What a Tiny Masterpiece Reveals About Power and Beauty

Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Khurram (January 5, 1592 – July 31, 1658) was born in Lahore, in modern-day Pakistan, and was the third son of Prince Salim (later known as ‘Jahangir’). His mother was a Rajput princess from Marwar called Princess Jagat Gosaini. The name “Khurram” (joyous) was chosen for the young prince by his grandfather, Emperor Akbar, with whom the young prince shared a close relationship Evidence from the reign of Shah Jahan states that in 1648 the army consisted of 911,400 infantry, musketeers, and artillery men, and 185,000 Sowars commanded by princes and nobles. His cultural and political initial steps have been described as a type of the Timurid Renaissance, in which he built historical and political bonds with his Timurid heritage mainly via his numerous unsuccessful military campaigns on his ancestral region of Balkh. In various forms, Shah Jahan appropriated his Timurid background and grafted it onto his imperial legacy.

Frida Kahlo’s House and Museum Virtual Tour

Frida Kahlo’s work has been celebrated in Mexico and around the world as emblematic of national and indigenous tradition, and by feminists for its uncompromising depiction of the femele experience and form.

The Art of the Male Nude from the 1980 to Present Day

From the 17th century, training of the highest standard was organised for the most privileged artists. In sculpture and in history painting, the ultimate aim of this teaching was to master the representation of the male nude: this was central to the creative process, as the preparatory studies had to capture the articulation of the body as closely as possible, whether clothed or not, in the finished composition. Today, the nude essentially brings to mind a female body, the legacy of a 19th century that established it as an absolute and as the accepted object of male desire. Prior to this, however, the female body was regarded less favourably than its more structured, more muscular male counterpart. Since the Renaissance, the male nude had been accorded more importance: the man as a universal being became a synonym for Mankind, and his body was established as the ideal human form, as was already the case in Greco-Roman art.

Salvador Dali’s “Aliyah: The Rebirth of Israel”

Salvador Dali (1904-1989), born in Figueres, Spain, is best known for his highly imaginative, surrealistic work. In 1968, Dali created 25 colored lithographs taken from his mixed-media paintings to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel. Salvador Dali’s “Aliyah: The Rebirth of Israel” collection portrays the history of the Jewish people’s return to their homeland.

The Sense of Freedom – Swedish Painter Eugene Jansson

Jansson (March 18, 1862 – June 15, 1915) could be described as the first gay Swedish painter. His academic painting career started fairly conventionally as he began studies in 1878 at Slojdskolan (later known as the Technical School). However upon meeting painters returning from France, he joined a Swedish avant-garde movement known as the Opponents who showed their work independently. Jansson stayed with the group which later became known as the League of Artists to its conclusion.