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Dubdi Monastery
Dudbi Monastery is located near Yuksom in the Sikkim region northeastern India. It is famed for being the first monastery in Sikkim. It’s beautiful colors and elaborate paintings of deities gives a sense of warmness and cheerfulness that seems to represent the Buddhists that created the site well. -
One Thousand and One Nights- Antoine Galland
Antione Galland translated this classic tale into French and helped introduce the Islamic world to Europe. The wonderfully descriptive and heroic tales in this collection have been made into everything from comic books to movies. Classic characters such as Ali Baba and Aladdin continue to provide joy and intrigue to readers of all ages to this day. -
Cato- Joseph Addison
This play is about a man who is standing up to the tyranny of Julius Caesar. The play show the virtues of truth, justice, and a republic, and is considered to be a classic. It was also considered a great influence on the founding fathers, and in fact even Patrick Henry’s famous line “Give me liberty or give me death!” is said to be inspired by the play. -
Ceres (Summer)- Antione Watteau
Watteau was an artist of the Rococo style that lived in France. This painting depicts the Roman god of the harvest Ceres, as she is surrounded by signs of the summer zodiac. The flowing gown and foreboding clouds are particularly stunning, as is the innocent and plain yet beautiful features of Ceres herself. -
Robinson Crusoe- Daniel Defoe
Defoe created this fictional autobiography of a shipwrecked man who lived for years by himself on an island 296 years ago, but it is still widely read today. The themes of ingenuity, courage, and steadfastness have been appealing to generations of readers, making it one of the most wide read books in history. The success of the book has allowed it to be converted in everything from movies to video games. -
Fruit Piece- Jan van Huysum
Huysum was a Dutch painter that specialized in still life paintings. In this painting he uses an explosion of color to bring the fruit and flowers to life, almost making them seem more magnificent than they would be in reality. The grapes look so translucent that it is almost surreal. He was so famed for his ability to use glaze on his canvases to achieve this affect that he is said to have refused to leave anyone in his studio to protect his secret. -
Plague Pillar- artist unknown
The Plague Pillar is located in Košice, Slovakia, and is to commemorate a particular devastating outbreak of the plague there from 1709 to 1710. It is a beautiful sculpture of several saints that is topped with a merciful looking Virgin Mary. It is inspiring how this beautiful sculpture was placed to remind people of the horror that they had overcome. -
Benjamin Moreland- John Smibert
Smibert was an American who specialized in painting portraits. In this painting, he captures his subject’s stern look masterfully. The details that he puts into every crease and fold of the robe showcases his skill and eye for detail. I also enjoy the way the subject looks even brighter next to the dull colored backdrop, but even in this backdrop Smibert captures so many details that it looks real despite its darkened nature. -
Winter Landscape- Marco Ricci
Ricci was an Italian painter that was famous for his landscapes. In this painting, he does a fantastic job of imparting a dark foreboding sense of dread through his gnarled landscape. The trees and sky seem to be almost alive, and seem far more significant and powerful than the people or their structures in the painting. -
Gulliver's Travels- Johnathan Swift
Swift’s Masterpiece is considered the first full length novel to be a satire ever created. He brilliantly jabs at the arrogance of scientists and the contemporary systems of government, all the while managing to craft a colorful hilarious tale. It has been such a successful book that it has had the honor of never being out of print since it creation. -
St Matthew Passion- Johann Sebastion Bach
St. Mathews Passion is the retelling of the book of the New Testament Matthew set to music. It is one of Bach’s most popular pieces of work. The swell and exuberance of the music is inspirational and almost haunting. The vocals give a sense of awe and majesty that still inspire audiences today as much as they did at the time of the pieces creation. -
Castletown House- Alessandro Galilei and Edward Lovett Pearce
Castletown House was built for then Speaker of the Irish House of Commons William Conolly. It is located at Celbridge, in the county of Kildare in Ireland. The building is magnificent in its design and has a simple but elegant design that makes the imposing structure seem regal yet inviting. -
America- Rosalba Carriera
Carriera was a Venetian who is considered one of the most successful female artists of all time. In this painting, she shows her interpretation of America as a beautiful woman with a stern and intent look on her face, and despite this beauty she is armed with arrows and is wearing a beautiful jeweled and feathered head ornament. This classic Rococo painting shows the admiration she had for the new world, and the beauty, power and mystique that it had. -
Soap Bubbles- Jean Simone Chardin
Chardin used the idea of a soap bubble to represent the fleeting nature of life. This painting has a plain style that is charming. The realism that the painting gives off showcases the impressive skills of Chardin, and the subject of a young innocent boy at play while representing how fast life goes by is a powerful image that is presented in a deceptively innocent looking way. -
George Frederick Handel- Louis-François Roubiliac
Roubiliac’s sculpture of famed composer Handel was groundbreaking in that it was the first ever sculpture done of a living artist. The sculpture depicts Handel in a very plain sense as the classical Greek figure Orpheus playing a lyre. This plainness is a welcome departure from the muscle clad sculptures that dominated the art world prior to this. -
Apotheosis of Charles VI- Paul Troger
Troger painted this masterpiece on the ceiling of the grand staircase in Gottweig Abbey in Austria. Its incredible colors burst of the ceiling and give an almost spiritual feeling. Although the subject of God and the heavens have been tackled before in art, the way in which Troger has the angels so brightly gathering and battling around the sun and God in this painting is truly a sight to behold. -
Messiah- George Fredric Handel
Handle's oratorio Messiah was first performed in 1742. It tells the tale of life story of Jesus through instrumentals and choruses. The uplifting vocals and melodies are still a source of inspiration today as it still one of the most frequently performed pieces of Western music in existence. -
Marriage à-la-mode, Shortly After the Marriage, William Hogarth
Hogarth was an English painter that pioneered a style of art that he called “modern moral subjects”. These were basically satirical paintings in the form of comic strips. This painting is one is a series of six that shows an ill-fated marriage that occurred for money. He impressively paints his subjects realistically, but does so with a dry wit. The facial expressions of his characters tell a story of morality that is as stinging as any satirical novel. -
Asamkirche- Cosmas and Egid Asam
The Asam brother built this church in Munich Germany in the span of 13 years. The interior is magnificent and increases from dark colors to brighter as the elevation increases. You truly get the feeling that you are staring into heaven when you see the incredibly bright, ornate ceiling that was painted by Cosmas Asam himself. -
Sansoucci- Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff
Sansoucci was built to be a summer palace for Frederick the Great, the King of Prussia. It has the bright pastels that are common with the Rococo style, and I incredibly theatrical. It has large parks and fountains, and a grand staircase entrance. The colors and size of the palace impart a sort of regal feeling that exudes power and cheerfulness.
