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Bernini created art for 8 different popes. In the process, he helped reinforce and redefine Christianity’s visual culture.

Although the statue’s political connotations faded over time, its eyes remain fixed on a key moment in Florentine history.

The painting measures 12,000 sq. ft. and includes over 300 life-like figures. 

Rubens’ Prometheus literally flips Michelangelo’s Christ on his head to look at art and gods in a whole new way.

Beauty and duty are increasingly involved in an undeclared conflict. It’s not a fair fight; one side is much stronger (illustrating how art works on our “hidden brain”). 

With Easter coming this Sunday and the minting of a new pope still fresh in people’s minds, considerations and reconsiderations of Christianity seem natural and unavoidable. The Renaissance art of […]

Five hundred years ago today, Michelangelo unveiled The Sistine Chapel Ceiling to Pope Julius II. The next day, All Saints’ Day 1512, the Pope inaugurated the newly decorated chapel with […]

Focusing on what the materials have to teach us is a staple of design thinking, and a powerful mindset for anyone seeking to create anything with structural integrity. 

Put these films in your Netflix queue and you will not only get a first-class education on the history of cinema, you will also get a window into the rich visual culture of the Renaissance. 

After winning the Iowa straw poll and becoming the early leader for the GOP nod for the 2012 presidential race, Michele Bachmann (shown above, on the left) might be looking […]

“My beard points to heaven, and I feel the nape of my neck on my hump,” Michelangelo wrote in a poem about his experience painting the ceiling of the Sistine […]

When the invasion comes, head for the mountains. Sorry, flatlanders!

Michelangelo spent most of his life on a massive guilt trip. When he painted The Crucifixion of St. Peter in 1550 (pictured), he inserted not one, but two self-portraits. To […]

A fresh view of intelligence — spanning living systems from bacteria to human civilization — challenges the idea that it’s merely problem-solving.

In a world of rising cynicism, a celebration of our capacity to create, adapt, and thrive.

In our competitive world, fortune does not appear to favor the humble — but a strong counter-narrative is emerging.

The strange case of cultured ultra-thief Stéphane Breitwieser — who claims “art is my drug” — has divided opinion. Is it Stendhal syndrome?

A new book by historian and author Paul Strathern argues that the Northern European Renaissance has long been overlooked.

This collection of learning and development quotes serves as a reminder of the meaning and purpose behind this important work.

Research shows that spending more time on social media is associated with body image issues in boys and young men.

The value of art does not lie in the artwork itself but is instead determined by curators, collectors, critics, and other participants in the modern-day art market.

Satanic cultists don’t even believe the Devil exists. Satanism is largely a religion focused on secular humanism and hedonism.

Modernism has lasted longer than any art movement since the Renaissance.

The engineer working on Google’s AI, called LaMDA, suffers from what we could call Michelangelo Syndrome. Scientists must beware hubris.

The so-called “court painter of Silicon Valley” was shaped by her youth in communist Poland but looks forward to a future ruled by celebrity robots. 

Today, we could use Big Data to radically reform democracy. Tomorrow, we could build nanofabricators and usher in an era of abundance. Is society ready?

Frank Slater’s book “Practical Portrait Painting” reveals the secrets of masters old and new, from Leonardo da Vinci to Augustus John. 

For a long time, important events could only be visualized retroactively through paintings. Photography allowed us to capture history as — or sometimes even before — it happened. 

Stockholm Syndrome is the most famous of 10 psychological disorders named after world cities. Most relate to tourism or hostage-taking.

People who visit Florence seem strangely susceptible to Stendhal syndrome, which is blamed on an overwhelming sense of awe.