Painting Before 1300 AD (6): Medieval
Fresco of a lion from San Pedro de Arlanza, ca. 1220. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cloisters. Photo: MetMuseum.org http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/471061

Painting Before 1300 AD (6): Medieval

With the fall of the Roman Empire in the west in 476 AD, life  in Europe became (to use the pithy phrase of 17th-century philosopher Thomas Hobbes), "nasty, brutish and…

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Painting Before 1300 AD (5): Greek

Greek painting is a play that enthralls you with its opening act. Then you discover that the last two acts are missing, and that you can only learn the ending…

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About This Site
Recent books: Innovators in Painting, Innovators in Sculpture, Sunny Sundays, Financial Programs of Alexander Hamilton, Timeline 1900-2021

About This Site

A few words about what I do and why I do it. Art history As an art historian, I constantly seek out art that's inspiring, thought-provoking, skillfully executed, and/or beautiful…

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Painting Before 1300 AD (4): Minoan

The paintings of the Minoan civilization, which flourished ca. 2800-1400 BC, are found on Crete and several other sites in the Aegean Sea. They're the first surviving paintings to show…

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Painting before 1300 AD (3): Egyptian

Compared with prehistoric art, which focused on animals, Ancient Egyptian art portrayed a wealth of subjects. The Egyptians covered the corridors of tombs and the walls of temples with row…

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