Framing Degas
The French painter Edgar Degas was Impressionism’s most energetic and inventive frame designer.
Restoration Recipes
Need to clean your sixteenth-century distemper painting? Try a piece of bread (at your own risk).
Did Photography Really Kill Portrait Painting?
While some viewed photography as a competitor for their customers, Dutch portrait painters reaped the benefits of the emerging medium.
Who Was the Little Girl in Las Meninas?
A Spanish princess who became a German queen, Margarita Teresa lived a life structured by Catholicism and cut short by consanguinity.
The Soap Bubble Trope
Throughout the history of philosophy, literature, art, and science, people have been fascinated with the shimmering surfaces of soap bubbles.
The Claude Glass Revolutionized the Way People Saw Landscapes
Imagine tourists flocking to a famous beauty spot, only to turn around and fix their eyes on its reflection in a tiny dark mirror.
Who Were the Male Models in French History Paintings?
Before the French Revolution, professional models were salaried professionals. That would all change in the nineteenth century.
18th-Century Lovers Exchanged Portraits of Their Eyes
The miniature paintings celebrated and commemorated love at a time when public expressions of affection were uncouth.
P.S., Mushrooms Are Extremely Beautiful
American mycologist Violetta White Delafield painted over 600 stunning watercolors of mushrooms as part of her fieldwork. Here they are in all their glory.
How the Rothko Chapel Creates Spiritual Space
Fourteen colossal black paintings by the modern artist Mark Rothko are installed in an octagonal room in Texas. Visitors say the chapel brings them peace.