Browse Items (202 total)

This work of art by painter Jan van Eyck demonstrates the artistic innovations which occurred in the Low Countries during the Renaissance. By examining this work, which is one of many paintings on an altarpiece by van Eyck, one can see a greater…

The beginning of the 18th century saw the final years of the Enlightenment and the beginning of a new era defined by colonial expansion. If maritime history during the early modern period was characterized by exploration and conquest, the 19th…

Prior to the Enlightenment, the artistic style of Rococo dominated the art scene. However, during the Enlightenment it was constantly criticized for its excess embellishments. This led rise to Neoclassism where there was more of an emphasis on…

The painting above depicts the event that influenced Plato's conception of democracy, the execution of his master Socrates.
As Socrates did not write anything down (or if he did, we no longer have it), most of our knowledge of him comes from his…

This map of Flanders and Hainaut was constructed by Mercator following surveys by Jacob van Deventer. The above engraving is one of many engravings of this map, which became the standard map for the region. Historians have postulated that the…

Completed in 1768 by J. June, this etching depicts licentiates of the Royal College of Physicians marching in protest at Warwick-Lane Castle in 1767. These “medical militants”, as the artist calls them, were expressing their grievances with the…

In the 18th century a growing national interest in the health and safety of the poor and infirm led to the creation of a number of voluntary hospitals, charity hospitals set up by the upper class for the impoverished. One of the most famous was the…

St. Paul’s Cathedral in London is a magnificent building, a titanic Latin cross of ornately-carved white limestone capped by a lead dome which soars 280 feet (not counting its lantern or its cross) over the streets of London (Britannica). The Baroque…

Hyacinthe Rigaud’s “Portrait of Louis XIV” serves as an idyllic artistic illustration of the mechanisms of Absolutism which Louis XIV established in France. The monarch, who was well into his sixties during the time of this portrait, is depicted in…

In 1588, Spain sent out a fleet of around 130 ships that they called ‘la felícissima armada’ or ‘the most fortunate fleet,’ to attack Britain and transport troops to her shores. This failed attack took on a legendary place in British national…

Though not entirely political in nature, "On the Nature of Man" established a concept of medicine that remained in prominence for much of European history until the Scientific Revolution, humoralism (discussed week four of HIST 139). The text…