What is a Nazca Double-Spout and Bridge Vessel?
Learn about Nazca ceramics, specifically double-spout and bridge vessels.
Learning to Look: The Value of Close Looking
Our close-looking materials offer an excellent first step in conducting a formal analysis, which involves examining elements of art and principles of design.
What is a mural?
Explore murals featuring the incredible work of early 20th-century artist José Clemente Orozco in Mexico City.
Raphael, Portrait of Lady with a Unicorn
Learn to read the painting, “Lady with a Unicorn” (c. 1505), created by Raphael, the Italian renaissance artist.
Introduction to the Birth of the Buddha and Queen Maya
How was the birth of the Buddha shown in art?
Introduction to Crowned Nun Portraits (monjas coronadas)
Some of the most famous 18th-century colonial Mexican paintings are the stunning monjas coronadas (crowned nuns).
Equestrian portraits explained
How would you like to be remembered? This is a key question for anyone having their portrait created, including the ancient Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius on horseback.
Teaching Ancient China
Read about our first new landing page, which is all about the arts of ancient China, from the Neolithic Period through the Zhou Dynasty.
New multimedia glossary for art history
ARTSQ launches a multimedia glossary of important symbols, subject matter, materials, and techniques in art history.
What is a halo?
Focusing on Andrea Mantegna's painting of Saint George, this video considers what a halo is and why it is used in art.
What is lacquer?
In this video, we dive into East Asian lacquer, featuring a gorgeous red-and-black lacquer plate dated to the 3rd century BCE.
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.
Aztec feather art more precious than gold (featherworks)
Feather objects like feathered headdresses were popular for much of Mesoamerican history, and the Aztecs of Central Mexico created some of the most spectacular featherworks that still survive.
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.
The largest pyramid in the world
The largest pyramid in the world isn’t in Egypt. Do you know where it is?
The Nazca Lines in Ancient Peru
Learn about the famous Nazca Lines, ancient geoglyphs in Peru.