This painting, by the Italian artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (c. 1696–1770), strives to re-create (albeit with historically inaccurate wardrobes) an early encounter between one...
A man named Gregory was the son of a brother of Emperor Heraclius of Constantinople (r. 610-641). Gregory’s father, Theodore, had played a prominent...
The Thousand and One Nights
(a large collection of anonymously-authored stories of Indian, Persian and Arabian origin, compiled and edited between the 9th and 15th...
This painting, by the French artist Jules Elie Delaunay (c. 1828-1891), was inspired by a particular tale from the Golden Legend, a large collection...
By the 640s, Constantinople’s imperial holdings in North Africa came to be overseen by a certain patrician named Gregory. The region he commanded had...
Immanuel Kant (c. 1724-1804)
"Nothing can possibly be conceived in the world, or even out of it, which can be called good without qualification, except...
As was told in ancient Chinese mythology, legend and folklore, the worldwide violent human proclivity for rebellion and war all began with a curious...
(German city painted by Sebastian Münster (1488-1552), via Creative Commons)
An Unbelievably Bizarre Anabaptist Rebellion
During the 1530s, a strange occurrence blandly labeled the Münster...
Bellona was an ancient Roman war-goddess, often likened to the similar Greek war-goddess, Enyo. As a goddess of war, Bellona was always associated with...
Sophocles (c. 496-406/405 BCE)
"Time is watching, watching over us always,
bringing down the lives of some,
raising others the next day
into the light again."
From Sophocles'...
Martin Luther
The World Luther Faced
During the 14th-16th centuries, the Papal States struggled with corruption and questionable activities. As a result, on Halloween day,...
This painting, by the famous Dutch artist, Rembrandt (aka Rembrandt van Rijn, c. 1606–1669), was inspired by the ancient Greek myth of Europa. According...
This 17th-century tapestry, woven by an unknown artist, re-creates a painting produced by Charles Le Brun (c. 1619-1690) that depicted the historical event of...
This painting, attributed to Giovanni Battista Langetti (c. 1635-1676), depicts the final moments of Marcus Porcius Cato, better known as Cato the Younger (95-46...
This artwork, by the French artist Eugène Delacroix (c. 1798-1863), was created as he visualized and practiced for a painting that he would produce...
William Shakespeare (c. 1564 – 1616)
"Cupid is a knavish lad,
Thus to make poor females mad."
From William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Act...
(Relief of the Charites Aglaea, Thalia and Euphrosyne, from the island Paros, ca. 570–560 BC, via Creative Commons)
In The Iliad, Hephaestus, the smith...
(Center: Homer, Left: Snorri Sturluson and Right: Virgil. All images in the collage are licensed as Public Domain via Creative Commons)
The concept of the...
(Print of Jean Bureau, from Ambroise Tardieu, Dictionnaire iconographique des Parisiens, Herment, 1885, via Creative Commons)
In the last decades of the Hundred Years'...
The Malleus Maleficarum (Published 1487)
"From the priesthood arises everything good, and everything evil."
From The Malleus Maleficarum (Part I, Question 6) by Heinrich Kramer...
