Have you been called to acts of service? Did you answer the call? Saint Francis of Paola, who lived in the 1400s, was called. Two moments of divine intercession are paired in The Vision of Saint Francis of Paola...
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In the emerald-green galleries of the exhibition Spirit of an Age: Drawings from the Germanic World, I was drawn to a cluster of quiet drawings that convey beautiful stories: miraculous healings, heroic quests of medieval knights, momentous coronations. These...
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How long does it take to install a painting in the Museum, from loading dock to gallery wall? For J.M.W. Turner’s Modern Rome—Campo Vaccino, the answer is seven days: really busy days, with lots of people working together to...
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“First, ever so lightly, I take a little flesh-colored pigment and add a bit of color to his face,” said Luther Gerlach as he glided his brush over an old photograph of a boy clutching a hat. “Then let’s...
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Andrei Codrescu has some bad news for you. You, Web user, are running out of time. You may already suspect that you work for Mark Zuckerberg and your screens. But did you also know that you are on your...
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Many couples have a favorite song, a tune that conjures up memories of blissful infatuation and unending devotion. Elia and Maranatha have a painting. The couple met three years ago when Elia, a musician, was playing at a club...
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The intriguing exhibition The Secret Life of Drawings—closing this Sunday at the Getty Center—unveils hidden clues to unfinished works on paper, undiscovered sketches, and details of the artist’s craft. It also reveals that making damaged art look presentable can...
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For ancient Greeks and medieval Europeans, the Trojan past lived in the present.
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What forces shaped J. Paul Getty into the man portrayed in his diaries? The Getty’s Institutional Archives recently acquired a collection that illuminates Getty’s formative years. In addition to many other things, the J. Paul Getty Family Collected Papers...
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Art historian and archaeologist Nigel McGilchrist is taking us to the Aegean—and you can come along! On January 13, he’ll give a free illustrated talk at the Getty Villa on his nearly seven years exploring seventy of these beautiful...
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The frailty of the human condition—and the cruelty of untimely loss of life—is one of art’s oldest and most enduring themes. Every year on December 1, we’ve reflected on this theme for Day Without Art, an international day of...
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Sketch from the masters in a friendly, unthreatening space.
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