Images

Mausoleum of Galla Placidia (388-450 CE), near San Vitale’s Basilica in Ravenna. The inside shows stunning mosaics, but it never saw the body it was built for (c. 425-450), because Galla Placidia was buried in the family mausoleum...

Dorothy Quincy Hancock Scott (1747-1830), wife of US Founding Father John Hancock, oil on canvas portrait by John Singleton Copley, c. 1772. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

The famous signature of US Founding Father John Hancock, printed on a letter; this signature famously appears on the US Declaration of Independence. Restored by Jim S., 15 September 2011. Massachusetts Historical Society.

Thomas Hancock (1703-1764), a wealthy Boston merchant and founder of the firm House of Hancock; best known as the uncle of US Founding Father John Hancock. Oil on canvas portrait by John Singleton Copley, 1764-66. Harvard Art Museums...

Portrait of John Hancock (1737-1793), oil on canvas by John Singleton Copley, c. 1770. Massachusetts Historical Society.

Gallery of the Château de Chenonceau, Loire Valley, France. The gallery was commissioned by Catherine de' Medici (1519-1599). The gallery is 197 feet long (60 m) and 19.7 feet wide (6 m), hosted many lavish parties and is likely to have impressed...

Drawing of the Château de Chenonceau, Loire Valley, France c. 1570, by architect Jacques Androuet du Cerceau (1510-1585). This drawing shows the château as Diane de Poitiers, (1500-1566) favourite of Henry II of France (r. 1547-1559) would...

Portrait of Diane de Poitiers (1500-1566), author unknown, Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire, France. Diane de Poitiers was the favourite of Henry II of France (r. 1547-1559) despite being almost 20 years older than him. She lived in the Château...

Learned Man, miniature painting, ink and opaque watercolour on paper, using nim-qalam, which literally means the half-pen technique, by miniaturist Basawan, 1575-80. Aga Khan Museum, Toronto.

A map illustrating the impact of the Allied Strategic Bombing Operations against Germany from 1940 to 1945, a sustained aerial campaign conducted by the RAF and USAAF during World War II. Its primary objective was to cripple Germany's industrial...