Quiz Team: Art History
Westminster Abbey
Formally titled the Collegiate Church of St Peter at (name), this building is a large, mainly Gothic, church. It is one of the most notable religious buildings in the United Kingdom and has been the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English and, later, British monarchs. This church, located in London was constructed in 1245 with Henry III as it's patron.
Pieta
A brown businessman and a man in red pants and a white shirt feature in Max Ernst's depiction of this scene, subtitled "Revolution by Night," while Rogier van der Weyden's features a red-clad praying donor and a blue-clad Saint John. This statue commissioned for Jean de Billheres features a figural group atop Golgotha, one of whose thighs are unrealistically shortened. A "Florentine" one made by the sculptor of the most famous one unusually includes Nicodemus and Mary Magadalen; unlike the most famous one, the other female figure is not made unnaturally large, young, or triangular as she sits astride Golgotha. The seated figure's abundant drapery distracts from distortions in the other figure but not from her intense gaze. That seated figure, depicted as very young to symbolize purity, cradles the shoulder of the other figure while her left hand is held outward in a gesture of submission. Depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the body of Jesus, this is a statue in St. Peter's Basilica, the only work signed by Michelangelo
Birth of Venus
A depiction of this scene by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (boo-ger-OH) shows two men blowing conch shells. Another version of this painting includes five putti flying over the central character, who is reclining on the sea, and was painted by Alexandre Cabanel. A better known depiction of this scene features flowers floating through the air while the main figure is being blown to Cyprus by a zephyr, in which is producing wind from his mouth. The rightmost figure in this painting is a horae who extends a red flowered cloak to the title figure, who stands nude on a conch shell. Sandro Botticelli painted a well known version of this mythological scene which shows the conception of a certain Roman goddess.
The third of May
A screenshot of this painting is seen near the beginning of Luis Buñuel's film The Phantom of Liberty. This painting served as the basis for a Pablo Picasso painting showing a group of robotic men and a group of pregnant women in North Korea. The left foreground of this work shows a man dressed in brown, clasping hands in prayer, and the right background of this work depicts a large steeple and a group of rioters. On the left of this painting, a man covers his face with his hands, and three dead bodies like in the bottom left corner. A man dressed in green leans forward while clenching his fists and the tower of a cathedral can be seen towards the left background. The figures on the right side of this painting are all faceless. The action of this painting is illuminated in-scene by an enormous lantern. Along with its companion piece, The Charge of the Mamelukes, it depicts Spanish resistance to Napoleon's forces. The men at right all wear black hats, unlike the most prominent figure who kneels against a foreboding pile of blood. The central figure is a man in a white shirt with arms raised. This painting depicting "The Execution of the Defenders of Madrid" on the namesake day is a work of Francisco de Goya.
The Persistence of Memory
According to legend, this painting was inspired by its artist eating some Camembert cheese while trying to figure out how to complete his landscape of Port Lligat. On the right side of this painting, a large gray rectangle is cut off by the edge of the canvas. In the back of the painting, a body of water is seen; to the right of that water, the Cliffs of Cadaques ("kuh- DACK") are yellow. Its center depicts a white "monster," and another object in this painting is upside down and covered in ants. Its artist went on to paint a 'Disintegration' of this painting. This surrealist painting, by Salvador Dali, features three melting clocks.
The Night Watch
Also known as Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq, and The Shooting Company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch, in this painting, a small brown dog stands next to a figure on the far right holding a marching drum. This painting depicts a shield on an arch bearing the name of the eighteen men who commissioned it. One character in this work wears a crown and carries a lance, while in the background of this work, one man wears a top hat and holds aloft a spear. This painting also shows a brightly-lit girl with a chicken on her back. In the center background, a man can be seen holding a blue and yellow flag. In the front, Willen van Ruytenbruch, dressed in yellow with a white sash, stands next to the main figure, who is dressed in black with a red sash. In the year of 1715, the painting was trimmed. The painting was vandalized by a man with a shoemaker's knife in 1911, a man with a bread knife in 1975, and sprayed with acid in 1990. This painting, by Rembrandt depicts a Dutch militia.
The Gates of Hell
Amidst the swirling texture of one section of this work, the viewer can make out a horse head, a dragon head, the wings of a bird of some kind, several human-body shaped forms, and a guy lying on his back who seems to be ***********. One part of this work depicts an old woman with drooping breasts with her head facing down and is entitled The Old Courtesan. This artwork also depicts three misshapen men with bowed heads extending their left hands towards each other. A man struggles under the weight of a woman in a part of this work named I am Beautiful. This work also includes a depiction of a man who ate the bodies of his own children. Two sculptures which were originally part of this work are one which depicts Francesca and Paolo engaging in the title action and one which depicts a man with his hand underneath his chin. Those sculptures are The Kiss and The Thinker. This massive sculpture, by Auguste Rodin, was inspired by Dante's Inferno.
The Last Supper
An open book between two candles can be seen in this scene's depiction by Peter Paul Rubens, while another version of it depicts the chest and arms of naked man as an apparition over the central event. Nikolai's Ge's version is unusual for depicting the central figure on a bed, while another notable depiction of it is a 16th century woodcut featuring a circular window, a man resting his head on his arms, and an empty plate on the floor. In addition to those paintings by Salvador Dali and Albrecht Durer, Andrea del Castagno's version depicts all the figures except one sitting on a long bench at a white linen table. A diagonal orientation and an abundance of angels flowing out of a lamp characterizes Tintoretto's version, while the most famous depiction of it has the Sforza coat of arms above it and is located on a wall in the Santa Maria della Grazie. A Paolo Veronese work that was intended to depict this scene had its title changed by the Inquisition; that work is The Feast in the House of Levi. Another depiction of it features angels emerging from a lamp and a diagonally-oriented table and was painted by Tintoretto. In the best known depiction of this scene three square windows can be seen in the back of this painting, and the back of a chair takes up its lower center portion. The central figure is wearing red and blue with his hands on a table, a effeminate Saint John sits next to the central figure. This painting depicts the emotional reaction of the disciples to the words "One of you will betray me." In this painting Judas clutches a bag of silver. This painting, by Leonardo da Vinci, depicted the last meal with Christ.
Sistine Chapel
Artistic works found at this location include the Resurrection of Christ by Hendrik Van den Broeck, which replaced an earlier work by Domenico Ghirlandaio, whose Vocation of the Apostles is also found here. The center of another canvas here displays a large Arch of Constantine, which bears a Latin inscription on its top stating that only Aaron was meant to be a priest - that canvas is The Punishment of Korah by Sandro Botticelli. Among the paintings that can be found in this building is a depiction of The Crossing of the Red Sea with literally red waters, which features a pillar of flame floating in the center, by Cosimo Rosselli. It's not Brancacci Chapel, but one painting at this location depicts the tribute money on its left background and the stoning of Christ on its right background. Pietro Perugino's Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter is found here, whose left walls are lined with frescoes depicting the life of Moses, and whose right wall contains frescoes of the life of Christ. One fresco in this location depicts two triumphal arches and a classical temple in the background, The Delivery of the Keys. The Libyan Sibyl and Persian Sybil can be seen in another set of frescoes at this location, which also contains The Separation of Light from Darkness. Daniele de Volterra covered the genitalia of many of the figures in a work located here that includes a depiction of the artist as the flayed skin of Bartholomew, The Last Judgment. This place's most famous decor depicts several sybils and the expulsion from Eden, along with a depiction of Adam and God, whose hands are separated by an infinitesimal distance. This building is constructed by Giovani Del Dolci with Pope sixtus IV as it's patron, and contains the famous works of Michelangelo.
Mona Lisa
At the top left of this work, jagged mountains overlook a lake, while below that, less-severe mountains lead to a multi-arched stone bridge across a river. Dark pillar bases can be seen on either side of this work, which is situated on a loggia overlooking a meandering road. Andy Warhol's Thirty are Better than One features thirty copies of this painting. It was parodied by Dada and Surrealist artists, including Duchamp, who added a mustache to it. The central figure has a scarf thrown over her left shoulder, part of an intricate clothing design that includes an olive dress and richly-painted light-brown sleeves. She appears to have no eyebrows, and sits with her hands folded in front of a winding road and a distant landscape. This painting by Leonardo Da Vinci is famous for the figure's enigmatic smile.
St. Peter's Basilica
Bernardo Rosselino was the first architect tagged for designing this structure, but his plans were never put in effect. It contains a large bronze door by Antonio Averulino and a statue of St. Longinus in its crossing, and its dome was completed by della Porta and Fontana. Its nave was extended by Carlo Maderno, and its piazza and colonnade were designed by the same man who created the Baldachin for it, Bernini. This church was originally designed by Bramante and later by Michelangelo, found in Vatican City at the burial site of its namesake, the first pope.
David
Dominico Ghirlandaio's work by this name stands on a large pedestal in the Sassetti Chapel in Santa Trinita, and the subject of another work of this title, Verrocchio, wears what appears to be a tight fitting dress and is in the Palazzo Vecchio. One work with this title was commissioned as a centerpiece for Lorenzo de Medici's wedding, and one section in that work depicts Ophni and Pinnees alongside the ark of the covenant. Another work of this title features a wreath of bay leaves found below a damascened pair of greaves. A 2008 laser restoration of this sculpture found that gold leaf was once used to highlight it. Currently, this piece is housed with versions of Madonna and Child by Luca Della Robbia and Lorenzo Ghiberti in a gallery at the Bargello. The helmet of one character in this work features a depiction of the Triumph of Cupid, which lends credence to the interpretation that it is representative of the primacy of sodomy in the culture in which it was created. Albertini suggested that its now lost base was made of variegated marble, while Vasari says that it was a simple column. Coveted by the French envoy, Pierre de Rohan, who wanted a copy, it was the centerpiece of a courtyard at the Medici Palace until it was moved to the Palazzo Pubblico. According to Janson, this work's unheroic proportions are based on an ancient Greek Spinario, or image of a young boy. Now housed at the Bargello Museum, curators recently discovered that the titular subject's wavy hair was once embellished with gold. It depicts its subject standing contrapposto, leaning on a sword, and naked save for his leg armor and a garlanded hat. This bronze statue, by Donatello, depicts the title figure triumphantly standing on Goliath's head. The most famous depiction of this subject shows him in a contrapposto pose with a slingshot over his shoulder. This version is by Michelangelo.
Guernica
In this painting, a black and white bird sits on a shelf, and many of the central figures' tongues have been replaced by daggers. On the left of this painting, a woman grieves over the dead child in her arms, and another woman peers at the scene from a window while her elongated arm holds a candle. A dead man in this work bears the stigmata and his severed arm sprouts a flower and is holding a sword. A bull emits smoke as its tail in this work that also shows a horse, with a human skull for its nose and upper teeth, pierced by a spear beneath a light bulb. This black-and-white work was painted by Picasso in response to the bombing of the titular city
Last Judgement
In this painting, a paunchy man has one snake coiled around him and another biting his genitalia. A figure with claws, buggy eyes, and pointed ears holds an oar astride his wooden boat in this work as a man cowers and grasps his head in horror beside him. Along the top of this work, one group of angels brings a column toward the center, while another group carries a cross. Biagio da Cesena was derisively depicted as Minos, judge of the Underworld, and on the bottom right Charon appears rowing a boat. At the center of this fresco Christ holds up his right hand to cast sinners down to hell. St. Bartholomew holds in his left hand his own flayed skin, which supposedly contains a self-portrait of this painting's artist. Daniele da Volterra carried out the Fig-Leaf Campaign to cover up the genitalia in this painting. This massive fresco in the Sistine Chapel, by Michelangelo, depicts Jesus consigning humans to their ultimate fates.
Death of Marat
One depiction of this scene features one figure grasping a glass of red wine that begins to spill, while another figure in that depiction has no mouth. Picasso's version of this scene features a lizard-like person standing next to a green blob, and was painted to represent his wife and mistress. Paul Baudry created a depiction of this scene showing an overturned chair and a woman in a blue dress, which is less famous than a depiction that was saved by Antoine Gros. A pair of depictions of this scene feature a red-haired nude woman standing next to the central figure. An object in another depiction of this scene states that the subject was "just too unhappy to deserve your kindness". Those aforementioned two depictions are by Edvard Munch. In the most famous depiction, the top half of this painting shows nothing but a black wall, while the bottom half contains a wooden box with the artist's signature on it and an inkwell on top. The title figure holds a note in his left hand and a quill in his right after being murdered in his bathtub by Charlotte Corday. A bloody knife lies on the floor to the left of the dangling arm of this painting's title character. The painter of this version visited the subject and remembered seeing the sheet, the green rug, the papers, and the pen. One issue with this painting was that the painter failed to illustrate the subject's skin conditions that confined him to a bathtub. Considered one of the most famous images of the French Revolution, this scene depicted by Jacques-Louis David, is the assassination of a journalist during the French Revolution.
Sistine chapel celling
One figure in this work looks away from a scroll she holds in her left hand, which is based on the artist's earlier Doni Madonna. In one section of this work men place the entrails of a slaughtered ram into the furnace of an altar to prepare for a sacrifice. This work depicts a bronze snake wrapped around a pole. In another section, people clamber out of a row boat to a shore where a figure climbs a tree. It also contains depictions resembling bronze shields, as well as twenty male nudes called the ignudi. Also showing sibyls, prophets, the Drunkenness of Noah, and the Great Flood, it is located perpendicular to The Last Judgment. This piece was commissioned by Pope Julius that features various painted elements that form part of a larger scheme of decoration within the Chapel. Located in the papal conclaves, the center features nine scenes from the Book of Genesis by Michelangelo.
The Thinker
One version of this work was destroyed a year after it was put on display by a man named Poitron, who claimed that this work was mocking him. Gustave Geffroy commented that if this work "were to stand up and walk, the ground under [its] feet would tremor" when seeing this work after it was enlarged by Henri LeBosse. The piece was originally named The Poet (French: Le Poète) and initially a figure in a large commission, begun in 1880, for a doorway surround called The Gates of Hell. There are about 28 full size castings of this sculpture, in which the figure is about 186 centimetres (73 in) high. This piece depicts the figure of Dante as he was coming up with The Inferno. The work by, Auguste Rodin, shows a nude male figure of over life-size sitting on a rock with his chin resting on one hand as though deep in thought, and is often used as an image to represent philosophy.
Empire State Building
Roy Sparkia and Renee Nemorov created the "Eight Wonders of the World" exhibition in the north corridor of this building's lobby. The design for this building was inspired by John Jacob Raskob standing a pencil on end. In 1945, a B-25 bomber crashed into this building, and this building's roof only saw one instance of its intended use as a zeppelin dock. A history by Mitchell Pacelle details Hideki Yokoi's obsession with buying this building, including his betrayal by his daughter and the legal battle between Leona Helmsley and Donald Trump over it. Its spire was augmented by a radio antenna in 1952, and was originally intended for use as a dirigible dock. This building is unusual because all four of its facades are visible from the street. It was designed by Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, who originally intended its spire to serve as a mooring mast for airships. It has observation decks on its eighty-sixth and one hundred and second floors. This Art Deco skyscraper marked the death of Fay Wray by turning off its signature floodlights, and it surpassed the nearby Chrysler Building as the tallest in the world when it was completed in 1931. King Kong climbed this building, the tallest skyscraper in New York City.
Luncheon on the Grass
The arrangement of this painting's central group was inspired by Raimondi's engraving of Raphael's Judgment of Paris. Claude Monet poked fun at this painting in a work set in the Fontainebleu forest that includes a woman in a large yellow dress and a man reclining on the ground. This painting which Emile Zola described as a "vast ensemble, full of atmosphere," is currently on display at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. The depicted environment seems to be a small, shady grove with a small pond in the background. One figure in this painting rests her head on her fingers and looks directly at the viewer. Two of the figures in this painting mimic the two men in the bottom right corner of Raimondi's engraving of The Judgment of Paris. One female figure in the middle center is seen bending down to pick something up off the ground. A row boat and a woman can be seen in the stream in the background, while a basket of fruit and a dress lie in foreground. Rejected by the Paris Salon in 1863, this painting also features the artist's favorite model Victorine Meurent, who looks out at the viewer while sitting next to two men. Likewise the wife of the artist, Suzanne Leenhoff, along with Ferdinand Leenhoff and the artist's brother, Eugene, are featured in the painting. Those men depicted in this painting, are casually dressed in contrast to the naked woman sitting next to them. This painting is by Edouard Manet.
Starry Night
The background of this painting features rolling blue hills which are broken by a lone church spire. This painting's companion piece, The Olive Trees, features a wispy, yellow cloud in the sky; both of those pieces were created during the artist's stay an asylum at Saint-Remy. A church steeple can be seen near the center of this work, which also features a glowing yellow crescent moon in the upper right corner and large, flamelike cypress trees in the foreground. An earlier painting by the same artist bears this title Over the Rhone. One feature of this painting is often compared to a sketch of the Whirlwind Galaxy drawn by Lord Rosse in the 1840s. In addition to this feature which resembles a yin-yang symbol, the center of this painting also depicts a church spire rising into the sky. Painted in a hospital room overlooking the village of Saint-Remy, its upper right corner features a yellow crescent moon. It also features an undulating dark blue sky, which contains eleven of the title objects. This painting featuring a swirling deep blue sky dotted by the title celestial objects was created by Vincent Van Gogh.
American Gothic
The colonial print apron in this work mimics 19th-century photographs, while Northern Renaissance inspiration can be seen in the pointed arch shape of a window, and, in the distance, the tops of the trees and a red barn can be seen. The leftmost figure in this painting wears a red cameo brooch and is positioned close to a potted geranium and mother-in-law's tongue. The figure on this painting's right wears a green-striped undershirt and a white collar with a gold button. The building in its background is located in Eldon, and the woman stands behind the right shoulder of the man, who was the artist's dentist and wears stitched overalls that mirror the shape of the pitchfork he holds. Nan Graham was one model for this painting, whose other model, a dentist named Byron McKeeby, posed for a man who holds a pitchfork. This iconic painting of a man and his daughter in front of an Iowa farmhouse, is a 1930 painting by Grant Wood.
Bird in Space
The creator of this work made a similar "Golden" piece of art that sits on a base of mashed-together trapezoidal prisms. It was possibly inspired by a dream documented in the Tibetan text Life of Milarepa. Its subtitle is "Which, when enlarged, will fill the sky" and its design is influenced by the artist's earlier Sleeping Child and the Maiastra series. Seven works with this name were constructed in marble, while nine are in bronze. They are polished smooth, but have a flat edge shaved off at the top. The first one was mounted on a conical support, while the brass one in the Guggenheim is on an organically irregular stem and the marble one at the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a marble base. The artist called it a project before being enlarged to fill the vault of the sky. This work was taxed in customs for not being "art" upon entry into the United States, and its body is elongated while its head, beak, and feathers are streamlined. This series of statues, by Constantin Brancusi, depicts an avian in the cosmos.
The School of Athens
The hexagon-impressed tiles on the arches in this painting are modeled on the ceiling of the Vatican Palace. A putto over the top of this painting bears the injunction "causarum cognitio," or "become knowledgeable of the causes." A statue of a deity with a shield and wooden staff, Minerva, is on the right side of this painting; on the far right, a veiled self-portrait pokes his head out among others. Two successive barrel vaults with hexagonal coffers stretch back to an archway at the back of this painting. In the bottom left hand corner of this painting is a mirror showing the opposite wall. It is located in a room with a fresco of Parnassus. Decor in the foreground of this work includes a carved marble garland interrupted by bull skulls and reliefs depicting various classical scenes. This work depicts two large statues of Apollo and Athena and can be found alongside its artist's depiction of a theological argument underneath the choirs of heaven, La Disputa. A man in brown clothing writes on a slab of stone in front of a man in a blue tunic sitting on steps with legs splayed to one side. A lone figure is sprawled across some stairs at the center of this work found in the Stanza Della Segnatura, whose depiction of a man resting on his hand may have been based on Michaelangelo. Its center features the texts Timaeus and the Nichomachean Ethics, respectively held by Plato and Aristotle. This painting, by Raphael, shows philosophers with the figure of artists like Leonardo in the titular Greek city.
Statue of Liberty
The inspiration for this work came at a dinner hosted by Edouard Laboulaye. The base of this sculpture is inscribed with Emma Lazarus's poem "The New Colossus." Part of it was built by Richard Morris Hunt, who was funded largely by Joseph Pulitzer's pledge to print the name of each person who donated. A broken chain lies at the feet of this sculpture, which rests on a steel infrastructure designed by Gustave Eiffel. This structure, designed by Frederic Bartholdi, stands on the harbor of New York and is a gift from the French. The statue is of a robed female figure representing Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, who bears a torch and a tabula ansata (a tablet evoking the law) upon which is inscribed the date of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. A broken chain lies at her feet. The statue is an icon of freedom and of the United States: a welcoming signal to immigrants arriving from abroad.
Lincoln Memorial
The memorial has been the site of many famous speeches, including Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered on August 28, 1963, during the rally at the end of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Its South Hall contains a painting depicting Justice with two golden wings that spans the entire mural. Originally, the front of this work of art was going to contain six equestrian statues and thirty-one pedestrian statues, but the final design included only the names of 36 states at the top of this work's front. Though the entire complex was designed by Henry Bacon, its centerpiece was commissioned in 1920 and was completed by Daniel Chester French. The central subject sits in a chair with his arms on the rests. To his left and right he is flanked by a copy of the Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural address. This memorial honors the 16th president of the United States
The Arnolfini Wedding
The mirror in this painting is between hanging rosary beads and a whisk broom, and it is surrounded by ten medallions showing the life of Jesus. That mirror is below the artist's signature, which states in Latin that the artist was there. Peter Schabacker has reasoned that the method by which a pair of hands in this painting are joined is an indication of unequal status in society. This painting includes a miniature of Saint Margaret on a bedpost. A single lit candle appears on a chandelier in the upper area of this painting. A table on the left holds three fruits, and one more sits on the windowsill. In this painting, a figure of St. Margaret emerging from the belly of a dragon is carved into a wooden chair. A cherry tree is visible outside the window. A rosary and brush are seen in the background, and above hangs a brass chandelier with a single lit candle. A pair of wooden clogs and a brown dog are near the bottom of this painting, which also features a convex mirror showing the artist and a priest. The man wears a fur-trimmed coat while the woman wears a green dress. The woman looks pregnant, but this was probably simply due to the predominant style of 1434, when it was made. The painting is now in London's National Gallery. This portrait of an Italian merchant and his wife is by Jan van Eyck.
The Scream
The pastel version of this work, which was created two years after the first two versions, depicts one of the two people in the background leaning over the bridge and most clearly shows a boat in the background lake. In the last version of this work, completed in 1910, the foreground character does not have eyeballs. In 1994, thieves that stole this painting left a note reading "Thanks for the poor security." This painting may be a self-portrait depicting an attack of agoraphobia. Two boats can be seen in the background of this painting. Blue land reflects a bright orange sky in this work. The sky in this work is said to be inspired by the eruption of Krakatoa. This painting was adapted into a lithograph in 1895 and was part of the artist's The Frieze of Life. Two people can be seen walking in the background on a bridge, and the subject of this painting is standing in the center of the bridge, clutching its round head, and performing the title action. This Edvard Munch painting depicts a distorted figure holding his hands to his head and making the title loud, distressed noise.
Nighthawks
The red-haired woman depicted in this painting also appears in its artist's work Summertime and was modeled on the artist's wife Josephine. In this painting, the second floor of a building is painted red and has a row of windows with half-open blinds. There is no visible entrance to the central establishment, inside which there is a yellow door with no doorknob. At the right of this painting, a narrow yellow door stands shut. A white-clad figure in this painting is bending down as he looks at the woman in a red dress. This painting contains an advertisement for Phillies cigars and depicts seven stools, one of which is occupied by a man in a fedora with his back towards the viewer. Supposedly based on a restaurant in Greenwich Village, it also shows a worker in white looking up at a couple sitting at the bar. This painting, by Edward Hopper, depicts three customers dinning late at night.
Saint Paul's Cathedral
This Cathedral, in London, is an Anglican cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of London and the mother church of the Diocese of London. It sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. The architect of this structure is Sir Christopher Wren.
Parthenon
This building contains 92 metopes. The metopes of the east side of this building, above the main entrance, depict the Gigantomachy (mythical battles between the Olympian gods and the Giants). The metopes of the west end show Amazonomachy (mythical battle of the Athenians against the Amazons). The metopes of the south side show the Thessalian Centauromachy (battle of the Lapiths aided by Theseus against the half-man, half-horse centaurs). The building likewise held elaborate sculptures decorating its pediments. The west pediment faced the Propylaia and depicted the contest between Athena and Poseidon during their competition for the honor of becoming the city's patron. The east pediment narrates the birth of Athena from the head of her father, Zeus. In the cella (inner chamber) of this temple housed a statue of Athena, sculpted by Phidias. In this Doric order structure there are eight columns at either end ("octastyle") and seventeen on the sides. Built by Ictinus and Callicrates, this building was a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their patron.
Notre Dame de Paris
This cathedral treasury is notable for its reliquary which houses some of Catholicism's most important first-class relics including the purported Crown of Thorns, a fragment of the True Cross, and one of the Holy Nails. In the 1790s, this cathedral suffered desecration during the radical phase of the French Revolution when much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. A later addition to it was performed by Bellu, who created a second spire on an octagonal base supported by four transept pillars. One of its windows, designed by Jean de Chelles and Pierre de Montreuil, has corner pieces that represent the descent into Hell and the resurrection of Christ. Unlike that South Rose Window, its transept and famous spire were rebuilt in the 1800s in an effort led by Eugene Viollet-le-Duc. This Gothic cathedral is located in Paris with Maurice de Sully as it's patron.
Liberty Leading the People
This painting was originally purchased to be hung in the Luxembourg Palace, but it was later "hidden in an attic" due to its provocative content according to Champfleury. Theories that one figure in this painting is a self-portrait are generally discredited in favor of theories that the model was engraver Frédéric Villot or director Étienne Arago. In the background on the right, a few pale, rectangular buildings are almost obscured by a cloud of dust, and in the center a man on his hands and knees wearing a red bandanna looks imploringly at the title figure. The building on the right side of this painting appears to be a cathedral, and the bright clouds in its center are con- trasted by dark triangles in the upper corners. Some people believe that the man wearing a top hat in this painting and holding a gun with two hands is the artist himself. This picture also shows a person wearing a blue jacket with a red sash looking up at the central figure and a boy waving two pistols, in addition to at least two dead bodies on the bottom of the painting, one dressed as a soldier and one missing some clothing. A figure on all fours in a blue tunic turns her face up at the title figure, while on the far left is a man with a white strap across his chest holding aloft a sword. The central figure, the legendary Marianne, is holding a bayoneted musket in one hand and a flag in the other. All three are urged on by a bare-breasted woman holding a bayonet, above whose head the French flag flies. The central figure stands over several corpses. This painting, by Eugene Delacroix, celebrates the July Revolution of 1830 as an extension of the French Revolution.
Las Meninas
This painting was reenacted in an Eve Sussman film that lasts eighty-nine seconds. In the introduction to The Order of Things, Michel Foucault analyzes this work, noting that the window depicted on the right side balances the object consuming the left side, between which lie a St. Andrew's cross about the central figure. Paradoxically, this painting's vanishing point is at the bent elbow of a man in the doorway at the rear. That doorway is on a wall that includes five dark paintings, surrounding a stark white-outlined mirror that impossibly reflects a king and his wife, Maria.An empty light fixture appears in the upper left of this work, while two indistinguishable paintings appear on the back wall of the main room in this work. The room depicted in this work has two chandelier mounts but no chandeliers. Mariana of Austria is one figure that can be seen in this painting, which also includes a man pausing in the background on a flight of stairs and a large brown dog resting in the bottom front right. In the background, two figures of royalty can be seen reflected in a mirror. Its artist's patrons are depicted in the mirror at the rear center of this work. Don Jose Nieto stands in the doorway in the rear of this painting, which also depicts one of the titular figures offering a small red cup to the central child. This painting shows a scene inside the Alcazar palace of Philip IV; to the far left is the painter himself working on a large canvas while in the center a group of servants, or ladies in waiting, attend to the Infanta Margarita. In the right foreground, a dog serves as a footrest for a dwarf, while on the left, one of the title figures offers a drink to the Infanta Margarita. The title of this painting, by Diego Velazquez, translates as "The Maids of Honor".
Mount Rushmore
This project was originally conceived by historian Doane Robinson. Initially meant to depict its four figures from the waist up, this Gutzon Borglum work was halted in 1941 with only the presidents' faces completed. This piece is a South Dakota monument in which the heads of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt are carved into granite.
Taj Mahal
This structure's finial was originally made of gold and is topped by a crescent. Its four arch-shaped doorways are flanked by several vaulted archways, which can also be found on its chamfered edges, and four kiosks surround its main dome. In front of this structure sits a garden, which contains a reflecting pool, and the four corners of this structure each contain a minaret. Its main chamber contains false sarcophagi of its only two permanent residents, Mumtaz and Jahan. The architect of this building is Ustad Ahmad Lahori and it's patron is Shah Jahan (as a gift for his third wife). This UNESCO world heritage site, a notable white marbled Mughal style mausoleum is located in Agra, India.
Fallingwater
Time cited it after its completion as its architect's "most beautiful job"; it is listed among Smithsonian's Life List of 28 places "to visit before you die." It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966. During this building's construction, Robert Mosher was relieved of his supervising position after this building's steel reinforcement was doubled without its architect's consent. An early proposal for this building called for its concrete to be covered in gold leaf. Built near Bear Run for department store magnate Edgar Kaufmann, it uses cantilevered floors in order to extend part of the house over a running creek. This Pennsylvania home is built partially over a waterfall, one of the best-known works of Frank Lloyd Wright.
