History is the story of where we come from. Art history is the study of the fingerprints we leave along the way. Historical analysis is impossible without the existence of physical evidence. The strength of artwork is not in its factual accuracy, but in its ability to give us an insight into how groups of people chose to see themselves at a specific point in time.
For artists, art history gives illuminating insight into the development of their favorite styles and mediums. It provides inspiration. An appreciation for the masters who came before them.
For anyone who does not consider themselves an artist, a historian, or an art historian, art history tells us about ourselves. It shows us the world our ancestors looked out at through their eyes. It provides snapshots of forgotten memories, and sometimes even psychological paradigm shifts in the greater culture.
Sometimes, art is created which changes how people think and act. Sometimes, changes in how people think and act inspire art itself. There are places in the world where both aspects have come together to make a lasting impact on the trajectory of humanity. Luckily for us, some of these places can still be seen today.
Egypt
When we think of ancient history, the image of one civilization stands tall in the minds of many. Egypt was one of the earliest civilizations to emerge from the neolithic age with highly structured and refined art. It was a culture that remained consistent and virtually unchanging for thousands of years. Ancient Egypt has captivated our imaginations with its distinctive, commanding, and mysterious aura. Over two thousand years since its end at the hands of the Roman Empire, we still see Egyptian influence in many forms of our art and architecture.
To visit Egypt is to take a walk through one of humanity’s far-flung corners of history. It is to take a tour of our roots as a species, in the moments we discovered the breadth of our capabilities in conceptual ideas and abstract thought. To our great fortune, countless structures still survive, serving as sand-covered monuments to the memory of a fascinating collective of human beings.
When we think Egypt, we think pyramids, sphynxes, sarcophagi, and that early form of pictorial writing known as hieroglyphics. We think obelisks, massive tombs, rigid statues, and anthropomorphic gods.
Art in ancient Egypt wasn’t just decoration—it served a purpose. Perhaps this is what imbues it with such a sense of presence. Statues and paintings honored gods, guided souls through the afterlife, and reinforced the divine power of their rulers, the pharaohs.
To view paintings that depict scenes of Egyptian society and the afterlife, one only has to visit the tombs in the Valley of the Kings and Deir el-Medina. A trip to see the massive statues at Karnak Temple immerses one in the artistic traditions that defined Egyptian culture for centuries.
Egyptian art was closely tied to the idea of balance and stability. Their own mythology was a celebration of the victory of godly order over primordial chaos. The Pharaohs, the earthly stewards of said order, were worshipped as direct descendants of these gods. Through rigid artistic rules and a deep respect for tradition, the Egyptians were able to defy the odds of history and maintain a consistent culture for thousands of years. Few civilizations can boast the same record.
This sense of order is reflected in Egypt’s famous monuments. The pyramids at Giza, the Sphinx, and the Step Pyramid of Djoser all follow strict geometric patterns. Like the artistic traditions they represented, these structures were built to last forever.
So much of history has taken place in this strip of land that runs along the Nile River. It is a proverbial gold mine for casual and expert historians alike.
Egypt didn’t exist in isolation. It traded goods, communicated, and sometimes waged war with other cultures of its time. Ideas flowed both ways. Though after it had established itself, Egypt was more likely to influence other cultures than to be influenced by them. Evidence of its inspirational power can be seen in Mesopotamian civilizations like Sumeria, Assyria, and Babylon. In the Mediterranean, we see its heavy influence in early Greek art and architecture. Knowledge of Egypt’s existence reached as far as India and even China.
The seeds of ‘Western’ art were planted by the Egyptians. Early Greek statues closely follow the Egyptian tradition of depicting people in rigid, standing poses with one foot in front of the other. Eventually, the Greeks would soften their sculptures to have a more naturalistic depiction of the human form. The Romans more or less copy and pasted Greek culture into their own art, adding their own little touches. And as we know, much of European history and culture is directly influenced by the once looming presence of the Roman Empire.
Ancient Egypt was considered a jewel of human civilization, even by its contemporary neighbors. This made it a coveted target for conquests. The Hyksos, the Assyrians, and the Persians would all launch successful campaigns, each controlling Egypt for a period of time. From the Assyrians onwards, the Egyptian monarchy found itself in a long period of consistent interruptions and destabilization. When Alexander of Macedon led his ‘Greek’ army into Egypt, ousting the Persians, he would establish a new dynasty of rule that began under his general Ptolemy. Egyptian culture was respected by the Greeks, and it would be left largely intact under Ptolemaic rule. Cleopatra, the famous Egyptian queen, was actually of Greek origin and a descendant of Ptolemy.
It would not be until the Romans—famous copycats of the Greeks—conquered Egypt for themselves that the long-standing traditions of Ancient Egyptian culture would begin to erode. Steadfast rules became malleable as outside influences took root. The Catacombs of Kom al-Shoqafa in the Greek-founded city of Alexandria are a perfect example of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman elements blending together.
Egyptian art didn’t stop with the pharaohs. Later, Coptic Christian and Islamic art shaped Egypt’s artistic identity. Each period left its mark, creating a layered history that can still be explored today.
Visitors can see this artistic evolution in the city of Cairo. The Coptic Museum holds Christian-era art with Egyptian influences, while the mosques of Sultan Hassan and Ibn Tulun showcase the beauty of Islamic architecture.
Egyptian artistic traditions—both ancient and modern—continue to influence the world, from modern design to pop culture. Just look at the back of a one dollar bill if you need proof.
Visiting Egypt offers a rare chance to experience seven-thousand years of art history. There is no place on earth that offers such an immersive glimpse into the trajectory of the evolution of human thought.
Florence, Italy
History moves in ebbs and flows—highs and lows. The lows can have devastating effects on human lives and intellectual progress, sometimes even pushing society backwards. The highs can have profound impacts on the development of civilization, technology, well-being and sometimes—when poignant enough—the human spirit itself.
Florence stands out as a place that emerged from some of the lowest lows in human history to, in turn, become a center for the highest highs. The ripple effects of the ideas that were given life there are still being felt today. It served as the heart of the Renaissance—the self-proclaimed ‘rebirth’ of art and intellectualism in Europe which took place after centuries of stagnation.
Prior to the Renaissance, Florence faced the numerous struggles which pervaded medieval Europe. The Black Death alone caused so much devastation that it killed half of Florence’s population. Throughout the continent, the Crusades, The Hundred Years War, the Spanish Reconquista, and a war between Venice and Genoa created instability and affected trade between kingdoms.
Florence itself was forced to repel attacks from two of its neighboring Italian cities, Milan and Naples—ruled by monarchies with thirsts for expansion. Florentines were proud of their city-state and viewed their Republic as a place where individual freedoms were idealized and protected. A result of maintaining their independence in the face of invasion was that Florence became even more powerful than it had been before.
With the turmoil in Europe winding down, trade within the continent, as well as trade between Europe and the Middle East, increased. More trade meant more generated wealth. And more wealth meant more demand for luxury. At the same time, greater exposure to the finer points of Islamic culture in the Middle East clued Europeans into some of the cultural advancements they’d been missing out on. A new hunger emerged.
Economic patterns changed. People began moving to the cities while finding themselves with more money to spend. Being situated in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, the city states which occupied the Italian peninsula found themselves in a position to accumulate a lot of wealth in a short period of time. Florence became a hub for commerce and banking.
The Medicis, a Florentine banking family, amassed a staggering amount of wealth in a short period of time. In an effort to become the de-facto ruling family of Florence—while avoiding all the messy red tape of actually being elected into public office—the Medicis spent a great deal of their fortune on public works. They solidified their power, and public image, by becoming the largest patrons of the arts, architecture, and learning. One potent sign of the changing times was that Florentines were gifted the first public library to exist in Europe since Antiquity.
The sheer amount of money the Medicis invested attracted painters, sculptors, architects, and scholars. While they made many of these contributions for self-serving purposes, the reality is that the Medicis wrote the check that funded the Renaissance—and a major leap forward in intellectual achievement.
The sheer amount of genius and talent that gathered in Florence during this time is impossible to overstate. The result of all of these brilliant minds gathering together was a dramatic evolution in art and architecture. To name a few, artists such as Andrea del Verrocchio, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Sandro Botticelli, Donatello, and Filippo Lippi made significant advancements in the emerging shift towards realism, an art style that strove to depict forms accurately, and which stood in stark contrast to the often dour, flat, and anatomically incorrect art that was prevalent throughout the Middle Ages.
Linear perspective was developed as a method for mapping out paintings, which allowed for accurate depictions of dimension and space. Chiaroscuro is a technique that was developed to enhance the gradation in shading, creating realistic (though often dramatic) lighting effects. Both are still relied on heavily by painters today.
The Renaissance, (which, ironically, is a French word) translates to rebirth because people living then believed they were reviving the lost knowledge of the Greeks, Romans, and other parts of the ancient world. Architects such as Filippo Brunelleschi, Leon Battista Alberti, Michelozzo di Bartolomeo, and Giulio Romano imitated the style of Roman and Greek architecture and literally cemented this cultural rebirth into Florence’s DNA.
Works from these painters, sculptors, and architects can still be seen today in Florence’s museums and churches. The city’s streets, buildings, and statues tell the story of this brilliant period.
While all of this was going on, in the German city of Mainz (then a part of the Holy Roman Empire), Johannes Gutenberg invented a moveable-type printing press, which allowed for an explosion in information reproduction and distribution. Its effect on Renaissance Europe was comparable to the effects of the internet in our modern age. Ideas spread faster than ever before in human history. Literacy rates increased, and people became increasingly interested in discovery and learning. This led to skepticism about reliance on the Catholic Church for guidance, and the period marked a shift from medieval religious traditions to a more human-centered worldview.
The result was Humanism, a movement that focused on classical knowledge and individual achievement. The printing press was crucial in spreading these ideas throughout Florence, and the timing of its invention could not be more serendipitous. Humanist scholars like Francesco Petrarch studied ancient Greek and Roman texts and combined their ideas with Christian ones, inspiring new ways of thinking.
Italy, the land that birthed the Roman Empire, was again the seat of a major force that was reshaping Europe, and the world. This time, however, this force was intellectual far more than it was geopolitical (though turf wars and politics-as-usual were still present during this time).
Florence was the de-facto city for thinkers. Among the a-list roster of writers, philosophers, and scientists who either lived or left their mark there were Niccolò Machiavelli, Marsilio Ficino, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Galileo Galilei, and Paolo Toscanelli.
We use the term Renaissance Man or Woman as a description for someone who can ‘do it all.’ No one encapsulates this idea greater than the original Renaissance Man, Leonardo Da Vinci. Along with being a painter, he was a scientist, inventor, mathematician, and generally an all around obsessive student of the world around him. His personal notebooks are famed for their remarkable insight, discovery, and attention to the most minute details in everyday life. He wanted to know everything. It was his firm belief that seemingly unrelated fields like art and science informed each other in vital ways. He was an early pioneer of the study anatomy, and would dissect corpses while recording his findings. He believed that by accurately painting the minute details of physicality, he could more truthfully depict the ‘movements of the soul.’
Da Vinci pioneered Sfumato, named for the Italian verb sfumare, or ‘to evaporate.’ It is a technique of shading which uses subtle brushwork to create soft transitions, allowing colors and tones blend into one other. The effect is the creation of blurred outlines or hazy forms. This aligns with how our eyes see the world.
So in-depth were his studies, that he would have been given credit for some scientific breakthroughs that were ‘discovered’ after his death had he only published them for public consumption. But his devotion to learning itself was so intense that his curiosity would inevitably pull him towards a new endeavor, the result being that the majority of the projects he began in his life were left unfinished.
There is a somewhat humorous historical anecdote that encapsulates just how crowded with genius Florence was. Both Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo Buenorati were commissioned to paint large murals on opposing walls of the Salone dei Cinquecento (Hall of the Five Hundred) in the Palazzo Vecchio. Each would be responsible for depicting a different Florentine victory in war. Leonardo would paint the Battle of Anghiari. Michelangelo the Battle of Cascina. Two contemporary titans creating massive works of art, back to back.
But there was one problem. They couldn’t stand each other.
Michelangelo, the younger of the two, had just finished his sculptural masterpiece David. Leonardo—whose reputation for leaving work unfinished had become as infamous as his talent—was forced to sign a contract that compelled him by law to finish the mural.
However, the artists’ mutual animosity for each other did not inspire either to stick around for long. Both completed their initial sketches of the scenes, with Leonardo making more progress applying paint on top than Michaelangelo had. But neither had come close to finishing the artwork they were hired to create.
Michelangelo would be called away by the Pope to work in Rome, a request that he was eager to take. Leonardo would become frustrated by difficulties in getting a new technique of applying paint to properly adhere, and left of his own volition. He was still legally bound to finish the work, a dilemma which he solved by leaving Florence for good and resettling in Milan.
The result was a hall filled with unfinished murals. But even in their incomplete state, the two massive preliminary sketches that remained were so masterfully depicted that, until they were destroyed, both would be studied by artists for years.
Towards the end of his life, Da Vinci was invited by the French King Francis I to come live in France as his honorary guest. Da Vinci left Italy for good, and spent the last years of his life keeping the king company and working on his art in peace. He died with the infamous Mona Lisa still on its easel. Ever the perfectionist, he had been applying bits of paint to it regularly for well over a decade (making those who commissioned it another casualty of Da Vinci’s propensity to not finish work he was paid to do).
In this way, and others, the Renaissance filtered out of Florence (and Italy) and spread throughout the rest of Europe. Its advancements would fuel the Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassical, and Flemish art movements that would be seen across the continent as the rest of Europe joined in on the Renaissance’s momentum. Hand in hand with the printing press’s ability to spread ideas, humanism, secularism, and cataclysmic religious upheaval in the form of the Protestant Reformation altered the trajectory of European history forever.
Several conditions would lead to the decline of the Renaissance. The Catholic Church recoiled at the events which ate away at its status as the most powerful institution in Europe. It launched the Counter-Reformation as its response. Artists, writers, and thinkers found themselves censored by the church.
New wars and incursions into Italy once again plunged the region into chaos. In Florence, a religious reactionary named Girolamo Savonarola pushed back against Renaissance ideas, which he deemed sinful—and led a movement which saw the Medici’s temporarily exiled from Florence.
Savonarola is famous for the “bonfires of the vanities,” an event during which thousands of books and artworks were burned in the public square. Public perception eventually turned against him. Savonarola was executed, this time his own body being the thing burned in the square. Though his influence had waned, his appearance was a clear sign that the Italian Renaissance had begun to lose momentum.
The hallmarks of the Renaissance, a societal increase in curiosity and trade, led to an Age of Discovery, where Europeans charted new routes to the far corners of the world in search of fortune and glory. This came with a dark side: European settlers arriving in these new lands would engage in colonization, mass killings, and forced religious conversions. History would dip into another of its natural ebbs, as conservative religious thought and brutality came back in vogue.
Despite its decline, the Renaissance had successfully planted the seeds for what would eventually grow into the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was a movement that focused on reason, science, and individual achievement. Many of the rights we enjoy today are a result of the Enlightenment’s high-minded thinkers.
Today, Florence remains a place where visitors can see the incredible art and history that shaped Europe. Walking through its streets is like stepping back in time to one of the most important periods in human history.
Angkor Wat, Cambodia
The previous entries on this list enjoyed the advantage of influencing—and therefore being glorified and spread by—what we consider Western civilization. The way history panned out, Western culture found a way to expand across the entire globe. It has become the single most prevalent form of culture in existence. As a result, societies with magnificent histories, that were also constrained to specific corners of the world, often go overlooked in everyday discourse.
The temple Angkor Wat is evidence of one such society. Located near the city of Siem Reap in modern-day Cambodia, Angkor Wat serves as a stunning monument to Hindu art and architecture.
The relative isolation of the Khmer Empire, which was the civilization responsible for the holy site’s construction, acted as a double-edged sword. It meant that a unique and vibrant culture was able to grow unmolested by outside influence (although the Khmers did adopt many aspects of Indian culture). But it also meant that their limited exposure to other civilizations kept their unique lifestyle maintained to the boundaries of Southeast Asia. When the empire eventually faded, few people in the rest of the world were aware of the fascinating civilization that had come and gone without their notice.
The word “Wat” refers to a style of Buddhist and Hindu temples found in Southeast Asia. Angkor Wat itself is just one temple within the much larger Angkor complex. At its height in the 13th century, the ancient city of Angkor was possibly the largest in the world. It served as the capital of the Khmer Empire.
Angkor Wat is one of the largest religious structures ever built, covering an area three times the size of Vatican City. It is believed to have been commissioned by Emperor Suryavarman II in the early 12th century. Originally dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, the temple itself is designed to be a visual representation of Hindu cosmology. Its central structure represents Mount Meru, the mythical home of the Hindu gods. The moat that surrounds the temple symbolizes the oceans that encircle the world. It is often described as a ‘living sculpture’.
Perhaps the most instantly recognizable aspects of Angkor Wat are the five towers that stretch toward the sky, each carved in the shape of a lotus. Their organic shapes create the impression that the temple itself grew out of the earth. Angkor Wat’s corridors are lined with extremely intricate relief carvings. Carved all along the temple’s surfaces are intricate floral patterns, religious symbols, and depictions of Hindu mythology.
The temple’s design creates a sense transcendence, drawing visitors through its seemingly endless corridors.
Angkor Wat stands as a testament to the achievements of the Khmer Empire. The empire’s beginning can be traced back to the 800s, when Jayavarman II united smaller kingdoms into one dominant force, thereby declaring himself chakravartin, or ‘God King’. Subjects of the empire primarily practiced Hinduism, until later centuries when Buddhism became widespread in the region.
The Khmer Empire comprised a great deal of land, roughly equivalent to the size of the Holy Roman Empire in Europe. It controlled the majority of the Southeast Asian subcontinent. Yet, due to the remote location and a lack of naval dominance, the Khmer Empire’s influence did not spread far outside of its own region. It is the primary reason that, while magnificent, its existence often gets glossed over by history books.
They were not completely isolated however. The Khmer Empire had regular contact with neighboring cultures such as Champa (Vietnam), Dai Viet (Vietnam), Srivijaya (Indonesia/Malaysia), and Thai states like Sukhothai and Ayutthaya. And though exposure was limited, there was contact with China, Sri Lanka, and to a greater extent, India— which had the largest direct influence on Khmer culture.
Some secondary knowledge of the Khmer may have even reached Japan, the Islamic Caliphates, The Mongol Empire, and Persian and European traders. Though it’s unlikely there was ever any direct contact.
While the Khmers possessed a written language, their preferred method of communication was oral. Lack of recorded documentation means that much of its memory has been lost to time. As Europe was undergoing the Renaissance, the Khmer Empire mysteriously collapsed in the 1400s, and, outside of Southeast Asia, was largely forgotten for centuries.
It would be another four hundred years before Angkor Wat was ‘rediscovered’ by a French explorer. Archaeologists and historians have been working to decipher the limited evidence that remains ever since.
Angkor Wat is on this list because its construction is a masterful representation of Hindu artistic tradition. Hindu art focuses on abstract spiritual concepts such as dharma (duty), karma (action and consequence), and moksha (liberation). Many of the temple’s carvings were inspired by Hindu epics such as the Mahabharata and Ramayana. And yet, despite centuries of study, limited written records mean that much of the intended meaning behind Angkor Wat’s artwork remains a mystery.
Here is what we do know: the temple’s layout is designed to emphasize perfect symmetry and alignment. It has a westward orientation that is traditionally associated with Vishnu and the cycle of death and rebirth. Its rising levels and central tower represent a spiritual ascent toward enlightenment.
Of the 800 meters of bas-relief carvings throughout the temple, we can make out some of their intended messaging. The Churning of the Ocean of Milk is a scene that depicts devas (gods) and asuras (demons) working together to obtain the elixir of immortality. There are battle scenes, from both Hindu myth and historical Khmer conflicts. There are scenes of royal ceremonies and religious rituals. And there are also nearly 2,000 carvings of celestial dancers, known as apsaras— each with unique expressions, jewelry, and poses, showcasing the incredible attention to detail in Khmer art. The inner sanctuaries contain statues of Vishnu, Buddha, and other deities.
And finally, the temple’s connection with nature is extremely significant. It seems built with the intention of existing in complete harmony with the world around it. The surrounding jungle and reflecting waters of the moat makes being in its presence a mystical experience.
In later centuries, Angkor Wat became a place of worship for Theravada Buddhism, which remains the dominant form of Buddhism in Southeast Asia today. Even in the absence of the kingdom that constructed it, worshippers have continued to use the site as a place of worship for centuries. Meaning that, during the times when most people were unaware of its existence, in one corner of the world the memory of the Khmer Empire lived on. The temple stands as a testament to human craftsmanship and spiritual devotion, making it a site of immense cultural and historical significance.
Though the Khmer Empire disappeared, its fingerprints can be seen throughout Southeast Asia. Thai and Lao Buddhist temples (Wats) contain echoes of Khmer architectural principles. The Khmer tradition of divine kingships are still being practiced in that part of the world to this day. Elements of the Khmer language, writing, clothing, and dance styles persist in the region, proving that while Angkor Wat is a monument built by ghosts, their spirits continue to resonate in our modern world.