Browse Items (202 total)

An Extended Introduction to the Exhibit which traces the growth of political thought and ideology in the early modern period of Europe.

In the fifteenth century, Castile was the largest kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. And the marriage of Queen Isabella I of Castille and King Ferdinand II of Aragon signified the union of two crowns as well as the power expansion of Castille.…

A court physician, ethical thinker, and political player, John Locke’s ideas figured prominently in the mainstream Enlightenment. His Essay Concerning Human Understanding put forth his thoughts on the origin of human knowledge. He wrote that everyone…

During the Renaissance period, countless outstanding architects, sculptors and artists emerged; however, “all of the most famous and most prolific Renaissance artists were male” (Wiesner-hanks, 158). Properzia de’ Rossi (1490-1530) is the only female…

The Kunstkamera is Russia's first museum, established by Peter the Great in St. Petersburg. The edifice was designed in the Petrine baroque style that dominated the constructions of Peter's reign, based on Dutch architectural styles of the era.…

The story of Adam and Eve being expelled by God from the Garden of Eden because of Eve's vulnerability to the temptation of the forbidden fruit is one of the opening stories of the Bible. It lays the foundation of roles of women in Christianity:…

This tapestry was the first work from Florence of a new tapestry workshop founded by Duke Cosimo de’Medici in the 1540s. Around two meters tall, it was likely used as a door hanger, and a later inventory lists it as a “dovizia with a landscape,”…

When Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbean in 1492, he may not have found a heretofore undiscovered land, however, he did set into play a series of events that would forever alter the shape of history. Early accounts of the Spanish conquest…

Le Petit Trianon is a château on the Palace of Versailles grounds. Its construction started in 1758 under the order of Louis XV and was completed in 1768 by Ange-Jacques Gabriel, one of Louis XV's favorite architects during the time period. Gabriel's…

The Scientific Revolution, often described as lasting from the mid 16th century to the end of the 17th century, brought tremendous changes to Europe and redefined the way that they interacted with and understood the natural world. But, though this…