For students of the humanities…
People have long studied the sky, and sometimes they are surprised and confused by what they say. The Medieval and Renaissance worlds are no exception to this. This article details several well documented incidents involving flying objects that have not been identified. link to The Mysterious 1561 Nuremberg Event ‘UFO Battle’
Even though it's not as famous as oil paint, tempera paint was a very popular medium in the Italian Renaissance. Traditionally made by combining egg with pigment, tempera is a bit more forgiving than watercolor, but much more delicate than oils. For this reason, it has been the medium of chose for many artistic masters… Continue reading Article: Italian Renaissance Art: Tempera Painting
Are sea monsters real? Can someone "release the Kraken"? History and literature are filled with a myriad of stories about deadly beasts that sink ships and eat people. This article presents a theory that may explain as least some of the (less deadly and dangerous) stories. link to The Kraken: when myth encounters science
Did you know that humanity has lost much of our literature through history? The Lost Plays Database discusses the dramatic losses from English theater in the Renaissance (specifically 1570-1642). It's a solid research tool and a source of a lot of interesting information on the plays that have been lost from that period. link to… Continue reading Website: Lost Plays Database
Unfortunately, a great deal of art that existed before World War II was destroyed before the war was over. The Louvre was not willing to let that happen to their collections. Particular attention was given to ensuring the survival of the Mona Lisa. This article from Mental Floss details the work done to save the… Continue reading Article: How the Mona Lisa Escaped Destruction During World War II
Pearls have been important in many times and in many places. This video from the Victoria and Albert museum details just a bit of that history. link to A History of Pearls
This website has so much information that it can get a little overwhelming, but luckily it also has a really effective search function. If you are looking for anything from humanities to art history to artistic techniques, My Modern Met may have what you need. link to My Modern Met
Arguably one of the most beautiful art forms, creating illuminated manuscripts was (and is) a time consuming labor of love. Unfortunately many Medieval and Renaissance books have been cut up so that the art could be collected by itself, but fortunately there are a number of complete volumes that still survive. In this article, the… Continue reading Article: Illuminated Manuscripts
For some people (including me), the Paris's Louvre is pretty much THE museum. It singlehandedly holds the Mona Lisa, the Nike of Samothrace, the Venus de Milo, the Raft of the Medusa, and many other wondrous artifacts. Every time Paris floods, I worry about this place; but they saved their treasures from World War II,… Continue reading Website: The Louvre (English Version)
Smarthistory has a number of excellent articles and videos about the history of art. No matter what you are researching, this is a great site to check as their information deals with diverse cultures and time periods. For example, at the time I'm posting this, the first two topics on their landing page deal with… Continue reading Website: Smarthistory: The Center for Public Art History
If you are looking for a specific work of art, and you're not sure what museum holds it, Google Arts and Culture is a good place to start. They have high resolution images (that can be zoomed in) of more than 2000 works. In addition, they have information on those works, as well as articles… Continue reading Website: Google Arts and Culture
The British Museum has an absolutely amazing collection. When looking at any large museum, it can be a little overwhelming. A good first step when using any museum's site for research is to find the option to search their collections. You can search by specific names (if you are looking for a specific work) or… Continue reading Website: The British Museum: Collections Search
This site provides a great variety of information about the life and culture of Elizabethan England (my favorite part is their section on Sumptuary Laws mandated who could wear what). Much of their information comes from original sources--documents from Elizabethan England that they have (in many cases) transcribed onto their site. They also have a… Continue reading Website: Renaissance: The Elizabethan World
Humanities Scholars 