For nearly 3,000 years a series of kingdoms flourished in ancient Nubia (present-day southern Egypt and northern Sudan). The region was rich in sought-after resources such as gold and ivory and its ...

Ancient Iran, historically known as Persia, was the dominant nation of western Asia for over a millennium (about 550 BC–AD 650), with three native dynasties controlling an empire of unprecedented size ...

Michelangelo Merisi, better known as Caravaggio (Italian, 1571—1610), forged a new path in the history of European painting. His bold, naturalistic style, which emphasized the common humanity of the ...

This exhibition presents more than 80 miniatures from the Belles Heures of the Duke of Berry, one of the supreme artistic treasures of French medieval manuscript illumination and a highlight of The ...

The Museum’s photographs collection celebrates its 35th anniversary with an exhibition showcasing photographs never before displayed at the Getty. From 19th-century European and American photographs ...

Assyrian kings in the ninth to seventh centuries BC decorated their palaces with masterful relief sculptures that represent a high point of Mesopotamian art, both for their artistic quality and ...

Chinese and Japanese imports were wildly popular in Europe in the 1600s and 1700s. Every fashionable home was furnished with porcelain, lacquer, silk, and other materials previously little known in ...

Blue paper has been a popular artist material since the fifteenth century. Crafted from blue rags formed into sheets, this humble material that required expert knowledge to produce and had a profound ...

Violence was considered a necessary part of life in the Middle Ages (about 500–1500 A.D.). People were surrounded by violence in many forms, including wars, brutal tournaments, and deadly rivalries ...

Renaissance artists transformed the course of western art history by making the nude central to their art. Drawing inspiration from classical sculpture and the study of the live model, these artists ...

The 16 th-century German artist Hans Holbein the Younger created portraits for a wide range of patrons, including scholars, statesmen, and courtiers, in Switzerland and England. Holbein’s drawings and ...

Contorted, elongated forms and dramatically animated compositions characterize the emerging artistic style of the late Renaissance (about 1520–1600). Concerned with grace and virtuosity in the ...