Painterly depictions of dance are some of the most beautiful and beloved works in art history. Famous examples portray this theme through different styles, including history painting, portraiture, and genre scenes. They show mythical figures, aristocrats, and commoners engaged in bodily rhythmic movement, a primordial expression of our humanity. ‘A Dance to the Music of…

It’s the summer of 1964. A retired university professor, Alessandro Giuliani, and a young factory worker, Nicolò, set out to walk 70 kilometers (about 44 miles) from Rome to the village of Monte Prato. Along the way, musing on his rich and tragic past, Alessandro shares some of his memories and what he has learned…

What happens when our understanding of the world is split into the competing camps of science and religion? In the first part of this article series, we talked about the difference between logos and mythos, and said that both were forms of knowledge that were necessary for our human survival. In the modern world, though,…

PG |1 hr 30m | Documentary | 2023 They have been called the “Greatest Generation,” but only a few of the young American men (and they were almost entirely men) who fought the National Socialists during World War II are still alive to tell their stories. Fortunately, quadriplegic filmmaker Trent McGee and co-director/co-writer Josh Berman recorded…

A member of one of America’s most affluent 19th–century families realized his architectural dream in the western North Carolina home he named Biltmore Estate. The name is loosely derived from George Vanderbilt’s Dutch heritage, “Bildt,” referring to a town in Holland; and “more,” an old English word meaning rolling, upland country, refers to the French…

“You enter a large and spacious hall or vestibule, the walls covered with a very splendid French paper—beautiful scenery, figures, etc.—the floor an oil cloth. … To the right are two large, handsome rooms furnished in fashionable and genteel style, … [and] to the left is the dining room and chamber. There was no splendor…

Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael created the epitome of Renaissance art. Most of us know Leonardo’s artistic brilliance through his best-known paintings, the “Mona Lisa” and “The Last Supper,” yet Leonardo’s art is one tiny facet of his legendary genius. Some may be surprised to learn that he spent many years as an engineer,…

What does it mean to return? What does it mean to come home? Home is where one belongs, the people and places that are ours while we are theirs. Yet that belonging comes to its fulness only through our actively choosing it and conforming to the restrictions placed on us by dedication to a people…

John Singleton Copley (1738–1815), John Trumbull (1756–1843), and Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828) are three of the most important early American artists. Their work captured scenes of colonial, revolutionary, and post-independence America—especially through portraiture of the country’s founding fathers. Patriots Samuel Adams, Dr. Joseph Warren, and John Adams were all from the colony of Massachusetts and played…

NR | 1 hr 32 min | musical, comedy, romance| 1950 School is now out across the country, so many American families are using this time to take a short weekend getaway, or even a longer holiday. One classic film which depicts the events of a family’s summer vacation is 1950’s “Two Weeks With Love,”…