or Northern Iran), stonepaste, polychrome inglaze and overglaze painted and gilded on opaque monochrome glaze, 9.5 x 18.7 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

Minaʾi Bowl with Courtly and Astrological Motifs Video by Dr. Ariel Fein and Dr. Steven Zucker

Video Video

  Published December 5, 2025

Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Leaving My Reservation to Go to Ottawa and Fight for a New Constitution, 1985, acrylic on canvas, 246.4 x 169.55 cm (Art Bridges Foundation) © Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun

Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Leaving My Reservation to Go to Ottawa and Fight for a New Constitution Video by Julia Mun, Assistant Curator, Art Bridges Foundation and Dr. Beth Harris

Video Video

  Published December 5, 2025

Donatello, David, date unknown but likely late 1430s–1440s, 158 cm high (Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence)

Donatello, David Video and Essay by Dr. Heather Graham

Video Video Essay Essay

  Published December 18, 2025

Nicolas Poussin, The Holy Family on the Steps, 1648, oil on canvas, 73.3 x 105.8 cm (Cleveland Museum of Art; photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Nicolas Poussin, The Holy Family on the Steps Essay by Dr. Letha Ch'ien

Essay Essay

  Published December 18, 2025

Merovingian Looped Fibulae, 6th century, silver, gold, glass, stone, and garnet? (National Archaeological Museum, Saint-Germain-en-Laye)

Merovingian Looped Fibulae Video by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

Video Video

  Published December 17, 2025

Gentile Bellini, Procession in Piazza San Marco, c. 1496, tempera on canvas, 373 x 745 cm (Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice; photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Gentile Bellini, Procession in Piazza San Marco Essay by Dr. Letha Ch'ien

Essay Essay

  Published December 17, 2025

The Neonian Baptistry, Ravenna, 4th–5th century C.E.

The Neonian Baptistry, Ravenna Video by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

Video Video

  Published December 16, 2025

Folio 66 verso, The Rutland Psalter, c. 1260 (The British Library, London, MS 62925)

Marginalia in the Rutland Psalter Essay by Dr. Betsy Chunko-Dominguez

Essay Essay

  Published December 16, 2025

The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, 425 C.E., Ravenna, Italy

The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia Video by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

Video Video

  Published December 12, 2025

Maruyama Ōkyo, Geese Over a Beach, 18th century (Japan), ink on paper, 176.7 x 372 cm (Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1898.143, National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, Washington, D.C.)

Maruyama Ōkyo, Geese Over a Beach Video by Dr. Frank Feltens, Dr. Steven Zucker and National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution

Video Video

  Published December 9, 2025

Bowl with Courtly and Astrological Motifs, late 12th–early 13th century (Central or Northern Iran), stonepaste, polychrome inglaze and overglaze painted and gilded on opaque monochrome glaze, 9.5 x 18.7 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

Minaʾi Bowl with Courtly and Astrological Motifs Video by Dr. Ariel Fein and Dr. Steven Zucker

Video Video

  Published December 5, 2025

Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Leaving My Reservation to Go to Ottawa and Fight for a New Constitution, 1985, acrylic on canvas, 246.4 x 169.55 cm (Art Bridges Foundation) © Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun

Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Leaving My Reservation to Go to Ottawa and Fight for a New Constitution Video by Julia Mun, Assistant Curator, Art Bridges Foundation and Dr. Beth Harris

Video Video

  Published December 5, 2025

极速赛车168官网实时开奖查询

See All Newly Published

With more than 850 contributing scholars and recommended by more than 600 universities, museums, and libraries, Smarthistory is trusted by millions around the world.

About Smarthistory

We've partnered with...

Musea Brugge logo

See All

极速168当天福彩体彩赛果公布

Museum-goers looking at Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1880–81, oil on canvas, 51.25 x 69.13 inches (The Phillips Collection; photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

The Basics of Art History
Standing Bodhisattva Maitreya (Buddha of the Future), 3rd century C.E., Pakistan (ancient region of Gandhara), gray schist, 163.2 x 53.3 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

The Basics of Religion in Art
King Menkaura (Mycerinus) and queen (Old Kingdom, Dynasty 4), 2490–2472 B.C.E. (Menkaura Valley Temple, Giza, Egypt), greywacke, 142.2 x 57.1 x 55.2 cm, 676.8 kg (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

World Art History Syllabus
Frontispiece, Codex Mendoza, c. 1541–42 (Viceroyalty of New Spain), pigment on paper (Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford)

AP®︎ Art History
Polykleitos, Doryphoros (Spear-Bearer) or The Canon, c. 450–440 B.C.E., ancient Roman marble copy found in Pompeii of the lost bronze original, 211 cm high (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli)

Prehistory to the Middle Ages: the Mediterranean Syllabus
Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights, 1490–1500, oil on oak panels (triptych), 185.8 cm high, central panel 172.5 cm wide, wings 76.5 cm wide (Museo del Prado, Madrid)

Renaissance to the Modern Era: Europe Syllabus
The Erechtheion, 421–405 B.C.E. (Classical Greek), Acropolis, Athens (photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Ancient Greek Art and Architecture Syllabus
Bifolium from the Pink Qur’an, 13th century (Spain), ink, gold, silver, and opaque watercolor on paper, 31.8 x 50.2 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

Medieval and Byzantine Art and Architecture Syllabus
Antonio de Pereda, Still Life with Ebony Chest, 1652, oil on canvas, 80 x 94 cm (The State Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg)

Art of the Early Modern Period Syllabus (c. 1400–1800)
John Everett Millais, Ophelia, 1851–52, oil on canvas, 76.2 x 111.8 cm (Tate Britain, London)

19th-Century European Art Syllabus
Malick Sidibé, Vues de dos, print 2003, frame 2004, gelatin silver print, glass, paint, cardboard, tape, and string, 36.5 x 27 cm (The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles) © Malick Sidibé

History of Photography Syllabus
Frida Kahlo, The Two Fridas (Las dos Fridas), 1939, oil on canvas, 67-11/16 x 67-11/16 inches (Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City)

Modern Art Syllabus
Wendy Red Star, 1880 Crow Peace Delegation, 2014, inkjet print and red ink on paper, 16 15/16 x 11 15/16 inches ©Wendy Red Star (Portland Art Museum)

Global Contemporary Art Syllabus
Pablo Picasso, Guernica, 1937, oil on canvas, 349 x 776 cm (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) © Estate of Pablo Picasso

A-level History of Art
Sesshu Toyo, Winter Landscape, c. 1470, ink on paper, 18 x 11 1/2 inches (Tokyo National Museum, Japan)

Art Appreciation Syllabus
Shell bursting on the cathedral at Reims, from Collier’s New Photographic History of the World’s War, 1918

ARCHES (At-Risk Cultural Heritage Series)
Gallery view, Gilbert Stuart, The Skater (Portrait of William Grant), 1782, oil on canvas, 245.5 x 147.4 cm (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)

Understanding Museums
Conservation of the Benedetto da Rovezzano, Wolsey Angels, 1524–29, copper (film still: Victoria & Albert Museum, London)

Creating and Conserving
Marie Watt, Companion Species (Speech Bubble), 2019, reclaimed wool blankets, embroidery floss, and thread, 136 5/8 x 198 1/2 inches (Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville; photo: Edward C. Robison III) © Marie Watt

Not your grandfather’s art history
Harry Gamboa Jr., À La Mode, 1976, from the Asco era, performers (l-r): Glugio Gronk Nicandro, Patssi Valdez, Harry Gamboa Jr., printed 2010, chromogenic print, 32.4 x 47.6 cm (Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.) © 1976, Harry Gamboa Jr.

Latinx Futures
Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, State Names, 2000 (Smithsonian American Art Museum)

Seeing America
Hand-colored tintype with cover glass of an unknown Black U.S. soldier, in black thermoplastic case with brass hinges and red velvet liner, c. 1861–65 (Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C.)

The U.S. Civil War in Art
Jan van Eyck, The Virgin and Child with Canon Joris van der Paele, 1436, oil on panel, 148 x 184 cm (Groeningemuseum, Bruges)

Art in Flanders

The Basics

Curated overviews that provide key introductory information

Syllabi

Course content written by subject experts for teachers, students, and independent learners

Thematic Series

Content that explores important topics in art history

Explore by Place

Africa
Asia
Europe
North America
Oceania
South America

Africa

 Circumcision Room at the Topkapı Palace Museum (Istanbul, Turkey)

Asia

 The Cross of Cong (commissioned by Tairdelbach Ua Conchobair king of Connacht and high king of Ireland), 1123, oak core within cast bronze, rock crystal, gold filigree, gilding, silver sheeting, niello and silver inlay, glass, and enamel, 76 x 48 x 3.5 cm (National Museum of Ireland)

Europe

 Detail, Bandolier Bag, Western Great Lakes, late 19th century, broadcloth, wool, cotton, beads, brass buttons

North America

 Fatu Feuʻu, Faʻaola Mo Taeao Conserve for Tomorrow, 1990, oil on canvas, wood, barkcloth, pigment, and ceramic (Feuʻu Marsh Trust collection) © Fatu Feuʻu

Oceania

 Tunic (Wari, Peru), c. 600–850 C.E., wool, cotton (interlocked tapestry weave), 109.9 × 118.1 cm (Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design)

South America

专业预测计划分析免费下载资源

A new kind of text book

See all chapters

Standing male worshipper, 2750–2600 B.C.E., Early Dynastic period II (Sumerian), Excavated at Tell Asmar (ancient Eshnunna), Iraq, alabaster (gypsum), shell, black limestone; 11-5/8 inches (29.5 cm) high (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Rethinking approaches to the art of the Ancient Near East until c. 600 B.C.E. Chapter by Dr. Senta German

Benny Andrews, Flag Day, 1966

African American art and social justice Chapter by Dr. Elizabeth C. Hamilton

Textile with floral medallions and lozenges, mid-Tang dynasty, first half of the 8th century, brocade (jin): woven silk (weft-faced compound twill), China, 150.1 high x 59.3 cm (Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian, Washington, DC: Gift of Charles Lang Freer, F1911.597a-b)

The Silk Roads Chapter by Dr. Eiren Shea

Proud Raven Totem Pole, Taantʼa kwáan Gaanax.ádi clan of the Raven moiety, first carved in the 1880s, recarved c. 1940 as part of a CCC project (Saxman Totem Park, Saxman, Alaska)

Northern Northwest Coast Art Chapter by Dr. Emily Moore and Ishmael Hope

Cultural exchange and syncretism in the arts of South Asia since 1200 Chapter by Dr. Cristin McKnight Sethi

South Sotho artist, thethana (woman’s waist skirt), 20th century (South Africa) (Gregory Allicar Museum of Art, Fort Collins)

Art, Adornment, and Identity in Africa Chapter by Dr. David Riep

tlahuicole grid

Art and Nationalism in 19th-century Latin America Chapter by Dr. Maya Jiménez

Keith Haring, Ignorance = Fear / Silence = Death, 1989. New York, Whitney Museum of American Art

An Art History of Gender Identity and Sexuality Chapter by Dr. Bryan C. Keene

See all chapters

© 2026 168极速赛车 Smarthistory
creative commons cc icon creative commons cc icon creative commons cc icon creative commons cc icon