0 AD to 1100 AD

Terracotta Bowl Fragment

1 CE

This type of mold-made fineware pottery, known as terra sigillata, derives from Arretine and related wares made in Italy in
the early first century A.D. By the second century, most terra sigillata was made at sites in central and eastern Gaul
(modern France and Germany).

Funerary Portrait of a Young Girl

25

Traditional Egyptian burial practices continued well into Roman times. Hairstyles, jewelry, and clothing are carefully rendered according to contemporary fashion. The addition of gilded details on the lips and jewelry of the young girl is a rare detail that alludes to the individual's transformation in death into a blessed spirit, or akh, a being of light.

Colosseum - Rome, Italy

72

Also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre. Built of concrete and sand,it is the largest amphitheatres ever built. The Colosseum is situated just east of the Roman Forum. Construction began under the emperor Vespasian in AD 72, and was completed in AD 80 under his successor and heir Titus

Shuowen Jiezi (真本)

121

An early 2nd-century Chinese dictionary from the Han Dynasty. 說文解字 - "Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters"

Harmonics

150

Ptolemy also wrote an influential work, Harmonics, on music theory and the mathematics of music. After criticizing the approaches of his predecessors, Ptolemy argued for basing musical intervals on mathematical ratios

Mosaic with a Peacock and Flowers

250

This mosaic shows a peacock among flowers. The peacock was a popular subject for Roman and Byzantine artists, often used to represent paradise, renewal, and spring. Byzantines might have thought the peacock a symbol for the season because its elaborate feathers grew each spring. Associating the peacock with heavenly paradise was an extension of the Byzantine vision of earthly paradise—many wealthy citizens were known to have kept peacocks to roam about the flowers and trees of their gardens.

Marble sarcophagus with the Triumph of Dionysos and the Seasons

260

The central figure is that of the god Dionysos seated on a panther. Only a very wealthy and powerful person would have been able to commission and purchase such a sarcophagus; made for a member of one of the old aristocratic families in Rome itself. One must also imagine that certain details were highlighted with color and even gilding, making the whole composition a visual tour de force.

Head of a king

300

The Sasanian dynasty of Iran ruled an area from the Euphrates River to Bactria from the third century A.D. until the Islamic conquest in the seventh century. Dating from the fourth century A.D., this silver head of a Sasanian king is an exquisite example of Sasanian metalwork. His powerful stare and characteristic arched nose seem to suggest that the artist was attempting to convey a sense of majesty rather than an individual likeness.

Bird Pendant

400

Tropical Costa Rica is the habitat of an enormous number of bird species, many of which acquired symbolic dimensions in
jade depictions. This pendant, made of a jadeite of great clarity, features a toucan. Yet its upright stance and folded arms
indicate that the figure is anthropomorphic, implying perhaps that it is a masked or transformation figure. This pendant is said to be from the Atlantic Watershed region, one of the two primary areas
of jade use in ancient times.

Mother Goddess, Northwestern India, Rajasthan, Gupta Period

500

Sets of seven or eight mother goddesses were installed in side chambers near the entrance to Hindu temples. From one of the most naturalistic and charming sets, this mother attentively grasps the wrist of her toddler to gently guide him, while smiling lovingly and patiently at him. The simplicity of garments and ornament is characteristic of sculpture of the 5th and 6th centuries, and suggest connections with the Greco-Roman styles of Gandhara, in present-day Pakistan.

Hagia Sophia - Istanbul, Turkey

537

The Roman Empire's first Christian Cathedral, from the date of its construction in 537 AD, and until 1453, it served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral and seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople.

Tomb Guardian, Shaanxi province, Xi'an, Tang dynasty

Jan 1, 618

Part of a pair. this fantastic guardian creature was intended to guard the entrance to a tomb, warding off evil as well as keeping the soul of the deceased from wandering. Known as "earth spirit" or qitou, they are markedly different in appearance: one has an animal face and a pair of antlers growing above its eyebrows;The many elongated spikes heighten the fearful intensity.

Plate with the Battle of David and Goliath

Jan 1, 628

This beautiful and exceptionally important plate is the largest of a set of nine showing scenes from the life of the Old Testament King David. On the backs of all the plates are the control stamps of the emperor Heraclius, who may have commissioned them to celebrate his victory over the Persians. During the war, it is said that Heraclius fought the Persian general Razatis in single-handed combat, an event that is perhaps evoked in the depiction of David's defeat of Goliath.

Vessel, Mythological Scene - the Americas

Jan 1, 700

Here the catfish barbelled god called Chak dances and swings a long-handled ax above a baby jaguar deity on a kawak throne. Supernatural scenes such as this one are particularly appropriate because they were placed in tombs probably filled with provisions for the journey of the deceased into the underworld. The image on this ceramic vase displays a mastery; fine line painting, an exuberant use of whiplash line and an attention to detail that includes the dust kicked up by dancing feet.

Reliquary Casket - German, Rhineland

Jan 1, 725

10th century. The present casket is part of an important early group of reliquary caskets dated between the 8th and 10th centuries. They seem to have survived in church treasuries alone, such as that of the Stift St. Peter in Salzburg and the Cathedral of Chur. This casket has nearly identical biforcated iron mounts, similar bands of wave and ring-and-dot patterns and rows of circular holes flanked by bands of ring-and-dot decoration.

Standing Court Lady, Tang Dynasty, China

Jan 1, 750

This figure holds a round implement with strings or ribbons that functioned somewhat like castanets.

Panel with Royal Woman

Jan 1, 795

The woman's holds, a god of royalty with a serpent leg and a grotesque head with a smoking torch on its brow. Other signs of high rank are her jade jewelry and costume, its beauty suggesting that textiles and featherwork were great Maya arts, now lost to a tropical climate. The hieroglyphics refer to an undefined ritual that the woman completed in 795.

Goblet with Incised Designs

Jan 1, 850

Glass, bluish green; blown, applied solid stem and blown foot; scratch-engraved.

Two Scenes of Christ and the Apostles

Jan 1, 875

This exquisite ivory carving portrays two unusual scenes focusing on Christ, the apostles, and a mantle. Christ traditionally wears only a tunic, he is presumably giving his mantle to an apostle in the presence of others. Decorating the cover of a liturgical
manuscript, the ivory has striking narrative power. The narrow stage. flowing ground line, and fleshy figures in garments with soft, curving edges exemplify some of the main stylistic trends of the second half of the ninth century.

Gregorian chant

Jan 1, 900

Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song of the western Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe during the 9th and 10th centuries, with later additions and redactions. Although popular legend credits Pope St. Gregory the Great with inventing Gregorian chant, scholars believe that it arose from a later Carolingian synthesis of Roman chant and Gallican chant.

Enthroned Buddha Attended by the Bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani

Jan 1, 950

Seven separately cast pieces, create the most elaborate of known surviving Javanese bronzes. The central figure, can be identified either as Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha, or as Vairocana, his transcendent manifestation. The lion emerging from the center main base refers to the Buddha’s clan name. Seated on the left is Avalokiteshvara, supported by his vehicle the calf-bull Nandin, and on the right is Vajrapani, accompanied by his mount, a makara (mythical crocodile-elephant hybrid).

Beowulf - Scandinavia

Jan 1, 975

It may be the oldest surviving long poem in Old English and is
commonly cited as one of the most important works of Old
English literature.The author was an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet, referred to by scholars as the "Beowulf poet"

Icon with the Koimesis

Jan 1, 980

The Koimesis, or "falling asleep in death," of the Virgin is first found in Byzantine art in the 900s. This image would become one of the most popular icons in the Middle and Late Byzantine world, often appearing over the doors of churches to be contemplated by the faithful as they left the service. Christ stands behind her holding up her soul, as if it were a baby, offering it to attendant angels to take to heaven.

Bayeaux Tapestry, France

Jan 1, 1070

An embroidered cloth nearly 70 metres (230 ft) long and 50 centimetres (20 in) tall, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England concerning William, Duke of Normandy, and Harold, Earl of Wessex, later King of England, and culminating in the Battle of Hastings.

Pueblo II Period

Jan 1, 1100

The Pueblo II Period (Pecos Classification) is roughly similar to the second half of the "Developmental Pueblo Period" (AD 750 to AD 1100). Home to the Ancestral Puebloans of the Four Corners region of the American southwest.