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Female Figure (Early 19th Century)
The figures of the Ha'apai Islands of Tonga probably represent female deities or prominent ancestors, for whom the figures served as vessels in which the power of the divinity resided. Normally kept in shrines, many figures also have a hole in the back of the head or neck and worn by high-ranking female chiefs as ornaments on important occasions. Artists created the rich patina of the figures by anointing them with coconut oil and smoking them over a fire fed with sugar cane or sweet tubers. -
Male Figure (Moai Tangata), Early 19th Century
These figures, known as moai tangata, with their enlarged heads, frontal stance, and prominent stomachs, bear the closest resemblance to Easter island's well-known stone figures. Little is known about the nature and use of moai tangata, but they likely portray ancestors or other powerful supernatural beings. These distinctive "fishmen," possibly represent spirits, called nuihi, which combine the features of humans and sharks. -
Moonlight Sonata
ListenThe original title of Beethoven’s work is “Quasi una fantasia” (It. almost a fantasy), but has taken the unofficial name of “The Moonlight Sonata” after poet Ludwig Rellstab found inspiration on a moon lit night on the banks of the Lucerna River in 1832. The Moonlight Sonata was composed in the summer of 1801, published in 1802, and was dedicated to Beethoven’s pupil and passion, 17-year-old Giulietta Gucciardi. The piano sonata has three parts: Adagio Sostenuto, Allegretto, Presto Agitato. -
Angel of the Revelation
William Blake - The diminutive figure of Saint John observes the divine vision that he will later record, embodied in the towering figure of the angel, perhaps inspired by the ancient statue of the Colossus at Rhodes. Indicating the source of his divine text with his upraised arm, the angel points to the vision that unfolds: above his fiery legs, and seven horsemen charging through the clouds at the base of his cloak. -
Perseus with the Head of Medusa
Antonio Canova - This Perseus is a replica of Canova's famed marble of Perseus in the Vatican. Based freely on the Apollo Belvedere, which had been taken to Paris, it was bought by Pope Pius VII and placed upon the pedestal where the Apollo had formerly stood. Canova has refined the ornamental details and aimed for a more lyrical effect than in the Vatican Perseus, a stylistic streamlining characteristic of his artistic process. -
Escapade at Night: A Nobleman Climbs a Rope to Visit His Beloved, ca. 1800–1810
This Mewari painting, in an unusual oval format, has been attributed to Chokha, a gifted court artist and son of the master painter Baghta. A nobleman climbs a rope that presumably has been lowered from a rooftop pavilion to his mistress. Within the palace, the lady wearing a diaphanous gown lies upon a low bed and is flanked by attendants. The quiet of the night is conveyed by the sleeping guards, cows, monkeys, and darkened city in the far distance. -
Minerva Protecting the Young King of Rome
Joseph-Antoine Romagnési - This is the original plaster for a relief meant to celebrate the birth of Napoleon I's son, François-Charles-Joseph, in 1811, who was endowed with the title King of Rome in symbolic confirmation of the imperial dynasty. Its formal aspects were possibly inspired by Roman reliefs in the Palazzo Spada, Rome. Due to the Bourbon Restoration of 1814, the marble version was never completed; instead it was used for Romagnési's variant composition, Minerva Protecting France. -
The Third of May, 1808
The Third of May, 1808 is an art piece done by Francisco Goya in light of the massacre of Spanish civilians by Napoleonic troops. Goya developed this piece to show his disappointment in the French’s military actions by focusing the attention to the Spanish victim and hiding the faces of the French soldiers. Theorists now say that the victim with his arms raised is symbolic of Christ and also displays the hope for bravery in such a helpless moment. -
Harp-lute
Edward Light - The harplike pillar supports diatonically tuned bass strings to extend the range of the fretted strings. The pitch of the bass strings could be raised a semitone by finger-operated ring stops that work very much like pedals on a harp. -
Frankenstein
Said to be inspired from one of Mary’s dreams after losing a prematurely born child, Frankenstein was written out of a challenge between Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and Mary to create the best horror story. An important ancestor of horror and science fiction genres, not only tells a terrifying story, but also raises profound, disturbing questions about the very nature of life and the place of humankind: What does it mean to be human? What responsibilities do we have to each other? -
The Baltimore Basilica
The Baltimore Basilica, built from 1806-1821, was the first great metropolitan cathedral constructed in the U.S. after the adoption of the Constitution. America’s First Cathedral, officially known as the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, quickly became a symbol of the country’s newfound religious freedom. Two prominent Americans guided the design: John Carroll, the U.S.’s first bishop; and Benjamin Henry Latrobe, father of American architecture. -
Ave Maria
ListenFranz Schubert (1797-1829) wrote the music for "Ave Maria" in 1825 as a setting for words by Scottish author Sir Walter Scott’s "The Lady of the Lake." This was, financially, one of Schubert's more successful projects. The publisher paid him 20 pounds sterling, a nice fee in those days. Schubert's "Ave Maria" is one of the most popular songs in the world, although often sung to words different from those of Schubert, or performed in instrumental versions with no words at all. -
Royal Tiger
Eugène Delacroix had great empathy with the natural world and was fascinated by animals, although he seems never to have encountered untamed ones in the wild, even during his trip to Morocco in 1832. Having to rely upon the resources of the Paris zoo, he began studying felines there in the late 1820s, probably not long before making this lithograph. In this terrible, beautiful picture, Delacroix demonstrated the Romantic penchant for tragedy, torment, and violence. -
The Great Wave at Kanagawa (from a Series of Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji)
Katsushika Hokusai - The preeminence of this print can be attributed, in addition to its sheer graphic beauty, to the compelling force of the contrast between the wave and the mountain. In the traditional meisho-e (scene of a famous place), Mount Fuji was always the focus. Hokusai inverted this formula and positioned a small Mount Fuji within the midst of a thundering seascape. Thus a scene of everyday labor is grafted onto the seascape view of the mountain. -
The Gladiator
The first of Robert Bird’s tragedies to hit the stage was The Gladiator in 1831, perhaps Bird’s most successful work, running over 1,000 performances during his lifetime. It was about a slave revolt in Rome in 73 B.C. It not only attacked the institution of slavery in the U.S., but also was a reproach against Britain’s relationship with the U.S. during the colonial period because of its reflection of Rome’s imperial power. -
View from Mount Holyoke, Northampton, Massachusetts, after a Thunderstorm—The Oxbow
Thomas Cole - Cole's interest in the subject probably dates from when he traced the views published in Basil Hall's Forty Etchings Made with the Camera Lucida in North America in 1827 and 1828. Hall criticized Americans' inattentiveness to their scenery, and Cole responded with a landscape that lauds the uniqueness of America by encompassing "a union of the picturesque, the sublime, and the magnificent." -
La Table aux Amours (The Demidoff Table)
Lorenzo Bartolini–This subject is a complex, cosmological allegory best described in the sculptor's own words: "Stretched out upon the plan of the world is Cupid, god of generation, sustaining and watching over the symbolic genius of dissolute wealth without virtue, who snores in his sleep … dreaming of past diversions in pleasure. Left to himself, the genius of ambitious rectitude in work sleeps the agitated sleep of misfortune and glory … his head extending beyond the periphery of the world." -
Maharana Sarup Singh Views a Prize Stallion
This painting by Tara, the premier painter in the atelier of Maharana Sarup Singh, shows the ruler viewing one of his royal stallions, Margchono. The pink garments worn by the guests are unusual and are probably indicative of a particular festival. The compressed space, profile figures, and limited palette are hallmarks of Rajput style. The more naturalistic treatment of details, as well as the historical subject, are remnants of Mughal tradition. -
Fur Traders Descending the Missouri
George Caleb Bingham - Bingham's image refers to trade, settlement, and the issue of race. It can be read from left to right, from the native bear cub chained to the boat, to the boy, to the man at the stern, a line from the beast to civilized humanity. Bingham called the picture "French-Trader—Half Breed Son," emphasizing its racial exoticism. The scene is most remarkable for its stillness, as native and foreign American inhabitants reach toward the embrace of the modern, urbanized world. -
The Abduction of Rebecca
Eugène Delacroix - This painting illustrates a scene from chapter 31 of Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. During the sack and burning of the castle of Front-de-Boeuf, the beautiful Rebecca was carried off by two Saracen slaves at the command of the Christian knight Bois-Guilbert. Drama is created by the contorted poses and compacted space as by the artist's use of vivid color. Contemporary critics praised the work's spontaneity and power, its harmony of color, and its pathos of movement. -
Annabel Lee
Read poem and citation here!This was the last completed poem by Poe before his death. It was published shortly after his life ended in 1849. The narrator talks about his lost love, Annabel Lee. It may have been a reference to his relationship with his wife Virginia.
