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Why The Past Matters Wednesday, May 21, 2025
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  • Articles
    • Archaeology
    • Archaeologia
    • Architectural History
    • Art
    • Artifacts of Material History
    • Classics
    • Controversies
    • Food History
    • History Underfoot
    • Photo Essays
    • Reviews
    • Short Takes
  • About
    • Mission
    • Magazine Staff & Contributors
    • Supporters
  • Contact
  • Controversies

    The Complexities of Art and Antiquities Repatriation and the Evolution of Collecting

    3 weeks ago

    Jan Vermeer, The Astronomer, 1668, restituted to Rothschilds after WWII, then gifted to Louvre (Photo P. Hunt 2025) By Jann Perez – Deep questions about the ethics of collecting and also about repatriation of plundered art and antiquities are far more complex than they might at first appear from shallow […]

  • History

    Frederick the Great: An Enlightened Ruler 

    2 months ago

    By Leah Mordehai –  “A single Voltaire will do more honor to France than a thousand pedants, a thousand false wits, a thousand great men of inferior order.” Frederick the Great Why was Frederick II of Prussia an enlightened ruler? One of the most enlightened rulers of all time, Frederick […]

  • Art

    Tamara de Lempincka and Art Deco

    3 months ago

    Tamara de Lempincka, Madonna, 1937 By P. F. Sommerfeldt – Tamara de Lempincka (1894-1980) was a gifted artist and an iconoclast, often considered a founding leader of the Art Deco movement from the 1920’s through the 1930’s. Art Deco was the perfect trope for an artist known for bold color, […]

  • Archaeologia, Artifacts of Material History

    Maya Sculpture Benchmarks: Jaina Figurines

    4 months ago

    By Patrick Hunt –  One of the features found across Maya sculpture in different media and materials – stone relief, plaster relief, wood and ceramic figures – appears to be a certain amount of heightened caricature and lack of proportionality, in the opinion of this researcher possibly to accentuate imagery […]

  • Controversies

    Rhetorical Manipulation, Emotion, and The Fall of the Berlin Wall

    4 months ago

    By Alex Dortzbach –  Media lies very near the heart of a culture in recording values. It can help create a cultural lexicon, build or reinforce a set of common ideals, and quicken the spread of new ideas. A hugely-insightful book, The Race Against the Stasi (2014) by journalist Herbie […]

  • Archaeologia

    The Athenian Long Walls

    5 months ago

    By Jess Taylor – The defensive Athenian Long Walls were constructed over the course of the 5th Century BCE to maintain a secure corridor between the Athenian civic center, the city of Athens, and its principal port at Piraeus, located 7 km away.

  • Art

    Philosophy and Poetry: The Partner Paintings of Salvator Rosa

    6 months ago

    Salvator Rosa, Philosophy, ca. 1645, image courtesy National Gallery London By Natalie Vander Pol – One of the most moving pieces to me personally in the National Gallery is undoubtedly Philosophy by Salvator Rosa (ca. 1645), which symbolizes both a love story and a bond between human thought and art.  At first […]

  • Controversies

    The Old Difference Renewed between Living In Justice and In-Justice

    7 months ago

    John Adams by Gilbert Stuart, 1821, courtesy of National Gallery of Art, Wash. DC By Walter Borden, M.D. – “At his best, man is the noblest of all animals: separated from law and justice he is the worst.”   Aristotle, Politics 1.1253a Aristotle speaks of Law and Justice. Is there a […]

  • Art

    Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid: Selected Masterpieces

    8 months ago

    By P. F. Sommerfeldt – If I had to name one of the jewels of European museum collections not enough people visit, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid would be high on that list. Its iconic collection of Renaissance paintings can compete with much larger holdings especially because it is not […]

  • Art

    Leonardo’s ‘Secret’ Design of “The Last Supper”

    9 months ago

    By John Roman – Historians suggest some religious paintings of the Renaissance may have been intentionally designed to induce subliminal, out-of-body experiences in church patrons. Michael Kubovy, in his book The Psychology of Perspective and Renaissance Art (1989), uncovered a remarkable twist in artists’ use of perspective during the Renaissance. He explored the idea that […]

Recent Posts

  • The Complexities of Art and Antiquities Repatriation and the Evolution of Collecting

    3 weeks ago
  • Frederick the Great: An Enlightened Ruler 

    2 months ago
  • Tamara de Lempincka and Art Deco

    3 months ago
  • Maya Sculpture Benchmarks: Jaina Figurines

    4 months ago
  • Rhetorical Manipulation, Emotion, and The Fall of the Berlin Wall

    4 months ago
  • The Athenian Long Walls

    5 months ago
  • Philosophy and Poetry: The Partner Paintings of Salvator Rosa

    6 months ago
  • The Old Difference Renewed between Living In Justice and In-Justice

    7 months ago
  • Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid: Selected Masterpieces

    8 months ago
  • Leonardo’s ‘Secret’ Design of “The Last Supper”

    9 months ago
 

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