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

Mantle of Roger II, 1133/34 (Norman Sicily, Italy), textiles, patterned samite (kermes dye), gold and silk embroidery, pearls, gold with cellular enamel, rubies, spinels, sapphires, garnets, glass, tablet weave, 146 x 345 cm (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, XIII 14; photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Mantle of Roger II (“Coronation Mantle”) Video and Essay by Dr. Ariel Fein

Video Video Essay Essay

  Published October 31, 2025

Nicolas Poussin, Et in Arcadia Ego, 1637–38, oil on canvas, 87 x 120 cm (Musée du Louvre, Paris)

Nicolas Poussin, Et in Arcadia Ego Video and Essay by Dr. Letha Ch'ien

Video Video Essay Essay

  Published October 29, 2025

Johann Friedrich Overbeck, Portrait of the Painter Franz Pforr, 1810, oil on canvas, 62 x 47 cm (Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin)

Johann Friedrich Overbeck, Portrait of the Painter Franz Pforr Essay by Dr. Alissa Adams

Essay Essay

  Published October 28, 2025

Guerrilla Girls, Dearest Art Collector, 1986, poster, Guerrilla Girls records, 1979–2003 (Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, 2008.M.14) © Guerrilla Girls, used with permission

Guerrilla Girls, Dearest Art Collector
Getty Conversations Video by Dr. Zanna Gilbert, Senior Research Specialist, Getty Research Institute and Dr. Beth Harris

Video Video

  Published October 23, 2025

Guerrilla Girls, Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum?, 1989, poster, Guerrilla Girls records, 1979–2003 (Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, 2008.M.14) © Guerrilla Girls, used with permission

Guerrilla Girls, Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum?
Getty Conversations Video by Megan Sallabedra, Digital Collection Development Librarian, Getty Research Institute and Dr. Beth Harris

Video Video

  Published October 22, 2025

Jeffrey Gibson, Be Witched Bothered and Be Wildered, 2019, found canvas punching bag, glass beads, plastic beads, artificial sinew, steel studs, acrylic paint, and steel chain, 172.7 x 50.8 cm (Art Bridges Foundation) © Jeffrey Gibson

Jeffrey Gibson, Be Witched Bothered and Be Wildered Video by Dr. Ashley Holland, Curator & Director of Curatorial Initiatives, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and Dr. Beth Harris

Video Video

  Published October 21, 2025

Hut Urn, c. 9th century B.C.E., ceramic, 33 x 38.1 cm (© The Trustees of the British Museum, London)

Hut urns in Iron Age Italy Essay by Dr. Jeffrey A. Becker

Essay Essay

  Published October 20, 2025

Nicholas of Verdun (and workshop), Shrine of the Three Kings, c. 1181–1220, oak, gold, silver, copper, enamel, and gems, 155 x 112 x 224 cm (High Cathedral Church at Cologne)

Nicholas of Verdun, Shrine of the Three Kings, Cologne Cathedral Video by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

Video Video

  Published October 17, 2025

Lavinia Fontana, Judith with the Head of Holofernes, 1600, oil on canvas, 123 x 97 cm (Museo Davia Bargellini, Bologna)

Lavinia Fontana, Judith with the Head of Holofernes Essay by Dr. Letha Ch'ien

Essay Essay

  Published October 17, 2025

Fritz Scholder, Indian Rug #5, 1972, acrylic on canvas, 203.2 x 172.72 cm (Art Bridges Foundation) © Estate of Fritz Scholder

Fritz Scholder, Indian Rug #5 Video by Julia Mun, Assistant Curator, Art Bridges Foundation and Dr. Beth Harris

Video Video

  Published October 16, 2025

Mantle of Roger II, 1133/34 (Norman Sicily, Italy), textiles, patterned samite (kermes dye), gold and silk embroidery, pearls, gold with cellular enamel, rubies, spinels, sapphires, garnets, glass, tablet weave, 146 x 345 cm (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, XIII 14; photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Mantle of Roger II (“Coronation Mantle”) Video and Essay by Dr. Ariel Fein

Video Video Essay Essay

  Published October 31, 2025

Nicolas Poussin, Et in Arcadia Ego, 1637–38, oil on canvas, 87 x 120 cm (Musée du Louvre, Paris)

Nicolas Poussin, Et in Arcadia Ego Video and Essay by Dr. Letha Ch'ien

Video Video Essay Essay

  Published October 29, 2025

Johann Friedrich Overbeck, Portrait of the Painter Franz Pforr, 1810, oil on canvas, 62 x 47 cm (Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin)

Johann Friedrich Overbeck, Portrait of the Painter Franz Pforr Essay by Dr. Alissa Adams

Essay Essay

  Published October 28, 2025

Guerrilla Girls, Dearest Art Collector, 1986, poster, Guerrilla Girls records, 1979–2003 (Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, 2008.M.14) © Guerrilla Girls, used with permission

Guerrilla Girls, Dearest Art Collector
Getty Conversations Video by Dr. Zanna Gilbert, Senior Research Specialist, Getty Research Institute and Dr. Beth Harris

Video Video

  Published October 23, 2025

Guerrilla Girls, Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum?, 1989, poster, Guerrilla Girls records, 1979–2003 (Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, 2008.M.14) © Guerrilla Girls, used with permission

Guerrilla Girls, Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum?
Getty Conversations Video by Megan Sallabedra, Digital Collection Development Librarian, Getty Research Institute and Dr. Beth Harris

Video Video

  Published October 22, 2025

Jeffrey Gibson, Be Witched Bothered and Be Wildered, 2019, found canvas punching bag, glass beads, plastic beads, artificial sinew, steel studs, acrylic paint, and steel chain, 172.7 x 50.8 cm (Art Bridges Foundation) © Jeffrey Gibson

Jeffrey Gibson, Be Witched Bothered and Be Wildered Video by Dr. Ashley Holland, Curator & Director of Curatorial Initiatives, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and Dr. Beth Harris

Video Video

  Published October 21, 2025

Hut Urn, c. 9th century B.C.E., ceramic, 33 x 38.1 cm (© The Trustees of the British Museum, London)

Hut urns in Iron Age Italy Essay by Dr. Jeffrey A. Becker

Essay Essay

  Published October 20, 2025

Nicholas of Verdun (and workshop), Shrine of the Three Kings, c. 1181–1220, oak, gold, silver, copper, enamel, and gems, 155 x 112 x 224 cm (High Cathedral Church at Cologne)

Nicholas of Verdun, Shrine of the Three Kings, Cologne Cathedral Video by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

Video Video

  Published October 17, 2025

Lavinia Fontana, Judith with the Head of Holofernes, 1600, oil on canvas, 123 x 97 cm (Museo Davia Bargellini, Bologna)

Lavinia Fontana, Judith with the Head of Holofernes Essay by Dr. Letha Ch'ien

Essay Essay

  Published October 17, 2025

Fritz Scholder, Indian Rug #5, 1972, acrylic on canvas, 203.2 x 172.72 cm (Art Bridges Foundation) © Estate of Fritz Scholder

Fritz Scholder, Indian Rug #5 Video by Julia Mun, Assistant Curator, Art Bridges Foundation and Dr. Beth Harris

Video Video

  Published October 16, 2025

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

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Curated Guides

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

Reframing Art History

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

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