Read more about the article 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. For more, see About Dianne L. Durante. Art history As an art historian, I constantly seek out art…

Comments Off on About This Site

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…

Comments Off on Painting Before 1300 AD (4): Minoan

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…

Comments Off on Painting before 1300 AD (3): Egyptian

Painting before 1300 AD (2): Prehistoric

Almost 20 years ago, I wrote a couple dozen essays on the history of painting for BeyondBooks.com, a subscription service that provided online supplementary materials for high-school students. The site’s…

Comments Off on Painting before 1300 AD (2): Prehistoric

Painting Before 1300 AD (1): Overview

In the 32,000 years (more or less) since the earliest known paintings were created, untold numbers of tribes, towns, villages and cities have come and gone. Few, however, have left…

Comments Off on Painting Before 1300 AD (1): Overview

John Wolfe Ambrose, Battery Park

John Wolfe Ambrose monument, 1936. Bust: Andrew O'Connor, Jr. Relief: Frederick G.R. Roth. Architect: Aymar Embury II. Original bust by Andrew O'Connor, Jr, created ca. 1900; recreated ca. 2017. Monument…

Comments Off on John Wolfe Ambrose, Battery Park

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: Five Favorites

About the MFA The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, founded in 1870, opened to the public in 1876 at Copley Square. It moved to its present neoclassical home on…

Comments Off on Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: Five Favorites

Brookgreen Gardens, November 2018 (4)

Over the next  few months, I’ll be posting photos taken at Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, S.C. Although the gardens are not at their most beautiful in November, the sculptures are always…

Comments Off on Brookgreen Gardens, November 2018 (4)

Brookgreen Gardens, November 2018 (3)

Over the next  few months, I’ll be posting photos taken at Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, S.C. Although the gardens are not at their most beautiful in November, the sculptures are always…

Comments Off on Brookgreen Gardens, November 2018 (3)

King Jagiello, Central Park

Stanislaw Kazmierz Ostrowski, King Jagiello, 1939. Photo copyright © 2019 Dianne L. Durante Sculptor: Stanislaw Kazimierz Ostrowski. Pedestal: Aymar Embury II.Dedicated: 1939.Medium and size: Bronze (14.6 feet), granite pedestal (10 feet).Location: Central Park,…

Comments Off on King Jagiello, Central Park