Images

Shang Dynasty oracle bone from China.

Chinese oracle bone dating from the Shang Dynasty.

Top left: Athenian statesman Pericles (495–429 BCE). Top right: Athenian statesman and general Alcibiades (c. 451-403 BCE). Bottom left: Alexander the Great (356 - 323 BCE). Bottom right:Roman general Scipio Africanus the Elder, 236-183 BCE...

Woodblock print in the shangtu xiawen format (illustration above, text below) from the 9th century CE, Tang Dynasty. The top part shows the seated Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, flanked by two inscribed cartouches. The bottom part contains a...

Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712-756 CE) of the Tang Dynasty.

Empress Wu Zetian (r. 683-704 CE) of the Tang Dynasty. Image taken from An 18th-century album of portraits of 86 emperors of China, with Chinese historical notes. Originally published/produced in China, 18th century. (British Library, Shelfmark...

Adonis, 17th-century restoration of an ancient marble torso. Louvre Museum, Paris.

Bust of Miltiades on display in the Athens War Museum.

Mosaic depicting the Judgement of Paris, one of the preliminaries in the Trojan War story. The mosaic, dating to the second century CE, adorned a dining room in the house of a wealthy Roman in Antioch on the Orontes (modern-day Southeastern...

The lighting of fires during the Aztec New Fire Ceremony of 1507, a ritual held every 52 years to ensure the continuation of the Sun. The priests carry fire bundles and wear turquoise masks in imitation of the fire god Xiuhtecuhtli, as do...