Cleopatra’s Nose
Edmonia Lewis, a sculptor of African and Native American descent, gave Cleopatra “white” European features in her 1876 representation of the Egyptian ruler.
Alexander Calder, Sculptor
Calder was known for both his delicately balanced kinetic sculptures and the massive steel abstractions he designed for public squares around the world.
The Didarganj Figurine: A Yakshi or a Ganika?
Could we be wrong about the identity of this celebrated stone sculpture from ancient India?
How Sculptor Meta Warrick Challenged White Supremacy
A 1907 exhibition on the founding of Jamestown featured the work of an artist determined to counter demeaning stereotypes.
These Bizarre Ivory Cups Were Carved by Princes
The royal houses of Europe felt that it would be good for their sons to learn a manual trade. Artisans taught nobles to carve ivory on a lathe.
Wait, Why Are the Parthenon Marbles in London?
Lord Elgin went beyond his original mandate, amassing a vast store of treasures, one scholar notes.
The Man Whose Face Got Stuck Like That
No one could have predicted Franz Xaver Messerschmidt’s turn to the bizarre.
The Delicate Science-Art of the Blaschka Invertebrate Collection
The Cornell Collection of Blaschka Invertebrate Models includes hundreds of glass models of sea creatures, making it both a teaching tool and a metaphor.
These Gravity-Defying Sculptures Provoked Accusations of Demonic Possession
Demons and artists, it seems, pull from the same bag of tricks. They take ordinary matter and transform it into something more wondrous, more terrifying.
How Masks of Mutilated WWI Soldiers Haunted Postwar Culture
In the age before plastic surgery, masks were the best option for veterans with faces scarred by war. The end results, however, were somewhat uncanny.