Definitions

Tintoretto (c. 1518-1594 CE), real name Jacopo Robusti, was an Italian Renaissance artist who specialised in religious, mythological, and portrait paintings. A prolific artist over a long career, the Venetian's masterpieces are famous...

Judean pillar figurines are an interesting and specific form of female representation from the Iron Age kingdom of Judah. They fall into a broader category of pillar figurines, which have a pole-like lower body and have...

Mahasanghika (“Great Congregation”, also given as Mahasamghika) was an early Buddhist school of thought which is thought to have been formed after the Second Buddhist Council of 383 BCE when it separated itself from another school...

Asherah is a Hebrew word for what was either a goddess or a cultic object or perhaps both. Although many see evidence for Asherah being an individual goddess known to the Israelites, some scholars believe that the context of the word...

Samhain (pronounced “SOW-in” or “SAH-win”), was a festival celebrated by the ancient Celts halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. It began at dusk around October 31st and likely lasted three days. Samhain marked...

Buddhism is a non-theistic religion (no belief in a creator god), also considered a philosophy and a moral discipline, originating in the region of modern-day India in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE. It was founded by the sage Siddhartha...

Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571 CE) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, medallist, and goldsmith whose most famous works today include the bronze statue of Perseus holding the head of Medusa, which now stands in Florence, and a...

Siddhartha Gautama (better known as the Buddha, l. c. 563 - c. 483 BCE) was, according to legend, a Hindu prince who renounced his position and wealth to seek enlightenment as a spiritual ascetic, attained his goal and, in preaching...

Vardhamana (l. c. 599-527 BCE), better known as Mahavira (“Great Hero”) is the sage credited with founding of the nontheistic religion of Jainism, a belief system established in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE in India, which provided...

Paolo Uccello (1397-1475 CE), real name Paolo di Dono, was an Italian painter who is considered one of the founding fathers of Florentine Renaissance art. Uccello was one of the earliest artists to attempt certain tricks of perspective...