New content—from New York to New Zealand

Over the past two years (2015-16) Smarthistory published 335 videos and essays. This was made possible thanks to our extraordinarily generous academic contributors who share our mission to make art and cultural history accessible to a global audience. These new learning resources have so far generated 5,628,213 views. This work would not have been possible without the generous support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Thank you!

Prehistoric
Paleolithic
Venus of Willendorf (essay)
Hall of the Bulls, Lascaux (essay)
Apollo 11 Cave Stones (essay)
Neolithic
Camelid Sacrum in the Shape of a Canine (essay)
Running Horned Woman (essay)
Nuragic architecture, Su Nuraxi Barumini (essay)
Anthropomorphic stele (essay)
Ancient Mediterranean
Ancient Near East
White Temple and its ziggurat, Uruk (essay)
Visiting Babylon (video)
Apādana of Darius & Xerxes, Persepolis (essay)
Egypt
King Menkaure and Queen (essay)
Karnak (essay)
Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Kneeling Statue (video)
Tutankhamun’s tomb, innermost coffin, death mask (essay)
Aegean
Frescoes from Akrotiri, Thera (video)
Greece
Introduction to Ancient Greece (essay)
Introduction to Ancient Greek Architecture (essay)
Introduction to Ancient Greek Vase painting (essay)
Eleusis Amphora (video)
Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi (video)
Temple of Athena Nike & Sandal Nike, Athens (essay)
Siphnian Treasury, Delphi (video)
Etruria/Etruscan
Apulu (Apollo of Veii) (video)
Sarcophagus of the Spouses (video)
Sarcophagus of the Spouses (essay)
Bucchero (essay)
Chimera of Arezzo (essay)
Tomb of the Reliefs (Caere) (essay)
Rome
Temple of Iuppiter Optimus Maximus (essay)
Ancient Rome (video)
Roman domestic architecture – domus (essay)
Roman domestic architecture – insula (essay)
Roman domestic architecture – villa (essay)
The Amiternum and Haterii tombs (essay)
Temple of Portunus (essay)
Ara Pacis Augustae (essay)
Maison Carrée, Nîmes (essay)
Arch of Titus (essay)
Column of Trajan (essay)
Forum of Trajan and markets (essay)
Capitoline Venus (video)
Tomb of the Scipios (essay)
Preparations for a Sacrifice (essay)
Pantheon (essay)
Portrait Bust of a Flavian Woman/Fonseca Bust (video)
Arch of Constantine (video)
Capitoline Wolf (essay)
Palmyra
Temple of Bel (essay)
Temple of Baalshamin (essay)
Funerary Portraiture (essay)
Medieval/Byzantine Europe 
Architecture and liturgy in the Middle Ages (essay)
Introduction to Byzantine art (essay)
The Emperor Triumphant (Barberini Ivory) (video)
Vienna Genesis (essay)
Coronation Gospels (essay)
Palatine Chapel (essay)
Basilica of Santa Sabina, Rome (video)
Bayeux Tapestry (essay)
Bonaventura Berlinghieri, Saint Francis Altarpiece (video)
Röttgen Pietà (video)
Röttgen Pietà (essay)
Throne of Wisdom Sculptures (essay)
Cluny (essay)
Golden Haggadah (essay)
Renaissance 
North
Limbourg Brothers, Tres Riches Heures (essay)
Workshop of Campin, Annunciation (Merode Altarpiece) (video)
Rogier van der Weyden, Last Judgment (video)
Hubert and Jan van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece (essay)
Hubert & Jan van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece simulation (video)
Petrus Christus, A Goldsmith in his Shop (essay)
Durer, Melancolia (essay)
Aertsen, The Meat Stall (essay)
Italy
Palazzo Ducale, Venice (essay)
Ca d’Oro, Venice (essay)
Alberti, Façade of Santa Maria Novella, Florence (video)
Andrea Mantegna, Saint Sebastian (video)
Cassone with Conquest of Trebizond (essay)
Perugino, Christ Delivering the Keys to St Peter (essay)
Ghirlandaio, Tornabuoni Chapel, SM Novella (essay)
Michelangelo, Medici Chapel, New Sacristy (video)
Michelangelo, Last Judgment, Sistine Chapel (video)
Michelangelo, Last Judgment, Sistine Chapel (essay)
Giovanni Bellini and Titian, The Feast of the Gods (essay)
Titian, Pastoral Symphony (essay)
Sofonisha Anguissola, Self-Portrait (essay)
Giambologna, Abduction of the Sabine Woman (essay)
Palladio and Scamozzi, Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza (essay)
Spain
El Greco, The Burial of Count Orgaz (essay)
Baroque 
Italy
Bernini, Apollo and Daphne (video)
Annibale Carracci, Christ appearing to St. Peter on the Appian Way (essay)
Low Countries
Peter Paul Rubens, Venus, Mars and Cupid (essay)
Rubens, Elevation of the Cross (essay)
Anthony Van Dyck, Samson and Delilah (essay)
Rembrandt, The Night Watch (video)
Rembrandt, The Night Watch (essay)
Rembrandt, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp (video)
Ruisdael, View of Haarlem with Bleaching Grounds (video)
Willem Kalf, Still Life with a Silver Ewer (video)
Johannes Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earring (video)
Gerrit Dou, Woman Playing a Clavichord (Dulwich) (essay)
Steen, Feast of Saint Nicholas (essay)
France
Perrault et al, East façade of the Louvre (essay)
Spain
Zurburan, Saint Serapion (essay)
18th and 19th century, Europe and United States
British Colonies/United States
John Smibert, The Bermuda Group (essay)
John Singleton Copley, Boy with a Squirrel (essay)
John Singleton Copley, Paul Revere (essay)
John Singleton Copley, The Copley Family (essay)
John Singleton Copley, Watson and the Shark (essay)
Gilbert Stuart, The Skater (essay)
Jefferson, University of Virginia (essay)
John Trumbull, Signing of the Declaration of Independence (essay)
Francis Guy, Winter Scene in Brooklyn (video)
Charles WIllson Peale, An Artist in His Museum (essay)
Thomas Cole, The Oxbow (video)
William Sidney Mount, Bargaining for a Horse (essay)
Richard Caton Woodville, War News from Mexico (essay)
Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted, Central Park (essay)
Herter Brothers, Mark Hopkins House Side Chair (video)
Henry Ossawa Tanner, The Banjo Lesson (essay)
Henry Ossawa Tanner, Angels Appearing before the Shepherds (essay)
Louis Sullivan, Carson Pirie Scott (essay)
Britain
John Constable, Wivenhoe Park, Essex (essay)
Rossetti, Beata Beatrix (essay)
Introduction to the Aesthetic Movement (essay)
France
Greuze, Village Bride (essay)
Vigée Le Brun, Self-Portrait (essay)
David, Napoleon in his study (essay)
Ingres, Portrait of Napoleon on the Imperial Throne (essay)
Ingres, Grande Odalisque (essay)
Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People (essay)
Renoir, Luncheon of the Boating Party (video)
Monet, Rouen Cathedral series (video)
Monet, Gare St Lazare, Arrival of Train (essay)
Cézanne, Card Players (essay)
Rodin, The Walking Man (essay)
Auguste Rodin, The Gates of Hell (video)
Spain
Goya, And There’s Nothing to Be Done, The Disasters of War (essay)
20th and 21st century (Europe, US, Middle East)
Carrere & Hastings, New York Public Library (essay)
Otto Wagner, Postal Savings Bank (essay)
George Bellows, Both Members of this Club (essay)
Kandinsky, Improvisation 28, second version (video)
Duchamp, The Large Glass (video)
Duchamp, The Large Glass (essay)
Brancusi, The Kiss (video)
Peter Behrens, Turbine Factory (essay)
Le Corbusier, Villa Savoye (essay)
Ben Shahn, The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti (essay)
Glass Chair at the 1939 New York World’s Fair (video)
Introduction to Surrealism (essay)
Jacob Lawrence, The Migration Series (short version) (video)
Jacob Lawrence, The Migration Series, (long version) (video)
Mondrian, Composition II in Red, Blue and Yellow (essay)
Norman Rockwell, Rosie the Riveter (video)
Jean Dubuffet, City of Paris (essay)
Jean Dubuffet, Childbirth (essay)
Lee Krasner, Untitled (essay)
Willem de Kooning, Woman, I (video)
Frank Stella, The Marriage of Reason And Squalor (essay)
Nam June Paik, Electronic Superhighway (essay)
Oldenburg, Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks (essay)
Warhol, Marilyn Diptych (essay)
Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty (video)
Robert Venturi, et.al., House, New Castle County (essay)
Serra, Tilted Arc (essay)
Sigmar Polke, Watchtower (essay)
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Horn Players (essay)
Magdalena Abakanowicz, Androgyne III (essay)
Jeff Koons, Pink Panther (essay)
Frank Gehry, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (essay)
Cindy Sherman, Untitled (#228), History Portraits series (essay)
Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Untitled—billboard of an empty bed (essay)
Pepon Osorio, En la Barberia no se Llora (essay)
Marlene Dumas, Models (essay)
Bill Viola, The Crossing (essay)
Shirin Neshat (and Cynthia Preston), Rebellious Silence (essay)
James Turrell, Skyscape, The Way of Color (video)
Walter de Maria, Lightning Field (essay)
Africa 
Peoples and cultures (essay)
Historical overview to 1500s (essay)
Historical overview 1600 to present (essay)
Aesthetics (essay)
The human figure, animals and symbols (essay)
Form and meaning (essay)
Religion and the spiritual realm (essay)
Art and politics (essay)
Rites of passage (essay)
Art and the individual (essay)
African art and the effects of European contact and colonization (essay)
The reception of African art in the West (essay)
Western appreciation of African art (essay)
West
Seated Figure (essay)
Ci Wara (essay)
Great Mosque of Djenne (essay)
Sika dwa kofi (Golden Stool) (video)
Olowe of Ise, Veranda Post (video)
Olowe of Ise, doors, Shrine of the kings head, Ikere (essay)
Bundu (Sowei) Helmet Mask (video)
Female mask, Mende (essay)
Ikenga (video)
Dogon Couple (video)
Dogon Mask, Kanaga (essay)
Kòmò Helmet Mask (Kòmòkun) (essay)
D’mba mask, Baga (essay)
Male and Female figures, Baule (essay)
El Anatsui, Untitled (video)
Palm wine vessel (essay)
Memorial Head (essay)
Portrait mask (Mblo), Baule peoples (essay)
Linguist staff (essay)
Seydou Keïta, Untitled [Seated Woman with Chevron Print Dress] (essay)
Uche Okeke: from Zaria to Nsukka (essay)
East and Horn of Africa
Kilwa Kisiwani, Tanzania (video)
Christian Ethiopian art (essay)
Illuminated Gospel (essay)
Central
Female (pwo) mask (video)
Fang Reliquary Figure (video)
Fang Reliquary Figure, bieri (essay)
Elephant Mask, Kuosi Society, Bamileke Peoples, Cameroon (video)
Ndop of the Kuba King Shyaam aMbul aNgoong (essay)
Lukasa (memory board), Mbudye Society, Luba peoples (essay)
Crucifix (essay)
Double Prestige Panel (Kuba peoples) (essay)
Figurative Harp (Domu) (Mangbetu peoples) (essay)
Buli Master, Prestige Stool: Female Caryatid (Luba peoples) (essay)
Southern
Married Woman’s Apron (Ndebele peoples) (essay)
Conical tower and circular wall of Great Zimbabwe (essay)
The Islamic World 
Bahram Gur in a Peasant’s House (essay)
Mosque of Selim II, Edirne (essay)
Iznik Ewer (essay)
Dado panel (essay)
Mamluk Quran (essay)
Divination Bowl (essay)
Khusraw Discovers Shirin Bathing (essay)
Indigenous Americas
Introduction
What do Pre-Columbian and Mesoamerica mean? (essay)
Nasca
Nasca Geoglyphs (essay)
Cupisnique
Feline-Head Bottle, Cupisnique (video)
Chavín
Chavín de Huántar (essay)
Moche
Introduction to the Moche (essay)
Pair of Earflares, Winged Messengers (video)
Portrait Head Bottle (video)
Inka
Silver and gold maize cob sculpture (essay)
All‐T’oqapu Tunic (essay)
Qorikancha, Cusco (essay)
Machu Picchu (essay)
Tairona
Pendant in the form of a bat-faced man (essay)
Mundurukú
Headdress: a glimpse of life in the Amazon rainforest (video)
Costa Rica/Nicaragua
Doe Shaman, Painted ceramic vessel (essay)
Olmec
Olmec mask (video)
Kunz Axe (video)
Offering 4, La Venta (essay)
Tlatilco
Tlatilco figurines (video)
Tlatilco female figurine (essay)
Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan (video)
Teotihuacan (essay)
Maya
Introduction to the Maya (essay)
Yaxchilán, Lintel 25 (essay)
Temple of the Inscriptions, Palenque (essay)
Enthroned Maya Lord and Attendants, cylinder vase (essay)
Classic Veracruz
The Mesoamerican Ballgame and a Classic Veracruz yoke (video)
Mexica (Aztec)
Coyolxauhqui Monolith (video)
Coatlicue (video)
Coatlicue (essay)
Feathered headdress (video)
The Sun (Calendar) Stone (video)
The Sun (Calendar) Stone (essay)
Native American/First Nations
Contemporary Native American architecture (essay)
Terms and Issues (essay)
Geography and Chronology (essay)
Mesa Verde cliff dwellings (essay)
San Esteban del Rey, church and convento, Acoma Pueblo (essay)
Juana Basilia Sitmelelene, Presentation Basket, Chumash (video)
Bandolier bag, Lenape (essay)
Feathered War Bonnet (essay)
Transformation mask, Kwakiutl (essay)
North Wind Mask, Alaska, Yupik (essay)
Latin American 
Introduction to Latin American Art (essay)
The Convento of San Nicolás de Tolentino, Actopan, Hidalgo (essay)
Florentine Codex (essay)
Virgin of Guadalupe (video)
Overview of featherworks, including Mass of St. Gregory (essay)
San Pedro Apóstol de Andahuaylillas (video)
Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, New Chronicle Good Government (essay)
Atrial Cross, convento San Agustín de Acolman (video)
Atrial Cross, convento San Agustín de Acolman (essay)
Jerónimo de Balbás, Altar of the Kings (video)
Miguel Cabrera, Virgin of the Apocalypse (essay)
José María Velasco, The Valley of Mexico (video)
Diego Rivera, Man Controller of the Universe (video)
Diego Rivera, Calla Lily Vendor (video)
Lygia Clark, Bicho (essay)
Joaquín Torres-García, América Invertida (essay)
Asia 
Introduction
Hinduism and Buddhism, an introduction (essay)
China
Oracle Bone (video)
Da Ke Ding (video)
Funeral banner of Lady Dai/Xin Zhui (essay)
Longmen caves, Luoyang (essay)
Zhou Fang (attr.), Court Ladies Wearing Flowered Headdresses (essay)
Huang Gongwang, Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (essay)
Zheng Sixiao, Orchid (essay)
Forbidden City (essay)
Liu Chunhua, Chairman Mao en Route to Anyuan (essay)
Ai Weiwei, Kui Hua Zi/Sunflower Seeds (essay)
Korea
Portrait of Sin Sukju (essay)
Song Su-nam, Summer Trees (essay)
Japan
Haniwa warrior in keiko armor (video)
Haniwa warrior in keiko armor (essay)
Todai-ji, Nara (essay)
Night Attack on the Sanjô Palace (essay)
Ryōanji/Peaceful Dragon Temple, Kyoto (video)
Ryōanji/Peaceful Dragon Temple, Kyoto (essay)
Ogata Korin, White and Red Plum Blossoms (essay)
Yayoi Kusama, Narcissus Garden (essay)
Mariko Mori, Pure Land (essay)
Cambodia
Angkor Wat (essay)
India
Aniconic depiction of Buddha reaching enlightenment (essay)
Lakshmana Temple. Khajuraho (essay)
Tibet
Jowo Rinpoche, Jokhang Temple, Lhasa (essay)
Afghanistan
Bamiyan Buddhas, Gandharan (essay)
Oceania
The Ambum Stone, Papua New Guinea (essay)
Mask (Buk), Torres Strait, Mabuiag Island (video)
Necklace (Lei Niho Palaoa), Hawai’i (video)
Female deity, Nukuoro, Micronesia (essay)
Bis Poles at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (video)
Hiapo (tapa) (essay)
Presentation of Fijian mats and tapa cloths to Queen Elizabeth II (essay)
Gottfried Lindauer, Tamati Waka Nene (essay)
Michel Tuffery, Pisupo Lua Afe/Corned Beef 2000 (essay)
Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Earth’s Creation (essay)
Methods and Miscellaneous 
Art historical analysis, inantroduction using Goya’s Third of May (video)
How to recognize Baroque art (video)
What is chiaroscuro? (video)
What is foreshortening? (video)
Smarthistory: join the conversation (video)
Archaeological reconstructions (essay)
Orientalism (essay)
View All

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