The Male Gaze: Masculinity Across Cultures

From Greek heroes to Baroque bravado—how artists depicted male power, vulnerability, and desire

Memento Mori: Art in the Face of Death

Skulls, coffins, and fading flowers—a meditation on mortality from ancient Egypt to Dutch vanitas

Power Dressing: Armor as Art

When protection became spectacle—the evolution of armor from battlefield necessity to courtly fashion

Stolen Beauty: Empire and Acquisition

The complicated origins of masterpieces—how war, colonialism, and commerce shaped this collection

Flesh and Fantasy: Desire in Western Art

Venus, Cupid, and countless lovers—tracing the artistic obsession with the human form

Sacred Geometry: Mathematics in Art

From Islamic tiles to Renaissance perspective—patterns, proportions, and the hidden order of beauty

Faces of Power: Portraits of Rulers

From Egyptian pharaohs to European monarchs—how the mighty wanted to be remembered

The Color Blue: Lapis to Prussian

An obsession with the rarest, most expensive pigment—from ultramarine Madonnas to Vermeer's turban

Monsters & Myths: Creatures in Art

Dragons, chimeras, and beasts—how humanity gave form to its fears and fantasies

Small Treasures: The Art of the Miniature

Tiny worlds of extraordinary detail—snuff boxes, cameos, and pocket-sized masterpieces