Skip to Content Skip to Content

Art History

Reflecting on the 250th—and what’s still ahead
Philadelphia’s Independence Hall.

Image: Franziska Spiecker/picture-alliance/dpa via AP Images

Reflecting on the 250th—and what’s still ahead

Activities for the semiquincentennial will continue into the fall, with art exhibits, courses, nationally renowned speakers, workshops, and musical programming.

3 min. read

Arthur Ross Gallery to launch America 250 exhibition this fall
A painting depicting The City of Philadelphia as it appeared in the Year 1800. The scene shows a green field with trees to the right; red brick buildings to the left and in the background; and citizens walking and socializing together throughout the piece.

“Back of the State House, Philadelphia”. Plate 22 from “The City of Philadelphia as it appeared in the Year 1800”. Published by W. Birch, Springland Cot. near Neshaminy Bridge on the Bristol Road; Pennsylvania. Decr. 31st 1800. University of Pennsylvania Art Collection, Philadelphia.

(Image: Courtesy of the Arthur Ross Gallery)

Arthur Ross Gallery to launch America 250 exhibition this fall

‘At Liberty: Life in the City of Brotherly Love During the Early Republic’ will be on view Aug. 28 through Dec. 31. The fall exhibition, located in the Arthur Ross Gallery, will consider the role of visual culture and perceptions of Philadelphia during the era of the Revolution.

1 min. read

Exploring the history of North American pastels
Megan Baker

Megan Baker is a Barra Foundation Fellow in Art and Material Culture at Penn’s McNeil Center.

(Image: Courtesy of McNeil Center for Early American Studies)

Exploring the history of North American pastels

McNeil Center Fellow Megan Baker’s dissertation research explores how the fine art medium tells a larger story of material transit across the Atlantic during a time of mounting political discord.

From The McNeil Center for Early American Studies

2 min. read

A study of the ancient built environment
An ancient excavation site.

A view of the trench with the early Hellenistic mosaic.

(Image: Courtesy Teos Archaeological Project)

A study of the ancient built environment

A book of essays co-edited by history of art professor Mantha Zarmakoupi dives into a historic movement focused on recentering how we think about ecological concerns and the built environment.

From Omnia

2 min. read

Unearthing the secrets of an ancient Greek city
Two ancient mosaics recently unearthed.

Underneath layers of built-up dirt, Mantha Zarmakoupi and colleagues began to uncover the tiled edge of at least two mosaics, spread across separate rooms dating back to the 3rd century BCE. One that stood out depicted two fighting cupids (top), figures of Eros, the Greek god of love, whose imagery is related to Dionysos, the Greek god of wine and the patron deity of Teos, with a major temple in the city.

(Image: Courtesy of Teos Archaeological Project)

Unearthing the secrets of an ancient Greek city

Classical archaeologist and architectural historian Mantha Zarmakoupi from the School of Arts & Sciences has spent the past four summers excavating the ruins of a city council building at the center of Teos in western Türkiye.

Marilyn Perkins

2 min. read