First Dogs in Art?

In Arabia, archaeologists have found what could be the earliest depictions of domesticated dogs...

 Original Article in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology:

  

Pre-Neolithic evidence for dog-assisted hunting strategies in Arabia

National Geographic Article:   

Are These the Oldest Images of Dogs?

Video:  May be world's first images of dogs
- and they're wearing leashes...

Article Text from Video

Agate Sealstone Rewrites the History of Ancient Art

Agate Sealstone recovered from a Warrior's Tomb 
could rewrite the history of ancient art...

Unearthing a Masterpiece

Science Channel Video on the discovery...

Archaeologists Find One Of The "Finest Works Of Prehistoric Greek Art Ever" In Griffin Warrior'

Jack Davis and Sharon Stocker, 

husband-and-wife archaeologists from the University of Cincinnati, discovered the warrior’s grave.

Sharon Stocker in the Warrior`s Tomb

More information on the amazing tomb and its contents...

Secrets of The Griffin Warrior 

Smithsonian Article...

This 3,500-Year-Old Greek Tomb Upended What We Thought We Knew About the Roots of Western Civilization  

National Geographic Article...

Rare Unlooted Grave of Wealthy Warrior Uncovered in Greece

Imaginary Prisons of Piranesi

Carceri d'Invenzione (1745-1761) by Giovanni Battista Piranesi  

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The imaginary prisons of Piranesi have haunted many (even some who had never seen them!) since they were etched in the 18th century. Here is a famous reference to them by Thomas de Quincy: 

   Many years ago, when I was looking over Piranesi's Antiquities of Rome, Mr Coleridge, who was standing by, described to me a set of plates by that artist, called his Dreams, and which record the scenery of his own visions during the delirium of a fever. Some of them (I describe only from memory of Mr Coleridge's account) represented vast Gothic halls: on the floor of which stood all sorts of engines and machinery, wheels, cables, pullies, levers, catapults,.&c. &c. expressive of enormous power put forth and resistance overcome. Creeping along the sides of the walls, you perceive a staircase: and upon it, groping his way upwards, was Piranesi himself: follow the stairs a little further, and you perceive it come to a sudden abrupt termination, without any balustrade, and allowing no step onwards to him who had reached the extremity, except into the depths below. Whatever is to become of poor Piranesi, you suppose, at least, that his labours must in some way terminate here. But raise you eyes, and behold a second flight of stairs still higher: on which again Piranesi is perceived, but this time standing on the very brink of the abyss. Again elevate your eye, and a still more aerial flight of stairs is beheld: and again is poor Piranesi busy on his aspiring labours: and so on, until the unfinished stairs and Piranesi both are lost in the upper gloom of the hall. -- With the same power of endless growth, and self-reproduction did my architecture proceed in dreams.

   Thomas de Quincy in Confessions of an English Opium Eater, 1821, p. 106

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Related Links:
French site with excellent Piranesi images: http://piranesi.free.fr/carceri.htm

Here is an amazing animation by Gregoire Dupond at Factum Arte:

Giovanni Battista Piranesi: A video collection of 1088 etchings:

 

Wander through the Machu Picchu Museum in Cusco, Peru

Use Google Streetview to wander through the Machu Piccu Museum in Cusco, Peru, Home to the largest collection of Machu Picchu artifacts in the world...

Museo Machupicchu - Casa Concha

And then use Google Streetview to explore the Machu Picchu site itself...

Go to Google Streetview at Machu Picchu, Peru

Wander Through the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp

Use Google Streetview to wander Through the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp...

Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp

The Singing and the Silence: Birds in Contemporary Art

The Smithsonian American Art Museum has some terrific online exhibitions.  Here is one of my favorites.  Under each item you will also find a video interview with the artist...

The Singing and the Silence: Birds in Contemporary Art

 

Elim Museum of Chinese Ancient Porcelain Art

Always have found Chinese Porcelain Art fascinating with its intricately detailed pictures of people, creatures and landscapes.

Elim Museum of Chinese Ancient Porcelain Art is a non-profit organization. From a private collector’s prospective, we focus on collecting, preserving, and classifying those “stylish and characteristic” ancient Chinese porcelains from the collectors around the world. By means of on-line display, a portion of our collection that we believed to cherish relatively a higher aesthetic and academic value, will be periodically unveiled to the public in purpose of promoting further research and discussion, as well the general appreciation. We hope our collections (it is currently limited to Song,Yuan, Ming and Qing four dynasties) will be a more broader representation of ancient Chinese porcelain art to demonstrate objectively its historical progression and achievements.

They also have an excellent 3D display exhibition that allows you to rotate items to see all sides...

Elim Museum of Chinese Ancient Porcelain Art