The Reduction Firing Process Behind Neolithic Blackware
The reduction firing process was one of the most innovative technological achievements in the history of ceramics.
The Earliest Dated Buddha Statue from China
The earliest visual images of the Buddha were transmitted to China by travelers along the ancient Silk Roads.
What is conflated narrative? | The Enlightenment relief at the Great Stupa at Sanchi
How does a single image show the passage of time?
Utagawa Hiroshige, Kanbara, Night Snow from the series “Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido”
This video explores a snowy scene from a famous Japanese woodblock print series titled Fifty-Three Stations of Tokaido, published between 1832 and 1834 by print designer Andō Hiroshige.
What is a byobu? | Ogata Korin’s Landscape
A gorgeous Japanese byōbu by the 18th-century artist Ogata Kōrin helps explain what a byōbu is.
What is Kufic?
This video looks at the beautiful calligraphic script known as Kufic that was used in early manuscripts of the Qur’an.
What is bird-and-flower painting in East Asia? | Emperor Huizong's Finches and Bamboo
Explore bird-and-flower genre paintings in the history of Chinese art through an analysis of an ink painting titled Finches and Bamboo by Song dynasty emperor Huizong.
What is Cuneiform? Mesopotamians and Ancient Writing Systems
This video explores cuneiform writing, one of the world's oldest writing systems, originating in Mesopotamia over 5,000 years ago.
What is continuous narrative? | The Great Departure relief at the Great Stupa at Sanchi
Because early Buddhist art is aniconic, we explain the symbols used to depict the Buddha’s presence in this scene and show how they repeat from right to left to illustrate how his story unfolds.
How to Do a Visual Analysis in Art History: An Ancient Chinese Bronze Vessel
This video explains how to do a visual analysis (formal analysis) of a 5th-century BCE Chinese bronze vessel.
The Terracotta Warriors
The terracotta army in the tomb of the First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huangdi, is one of the most fascinating discoveries in archaeology.
Fan Kuan, Travelers Amid Mountains and Streams
Explore a monumental ink painting on silk titled Travelers Amid Mountains and Streams by Northern Song dynasty artist Fan Kuan.
Introduction to the Birth of the Buddha and Queen Maya
How was the birth of the Buddha shown in art?
Han Gan, Night-Shining White
This famous traditional Chinese ink painting, currently in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, is a portrait of Tang emperor Xuanzong’s favorite horse, Night-Shining White.
Chinese Music for the Dead: The Marquis Yi of Zeng’s Bells
In the 1970s, archaeologists in China made one of the most impressive archaeological discoveries in world history from the tomb of a marquis (the Marquis Yi of Zeng) who lived and died in south China in the 5th century BCE.
Getting to know Hokusai’s The Great Wave
Hokusai’s The Great Wave print isn’t just famous in Japanese art, but it is one of the most recognizable images in the history of art worldwide!
A symbol of Heaven? A Chinese jade bi disk
What can a jade disk crafted in Neolithic China tell us about the cosmos? These circular disks may be connected to early Chinese views of the universe that consisted of a square Earth and a round (circular) canopy that represented Heaven.