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Manila Galleon
The Manila galleons were Spanish treasure ships which transported precious goods like silk, spices, and porcelain from Manila in the Philippines to Acapulco, Mexico, between 1565 and 1815. The Atlantic treasure fleets then shipped some of...
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Westward Exploration and Settlement of the United States c.1850
A map illustrating the patterns and routes of westward exploration and settlement in the United States after the “Louisiana Purchase” from France in 1803. As Napoleonic dreams of a great North American Empire gave way to French hegemonic...
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Argula von Grumbach's To the University of Ingolstadt
To the University of Ingolstadt (1523) is an open letter by the German reformer Argula von Grumbach (l. 1490 to c. 1564) protesting the dismissal, arrest, and imprisonment of the young scholar Arsacius Seehofer (l. c. 1504 to c. 1539) for...
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Power Looms in a Textile Mill
An 1835 engraving by J. Tingle (from an illustration by T. Allom) of power looms in a textile mill during the Industrial Revolution. The power loom weaving machine was invented by Edmund Cartwright (1743-1823) in 1785. The machine doubled...
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The Art of War by Sun-Tzu
A bamboo version of 'The Art of War' (composed late 6th century BCE) widely attributed to the Chinese military strategist Sun-Tzu. (University of California, Riverside)
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Vishnu with Lakshmi and Saravati
The Hindu god Vishnu, the "preserver of the universe," is flanked by two female figures. His sister Sarasvati, the patron goddess of knowledge and the arts, stands to his proper left, playing a stringed instrument called a vina that is her...
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Nayarit Cermaic House with Figures
This charming ceramic was made between 100 BCE-250 CE in Nayarit, Mexico. (Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University, Stanford, California)
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Nok Culture Fragment of a Figure
As a result of erosion and mining, one of the oldest and most sophistcated art-producing cultures known in sub-Saharan Africa came to light in the mid-20th century. Hundreds of hollow figures, heads, and fragments made of coarse clay have...
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Head of a Jain Tirthankara
This head belongs to a jina ("conqueror" or "liberator"), a Jain saint who severed the chain of rebirth and achieved a state of omniscience known as nirvana. Jains believe that there have been 24 jinas, each of whom is known as a tirthankara...
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Amphora of a Panathenaic Shape
This red-figure terracotta vase was made by the Eucharides Painter (c. 500-475 BCE) who worked in Athens, Greece during the Archaic Period (1000-480 BCE). This piece dates from 480 BCE. (Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford...