Chauvet Cave Paintings

Adrèche, France​​

c. 34,000-32,000 BCE

Chauvet Cave Paintings

Adrèche, France​​

c. 34,000-32,000 BCE

Chauvet Cave Paintings

Adrèche, France​​

c. 34,000-32,000 BCE

Cueva de los Manos

Santa Cruz, Argentina​​

c. 7,300 - 700 BCE

Probable tools & method for creating the handprints

Lion Man of Ulm

Germany​​

c. 38,000 BCE

Origins of the Lion Man of Ulm

Stonehenge

Salsbury, England

c. 2,000 BCE

Detailed view of outer ring construction technique

Stonehenge & Astronomy

The physical development of the Stonehenge site

Stonehenge alignment

Stonehenge

Cursus

Woodhenge

Durrington Walls

Stonehenge and surrounding sites

Durrington Walls

Salsbury, England

c. 2,600 BCE

Woodhenge

Habitation

Aerial site view

Hypothetical reconstructions of Durrington (left) and Woodhenge (right)

Full Stonehenge site and proposed function and/or symbolism

Pyramids of Giza / Fourth Dynasty Pyramids | Giza, Egypt

From the Left:
Pyramid of Menkaure | c. 2490–2472 BCE
Pyramid of Khafre |  c. 2520–2494 BCE
Great Pyramid of Khufu |  c. 2551–2528 BCE.

• Ka - the life force
• Ba - the personality
• Sheut - the shadow
• Ren - the name
• Ib - the heart

The Five Parts of the Egyptian Soul

The Mummification Process

Artist's Reconstruction of Original Pyramid Site

Evolution of the Egyptian Pyramid

How the Pyramids were Developed

Plan of the city of Heit el-Ghurab, Giza

Heit el-Ghurab site with potential waterways

Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III

New Kingdom

Luxor, Egypt | c. 1200 BCE

Aerial View of the Temple

Palette of King Narmer

Predynastic Egypt

c. 3000-2920 BCE

Decoding the Palette

Reverse side of the Palette

Menkaure and Khamerernebty

4th Dynasty Egypt

c. 2490-2472 BCE

Khafre Enthroned

4th Dynasty Egypt

c. 2530 BCE

Canon of Egyptian Proportionality in Art

Akhenaton and Nefertiti with their three daughters

18th Dynasty Egypt

c. 1353-1335 BCE

Akhenaton (colossal statue from the temple of Aton)

18th Dynasty Egypt

c. 1353-1335 BCE

Bust of Nefertiti

18th Dynasty Egypt

c. 1353-1335 BCE

Map of Ancient Greece

Topography of the Aegean Sea

The End of the Aegean Bronze Age

Rise of the Athenian Empire

Temple of Aphaia

Aegina, Greece

c. 500-490 BCE, Archaic Period

Artist’s rendering of the temple's facade

The Parthenon

Athens, Greece

5th century BCE, Classical Period

Artist’s rendering of The Parthenon atop the Acropolis in ancient Athens

Parthenon

Erechtheion

Propylaia

Theater of Herodes Atticus

Artist’s rendering of The Parthenon's facade

Recreation of the Athena Parthenos Statue from Athens

Kouros

c. 600 BCE
Archaic

Warrior
(aka Riace Warrior)

c. 460-450 BCE

Classical Period

Lost-Wax Casting Process

Once-Lost Greek Bronzes

The Rise & Fall of Rome

Italian Peninsula, c. 500 BCE

Portrait of a Boy

3rd century BCE

Etruscan

The "Uncanny Valley" Phenomenon

Simplified chart of the Uncanny Valley

The Uncanny Valley as experienced through AI

Head of an Old Man

mid-first century BCE

Late Republic

Torlonia Patrician

1st century CE copy
(80-70 BCE original)

Late Republic / Early Empire

Augustus of Primaporta

c. 20 BCE

Early Empire

Revealed Polychromy of Augustus

The Myth of Marble

Forum of Augustus

Rome, Italy

c. 20 BCE | Early Empire

Artist's Rendering of the Forum

Floorplan of the Forum

Colosseum

Rome, Italy

c. 70-80 CE | Early Empire

Artist's Rendering of the Colosseum with Cutaway

View from Inside the Colosseum Ruins

Pantheon

Rome, Italy

125 CE

High Empire

Elevation view of the Pantheon

Aerial view of the Pantheon

Roman Concrete Applications

Dome (with Oculus)

Barrel Vault

Sequence of Groin Vaults

Groin Vault

Overhead plan view the Pantheon

Oculus 'spotlight' effect within the Pantheon

Byzantium

Map of Constantine's path to becoming Emperor

Spread of Christianity

Santa Costanza

Rome, Italy

c. 354 CE, Early Byzantine

Exterior of Santa Costanza

Interior of Santa Costanza with mosaic decoration

Reconstruction of Original Mausoleum Floor Plan

Floor plan & elevation of Santa Costanza

San Vitale

Ravenna, Italy

526-547 CE, Early Byzantine

The Octagonal Design of San Vitale

Santa Costanza overlay

East-West Stylistic Differences Emerge

The Great Schism of Christianity

The Remains of Rome, 526 CE

Justinian expansion of the Byzantine Empire

Hagia Sophia

Istanbul, Turkey

533-537 CE, Justinian

Artist's rendering of Old St. Peter's Basilica

Interior of Hagia Sophia

Floor plan of Hagia Sofia (w/ Santa Costanza overlay)

Artist's rendering of the original Hagia Sophia interior

Theodora & Her Attendants

San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy

c. 547 CE, Justinian

Mosaic of Justinian opposite of Theodora's within the church

Interior view of San Vitale

Making a Roman-Style Mosaic

Roman Naturalism vs Byzantine Abstraction

Expansion of the Islamic World

The Islamic Empire in 750 CE

Qubbat As-Sakhrah, قبة الصخرة‎  (aka "Dome of the Rock")
Jerusalem, West Bank

c. 687-692 CE, Umayyad Caliphate

History & Beauty of Qubbat As-Sakhrah

Cross-Section of Quabbat As-Sakhrah Interior

Mosaic Mihrab
Isfahan, Persia (originally)

c. 1354 CE, Sarbedaran Period

Example of a full qibla wall with minbar & mihrab

Mosaic Patterns on Exterior of Qubbat As-Sakhrah

Examples of Islamic Geometric Design for Zellij Tiles

Production of Zellij Tiles

Production of Zellij Tiles

Making Islamic Geometric Designs

Muqarnas Ceiling from Shah Mosque, Isfahan, Iran

Quran Page

9th-10th cent CE

Abbasid Caliphate

The Beauty and Skill of the Handwritten Quran

Example of Arabic calligraphy

Symbols & logos using Arabic calligraphy

'Basmala' in simple calligraphy

On Arabic Calligraphy

"Western" Islamic Calligraphy

Umayyad Mosque (aka "Great Mosque of Damascus")
Damascus, Syria

706-715 CE, Umayyad Caliphate

Aerial View of the Umayyad Mosque

Panoramic views of the Umayyad Mosque Courtyard

Example of a Hypostyle Spaces

Interior of a mosque in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Umayyad Mosque Interior

Mosque of Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain

8th-10th centuries CE, Abbasid/Córdoba Caliphate

Expansion of the Mosque of Córdoba over time

Street-level view of the Mosque of Córdoba

Courtyard of the Mosque of Córdoba

Interior of the Mosque of Córdoba

Qibla wall of the Mosque of Córdoba (minbar out of frame)

Mihrab of the Mosque of Córdoba

Gilded dome above the qibla wall

Evidence of cultural shifts inside the Mosque of Córdoba

Baroque chapel installed in the center of the former mosque

Baroque chapel installed in the center of the former mosque

Roman Empire (117 CE)

Migration Period (aka Barbarian Invasions)

Medieval Europe after the fall of Western Rome (476 CE)

A Brief History of the English Language

Looped Fibulae

6th century CE

Merovingian

Map of Celtic Cultural Region

Purse Cover from the Sutton Hoo Burial Ship

c. 625 CE

Hiberno-Saxon

Celtic Hinged Clasp showing Cloisonné decoration

Interlaced Belt Buckle

c. 625 CE

Hiberno-Saxon

Sweden, 11th-12th cent. CE

Spain, 1st cent. BCE

Other Examples of Interlace Art

South Cross
Ahenny, Ireland

Late 8th century CE

Hiberno-Saxon

Examples of Christian Celtic Crosses

St. Matthew from the
Lindisfarne Gospels

c. 698-721 CE

Hiberno-Saxon, Northumbrian

Reproduced Pages from The Lindisfarne Gospels

Reproduced 'Carpet Page' from The Lindisfarne Gospels

An Example of the Secrets within Medieval Manuscripts

Chi-rho-iota
from the Book of Kells

9th century CE

Hiberno-Saxon

Fine craftsmanship is all about you, but you might not notice it.

Look more keenly at it and you . . . will make out intricacies, so delicate and subtle, so exact and compact, so full of knots and links,

with colors so fresh and vivid, that you might say that all this was the work of an angel, and not of a man.

For my part, the oftener I see the book, the more carefully I study it,

the more I am lost in ever fresh amazement, and I see more and more wonders in the book.

- Giraldus Cambrensis, Topographia Hiberniae (1185 CE)

Palantine Chapel of Charlemagne

805 CE

Frankish, Carolingian

Cutaway view of the original Chapel

Interior of the Chapel

Floorplan of the Chapel

Charlemagne's Marble Throne

St. Matthew from the
​Coronation Gospels

c. 800-810 CE

Frankish, Carolingian

Celtic vs Carolingian styles