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The two panels of "The Melun Diptych" (circa 1455) by Jean Fouquet: "Étienne Chevalier with Saint Stephen" (on the left, featuring theAcheulean handaxe, and "Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels," in an exhibition at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, Germany. Source: Saiko/CC BY 3.0

This 15th Century French Painting Features A Precisely Drawn Prehistoric Tool

This artistic-anthropological mystery was solved after a team of researchers analyzed a curious stone, depicted in a 15th century French painting. Merging the Paleolithic Age with the Renaissance,...
Turkish artist Garip Ay producing ebru water art. Source: YouTube Screenshot / Great Big Story)

The Ancient Turkish Art of Painting on Water (Video)

We’ve all heard of watercolor painting but what about painting on water? Few artworks are as unique as those produced by the Turkish artist Garip Ay who masterfully resurrects the ancient technique...
The Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan undergoing imaging to reveal the hidden text. Source: Lumiere Technology/Pascal Cotte and Salvatore Apicella

The Families Preserving Vietnam’s Traditional Dong Ho Art Folk Art (Video)

Dong Ho, a traditional Vietnamese folk art, almost met its demise due to the ravages of war . Once a staple in home decor during the Vietnamese New Year , the intricate paintings were nearly lost to...
Hand-drawn illustration superimposed over a photo of the pre-Hispanic painting. Source: Frida Mateos / INAH

Painting Linked to Aztec God of Drunkenness Discovered in 16th Century Mexican Convent!

Archaeologists working at a Mexican holy site thought they were rediscovering a lost image of the Virgin Mary. But Mary never wore a feather plume, and seldom was she depicted within red circles. The...
Section of X-ray image of Vincent van Gogh self-portrait discovered at the back of another van Gogh painting housed in Edinburgh. Source: National Galleries of Scotland

Hidden Faces: Vincent van Gogh's Secret Self-Portrait

Vincent van Gogh, one of the most famous figures in 19th-century Western art history, is still surprising us. According to the National Galleries of Scotland, a previously hidden self-portrait of van...
Garden of the Hesperides

Garden of Eden Depicted in Ancient Greek Religious Art

If the early chapters of the Book of Genesis present a true account of human origins, then ancient secular human history must connect in significant ways to that account. In fact, ancient Greek...
Mummy portrait, an ancient Egyptian style of post mortem portrait, of a woman from Egypt now housed in the Landesmuseum Württemberg Stuttgard. Source: CC BY-SA 4.0

Preserving Memories Through Time: The History of Post Mortem Portraits

People and cultures around the world have always understood death - the unavoidable part of everyone’s existence – in a multitude of ways. Some saw it as a gateway to a new life, while others viewed...
Portrait of Anne of Cleves by court artist Hans Holbein the Younger. Source: Public domain

Court Artist Tried to Warn Henry VIII Not to Marry Anne of Cleves

The German aristocrat Anne of Cleves was the fourth of Henry VIII’s six wives , marrying the king on January 6, 1540. Before Anne ever set foot on English soil, Henry dispatched his court artist, the...
Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window (around 1657-59) before its most recent restoration (left) and after (right). © Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, SKD, Photo: Wolfgang Kreische

Mysterious Cupid Found Hidden in 17th Century Vermeer Masterpiece

After three years of painstaking work, an added layer of paint that obscured an image of Cupid on a famous painting by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer has been fully removed . Only now can Vermeer’...
The stalagmite section in the Ardales Cave in Malaga, Spain that was painted with red ochre, pigment making it probably the oldest Neanderthal painting ever found in a European cave. Source: University of Barcelona

Study Confirms Cave Painting Was Made By Neanderthals

A team of European archaeologists used high-tech testing procedures have confirmed that painted stalagmites found in the Ardales Cave (Cueva de Ardales in Spanish) in Malaga, Spain really were...
Ancient Egyptian Painter Left Behind His Palette and The Paint Has Survived!

Ancient Egyptian Painter Left Behind His Palette and the Paint Has Survived!

When compared to later, more naturalistic Classical art of the Greeks and Romans, ancient Egyptian art has been described as blocky, static, abstract, and formal. But that doesn’t mean that the...
Wow! Stunning Pompeii Hunting Fresco Refreshed By Lasers

Stunning Pompeii Hunting Fresco Restored With Laser

A 2,000-year-old painted hunting scene discovered in Pompeii has been painstakingly restored with lasers. However, this Pompeii fresco is not restricted to Roman hunting scenes, but also a range of...
Anthony Romilio argues that the geese depicted in the 4,600-year-old- tomb painting at Meidum is actually an extinct goose species. Source: Public domain

'Mona Lisa of Ancient Egypt' Contains Extinct Goose

A University of Queensland paleontologist claims to have found evidence of an extinct goose species in a 4,600-year-old tomb painting dubbed the “Mona Lisa of Ancient Egypt.” The ancient painting was...
A trio of anthropomorphic figures from the Tanzanian cave art at the Amakhee 4 site.

Ancient Tanzanian Paintings of Bizarre Humanoids Perplex Experts

Rare, multidimensional art has been discovered in a Tanzanian cave shelter. However, the ritual scenes depicted in the ancient art don’t tally up the traditions of the modern Sandawe people...
Warty Pig Cave Painting Discovered in Indonesia is a Game Changer

Warty Pig Cave Painting Discovered in Indonesia is a Game Changer

A team of archaeologists researching in Indonesia have come across what they think is the world’s oldest cave painting. The image has now been found to date back 45,500 years, older than any other...
Chumash cave paintings at Painted Cave in the mountains above Santa Barbara

The Colors of the Wind: Hidden Messages of the Chumash Cave Paintings

Take a moment, and close your eyes. Breathe deeply, and inhale the salt of the air and feel the light brush of low-hanging tree branches caressing your face. Feel the rocky ground beneath your toes,...
Saimyoji Temple contains remarkable Buddhist art. (Yuta1127 /Adobe Stock) Insert: One of the paintings revealed with infrared imagery. (Noriaki Ajima)

Buddhist Art Found Hidden from the Naked Eye in Japanese Temple

Technology has allowed researchers many more insights into the past in recent years and helped several surprising discoveries to be made. Now, experts in Japan have used infrared camera technology to...
The Nativity scene (right) was discovered by x-ray under the painting of the beheading of John the Baptist (left). Source: Northumbria University and Bowes Museum

Nativity Scene Hidden Under Baptist Beheading Painting

British experts investigating a 400-year-old damaged painting have made an amazing discovery. Beneath the artwork they found a painting that apparently dates to the medieval period. It is of a...
The Indonesian cave art hunting scene panorama. Source: Credit: Adam Brumm, Agus Oktaviana

Indonesian Cave Art Demands Human Cultural Evolution Overhaul

A major discovery has been made in a limestone cave in Sulawesi, Indonesia - the earliest known hunting scene in the world has been identified on a hard to reach cliff face. At least 43,900 years ago...
Detail of a self-portrait of Raphael, aged approximately 23.

Did Iconic Renaissance Artist Raphael Die From Too Much Sex?

Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (known more commonly as Raphael) was a painter and architect who lived in Italy between the late 15th and early 16th centuries, during a period known as the High...
Medieval Masterpiece ‘Christ Mocked’ by Cimabue   Source: Eric Turquin Experts en Tableaux

Kitchen Mantelpiece Masterpiece Sold For Almost $27 Million

A long-lost medieval masterpiece by one of the fathers of Renaissance painting discovered this year has been sold at auction for an astounding sum, way exceeding the auctioneers estimate. The work...
An example of Gyotaku art.

Gyotaku: A Unique Japanese Tradition in Which a Fish Becomes a Work of Art

Gyotaku is a traditional Japanese art form that is highly unique, and some may even say bizarre. The word Gyotaku itself is a combination of two separate words – Gyo , which means ‘fish’, and Taku ,...
The well-preserved, brightly colored fresco of Saint Alexis and Christ the Pilgrim. Source: ABC

Fresh Light Illuminates Brilliant Medieval Fresco Incarcerated For Centuries in Rome

A letter from 1965 alerted a curious historian to the existence of an interesting painting that was hidden in one of Rome’s many churches. Her discovery of the medieval fresco was a huge...
Digital tracing of Bison featured in rock art.

Archaeologists Identify First Prehistoric Figurative Cave Art in Balkans - It’s Symbolic!

There was an explosion of symbolism in human culture during the Paleolithic period. Around the world, examples of cave art, some of it rather strange , began cropping up over 35,000 years ago. But...

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