Art
Pseudoarchaeology and the Racism Behind Ancient Aliens
Where, exactly, the idea of ancient aliens building the pyramids began — and why some academics think racism lies at the heart of many extraterrestrial theories.
Sarah Bond
Art
You Gotta Fight for Your Rhyta to Party
A newly opened exhibition at the Harvard Art Museums features animal-shaped drinking vessels from across the ancient Mediterranean called Rhyta.
Art
Seeing Ourselves in Animals Throughout Art History
The exhibition Stampede prods the viewer to consider how artists use animals to represent human traits and critique the world we humans live within.
Art
Fasces, Fascism, and How the Alt-Right Continues to Appropriate Ancient Roman Symbols
The use of fasces by alt-right groups is another attempt to commandeer the insignia of ancient Rome to connect their movements to the bygone power and legitimacy of the Roman empire.
Art
The Misuse of an Ancient Roman Acronym by White Nationalist Groups
SPQR initially stood for Senatus Populusque Romanus (the Senate and Roman people), but a growing number of white supremacists have adopted the acronym to symbolize their movement.
Art
Archaeologists May Have Discovered a Church Built on the Site of Constantine the Great’s Conversion to Christianity
During work along the right bank of the Tiber this summer, the archaeological group Cooperativa Archeologia uncovered what was first thought to be a villa, but later considered to be a church.
Art
Discovery of Jewish Mosaics in Israel Bring Color to Biblical Accounts
A site in Israel continues to turn up stunning polychromatic mosaics from the late Roman empire that challenge current notions of ancient Jewish aesthetics and the art of depicting scripture.
Art
AP World History Makes a Turn Toward Eurocentrism
The College Board’s recent decision to begin their curriculum for Advanced Placement (AP) World History at the year 1450 CE will omit millennia of global human history and may further support a Eurocentric view of the world within US high schools.
Art
Should the Getty Return Its Famed "Victorious Youth" Statue?
In the Italian city of Pesaro last month, a court ruled that the Getty Museum’s prized “Victorious Youth” statue should be returned to Italy, and in response, the J. Paul Getty Trust issued a public reply, noting that Italy has no cultural claim on the statue.
Art
The Political Uses of a Figure of Male Beauty from Antiquity
One of the most celebrated statues from antiquity, the “Discobolus” remains a cautionary tale about the ways in which we speak about ideal bodies through the art we curate and display.
Art
British Exhibitions of Ethiopian Manuscripts Prompt Questions About Repatriation
Exhibitions at British cultural institutions have lately underscored the artistic output of Ethiopian scribes, and in the process, have also renewed questions around whether museums that have benefitted from acts of imperialism and colonialism should now return looted objects.
Art
Barbarians and Sculpture's Color Barrier in Ancient Rome
Examining the clothing and also the color that Romans used to visualize those they defined as “barbarians” gives us a clue as to how Romans differentiated themselves from their foes