Smarthistory

Casa
Italia
Venice
Smarthistory

At Smarthistory we believe art has the power to transform lives and to build understanding across cultures. Smarthistory brings you into the conversation.

We believe that the brilliant histories of art belong to everyone, no matter their background. Our mission: public art history
At Smarthistory we believe art has the power to transform lives and to build understanding across cultures. How we do it
Smarthistory is a radical collaborative of more than five hundred art historians, curators, archaeologists, and artists who contribute because they beli

eve that high-quality art history should be available to everyone. Smarthistory takes you inside museums and outside to ancient temples and engages in conversations about how to interpret and understand the images you’re seeing.

04/08/2026

THIS WEEK ON SMARTHISTORY

Italy is home to the works at the heart of this week’s new resources - but together they begin to suggest the diversity of the peninsula. First up: read all about the Pala d’Oro (“golden panel”), a Byzantine marvel housed today in Venice’s Basilica San Marco. Then, learn about Siena’s cathedral through the centuries, from its founding c. 1215 through to the unfinished expansion of the mid-fourteenth century and the presence of works by master artists such as Donatello and Michelangelo. Which are you looking forward to the most? What else would you like to see on Smarthistory? Leave a comment and let us know!

Pala d’Oro, 1105–1345, gold, silver, gems, and pearls, 3.34 x 2.12 m (Basilica San Marco, Venice; photo: Daperro, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Siena Cathedral, begun c. 1215, completed 1348 (photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

31/07/2026

Watch the full video now at Smarthistory.org!

Kiki Smith, Her, 2004, patinated bronze, 177.8 x 91.4 x 45.7 cm (The Gund, Kenyon College, Gambier; photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) © Kiki Smith

28/07/2026

THIS WEEK ON SMARTHISTORY

We are pleased to share three new resources with you this week, spanning a millennium and three different cultures. First, check out Courtney Lesoon’s new essay on a Nasrid textile at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Dr. Lesoon also published an essay on the “Pisa Griffin,” an Islamic bronze sculpture affixed to the roof of the Cathedral of Pisa. Finally, don’t miss a conversation on Kiki Smith’s “Her” between Steven and Jodi Kovach, Pamela and Christopher Hoehn-Saric Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs and Education at The Fund, Kenyon College, Gambier.

Which resource are you most looking forward to? What else would you like to see on Smarthistory? Leave a comment and let us know!

Textile, 15th century (Nasrid; Spain), silk lampas weave, 438.2 x 271.8 cm (The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1982.16.a-b)

Pisa Griffin, 11th–12th century (Taifa state or Almoravid?; Spain), bronze, 107 x 90 x 46 cm (Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Pisa; photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Kiki Smith, Her, 2004, patinated bronze, 177.8 x 91.4 x 45.7 cm (The Gund, Kenyon College, Gambier; photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) © Kiki Smith

24/07/2026

Did you know the Smarthistory Flickr has over 17,000 photos that are free for you to use in your teaching and learning? These are just a few of our favorite details that have been posted in the last few months - which pictures are your favorites? Visit our Flickr page via the link in bio.

Pisa Griffin, c. 1085–1110, copper alloy, 107 x 90 x 46 cm (Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Pisa) originally Al-Andalus (Islamic Spain)

Berthe Morisot, Self-Portrait, 1885, oil on canvas, 61 x 50 cm (Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris)

Orthodox (Neonian) Baptistry, 4th–5th century (mosaics 5th century), Ravenna

Canteen, mid-13th century, Syria or Northern Iraq (Kufic and in naskhi inscriptions, Christian and Islamic imagery, likely produced in Mosul), brass and silver inlay, 45.2 x 36.7 cm (National Museum of Asian Art, Washington, D.C.)

Basilica of San Zeno, 967–1398, Verona

Gustave Eiffel, Eiffel Tower (Paris), 1887–1889, wrought iron, 312 x 125 meters (without the anntennas), 2.5 million rivets

22/07/2026

THIS WEEK ON SMARTHISTORY

This week, we are pleased to share with you three new Smarthistory resources. First up, join a discussion with Beth and Julia Min, Assistant Curator for the Art Bridges Foundation, on Fritz Scholder’s painting, Dartmouth Portrait #15. From there, you might be interested in a new essay on the woodcut after Lucas Cranach the Elder’s painting of The Law and the Gospel - which also happens to be an AP object! Lastly, don’t miss our new essay on the minarets of the Mosque of al-Hākim in Cairo.

Which one are you the most excited about? What else would you like to see on Smarthistory? Leave a comment and let us know!

Fritz Scholder, Dartmouth Portrait #15, 1973, acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 inches (Art Bridges Foundation) © Estate of Fritz Scholder

After Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Law and the Gospel, c. 1528–32, woodcut on paper, 27 x 32.5 cm (© The Trustees of the British Museum, London)

Minarets, Mosque of al-Hākim, Cairo, Egypt, 1003 (Fatimid), carved limestone (photo: Richard Mortel, CC BY 2.0)

17/07/2026

If Ancient Greece is your new Roman Empire, you’re not alone - and Homer’s stories have captivated audiences since antiquity. Here are just a few Smarthistory resources to help introduce you to the world of Odysseus and his famous biographer.

Scenes from Homer’s Odyssey (books 10–12), before 46 B.C.E., fresco, 142 x 292; 142 x 292; 146 x 292; 142 x 292 cm (Vatican Museums), excavated in 1848 from a domus on Via Graziosa, now Via Cavour, Rome

Mask of Agamemnon, from shaft grave V, grave circle A, c. 1550–1500 B.C.E. (Mycenae), gold, 35 cm high (National Archaeological Museum, Athens)

17/07/2026

14/07/2026

THIS WEEK ON SMARTHISTORY

This week’s two resources consider costume and fashion, and the ways in which clothing the body can convey political and social messages throughout time and space.

Which recent Smarthistory resource have you enjoyed? What would you like to see more of? Leave a comment and let us know!

Prince Holding a Falcon, c. 1820 (Qajar; Tehran, Iran), oil on canvas, 191 x 74.9 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

Beatriz Cortez and rafa esparza, Wearable Codex, 2023, image transfer (some color) on canvas, 72 x 678 x 1 cm (Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, 2023-B119) © Beatriz Cortez and rafa esparza

11/07/2026

ON SITE WITH SMARTHISTORY

The Smarthistory Team has been on site all week - photographing and recording a variety of objects, installations, sites, and buildings for all-new resources! Beth and Steven spent their week at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, collaborating with Jordan Poorman Cocker(), Curator of Indigenous Art, and Javier Ramos, Curator at the Art Bridges Foundation. Meanwhile, Letha spent some time this week at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. We will be sure to let you know when these new resources are live on our site!

07/07/2026

Dr. Letha Ch’ien’s delighted to take on the role of Deputy Director at Smarthistory. She’ll be involved in nearly all aspects of Smarthistory from the tiniest mosaic tessera to the largest fresco. You can find her at museums, sculpture installations, or behind a laptop editing Smarthistory contributor essays.

Once Letha learned that the people who wrote about art were called art historians, she declared at age 11, “I will be an art historian” — and hasn’t looked back. Over the years she’s found it’s possible to fall in love over and over again as early favorites including Michelangelo’s Pietà have been joined by Cycladic figurines, the California Light and Space movement, Dogon sculptures, and Song ceramics.

Indirizzo

Venice

Sito Web

http://smarthistory.org/

Notifiche

Lasciando la tua email puoi essere il primo a sapere quando Smarthistory pubblica notizie e promozioni. Il tuo indirizzo email non verrà utilizzato per nessun altro scopo e potrai annullare l'iscrizione in qualsiasi momento.