This 1974 photo shows, with startling immediacy, a group of freshly-excavated 2,000 year-old Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an, China, with their original vibrant colours. Once exposed to air & sunlight during excavation, the colours started to disappear almost immediately www.snopes.com/fact-check/t...

Sculptor Ron Mueck’s larger-than-life, hyper-realistic installations, with subjects ranging from the benign to the sinister ~ Couple under an Umbrella ■ Havoc (photo: Gautier Deblonde) AGNSW

Hilda Rix Nicholas pursued a successful & varied art career in London, France & Morocco before returning to paint in Australia. She lost her husband, mother & sister during WW1. Here, the intriguing Les Fleurs Dédaignées ■ The Summer House

Danish artist Peder Severin Krøyer invites us into his sunny garden, where his wife Marie sits reading in the shade, her dog sleeping at her feet, amongst a profusion of white roses (Roses, 1893)

A ship’s prow adorns this art nouveau ‘House of the Five Continents’ in Antwerp, designed in 1901 by Belgian architect Frans Smet-Verhas for the home’s shipbuilder owner

It is night & snow is falling. A geisha is out walking, protected by her umbrella. Her attendant (at R) holds a paper lantern to light their way, & carries a black case, probably for the geisha’s musical instrument. Both wear protective raised-platform shoes (Kitagawa Utamaro, 1797)

Originating in 17th century France, Parrot Tulips (Tulipanes papagayo), with their distinctive ruffled petals, are the beautiful show-offs of the flower world (photo: Muhammad Khalid)

British artist George Stubbs, best known for his paintings of horses, also did the first known painting of a ‘kongouro’ in Western art (1772). Of course, the very first depictions of kangaroos were done many millennia before (at far R, in Arnhem Land)

Five clay guard-dog figurines from North Palace in Nineveh, in present-day Iraq. About 2,700 years old, just 7cm long (3 in), with inscriptions of their fierce given names ~ Loud is his bark / Biter of his foe / Catcher of the enemy / Expeller of evil / Don’t think, bite! (British Museum)

Admiring the sophistication of these 7,000-year-old black polished fired clay sculptures of a contemplative man and woman, found in 1956 in a Neolithic necropolis in Romania (National Museum of Romanian History, Bucharest)

16th century master painter Pieter Bruegel enjoyed hiding his main characters in plain sight ~ here’s Saul being converted / Virgin & child in The Census at Bethlehem / the ignominious fall of Icarus www.artinsociety.com/seeing-the-l...

JUST PUBLISHED! In our latest article we examine the mysteries that surround Bruegel’s controversial Conversion of Saul. Was this painting simply about a miraculous conversion, or did it also contain crucial links to traumatic current events? Read it at www.artinsociety.com/seeing-the-l...

Olive Cotton captures this off duty fashion model, her eyes closed as she enjoys the feeling of the sun on her face. From an 1895 poem by Laurence Binyon ~ “Only to taste the warmth, the light, the wind / Only to be alive, and feel that life is sweet” (1939, AGNSW)

Thin, begrimed, apprehensive man returns from exile & is met with variety of reactions from his Russian middle-class family ~ mother’s shocked incredulity, maid’s apprehension, young girl’s fearful uncertainty & boy’s excitement (Ilya Repin, Unexpected Return (1888)

16th century Venetian lawyer/bibliophile Odorico Pillone shelved his books spine-inward and commissioned Cesare Vecellio (Titian’s nephew) to paint their fore-edges with colourful images suggesting their subject matter. Here’s how they looked on the shelf news.yale.edu/2019/03/14/p...

Dutch artist Dirck Jacobsz cleverly creates a double memorial portrait of his deceased mother and father by depicting his artist father painting a portrait of Dirck’s mother. Both parents now gaze at us (1550) Toledo Museum of Art

Over 400 years ago, Robert Fludd speculated that the empty infinite nothingness that existed prior to the universe could be represented by this black square. But does it really depict an absence of everything, or just an absence of light? publicdomainreview.org/essay/black-...

Admiring the detailed realism of Guido Mazzoni’s life-size Head of a Man, crafted in painted terracotta more than 500 years ago (Galleria Estense, Modena, c 1480s) smarthistory.org/guido-mazzon...

Mycenaean bronze daggers, inlaid with scenes featuring animals, sea creatures, birds and a lion hunt, made about 3,500 years ago (National Archaeological Museum, Athens)

Meister Bertram von Minden’s “Madonna Knitting” depicts the Virgin Mary making the young Christ’s red tunic, by knitting “in the round”, using 4 needles, to produce a seamless garment (early 15C) commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kn...

With the Christmas season looming again, it’s a good reason to lose yourself in this wonderfully detailed illustration by Roberto Innocenti for Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (1990 edn). Be sure to click it for the full effect

At 3:45 pm on 16 February 1909, an accidental ignition of coal dust caused a massive explosion at the West Stanley colliery in Durham, killing 168 miners. This poster, released shortly after, recorded the faces of them all ~ some as young as 13

Chinese lanterns shine as darkness falls and the moon rises behind the trees ~ Charles Courtney Currran’s atmospheric ‘The Lanterns’ (1913)

Grate art ~ children not looking at the paintings at the San Francisco Museum of Art, 1963 (photo: Herb Slodounik) tumblr.austinkleon.com/post/1098142... ridiculouslyinteresting.com/2012/12/22/c...

This Jacobean travelling library was commissioned for a gentleman to carry his own collection of miniature vellum-bound books inside a wooden case ~ contents are listed on the inside cover (1617). Possibly, the first of its kind (University of Leeds) www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

19th century wooden “walking” doll with a wheel of eight legs ~ when costumed, the doll’s long dress would cover most of the leg mechanism, allowing the doll to “walk” when moving, while appearing to have only two legs at any one time www.theriaults.com/events/listi...

The ultimate mobile library ~ the Camelback library in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia, run by translator/publisher Dashdondog Jamba www.tourismontheedge.com/camelback-li...

18th-century Dutch naturalist/collector Albertus Seba’s detailed engravings of hedgehogs (Thesaurus, 1734)

Fresco of elegant barefoot woman, possibly the nymph Flora, treading lightly, carrying basket & turning to gather spring flowers. Recovered from Villa Arianna in Stabiae, just outside Pompeii, buried in volcanic ash (79AD, National Archaeological Museum, Naples)

Remarkably, these natty, well-preserved woven reed shoes from ancient Egypt are dated at being over 3,000 years old collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O351640...

No, it’s not a hedge trimmer, it’s a theorbo, a type of lute with an extraordinary extended neck, developed in late 16C for operas, and still played today (sometimes) www.gramophone.co.uk/blogs/articl...

Ah, the joys of being a farmworker in a 15th century winter ~ warming your nether regions, as seen by the Limbourg brothers in 1412 (Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, February). More at www.artinsociety.com/a-very-rich-...

Here’s the dramatic effect of the restoration of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring in 1994. The process involved cleaning, removal of yellowed varnish, replacement of earlier discoloured retouching & other surface repairs www.mauritshuis.nl/en/our-colle...

Sofonisba Anguissola's painting of her teacher doing a portrait of her (1559) originally showed her with a third arm cheekily reaching to take the brush off him (at R). She apparently changed her mind about this, so it was removed by restorers in 2002 www.frieze.com/article/rena...

Rembrandt’s dramatically-lit group portrait of a slightly raggle-taggle civil militia in noble & dynamic poses ~ The Night Watch (1642) ~ also contains a tiny self-portrait of him, showing just a hint of his bulbous nose, his beret, & one gleaming eye looking out from the shadows

Detail of Elizabeth I’s extravagant farthingale-flared dress, with embroidery attributed to Bess of Hardwick, featuring insects, animals, snakes, fish (& a dragon), intermingled with pearls, roses, irises & Elizabeth’s favourite pansies (Hilliard studio, 1590s)

Admiring this wooden spiral staircase adorned with gilded six-pointed star motifs at the Yeşil Mosque in Kütahya, Turkiye www.facebook.com/groups/arche...

Wonderful detail from Italian painter Parmigianino’s ‘Lucretia’, highlighting her hair, both loose and braided, adorned with pearls and gold threads (1540)

Ancient mosaic of a reclining skeleton, holding a drinking cup, with a jug of wine and bread rolls. The caption is generally translated as “Enjoy Your Life” ~ life is fleeting, so enjoy it while you can (Antioch, est 3rd century BC) mymodernmet.com/skeleton-mos...

You may be astonished to learn that this is an illusion, a trompe-l’oeil. The whole thing — not just the major painting (supposedly by Poussin) -- but the drawings, easel & paintbrushes have all been painted in oil by Antoine Fort-Bras on a wooden cutout (1686, Calvet Museum)

Vermeer’s The Art of Painting (1668) shows a seated artist from behind. His model, representing History’s Muse, with light-kissed lip & downcast eyes, holds a reference book & trumpet (= “fame”). See her crown of laurel leaves being depicted on the corner of artist’s canvas?

Admiring the precise delicacy of these studies of flowers by Leonardo da Vinci, created in pen and ink over a preparatory sketch in red chalk (late 15C, Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice)

JUST PUBLISHED! In our latest article we examine the 17th century craze for writing and reading letters, and how this became a major feature in Dutch art, featuring in masterful paintings by artists such as Gabriel Metsu and Jan Vermeer www.artinsociety.com/gabriel-mets...

French artist Raymond Wintz specialised in marine and coastal views in Brittany. Here, almost 100 years ago, he looks through an open doorway to the harbour beyond (The Blue Door, 1927)

Van Gogh’s ‘Field with Poppies’ was painted from an elevated viewpoint during his stay in Saint-Paul Asylum. Its acquisition in 1911 by a German gallery was criticised as being part of a perceived “foreign infiltration of German art” by French paintings (Kunsthalle Bremen, 1889)

17th century French artist Louise Moillon achieved fame with her beautifully precise still-lifes ~ here’s her Basket of Plums (1629)

Bacchus, liberally festooned with grapes, casually pours drink for his little panther (!), wine trellises adorn the slopes of a deceptively-slumbering Vesuvius, & serpent Agathodaemon represents ‘good spirit’ of vineyards (Wall fresco, House of the Centenary, Pompeii)

I always enjoy an opportunity to post this ~ Alphonse Bertillon, pioneer of the front-&-profile criminal mugshot, did some practice runs with his nephew, a notoriously hardened criminal, aged 2. His crime? 'Nibbling pears' (Silver albumen print, 1893 MoMA)

Extreme close-up of Manet’s In the Conservatory (1879) reveals not only his technique but also the fine cracking in the paint (‘craquelure’) & the texture of the canvas itself blog.iliou-melathron.de/deutsche-mus...

Barcelona-born UK-based artist Miriam Escofet’s portrait of her mother, An Angel at my Table. winner of the prestigious 2018 BP Portrait Award. At R, a close-up / a joint viewing by mother & daughter © Miriam Escofet