Artwork of the Day from the Walters Art Museum

Though he frequently posed as a southern gentleman from Baltimore, Whistler was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, and, together with George A. Lucas (1824-1909), attended the West Point Military Aca...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/18862/portrait-of-george-a-lucas/

Covered with figures and ornament, the centerpiece of this volute krater is the god Hermes–identified by his hat, caduceus and winged boots–who stands in a colonnaded structure before a seate...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/30814/volute-krater/

Among many peoples of ancient Mexico, there were myths that a red or yellow dog was the companion that would help a deceased person across a river they needed to cross in the Underworld. It was s...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/80206/dog-effigy/

In the ancient Caribbean, the heads of ancestors were objects of devotion, kept in special baskets in the round temples known as bohíos. The head, rather than other bones was kept because the Ta...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/5839/zemi/

In Roman Egypt (30 BCE-324 CE), artists adapted naturalistic painting styles to the ancient custom of making portrait masks for mummies. The portraits were often painted while the subject was in ...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/5872/female-portrait-mask/

Throughout Islamic history, sultans, princes, and court officials have been active art patrons. This impressive candlestick base was commissioned by Zayn al-Din Kitbugha, who served as saqi, offi...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/15804/candlestick-base/

Tombs sometimes contained more than one statue representing the owner. The statues were usually inscribed with the owner's name and titles, and they served as a focus for funerary rituals. These ...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/27426/statue-of-tef-ib-3/

This box is a "pandan," a container for "betel"- thin slices of the nut of the areca palm mixed with spices and lime paste made from ground seashells and wrapped in a leaf of the betel tree. Bete...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/3248/betel-or-paan-box-with-inscription-and-floral-scrolls/

Prior to the Roman Period, the likeness of the deceased on the mummy mask, coffin, and sarcophagus was an idealized representation that conformed to the general style of the period. With the arri...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/7962/mummy-portrait-of-a-bearded-man/

This chess piece of a queen seated inside a castle is modeled on similar pieces made in the Arab world in the 8th and 9th centuries and brought to western Europe as gifts or articles of trade. Th...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/6861/chess-piece-of-a-queen/

Monet moved to Argenteuil, a suburban town on the right bank of the Seine River northwest of Paris, in late December 1871. Many of the types of scenes that he and the other Impressionists favored...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/10078/springtime/

The Arabic writing in the upper part of this plaque is from the Qur’an and encourages Muslims to make the hajj—the pilgrimage to Mecca, birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and the spiritual ce...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/17197/tile-with-the-great-mosque-of-mecca/

The scene on this "krater" depicts another milestone in the life of a young man. At the culmination of years of training, a warrior stands beside the family altar preparing to leave for war. He w...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/8994/red-figure-calyx-krater/

For more information, or to download free images of the artwork, visit art.thewalters.org . Thousands of artworks like this one are on view with free admission at the Walters Art Museum in Balt...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/20232/pendant-with-an-official-wearing-earspools-and-a-headdress-of-stylized-animals/

The Buddha Akshobhya is one of five cosmic Buddhas, each of whom is associated with a particular direction, gesture, and color. Akshobhya, Buddha of the east, is recognized by the earth-touching ...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/16374/buddha-akshobhya-or-shakyamuni/

In 1859, Rico received a scholarship to study in France. Rejected as a pupil by Daubigny, Rico turned to sketching outdoor river scenes near Paris on his own. He was encouraged in these pursuits ...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/19136/la-huerta-del-retiro-seville/

This leather casket box, protected by strips of iron and closed with a large lock, was probably used to store documents, money, or other precious objects. It is decorated with courtship scenes an...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/19937/casket-with-scenes-from-romances/

Surya, the sun god, is worshiped by both Hindus and Buddhists in Nepal. He appears here at the center of a double-lotus mandala, standing behind his charioteer, Aruna, who drives Surya’s chario...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/24952/mandala-of-the-sun-god/

This attire of the Egyptian goddess Isis features the characteristic "Isis knot" between the breasts. The sheaves of grain flanking her crown are not an Egyptian attribute but associate Isis with...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/15040/isis-holding-a-cobra/

Brush washers were used for removing excess ink from the brush and are essential tools for Chinese calligraphy and painting. It would have been placed on a desk with other writing instruments. ...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/3885/brushwasher-in-the-form-of-a-peony/

This exceptional pendant consists of a reliquary cross inside a hinged case with six small adjacent compartments for relics. The impressive amethyst cameo depicting the Virgin and Child on the li...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/19177/reliquary-pendant-with-virgin-and-child/

Lead badges such as this one were purchased by pilgrims as mementos of holy sites they had visited. Originally there were loops at top and bottom for the pilgrim to sew the badges onto a hat or c...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/12202/pilgrim-badge-with-saint-adrian/

This dipper, used as a ladle for liquid, was a very common ceramic form for the Moche culture of northern Peru. Such vessels were often placed in tombs as offerings, but were certainly used by th...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/79369/dipper-depicting-singing-man/

Franciscan mystic and miracle worker, Saint Elzéar of Sabran (1285-1323) is shown curing three lepers, whose deformed features make his cure seem that much more miraculous. This group was carved...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/25661/saint-elzcar-curing-the-lepers/

The front of this "aide memoir" or notebook (really a case in the form of a book) shows an oval portrait of a woman with powdered hair. On the back are initials set over woven hair (unpowdered). ...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/28696/guillochc-aide-memoir-notebook/

This relief decorated the interior wall of the northwest palace of King Ashurnasirpal II at Nimrud, which is situated in present-day Iraq. This relief originally stood on one side of a doorway in...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/32526/relief-with-winged-genius/

Shiva stands firmly on his lotus pedestal, arching his back in a stance associated with power in the region of Kerala, on India’s southwestern coast, where this sculpture was made. In his upper...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/5304/shiva-2/

The artist's poem in the upper right corner of this work tells of the intoxicating blossoms of peach and peony filling his courtyard garden. His painting then presents these two lovely flowers in...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/37161/flowering-peach-and-peonies/

Saint Jerome (ca. 347-420 CE) was one of the four Latin Fathers of the Church (the others being Saint Augustine, Ambrose, and Gregory the Great) and renowned for his learning, distilled in his tr...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/27087/saint-jerome-in-his-study/

Hand-held bells such as this one are among the most commonly used implements of Tibetan Buddhist ritual. The bell symbolizes wisdom, the feminine component of enlightenment, and is often used tog...

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/2869/ritual-bell/

Nina Moore, alternately listed as G. Nina Moore and Mrs. Nina Moore, or incorrectly as Nora Moore, is typical of many 19th-century women artists in that little is known about her life and career....

https://art.thewalters.org/detail/35539/autumn-leaves-2/